Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
C ecilia
I had nothing good to snack on in this god-forsaken apartment. I really needed to go to the grocery store and stock up. All my time in the city put me in a drought back home.
I glance out the window and note the pouring rain outside before I walk to my shoe rack and grab my dark purple rain boots off it. I slip them on my feet over my jeans and throw on my rain jacket, which I tried to wear any chance I could get. It was black with purple, blue, and white flowers scattered all over it, and I thought it was a work of art.
I tied my hair up in a quick bun before heading to the door to leave. My main priorities at the store were sugary drinks and comfort food for dinner. Now that I was back home after a whirlwind couple of weeks in the city, I needed a quiet night in with a nice home-cooked meal.
Except when I open the door, Lance is standing on the other side, ready to knock.
“Oh, hey,” I rush out.
“Where’s the fire?” he jokes, making me roll my eyes and smile at his basic humor.
I walk forward, forcing him to step back as I shut the door behind me. “Just running to the market around the block.”
“Oh,” he says, like he was disappointed.
I furrow my brows as I stand there, looking at him with confusion. “Why, what’s up?”
“It’s nothing,” he says, shaking his head. “It looks like you forgot.”
“Forgot what?” I ask just as it pops into my head. “Oh my god. It’s your birthday.” I wince as I say it, completely giving myself away.
He chuckles uncomfortably. “Yeah, but it’s fine. You just got back home, so don’t worry about it.”
We always went to dinner with his parents every year for his birthday. It was always what he preferred to do, and I, of course, obliged every year because he was my best friend, so why wouldn’t I? I felt like a real prick for forgetting this year.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve just been so caught up with everything, and then we?—”
“Got into that stupid spat on the phone where your boss took over the call?” he points out.
I cringe again. “Right…I’m sorry about that, by the way. I was having a rough day and wasn’t sleeping well.”
“It’s okay,” he says, not bothering to apologize himself, but since it was his birthday, I guess I’d let it slide. “At least you’re done with all that, right?”
“Oh yes. So done,” I rush out, my voice taking on a higher pitch for some reason. I was done. I was emotionally drained, and my brain was utterly fucked after all of the information I’d been enlightened with. Except, my brain was also a stupid little slut and wasn’t done constantly replaying that kiss with James. It kept popping into my head repeatedly, and I didn’t give myself a second to dwell on it. I couldn’t think about that whole ordeal right now.
“Good. So, dinner tonight, then? I think I decided on Chinese for my birthday dinner.” My stomach growls at the mention of it just as a groan escapes me. He laughs. “I take it that works for you?”
I nod. “Yes. I was going to cook tonight, but who am I to turn Chinese down?”
“Great, so…it’s a date,” he adds, throwing me off a little.
“With your parents,” I then add as a joke to solidify that this sooo was not a date.
He only smiles. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, dinner is in two hours. Do you want to ride together or?—”
“I’ll meet you there. I’m going to run to the market and get some shopping done beforehand.”
“Sounds good,” he says, stepping back toward his apartment. “By the way, we’re going to Ying Yue’s, so dress a little nicer.” He says it as he looks down at my outfit and then drags his gaze back to me. “The whole plastic look is cute, but?—”
“Oh, shut up.” I laugh, waving a dismissive hand at him. “I’ll dress to your satisfaction, birthday boy.” The suggestive words leave my mouth before I can stop them, and when I look at him, he swallows hard and nods at me.
He gives me a bashful smile before muttering, “Good,” in a deeper voice than I’d ever heard from him before going back into his apartment and shutting the door behind him.
I let my back crash into the hallway wall as a defeated breath escaped me. I just sent him the wrong idea, and he looked so hopeful, too, as I said it. I was an idiot. It made me want to crawl back into my apartment and layer duct tape over my mouth. I needed to start thinking before I spoke. Honestly, I needed to start thinking before I did anything these days.
Could this day go any more sideways? All I wanted to do was stay home, but now I have to get all fancy and go out to dinner.
I grumble some more as I push off the wall and finally head to the market. I had to be quick now since I had to be at the restaurant soon.
Forty-five minutes later, I walk home with five grocery bags, cutting the circulation off around my wrists. When I reach the front of my building, I spot my brother's car just pulling up to the curb and parking right out front.
“You’ll get a ticket for that, you know,” I tell him as he steps out of the car.
He shrugs. “I can afford it.”
I scoff in disgust. “You are exactly what’s wrong with people with too much money.”
“Well, sorry, I’m a little exhausted from our little escapades last night.”
I roll my eyes. “Ugh, don’t remind me.”
