While I talk to the harpies of the New York financial world, Ezra’s father comes back. The odd thing is that I haven’t seen Mrs. King yet. When I asked Noah about her, his face turned grim, and he said she doesn’t attend things like this. Ezra has been actively avoiding any questions about her anytime I bring it up.
“So, my dear new daughter,” the oldest King starts in, “how did you really meet my son?”
Oops, I haven’t rehearsed this question with Ezra yet. And he’s nowhere to be seen.
“Why don’t you ask him?” I reply with a sweet smile while searching for Ezra or Noah.
“Mr. King, do you want me to schedule that call with Ezra you’ve been requesting?” Martin chimes in helpfully. “I know he has an opening next Monday. He’s such a busy man.”
Ezra’s father slowly turns toward Martin just to silently disregard him. There’s only so much Martin can do because he still works for the company, plus I need to fight my own battles.
“In the coffee shop, actually.” I decide to go with the truth. At least half of it. This way, I won’t have to memorize much.
“How so?”
“Oh, just like that, you know.” I lift my hand in the air to show how a person might walk with two of my fingers. “He was walking in. Just like that.” My fingers keep walking while Martin starts coughing but quickly covers his mouth with his fist. “And I was walking like that. Like honestly like that.” I lift the other hand and mimic the movement of the first one. “And we justboom!” My two hands meet in the middle, and I make a gesture of a big explosion. “The rest is history,” I add with a smile.
“Just like that?” King asks, poking his tongue into his cheek.
“Exactly like that.” I nod vigorously. “I can demonstrate again if you want.”
He’s watching me with narrowed eyes. “I can’t figure out if you’re so bright or not so much.”
“Not so much,” I reply with even a wider smile.
“That makes sense.” His face stretches wide with satisfaction. “That explains why my son is dipping away to paw at another woman instead of babysitting you.”
Martin audibly chokes on air while I keep the smile on my face. He wants to see a reaction, but I’ll give him none. Not getting satisfaction from his evil act, he finally turns around and walks away with a sneer.
“Maeve,” Martin quietly calls out. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” I sigh.
“Do you want to go and rip all her hair out while I rip out his? I’ll even go for his nostrils. And legs,” he hisses, sounding righteous. “I’ll pull it all out one by one.”
His words and the tone he uses make me chuckle. “No, this is what he wants. For me to go, lose my shit, and prove to everyone how immature and dumb I am.”
“Right, right…” His voice trails off. “But,” he cries out, his tone rising, “he doesn’t expect anything from me. So I still can go and do some epilation over there.” He points toward the only balcony. “Just say the word.”
I take his hand into mine. Only when he gives mine a squeeze do I comprehend how much my hands are shaking. So I let him hold me for a few seconds before I carefully pull away.
“I gotta go to the bathroom.”
“To cry? I can go with you,” he offers quickly. This person has been sent to my life by angels, I swear.
“To pee,” I say, trying to appear nonchalant about the news the King father delivered.
Martin’s eyes trail over my face before he nods. “Okay. I’ll be right here, waiting for you. With tweezers.”
Smiling at him once again, I rush toward the bathroom through one of the big double doors and down the hallway.
When I’m about to round the corner to the restrooms, I hear a familiar voice. It’s angrily whispering. So I freeze, notable to keep moving. No matter how much I played brave, I was gutted by King’s words. It hurt more than I thought it would.
“What gave you this idea?”
A female voice answers. “C’mon, Ezra. She can’t give you what you need.” She sounds older than me. Maybe even older than him.
I don’t breathe in fear to miss what he’ll answer.
