She laughs then shifts to the side, “I’ll see you in Switzerland, Nova.”
“Yes, you will!” I yell over my shoulder.
Passing by waiters going in and out of kitchen doors, I follow the bathroom sign.
“Nova shouldn’t have been here.”
I halt.
Peeking at the opening leading into the next hallway, I see Azar’s face peeking over Dean’s broad shoulder. I’ve never seen him serious unless he was working and right now, he looks too serious for the Azar I know.
It’s wrong, I know it is, but I lean against the wall hiding me from their view and listen.
“What did she do?” Azar doesn’t sound amused by Dean’s proclamation.
Dean doesn’t reply.
“She’s my friend, Dean. I don’t know what your problem is, but she’s here because I wanted her to be here.”
“ButIdidn’t want her here.”
“Dean, that doesn’t make sense. You’re the one who hired her.”
“It was a fucking mistake.”
“She’s always nice to you, Dean.”
“Miss Rivera fucks everything up. She’s a hazard to the employees, to this work, and to me.”
“Seriously, man?” I canhearAzar shaking his head. “First you act like a nonverbal, grumpy asshole and then you start insulting people, can you make up your mind and pick one persona because it’s getting annoying.”
Dean’s words echo in my mind over and over again.
His earlier kindness warmed me all over, but his cold demeanor is pulling me apart and leaving an empty gaping hole in my chest.
In other words, my heart fell to my stomach.
All along, I thought Dean wanted me here. He’s the one who invited me here. Not Azar.
Was it all fake?
Here I was thinking that maybe Dean and I could be friends or that I was breaking through his grumpy exterior.
I don’t wait to hear what he says next because it doesn’t matter.
Dean Vuk is an asshole.
CHAPTER 8
Familyis a funny thing.
You come into the world with people already by your side and then poof, one day they disappear. Not in the existential way, but they go on living their own lives while the youngest (AKA me) stay behind.
“He released the song before he went on his tour.”
“Really?” Nadine’s camera glitches before she starts moving around the kitchen again. She’s making rice for dinner. I wish I was there to help her out because the bump is making it difficult for her to move around. “I’m pretty sure I heard the song after his tour.”
When the three of us moved out of home, I came up with a way to make sure we kept contact with each other no matter what. Every Sunday we called each other and caught up.
