I am adding two more POVs. One is Margo's, the other I will reveal later.
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The second I sat in the car my phone rang. I threw my head back in frustration, contemplating just ignoring the call. After three flights and two different countries, five exhausting meetings in four languages all in two days, I was finally on my way home and looking forward to taking these high heels off. They do make me look hot as all hell but were a bitch to wear. And the tight pantsuit was not helping my mood either. I groaned, picked up the phone and was greeted by my assistant.
"Hello."
"Yes, hello Ms Spencer, I would just like to tell you that the reservation for tonight's dinner was confirmed and that your dress was delivered to your apartment. Also..."
"Wow, wow, Raquel stop for a second. What dinner?"
There was silence on the other end and I could almost hear her thoughts buzzing.
"For Mr Paeng, his wife and business partner Mr Geun. You arranged it two months ago."
I pinched the bridge of my nose. So much for a relaxing evening in my sweats. Now I will have to talk to investors the whole night. Because if that isn't a definition of a fun time, I don't know what is.
"Right. Ok, uh, did I say I will be bringing a date?"
"Yes, miss you did. After he mentioned bringing his wife."
Pizda
"Ugh, of course, I did. Alright, when does it start."
"At eight."
That was in three hours.
"Ok. Please send me the information we have on them so I can refresh my memory a little and please get me a translator..."
"You all agreed to hold the dinner in English since it's meant to be a social visit."
I rolled my eyes. It never was just ˝social˝. But it was good news. I spoke five languages for a reason. Translators were not always accurate. That being said, Korean was not one of the languages I was prepared to take on.
"Thank you, Raquel, what would I do without your detailed documentation."
"Not much."
I barked a laugh. Raquel was not usually one for jokes.
"I'm so sorry miss, I didn't mean it like that, I..."
"Raquel relax. It was funny. And you were not wrong. Alright. Have a nice evening."
"You too boss."
I hung up and leaned towards the driver in the front.
"We have to stop somewhere first."
In ten minutes I was standing in front of Caleb's flat.
Just as I was prepared to ring for the third time, the doors opened and before me stood the twin I really didn't need or want right now.
And he was shirtless. Because of course, he was.
Only wearing black boxers and a towel over his shoulders. He was just as displeased to see me as I him.
"What?"
"Do you always open doors without clothes on?"
"Well," he gave me a mischevious smile and made a show of looking down at his own body "I've got nothing to be ashamed of."
Except for his personality.
"I need to talk to Caleb. Is he here?"
"Why?"
I crossed my arms and tried to make myself bigger, by extending my neck. It was my classic defensive stance according to Aron.
"None of your business."
"Then I guess you don't need him that much."
He started closing the door, but I stopped him.
"Ugh fine. You are so childish. I am meeting some Korean investors for dinner and I need someone to accompany me. Happy?"
"Actually yes."
"Can I talk to him now?"
"He isn't home."
"Are you kidding..."
I wanted to give him a prostate exam with my heels.
"But there is someone else you can ask who happens to be free tonight and has a killer body to back up his charm."
I glanced around.
"Can you give me his number?"
His face fell into a scowl and I had to smile.
"Thanks, but I am not that desperate."
"It kinda seems you are."
I exhaled through my nose. It sucked because he was right.
"Ok, damn it. Will you go with me?"
He seemed to be deep in thought for a second and then caught my eyes with his.
"Nah."
And then slammed the doors in front of my face.
That dick.
X
Just as I relieved myself of my coat and stilettoes, I heard a knock. I opened it and let Aron in.
"Hi. Kako kej življenje?"
(Hi. How's life?)
"Uh, vredu, listen..."
(Uh, fine, listen...)
He shut up and bit the inside of his cheek. I should tell him to stop doing that. Something was wrong. He was lousy at hiding his feelings. But what caught my attention was that he didn't look panicked or scared. Just sad. I knew how to deal with the first two. The latter has always been a challenge.
"Dej no. Spit. it. out! I don't have a lot of time."
(Come on....)
He sat on the sofa and rubbed the back of his neck. I was just about to check on my dress when he spoke up.
"Isaac is coming home. Naslednji teden."
(....Next week.)
I stopped unzipping the dry-cleaner's bag that my dress was stored in.
Next week. Isaac is coming next week. After I year. I missed him. I really did.
I felt giddy. O my god, I haven't been giddy in a long time. I turned to him knowing my face must be glowing. I would usually try to hide it, but right now I didn't give a singular fuck. He knew I was in love with him anyway so there was no point in pretending anymore. That's why his expression puzzled me.
"What's with the face?"
He sighed.
"Isaac is coming home with his fiancee. They are getting married in March."
Huh.
So that's what heartbreak feels like. It's not...pleasant. It's fucking horrendous.
He is getting married? Married?
