by Perrin Briar
“It’s true,” Aaron said.
“What do you have to be worried about?” Cassie said. “The worst you’ll get is the rep that your stepsister is a total fox.”
“You’re so humble,” Aaron said, folding his arms.
“See?” Cassie said. “The king of all dorks. What was all that ‘sis’ stuff?”
“I thought we might as well get used to the titles, if that’s what we’re going to end up being anyway,” Aaron said.
“We can’t let our parents do this to us,” Cassie said. “I won’t allow it.”
“Sounds like they’ve already made up their minds to me,” Aaron said. “Anyway, what do you plan on doing, exactly?”
“I don’t know,” Cassie said. “But I’m going to do something. Are you in if we come up with a plan?”
Aaron was silent a moment, running the issue over in his mind.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m in.”
“Good,” Cassie said. She pinched her lips together between her index fingers. “Let’s think this through. We’ve got a dinner to go to tonight, did you know?”
“Mom might have mentioned it,” Aaron said. “So?”
“So, we’re going to make sure it doesn’t go well, capiche?” Cassie said.
“How?” Aaron said.
“We’re going to make sure we don’t get on well with each other’s parents,” Cassie said. “I’ll tell you everything my dad hates, and you’ll tell me everything your mom hates. That way, they won’t be able to stand us, and they’ll split up.”
Aaron thought for a moment.
“That’s actually not a bad plan,” he said.
“Of course it’s a good plan,” Cassie said. “It’s one of mine. Now, listen. The number one thing my father hates is this…”
13
Aaron didn’t think people his mother’s age could have boyfriends. They were either single or married. But yet here he was, appraising himself in the mirror, checking his tie was on straight to meet him.
It was important to make a good first impression, his mother had told him. She was obviously nervous. Aaron was too, though for another reason. He knew more about Bryan Angelo than he cared to. He only knew the things that made him angry and annoyed – Cassie refused to tell him what kind of person he was in a positive light – but in knowing his dislikes, Aaron could piece together the kind of man Bryan was. He was quick and to the point, not the type to waste time. He was someone of influence and expected to be listened to. Aaron let out a sigh. Despite his best efforts he already liked Bryan. But he couldn’t let that get in the way, not tonight.
Aaron descended the stairs and saw his mother. He froze, his breath taken away. She wore a long black cocktail dress with a million sparkles. She had her hair done up, her makeup sparse save for around her eyes, which had a complex arty design. She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her before.
“Well?” Zoe said. “What do you think?”
“You look good,” Aaron said.
“Only good?” Zoe said.
“You look amazing,” Aaron said, descending the final few stairs.
“That’s more like it,” Zoe said with a smile.
She bent down to straighten his tie.
“You look very handsome too,” she said.
“I know,” Aaron said with a shrug.
A car pulled up outside their home.
“That’ll be Bryan,” Zoe said. “I want you to be relaxed and your usual lovely self. Okay?”
“Okay,” Aaron said.
Though for him, it was impossible to be one without the other.
They approached the door. Zoe let out a deep breath.
“Aren’t you going to take my arm?” she said.
Aaron linked his elbow through hers. The doorbell rang. Aaron had never feared the sound so much in his life.
“Are you ready?” he said.
Zoe nodded.
“Are you?” she said.
No. But what choice did he have?
Aaron opened the door. A man stood on their front step with a bouquet of flowers. Aaron cast an eye over him. He had a square face, with wavy blond hair that hung limply across his forehead. He was tall and handsome.
“You look incredible,” Bryan said to Zoe.
He took her hand and kissed her on the cheek. It was weird for Aaron, seeing that.
“Thank you,” Zoe said. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Then Bryan turned to Aaron. Aaron didn’t know anything about suits, but even he could tell it was one of quality, maybe even tailored. It made his own look cheap by comparison.
Bryan’s eyes swept over him.
“You’re going to have to give me the name of your tailor,” he said.