“Oh, I’m going to remind you every day of the shit you stuck your big nose in.”
“My nose is not big,” I grumble as I try to cover it with my hand, but I stop when I feel the weight of my bags. Tobias takes them from me as he chuckles, and I let him, needing a break. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Came to check on you. You know, since you’ve been lying and haven’t been home in a while.”
I sneer at him over my shoulder as we walk inside and up the stairs to my floor. “I wasn’t the only one lying about what I’ve been doing.”
“Okay, well, at least I knew what I was doing. You irresponsibly butted in where you didn’t belong and got us into some deep mafia shi—” Lance walks out of his door across the hall, forcing Tobias to shut his mouth. Lance stops once he notices us, his suspicious gaze bouncing between us.
“Uhm, hey. I was going to pick my parents up and head to the restaurant,” he mentions slowly.
“Great,” I squeak out. “I’m going to head inside and get ready.”
Lance nods, looking strangely at Tobias for a second before looking back at me. “I’ll see you in a little bit then.”
I nodded, and Tobias did the same, waving goodbye like he couldn’t wait to end this altercation fast enough. Once Lance was gone around the corner, I whipped my head back in Tobias’s direction. “Do you think he heard us?”
“No. I think he’s just as clueless as ever.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Lia. You’re telling me you don’t see how obviously in love with you he is, and you couldn’t be further from it?”
“I’m not…far from it,” I say defensively, but it lacks strength.
“Please,” he scoffs. “If you weren’t far from it, you guys would have taken a tumble in the sheets by now. You live right across from each other, for crying out loud.”
“Ew, don’t be crude.”
“See, that reaction right there just proves it. You’re repulsed by the idea of being anything more to him. Cut the guy a break and let him loose already.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I scowl, yanking open my front door. He can’t just show up after all these years and tell me what I feel or don’t feel for Lance. He had no idea what we’d been through. He had no idea that I was so scared to change the dynamic of our relationship because he was the only person I could count on in my life. I didn’t want to risk that, but I would be lying to myself if I said I wanted to in the first place.
The more time that passes, the more resigned I am to the decision that maybe Lance and I are better off just being friends. I didn’t think I wanted anything more than what we were. I like what we already have together. He was my best friend; why complicate that?
Plus, there’s also the fact that he’s never once made me feel the way James has. Not even in high school when he was known to be the cutest boy. I always looked at him as only my best friend because that’s all he was to me, but I didn’t like Tobias telling me that and acting like he knew everything. Especially when it only reminds me how much I’m still hiding from him, like my weird and sudden attraction to his boss and the fact that he gave me the best freaking kiss of my life outside that god-forsaken bar.
But like I said. I’m not thinking about that today.
Nope.
Not thinking about it.
God, that kiss was so good, though. How could I not think about it when he lit my entire soul up with that freaking kiss. Not only am I more suspicious about his mafia past, but now I’m curious if he has some kind of superpower that makes him an out-of-this-world kisser. Maybe he was an alien. Bottom line, he was not your average man. No siree.
Tobias follows me into my apartment, and I immaturely slam every cupboard door in my kitchen as I put away my groceries so that he knows I am annoyed with him.
“I feel like you’re mad,” he finally interjects as I put that last item away in my fridge. I slam that door, too.
“Really? What made you think that?”
“Well, you’re being kind of hostile right now.”
“I’m not being hostile. You’re being insensitive.”
“How am I insensitive? The fact that I haven’t bit your head off over everything these last couple of days proves just how sensitive I am.”
“Yeah, because everything is always about you, isn’t it? It’s about what I did to piss you off, and your job and your secrets, and your best friend James, who is a freaking psychopath. It’s never about me and what I’m going through or my life. You show up here, calling the shots and acting like you know everything when you can’t even see that I am drowning.”
“Lia,” he says quietly. “I?—”
“I have to get ready for dinner,” I interrupt him on the verge of tears. “You can let yourself out.” I walk past him to my bedroom and shut the door on him.
I strip my clothes off, quickly grab a dress from my closet, and slip it on. It was a knee-length, long-sleeved black dress, but the sleeves were those fancy balloon sleeves, and I always felt ridiculously cute in them, which is a welcome feeling compared to how I feel right now.
I kept my hair in a bun and pulled some of my front pieces out, letting the curls drape somewhat nicely on the frame of my face. I slipped into my knee-length black heeled boots because those made me feel cute and a little badass, which would also be nice.
I wanted to cry, but I wasn’t going to. I had to do my freaking makeup. I regret agreeing to go out tonight. I absolutely did not feel like it anymore, but I kept my chin up and continued getting ready.
