Dream Girl

Thank Me Later

Ben's P.O.V

Ben and Rhys walked down to Wissahickon from her house. They walked along the tree lined Wissahickon Valley Park Trail that provided an adequate amount of shade from the bright sun. "It's nice to get out sometimes," Rhys says as she looks at a jogger that passes them. "Yeah we do spend a lot of time at each other's places. It's for good reason though," Ben says. "We both get stares wherever we go so I just think it'd better to stay in". Rhys looks over at him and shakes her head. "Or maybe you're embarrassed of being seen with a divorcee?" she jokes. "Ahh never," Ben chuckles before he kisses her on the cheek.

"The season is a ways away but I was thinking you could come to a few games," Ben said. "I don't know much of anything about basketball, you know that". Ben intertwined their fingers as they walked along the path. "You can just be eye candy and sit court side," he smiled. "Is that so?" she giggled. "And you could possibly make connections there. You never know". Rhys internally rolled her eyes but groaned aloud. "Enough about that!" she said. "I'm doing it slowly, at a pace I'm comfortable with". His thumb rubbed against the side of her hand. "I've already done a few outfits on Zig and Leslie is coming over in a few days so we can do some snaps of outfits I've made for her".

Ben nodded approvingly. "Well since you're doing that, I won't ask again". Rhys was going to thank him but he said, "I may ask for updates though". She smiled. "Of course you will. You act as though you don't have your own things going on". Ben was also growing accustomed to how snarky she could be. To a person who didn't know Rhys, it would seem as though she was being rude. It was from a place of love and she never meant to offend. "I only have to work on myself as a player during off-season so that means I have lots of time to poke my head in your business," Ben laughs.

"I guess I'll allow it. But I was thinking we should do a little vacation," Rhys said. "Mmm, where to?" Ben asked. "Somewhere nice. I was thinking like Bora Bora or Seychelles". Ben stopped walking and Rhys looked at him. "Those are both very romantic places," he said. Rhys half-smiled and shrugged. "I wasn't even thinking of them that way," she said as she tugged to get him walking again. He pulled her close to him and looked down at her. "Just admit you want to take a romantic vacation with me," he said as he brushed hair out her face. "I really wasn't thinking of it like that. I promise". 

He placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Whatever you say. I'll see when will be a good time for me to go but it's a good idea". He kissed her again before they continued on their walk.

Rhys' P.O.V

Rhys had a rack of clothes in the guestroom and she was just waiting for Leslie to arrive. She walked downstairs and stepped over the cat that lying in front of the staircase. "Of all places," she said as she looked back at him. Rhys went into her living room and played a rerun of Deadly Women. It was a Tuesday afternoon, so Leslie had to pick her kids up from school and get them settled before she came over. Mrs. Mixon had stopped by earlier that day to give Rhys a slice of cake and keep her up to date on neighborhood gossip. Rhys had invited her to come back over when Leslie arrived so she could get critique of the outfit.

As the next episode began to play, there was a knock on the door. She walked over and answered. "I swear to god Rhys, never have children," Leslie said as she walked in. Mrs. Mixon walked in behind her and shook her head. She took a seat on the chair and Leslie turned the station to TMZ. "You watch this?" Rhys asked Leslie. "I do. The lives of these people can be kind of interesting. Oh to be rich and famous and harassed while I shop for groceries," Leslie sighs dramatically. "Where are the clothes?" she asked. "Oh, they're upstairs if you want to go and get changed".

Leslie let out a dismissive noise. "We all have the same parts. I don't mind getting dressed in front of you two. I have three kids. There's nothing to be embarrassed about". Rhys tittered as she looked around the room. "Well feel free to get something from the kitchen," Rhys says before she leaves the room and grabs the outfits off the rack. She comes back down the stairs and gently places the clothes next to Leslie on the couch. She looks at the clothes and touches the collar of a dress. "This is really nice fabric," Leslie marvels. "Don't act like you haven't seen them before," Rhys says.

"Let me just say that shopping trip was a nice break from where I usually go," Leslie said as she stood up and grabbed the first outfit. "So what was done to the clothes?" Mrs. Mixon asked. "We just had her measurements taken and then tailored so it would have a more flattering fit. I find that a lot of people buy clothes but don't have them tailored to fit. It really does make all the difference," Rhys explained. "We used to have real tailors back in my day. The expensive stores had tailors on call and they would have it done in a day or two. I miss that," Mrs. Mixon says as she looks blankly at the screen.

Leslie undressed herself causing Rhys to look away. She put on the first outfit. A Neon Rose faux leather belted boiler suit and Public Desire chunky hiker ankle boots. Rhys tousled Leslie's hair. "I think this is cute. No idea where I would wear it," she says. "I like that. It's very industrial," Mrs. Mixon said. They went outside and snapped a few pictures. "Peter!" Leslie yelled while she stood on her lawn. "Get the lawnmower. I'm feeling myself," she grinned and she posed in her outfit. "You see what you've started," Peter grunted as he walked to the garage. He got the mower out and Leslie posed with it.

"You're a natural," Rhys said as she took another picture. "Well I always wanted to be a model. Just didn't have the height". The two of them went back into Rhys' house and Leslie put on the next outfit. A deep v-neck white blouse with a tailored tie waist tapered ankle grazer pants in forest green and white tennis shoes. This was paired with gold drop earrings. Rhys smoothed out Leslie's hair and tucked some behind her ear. As the two of them were snapping pictures in the kitchen, Mrs. Mixon called out to them.

"You two should really see what's on here," she said from the living room. Rhys and Leslie walked into the living room and looked at the TV. On it were pictures of Rhys and Ben on the Wissahickon Trail. Two pictures of them holding hands and one of them kissing.

"So it seems Ben Simmons has a new love interest. These were sent in by one of our photographers while he was in Philadelphia. He confirms that it is Ben Simmons and the ex-wife of Edward Wymore," the man on the screen said. "What was her name?" he asked the people in the room. "I looked it up. Her name is Rhys Padgett. She spells it the masculine way though," one of the women on the TV says. "How do you go from a billionaire to a basketball player? That's a bit of a downgrade," another man on-screen jokes.

Rhys just stood still in awe of what was being reported. "They're wrong for invading your privacy this way," Mrs. Mixon said. "I know," she said softly. Rhys honestly didn't care about TMZ reporting on her and Ben it's just that they were still figuring things out for themselves. It wasn't the time for something like this to be made public when they hadn't yet made it official privately. "Put on the next outfit," she said to Leslie.

"Okay one thing before I do," Leslie said turning to Rhys. "What do you got going on in there?" she cackled as she motioned at Rhys' pelvic area. "A billionaire and a basketball player? Share your secrets!".