Page 24 of Open for Negotiation
Chapter 5
Max
“You don’t seem very chipper this morning,” Jackson says as he takes a very large bite out of the stack of pancakes he ordered.
I called him to see if he wanted to get breakfast today before we went to look at some houses he is interested in. To be honest, I just needed some kind of distraction sooner rather than later. Not only could I not get Scarlett out of my mind, I was dangerously close to losing my fucking mind because of Miranda.
“Sorry.” I take a pull from my cup of coffee, not minding the scalding burn the bitter, black liquid is leaving on my tongue. “I didn’t sleep well.”
“I can tell. You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks, brother.” I reach across and steal a piece of bacon from his plate.
“Hey, don’t touch my bacon. You’ve got your own.”
“And now I have some of yours. Payback for saying I look like shit.” I wash it down with more coffee before slicing into my French toast.
“You’re still an asshole, you know that? Some things never change. You’d think some distance from your favorite brother for years would have made you a little nicer.” He chuckles. “Any particular reason you didn’t sleep well?”
I scoff and shake my head at the thought of what Miranda did. “You have time to unpack it like a therapist?”
“That just makes me think Miranda was involved,” he says as he shoves another bite into his mouth.
“Ding ding ding. That is the correct answer. Let’s see what you’ve won.”
“What happened?”
“I went out for a little while last night, and when I got home, someone was making themselves at home in my kitchen. I’ll give you one guess who it was.”
“We’ll circle back to the fact that you went out last night. You never go out. You’re notoriously boring.” He chuckles under his breath. “You didn't change the code when she moved out? Why the hell wouldn’t you? Not only that, you didn’t change the code after she threw a rock through your window?”
“I guess I was giving her the benefit of the doubt, or I was in denial she would behave that way.” I take a drink of coffee, ignoring the fact that it’s scalding hot. I need the caffeine buzz ASAP.
Now, he just straight up laughs at me. “You’ve got to be shitting me, man. This woman has done nothing but try to make your life miserable since the moment you told her you wanted out. She has sabotaged clients, ruined deals, made a scene at your office, and is actively trying to bleed you for every dime she possibly can... and you just gave her the benefit of the doubt?”
“I’m fucking aware of how stupid I look. I’m paying for mistakes my heart and my dick talked me into, but she’s got issues a mile long and I can’t discount that. She needs fucking professional help.”
I’m immediately aware of how loud I’ve gotten when the entire diner stops and turns their gazes toward me.
Jackson looks around, trying to laugh off my outburst. “Sorry about my brother, folks, he doesn’t get out much.” He whips his eyes back to me and widens his gaze. “He doesn’t know how to act around people.”
I scrub my hand over my face in annoyance. “I don't even know what to do about her anymore, Jackson. Do you have any valuable input? You’ve got experience with crazy exes.”
“My crazy exes stalked me on social media for a few months then got over it. Your crazy exes are a whole new breed, man. You’re going to have to get a restraining order. Have you ever thought about that?”
“Of course I have, but I’d rather not get the police involved if I don’t have to. That has a history of making things worse.”
“All right, so what can we do? How can we make her kick rocks?”
I don’t know how to answer his question, because I’ve asked myself the same one, time and time again, with no resolution. The obvious thing to do is involve the police, but she’s not really hurting anyone physically, and I’m not scared of her. She doesn’t belong in jail; she just needs to accept reality and seek out some help.
“Once the divorce is finalized, I don’t think she’ll stick around. She’d have to reason to.”
“Yes, she does. You. You are her reason.”
I shake my head. “No, this has nothing to do with me. She is in love with power, control, and money. Not me. It was never about me.”
“I don’t know, man. All I do know is that she is like a fucking disease that won’t go away, and she’s making trouble for you. As your brother, I’m not a fan of that.”
