image courtesy of Maurice Benard Connection

a Sonny & Brenda Story
by scullysboy

Chapter 3

"How's everything going Brenda?" Brenda turned away from the hostess station, where she had just finished inserting the evening's specials into each menu. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of her boss, Sonny. "Just fine Mr. Corin...Sonny." Sonny smiled back, "good girl." Brenda felt a twinge of hurt at his choice of words. Granted, she was only 19 years old, but she hardly considered herself a girl. Sonny knew exactly how old she was; he'd gotten the background check from Benny. Actually, her age was the only thing in the report that was of concern to him. Sonny was 30, and while that was certainly not ancient, he felt like an old letch every time he thought of Brenda. And he thought of her often...all the time in fact. He didn't think he'd ever wanted to make love to a woman more. Brenda decided to stand up for herself and said, "please don't call me a girl." Sonny raised his eyebrows, and then ran his eyes down the length of her body and back up to her face. "Well," he replied, "if you're not a girl, you do a damn good imitation of one," and flashed a deep, dimpled grin. Brenda shook her head, "that's not what I meant, and you know it." "What, you're upset with me?" Sonny asked, his smile fading, not understanding what she was trying to say. 

Brenda took a deep breath and let it out. She wasn't sure how much she should say to the man. In the two weeks she'd been working at the restaurant, she'd heard him scream at three different people. The first was Jason. Sonny was reaming him out for not following instructions to the letter. Jason didn't even blink; he took the dressing down, nodded his head, then left. The second time was when one of the bus boys dropped some dishes. Sonny yelled at him in Spanish, so Brenda didn't have a clue what he said. She asked one of the waitresses about it later, a woman named Maria, and she said that Sonny said that he had a headache and the last thing he needed was someone dropping dishes right next to him. Maria figured the bus boy probably wet himself. "But it was an accident, right?" Brenda asked her; "I mean, he didn't purposely throw the dishes down just to bother Sonny." Maria smiled, shook her head, and said "honey, you've got a lot to learn." The third incident involved a man that Brenda later found out was Sonny's accountant, Benny Abrahms. Brenda really shouldn't have heard any of that "conversation," because it took place in Sonny's office. But she was walking past the door, and heard loud voices. "If I want your opinion Benny, I'll ask for it!" Sonny bellowed. "But sir, I don't think you fully understand..." Benny tried again to make his point, but Sonny cut him off, "What Benny? Are you telling me that you know better than I do now? Is that what you're saying?" "No sir! I would never presume..." "Then just do what I want Benny! Get the hell out of here!" Brenda walked off quickly, so she wouldn't be caught eavesdropping when Benny left the office...

"Brenda?" Sonny felt that he'd lost her totally from their conversation. "Sorry," she snapped out of her thoughts. "Look, it's just that when you say things like 'good girl' it's kind of demeaning, that's all." "Well it's not meant that way," Sonny replied. "OK," Brenda said, not wanting to make it a bigger issue than it really was. She just always had problems with people taking her seriously, mostly because of her looks, but also because of her young age. Sonny didn't say anything else; he just walked away. Brenda watched him go and scolded herself for saying anything at all. "He's going to think I'm just a pain in the ass," she muttered. And that was the last thing she wanted. She had never been as attracted to any man like she was to Sonny. But he also scared her. She had strong suspicions that he was a lot more than just a restaurant owner. He was far too intimidating and people were far too afraid of him. She turned back towards the menus and straightened them out, thinking, "what does it matter anyway? What would he want with a 'girl' like me?" Sonny went into the office and shut the door. Then, he punched it with the side of his fist. "Damn it!" he exclaimed. "She thinks I'm some ignorant pig or something!" He'd been holding back with Brenda, not wanting to move too fast and scare her off. But he didn't want to wait much longer to spend time with her...alone. "If she even wants you," he thought. He laughed, and asked himself, "why the hell would she?"

The next morning, Brenda and Robin met for breakfast at Kelly's. "So how's work?" Robin asked. Brenda shrugged, "the job is fine. I'm not sure about my boss though." Robin immediately got concerned, "is something wrong with Sonny?" Brenda studied her friend's face, "you really love him, don't you?" "Very much." "So, why aren't you two..." Robin turned red and laughed, "me and Sonny? No way!" "Why not?" "Well, for one thing, he was Stone's best friend; his brother. Sonny would think it was disloyal." "Well that's Sonny, but what about you? Aren't you attracted to him?" "Well sure, who wouldn't be? He's gorgeous," Robin replied. "But I love Jason. Besides, I couldn't handle Sonny." Brenda got a sinking feeling in her gut. "What do you mean?" "Like I told you, he's complicated. Brenda...why are you asking? Do you want to be with Sonny?" It was Brenda's turn to blush, and she tried to get out of the hole she'd dug for herself. "No! I was just wondering about you, that's all." Robin smiled at her, "you want him, don't you? Oh my God, you do! This is so great!" "It is?" Brenda asked, not denying Robin's conclusion. "Yes! You're just what Sonny needs." "What is that exactly?" Brenda inquired, hoping to get some more insight into the man. "Someone to love him, what else?" Brenda looked around, then leaned towards Robin across the table. "Do you really think that's what he wants? Or does he just want, you know, sex?" "Brenda, Sonny can get sex from anyone. Women practically offer themselves up to him on a daily basis. What he needs is someone who wants him for more than his money, his power, or his...you know." Brenda giggled, "well maybe I just want him for his...you know." Robin laughed, "actually, I heard that he's got a..." "Good morning, ladies." They both looked up at the sound of Sonny's voice. Sonny looked down at them; they looked like they'd been caught with their hands in the cookie jar. "What's going on?" he asked with a smile. Brenda and Robin looked at each other, both wanting to crawl under the table, and never come out again.

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