“You don’t?”
“Not yet. Anyway, I don’t want to keep you from the party.”
“Hey, what do you want to do tomorrow?”
“Maybe see a movie. Go to lunch. Shopping. Anything to get me out of here.”
She laughs. “Okay, we’ll figure it out tomorrow.”
“Yeah, see ya.” I end the call, disappointed she can’t go out tonight.
I go to the kitchen to find something to eat. Ana, the chef, made me tacos last night, but I ate them all. She said I could make her a shopping list for when she’s here tomorrow, so I go to the drawer and take out some paper and a pen.
As I’m making the list, I hear noise coming from upstairs. It sounds like a door opening. What the hell? I thought I was the only one home.
I slowly walk up the stairs. I hear a door close and someone talking.
“Hello?” I call out. “Brock?”
Nobody answers.
I stand outside his room, but don’t hear anything. As I’m about to turn around, the door swings open and Ana races out. She runs right into me and screams.
“What is it?” Brock comes out, wearing a robe.
“Your niece,” Ana says, a nervous smile on her face, clutching her chest. “She scared me.”
Ana was in Brock’s room. On a Friday night.
I’m not surprised Brock’s cheating on his girlfriend, but I didn’t think it’d be with Ana. She’s almost half his age.
“Excuse me,” she says, going around me and down the stairs.
“It’s not what you think,” Brock says. “We were meeting about the menu for a lunch I’m hosting next week.”
“You have meetings in your robe?” I point to it.
“Listen to me.” He gets in my face. “Nothing happened.”
“Whatever you say.”
He goes into his room and slams the door.
When I get downstairs, Ana is taking her keys out of her purse. She startles when she sees me.
“Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to scare you again.”
“What you saw up there.” She bites her lip. “It’s not—”
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t care. You guys can do what you want.”
Ana grabs her purse — a very expensive designer purse — and hurries out to the garage.
Still hungry, I search the fridge for something to eat. Way in the back, I find the leftover chicken nuggets Ana made me for dinner the other night. I put them on a plate to heat up. As I watch them spin around in the microwave, I hear Brock behind me.
“How much will it take?”
I turn to face him. “What are we talking about?”
