“Oh,” I replied, giving him a tense smile. “Well, the students will love that. It was very generous of you to offer a job to a member of the graduating class. Whoever wins will be very luck to train under you.”
The last was said honestly. Maxime may be a selfish man and a shitty husband, but he was an excellent chef.
He nodded, much too confident to do anything but agree with my statement.
Maxime tapped a finger on the dimple in his chin, a habit that brought back memories that weren’t terrible.
“There is a young man, Brendan O’Malley, that I had the pleasure of meeting when he was traveling last year. I’ve heard that he is a contender for the job. This pleases me, as he was a very apt pupil.”
I had a crazy and overwhelming desire to snatch Brendan’s name off his lips. My stomach curled at the thought of them working together. Although I knew it would be good for Brendan’s career, the thought of my ex-husband and semi-current lover creating side-by-side made me uneasy.
I cleared my throat and tried to school my features, so as not to give away my feelings for this particular student.
“Yes, Mr. O’Malley is currently the top of his class. There is just one other student who is competing for the position, but if O’Malley wants it, I’m confident that he’ll get it.”
“Why wouldn’t he want it?” Maxime asked, his natural arrogance showing through. “Who would turn down a position in the best restaurant in the world?”
He sniffed at the thought.
I didn’t reply. My heart was pounding, my breathing hard, at the thought of Brendan taking the job. He’d said he wouldn’t, but now that I’d told him I didn’t want to see him anymore, what was stopping him.
“Well, Maxime, it was good to see you,” I lied, gathering my things and hoping he didn’t realize there was a reason I didn’t answer his question.
I’d made up a meeting earlier to escape from Brendan, and now I needed to get out of here. Away from the school, memories of Brendan, and the actuality of my ex-husband being on my turf.
I needed a stiff drink, and Ming … and to work out the confusing thoughts and mixed emotions that were tearing me apart.
“I was hoping we could have dinner, Chéri,” the man I used to love with all of my heart said with a charming grin. Unfortunately, that grin had ceased to work on me after the first time I’d caught him in bed with another woman.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I have a date with Ming.”
His lip curled, as I’d known it would at the mention of my friend. The two had never been fans of each other, and after she’d found out about his extracurricular love life, she’d threatened to cut off his balls with a meat cleaver.
“I guess I’ll see you later then.”
I nodded, not wanting to encourage his attempts to see me outside of school, then without another word, fled the office. Once I made it to my car, I shot Ming a text to see if she was working late or if she could meet, then got the hell out of there.
Chapter Twenty-Three ~ Brendan
I’d just gotten home, still reeling from the encounter, and subsequent dismissal, with Bronagh. I was itching for my guitar and heading in that direction when my phone rang.
“Shit,” I exclaimed, frustrated at the interruption, but picked up immediately when I saw my brother’s name.
“What’s up?”
“Hey, Bren,” Brady said, his voice sounding hurried.
“Yeah?”
“I just left Jake’s. They said Natalie’s missed her last three shifts, and they can’t get ahold of her.”
“Brady,” I began, knowing where he was going with this, “it’s not your business, brother.”
“I’m heading over to her place now,” he replied, confirming my fears.
“Don’t,” I warned. “If there’s shit going on with her husband, you don’t need to get in the middle of it. Why isn’t Jake or one of the girls going over there? Have they called the cops?”
“Don’t know,” Brady answered. I could hear his car door shutting in the background.
“Brady, stay out of it, man.”
“Can’t,” he replied. “I’m just going to make sure everything’s okay.”
Before I could try to talk him out of it, he hung up.
“Fuck,” I muttered, picking the keys I’d just laid down back up.
Visions of Brady getting into a fight with Nat’s jack-ass husband had me racing back out to my bike. The last thing he needed was to get hit with a charge. That wouldn’t help his dreams of becoming a cop, and the last thing I wanted was for him to miss out on his dream because he was playing hero to a waitress in a bad situation.
Hoping I remembered how to get to her place after the one time the guys and I had given her a ride home from the bar, I zoomed south, toward the trailer park at the edge of town.
Brady’s restored ’66 Malibu looked out of place parked a few driveways down from the dingy singlewide trailer, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he was still sitting inside.
I swung my leg over the bike, surveying the area as I walked over to Brady’s car, and tapped on the window.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I hissed when he rolled the window down.
Brady pointed toward Nat’s place and said, “They just went inside, looked like they were fighting.”
“So you saw her then?” I asked. “She’s alive?”
When Brady nodded I added, “Then we can get the hell out of here. That’s what you needed to know, right?”
Brady shook his head and I swore under my breath.
“I need to talk to her.”
He opened the door, shooting me a look when I made a halfhearted attempt to hold the door closed.
“Don’t do this … Think about the academy,” I said, making one last attempt to stop him, even though I knew Brady was as hardheaded as they come.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” he assured me. “I just want to make sure she’s good.”
Knowing I was going to have no success in talking him down, I figured the next best thing would be to have his back, and followed him to the front door of the trailer.
When we got closer, we could hear the shouts coming from inside.
