"Double espresso?" Daniel lifted his left eyebrow.
"Green tea's reserved for another day, "I said, placing a cup of what was decaffeinated edition of the perfectly done latte to the man who wore a neat scowl as if it were an accessory. "The mood seems a bit. . .sour today."
He let out a chuckle that loosened the features which had almost seemed a little stiff as if he was a perfectly stilled tan doll with deep rose-colored fat lips and quite the sharp eyes. "Was I that obvious?"
"On a good day, you'd be more. . .talkative," I added, tugging my loosened curls behind my ear to no vail.
I watched as Nicholas pushed his cup away very subtly and if I wasn't so used to his scowling face daily I would assume he was just unhappy with his day, but I knew better and could immediately tell he was fed up with decaf. Both brothers were clothed in black with maybe their crisp white shirts as an exception and maybe Daniel's hair which had more brown undertones than Nicholas's which shone a rather striking jet as he leaned back on his seat. "We all heard you with the chef."
"My head's still reeling from it." Nicholas narrowed his eyes at his younger brother.
"He'll be fine and...I did say sorry if it makes you feel better." He picked up his styrofoam cup filled close to the rim with the best-brewed coffee made out of the best-imported beans, at least I was informed. Daniel's eyes were more lively though they were sharp and deep whilst Nicholas's were deep and sometimes appeared lifeless, it was almost the same with most of their features except the nose and chin-there they shared something almost exact. Even their skin tones and maybe, their height because Nicholas was quite tall, or maybe his body structure sort of made it stand out. Besides those things, one could immediately see the resemblance between those two, and the bickering could only come from siblings. I guess they were old enough to do it more subtly or maybe they thought so. I always felt nosey whenever I noticed the slight tension and then there were the very subtle insults and more attitude from the younger one–Daniel liked to have the last word as I had gotten to often witness. And they didn't mind an audience. "See? I'm well behaved."
"Why are you so. . .moody?" Nicholas leaned forward but not before eyeing his coffee with the slight lift of his upper lip.
"Moody? I'm fine." He sounded bored out of his mind and I was sure that was a sign that he was guilty of what he was being accused of, at least to him I bet it felt like it. It was also my cue to leave as I had been caught in the middle of this 'playful' banter between the brothers a few times and at this point, I felt a bit uncomfortable for learning certain things about them through these 'conversations'.
"I better get these copies. . ." I trailed off as I gathered the files they had been immersed in for something close to an hour, every detail mattered and both brothers lived by that code–so no line had to be skipped or never reread.
"He says I'm moody." Daniel turned to me and I probably resembled a deer caught in the headlights as he had slightly started me there. The fact that his eyes were so big and shaped in a way that made them seem sharp as shards didn't aid me in any way, I had to quickly recover to save myself, and only then did I gather that I had just been dragged into the middle of this, unfortunately. "I'm not moody, I was upset. . .yes."
"Was?" Nicholas eyed his coffee more seriously now. "What are you now? You don't exactly sound as if you've recovered."
I watched as Daniel furrowed his eyebrows and then he tilted his head to the side. "Recovered? I did not have a. . .you're trying to upset me, right?"
"Why would I–"
"He's trying to help." I was going to regret ever saying a word.
"He's–"
"Danny hates it when people pick sides." Nicholas was practically boring holes right through that styrofoam cup.
I watched as Daniel set his cup down after a gulp and then he faced his brother. "Danny hates. . .I hate that nickname."
"I wouldn't use it if I wasn't aware." Nicholas wasn't going to bring his coffee to his lips and was probably humoring me or something by picking it up and putting it right down.
"Trying to figure out if I'm upset or not?" He led his fingers to his hair.
"You are." Nicholas stopped trying to impress me and pushed the cup away from before himself.
"Why does he keep insisting on this?" Daniel's eyes met mine as he carried the question casually as if it was. The brown in his eyes were close to being lighter than the one in his older brother's, warmer, actually, with a soft and slight touch of a deep auburn one could easily drown in. "Grace?"
"Yeah?" I came straight back to earth, my lips feeling quite dry.
"Why are you bring Grace into this?" Nicholas always said my name quite carefully and the last letters always sounded as if they were melting between his teeth.
"I'm not upset." Daniel refused to let this one go.
"Want me to get you more coffee?" I asked both of them and seriously prayed they both would allow me room to leave whatever it was that was brewing between them, even if it was just. . .playful.
"I've had it with decaf." His voice was much like a cough syrup-thick yet smooth and warm. Soothing.
"Why's he drinking decaf?" His eyes lit up.
"We made a bet." I folded my arms.
He practically grinned as he looked at me. "Sounds both immature and interesting."
"You never said the coffee was–"
"If you quit I win." I narrowed my eyes at him.
Nicholas grunted. "I'd rather have guava juice."
