"You look beautiful," Levi comments, leaning casually against the door jamb of the bathroom, watching as my hand gingerly sweeps bronzer over my cheekbones.
I glance at him in the mirror, a hint of a smile playing on my lips as our eyes meet. "Almost done," I say, replacing the bronzing brush with a blending brush. With featherlight movements, I gently blend the bronzer upwards on my cheeks and use the residue on the brush to dab my forehead and jawline.
The last weapon in my arsenal is eyeliner. The glistening tip of the felt pen drags over my top eyelid, sticking as close to my eyelashes as possible. The formula feels slick at first, but dries in a moment. I flick out the wings at the corner of each eye and reach for my mascara. Perfecting the cat-eye, I only apply the wand to the outer lashes, letting it flare enticingly. "Voila," I congratulate myself, moving my hips to make the baby-blue satin dress flare around my thighs.
"When's he getting here?" Levi asks, the tone casual, but to an astute listener, there's a slight tension around the word he.
"Um"âI pick up my phone, glancing at the screenâ"should be here any second now."
"I can't believe Xander proposed." Levi tilts his head against the wooden door frame. "You think he knew?"
Again, the he is impossible to miss. "Wolf?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think so. He seemed as surprised as I was."
"He's good at putting on an act," says Levi, not without some bitterness.
I bite my lip, not knowing what to say to that. Shit. Now my teeth have lip gloss on them. I rub my finger over my front teeth, smudging the pink glitter of my gloss until it disappears completely.
"Has Xander told Graeme yet?"
Again, the silent judgment in his voice is unmistakeable. "No." I give him a severe look. "And don't you go blurting it out, either. He doesn't want anything to detract from Graeme's big night."
"Cross my heart and hope to die," Levi mocks, hand over his heart.
Despite his teasing, I know he won't say anything, so I just roll my eyes and pick up my Kate Spade purse, letting it sling from my shoulder. A small tweak of the crystal-fringe collar necklace to center it perfectly on my neck, and we're good to go.
Perfect timing, since a second later the doorbell buzzes loudly.
"Showtime," Levi says, inhaling sharply.
He reaches the door first, since I'm still struggling to pull on my white kitten-heels in the foyer.
"Wolf," he greets, somewhat stiffly.
"Hey." Wolf nods in that jerky dude-nod way, his words equally stiff.
They look uncannily alike in their black tuxedos and brushed-back, slightly curled blond hair. To complete the similarity, they even turn to stare at me at the exact same moment, their faces mirror-images.
Self-conscious at their perusal, I resist the urge to duck my head. "Hi, Wolf."
With more warmth, he nods his head. "Hey, you."
Levi rolls his eyes. "Are we ready to go?"
"My car's waiting for us below," Wolf replies.
"Great," Levi says, forced enthusiasm heavy in his voice. He holds out his arm to me. "Charlotte?"
Wolf's eyes narrow, but I take Levi's arm anyway, my hand nestled into the crook of his elbow. "I've got the keys," I murmur, my free hand pulling the door shut behind me. It bangs with finality.
The walk to the elevator is silent, broken only by my soft "thanks" when Wolf allows Levi and me precede him into the elevator. The air is thick with awkward tension as we begin our descent. My breathing sounds too loud to my own ears, and I fight to control the sound, taking only small, shallow breaths. Already, I can feel the tell-tale hotness of perspiration at the back of my neck. Since it's only mid-February, I should be shivering, despite being bundled in a peacoat. Instead, I feel like I'm in Dante's Inferno.
"You look nice," Wolf says after we all sidle into the car.
When he said his car was waiting for us below, I had a vision of a straight-faced driver and limo, with all three of us sitting side by side in the back, stony and grim. Instead, Wolf's in the driver's seat of what looks like a relatively affordable sedan.
"Thank you," I murmur, smoothing my dress out from under me as I get comfortable.
Levi's nabbed the front seat next to Wolf and he leans his forehead against the icy window pane. "Thanks for the ride."
"No problem. So, uh, Charlotte tells me that you're a pretty big deal in the art world?" Wolf signals so we can pull out of street parking, and as soon as there's a break in taxis and cars, he spins the steering wheel so we can join the slow lane.
"Yeah." Levi sounds reluctant to divulge more, but since Wolf's actually taking an interestâor faking it for the sake of small talkâI jump in with, "He has an upcoming exhibition at the Agora Gallery this week."
"Really?" Wolf's tone radiates surprise, like the knowledge that his younger brother is that acclaimed and talented is brand-new information. "That's pretty prestigious," he allows, sounding tentative.
"It is." Levi levels a resentful look at Wolf. "I sent you an invitation to the last one and the one before that, too."
I remember that. He'd sent invites to Graeme too, but she hadn't shown up, either. To her credit, she hadn't stopped Xander from attending, but her loyalty to Wolf continuously prevented her from bridging the gap between herself and Levi.
