The fourth guy stood by Ellie and Violet. He looked nervous. Cassie turned his attention to him. “Aren’t you going to go too?”
The guy shook his head. “I’m sorry about my friends’ behavior, ma’am. And I’m sorry, Ms. Kensington.”
“You can call me Violet.”
The man pulled out forty dollars and dropped it on the table. “This will cover the round. And I’m sorry again. I’ll leave now.”
“Wait, what’s your name?” Violet asked.
“Ken.”
“Well, nice to meet you.”
“And you too.” Ken put his hands in his pants pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels. “If you need anything, my shop is in Birch street and you’re more than welcome to stop by…” His voice trailed off.
“Well, thank you.”
“Goodbye, then.” Ken waved awkwardly at Violet, who waved back. When he finally left, she shrugged.
“That guy was totally into you.”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t into him. He didn’t defend me when those other guys were being assholes to me. I’m not going to settle for just anyone.”
“Good for you. Now let’s buy the next round.” Cassie held up the two twenty dollar bills into the air.
***
Violet nearly tripped on the curb next to her apartment building when she staggered out the limo door. The world was spinning and she swaggered back and forth into the lobby of her apartment. The security guard did a double-take when he saw the five-foot-nine woman with brown hair, still covered in grease from her morning’s work, giggling and leaning against the wall for support.
With the help of the security guard, the mechanic made it to the elevator and to the palatial penthouse suite that she occupied with her two brothers and the dozen staff members that they employed.
Violet pushed the door open and staggered into the foyer, cackling, and falling into various objects before she stumbled into an expensive vase and knocked it over in the process. The sound was definitely audible to all the surrounding rooms of the penthouse suite.
“Woops!” She said out loud before stumbling over and laughing.
Rosemary, the elderly maid, rushed into the foyer, clad in a flannel nightgown and armed with a broom in hand. When Rosemary saw the Violet, she dropped the broom and placed her hand to her chest.
“Good heavens. I thought you were an intruder.”
“No, just me.” Violet responded before falling into one of her giggle fits.
“Have you been drinking?”
Violet nodded and then burst into laughter.
“I’m surprised at you.”
The door to the foyer swung open and an out-of-breath Edric arrived at the scene. His brown hair was sticking out in all sorts of directions. He looked completely disheveled. She knew that her younger brother just woke up from a nap on the couch—an activity that he swore that he never partook in. She never quite understood his aversion to rest.
“Rick!” Violet said before the giggle fit overtook her one more time.
“Violet? Are you drunk?”
“Yes!”
Rosemary and Edric exchanged glances.
“Rosemary, I can take care of this. You can go back to bed.”
“Let me at least take care of the vase on the floor.”
“I got it.” Edric stooped over and picked up the broom and swept the glass shards into a neat little pile while Rosemary walked out of the room. By the time the man finished assembling his pile of ceramic pieces, his maid returned with a dustpan and a brown paper bag. “Thanks.” He mumbled as he pushed the shards into the glass bag. Rosemary took the bag from his hand along with the brook and the dustpan.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Rosemary.”
With that, the elderly maid finally waddled off back to bed.
Edric crossed his arms and looked down at his sister.
“So, how was your night?”
“It was a ton of fun! Cassie and Ellie are the best.”
“Follow me to the kitchen.”
“Okay.”
Edric grabbed hold of his sister’s arm and gently guided her through the various rooms and hallways over to the main kitchen. He pulled a chair out and guided the mechanic right next to it. She plopped down on the chair and leaned forward onto the table.
Edric muttered curses as he rummaged through the refrigerator and the cabinets. He returned to the table with a bag of chips, two bottles of water, and two electrolyte-refreshing drinks and dumped them out on the table.
“You’ve never been drunk before. You’re going to want to stay hydrated and sleep on your side.”
Violet laughed and nodded her head. Finally, Edric sat down on the table across from his older sister and looked at her. “So, what did the three of you do tonight?”
“Well, Cassie found this bar that a lot of mechanics go to so she took Violet and I.”
“Did you meet any new people?”
She rolled her eyes. “This bunch of assholes who started hitting on me but then Cassie beat them at billiards and they left the bar but bought us tequila shots before they left so yeah and no, I met new people.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I take it that contributed to your current state.”
“Tequila’s really strong.”
“You’re going to have a hangover tomorrow. I hope you at least sprung for the good stuff or you’re going to feel it.”
“There are different levels?”
“Of course, I thought you knew.”
“How would I? I don’t even drink.”
“Who paid?”
“Cassie and the jerks.”
“Then it’s the cheap stuff.”
Violet groaned.
“If you stay hydrated it’ll lessen.”
She groaned again.
“What else did you all do?”
“We chatted. And we finally got Ellie to do karaoke. Highlight of the night.”
“Really?” Edric said in disbelief. “And how did that happen?”
“Alcohol and peer-pressure. Man, that girl can sing. I mean, really sing.”
“You shouldn’t coerce her like that.”
“Well, look at you: defender of Ellie Kent.”
Edric ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and sighed.
