My heart was always in the business.Yes. And yet…my father never seems to think I had much of a heart. Until he met my fake fiancée, of course. A taste of the bitterness over our engagement announcement crawled up my throat. I still wasn’t over it.
Elly was quiet. Finally, her fork touched the breakfasttamalI had made her and she placed a piece in her mouth. Chewed. Smiled.
“This is good.” She took another bite.
“You sound surprised? I’m almost offended.”
“I didn’t expect…well…” She hesitated over her words.
I laughed. “That a rich boy like me would be able to cook?”
She grinned. “You were the one to say it. Those words didn’t come out of my mouth.”
We laughed and soon both our plates were empty.
“We need a photo.” I whipped out my phone. I was becoming a lot more conscious of documenting our “arrangement,” almost as good as Lavina’s social media page.
Wow, Sebastian. I hope you’re proud of yourself. You’re almost as good as Lavina.A bitter thought indeed. I replaced my phone and tried to return to the conversation.
“My mom was the type who, when she could, would cook all the traditional meals of Colombia herself. From scratch. And she insisted both me and Elonzo learn to cook them too. And Father. I think by fourteen, I could practically prepare an entire five-course meal for one of our family gatherings, and they wouldn’t have known the difference.” I chuckled at the thought. They never did.
“I’m floored,” Elly said. “And there I was thinking the only skills you had were flashing your black card everywhere and failed attempts at flirting.” Her laugh was playful and sweet.
“Failed? You just haven’t seen the best of me.”
I froze. She wouldn’t see the best of me, though. What was I even saying?
I was getting quite good returning to the rigid Sebastian that I knew I had to be. That I was in real life. I stood up as if heading out. “The appointment is at four. The driver will be waiting,” I said, more coldly.
Elly watched me as if waiting for something. Whatever it was, she looked disappointed it never transpired.
“Okay.”
* * *
“You look a little off your game, Sebastian. Not thinking about your lady, now, are you?” My brother poked his head into my office. No knock. No questions. Typical Elonzo. I had just arrived back in my office after a video call with our partners in Japan and was making a few adjustments to the meeting minutes. I was busy and not in the head space for small talk. Especially with Elonzo.
“We signed the deal and a very good deal it is. I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said distractedly, not even looking back at him. I hated being interrupted in the middle of anything work-related.
Elonzo didn’t get the hint, though, and continued to hover over me like a shadow.
“What?” I snapped at him. He of all people should know not to bother me when I looked busy.
“Do you want to talk about why you kept looking at your watch every few minutes?” Elonzo took a seat in one of the armchairs I had opposite my desk. He studied me.
“And a bigger question is, why is there no photo of Elly on your desk? Don’t you want to admire her face every waking moment?” My brother leaned forward, placing his elbows on the varnished wood of the desk. I could feel his eyes on my back and, reluctantly, I stopped.
Does he know? How did he find out?
“Are you doubting my devotion to my fiancée, big brother?” I said guardedly, picking out each word as if from the organic section. Careful to choose fruit with no blemish, nothing to complain about.
“I’m just curious, that’s all,” Elonzo replied.
He was starting to get on my nerves. I gritted my teeth and fought the urge to check my watch. Again.
Because he was right. I had been checking my watch. But again…I wasn't going to admit that to him.
I finally looked up at him, pen poised over a word I’d underlined. “In agreement.”