Aaron smiled. He knew he wasn’t supposed to, but he couldn’t help himself.
“You must be Aaron,” Bryan said, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
He shook the hand. It was warm and soft, not the hands of his father which were always rough and worn. He was suddenly swept with emotion, and he let go of the hand. Judas.
“This is my daughter, Cassie,” Bryan said, sweeping his arm. “I believe you both already know each other from school.”
“Vaguely,” Cassie said.
She too wore a beautiful dress. Hers was made of a pink/purple cloth that highlighted her figure.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Zoe said to Cassie. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Cassie said without emotion. She did not return the compliment.
Then Bryan and Zoe looked at Aaron, waiting for him to do something. Zoe glanced at her arm he was holding. Aaron stepped forward and extended it to Bryan. It was a simple movement, but it conjured up all kinds of deep emotions in Aaron, chief among them a sense of loss.
“Thank you,” Bryan said.
Bryan and Zoe approached the stretch limousine parked in front of their house. Cassie joined Aaron, following behind their parents.
“My father’s a fan of tradition,” Cassie said. “I think all this stuff is over the top.”
Aaron shrugged. He actually quite liked it.
The limousine was at odds with the slightly battered vehicles parked along the street in either direction. Aaron thought he caught sight of more than one set of curtains twitching.
A pretty woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a smart jacket and chauffeur’s hat, opened the car door for them.
“Rosetta,” Zoe said, nodding to her.
“Miss Tate,” Rosetta replied.
Bryan broke his connection with Zoe and helped guide her into the car. He waited, and helped Cassie in next. Then he nodded to Aaron.
“After you,” Bryan said.
“Age before beauty,” Aaron said.
Bryan smiled and got into the car. Aaron followed. Rosetta closed the door behind them, and then moved around to the driver’s side door.
Aaron was rather enjoying being waited on hand and foot. He broke into a broad grin. He caught the glare Cassie aimed at him, and stifled his smile. He had to remember why he was there. He and Cassie were going to sabotage the evening. His insides twisted like a pit of snakes.
14
The façade of La Luna was beautiful, reminiscent of those old restaurants in small Italian country villages, the heart and center of the community. An archway trellis was covered with green vines. Heavy ripe zucchini hung overhead. A uniformed chef came out with a stepladder and chopped off a few, descended the squeaky stepladder, and returned to the kitchen.
Bryan shook hands with a few people he recognized as the family was shown to a private table. The waiter removed the ‘reserved’ sign and gestured for them to sit. They took their seats. Bryan helped push Zoe’s seat under her. Aaron was about to do the same for Cassie before she glowered at him. He sat down.
They picked up their menus.
“Well,” Bryan said, “what looks good?”
Bryan’s phone buzzed, the familiar rington
e coming from his pocket.
“Apologies,” he said.
He reached into his pocket and took it out. He looked at the caller ID out the corner of his eye, and Cassie could see he desperately wanted to answer it. She almost smiled to herself, leaning back in her chair as if waiting for the fireworks show to kick off. Zoe was frowning, just as Aaron had said she would. Mealtimes were family time.
“I forgot to turn it off,” he said.
“You can tell them you’ll call them back after dinner,” Zoe said.
“Okay,” Bryan said.
He answered the phone.
“Hello?” he said. “Yes, sorry. I’m eating dinner at the moment. I’ll call you back later. I don’t care how important it is. Call back in a couple of hours.”
He hung up and then turned his phone off. Zoe smiled at him and he smiled back.
The waiter reappeared.
“Would you like to order now?” he said.
“Yes,” Bryan said. “Zoe, what would you like?”
“I’ll have the vegetarian Bolognese, please,” Zoe said.
“Cassie?” Bryan said. “What would you like?”
Cassie’s eyes boggled. She had never ever seen him turn his phone off before.
Such was her shock that she had apparently forgotten the English language.
“Uh, uh, I’ll, uh…” Cassie said.
“Not decided yet?” Bryan said.
