Page 53 of Just Between Us
Something is different. I’m just not sure how.
“Maybe,” I say with a shrug. “But I’m happy.”
Her eyes narrow again before letting out a quiet breath. “Okay, then I’m happy too,” she says. “Now, let’s talk about me!” She claps her hands and launches into the drama of being a model and public figure. I listen intently, giving her the necessary reaction when needed and offering no practical advice or solutions. I tried that once and she didn’t speak to me for days.
When I leave lunch with Kez, something has me reaching for my phone and pressing Kai’s number. I haven’t seen him in days. Work has been busy, and Levi has been away.
It hits me as I wait for him to answer that we have never been alone together. I know he sees Levi at work during lunch and they went to the exhibition together but my conversation with Kez is ringing in my mind. Something does feel different with Kai, but I can’t pinpoint what it is or why. It makes me want to test out a theory.
“Cole?” Kai answers on the first ring. “Is everything okay?”
He sounds unsure and I feel a slight edge of nervousness which is strange. I’m never nervous.
“Everything is fine,” I say. “What are you doing?”
There is shuffling on the other end then, “Oh, um, just getting home from some grocery shopping.”
“Would you like to come over and have dinner with me?” I ask.
“Oh, uh, sure. That sounds nice,” Kai says, he sounds less cautious now.
“I’ll pick you up,” I say.
“You don’t have to,” he says quickly.
He needs to learn how to let other people do things for him. “Kai,” I say.
He laughs quietly. “Fine, see you soon.”
Kai and I settle on Chinese and eat it over the kitchen counter. Somehow, we’ve ended up on the topic of ghosts and Kai is staring at me, chopsticks hanging in the air.
“But how can you not believe in ghosts?” he asks.
“Because I’ve never seen one,” I shrug.
“Have you ever seen a blue whale?”
“No, but other people have and have taken pictures. They are pretty well documented,” I reason.
“So are ghosts,” Kai shoots back. “There are plenty of pictures and plenty of people have seen them. People literally make movies and documentaries about it.”
I frown. “All the evidence is dodgy at best. The pictures are always hazy, and the accounts borderline unrealistic.”
He places his chopsticks on the plate, shaking his head. “You should meet my mother. She says her aunt’s house was haunted and once, a ghost dragged her out of bed by her hair.”
“It was probably just a bad dream,” I say.
He laughs, shaking his head. “You’re hopeless.”
I don’t know why, but I laugh too, wondering what Kai’s mother is like. He seems close to his family and talks about his sisters all the time. Never his father though.
Just then, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it thinking it might be Levi or some urgent call from work but instead, it’s Nick. I frown and consider ignoring it but our conversation in that boardroom has been playing in my mind for weeks now.
“Excuse me for a second?” I ask Kai.
He nods quickly and I pick up, making my way to my office. “Nick?” I answer.
“Hey, baby brother,” he says lightly like we talk all the time when I can count the number of times we’ve talked over the phone in the last thirteen years.