Xander“You’re joking? Not about your mom. That’s awful. Were you really making dinner at five?”She smiled. “No, not usually. Every night my dad would ask me what I wanted for dinner. I started to pick up on the fact it stressed him out when he didn’t know what to make. I wanted to make things easier for him. I didn’t write, but I remembered I would spend my day with a babysitter or at school and think about what I wanted for dinner. When he asked, I would have an answer.”I was amazed. “Wow. That’s young to pick up on that.”She shrugged. “My dad worked hard, and I wanted to do my part. My mom used to let me help her in the kitchen a lot, so I had a pretty good understanding of meals and cooking.”“I don’t know if I should feel proud and impressed or really sad for you,” I told her.“Don’t be sad. We all have our little hardships. I had mine. I got through it by figuring out how to make things easier. As I got older, I began to see how much easier our lives were when I knew what was
EvieMy stomach felt funny. It had nothing to do with the breakfast. It was him. He made me feel all wet and gooey. He’d been so flirtatious. It was fun. With any other man, I probably would have dumped my orange juice in his lap. With him, I wanted to climb onto the table and beg him to have his way with me.“I’m paying,” he insisted when we got to the ticket booth.“No, this is my idea.”“I’m paying,” he said again and left zero room for argument. He handed a credit card over and bought the passes that gave us unlimited rides.“I was thinking we could visit some of the attractions first. Let our breakfast settle a bit before we go on anything that will give us the milkshake treatment.”He smirked. “Yeah, I’m not sure why we had a big breakfast if this is what you had in mind.”“Because there is plenty to see and explore while we let our breakfasts settle,” I told him. “I suppose I should have asked if you were afraid of heights?”He gave me a look. “I’m not afraid of heights.”“What
EvieI had wanted to ask him about his mom, especially since he talked about her in the past tense. I stopped myself from pushing. It was none of my business, and if he wasn’t ready to talk about it, I wasn’t going to pick the scab off a festering wound.“I’m sorry. Death is sad no matter the situation.”He nodded but said nothing more on the matter. “Is this another one of those things you do often? To decompress?”I laughed. “No, definitely not. I don’t know if this is really decompressing. The fun does rejuvenate me a little though. It’s exhausting but it feels good to scream and just kind of let loose. Don’t you agree?”He smirked. “I suppose. There are other activities that can lead to screaming and letting loose.”He was so different than he had been before our outing on the boat. I was convinced I was getting to see the man behind the mask. “Yes, I suppose there are.”“I’m sorry,” he said, looking away.“For what?”“I’m being an ass.”“I don’t think you are,” I assured him.“I
XanderMy jet landed just after one my time and four Miami time. The car I hired for the duration of my time in Miami was waiting at the airport for me. It was moments like these I appreciated the wealth I had made. It was a hell of a lot easier than navigating a busy airport and trying to hail a cab. I leaned my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes.The difference in weather was night and day. I would never get used to the humidity in Florida. We had our days in San Diego, but Florida gave humidity a whole new meaning. I shrugged off the suit jacket I thought I would wear to the meeting. I wasn’t going to wear it. The other engineers I was meeting with could think what they wanted.I unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt and aimed the AC vent directly at my face. The car stopped in front of one of the many Miami high-rises. I climbed out and headed inside. The driver was going to be delivering my luggage to the hotel while I got through the first meeting of the week
XanderI inwardly groaned. Just what we needed, more opinions. I got up from the table and took the binder with me. I said nothing on my way out. I was ready to get to the hotel and hop in a pool or a cold shower. My hired car was just pulling up to the curb when I stepped outside. I practically ran to get into the back of the car. I directed him to take me to the hotel without making any stops.When I got to my room, I was stripping out of my clothes before the door closed behind me. I headed directly for the shower, stepping under lukewarm spray. The huge shower gave me ample room to turn and make sure every inch of skin was the recipient of the soothing spray.After finally cooling off and feeling human again, I pulled on a pair of underwear and nothing else. I grabbed a beer from the minibar, not caring that it probably cost twenty bucks, and flopped down on the sofa. I had barely taken the first long drink when my phone began to vibrate on the table. I got up, expecting it to be
EvieI walked into Nelle’s bar, my face glued to my phone like a true millennial. I was smiling as I sent back a lips emoji in response to something Xander had texted. I barely looked up as I walked through the door, navigating my way around the tables to my seat at the end of the bar.“No,” I heard Nelle say.I looked up and found her staring at me with her hands on her hips. “What?”“Don’t you dare turn into one of those zombies.”“I’m not a zombie,” I protested at the same time my phone vibrated in my hand. I had to look down and see the message.“Yes, you are. Put your phone down.”I smiled and put my phone on the bar, facedown. “There, happy now?”She frowned at me. “I’m not sure. Do you want a drink?”“A glass of red would be nice, thank you.”“Are you off for the night?”I nodded. “For the whole weekend.”“Wow! That has to be a first.”“I know and I cannot wait to just unwind for two days in a row.”She laughed. “I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”“It’s going to be
EvieMy phone vibrated again. It was a phone call. My immediate reaction was it had to be him. “Oh, it’s my dad,” I said when I saw his number. I slid off the stool and headed toward the back corner of the bar near the restrooms to hear better.“Hey, Dad,” I answered.“Evie? Is that you?”“Yes, Dad, who else would have my phone?”“I hear a lot of noise. Are you working?”I looked around the bar. “No, I’m at the bar.”“Oh, visiting Nelle,” he surmised. It was only a little embarrassing that my father knew how straitlaced I was and knew I wouldn’t be hanging out at a bar on a Friday night. I never did get that rebellious streak. I sometimes wondered if I missed out on something good.“Yes, I am visiting Nelle,” I answered. It was sad I wanted to lie and tell him I was there drinking and hanging all over men. I was not normal.“Do you have anything going on tomorrow night?” he asked.I bit my lip. I was hoping to spend some time with Xander, but we had made no firm plans. My dad was my
XanderAfter a false start home yesterday due to some stupid storm, I was finally home. The pilot had called me bright and early in the morning. He informed we had a small window to take off. I packed my shit and made it to the small airport by five. In California time, that was two. My body was screwed up. I hoped to go back to sleep but it was impossible.I cracked a few eggs into a pan before popping some bread into the toaster. I wasn’t a chef. I didn’t cook a lot, but I could cook a few things. My eyes felt gritty from the lack of sleep. I made another cup of coffee, thankful it took less than a minute to be ready to drink and sipped it while my breakfast cooked.I sat down at the kitchen bar with my iPad propped up on a holder. I took a bite of the eggs while scanning through the headlines for the day. The world was going to hell in a handbasket, as my father would say. It was depressing to read the news.My phone rang, interrupting my quiet morning. It was still early for a Sat