Chapter 4
“I’ll have my usual, Kyle,” Max said to the
acne-ridden, nerdy-looking teenage boy who he saw almost every
day when he went to Starbucks.
“Comin’ right up Mr. Wexler,” Kyle answered,
typing the order into the computer. “And for you?”
He asked Brooke.
Brooke eyed the menu, nothing catching her eye completely. She
didn’t come here often; she much preferred tea. Teavana
was the place for her.
“Um, I’ll just have an ice water please,” she
said.
Kyle typed the order into the computer.
“That’ll be $4.50, Mr. Wexler,” he said,
grinning.
“Really? None for the water?” Max wondered.
“Not at all, the water’s on me,” Kyle said,
winking at Brooke.
Brooke fake-giggled.
Oh my god this guy’s an idiot, She thought.
Once they got their beverages, they sat at a secluded table in
the corner.
“So,” Max said, “before we go for lunch, why
don’t we talk here a bit. What’s your
story?”
“My story, let’s see…” Brooke said,
her grey eyes flying to the ceiling.
“Well, I was an accounting major, of course, at the
University of Arizona.”
“Mmm,” Max said as he sipped his coffee, “I
heard that’s a great school.”
“It is!” Brooke cried, “I had so much fun
there.”
Max chuckled. “You probably got all the boys
there.”
Brooke giggled and blushed. “Thanks. In my junior and
senior year, yes, but my first two years there, I actually had
an eating disorder, so I didn’t go out much.”
“Oh, Brooke, I’m so sorry,” Max muttered, his
hand politely slipping on top of hers.
Brooke’s heart sped up at his soft touch. She smiled
inwardly, and began to hold his hand.
“Yeah, well. I got through it. I had some pretty amazing
friends…” she trailed off, thinking back to how
her friends backstabbed her after always being there for
her.
Or, more how you made out with their boyfriends, a
voice in the back of her head said. She shook off the
thought.
“So!” she said, regaining her sense of reality.
“Tell me about you!”
Max smiled. “Well, I got my masters degree in accounting
and business finance at Columbia University, which is where I
met my wife, Eliana. After we graduated and I landed the job of
CEO, we got married. 8 months ago we had a son, his name is
Jack. And yeah, that’s me right now.”
Brooke smiled, noticing that their hands were still
intertwined.
That changed when Max’s phone rang.
“Speaking of wife,” he said, “there she is
now.” He gestured to his iPhone screen.
“I gotta take this,” he said, taking his hand away
from Brooke’s and looking at her apologetically.
He stood up and went outside.
Brooke watched him as he talked animatedly with his wife.
Who cares if he has a wife. I’m still going for him
anyway.
Shortly after, Max came back in.
“Sorry, she was just letting me know that she got a
flight for this Friday. She’s going to Tallahassee for a
day to see her parents and she’s taking Jack. So I got
the whole house to myself after the Christmas party,” he
said, leaning back and smiling.
Perfect, Brooke thought.
“Which reminds me,” he said, “you are
cordially invited to our week-before-Christmas Christmas
party.”
“I would love to go,” Brooke said, smiling
deviously.
And then maybe after we can go back to your
place.