“You two are going camping? Alone?” His flat tone doesn’t instill any kind of confidence in me and I brace myself.
Best to just say the truth and try hard to not get weird about it. “No. Not alone. There will be several other people there participating.”
“What is with this company? I’ve never heard about anything like this before.”
“Me either.” I shrug. “The owner seems to care a lot about who gets hired. Says it makes for a better day-to-day working environment.”
He tilts his head, considering. “I guess that’s better than hiring people willy-nilly.”
“How is working with the infamous Nora Miller?”
He scowls. “Don’t fucking ask. She’s got it out for me.”
I feel for the guy. “Did you tell Viv yet?”
“Are you kidding?” He scoffs. “She has enough ammunition to hold over my head, I don’t need to hand her more.”
I smirk at that, turning back to my bag. I always loved watching Viv give her brother shit. There weren’t too many people who stood up to him.
He was almost six-four and when he wasn’t cooking or working, he was in the gym. He claimed being a chef made him eat extra calories, therefore he had to work twice as hard to maintain his build.
I remember once, when we were in our early twenties, him making this proclamation at a family dinner at the Capello’s house. I’d been invited and hadn’t been there in forever due to school and work.
But I remember hoping Viv would be there, mostly because I hadn’t seen her in over a year, the longest I’d ever gone.
She didn’t disappoint. As a matter of fact, I was blown away at the woman she was turning into. She was twenty and had been a junior in college, working while earning her degree. While all of that was impressive in and of itself, it was her body I couldn’t take my eyes off of. She had become a woman, and it was impossible not to notice.
Viv had given her brother a teasing look and said, “Keep telling yourself that, Enzo.”
“I’m not just telling myself that, it’s the truth.”
“I know for a fact you have a legitimate food taster at your place. Why would you need to eat it?”
I smiled at her and watched them bicker back and forth. It had felt normal for the first time in years. A normal that went out the window when she pulled away.
“So.” I bring the conversation back around and start to zip my bag. I’m meeting Viv at her place in an hour and I’m driving us up to the campsite we’re meeting her new, or almost new, coworkers at. “It’s not going well then?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” He chuffs and then stands straight, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Listen,” he starts and I brace myself at his newly serious expression. “I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?” I ask, confused by this turn in conversation. Weren’t we just talking about him?
“Yeah, man. Helping my sister out. You didn’t need to do that,” he says and I feel a tiny kernel of guilt in my stomach. “But we all appreciate that you’re stepping up to make sure she stays safe and no asshole is taking advantage of her.”
“Oh,” I reply dumbly. “Your family knows?”
He nods. “Yeah, Mom was talking about what a hero you were.” Rolling his eyes playfully, he continues. “But seriously, thanks. I know what a pain Viv can be.”
I don’t know what it is about those words, but they rub me the wrong way instantly. I know they’re siblings and that was a very common thing to say about your little sister.
But the truth was, Viviana wasn’t a sister to me, she’d never felt like a sister to me. She was the woman I was pining after. The woman I’d loved since I was a fucking hormonal teenager and now, she was my future.
Whether she knew that or not yet was beside the point.
“Viv is not a pain, man,” I reply, and he shrugs it off with a wave of his hand.
“Oh I know you two get along great. I’m just saying thanks. That’s all.”
I don’t reply and it turns out I don’t need to because he turns and walks away.