“You stupid, good-for-nothing bitch. I’m so sick and tired of this place looking like shit. Quit being so fucking lazy and pick up a broom every once in a while.”
I could see Brady flinch at the words coming out of Natalie’s husband’s mouth, and put a hand on his arm in an effort to keep him from doing anything rash.
“I’m sorry, Zeke,” Natalie’s voice was whisper soft, so I had to strain to understand her response. “I just cleaned this morning, but I’ll do it again.”
A loud crash caused me to jump, followed by another, and another.
“Guess you missed a spot,” Zeke said. “I’m going to take a shit, and when I get back, this better be cleaned up.”
A door slammed, and Brady raised his hand to knock, but I stopped him before he could alert them to our presence.
“He’ll hear,” I whispered, then placed my hand on the door handle and pushed, hoping like hell Natalie was dressed, and didn’t scream to high heaven when she saw us coming inside.
The last thing either of us needed was to get arrested for breaking and entering, but after hearing the way Zeke talked to his wife, I was with Brady in needing to see that Natalie was okay for myself.
Brady peered around the door, and when I didn’t hear a shout, but rather Natalie’s soft voice, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Brady?”
My brother stepped inside and I followed right behind him.
“Brendan? What are you guys doing?” She came into view and I notice she had a death grip on the broom handle and was nervously looking over her shoulder, presumably toward the bathroom.
Brady kept his voice low and said, “Jake said you haven’t been coming to work, and no one could get a hold of you. We just wanted to make sure you were o
kay.”
“Oh.” Natalie’s cheeks were tinged with embarrassment when she replied, “I’m fine. Zeke’s just been needing me around here is all. Tell Jake I understand if he has to let me go.”
“Are you okay?” I asked, my eyes darting toward the back.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied, her voice shaky.
“Does he always talk to you like that?” Brady asked, his face hard with restrained anger.
Natalie shrugged and said, “He’s not so bad.”
“Does he ever … hit you?” I asked, feeling like I was overstepping my bounds, but needing to ask the question anyway.
Natalie shook her head.
“No, he loves me … He just works so hard, he gets upset when he comes home to a messy house. I’ve been working so much that I’ve fallen behind on my duties. “
“You don’t deserve to be treated that way, Nat; you should leave,” Brady said, leaning down to look her in the face. “We could help you.”
“I’m fine,” she said, her back straightening a bit, letting us know that she wasn’t beaten down yet. “You should go before he come out. He doesn’t like me talking to other men, and he wouldn’t take kindly to you being in his house.”
“You know how to get a hold of us if you need anything,” Brady said, making one last attempt. “Anytime.”
“C’mon, bro,” I said, tugging his arm, wanting to get the hell out of there before the shit really hit the fan.
He left willingly, and I looked behind to see Natalie closing the door behind us, her expression sad.
“Goddammit.” Brady hit the roof of his car, surprising me with the level of pissed off he was feeling. That car was his baby, and I’d never seen him lay a hand on her in anger before.
“Drink?” I asked, knowing he needed to talk, but wanting to get him the hell out of this trailer park before he changed his mind and confronted Zeke.
“Yeah.”
“Follow me,” I said, jogging to my bike and hopping on, hoping to expedite this process. I knew a little bar not too far from there with great Friday night Happy Hour specials, so I got us there as quickly as I could without breaking any laws, and clapped my brother on the back as we entered the darkened building.
“It’ll be alright, bro,” I said cheerfully. “Whatever you need tonight, I’m here for you … Just you and me.”
Brady was scanning the room, which was why he saw them before I did. It wasn’t until he said, “You sure about that?” that I looked up and saw Bronagh and Ming sitting in a corner booth.
This day just kept getting better and better…
Chapter Twenty-Four ~ Bronagh
“Two o’clock,” Ming said, causing me to look up from the label I’d been peeling in confusion.
“Huh?”
“Look at your two o’clock,” she murmured, shifting her eyes to the right.
“Ohhhh…” I replied with a slight laugh, finally getting it.
My stomach dipped when I looked over to see Brendan and Brady heading toward us. I wasn’t quite sure how to feel seeing Brendan so soon after our escapade in the closet, and the last time I’d seen Brady, he’d chewed my ass.
“Be cool,” I said under my breath, talking to myself more than Ming, then pasted a smile on my face, hoping the longing I was feeling didn’t show, and said, “Hey, guys.”
Brendan’s face showed a myriad of emotions. Tenderness, hope, and regret, before it turned blank and showed nothing.
“Hi,” Brendan said, his hand going up in an awkward wave before he shoved it in his pocket. “Um, Brady, you know Bronagh, and this is her friend, Ming. Ming, this is my brother, Brady.”
Brady didn’t say anything, just lifted his head in acknowledgement. His expression was tight and angry, and I hoped it wasn’t because of what happened between his brother and me.
I wasn’t ashamed to admit that Brady intimidated me a little bit.
“Hey,” Ming said, her voice funny. I turned to her, curious as to the squeak that had come out of her normally sarcastic mouth, but her attention was rapt on Brendan’s brother.
