Chapter 15. A dinner
Jackson Johnson
"I'm Lilly Bradley and I don't need to chase any man to get a job."
Her words had stuck in my mind along with her brown eyes. Her defiant stance was something refreshing, never seen before in a woman. After hearing her, I had left her office without saying anything else, and the most surprising thing was that my heart was beating faster than usual. "She must have been the first woman to challenge me... and I guess the first to shut me up."
"Sir, we've arrived," Richard announced with the door open on my side. I snapped out of my thoughts and got out. My phone rang as the bellhop opened the main door of the building. I walked with the phone in my hand to the elevator that would take me to my penthouse.
"Are you busy?" It was my brother, Jacob.
"No, I'm just getting to the building. Everything okay?" I asked as the elevator arrived.
"Can I come visit?" I frowned.
"Of course, you know you're always welcome." We said our goodbyes, and I was intrigued by this visit. Jacob wasn't usually like this. I took a shower while my housekeeper heated up dinner for my brother and me. She also put out some bottles of the wine we usually drank. When I came down the stairs, I saw him pacing back and forth in the living room. I stopped at the threshold, crossed my arms, and waited for him to notice I was there. "If you keep that up, you'll wear a trench in my floor." He stopped and ran a hand through his tousled blond hair, smiling sheepishly, which was unusual for him.
"Sorry." I raised an eyebrow as I walked to one of the couches.
"Since when does Jacob Johnson say 'sorry'?" I plopped down on the couch.
"Good point." He dropped into the other couch.
"What's going on?" I asked, more intrigued.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to see you and chat about the housing project. We have the materials and the workers, just a couple of things left, and then we can start construction."
"Uh-huh. Are you sure that's all? Because if it was, you could have easily said it over the phone. Why come all the way here just to say that?"
"Alright, alright, it's not just that."
"Then?" I tried to encourage him to talk.
He let out a long sigh.
"Do you believe in love at first sight?"
"Maybe in attraction, but... love? Never." Jacob straightened up, looking thoughtful at my words. "Why that kind of question from a womanizer?" He laughed, but it didn't reach his eyes, a sign that he didn't like my comment. "Sorry, it was rude of me to call you a 'womanizer'."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't bother me." The housekeeper approached us to hand us two glasses of wine, then a tray of cold cuts and cheeses on the coffee table.
"Thanks, Nina." She smiled and left, giving us privacy. "So? When are you going to tell me what's really going on?" Jacob looked at me and shook his head with a genuine smile.
"I will, but... I don't want you to make fun of me." I frowned and then pretended to be offended. He threw one of my couch cushions at me.
"Talk," I ordered, amused.
"I've had a connection with the new architect who joined..." I threw the cushion back at him.
"I told you! You're going to get into trouble!" I exclaimed, worried. It had happened years ago; he had lost credibility after that and had to start from scratch. Now it was happening again. Jacob said nothing, took a sip of his wine, then took an olive and put it in his mouth, his gaze lost. "Damn." He looked up at me. "You're really in trouble."
"I am, but it's different."
I took my glass and took a long sip. When I finished, I let out a sigh.
"In the end, it's still trouble," I replied to his words. "Tell me, why do you think it's different?" He smiled as his gaze got lost in some point on the carpet.
"Her personality is... she's strong, full of light, patient, and too smart, I even feel like she's smarter than me."
"Oh, wow, I'm surprised by how your eyes light up when you talk about her."
"It's strange, you know? This time I don't want to mess it up."
"Wait, wait, this time? What? Are you planning to do something?"
"No, no, I'm just going to wait a while to see if it's temporary. If it's not," his face lit up again, "maybe this time I'll get something right in my personal and emotional life."
"Well, what you're saying is something rare to hear, since the last woman, you just used her for casual sex. She fell in love and got obsessed with you to the point of almost killing you." Yes, I sounded ironic, but if this time I could prevent him from getting hurt because of his promiscuous life, I would make him understand no matter what.
"I know you're afraid it will happen again, but this really is different."
"Wait for time to confirm. If it's not temporary... think carefully about what you'll do."
"Here's to that..." he raised his glass.
"Here's to that," I did the same.