Brandon’s plan worked perfectly. Like he said, we gave the press something to chew on. Our pictures are splashed all over magazines and people actually believe that there is love or at least between us. I mean, who wouldn’t? I watched the video too, and what I saw left me embarrassed. Brandon and I looked like a couple head over heels in love, and me? The video showed my knees buckling after the kiss, and Brandon’s arm steadying me. I was looking up at him like a lovesick puppy! Lovesick? I mean, I don’t even like the man!
For several days after, Brandon and I continue to avoid each other. Of course, I know why he’s been keeping his distance. He thought that the kiss might have stirred up emotions in me that are best left unstirred. But I’m not a child. I don’t need someone to make assumptions about what I feel and what I do not. Whatever reaction I had that day was an in the moment thing. I could never fall in love with Brandon.
As the days go by, I feel my anger continue to build. Brandon is edgy around me, and he refuses to talk to me when we are together in the same place. Of course, the chairwoman notices, but there’s very little that even she can do this time. I throw myself into working at Giancarlo. By my second week as CEO, I have introduced two new courses to the menu. I have also included chocolate cake dessert to our menu. What is a restaurant without a chocolate cake dessert?
When work can no longer ebb my anger as much as it should, I find myself leaning towards Hailey again. Now, in my office, we sit side by side on the loan sofa that is fast becoming Hailey’s favorite thing in my office.
“Have you spoken to him about it?” She asks calmly. Trust Hailey to be the voice of reasoning.
“What is there to talk about, Hae? First, he upsets my life with this marriage thing….”
“Which is why you’re now CEO of Giancarlo.” She cuts in.
“That’s not the point, Hae. Focus.” I say and she shrugs. “So first he upsets my life, then he kisses me in front of tons of reporters and onlookers, and now, he suddenly can’t look me in the face or have a single conversation with me? How does that even make sense?”
Hailey pops a gum in her mouth before responding. “What do you need him to look at you for, Natalie?”
“My God, Hailey! You don’t get it. He’s being annoying and I can’t stand it!”
“Then tell him.”
“What’s the point? He knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Hailey shakes her head before rising to her feet. “Okay, Princess. My lunch hour is over; I’ve got to get back to work. You should do the same. And stop thinking about Brandon not speaking to you. Your marriage is not a normal one, Nat. You should appreciate the distance, not be mad about it.”
I pout as I watch her leave. With Hailey gone, I move my attention to work. I’m no techie, but I’ve been thinking that Giancarlo needs a website. Although the walk-in system adds to the elegance of the place, it would only be better that we move with evolving trends. When my phone rings the first time, I ignore it because I am not in the mood to talk but when it continues to ring, I succumb and pick it up.
“Hello?” I say, irritated.
“Hello, Natalie. It’s Robin.”
My face lights up as if I have just heard Santa Claus’s voice. “Oh my God, hi Robin!” I say excitedly. Because of the way that Brandon interrupted our conversation the other day, I was too fidgety to take his contact. I only gave him mine. I regretted it almost immediately, but it was too late to go after him. I didn’t even know what way he went.
After we exchange pleasantries, Robin asks if I’m available for a meetup and I agree. He and I have a lot of catching up to do. I round off my work at the office and head downstairs. We’re still short on kitchen staff and to everyone’s consternation, I’ve been pitching in for an hour every day. I can’t understand why they all act surprised though. A little over a month ago, I was a kitchen assistant/trash emptier/cleaner/assistant chef. Not much has changed; just my name and position.
Almost two hours later, I walked into the cozy little restaurant that Robin chose for our meetup. “You do realize that we could just have eaten at Giancarlo, right?” I say after exchanging air kisses with him.
“Nah. You can’t be on a date in a restaurant that you own. Where’s the fun in that?” He responds gingerly causing me to laugh.
“First of all, this isn’t a date. Secondly, I don’t own Giancarlo. It’s Brandon’s.”
“But you’re in charge there.” His smile spreads wider as he reaches for my right hand, “Hi, boss.” As we both laugh, it occurs to me that in the last five years, Robin has grown into a fine young man. His curly brown hair used to be so messy. Now, it’s just beautiful. He has dark brown eyes to match his hair color and his nose is still as chiseled to perfection as it always was. As teens, it always used to crack me up how much girls fell over themselves to catch Robin’s attention. He never did get taller than 5’9, but one still can’t call him short.
“Look who grew into such a fine young man,” I say pointedly.
“Oh, please. I always was a fine young man.” He says with a laugh
“Yeah, yeah, but you were rough around the edges still. Messy hair, squeaky voice, what did those girls even like about you?”
“I was a catch, Natalie! I still am! You’re the only one who never saw.”
“Oh, spare me!” I don’t remember when last I laughed this heartily. He sobers up after a while and reaches for my left hand. He lets his finger rest on my ring for a few seconds before looking up to meet my gaze.
“I can’t believe you’re married now.”
I sigh before responding. “Well, neither can I.” Before he can ask what I mean, a waiter comes to take our order, and we go back to teasing each other. When Robin drops me off at home after, I have lost all trace of sullenness over Brandon’s behavior. I walk into the living room humming a tune, and say hello to Miguel. Sarah, one of the maids tries to take my bag, but I save her off and saunter into the room to find Brandon on the sofa with his laptop on his legs.
I wasn’t expecting him to be home already, but what can I say? We can’t always expect to have a perfect day. I continue with my humming as I walk into the bathroom to strip off of my clothes and take a bath. Gods, I miss the days when I didn’t have to wait to get to the bathroom before taking off my clothes. After a refreshing bath, I step into a robe and walk back into the room.
“Looks like someone had a good day,” Brandon says looking at me.
“Oh wow, he speaks,” I respond without missing a beat. I walk into the closet where both our things are and come out wearing a flowery cotton nightgown.
“The driver said he dropped you off at a restaurant in Longstreet hours ago.”
“Yea. I was meeting up with a friend. Is that a problem, Brandon?”
“Same friend I saw you with at the cinema?”
“The way you ask that question, I’m certain that you already know the answer. What now? You have someone watching me?” My voice rises in anger.
“Certainly not, but I’ve got a reputation to protect, Natalie. We can’t have people seeing you all cozied up with another man when we’ve only been married for a few weeks. They’re going to make assumptions?”
“Oh? What do you want me to do then?” My voice rises a notch higher. “First you kissed me senseless in front without warning, then you refused to say a word to me for days because I dared to assume that maybe that kiss meant something to you. These past weeks, I’ve lived a boring life with a boring routine, and the moment you see that I seem happy, you’re telling me I can’t be seen around with someone I practically grew up with. What is wrong with you?
I see Brandon struggle to respond for a few seconds. His gaze rakes over me from head to toe and when he finally speaks, he says that last thing I expected to hear. “I think you should move into another room.”