Wolf has the grace to look embarrassed. "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
"I did mean to show up," Wolf tries to say, but we all know that it's a lie.
"Yeah, it's fine."
"I'll come to this one," Wolf says, mustering up a smile. He turns right and picks up speed, navigating between cars and bicyclists with the ease of someone who has been driving in New York traffic for years.
"Sure. If you have the time," Levi replies. His tone implies that he doubts Wolf will.
I know it bothers him that he doesn't have the relationship with his siblings that he wants, even if he doesn't talk about it. Ever since the Netherlands five years ago, I think he took that Christmas as his cue that his family would always close ranks and defend against any outsiders - him, especially.
Selfishly, I didn't really try to convince him otherwise. Maybe I should have. But at the time, it was just such a comfort to have someone who could commiserate with me, who knew how I felt, who would let me vent.
Xander would have been my first choice, but after deciding not to tell him about what I had overheard Wolf and Graeme saying about me, I couldn't invalidate that nobility by pulling him in just because I wanted to rant about the drama some more.
Enter Levi. He had been there for me at a time when I needed it most, and in return, I fulfilled that sibling void which he had so desperately wanted.
"His work hangs in most of the major galleries," I chime in, trying to diffuse the tension. "And in a lot of offices and hotels, too."
"That's great," Wolf says, not without some difficulty. "Really great, Levi."
"It was nice working in the graphics department at van der Waals Enterprises but it didn't take me long to realize that I didn't want to spend my life manipulating art that other people had made. I wanted to create it myself." Levi lays his palms flat against the black fabric covering his thighs.
His words have inadvertently drawn all our attention to the elephant in the car - Marcus' will.
Wolf's hands stiffen on the wheel. "Good for you."
I resist the urge to sigh. One step forward, two steps back. It's a familiar dance by now.
"We're here," says Wolf.
He pulls up to the front of the Italian restaurant. From the outside, it looks nondescript, like a little hole in the wall that only the locals know about. Soft, buttery light peeps out of the red and green stained-glass windows, suffusing the sidewalk with its glow. People walk past it, hands to their ears as they chat vivaciously on their cell phones, no one giving it a second glance.
That's the sign of a good restaurant in New York. A noticeable absence of tourists, weekenders, and children under twelve.
We step out; Wolf and Levi manage to do so with grace, while I have to do an awkward butt shuffle across the backseat. By the time my legs swing out of the car door that Wolf has held open for me, I see the twitch of his lips and know he's seen my less than graceful exit.
"Shut up," I mutter under my breath, but the words lack heat.
"What?" he responds, eyes wide and innocent. "I didn't say a word."
Giving him a pointed look, I shut the door behind me as I watch him slip the keys to a valet along with a twenty dollar bill.
"I'm always worried when people do that," I comment as we wait for Levi to join us. I watch as the valet gets into the driver's seat and starts the engine.
"Why?" Wolf asks, cocking his head.
"Who knows if they're actually a valet?" I respond. "I mean, it could be anyone in a nice uniform, couldn't it? And we implicitly trust them with our cars." Making a little vrooming noise in the back of my throat to simulate a car, I pretend not to notice both brother's amused looks.
"You're cute," Levi teases, reaching out to ruffle my hair.
With a yelp, I scootch away. "This took an hour to straighten," I protest, giving him a schoolmarm-y frown. Belatedly, I realize that I've backed right into Wolf, and my butt is....
Oh my god.
I blush furiously, clamping my thighs together and inching forward before either of them notice that I just cock-tapped Wolf with my butt. Talk about mortifying.
"Yeah, yeah," Levi drawls, taking the lead as we head for the entrance to the restaurant.
Still feeling stiff with embarrassment, I avoid making eye contact with Wolf. Which is hard to do when he's grinning openly at me like a bonobo monkey.
"Stop it," I grit out, managing only a lukewarm smile for the doorman who holds the door open for all three of us with timely accuracy.
"Your clumsiness is vastly amusing," he whispers, his voice low and husky.
"For you," I snap back, not wanting to be reminded of the many ways in which he's laughing at me.
He hums in agreement, which I ignore, mostly because it sounds sexy as hell.
Now that we're face to face with the hostess, our quibble is effectively over. Her tight black dress clings to every single curve and the hem barely skirts her butt. Real classy, I think to myself.
Her face splits into a broad smile the moment she sees Levi in front, then falters when she sees me right behind him. I say smiles, but it's only her lips that actually move - the rest of her face is so Botoxed that her cheeks and forehead don't move at all. She can't be more than thirty, but her skin already looks waxy and Barbie-tan.
When she sees Wolf, her smile picks right back up. "Do you have a reservation?" she purrs, her tongue swiping over her bottom lip as she leans enticingly towards Levi.
