Page 19 of Only the Small Bones
“Who’s Malcolm?” My voice was a little too loud and panicked when I marched into the kitchen. The warning masked as a question was for her, but my eyes were on Ryan. His body language told me nothing and he went back to cutting the potatoes. I worked on keeping my expression respectful, whileshowing my displeasure as I turned to my mother. She answered with a knowing look.
She wouldn’t have said anything private, anything I wouldn’t want her to. But sometimes what seemed innocuous to one person, could be the missing piece to someone else’s puzzle. Ryan had enough to deal with. He didn’t need someone else’s traumatic childhood baggage added to his plate. At least not certain parts of it.
“William,”she stressed, before adopting her usual carefree tone again. “See,” she said to Ryan, patting my cheek in reassurance before heading for the oven, “I told you he’d be in here any minute now asking for an ETA on dinner.”
“Hey, I haven’t asked,” I feigned offense, keeping my eyes on Ryan. He seemed intent on keeping his off of me. “But now that you mentioned it…”
My mother laughed, basting the chicken before shutting it back into the oven. “Soon you heathen. Now go set the table and…” she looked at my casual attire, “get dressed for dinner.” She winked, knowing I’d had every intention of sitting at the dinner table like this before seeing Ryan all dressed up.
“Now, let’s get those potatoes in the water,” she said to Ryan as I backtracked the way I’d come and went into the dining room.
Rummaging through the buffet drawers for the utensils and fancy dishware, I made fast work of getting the table set before taking a quick shower and changing. My phone rang as I’d been about to head back to the kitchen. It was the concierge desk letting me know I had a visitor.Xavier. Shit.
I gave the okay to send him up, clicking the module that would unlock my private elevator before hurrying into the vestibule to wait for him.
“Hey, I was going to call you,” I started, jumping right into damage control as soon as the elevator doors opened. He’d likelyseen the email to Mihaela, and would soon realize my mother was here for dinner. The dinner he was potentially supposed to be invited to.
“Were you?” he asked in a cynical tone. “How dare you decline an offer that big without consulting me first. What the hell is going on with you, William?”
“Will you lower your voice,” I hissed, peering over my shoulder at the ajar apartment door.
“Sorry.” He continued in a less hostile, hushed tone. “Foxhound Studios? This is a big deal. Why would you lie about a conflict?” He sounded as if he truly wanted to understand. He always sounded like he wanted to understand me.
“I can’t drop everything and fly off for a meeting. Not right now. I have obligations here.”
Xavier glanced at the door, knowing exactly what I meant by obligations. KnowingwhoI meant. “What about me, William? For fuck’s sake, what aboutyou?” He flung a hand in my direction.
“I’m fine.”
He’d been referring to my dreams, to the ambitions I once had, not my wellbeing. Those dreams and ambitions were only there to facilitate the ultimate goal, though. Freedom Fighters would always come first. He couldn’t understand that, because he didn’t know why.
“Look at where you came from, and look at where you are now. You overcame hardships and adversity to get here, and yet you sometimes treat this like it was easy. Like you can take or leave it.”
I didn’t come from a life of money and privilege. I grew up in a single parent household in a crime infested neighborhood. I had to work twice as hard, be twice as good as some of the other applicants vying for a coveted spot at Berklee College of Music.All things he’d heard me say in an acceptance speech. Acting as if none of that mattered now seemed to offend Xavier.
“Look, I’ll give Mihaela a call. You know she hasn’t gotten back to them yet. She’ll try to twist my arm before turning the studio down. I’ll agree to a virtual meeting, and if the terms sound alright, I’ll negotiate for you to take the lead on this.”
Xavier’s mouth parted in surprise. “You would do that?”
“I would.” No reason for him to suffer because of me, and he’d been working hard for a chance like this. He deserved it. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” he said with confidence. He wasn’t, but I’d help him as much as I could.
“You’ll need work on your—”
“I will. I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
He looked at me as if I’d hung the moon, and I felt like I’d done something good for once in my life. I also felt guilty because of what else lurked behind his smile. Something intimate I couldn’t return.
Xavier sniffed the air, his lighter disposition faltering. “Have they invented chicken flavored waffles?” he asked with a dose of sarcasm.
“Oh, ah…” I looked at the door again. “My mother’s cooking dinner. That’s also why I’d been about to call you. Because you were invited.”
Xavier folded his arms. “Would’ve been nice to be told I was invited.”
“I could’ve sworn I told you already. Did you not get my message?”