“Well, we’ll let you guys get back to it, I didn’t want to be rude and ignore the fact that you’re here, but we have some stuff to discuss. Talk to you later,” Brendan said, then turned and ushered his brother to the opposite side of the room.
“Gosh, should I be feeling this sad right now?” I asked my friend as I watched Brendan’s retreating back. “This is what I wanted, right?”
“I don’t know, is it?” Ming asked, her tone still strange. Almost flat.
“What do you mean?” I asked, hopeful that she would share some insight.
“Your words and actions aren’t matching up, Nonie. You say that you can’t be with him because he doesn’t want kids and you do, that it’s a deal breaker, but you obviously still have feelings for him. I think you need to dig deep inside yourself and ask if you’re making the right decision. I’d hate for you to miss out on something wonderful, because you think it’s the right thing.”
I watched Brendan quietly for a moment, letting my best friend’s words penetrate.
“Do you think I’m making a mistake?”
When Ming didn’t respond, I turned my head to see her watching the guys as well.
“Hey,” I said, hitting her arm to grab her attention. “What is going on with you.”
Ming turned her head and shook it, jet-back hair spilling over her shoulders.
“Sorry, it’s just … Tall, dark, and brooding…” she muttered, then looked at me with wild eyes. “He’s my kryptonite.”
A laugh funneled out of me, surprising me out of my melancholy, and I had to ask, “What are you talking about?”
“That guy is everything I’ve always fantasized about, always been attracted to, and always kept my distance from,” Ming explained. “The kind of guy my parents would hate, and would have me quivering like a desperate needy woman. I have to stay away from him.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, happy to have my mind on something other than Brendan and Maxime. “Brady is not your type at all.”
Ming nodded, then tossed back her cosmo with impressive speed.
“I know, he’s the exact opposite of the suits I usually date, and there’s a reason for that.”
“You’re telling me that you find him attractive?” I whispered that last part, as if I were afraid Brady had supersonic hearing and would storm over to give me another lecture.
Ming’s familiar “are you serious right now” expression crossed her face, and the manic woman of seconds ago was gone.
“Of course I find him attractive. A tall, dark-skinned man with perfectly coifed hair, working man’s hands, and a disgruntled attitude … What’s not to like?”
I thought about her question, then realized, nope, I still didn’t get it. Who would be attracted to grumpy?
“Ah, a lot,” I answered sarcastically.
“Do you remember our math teacher in tenth grade, Mr. Riley?”
“The one who was always mad at us for not liking math?”
“Yes,” Ming said, then shocked the pants off of me by saying, “I had a major crush on him.”
“Ewww,” was my response.
“And, Bill Condor…”
“The guy who lived in shop class and glared at everyone who tried to talk to him?”
“Yup. I wanted him to ravage me. It was my favorite fantasy in high school … actually, I still use it from time to time.”
I covered my ears as I laughed uncontrollably.
“Please … stop!”
“I’ve always kept it to myself, because I know what’s always been expected of me, but deep inside, the kind of man I want, that I’ve always wanted … is a guy like that.”
She tilted her head to the side, to indicate the direction that Brendan and Brady had went.
I put my hands on the table to cover hers and said, “Ming, if you like him, you should go for it.”
Ming narrowed
her eyes and shook her head once, decisively.
“I can’t. My parents would be disappointed, and he wouldn’t fit in to the life that I’ve made for myself.”
“Well, I hate to say it, but that sounds really stuck-up, Ming, and I’ve never thought of you that way,” My friend’s widened at the insult, so I continued, hoping to soften the blow. “What a guy does for a living shouldn’t be the determining factor of whether or not you can date him. And for crying out loud, I know your parents are important to you, and have always been strict, but you’re in your thirties now, and you can do what you want. If he’s what you want, you should go for it. Just because you go out doesn’t mean you have to marry him … Why don’t you give it a shot. Maybe you’ve built up his type so much in your mind, that you’ll be disappointed and can finally let the fantasy go … or, maybe you hit it off and find something you’ve always been looking for. Either way, at least you’ll know.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” she said softly.
“You are a strong, independent woman, and kick-ass lawyer. You can do whatever you want, Ming.” I assured her.
She gave me a small smile and said, “I’ll think about it.” Then shook her head slightly, as if she were shedding the sensitive side she’d just exposed, “Forget about that for now, let’s get back to you … You asked if I thought you were making a mistake, letting Brendan go?”
I nodded, my heart stuck in my throat, afraid that she’d say yes, but terrified that she’d say no.
“I can’t give you that,” she said, causing me to visibly deflate. “But what I can say, is that I’ve never seen you happier, and I like the way he treats you … That being said, you are the only one who can decide what’s best for you.”
I let my head fall to the table, banging it lightly on the wood as I muttered, “Why does being a grown up have to be so hard?”
Chapter Twenty-Five ~ Brendan
I rolled over in bed, flinging my arm wide and encountering empty space beside me. My eyes flickered open cautiously, conscious of the fact that the bright light streaming into the room was going to hurt.
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