“That’s complicated,” she says before she busies herself with slicing another bite of dessert.
“How complicated?”
She stills and doesn’t move for a moment, before quickly taking a bite and looking out across the view again.
“Who are Edward and Sylvia?” She asks, avoiding the question.
I grin, and decide to let her win. “My parent’s best friends. They grew up together and built an empire here in LA, I guess you could say.”
“You grew up living with your parent’s best friends?” She asks confused. With a heavy sigh, I open up to her more than I have to anyone in a long time.
“My parents died when I was ten. I was an only child, and there was no immediate family to claim me, so…” I trail off. Her face grows sorrowful. I shrug. “I don’t talk about it much.”
“That must have been hard,” she whispers. “How did you make it through something so tragic?”
“We’ve all walked a shitty path at least once in our lives, I guess you could say mine just happened to come sooner rather than later.”
She clears her throat as the conversation turns too serious for either one of us and sits up straight.
“Is Edward and Sylvia’s house close to here?” She asks, changing the subject yet again.
Leaning forward, I pick up my fork and take a bite of the dessert in the center of the table.
“About a ten minute walk actually.”
“Really?” She perks up and licks her licks. “Do you have a key?”
I laugh at her and fork another bite of dessert into my mouth. “I thought the whole idea of this night was getting us out, yet you’re already so anxious to lock us back in?”
“No, you’re right,” she nods, before taking another bite of chocolate cake. “I was just curious, that’s all.”
“Tell you what,” I say as I fish out my wallet and look at the bill the waiter dropped off a few moments earlier. “You let me walk you around the island, show you a few things, and I’ll make sure we end up there last. How about that?”
Throwing a couple of bills on the table, she smiles. “I’d say that’s a deal!”
I finish paying the bill, and we both rise from the table. Taking her hand in mine, I turn to leave, but someone behind us shouts my name and I come to a halt.
“Hunter Alexander!”
Turning, Edward’s best friend, Charles, makes his way across the dining room. Tiffany, his only daughter, is hot on his heels. A dangerous fire burns bright in her violent eyes when she sees who I am here with.
I clear my throat, “Hey Charles.” Extending my hand, he takes it and gives me a firm handshake before grabbing both of his lapels on his coat. “Didn’t think I would bump into you tonight, how was Hawaii?”
I haven’t seen Charles in close to three months, probably because I have been avoiding Hollywood like the plague. Last I spoke with the man in front of me, he was taking his family away for three weeks. A month ago I had thought they were still gone to be honest until I heard what happened in the box seats between Rochelle and Tiffany. A woman who is now standing behind her father and looking at my girl like if given the green light, she would scratch her eyes out for standing so close to me.
“Lord, has it been that long?” he questions, though he knows it has. “I guess so, huh? I thought I would see you at Ed and Sylvie’s annual Memorial Day party a few weeks back?”
He looks at Rochelle. Instinctively, I grab her hand and pull her flush against my side.
“I can see you’ve been busy.” He smiles impishly before extending his hand to her. “Charles O’Conner. And you are?”
“Rochelle,” she whispers shyly. “Rochelle Thomp…”
“We were just leaving,” I blurt out before she can say her last name. Tiffany huffs behind her father and stomps her foot like a spoiled brat. “Don’t mean to be rude, but we have a movie to catch,” I lie. Looking at my wrist watch, I keep up the charade. “And it looks like we’re already running late.”
Charles nods and moves aside so we can make our way towards the front door. “Nice to meet you, Rochelle. Hunter did well for himself, seeing he has a beauty like you on his arm.” Tiffany rolls her eyes. “Will I see you next week at Ed and Sylvie’s anniversary dinner, Hunter?”
Fuck me, I knew I was forgetting something. “Yeah,” I mumble under my breath before glancing back over my shoulder. “I’ll be there.”
