Page 82 of For The Record

“And, I think it would be unethical to have a romantic relationship with my superior.” I’m rambling now.

He smiles, and the tension in my stomach disintegrates. “You could have quit three months ago, you know?”

“Maybe I didn’t like you then.”Maybe I wanted to stick around and find out.

“And now?”

“The jury is still out.”

“I guess we should do something about that since it’s our last day of having an illicit workplace romance.”

I laugh. “Why don’t we get out of here?”

Epilogue: Leo Perez

I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of my little sister.

After my emphatic whistling and clapping, Raina blushes and looks away from us in her graduation cap and gown, walking across the stage to receive her diploma. Since she’s pretending she doesn’t know me, I figure I’ve done a good enough job of the whole annoying older brother thing. I clap and whistle louder. Skye elbows me and says in a stage whisper, “You’re embarrassing her.”

" I know,” I say back, just as loudly. Two mothers with dirty blond bobs turn around to shush us.

Raina walks off the stage confidently in her Doc Martens. We sit through the rest of the ceremony in relative silence. Skye toys with her engagement ring, twisting the white gold band around her finger, the pearl and amethyst stones sparkling in the sunlight. I asked her to marry me a month ago when she started an architecture internship and she gave me a yes in between fits of crying and laughing. Shortly after, Naoya Sugawa also left Los Angeles for Japan to record an entirely J-Pop album, Alina Rostova left Volume and got a dream job of becoming a DJ, and the court found Antonio Perez guilty on several counts of sexual coercion and assault from other women who had worked with him over the years.

It was a good day for everyone. Though the lawsuit against Naoya, Mark, and Alina for stealing the song from Ryder Black fell through due to a lack of substantial evidence and the fact that Mark Leong had completely skipped town… I’m just glad it’s over.

Speaking ofglad it’s over, in a month the trial will be held for my parents’ killer, the drunk driver on Sunset. My fingers are crossed that justice will be served… but it’s out of my hands and in God’s, now.

My phone buzzes with five different work-related notifications I ignore. Alina has essentially been blacklisted from most of the music industry except a few seedy nightclubs, and her allegations against me dropped after some time with my lawyers.

So now, we’re busier than ever. Still, I find it easier these days not to get too caught up with work. My life almost feels too good to be true. The only thing that keeps me grounded is my wish that my parents were here to see it, especially on this day.

On my left side, Tia Flores fusses with her camcorder to make sure she properly recorded Raina’s walk across the stage. All our cousins have filled up at least five other seats around us to cheer my sister on as well as embarrass her more. A few of them even bought noisemakers from the party store, which they blow to her great chagrin.

Finally, the last graduate—Lily Zhang—is called and she walks across the stage. Then we all go to swarm my sister with photographs and congratulations and hugs. Sky passes her a balloon to pose with, gold with black letters. Our cousins engulf her with small gifts and trinkets, while our aunt begins crying, dabbing at her eyes with a floral handkerchief, saying something in Spanish about Raina being all grown up now.

There are so many photos I’m surprised no one is blinded by camera flashes or runs out of phone storage. When it’s over, I’m about to take Raina home, the one going off to their own duties, before meeting up again for dinner. Raina tugs at my sleeve like she’s a 5-year-old again, toddling after me and asking me to put on a clown nose for her entertainment.

“Wait… Isn’t Skye coming with us? She’s family too.”

Skye bites her lip. “I don’t want to intrude…”

“It’s not an intrusion,” Raina says, practically dragging Skye by the hand toward the car. “Come on. I want to talk about the wedding! My brother doesn’t even know the difference between a boutonniere and a bouquet.”

With all her excitement these past few weeks, you would think that she’s the one getting married. Thankfully, that’s definitely not happening for at least ten years. I roll my eyes. “I see that your high school graduation has suddenly made you a thousand times smarter than your older brother.”

“No, one thousand times zero is still zero,” my little sister deadpans, hopping into the passenger seat while Skye gets into the back.

“I got you a bouquet, hermana menor, don’t act like I can’t tell the difference,” I say, tossing my keys into the cup holder.

She hugs the pink roses to her chest, the cellophane crinkling, and falls silent for an eternity. Well, what passes for eternity to my sister, which is more like three minutes. “So, Skye, can I go with you to shop for your wedding dress?”

“Sure,” she says. “But I don’t know when that will be…”

The conversation evolves into chatter about centrepieces and veils and other topics I can’t keep up with. If I blink, almost being a young boy again, when my mother would invite her friends over for dinner. All the women’s voices flowing into conversations that I would never understand. They treated me like a trick pony or a pet dog, asking me to perform elaborate card tricks or sing songs for them. I never really minded, which is probably the reason I took up being a party clown in my teenage years.

When we reach the house, Raina practically flings herself out of the car before it’s fully stopped. Skye leans over to talk to me, her hand on the back of my seat. “You’re a good brother.”

I gather Raina’s things: Her graduation cap, her diploma, and her bouquet since she only ran into the house with her phone and the rose gold balloon that Skye gave her. “I try.”

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