A CONTRACT ENGAGEMENT

Victor nodded his agreement. Tony, who was a lot more tuned in to just what bad press could do to a career and reputation, was a lot more subdued. Concern flared in his eyes when she got to the explanation of the article and blog.

“That sucks,” Tony said.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Nina nodded. “Tell me about it.”

“So where does this Julian Martin person fit in?” her dad asked. “I mean, there seems to be a big piece missing here. You were pretending to be his fiancée and this paper prints stuff about you, and you said he’s angry because he thinks you think he’s your dirty little secret. Am I missing something?”

She sighed. “I’m in love with him, Dad. And now he hates me.” She said,

All four men’s mouths rounded into Os.

There was marked silence, and she regretted having blurted out that fact. Love was girly stuff, and none of the men looked like they had a clue what to say or do next.

“Look, I appreciate you guys. I love you all to pieces. I don’t know what I would do without you. I don’t expect you to fix this for me. I’m a big girl…. Not a little girl anymore, and I can handle myself. The days of me coming to you with my scrapes and boo-boos should be well behind me. I’ll figure out something. I just needed a place to lick my wounds and regroup.”

Cole frowned. “Now, you wait just one damn minute. You’re my family, Nina. My baby sister. I don’t care how old you are.”

Even Victor scowled and nodded his agreement. Tony merely squeezed her hand gently and told her bluntly to shut up.

“You’ll always be my little girl and their little sister,” her dad said in his soft, gravelly voice. “That doesn’t change because you go away to college, get a fancy degree and get a job that beats you down every chance it gets. Now I have decided that’s it’s okay to let you do what you want and be whatever you want to be, but that doesn’t mean you have to be alone”

She winced at the direction this was heading.

“We love you and we’ll always be here for you to come running to. You got that?” her father added.

“Yeah, Dad, I do.” She replied.

“Now come here and give your old man a hug. Sounds like you’ve had one hell of a week.”

And honestly she had. She scrambled up from the couch and threw herself into his beefy embrace. She squeezed for all she was worth and inhaled his scent.

“I love you, Dad,” she muffled out against his shirt.

“I love you, too, honey. Don’t you forget it, either. Now back up and tell me more about this Julian fellow and if I need to round up your brothers to go beat him up.”

Nina smiled at him. “Thanks dad, but I don’t think it has to come to that,” she said.

“Just checking, dear” he replied.

———————-

It was Monday evening.

Nina parked her car and climbed up the stairs to her apartment. It had been a long day at work, and she had tried her best to focus on her work and ignore whatever comments might be going around about her and Julian. She was going to put the whole affair behind her and start over.

That hadn’t been an easy decision to make, but what choice did she have? And frankly, now that she had had some time to clear her head and think straight, she was mad at Julian. She was mad at herself for falling for him when she knew better and mad at him for not being a little bit more understanding. It wasn’t like she was enjoying being without him. He wasn’t the only one hurting.

She knew Abby was home because she saw her car parked outside and so she was expecting to see Abby in the kitchen preparing dinner. That was one of the amazing things that came with having Abby as a roommate. Abby loved cooking.

She was expecting to see Abby, but she wasn’t expecting to see Julian, and so when she walked into the kitchen, she froze when she saw him. She hadn’t seen him since they ended things and she was sure he was keeping his distance… Which was something she was very okay with. But now…. She wasn’t ready to see him just yet.

His man bun was gone, and his silky hair fell and rested on his shoulders. Nina hated that the man was so good looking, but she wasn’t going to think about that right now.

“Hi Abby” she said as she walked into the kitchen. “Hi Abby”.

“Hi,” he said softly.

She could feel her eyes on her as she went to the fridge to get some water to drink.

“Hey sweetie. Welcome” Abby replied, “I just finished cooking. Grab a plate if you’re hungry”

Nina was hungry, but the thought of eating any food had vanished from her head the moment she saw Julian. She cleared her throat.

“No, it’s fine,” she said hastily. “I will just eat later”

Julian got the message. He got up immediately, a frown on his handsome face. He turned to Nina. “That’s fine,” he said, his voice harsh. “You don’t have to do that. I was just about to leave”

“You were?” Abby asked in surprise. “I thought you were going to eat too”

“Yeah of course you were leaving” Nina said sarcastically, but taking care not to look at him. “Because that is something you are really good at”

Julian stopped moving towards the door and turned around. For a moment he looked surprised at her comment, then he stared at Abby, who looked like she would love to disappear than be with them that very moment. “Is she talking to me?” he asked his sister.

Abby simply shrugged and returned her attention to the table she was cleaning. She didn’t want to get sucked into this. When she didn’t reply, he turned to Nina who had just picked up her bag which she’d dropped on the table.

“Were you speaking to me, Red?” he said.

Nina ignored the question and tried to walk past him, but he didn’t let her. He grabbed her arm gently but firmly and blocked her path.

“Nina…” he began

She yanked her hand from his grip and finally let her gaze meet his.

“I’m sorry” she said, but from the tone of her voice, it was obvious that she wasn’t sorry about anything. “I got confused. Were you talking to me or were you walking away? You know… Just like you always do”