“Look, just don’t get her drunk and make her do things.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was all Cassie, I swear.” Violet waved her hand dismissively. “But it’s good that she did pressure Ellie into karaoke because she really can sing but she’s too shy to do it, you know? Well, you know how Ellie’s shy. Gotta push that girl out of her shell.”
Edric sighed again. “Well, it was wrong.”
Violet could tell that he was irritated—her brother was an open book to her.
“What else did you all do?”
“Hmm.” Violet cocked her head to the side. “We chatted. Cassie humiliated the creepy guys who were hitting on me. We convinced karaoke to do Ellie. I mean, Ellie to do karaoke. And then we chatted some more and then I got the limo to drop Cassie and Ellie off at their home and then I came home.”
“Do you think they’re okay? Cassie and Ellie, I mean?”
She laughed. “They’re fine. Cassie’s like, mostly sober because she drinks all the time and Ellie was fed rat poison or some weird shit growing up so a little bit of liquor isn’t going to do much to her.”
“Eleonore was fed rat poison growing up? What do you mean?”
“Oh shit.” Violet grimaced. “I said too much. It’s just something that Cassie said to me in confidence. Forget I said anything—Cassie told me to keep it on the down-low and I know Ellie wouldn’t be too thrilled with you—or even me for that matter—knew about that.”
Edric bit his lip and look down at the ground. “So, what happened?”
“Look, I’ve said too much. Just forget it. I’m not saying anymore.”
“I’m not going to just forget that.”
/> “Well, I’m not telling you, nor’s Cassie, and Ellie certainly won’t.”
He frowned.
“I don’t see why you even care.” Violet said.
Edric leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs and arms. “I don’t. I was just curious, that’s all.”
“Sure. You keep telling yourself that.” Violet stood up from her seat and yawned dramatically with her hands stretched above her head. “I’m exhausted. I’m going to bed.” She said while sauntering out the room, swaying back and forth.
“Remember to stay hydrated and sleep on your side!”
***
Ellie slunk into the office at eight-thirty sharp. She spent extra time getting ready that morning to cover up all the outward signs of her hangover. She felt a little sick and a little tired but nothing that she wasn’t used to.
When Edric looked up at Ellie and smiled, Ellie blushed—she could tell from his smirk that he knew that she was very hungover.
“Good morning, Mr. Kensington.”
“Good morning, Eleonore. And how are you this morning?”
“Um. I’m doing w-well.” Ellie stammered. She tucked a strand of white hair behind her ear. “I’m meeting with Mary to plan the party today at eleven. I woke up early this morning to look up some caterers and to plan a menu—I wanted to float some ideas by her so I’ll have that part taken care of by tonight.”
“Overcompensating much?”
“Pardon?”
“Your hangover?”
“I’m still able to work and perform my job adequately, Mr. Kensington.”
He chuckled. “I believe you, Eleonore. You don’t have to put up such a strong front though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that you had five shots of tequila and sung karaoke last night. And here you are acting like nothing has happened and it’s business as usual.”
“I don’t want to have my personal life interfere with my job. Besides, the human body can take a lot.” She smiled at him.
Ellie noticed that Edric was staring at her intently. He looked a little sad; his square lips were pulled into a light frown. She bit her lip and looked around nervously.
Oh God. I can feel him silently judging me. Am I not performing my job well? Do I look weird? Ellie fidgeted with her hair and blushed. He was still looking at her.
“What do you mean that the human body can take a lot?”
“I don’t understand your question.”
“Oh, the way that you said it made it seem like you had some kind of personal knowledge, that’s all.”
Ellie merely shrugged. She didn’t blush this time. All she did was avert her eyes to the ground and frown. She wondered what she could have done to get him to think that of her. “I know what I said to give off that impression but you’re a bit off-base.”
He leaned back in his chair and brought his hand up to his face and bit his lip—his thinking position.
“I’m sorry to pry.” Edric finally said. “Your business is your business and that’s it. But if you have an issue that needs to be raised, I am a person that can help.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kensington. But I’m fine. Really.”
Ellie flashed him a smile. She knew that her smile was fake and, judging by his worried expression, so did he.
Chapter Twelve
Organizing the gala was one of the more stressful tasks that Ellie had undertaken. With each job she completed, two more seemed to pop up. When she finished finding caterers and bartenders, she then had to find security personnel and limos and cleaners and organizers and musicians. The tasks were never-ending. Fortunately for her, Edric gave her an unlimited budget—she was to pull out all the stops for this event.
She arrived at work earlier and stayed later. The young woman found herself at the office from eight to seven these days, with an hour lunch break to check up on and walk Spots. There was just so much work to be done and Ellie always felt guilty leaving the office while Edric was still working. She hoped that he felt similarly—the two usually left at around the same time.
Two weeks out from the event, Ellie managed to put together a guest list of about four hundred people—investors, celebrities, journalists—all eager to attend. The gala was looking like the event of the year; it was the place that all the people in the know wanted to be.
Ellie stared at the confirmed list and tried to memorize each name and face along with a fact about them. That way she could relay the information to Edric at the gala, if need be. She knew this step was overkill, but she was never one to leave things to chance.
