Chapter 16 – Kirby
sixteen
Kirby
I sit slouched on my couch, my feet on the coffee table in the middle of the room. The television is playing in the background. One of the shows Jaxon told me is a must watch is on, but all I have been doing for the past hour is sitting down and staring at my phone.
The text app is open to Lexi’s name, and I must have composed about a thousand different text messages in that hour. My eyes read it over and over again before I press send.
Me:
The best part of my day was seeing you. Thank you for the cinnamon roll. I dare you to come over to my house right now.
“You can’t send that,” I tell myself after I write the last part. I go back and erase it all. “Just be natural.”
Me:
Thanks for the cinnamon roll. It was good seeing you today. We should do it again soon.
“Yeah, that’s good, right?” I ask my cat, Jefferson, who is sitting right next to me, but not so close that we are touching, because that’s not the type of relationship she wants.
“Should I press send?” I take a deep breath in, looking over at her and seeing her with her eyes closed.
I move my hand to rub down her black back and she opens her eyes and gets up to move away, turning around and giving me her back.
“Does that mean I should?” I’m about to press send when the phone rings in my hand.
Kylie’s face appears on the screen, her eyes closed as she makes a pufferfish face.
I took the picture when she turned twenty-one and she thought she could drink with the big boys.
I got her a shot of moonshine and that was the face she made right after.
I swipe my finger across the screen and then press the speaker button.
“If you are calling me to discuss paint samples again, I’m blocking your number. ”
The sounds of her laughing fill the room. “No,” she pants out, “I am calling because we just got an email.”
“Okay,” I say, not sure I’m following what she is saying. “Were we expecting to get an email?”
“No,” she sings out loudly, making Jefferson look over. Then she decides this isn’t her vibe, so she jumps off the couch and starts to walk over to the back door, then turns and gingerly walks up the steps toward the bedrooms. “Total surprise.”
“Are we going to play twenty questions or are you going to tell me who the fuck the email is from?” I chuckle.
“I mean, playing twenty questions will make my night,” she teases. “Especially since you said you were going to be my right-hand man, but the minute that a decision needs to be made, you take off.”
“I don’t give a shit what type of carpet you want in the office or even what color you want to put up on the walls. I couldn’t care less, that is totally up to you. I’ll only be in there a couple times a month.”
“Whatever.” I can hear the eye roll from my side of the phone. “Okay, start with question one, but there is no way you will ever guess.”
“Is this a woman?” I ask her and she laughs.
“It is,” she confirms. “Now you have to choose between one and three point nine billion women. And go.”
“Is this a woman I know?” I ask her and she hmms. “Is this a woman we know together?”
“I met her, yes,” she says, and I think of the next question.
“Is it someone we know from back home?”
“I guess,” she says and I groan because I’m already over this fucking game.
“It’s a yes-or-no question, Kylie.”
“Fine, then yes, we know her from back home,” she snaps out.
“Have I slept with this woman?” I close my eyes and silently laugh when she makes vomit noises.
“I’m going to go out on a limb and say no, but I’m really hoping you didn’t, or else it will be really fucking awkward for all of us.”
“Okay, I’m about done with this,” I bark. “Just tell me who it is, and what it’s going to cost us?”
“You really are no fun.” She snorts. “It’s not going to cost us anything. Well, it will cost us something if you hire her.”
“Hire her?” I repeat.
My phone pings with a notification and I look down to see Kylie just sent me an email. “Go read what I just sent you. I’ll wait here.”
“This must be really fucking good,” I say, pressing the email logo and then clicking on the one that has Kylie’s name on the top. My eyes go big and I sit up when I see Lexi’s name. I scan the email quickly before gasping out.
“That’s what I said,” Kylie says, her voice going loud.
“Did you call her?” I quickly ask.
“Yeah, sure, she sent it about four minutes ago and I already called her.”
“You need to call her.”
“I am going to call her; it’s just I don’t know what to say,” she backpedals, and I hear how nervous she is. “I’ve never had to hire someone.”
“Okay, how about you call her and set up a meeting, and I’ll go?”