I screwed him a year ago and now he is engaged. That meant he had to meet, fall in love and fucking propose to someone, all in the span of one year.
I am such an idiot. Of course, he had met her before. She probably just wouldn't put out, so he came to me. He came to me to get his rocks off and then returned to his awesome girlfriend
She is probably a painter who works with blind puppies in her spare time and reads polish poetry for fun.
I must have been staring mutely into the wall because Aron waved in front of me.
"Do you want me to stay?"
I appreciated the lack of idiotic questions like: "Are you ok?" or "How are you feeling?"
Because he knew. He knew I felt miserable.
"No, go, please. I know you have Tim today and..."
I don't want you to see me cry.
"I would just like to be alone."
He nodded and stood up. He gave me a side hug.
"You'll be alright."
"Save me the speech, please."
He just nodded and left the apartment. He understood when I really REALLY didn't wish to talk.
When the doors closed I sat on my sofa and started crying. No, balling. I can't remember the last time I actually gasped for air. I didn't get that physical pain in my chest every book always talks about, but there was this discomfort that I couldn't quite describe.
I just sat there until a knock on the doors startled me from my daze. I didn't even bother wiping the tears away when I opened.
Tristan was standing before me, dressed sharply in a simple suit jacket with hair styled just enough to seem elegant.
His mouth was shaped as though he wanted to speak, but my state of appearance must have stopped him.
"What do you want?"
My voice was hard, but it broke at the end of the sentence, which lessened the force of my delivery a bit.
"I just..." he started "I realized I was a little bit of a prick when you came for Caleb, so I just wanted to see if you still needed my help."
I knew I was glaring. As well as my still a little watery eyes allowed.
"You are offering to be my date?"
It sounded more like a statement than a question.
"Yes."
His expression lacked the signature cocky-confidence.
"I am not in the mood for...whatever you are doing."
I wanted to slam the door shut, but he wedged his foot between before I could.
"No, listen, I am serious. You don't seem to be all that...ok."
"What tipped you off?"
I didn't exactly invite him in but he followed me anyway.
I collapsed back on the couch.
"What happened?"
He didn't sit. He stood in front of me, expecting me to answer.
I didn't.
"Talking helps you know."
I scoffed: "Since when are you a shrink?"
"I'm not," he was becoming aggravated "What I am is a person that does the exact same thing and then feels like shit after."
That shut me up. Of course, he was right. Aron insisted on being open with each other. Especially after our parent's death. He always stuck to that promise. I didn't.
But Tristan wasn't Aron. He was definitely not someone I liked or who liked me so maybe talking to him was the most logical decision. He will, without doubt, tell me the hard truth without holding back. Confiding in your enemy. There is a beautiful irony to it.
"It's Isaac," I said simply.
"Savoy," I clarified a second later.
"Oh."
I wasn't sure how well he knew Isaac, but since he and Vanessa were such good friends, he couldn't have exactly been a stranger.
"What did he do?"
"Me."
He let out a laugh, but it was mostly because of a surprise than mockery.
"I'm sorry. It's just, I really didn't expect that. Doesn't he live in Vienna or something?"
"Yes."
"Did that happen only once or... o my god, did he knock you up?"
I rolled my eyes with unmistakable disbelief on my face.
"NO! God. We had a thing going on since I was 19."
"Shit," he whispered to himself.
"How does that work? You are here and he is all the way on the other side of the ocean."
"We usually saw each other if I was in Austria for business or if he was here. But I haven't seen him in about a year."
"Is that the problem? Can't you just go and visit?"
"No, the problem is that I'm in love with him, which I never told him and now he is coming home with his probably artzy hippy fiance."
He nodded.
"That is a problem."
I almost snickered at how ˝matter of factly˝ he said that.
"Yes, it is."
"Why haven't you told him?"
It was a question I asked myself too many times to count. But always came to the same conclusion.
"Because I am a coward."
"I never pegged you for a coward."
"I never pegged you for a relationship advice giver."
"I guess we are both full of surprises."
"I guess we are."
A silence that followed wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but it was undoubtedly tense.
I could feel he wanted to say something.
"Are you actually sad because you lost him or are you just angry because you lost."
I blinked.
"What?"
My throat felt dry.
"Look, I wouldn't say I know you exactly, but one thing I am sure of is that you hate losing...at anything."
I just stared at him. He wasn't...wrong. But this was different. I was certain it was.
"No," I shook my head "I know the difference."
"Ok."
There was this charged silence again.
"So what do you want to do now? Want me to go and buy some ice cream and vodka? Is there any particular cheezy movie you want to watch?"
This wasn't like him at all. I was sure he was messing with me, but there was nothing but sincerity in his dark eyes.
"Why are you helping me?"
He moved his hands into his pocket and looked away from me.
"Well...It isn't fun battling you unless you are at your full strength."