I finish applying my lipstick, walk out of my bedroom, and stop when I see Tobias still here, sitting on my couch. “What are you still doing here?”
“I wasn’t just going to leave things like that,” he says, standing up now to face me.
For some reason, a knot forms in my throat, and I have to swallow it down and keep my eyes from filling with tears. “Oh.” I breathe out because it’s all I can manage.
“Lia, I’m—” A knock on my door interrupts him, and he exhales sharply through his nose, annoyed by the second interruption. “Now who is it?”
I scrunch my nose up as I look toward the door. “I don’t know.” I walk to it, Tobias right on my heels as I open it, finding not only my dad but, surprisingly, Marsha at his side for once instead of scowling from down the hall.
“Dad,” I smile at him, ignoring the sneering woman at his side.
“Hey, honey.” He smiles, then his eyes float above my head. “Tobias,” he remarks in shock.
Tobias feels like a brick wall behind me, and when I look over my shoulder at him, my stomach drops into said bricks. His stiff jaw is set as he scowls right back at both of them, much like Marsha.
“Dad,” he says, his tone cold.
“It’s been so long. H…How are you?” our dad asks.
“I’m doing great. I’m clean, unlike some people.”
“Tobias,” I snip quietly.
Our dad just nodded his head like he understood. “I’m happy for you, son.”
“What are you doing here?” Tobias asks now, sounding angrier.
“I…I…”
“She knows what we’re here for. Now, can you get it for us so we can get this over with?” Marsha finally speaks up. Her voice is laced with disdain, rattling me deep in my bones. I know it’s not nice to say you hate people, but I really, really hate her.
I grind my teeth together as I mutter, “Sure.” I step away from the door, and I swear Tobias’s eyes go wide like he just witnessed a murder right before him. Wait, that actually wouldn’t surprise him anymore, now that I think about it.
I ignore his look and go to my kitchen, filling a small bag with more food and drink items and the fifty-dollar bill hanging on my fridge.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tobias mutters as I walk back to the door.
“Tobias, please,” I beg, way too tired for his judgment.
“I appreciate this,” our dad says, chiming in.
Tobias snaps his head back in his direction. “Yeah, I’ll bet. You get to take advantage of your daughter, who will do anything for you while you waste away.”
“Let’s just go,” Marsha says, looking at my dad. She then snatches the bag from my hand before I attempt to give it to them. “Give me this.”
“Watch it,” I snap as my nails tear through the bag.
“You watch it,” she bites back. “How dare you. We come here for help just for you to embarrass us like this!”
“You’re doing that yourself,” I find myself saying. I usually wasn’t one for confrontation regarding my dad's situation, but who does this broad think she is? Honestly, I was the one helping them all these years.
“It takes strength for us to turn to someone like you for help. You should be more respectful to your parents,” she says.
“You’re not my parent, and you never will be. And what do you mean by someone like you ? I’m the one with my shit together here.”
“A bitch,” she clarifies.
“Marsha!” My dad finally speaks up.
“You picked a winner, Dad. Nice job,” Tobias adds.
I can’t help but laugh. “At least I don’t look as dead as Nosferatu while being very much alive. Did you want me to add face moisturizer to your to-go bag?”
Her eyes widen in shock just as I feel her hand whip across my face. I feel a stinging slice move across my cheek as she does it, and I realize her ring cut me as soon as I feel the blood trickle down my face.
Then I hear my brother's furious growl.
My eyes snap to his just as he lunges for Marsha. She falls dramatically to the floor, shielding herself from his monstrous body that towered over her.
“Touch my family again, and I will make you disappear,” he snarls in her face.
I quickly glanced at our dad, who was standing there, petrified, as if he didn’t recognize his own son. It had been even longer since my dad had seen Tobias. He looked scared, while I felt proud at this moment.
“Tobias, come back inside,” I say as I look back at him. I hear a disappointed grumble come from him, but then he steps away from her and stands back at my side while she gasps for air as if she were physically attacked.
“How dare you attack a woman like that,” she cries.
Tobias only smiles down at her. “You’re lucky I didn’t put my hands on you. You wouldn’t be speaking if I were immoral enough to hurt a woman.” Then he looks at our dad, his eyes hardening like dark stone. “Don’t ever bring her here again, and if you were a decent father at all, you wouldn’t come back until you get your shit together.”
My heart breaks as I watch our dad nod his head. No apologies or promises. He just helps lift Marsha off the floor, grabs the bag, and walks away.
Tobias swallows hard as he watches them go, and then he slams the door shut. He turns and faces me, and tears finally fill my eyes.