“I don’t need you scaring her off,” she counters and now I’m the one rolling my eyes.
“I’m not going to scare her off,” I assure her and I’m not even sure of myself. “We have a connection.”
“You have a connection,” she repeats the words like she didn’t just hear them.
“Can you not fuck this up by doing something stupid?” she hisses out.
“Lexi single-handedly raised over ten million dollars for the hospital with two fundraisers. Can you imagine what we could do with that type of money?”
“I would never fuck this up,” I say softly. “This foundation means as much to me as it does to you.”
She waits a couple of minutes before she answers, “Fine. What do you want me to ask her?” She doesn’t even wait for me to answer. “Forget it, I’ll just wing it. I’ll call you back.”
“No,” I about scream out. “Don’t wing it!
” But she’s already hung up on me, but I still talk to the screen.
“Don’t wing it.” I grab the phone in my hand and shake it.
“You better not fuck this up, Kylie.” I toss my phone on the table and get up, going over to the fridge.
I pull it open and then close it before walking over to the pantry.
I step in and take a look around, and my stomach churns, feeling like I’m going to throw up.
I never in a million years thought she would reach out.
I had a plan to get her to work for the foundation.
The plan would be to bring it up to her in a couple of months.
That is after I finally convinced her to date me.
But this works out way better, but now I have less time to convince her to take the job.
The phone rings and I run back out, seeing it’s Kylie again. “Did you fuck it up?” I put the phone to my ear as I run my hand through my hair.
“If fuck it up means she’s going to meet you tomorrow at one to discuss what the job entails, then yes, I fucked it up.”
“Okay,” I reply, fisting my hand in the air and shooting it up to the ceiling. “Send me the details. Did you call and make a reservation?”
“Yeah, in three seconds since I hung up with her and called you back, I also called and made a reservation,” she retorts.
“Also, I’m not your secretary. My job was to get her to come to the restaurant.
Your job is to seal the deal.” She groans.
“And I don’t mean seal the deal by taking her back to your place and doing naked Twister. ”
I laugh at her. “I’m not going to do naked Twister with her,” I assure her, leaving out the yet or that I wish I could actually play naked Twister with her.
“Seriously,” she says softly, “I don’t know what happened between the two of you. But the rumors around the hospital about her were not good when I left.”
“Rumors around the hospital?” I sit down, my legs not sure they can actually continue to stand. “What rumors?”
“That she went crazy.”
“She didn’t go fucking crazy!” I practically shout into the phone. “That’s a bunch of bullshit.”
“I know,” she agrees. “There were so many different ones.” I fist my hands, ready to punch a hole in the wall.
“One of them was that she was traveling through Asia on sort of an Eat, Pray, Love trip. Another couple were that she found him cheating.” She laughs.
“That we all thought was for real since someone heard they caught him and some girl in the stairwell making out.” I close my eyes.
“Anyway, she’s obviously here now.” I don’t say anything else, my stomach tightening when I think of the lies that he no doubt started to save face. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“I won’t fuck it up,” I confirm. “Okay, I’ll call you tomorrow after I meet with her and give you the details.”
“Great. Also, I’m going with an ecru for the walls.”
“Great.” I smile. “That was the color I wanted you to go for, but was testing you.” She laughs. “You passed.”
“Good day, sir.” She hangs up the phone and I pull back up the text thread. I delete the text and start again.
Me:
It was great seeing you again. Thanks for the cinnamon roll.
I press send before I overthink it and make it more complicated than it has to be. I don’t think she’s going to answer me at all, and I’m definitely not ready for her to answer me right away.
Lexi:
It was great seeing you again also. Hope you warmed up the cinnamon roll, it’s better that way.
I look down, wondering if I should answer her when Jefferson comes back down and jumps up on the couch beside me.
She takes one look at me before turning and lying at the opposite end of the couch, away from me.
“She asked me if I warmed it. Should I answer her?” I ask Jefferson who just blinks her eyes closed.
“Solid answer,” I tell her. “I’ll answer her tomorrow in person. ”
I toss my phone to the other side of the couch before I do something even more stupid, like call her.
