“No, it was frickin’ brilliant. You have no inkling about how much everyone hates Kaia. I don’t think anyone has ever been brave enough to say ‘no’ to her. Then you pile it on by sleeping with her sister. Because of you, I think I made a few good friends last night.”
“I did it all for you,” I said to show how humble I was.
She slugged me.
“You’re such a dork.”
“I didn’t set out to let her sister seduce me. That just sort of happened.”
“You were thinking with your dick,” Brook said, as if it was the most natural and obvious thing in the world. I had to agree.
We both became quiet as we laid there in our own thoughts. Finally, she began to talk.
“I’m sorry I left. We’d planned differently, but I had to leave for my parents. It almost killed me when I decided. It isn’t fair to you, but you must realize that I never intended to hurt you, don’t you?”
“I’ve known that from the beginning, babe. Family comes first. It just happened sooner than we wanted.”
“Can you do me a favor? Can you not come to visit me?” she asked.
I had to admit that she was probably right. Coming here this weekend made me want to continue seeing her. It would be difficult, but we could find ways to visit each other now that we had our pilot’s licenses. I needed to get my instrument certification and would do that even if I didn’t come back to visit Brook.
Then I reflected on what I’d done with Lila. I wondered if, subconsciously, I had tried to sabotage my desire to continue seeing Brook. If it had been almost anyone other than Brook, banging another girl so publicly would be the last nail in the coffin.
“I shouldn’t have done what I did last night,” I said to apologize.
“Actually, I’m fine with that. I took it as a sign that you’d be able to carry on. I don’t want you sitting at home, worried about what I think. We need to make it a clean break for now so I can focus on school and my parents’ drama. If I have to face my feelings about how much I love you, it’ll be more than I can bear. If we can get past this and handle college, who knows what will happen in the future?” she said.
I was instantly transported to my conversation about ‘someday’ with Tami. If I hadn’t lived through that, I would have been shattered by Brook’s pronouncement. While it hurt, I knew that it was for the best. I was nowhere near ready to settle down. Luckily, Brook had seen that before I had and given me a reality check about our relationship while we were in LA. If she hadn’t done that, I would have been blindsided, and this would have been way too hard to face.
“I’ll leave it to you to deal with everything as you think best. Just know that I love you and probably always will. If you ever need anything, let me know,” I said.
“I love you too.”
◊◊◊
Once Brook and I had some closure, we both felt better. It still sucked that she had moved.
We walked over to her grandmother’s house for brunch. All of Brook’s extended family who lived close enough came each week for Sunday brunch. It was a nice tradition.
Her grandmother’s cook put on another excellent spread. Everyone encouraged me to try the Cincinnati chili. At first glance, I wasn’t too sure I wanted any. It was made with some unique spices not found in regular chili, including cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, bay leaves, and dark chocolate. It was served over spaghetti and topped with raw onion and smothered in cheese. When I first tasted it, I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I guess I expected it to taste like regular chili.
“It was brought here by Macedonian immigrants,” Grace explained.
Once I grasped that it wasn’t the version I was used to, I was able to appreciate it. I might not go out of my way to order it, but I ate a large helping nonetheless.
After brunch, Ava and Grace wanted a moment to talk about our business. We stepped into Grace’s home office for some privacy.
“The transition is going well, and we’ll be ready to start expanding in a couple of months. I wanted to pick your brain about who you know that might be candidates to be brought on board as wealth-management clients,” Grace said to explain the meeting.
“Are you expecting a list, or do you need me to reach out and talk to them?” I asked.
“I think if you gave us a list with your permission to mention your name, that might be enough. Would it be okay if we had them call you for your honest opinion if need be?” Ava asked.
“Would I need to disclose my ownership interest?” I asked.
Ava and Grace looked at each other. I knew that in my mom’s real estate business, they had rules that basically assured no harm to clients. To that end, she always said it was important to disclose everything that might impact a customer’s decision. Knowing that I would make money because I owned part of the company might be important. At the very least, it would alert them to my potential bias, even if I was sincere.
“Let us get back to you on that,” Grace said.