“No,” Cassie said. “I know what I want. It just all looks so good. I’ll have the special Stromboli and Sicilian-style pizza.”
“Very good,” the waiter said, turning to Aaron.
“And a large beef calzone and agnolotti pasta, please,” Cassie said.
“Woah,” Bryan said. “Are you ordering for all of us?”
“No,” Cassie said. “Just for me.”
“Are you sure you can eat it all?” Bryan said.
“I’m starving,” Cassie said.
“All right,” Bryan said, nodding to the waiter. “Aaron?”
“Hm,” Aaron said, peering at the menu.
“Why don’t you have the Bolognese?” Zoe said. “That’s your favorite.”
“We had it the other night,” Aaron said.
“How about the lasagna then?” Zoe said with a smile. “I hear it’s delicious here. It’s a signature dish.”
“Hm,” Aaron said, still pouring over the menu.
“Would you like more time to decide?” Bryan said. “I’m sure the waiter has other things to be doing.”
“It’s perfectly fine, sir,” the waiter said, eyes glancing toward the kitchen doors.
“While Aaron’s still looking,” Bryan said. “I’ll have the eight ounce ribeye steak, please.”
“Yes, sir,” the waiter said, making a note. “And the young gentleman?”
Aaron sucked air in through his teeth.
“Tricky,” he said. “Very, very tricky.”
Cassie glanced at her father out the corner of her eye. He had begun to drum his fingers on the table.
Aaron redoubled his effort, burying his nose in the menu.
“I think I’ll have…” he said. “No, wait. I’ll have the ice cream and brownie.”
“That’s for dessert,” Zoe said. “What about your main?”
“I thought I already said?” Aaron said.
“No,” Bryan said. “Not yet.”
“Oh,” Aaron said. “Wait a minute, I’ll try to find it again.”
Bryan’s jaw muscles clenched tight. Aaron ran his finger over the menu items again. Finally, he said: “I’ll have the lasagna, please.”
The waiter collected their menus and headed away, with a slight glare directed at Aaron.
“Can I say, what a pleasure it is to have you both here,” Zoe said. “To finally put a face to all the stories is truly an honor.”
“I swear they’re not true,” Cassie said.
“He’s only told me all the good stuff, don’t worry,” Zoe said.
Bryan raised his glass, and all the others joined him.
“To a long and happy life together,” he said. “Filled with adventure.”
Bryan reached for Zoe’s hand, and took it, gently, and held it. Zoe stroked his fingers with her thumb. Cassie noticed. Her eyes weren’t the only ones fastened to them. Aaron turned his head to the side like someone tasting something distasteful, and then turned away, eyes glancing up and catching hers. Cassie gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Showtime.
Cassie’s cell phone rang. She took it out and immediately answered it.
“Hello?” she said. “No, I’m not doing anything. What’s up?”
“Cassie,” Bryan said, an undertone of annoyance in his voice. “Hang up. Now. We’re having dinner.”
Into her phone, Cassie said: “Hold on a minute.” She turned to Bryan. “What?”
“I said, speak to your friend later,” Bryan said. “We’re eating.”
“But we’re not eating yet,” Cassie said.
“We’re about to,” Bryan said.
“So?” Cassie said.
“So, hang up now,” Bryan said.
“All right, all right,” Cassie said. Then, into her phone: “Hello? Yeah, really sorry but I’ve got to go. No, I’m out now with some… friends. Yeah. I’ll chat to you as soon as it’s over. See you. Bye.”
Cassie could see the annoyance on Zoe’s face, which had become hard and expressionless. She sipped at her glass of water in a tight grip. Mealtimes were family time. Ha!
The waiter came with their meals and placed them each in front of the guests. Cassie’s meals sat around her in a wide arch.
“I don’t know where you’re going to put it all,” Zoe said. “You’re so thin.”
“I take after my mother,” Cassie said. “A fast metabolism.”
