Page 9 of The Wrong Brother

“That’s all for now, Ms. Brookner.”

I turn to the Withering’s, shaking both their hands. “It was lovely to see you again. I’ll speak with you shortly.”

Mrs. Withering stands up as I’m leaving, “Catherine, may I walk out with you? The men still have some things to discuss.”

“Of course.”

She links her arm with mine and I have to slow my pace to match hers. I have a lot of work to do to prepare for this surprise meeting but not so much that I can’t spare her a few minutes.

“It really is wonderful to see you again. When we saw your name on the employee roster there was no question for Bob or me that you were the one to handle our accounts. We know you have a good head on your shoulders. We trust you. And, at the risk of sounding pompous, we’d like someone like you to benefit from our business.”

“Well thank you, Mrs. Withering. I appreciate that. Handling an account of this caliber means a lot at this stage of my career. I’m very grateful that you thought of me.”

“Please, dear, call me Helen. There is one other thing, now that I see you.” If I had spidey-senses, they’d be tingling. This feels like trouble. And not the spontaneous, this only just occurred to me variety. “All of that business back at UH was…unpleasant. I can appreciate that you didn’t want to share the details of your falling out,” she pauses as if she’s waiting for me to supply answers but there’s no way I’m doing that. “Anyway, it wasn’t the first time such trouble arose but it was the last. We made sure of that. I’m glad to see you’re doing so well. We’ve missed you. I mention it because our Pressie is getting married in a couple of months. As an old friend and now as our newest employee, so to speak, it would mean so much to Bob and me if you would come to the engagement festivities we have planned. Just a little sailing trip and dinner at the house. It would be so special to have you there, during the day, and there will be a lot of big business guys, friends of Bob’s, at the dinner that night. I think it would be very good for you. You could make some contacts as our CPA. Please, Catherine, tell me you’ll consider it?”

She’s describing my own personal hell. But she’s a genuine, sweet woman who thinks she is doing something kind. I can’t tell her what kind of person her daughter actually is and I can’t let my social anxiety rob me of such a big networking opportunity. I smile at her, the stretching of my cheeks feeling false and weird.

“I’ll consider it. You can send me the invitation and I’ll look at my calendar.” She squeezes my fingers, beaming at me. “Well, here’s my office. I’ll see both of you for our appointment in a little less than an hour.”

I close myself in, scrambling to pull up our contracts and reading over the email waiting for me in my inbox that covers their business information. I’m printing out the final form when there’s a knock on my door. Mr. Withering opens it, grinning broadly.

“Long time no see!”

I force myself to smile at the joke, pointing him towards a chair and waving Mrs. Withering in. Behind her is the last person I expect to see. Certainly the last person Iwantto see. Connor Jennings. My ex. He follows her in and at least has the decency to look embarrassed, a deep blush showing through his golden tan. His blonde hair is cut close and combed to the side, almost exactly like Mr. Withering’s. He’s a little soft, but maybe that’s an unkind comparison to Rafferty’s rock-hard body. Whatever. He sucks, soft belly and all.

“Here’s the manager of our newest venture and future son-in-law, Connor!”

He puts out his hand to shake mine and I’m forced to touch him. Bleck. I sit down in my chair, not giving him more than a cursory glance. “I guess you’ve met Connor before, though, haven’t you? Since he and Pressley dated at UH?”

Right.That’s how I methim.

“Mmhm,” I cut him off. “Let’s get to it. I have your proposal here and the contract to go along with your requests. You have indicated that you want me to handle account reconciliations, generating income statements and balance sheets, and tax planning but no preparation. If Mr. Jennings is going to be overseeing all of that, he can be the point person to send things on to me. I sincerely hope a large part of our working relationship will not be me trying to hunt down receipts and such. I’m sure, Mr. Withering, that you know better than most how important a tight rein on your accounts is to be profitable.”

He nods emphatically and I glance at Connor out of the corner of my eye. He looks a little grey. Something tells me he got this job because of Pressley. I hope, for the Withering’s sake, that he’s up to the challenge. I’m not going to let the fact that I loathe him affect how I perform my job.

We go over the details, papers are signed, and they leave happy. I, thankfully, do not have to exchange any words with my cheating ex and can concentrate on doing the best job possible on the biggest account I’ve ever been given. If nothing else, this can be the good that comes from having my heart broken in college.

7

rafferty

“Raffie, please say you left Prince Kuhio Day open,” my mom blurts out the moment I answer the phone.

“Of course, you said you needed help in the gardens. Meens and I are going to carpool.”

“Thank God! I swear I told your brother too but he just canceled on me so he can take Catherine out on a day date. Can you believe that? Day date. What’s wrong with dinner? I think he did it on purpose to get out of manual labor.”

She keeps talking but I’ve lost track of what she’s saying. Griffin and Catherine. Legitimately dating. Fuck me. She seemed so unenthusiastic when we talked about it and there’s so much sexual tension between him and Mina, it just doesn’t make sense. The only thing I can come up with is so stupid, I’d say it can’t possibly be the reason. But I know Griffin. For anyone else, an overheard conversation over a decade ago would be a distant memory. But my duty-bound older brother? I could totally see him deciding our parents expect him to end up with Catherine and ignoring his own feelings to do “the right thing.” If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t care as much if it were anyone but Catherine.

Friday is warm and sunny. A perfect March day. It’s been a while since I’ve been back home and it’s always good to be out in the sunshine. I’d love to work my body hard enough to keep my brain from thinking about Catherine and Griffin together, but our moms can’t stop talking about it.

“Did you know they were dating?” Auntie asks.

“No! He didn’t say anything until he called to explain why he wouldn’t be here today! Doesn’t it seem weird? It seems weird to me! Tell me I’m not the only one,” Mom gabs.

“Oh, no, it’s not just you. Why on earth would the two of them try to date?” Mina’s mom seems genuinely bewildered. We look at each other, equally confused.

“They’re such a bad match! I mean, they’re so much alike and there’s never been a lick of chemistry between them. I can’t even imagine what motivated them.” Mom shrugs her shoulders and keeps digging away.

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