I almost laughed. He described our relationship like a video game.
But I got the jest.
"So...Is that a yes or a no on that movie?"
I almost said yes. I wanted to say yes, however, then my eye caught the dress still laying on the floor.
I glanced at the clock. I should be at that restaurant in 35 minutes. I stood up.
"I am going to that dinner."
He frowned: "What? Why?"
"I need to take my mind off everything. And I have a company to run. There will be time for self-pity later."
I picked up the dress.
"If you still want to go with me, I am not going to oppose you."
He smirked: "It would be my honour."
X
We were well into dinner and surprisingly Tristan did how to be charming. Who'd have thought?
He was chatting with Ms Paeng while I conversed with her husband and Mr Geun. They were both very adamant about not talking about the investments, money or anything business-related. But I knew they were analyzing me just as I did them. Mr Geun didn't seem to be very pleased with me, but that was mostly because I wasn't what he expected. And by that I mean, he didn't expect me to be this young. He didn't do as much research on me as I did on him. I knew he was 41 years old director of an investment bank in Pyeongchang-dong district, who is trying to break into the western world through different American and European companies. He seemed to be doing pretty good.
Everything went fine, until our main course, when they started talking to each other in Korean. At first, I didn't mind, but then it happened one too often and I was annoyed. My face didn't show that while I was eating, but I was this close to starting to talk with Tristan in Spanish because I knew none of them understood it out of pure spite.
I glanced at Tristan who didn't seem to be bothered by the Korean.
It wasn't that I was super uptight about proper etiquette, but I still found it rude. Especially because we could have had a translator.
"How do you find the food?" I asked, trying to sound breezy.
"It is very good," Ms Paeng responded in her very thick accent that I found really charming.
Both men just nodded agreeably.
We continued eating in silence. Tristan leaned to me and whispered: "Are these dinners always this awkward?"
I stifled a chuckle.
"The ˝social˝ ones are. I am much better with those where I can work with numbers not small talk."
"Well, you should know that it kind of shows."
I kicked him under the table.
I focused again on eating the fish. It was Isaac's favourite. A part of my brain must be thinking of him non-stop.
I felt eyes on me. Mr Geun offered me a polite smile and when I looked up, I returned it.
The second I did it he said something to Mr Paeng in a hushed tone. Mr Paeng laughed at whatever he told him.
I almost rolled my eyes when Tristan spoke up with anger in his voice.
In perfect, fluent Korean.
My eyes must have been the size of my plate. And I wasn't the only one. All three guests were gaping as well.
When Tristan finished he leaned back in the chair and watched what they will do.
Both men looked at each other, then at me and in the end at their plates. They were like two chastised kids.
"You speak Korean? Since when?" I asked quietly.
"If you live there for 5 years, you pick up a word or two."
He lifted his eyebrows at me.
Oh.
I totally forgot he plays volleyball there.
"What did you tell them?"
"To sum up, I said that they should behave more...appropriately."
"And what did they say?"
He lifted his head slightly to glance at them and shook his head.
"Nothing special. I was just annoyed they spoke a language someone at the table doesn't understand."
I didn't believe him, but I dropped it.
The dinner continued without another incident and Mr Geun seemed a lot more respectful to me. It was pretty obvious he was ashamed.
"I am looking forward to doing business with you," Mr Geun told me while shaking hands.
"And I with you."
We all bowed to each other and left the restaurant.
When Tristan and I sat in the car I felt relieved.
"Thank god it's over. I am so tired."
"Me too. I can't wait to just sleep forever."
"Don't you have practise tomorrow?"
"Then I can't wait to sleep until 7 o'clock."
I snickered.
"Listen, thank you for coming. Really. I owe you. And you were on your best behaviour which I appreciated."
"I am always on my best behaviour. You just seem to bring out the worst in me."
"Well in any case. Thank you."
"No problem."
We smiled at each other. Maybe for the first time in a non-sarcastic way. His jacket was unbuttoned which instantly made him look a lot more familiar.
"I still don't like you though."
He laughed out loud.
"Don't worry ice queen, you still suck too."
When the car parked in front of his building I remembered that I wanted to ask him something.
"What did they say? Back in the restaurant when you told them off."
His eyes found the floor.
"I don't think you want to know."
"You think wrong."
He breathed out.
"Ok, fine. Mr Geun said that you look more like someone who should spend her time on her knees than someone who should run a company."
I frowned and rage swirled in my stomach. This wasn't the first time I heard something like that, but it infuriated me every time.
"Are you ok?"
"I'm pissed."
"What will you do about it?"
I thought for a moment and then gave him an evil smile.
"Bring them to their knees."
He grinned: "That's the enemy I know!"
I chuckled: "Goodnight Rose from Titanic."
"Goodnight Daniel Craig."