The white-haired woman yawned and rubbed her eyes. Staring at a computer screen all way was starting to make her vision even worse. She looked up at the ceiling, blinked a few times, and then stared at the screen again.
“Why don’t you go home? It’s four.”
“No. I still have a lot of work to do.”
“Do you want me to pull the boss card and make you go home?”
“Only if you want your gala to be a mess.”
“I’m sure it’s fine. And Mary—”
Ellie’s cellphone rang. She immediately pushed the button to silence the call.
“After all this work, I don’t want your product launch to go sour. So much depends on this.”
“Well, don’t psych—” The phone rang again. Edric cursed under his breath. She pressed the button to silence the call again.
The young woman turned bright-red. “Sorry…”
“Are you going to get that?”
“It can wai—” The phone rang for the third time. Ellie finally picked up her phone and examined the caller ID—the call was from her sister. “It’s Cassie.”
“Well, you can’t keep her waiting or you’ll never hear the end of it.”
Ellie smiled at her boss and placed the phone to her ear.
“Cassie! How are you?” Ellie cheerfully asked. She was always happy to hear from her sister, as silly as it sounded, seeing as the two women lived together.
“Ellie, you might want to sit down.” Cassie responded. Her tone sounded severe. Ellie immediately picked up on this. The smile was wiped from the young woman’s face almost instantaneously.
“What happened?”
“It’s Spots…”
Ellie’s heart began to race and her hands began to shake. “What happened to Spots?”
“I was trying to bring in groceries and the door was ajar and he slipped out and I tried chasing him but he got hit by a car. I’m so, so, so, sorry, Ellie. I tried to catch him but I couldn’t get there in time. I’m sorry.”
“Spots is dead?” Ellie’s voice cracked. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Once she remembered that she was in the office, she cleared her throat and quickly wiped the tears away, in hopes that Edric wouldn’t notice.
“No, he’s not dead. He’s at the vet. It’s not looking good though. The only chance he has is a four-grand surgery and we just don’t have that kind of money. We’re going to have to put him down. I’m sorry. You should go and see him. He’s with the veterinarian on Birch Street.”
“Okay.” Her voice cracked. “Bye Cassie. I love you and it’s not your fault a-a-and I’m not mad.”
Ellie could hear Cassie exhaling from the other side of the phone. “Thanks. And I’m sorry.”
“I love you, Cassie. And I’ll see you at the vet.”
“I love you too, Ellie. And I’m so, so, sorry. I know how much Spots meant to you. I’ll see you soon.”
***
Ellie fumbled with her phone and finally shut it off. She looked up at the ceiling. Edric could tell that she was trying to pool her tears to prevent them from falling. If a stray tear did escape the pool, the young woman wiped it away quickly with the heel of her hand.
Edric had no idea what to do as he watched his assistant silently cry. During Ellie’s phone conversation with her sister, Edric tried to look at his work to pretend that he didn’t notice her crying so he could give her the feeling
of privacy. When her quiet sobs became more audible, he couldn’t just pretend that she wasn’t crying anymore—the cries were too obvious.
Edric silently panicked. When Violet and Owen were upset, he knew how to comfort them. Violet usually just needed to hear some words of encouragement and Owen needed a good laugh. But Ellie was a mystery to him. A mystery that was fumbling around her desk, sobbing, and looking for the cell phone that she just placed down right in front of her.
“What’s wrong, Eleonore?”
Ellie shook her head. “I-I’m okay.” She choked out. She grabbed her cell phone, put it in her bag, and then stood up quickly. “Um. I-I’m sorry. I need to go take care of a personal matter.”
“Eleonore, tell me what happened.”
“I’m sorry.”
Great job, Kensington. Way to ask the question in the worst way possible.
“What happened, Eleonore.” Edric asked in a softer, more tender, tone.
“Spots…Spots…got hit by a car!” Ellie clearly couldn’t contain her tears any longer. The end of her sentence sounded more like a wail than an actual word. “I’m sorry.” Ellie mumbled into the palm of her hands.
“His death was probably quick and painless. I can get you a new dog, if you want.”
She cried harder and shook her head. “No! Spots is special…I don’t want another dog. And…and…he’s in pain!” Ellie choked out before burying her head in the palms of her hands.
Edric’s heart broke. His attempt to comfort Ellie was turning into a total disaster. Much more than he anticipated. He signed and leaned back in his chair, trying to think of all a new approach to get her to stop crying. Even though Edric Kensington knew how to create incredible technology, found and run a multi-billion-dollar corporation, and fly a helicopter, he didn’t know the first thing about comforting his assistant.
Ellie stood up and paced around her desk.
“What do you need?” Edric asked in the kindest tone he could muster.
“My keys.”
Edric sighed. Ellie’s vision wasn’t the best to begin with and the tears in her eyes probably made it harder to see the giant set of keys sitting right atop her desk. The CEO stood up, walked over to the desk, picked up the keys, and handed them back to her.
A Sibling's Dilemma Page 14
