Hidden Secrets

Sighing, Nikki turned away from her computer to look at him.
“What do I do now Will?”
“Babe, my best recommendation is to just tough it out. If they think you can do it, then you can.”
“But….I have no idea where I’m going with this story. I mean, what if something bad happens?”
Will got up from her bed and wrapped his arms around her.
“You’ll find a way to do this Nikki. And you won’t get hurt. I would never let that happen.”
“I can always count on you can’t I Will?”
“Always.”
He leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips.
“Now, I have to go to work. And you need some rest. You’ve been up all night worrying yourself sick about this whole thing. I don’t care if you have to take some medicine or something, just get to sleep.”
“Okay…I guess.”
“And babe?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”

Three weeks later, Nikki sat on the steps of the Brinkley estate, waiting on Mr. John Brinkley to make his appearance. She was all nerves. Her sleep had consisted of almost nothing last night. This was the first interview that she was giving to the infamous Brinkley family, and she wanted it to turn out just right. Of course, with her luck she would end up breaking a priceless family heirloom or something of greater importance.

At about three-thirty he showed up, golf bag in hand. He was dressed to golf also. When he noticed Nikki sitting on his steps, a forlorn look upon her face, he sped up his pace and greeted her. Nikki was shaking from head to toe. Mr. Brinkley warmly invited her into his home. All was going well so far.
“Well, my dear, which newspaper are you from?” Mr. Brinkley asked as they made their way to the sitting room.
“The Denver Post sir.”
“No need to call me sir, Miss Hutchins. Just John is perfectly fine.”
She stared at this man everyone both respected and feared. His graying hair was short, but also nicely cut. His golf clothes were obviously expensive. And he always had the most serene look upon his face. Of course he did, with the kind of money he was making for doing pretty much nothing but making appearances and going to meetings about what he was buying next.
“Well John since we’re on a first name basis I guess you can call me Nikki if you please."
“Nikki, such a beautiful name. It suits you, you know. Now, where exactly are we going with this whole thing?”
“Umm…I guess, since there have been rumors going around about your family, I believe we should clear those first.”
Nikki pulled a handheld recorder and large notebook with a pen from her bag. She set the recorder on the table and placed the notebook on her lap. Next came the weird part. Just as she was about to get started, in came what could only be described as the prettiest girl Nikki had ever seen. Her long curly blue/black hair fell to her lower back. Her silver-gray eyes looked just like John’s. She was wearing a medium length red cocktail dress. She looked almost like a princess.
“Is this the reporter dad?”
“Yes Arielle. Won’t you come say hello?”
“Of course!”
Arielle’s walk looked more to Nikki like a graceful dance than a walk. Nikki only then realized that she was staring.
“Hello, I’m Arielle Brinkley. Mr. Formal over there’s daughter.”
Nikki giggled along with Arielle at the joke as Arielle took a seat to the left of her. She liked her already.
“Well hello Miss Brinkley. I’m Nikki Hutchins, and I work for the Denver Post.”
“Just call me Arie. It’s so much easier. I believe that we should become good friends. I like you already!”
Nikki just laughed again. She felt so much better about this now. As long as she could get along with Arie, she would be able to get some kind of information on this family.
“I was just about to start the interview. Would you like to do some input also Arie?”
“Why not? I’ve always been interested in this process.”
Nikki turned on the recorder and looked to John to ask her first question.
“So, John, (let it be known that the interviewee has requested for your reporter to call him by his first name) why is it that you have agreed to let my newspaper interview you when you have turned down so many others?”
“Well, my dear Nikki, I believe it is because you seem like the most trustworthy newspaper that has requested to hear about my life. I figured that eventually I would need to come out and tell people but I didn’t want my words twisted and everyone to think I was some sort of bigot.”
“Most definitely. Now, it has been said that your lovely wife has been blessed to have a number of female children, but no males. Is this true?”
John got a very blank look on his face and then composed himself quickly.
“Why yes. It is very true that we have conceived nothing but girls. But this is not in any way saddening on our part. We love our darling girls very much and they are all so special to us.”
“And John, how many girls do you have?”
“We’ve got a grand total of eleven girls,” he chuckled “and each and every one of them is spoiled rotten.”
“Hey!!!” cried Arie.
“Just being honest my dear.”
“That was John’s lovely daughter Arie, whom only seconds ago I just met.”
“That’s very right Nikki. And as I’ve pointed out, you and I are going to be dear friends.”
The interview went on like this, with Nikki asking the obvious questions. When she was through, she made an agreement with John to come back in two weeks to interview him further. She also made a promise to Arie that she would come and visit sooner than that so they could have a girls night and talk until the wee hours of the morning. Nikki got the impression that the Brinkley daughters didn’t get much interaction with the outside world. It perturbed her a bit. How could a girl that is kept away from society thrive in the ugly place that she called home?

As Nikki was getting ready to go to work the next week, she heard her phone ring. Before she could even answer, Will snatched it. She kept grabbing for the phone, but he was easily tall enough to keep it out of her grasp. He slid her phone shut.
"It was Arie. She says that you should come meet her after you get off of work so that you two can have your girls night."
"Oh, I had completely forgotten about that. Would you mind watching Bob Bob for me tonight?"
As if on cue, Nikki's English Bulldog strutted into the room and promptly placed himself on her lap. He was massive, and yet he still considered himself a lap dog.
"I have to take care of the drooling, hateful thing? Are you serious?! You know how much he hates me!"
She pushed Bob Bob onto the floor and reached out to Will.
"He's jealous honey, and you know that."
"Okay...if you put it that way."
And with that, she grabbed her briefcase and went to her car.

Later that day, Nikki met with Arie at the diner down the road from the mansion. As they sat, Arie put on some large sunglasses and a baseball cap.
"You know, nowadays, people tend to look even MORE conspicuous wearing that disguise than anything."
Arie's blush spread all the way from her ears to her perfectly manicured nails. She pulled off the glasses and hat, setting them aside to look at the menu.