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This fucking girl… she’s trying to manipulate me, and it’s all so clear, but I just can’t be as angry at her as I should. Still, her request leaves me flabbergasted, and I shake my head rapidly. “Oh no, no, no, Elise. You aren’t going to get me wrapped up in this Van den Bosch shit show.”
“But Dan!” she protests, sitting forward as she pleads. “Pops will be so disappointed in me, and I’ve just started gaining his trust and favor. I can’t fathom just starting at the beginning again.” To my horror, I see tears in her eyes. “Please, Dan.”
Fuck. Fuck. Elise has my emotions in such a chokehold that I could almost just fall at her feet and tell her whatever she wants is hers if I can provide it. Thank God she and I aren’t the same age, because if we had been, Elise would have both ruled and ruined my life. Now, it’s just the ruin I’m worried about.
“You know I can’t do that. Andries is my best friend, and I’d be outright lying to him. That’s the biggest problem with what you’re asking me to do because it’s perfectly within your power to say no and not speak.”
“You don’t get it!” She throws her hands in the air. “Andries has already made his choices and is ready to start his life independently! But my life goal is to take over Dad's role at thecompany, and it’s so close I can taste it. I’d be his successor before I’m thirty! Karl told me that Dad plans to retire in a decade or so. I can’t fuck things up now.”
“A job is not a good enough reason to fuck over your family like that.”
“But Dad is my family too… and the company is his life’s work and I want it to be mine.”
I scrub my face with my hands, overcome with uncertainty about what to do. It should be an easy decision… but she isn’t lying about being the second child and how much harder that has been for her. She really is gambling her future on all of this. But Andries’s reputation…
I don’t think things can get any worse until I hear bare feet on the stairs, and there, wearing my cashmere robe barely tied, one naked leg completely on display, is Jessica. She stands at the top of the small stairs leading into the living room, arms crossed.
Elise blanches, before turning beet red and turning her entire body away from Jessica, murmuring some apology about disturbing us. The two women are on good terms, but my increasing attention toward Elise has put Jess on edge, and it’s all too clear on the way she’s looking at her now.
“When are you coming back to the bedroom?” Jessica demands. “You told me you wouldn’t take too long. It’s been fifteen minutes already.”
I sneak a glance over at the embarrassed Elise, but beyond how awkward she must feel right now, I know she’s still torn up inside about everything with her brother. Torn up and utterly confused, I’m sure. Of all the people in her life that she came to, she chose me, and even if she’s manipulating me somewhat, I know she’s only risking it because she trusts me not to do her wrong.
I’m either about to make an enormous mistake or a brilliant move. I’m not sure which, but my cock is pretty sure it’s the mistake.
“Jess—Elise and I are dealing with something about her brother and it’s more important than I thought. Why don’t you head home, and I’ll call you?”
Her mouth falls open, and she glares at the other woman. “We were seconds away from having sex and you’re sending me away so you can talk about family drama with your best friend’s sister!? It isn’t even your family, Dan!”
Any other time, Elise would fight fire with fire, but it’s been a long day for her and when Jess raises her voice, she flinches. That’s the final straw for me, and my burgeoning annoyance snaps into anger.
“Jess, I’ll call you later and we can get together then, but I need you to respect my space for the moment.”
Without another word, she turns in a huff, robe billowing out behind her, and then she’s gone back to the second floor. Not wanting to see her again, and needing space from Elise, too, I stand and leave the room, even after I hear a small, “Dan, wait,” from her.
Tina, my maid, is wiping down the marble kitchen counters when I find her. After requesting my favorite hibiscus blossom tea, I flee to the patio, annoyed that I have to hide in my own house. I sometimes wonder whether women are even worth it.
When Tina brings the tea service out on a jade tray, setting it on the table beside me, I tell her to send Elise out here if she’s still in the house. The maid laughs, telling me that yes, Ms. Van den Bosch is still in the house, and seems to have made herself comfortable.
It isn’t long until Elise joins me, settling herself on one of the overstuffed outdoor chairs. Without speaking, we both watch as the tea bulb blooms in the clear teapot, the green-brown leavesunfurling to reveal the red hibiscus flower, small curls of color emanating from it all, and darkening the steaming water. Once the flower is fully revealed, it looks almost alive, petals dancing in the water gently as I lift the teapot to pour. Elise takes the offered cup graciously, inhaling the aroma, and my heart skips a beat. Like the hibiscus flower wrapped in dried leaves, she is also something stunning, who is just beginning to show her true colors to the world.
I saw her first, though, and the potential she had. If only it wasn’t for that asinine promise I made to her brother to leave her alone for eternity.
“I’d never tried this tea before until I went with you to the Astoria,” she admits, enchanted by the whole presentation.
“Sometimes, it’s the quiet moments, like blooming tea or a barrel-aged scotch that are the best parts of life.”
Looking thoughtful, she nods, taking a sip of the tea and sighing as she sits back in her chair. “That’s a good philosophy.”
She isn’t looking at me, but I take the time to search her face anyway. “You don’t have many quiet moments, do you?”
She laughs softly. “No. Maybe I will when I’m older.”
We keep quiet as we drink our respective teas for a little longer, but I know I can’t avoid finishing our talk forever. Out here, in the fresh air, I feel like I can think. I’m not trapped, and I feel like that makes me smarter, which is why I have such a brilliant idea to make things even between Elise and me.
And, if I’m being honest with myself, take Elise on a date without it actually being a date. The perfect loophole.
“This is an enormous favor you’re asking me, El, and one that could very easily backfire. Hence, it’s a favor that needs to be paid back upfront.”