"Yes. It's under Elliot," he answers coolly, giving no sign that he reciprocates her attraction.
"Would that be Xander Elliot?" she asks, smile still in place.
Man, that girl just won't give up.
"Yes." Again, his answer is short and curt. As someone who's been friends with Levi as long as I have, I know what that yes means. It means he's quietly repulsed by her. He hates girls who throw themselves at guys with no self-respect.
"Francesca will show you to your seats," she says, eyes still glued onto him.
"Thanks," he replies, nodding at us to follow.
The restaurant is tastefully crowded, with plenty of space for us to navigate through the white tabletops without running the risk of jostling some unsuspecting diner. This is the kind of place where you'd never get a table on impulse unless your last name is Elliot or van der Waals.
The delicate, tinkling notes of piano music trail through the air as the brunette Francesca leads us to the table where Xander and Graeme await us. Underneath the white tablecloths are circular, dark walnut tables with cabriole legs. Everyone glances up with interest as we pass by, trying to place us.
Wolf seems to know many of the patrons, briefly smiling or nodding to people, but Levi plows through the sea of tables without any niceties.
"Wolf!" Graeme squeals the moment we come into view. She stands immediately and bypasses Levi to throw her arms around Wolf, like she hasn't seen him in years - when, in fact, I know she only saw him a week ago.
Levi's face contorts for a second before he conceals his feelings, straightening his lips and cheeks into stoic nonchalance.
"Charlotte," she enthuses, reaching for my hand to give me a tight squeeze. "I'm so glad we could all be here."
Did she mean all including Levi? Or despite him?
As Francesca discretely fades into the background, we seat ourselves. Before there can be a pissing contest over who pulls my chair out for me, I seat myself first. After a pause, Wolf takes the seat next to me, separating me and Graeme. Levi sinks into the seat on my other side, while Xander completes the circle by sitting opposite me, between Levi and his fiancee.
"So," Graeme starts, unable to keep the grin off her face, "guess what?"
Playing along, we all echo a chorus of what?, much to her delight. She holds up her hand, where a princess-cut diamond glitters in the dim light of the restaurant. "I'm"âshe takes a deep, exuberant breathâ"engaged!"
I have to hand it to us, we did a pretty great job of feigning surprise and joy, but it only takes her a second to bust us.
"You guys already knew!" she accuses, but then she laughs. "I can't believe you told them, Xander!"
"Hey, I was like a vault!" he protests. "They literally pried it out of me!"
"Whatever," she says, looping her arms around his neck and going in for a sweet, chaste kiss. Pulling back, she rubs his lower lip free of her lipstick stain. Then, as if she can't resist, she kisses him again. "I forgive you."
"I'm going to order champagne for the table," Wolf says, grinning at his little sister and best friend. Teasingly, he asks, "Unless, of course, there's a reason why I shouldn't?"
"I'm not pregnant!" Graeme says, flushing.
"Hey, just making sure," Wolf says in his defense. "Dad's not here so I have to ask these kinds of questions," he jokes, but it settles over the table with grim humor.
With a dour expression on his face, Levi asks, "And that job falls to you?"
For a long moment, both brothers just stare at each other. It's the kind of silence where you can hear the proverbial pin drop. Xander looks uneasy and tries to bring levity back to the table by asking a passing waiter for a bottle of champagne, but the three siblings are frozen in a silent Cold War.
"Guys, please," Graeme finally musters. "This is a family celebration." She looks pleadingly at me, like I'm supposed to have the answer.
"I'm sorry." Levi releases a heavy breath. "I shouldn't have said that." He gives Graeme an apologetic look. "Sorry, G."
"It's okay," Graeme begins to say, but Wolf's voice overrides her's.
"Yeah," he says, the words a hiss. "It's a family celebration." The insinuation is clear.
Levi gets up so abruptly that the chair screeches against the floor. Heads turn to look at us, but we're beyond salvation now. "I'll be leaving," he says, voice bleak, and without a backward glance, stalks towards the exit.
"Shit," I say, giving Wolf a dirty look. "Levi, wait!" Without hesitation, I plunge after him, leaving a teary Graeme and a dumbfounded Wolf in my wake.
Author's Note: SURPRISE! As a big fat thank you to all my lovely readers, I thought I would surprise you all with another chapter just one day after the last update!
Levi and Wolf: is their antagonism realistic? too over the top?
Graeme and Xander: cute and aww-worthy? or?
Charlotte and Wolf: you guys think they've got chemistry?
Charlotte and Levi: do you think her emotional connection with him is stronger in the writing than her attraction to Wolf?
Please let me know! I obviously don't want it to be too melodramatic, but I also want to focus on the dysfunctional family dynamic that Levi shares with his siblings.
Happy reading! :)
xoxo