I tried to cover my smile but failed. "Your wish's my command."
"You are set on torturing me." He dropped his head and sighed. "Decaf. . .it is."
"I'm still waiting." We both turned to Daniel who was looking at both of us curiously. "I've got to know how you got my brother to quit caffeine."
"I quit taking the pills too, she's good."
"You what? I've been begging you for...I must've not been nice enough." He laughed as he turned to me with a bright smile. "You have my full admiration, I assure you."
"They weren't good for him."
"Is it that easy?" He folded his arms as he leaned freely into his chair, obviously amused.
I guess this was the part I found myself almost diving deeper into the brown pools of his eyes. "You should've asked nicely."
The corners of his fully plump lips lifted, eyes diving deeper into mine as if he was daring me to go on further. "I've tried that."
"He has." His deep voice was warm as it led me to his almost darker set of whiskey-colored brown eyes.
"You declined?" I scrunched my nose slightly.
"I'm the youngest," Daniel started matter-of-factly, "so he feels justified."
"You're unpleasant when you get your way," the older brother said, comfortably, "and even worse when you're moody."
The styrofoam cup was most likely not going to meet the probably soft edge of Nicholas's lips and that thought alone was enough to get me to scold me in my head. It was weird to stare as much as I was and even worse to be thinking about other men's lips, not that I couldn't do it since I was divorced. I just had to train my eyes to stray away from these two and from taking the detail of their features with that much fascination–it was. . .unprofessional. I had to straighten up and forget about it and stop wondering about awful things, I wasn't that single or that bored. It didn't matter where my thoughts wanted to run to or how pleasant, from where I stood, literally and figuratively, everything looked-I had no business going down that rabbit hole. I had to keep my head straight and pretty much out of the gutter, my job was making copies and bringing coffee, I had to keep it.
"Are you saying I'm moody because I. . .you're trying to ruin my mood, aren't you?" I watched his eyebrows tighten as they knitted together.
Nicholas sighed as he shut his eyes. "I'm trying to figure out how I'll get through decaf."
"Such a baby." Daniel rolled his eyes. The brown eyes seemed to be a bit intense as he turned to me. "Did you find that any files were missing when you were sorting them out?"
Both brothers were staring at me at this point. "I went through the filing system and rechecked everything."
"Was there anything out of the ordinary?" He did not leave my eyes as his bore into mine as he slightly leaned forward. The fullness of his lips seemed prominent close-up and his eyes deep as they, currently, swam in mine carelessly as if they hadn't been boring holes straight through my soul not that long ago. "Do you think it was. . .moved recently?"
"I wouldn't know, but. . .maybe," I said, unsure whether to trust the smile that smeared across his face and failed to meet his eyes.
"Everything's there then?" He watched me carefully, I could tell he was searching for something.
"I could go through–"
"You don't have to." He offered me a smile.
Nicholas tapped his fingers lightly against the styrofoam cup as he leaned forward. "Anybody up for some dumplings?"
"You're paying?" He shoved fingers carefully into his hair as he went to lean into his chair with the slump of his shoulders.
Nicholas lifted his head and met my eyes with his deeper ones. "Do you mind dimplings?"
I moistened my drying lips. "No."
"If you don't like them you can say so." Daniel's eyes lit up warmly as he offered me a smile and looked into my eyes in a way that made me turn away, involuntarily, meeting a pair of rather rich brown eyes.
I set my eyes on the styrofoam cups instead. "I enjoy them. . .as much as a good barbecue and fried chicken. . .and chocolate."
"I'll have to disagree on the chocolate." Daniel sighed.
"Chocolate makes people happy." I shoved a curl behind my ear.
"I've never liked it. . .or dessert," he said, eyeing me with a curious smile illuminating the light in his eyes, "I don't have a sweet tooth."
"I do and it might be severe." I laughed.
I had never seen eyes light up that fast. "There's this place that makes the prettiest and. . .probably sweetest–"
"He's never tasted a thing from there," Nicholas interrupted, nonchalantly before he turned to his brother and narrowed his eyes at me. I wasn't sure whether he was joking or warming him, sometimes his eyes were so hard to read and even him, generally. "You never even order dessert."
Daniel ignored him and turned to me. "He's a spoilsport, forget him."
"The line there is always longer than you always assume." Nicholas stood up and reminded me just how tall he was as his presence became difficult more than usual.
"He's going to complain," Daniel noted with a huff as he led himself to his feet reluctantly, "We better get going."
Nicholas furrowed his eyebrows. "The dumplings are popular."
"I'm aware."
"I better go get my purse," I cut in before they could argue any further, "then we'll get going."
I had to admit it, although it was weird it was exciting–if only I could gain the courage to admit to myself just why it even was.
I chose to hurl it down to curiosity, at least that I could live with.