Chapter 11
ELEVEN
It’s Friday morning and we are drinking tea.
I’m in a really good mood for some reason, and everything is as it usually is when a man in a fuzzy robe walks into the kitchen.
He’s slim like a marionette and wears thick-framed glasses that magnify his brown eyes like an anime character.
Lush brown curls shimmy around his head as he traverses the kitchen with the elegance of a trained dancer.
Stepping closer, he stares intently at me.
Likewise, I do the same, because I’ve never seen anyone so at home in Luke’s penthouse. Also, my employer doesn’t seem troubled by this adorable man waltzing about, so I don’t feel any stirrings of alarm either.
“Why, hello,” the man says to me.
“Go away, Theo,” says Luke, not bothering to look up from his data reports.
Theo pulls out a barstool, slumps himself down into it, and winks at me. “Who is your friend, Luke?”
“She’s not. She’s my meal-prep chef?—”
“We’re not friends?” I interrupt, jumping on the chance, though part of me recognizes an irritating sensation felt in a faraway distance over the fact that his first instinct is to categorize me as my job, and not anything else.
Luke drops his report. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m devastated,” I say, continuing with my flat-eyed stare. “Truly. Especially since we’ve been sharing our mornings for a while.” Looking at Theo, I whisper, “I’m paid to be here.”
He gasps.
“She’s not paid in that way,” Luke snaps.
Theo shakes his finger at him. “Sex work is real work, and it’s time we treat it that way. If we lived in a world that didn’t criminalize it, sex workers could better protect themselves. Make it safe?—”
“—and protected,” I finish off.
Theo and I look at each other with pleasant surprise, two strangers syncing over shared social justice values.
“Are you both done?” asks Luke.
“Maybe,” I say.
“Probably not,” Theo corrects. “Now, once again, who is this wonderful woman sharing tea with you, Luke Abbot? I’ve never seen you start a day without decimating the confidence of a group of minions in a boardroom.”
Luke sighs as if answering is unavoidable. “She’s my meal-prep chef whom I am also… friendly with.”
“Like coworkers?”
Luke levels him a frosty look. “You know I’m in charge.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Theo teases, while I confirm, “He does like to be on top.”
“I like you,” Theo declares.
Luke moves his eyes between us like he doesn’t know what is happening, but is deciding it isn’t to his advantage in any way.
“I’m Theodore Walker,” says Theo, officially introducing himself to me. “I’m visiting for a very mini-vacation.”
Not that Luke and I have dug deep into our personal lives, but he’s never mentioned that a person like Theo was going to be visiting. And they are so vastly different from each other, I can’t make sense of it. “How do you know this energy succubus—er, I mean, my boss ?”
He grins. “College. We’re old roommates.”
I lean forward. “Does that make you a real friend of his?”
“Shocking, isn’t it? I bet you didn’t think such a fabled creature existed.”
“Neither of you are funny,” Luke informs us.
“Ignore him,” says Theo, shrugging.
“I do.” I smile.
“Now, what’s your story?” he asks me. “Are you from Barcelona?”
“No, I’m new here. ”
“Such a beautiful city, isn’t it?”
“Actually, I haven’t seen much of it,” I admit to him.
Sure, I’ve gone on walks, but most days are dominated by work, and the evenings are dominated by chores.
Any free time, I try to recover my energy by resting because it is the cheapest ( free -est) pastime available.
An especially depressing reality when the sun is shining outside your window beckoning you out.
“Me neither.” Theo reaches over and abducts Luke’s tea. As soon as he takes a swig, he looks disgusted, and then he gets up to locate and brings back at least three packets of sugar. It’s a substitute sweetener, but apparently better than nothing. All packets are dumped in.
My opinion of Theo skyrockets immeasurably.
“I have an idea,” he declares, after finishing off the cup. “We should all go out tonight.”
“No,” Luke immediately kiboshes. “I have no time.”
Theo reaches over and grips the edge of his sleeve. “But we are your friends!”
“You are a plague.”
“Who is sad.”
“Don’t care.”
“Pout at him,” Theo directs me. “It’ll work. Trust me.”
“I can hear you,” says Luke.
Regardless, I stick my bottom lip out. Theo has already made doe eyes, so I attempt the same.
Luke covers his face with his hand and you might think it’s to block us out, but I’ve got his strange intuition that he is hiding his amusement.
“Have drinks tonight with us?” Theo asks me. “You in?”
“I didn’t say yes. I’ve got meetings that can’t wait,” argues Luke.
Theo moves over to saddle up next to me. “Ignore him. I’ll pester him all day until he agrees. You in?”
To avoid answering right away, I busy myself by gathering the teacups and going over to the sink to put them down. Water is turned on so they can soak. At the same time, I’m thinking about my budget—of which there is barely any wiggle room.
“I don’t know,” I answer.
Coming over, Theo leans his back against the counter. “Please. I’m a sad plague. ”
Not able to help myself, I laugh even though I don’t really know what that means.
“Don’t you want a night of adventure?” he asks me, slyly.
I do. It’s been so long.
“Please,” he begs again.
For some reason, he reminds me of Noor and Kiren, and suddenly I miss them dearly.
It’s been so long since I’ve had an outing with my best friends.
Do I dare try hanging out with Luke and one of his college buddies after hours?
Surely, this crosses professional boundaries I should not go near. It’s not wise.
Theo’s pout goes into overtime. He touches my arm. Why are his big brown eyes so persuasive? I find my resolve weakening.
“Alright,” I concede. “It should be fine…” By walking over, eating at home, and not drinking any alcohol, I can have a zero-cost night. It’s doable.
“Yay! You won’t regret it.”
Luke argues in the background that he has no time.
Theo tells me to ignore his dramatics.