“What subjects do you like at school, Cassie?” Zoe said.
“I’m not really a very good student,” Cassie said.
“Your father told me you’re exceptional at art,” Zoe said.
Cassie shrugged.
“I can see if work will let me bring you one of these days, if you like,” Zoe said. “You’ll love our graphic design department.”
Cassie heaped more chicken onto her fork.
“What do you say, Cassie?” Bryan said.
“About what?” Cassie said.
“Zoe’s kind offer,” Bryan said.
“Oh,” Cassie said, blowing onto her meat. “Thanks.”
Zoe pushed a vegetarian meatball around on her plate.
“Can I ask you a question?” Cassie said. “Why did you order vegetarian Bolognese? You should either eat meat or not eat meat, not eat something that looks like meat.”
“Bolognese without the meatballs isn’t really Bolognese,” Zoe said. “Just because I don’t like the taste of meat doesn’t mean I should miss out on the experience.”
Cassie pursed her lips and drank some of her cherryade. She looked at Zoe over the edge of her glass.
“So, how did you two meet?” she said.
“Well,” Zoe said, flapping her napkin as if preparing to tell an exquisite story. “We met when your father asked for an appraisal on a piece of land he was thinking about acquisitioning. You see, there’s this process of digging for minerals called fracking. How you do it is to aim a high-power hose at the land and blast through it with high-pressure water…”
Cassie ate her meal, keeping her eyes on her food and never once looked up.
“Cass,” Bryan said. “You should pay attention to someone if you ask them a question and they’re polite enough to answer.”
“It’s all right,” Zoe said. “I’m sure fracking isn’t exactly what a teenager would like to talk about.”
“No, go on,” Cassie said. “I’m listening. I’ll give you my undivided attention.”
“Okay…” Zoe said. “Well, it’s been in all the newspapers lately that fracking is dangerous to the environment and that it can cause sinkholes and earthqu
akes and all kinds of things.”
Cassie kept her eyes on Zoe, nodding, and cut at her food, never letting her eyes drop to her plate. She stabbed at a slice of chicken with her fork, making a screeching sound. Then she raised it up in front of her face and aimed it at her mouth, but missed, and touched her cheek. She tried again, and missed, this time dabbing some of the gravy on her nose. Still, she kept her eyes firmly on Zoe, who by now had noticed what was happening.
“Uh, you have something on your face,” Zoe said.
“On my face?” Cassie said. “Where?”
“On your cheek,” Zoe said.
“On my cheek?” Cassie said, reaching over with the fork, and poking herself on the wrong cheek.
“Now you have it on both cheeks,” Zoe said.
“Really?” Cassie said. “It’s hard to see without being able to move my eyes.”
“Cassie,” Bryan said. “How old are you? Four?”
Cassie smiled and wiped the sauce off her face.
“I’m just playing,” she said.
“You’re too old to be playing with your food,” Bryan said. “Sorry, Zoe. Why don’t you carry on with what you were saying.”
“No, it’s okay,” Zoe said, pointedly not looking at Cassie.
Bryan glared at Cassie, who had a small smile.
“How about you, Aaron?” Bryan said. “Do you have any favorite subjects at school?”
“History and biology,” Aaron said.
“Ah, a history buff, ay?” Bryan said. “What are you studying at the moment?”
“The civil war,” Aaron said.
“One of our key moments in our history,” Bryan said.
“And our bloodiest,” Aaron said. “Did you know an estimated seven hundred fifty thousand people died during that war? Back then it was about twenty percent of our whole population.”
“Freedom and development has its costs,” Bryan said.
“I’m not sure if there was much development,” Aaron said.
“What do you mean?” Bryan said. “We had to force ourselves out from under the yoke of King George III, to a king that had never visited our shores and never would. Why should we be beholden to anyone but ourselves?”
It was clearly a passionate subject for Bryan. Aaron didn’t bat an eyelid. He was too busy trying to recall the crazy comments he’d memorized from the web.
