“Yeah, I was just calling to invite you to my place for Thanksgiving dinner.”
I open my mouth then shut it. It takes me a moment to recover from my surprise because in all the years we’ve lived in the same city as adults, he’s never once invited me to Thanksgiving dinner, let alone hosted. I didn’t even know he could cook.
“You’re cooking?” I clear my throat, hoping to hide the surprise in my voice.
The sound of his laugh reverberates in my ear. “Hell no. I’m having it catered.”
“Ah, that makes more sense.” I walk down the street toward my apartment.
“There’s someone I’d like you to meet, and I figured Thanksgiving was as good a time as any.”
My stomach drops for a moment. “Oh my god, Finn are you dating someone special?”
Over the years, I’ve only ever met one woman my brother has dated and that was a chance meeting at a bar on St. Patrick’s Day. He has never, ever wanted me to meet someone before.
“You’re not going to make a big deal about this, are you?” His tone is eerily similar to Andrew’s at dinner and I’m getting a better idea of how the two of them might connect as friends. They both have that agitated lawyerness.
“How long have you been seeing her?” I stop at the corner when I spot Mrs. Hoffmeister smoking on the front stoop of our building. No doubt she’ll ask me to do something for her if I pass her. I might as well wait, see if she goes inside.
“Zahra and I have been together for about nine months.”
“Oh, love her name. So pretty. But seriously, Finn, how is this the first I’m hearing about it?”
He sighs and I picture him pushing his hand through his sandy-colored hair. “I didn’t want to jinx anything.”
Oh, she must be really special.
“You don’t say…”
“Cut the shit, Mac. Are you coming or not?”
I chuckle. “Of course I’m coming. Let me know what you want me to bring.”
“Will do. Oh, and you should know that Mom and Dad will be joining us too.”
The excitement I felt moments ago plummets to the ground like a dead bird splattering on the concrete sidewalk.
My brother quickly fills the silence. “C’mon, Mac. It’s not that big a deal. It’ll be fine.”
My parents and I have a complicated relationship, to put it mildly. I love them, they’re my parents, but growing up wasn’t easy.
“Are you sure you want to do that? What if they start fighting at dinner and Zahra is there?”
“I’ve already explained their dynamic to her. She’s prepared.”
I frown. “What are they doing in Manhattan anyway?”
“They’re at some conference down in Florida the week of and their flight home has a layover in Newark, so they figured why not just spend the night and come into Manhattan for Thanksgiving. They’re leaving the next day.”
Nice of them to mention to me that they were coming to town.
“Sure, I’ll be there. Listen, if Tessa stays in town, can I bring her along?” Normally I hang with Tessa on Thanksgiving, or if she headed home to Milwaukee, I’d join her.
“Sure, the more the merrier.”
“All right. Anything else?” I head toward the building now that Mrs. Hoffmeister has gone inside, waiting to see if Andrew has called my brother.
“Nope, that’s it.” I hear the smile in his voice. It’s nice to hear him happy. It’s obvious to me that he doesn’t know anything about who I had dinner with tonight.
“Okay, see you then. Looking forward to meeting Zahra.” I say her name in a singsong voice like a child.
“Don’t act like that when you meet her, okay?” He hangs up.
I smile as I slide my phone back into my bag. It’s about time my brother found someone he cares about. I hope one day I join him.
Chapter Five
Andrew
My fingers press on the bridge of my nose and I close my eyes. Darla, who shouldn’t be my legal assistant, must be taking the piss because no one can truly be this obtuse.
She’s already giving me that “please don’t yell at me” look, her hands growing shaky.
“What do you mean you told him to come back?” I barely manage to keep my voice even.
Her eyes widen and she shifts her weight from side to side. We’re about five seconds away from a meltdown. “You said you didn’t want to be interrupted.” Her voice is soft and shallow.
I let my hand drop from my face, inhaling deeply through my nose, trying not to be the monster she obviously portrays me as in her head. “You understand that it is your job to assist me, correct?”
She bites her bottom lip and nods. T minus three seconds now.
“In case it wasn’t clear, that means that when a messenger comes to drop off papers, you are to, at the very least, accept them. If you deem it necessary and important enough, interrupt me. If they aren’t time sensitive, you can wait until I no longer wish to be uninterrupted.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” The tears well in her eyes.
This is the exact reason she should not be my assistant. And she wouldn’t be if she wasn’t my boss Rick Simons’s fiancée’s cousin. Unfortunately for me though, Rick divorced his first wife to marry Bethaney, a woman twenty-five years his junior. Now Bethaney leads him around by his ballsac. Somehow, I got screwed in the deal and got stuck with Bethaney’s idiotic cousin Darla as my assistant.
“The messenger you turned away has papers that need to be filed with the court by day’s end. I suggest you track him down.”
“Yes, sir.” She rushes out of my office without a backward glance. At least she understood the urgency.
I should just chalk up today as a loss. It’s common knowledge that Mr. Berns, one of the three partners in the firm, is retiring next year. After Tom Harding’s big win yesterday, he’s definitely in the running to take Berns’s spot. Add in my complete disaster of a date with Finn’s sister last night and the past twenty-four hours have been complete shit.
Too bad it can’t be like that movie Groundhog Day and I can wake up and change the course of events.
If Darla’s not able to get those papers back for me, it’ll be my arse on the line, not hers. Out of the entire time she’s worked for me, this is by far her most egregious error.
Who sends a messenger away?
I can’t let this one ride. I have no option but to talk to Mr. Simons and explain how incapable she is. Maybe there’s a position somewhere else in the company for her. I don’t really care where she ends up as long as it’s not working as my right hand.
The thought of my right hand reminds me what I was doing this morning during my shower. Jacking off to the thought of Finn’s little sister, Kenzie, is bloody asinine after the events that took place last night. And makes me feel like a complete creeper, being that she’s my best mate’s little sister.
It’s confusing as hell, given that I couldn’t wait to get away from her last night. I mean, her long blonde hair has always been my preference on a woman, and her bright-blue eyes sparkle, and no male could miss her plump lips. Regardless, the woman is an overgrown toddler excited for Santa to arrive. What exactly did my subconscious find alluring about that?