Page 27 of Rules of Association

“To what do I owe the pleasure, dear sister? Or did you just need a caffeine fix?” Mattí asked, leaning an elbow against the table beside him.

Chewing my lip, I took a glance around just to make sure no one else was here to see me beg. Then leaning in, I whispered, “I need a job, Mattí.”

I watched as his eyebrows rose and I didn’t quite appreciate the look of concern that crossed his face. Standing up straighter, he asked, “Why? What’s wrong?”

I glared, “Does something really have to be wrong for me to ask for some work?”

“Yes.”

“You’re an asshole,” I mumbled into my coffee.

He smiled. “Not the way you want to be talking to the guy you just asked for a job.”

“You’re even more of an asshole if you’re thinking about milking this,” I said. “C’mon Mattí, I only want to get my feet wet. I want to see what you do, set me up with one of your things.”

“Things?Do you even know what I do, Ceci?” He reached forward to steal a sip from my coffee cup but recoiled after one taste and promptly returned it to me. Forgetting he’d made it extra sweet like I like it,he moved to pour his own cup with no sugar instead.

Nodding enthusiastically, I answered, “Of course I know! Everyone knows you’re like a pimp! But for businesses and shit.”

He spit coffee out in a laugh.

“Ceci,” he chuckled. “Don’t do that when I’m drinking.”

“What, talk?”

“Be ridiculous,” he clarified.

I grinned and moved to grab him a napkin. Truthfully, I didn’t know what he didexactly. I knew he liked investments and I knew he was passionate about the hospitality business. Other than that, I was stumped.

“I know you do a lot,” I said seriously. “And I do nothing. I thought we could strike a good balance. So put me to work,please.”

He looked at me skeptically but took the offered napkin and wiped his face. “And you expect me to find you something to do, why? To entertain yourself?”

“No, tohelp me, Mateo. I know you’ve talked to mom and dad lately,” I said, my gut rolling over when I thought about them all talking about me. Discussing me like I was some kind ofotherto be handled. The way he averted his eyes confirmed it.

“So what’s the big deal?” He shrugged. “You work at the company for a few years and then you do something else. We all do it. It’ll be fine.”

“No,” I said definitively. “I may not know much, but what I do know is that Ireallydon’t want to work at the company. The thought of it makes me itch.”

He scoffed, “The thought of any responsibility makes you itch.”

Contrary to what my family thought of me, this wasn’t true. In middle school when we had a class Iguana, I had no issue being named “ranger” and taking on the primary responsibility of making sure the giant lizard didn’t kick the bucket. In high school when my mom’s dad had gotten sick, I had no problem taking responsibility for running the house while she was gone and Ox was away at school. And in college when that horrible sorority my sisters made me join finally decided to do something interesting like volunteering for an animal shelter, dare I say I was the most responsible of those prissy little stuck ups. Keeping everyone on schedule and engaged even when morale was way down after they learned they have to clean the cages.

The problem wasn’t the responsibility, although I could see why my family thought so. Being the youngest of five I was only ever responsible for what Imademyself responsible for. They’d all become so accustomed to taking care of me as we grew up that they never really stopped, and neither did I. For me, the problem was interest. If I liked it, I did it and if I didn’t, I’d always have someone else to do it for me.

Spoiled brat. My mom had muttered. Playful as she’d been, I guess she was right.

“So, are you going to help me?” I asked. And what did Mateo, my fun loving, up-for-anything brother do? He looked at me with a grimace on his face. Was I reallythatuntrustworthy? “Please, please, please Mattí?”

“Alright, alright,” he said. I could tell by the little smile playing on his lips he wasn’t too hard-pressed about the idea. “Any preferences on what you want to do?”

I shook my head animatedly, just excited he was conceding. Even if this turned out to be a bust, it brought me one step closer to knowing what I wanted. In front of me, Mattí’s smile widened. “You’ll doanything?Really?”

Holding an arm up I displayed my covered wrist, “Just as long as it doesn’t damage the real estate any more. This actually hurts a surprising amount.”

“Yeah, I bet, when you’re not hopped up on drugs,” he laughed.

“You could tell?”

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