* * *
I pull in the parking lot with ten minutes to spare. Getting out of my black Land Rover with my phone and my keys in one hand, I walk into the restaurant, pulling open the door and seeing the hostess behind the stand smile at me. “Good afternoon,” she greets when I walk in.
“Good afternoon,” I reply, taking off my sunglasses. “I have a reservation under the name Make the Choice.” I smile at her as she looks down at the paper.
“For a party of two?” she asks me and I nod my head.
“The other party is already here,” she says, shocking me.
“Right this way.” She turns and leads me past the walk and into the restaurant.
Half the tables are filled and I do a quick scan of the room when I see her.
She’s sitting down, her head turned to the side, looking out the window.
She must feel me staring at her because she turns her head and spots me.
Her blue eyes go big as I get closer and closer to the table.
“Right over there,” the hostess says, stopping two tables before and holding out her hand to the table Lexi is sitting at.
I nod at her. “Thank you.” I make the rest of the way to the table with Lexi.
She is wearing a white button-down shirt with blue stripes.
The top three buttons are undone with a gold necklace hanging around her neck.
The long sleeves are pushed up to her elbows and I can see she’s wearing a gold watch with two Cartier bracelets.
“Lexi,” I say once I get to the table. She looks at me and the need to bend and kiss her lips is like the need I have for air to breathe. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
“Meeting with you?” she asks, confused, and then sits back in her chair. “Wait a second, are you Make the Choice foundation?”
I pull the chair out and sit down in it, placing my phone and keys beside me. “I am,” I confirm. I’m about to say something else when the waiter comes over and introduces himself.
“I’ll have a sparkling water,” I tell him and then look at Lexi. Holding my breath, I wonder if she’s going to get up and storm out. Maybe I should have told her it was me.
“I’ll have the same,” she tells him with a smile and waits for him to walk away before turning back to look at me. “I’m going to need you to explain this to me.”
“I will explain whatever you need me to explain, but then you have to tell me how you found out about us.”
“You go first.”
“Okay, we talked a little yesterday about my stepfather, and after playing hockey for years, I’ve wanted to start a foundation.
Something meaningful that I’ll have a hand in when it’s time to step off the ice for the last time.
I finally took the leap and hired Ms. Hayes.
” I use Kylie’s name, not sure I want to tell her she’s actually my sister.
She might think it’s a family business and not want to get involved.
“Now, you can tell me how you found out about us?”
“Ariella,” she says and I chuckle.
“Of course. She’s the one designing the office.”
“She is; she said they were looking for someone else,” she explains and stops talking when the waiter comes over and puts our glasses down with the bottle in the middle of the table.
“Have we looked at the menu?” he asks us and we both shake our heads. “I’ll give you another minute.” He walks away.
I wait for a second, reaching for the bottle and pouring some in her glass and then some in mine.
“Ariella is right,” I start. “We are looking for someone else. And I think you would be perfect for the job.” She doesn’t say anything, so I continue my pitch.
“I don’t know the full extent of your relationship with Trent.
And frankly, I don’t really want to know.
I saw what I needed to see. We need someone who has been there before.
We need someone who has compassion for what they’re going through.
We need someone who isn’t going to judge the people we’re helping because of their situation.
We need someone who can guide them through the most difficult time of their lives. ”
“Those are big shoes to fill,” she states, reaching for her water, and taking a sip before going on. “I don’t even know if I’m qualified for all of that.”
“I’m going to disagree with you on that,” I counter and her eyebrows shoot up.
“You took the biggest step of your life. You made the call. Many people don’t even take the first step.
You know what they feel, why they are feeling what they are feeling.
We are looking for someone to reach out to different organizations and become a liaison with them.
Then we get to find those who need the most help. ”
“I don’t know,” she says softly.
“I mean, there is no harm if you try it out. Maybe you won’t like it. Maybe we won’t like you,” I reply and she gasps, making me laugh. “Or maybe”—I lean in—“maybe we’re a perfect fit.”