“Hey. Enough,” comes the expected gruff command from her husband and I pull away and give her a conspiratorial wink.
“Oh, leave him alone,” Jade says to Kaine, “this tired old married mother needs some male attention now and again.”
Kaine doesn’t say anything, just swirls his glass and stares at his wife.
“Just kidding, I got plenty of male attention last night,” Jade pretend whispers behind her hand and wiggles her eyebrows at Malynda, who giggles. I make a point not to look at her in case I give us away. It seems both ladies here have not been lacking in male attention lately.
Kaine clicks his tongue and walks over to the dining area, sitting down and staring out the window.
He and I bought our apartment building because of how it was structurally similar to this one. Wall to ceiling windows, strong concrete pillars, open plans. We both like our views, the open skyline in front of us. It’s how we think, using that space to unclutter the thoughts in our head. It’s why we work, why we’re brothers in business and in life.
Why he’s the only person who could’ve saved me when I was flailing at rock bottom.
I sit down at the table opposite him, looking at his focused gaze on the Manhattan horizon. I know a thousand things are running through his head. And judging by the way his jaw is tensing, I’m probably one of them.
“Hey,” I say, breaking his train of thought. He doesn’t reply, just takes a sip from his glass and turns to me. “What’s going on?” He just lifts an eyebrow. He’s going to give me nothing. But I can play at that game. We’ve spent whole days together barely saying a word and yet still getting more done than most people in a month. ” I sent the contracts to Masterson. I expect he’s going to quibble about the 12-month trial period but he’ll sign. He needs this.”
Kaine just nods.
“Also, I’m going to hire another assistant, take some of the grunt work off Patti’s desk. She’s probably still at the office.”
“Sure,” comes the one-word reply.
“And I’ve booked you in for an appointment with Dr. Peters.” He frowns but waits for the punchline he knows is coming. “He’s going to see if your tongue-tiedness is because there’s something physically wrong with you or you’re just being an ass.”
He inhales sharply and opens his mouth, “Xave-…”
“Dinner’s ready!” Jade shouts out and I look over to see Malynda helping her to her feet as they approach the table. I shrug at Kaine and his eyes narrow.
“Later,” he says and I have no doubt he’ll remember.
“Where should I sit?” Malynda asks Jade who just waves her hand over the table. “Wherever you damn well want. We’re not very fussy.”
I see her bite her bottom lip and come over and sit down at the table setting next to me, leaving Jade in the seat next to Kaine. Picking up the napkin I scan the table.
“Um. I see empty plates and smell deliciousness but there’s no food. What are you playing at Ashleys?”
“It’s coming,” Jade says, waving her hand. Just as she finishes shushing me I see Jaxon Sinclair emerge from the kitchen carrying a large tray, filled with plates.
“Jax! Fancy seeing you here.”
“Well, it’s my night off, so what else have I got to do but cook for my landlords?” he grins as the server behind him helps to lay the food out onto the table. Once the tray is empty, Jaxon reaches over and takes my hand, giving it a good pump.
“No mac and cheese tonight,” he says, winking to Malynda. “But it might just be a new addition to my happy hour menu, since my kitchen loved it so much. I’ll call it ‘Malynda’s Mac and Cheese’,” he says before jogging back to the kitchen.
“But… what? Her name’s Isabella,” Jade pipes up.
Malynda, Kaine and I exchange an awkward look. He hasn’t told Jade. Probably for the best.
“Hey, let’s dig in,” Kaine says, probably to distract his wife.
“Er, yeah, this looks delicious. We’re pretty spoiled to get Jaxon to cook for us here. He likes to try stuff out on us before he serves it at the restaurant, so it’s usually his craziest inventions,” I say, taking Malynda’s plate and heaping it with something that looks like grilled quail and a strawberry and quinoa salad.
We all go quiet for a moment, enjoying the food and wine.
“I call dibs on leftovers,” Malynda sighs after five minutes of silence and Jade grins, happy that her guest is satisfied. “Or maybe we should save it for Xavier, since he never goes into that kitchen of his.” She gives me a pointed look and I remember there’s an unread note waiting for me somewhere in that unused kitchen of mine. “Hell, I don’t even know if his stove is real, maybe it’s made of cardboard.”
Kaine chokes on his food and takes a sip of his wine.
“Hey, most of my nights are spent at work dinners and the other half, well, someone has to keep Uber Eats delivery guys in work,” I argue, though there’s really no point.
“At least he’s eating now. I think the first six months I knew him, the only thing I saw him put in his mouth were cigarettes and Scotch.”
I feel rather than see Malynda turn her head and stare at me. It takes some effort but I continue eating, refusing to look at her.
“Oh, really?” Jade asks her husband, and unfortunately, she’s too far away for me to kick her under the table.
“Yeah. Not really sure what he lived on, it’s not like he was sleeping much either.”
“Why weren’t you sleeping?” Jade asks the question that I can hear is churning in Malynda’s brain.
“Um, I dunno. I was young,” I shrug.
“How old were you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Wow, I just realized I don’t know about how you ended up here. If it’s anything like Kaine’s story, it’s pretty wild.”
“Wilder,” comes Kaine’s one-word answer.
“Care to share, Xavier?” Jade presses.
“Not really. Nothing wild or special about it,” I say, finally locking my eyes with Malynda’s. “Typical guy meets girl, girl breaks guy’s heart, guy spends his youth trolling the streets of New York looking for her type story. That kinda thing.”