Chapter 40

ANGEL SINCLAIR.

When I get home, the first person I see is Bryan. He walks past me to leave the house, but he doesn't look at me or say anything, he just acts very indifferent, as if I didn't exist.

I won't deny that I felt like nothing, but who is he to leave me like this? Nobody. I'm sure Bryan is pissed off about Lorenzo and wants to give me the silent treatment, as if it's going to get to me. It did a bit, but he doesn't need to know that. He doesn't deserve to know that I felt rejected.

I look around the house for my father and find him in the dining room with Madison, the two of them are talking about wedding clothes. Madison seems to be looking at something on her tablet while she exchanges views with my father.

"Angel, you're late," my father says.

"Yeah, I was at the club and I'm getting ready to go out again," I say, "I just wanted to let you know."

"Where are you going?".

"I'm going to Chicken's".

"My God, child. Why eat fried chicken from these places? We don't even know how it's prepared. There's everything you like here and Margareth is still here, so you can ask her to make something and she will."

"The chicken there is very tasty, Dad. And you know I don't usually go to these places, especially during the week, but today I'm going with Lorenzo."

"Okay, then. If you're going with Lorenzo, you get a free pass," he says, accepting.

"Right. See you later, Dad," I say, kissing his cheek.

"I'll wait in the lounge again. I'm watching you, young lady," I laugh.

I leave the kitchen and go straight to getting ready. I don't dress up too much, after all, it's only Chicken's, but I can't leave the house without a bit of make-up on my face, it's essential for every girl.

I tell Lorenzo that I'm ready for him to pick me up. Before I leave, I check to see if Bryan has come home yet and I see that he hasn't. I hope he's far away from here with his new little friend, just so he doesn't get in the way of my date.

***

Lorenzo and I sit down at one of the first tables at Chicken's and place our orders. Like me, he's also finding the place strange, but that's only because it's his first time here. It's not like the places we usually go, but it's a good atmosphere and I guarantee it's the best fried chicken ever.

"Yeah, Angel, you really surprised me with this place," he says and I laugh.

"Just wait for the chicken to arrive before you want to come back here."

"Who introduced you?" Lorenzo asks.

"It was Ashley, she usually goes here with her brothers and she made me come here just to prove that it was the best fried chicken ever, and now I'm the one inviting people here," he laughs.

"Okay, I trust your choices, because I know you have good taste," I smile and Lorenzo kisses me.

We're kissing just as our orders arrive, along with the drink and the lovely sauces.

"You can have that mustard, miss," says Lorenzo, "I hate mustard!".

"I hate it too, go ahead," I say.

Bryan loves mustard. The day we came, he only ate chicken with mustard, he even put mustard on his fries. To hell with Bryan, why am I thinking about him now? That's crazy enough on my part.

"Wow, Angel, this is really delicious," he says after tasting the first chicken.

"See? I told you," I reply, now reaching for mine.

"I promise never again to judge an environment by its appearance," I laugh.

My smile seems to evaporate from my face when I see Bryan and Cedric entering the restaurant. That's what you get for thinking about that scumbag, he'll show up in no time. Bryan stares at me and I get serious, making Lorenzo notice my discomfort.

"What is it?" he asks and then looks back, "Do you know them?".

"Yes, I know them," I reply.

"Who are they?" Lorenzo insists.

Before I can answer, Bryan does us the disservice of coming over to our table and takes one of my fried chickens.

"There's no mustard here?", Bryan asks, "Is this your new friend, Angel?".

"Lorenzo, Bryan. Bryan, Lorenzo," I say, trying to act as natural as possible.

"Pleasure, Bryan," Lorenzo says.

"My pleasure," Bryan replies.

"This is my father's wife's son, Lorenzo. He's living with us and he's practically new in town," I say.

"Oh, cool. You're practically brothers," Lorenzo says, laughing.

"Yeah, we have a brother connection," Bryan replies with mockery.

"I'm not having much fun here, Bryan. What do you say we go to another restaurant?" asks Cedric, who is still standing.

"I think that's a great idea, it's better to leave Angel here to enjoy it with my future brother-in-law," he stands up.

Lorenzo smiles, not realizing that Bryan is being mean. Lorenzo is even purer than I imagined him to be.

"I hope to see you soon," he says as Bryan leaves with Cedric, but Bryan doesn't care.

"We don't get on very well," I say.

"He seemed nice, but maybe he's just problematic."

"And problematic at that," I add.

We eat again and when we've finished, Lorenzo leaves me at home. I let Dad out of the living room and go up to my room. I wash up and lie down to sleep. I'm sure that tomorrow Bryan will put on a show just because I was having dinner with Lorenzo. Bryan tried, but he didn't destroy the good time I had with Lorenzo at Chicken's. It's going to be hard to destroy anything, since Lorenzo is the complete opposite of him. Lorenzo is calm, innocent and very polite, everything that Bryan is nowhere near being. That's exactly why I should stick with Lorenzo and stay away from Bryan. Lorenzo represents me, Bryan doesn't.