“I don’t even know what to say,” I manage to say.
“Let me then,” he interjects. “I’m so sorry, Lia. You never deserved any of this. I’ve been a shit brother, and I let you carry this family’s burdens on your own, but no more. Things are going to be different from here on out. You’re not alone anymore.”
I sniffle and wipe the tears from my eyes before they fall. “I have to go,” I murmur, grabbing my purse sitting on the kitchen counter. I didn’t know what to say to that. This was all too much. I couldn’t handle these feelings. The mixture of hope and disappointment was making me feel sick.
“Lia, you should stay,” Tobias suggests, but I shake my head.
“Feel free to stay or…go. I’ll be back later,” I add before quickly slipping out of the door and ending our conversation.
Twenty minutes later, I ran into the restaurant to meet Lance and his parents. I was already thirty minutes late from the fiasco that was my life.
Lance spots me the second I walk into the restaurant and stands from the table. His smile is bright, but it drops as I walk closer. I notice him leaving the table and starting to come toward me.
“Hey,” he greets me, his hand wrapping around my arm and pulling me back to where I just came from.
“Hey,” I rush out, confused about why he’s dragging me. “I’m sorry I’m late, but – why are you dragging me back outside?” I huff as he pulls me through the doors.
“Lia, what the hell happened?” he asks, his hand flying to my face. I flinch as he does, and he stops, his head rearing back in confusion. “Lia…”
Shit. I forgot about the cut on my cheek. “I’m sorry,” I say again, opening my purse and digging through it for a compact mirror.
“It’s fine. I don’t care that you’re late or what happened. Just… what happened?”
“Dammit,” I grumble as I come up short in my purse and drop it back to my side before looking at him again. “It’s a long story. My brother distracted me, and then my dad showed up, and his crazy-ass wife actually slapped me, and one of her ugly fake rings cut my face open.” Huh, I guess it wasn’t that long of a story.
“Jeez, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go inside and have a nice dinner. I’m sorry I was late.”
He blinked a couple of times like he was struggling to catch up. “Uh… why don’t you just head back home? You need to take a breather and to be honest; my parents will grill you over this. I’ll tell them you’re sick or something.”
I physically feel my shoulders drop. “But it’s your birthday? I can’t miss your dinner. You were looking forward to it.”
He shrugs and smiles at me like this was no big deal. “We’ll do something another time. Maybe dinner, just us two. We can go to that bar we like with the arcade inside of it.”
I laugh. “You mean the arcade that you’re a sore loser in every time we go?”
He chuckles, his head tilting back. “Yeah, we’ll see about that next time.”
“Fine. This weekend. You and me at the arcade.”
“Looking forward to beating you for the first time.”
I smile for the first time today, and it’s like a balm over my emotional wounds. “Those are fighting words.”
He laughs again. “Alright, get out of here before my mom hunts us down. You know how she is.”
“You’re right.” I pause and meet his gaze. “Thank you for this. You’re the best.” I reach up and hug him, and he instantly pulls me in. I find comfort in the smell of the same cologne he’s worn since college.
“Go home and clean that cut out. I’ll come by and check on you later.” He releases me, and I reach up and gently pinch his nose.
“Love you, Lancelot. Happy Birthday.”
“Thanks, I love you too. Now scat.” He shoves me off and heads back inside as I get back in my car, breathing a sigh of relief.
A little while later, I walk into my apartment carrying a giant pizza in both of my hands. I didn’t expect Tobias to be here anymore, but I got a bigger pizza just in case he was.
To my surprise, he’s sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating one of my pints of ice cream. He glances at me as I walk through the door, then stands, takes the pizza from my hands, and sets it on the counter.
“You’re still here,” I point out.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to leave you alone tonight after all that. I’ll crash on the couch.” He says this like it’s no big deal as he lifts the pizza box open and looks inside. “Ooo, cheese and bacon.”
Adoration fills me as I watch this new version of my brother. I grab two plates, put a slice of pizza on one for myself, and grab a drink for each of us out of my fridge.
“Do you eat on the couch?” he asks, going to sit down on it anyway.
I smile. “Yeah,” I answer, grabbing my plate and following him. It's silent momentarily when I sit down next to him, and then he starts chuckling. “What?” I ask, smiling at the sound.
“You…called her…Nosferatu,” he chokes out laughing.
I can’t help but laugh now, too. “Well, she’s kind of scary.”
He wipes a stray tear from his eye. “I was scared when I saw her on the other side of the door, and not much scares me.”
And that’s how we end our night—laughing and shit-talking.