"These came from the Henderson account, I'm not sure if I should fax these to accounting?" I hand Nayel the documents I just received.
Nayel furrows his eyebrows as his eyes scan the pages then he starts nodding, "Yeah there's a mistake on here, let me reach out to the Henderson's then I'll get back to you on this one"
"Alrighty," I nod.
"Do you want to have dinner at my place tonight? I can cook for you?" Nayel wiggles his eyebrows making me smile.
"Aw I would love too but my brother Jared is in town till tomorrow so I'm just planning to show him around, go somewhere nice for dinner"
"Oh that's nice" Nayel gets up from his seat and approaches me, he rests his hands on my hips, "I'd love to meet him if that's okay with you" Nayel smiles.
My face lights up, "You'd want to meet him?"
"Of course" Nayel smiles making my heart melt, "Plus you've met my sister so I think this would make us even"
"Okay, we can have dinner at my place," I suggest.
"Can't wait" Nayel smiles and places a kiss on my cheek.
....
"Assholes were never your type sis, should I be concerned?" Jared asks as he was munching on a pack of chips.
I scowl at him, "He's not an asshole"
Jared laughs, "From what you've told us the past 2 years, he seems like an asshole"
I sigh, "Yeah but he's not okay. He was just difficult to work for as a boss but he's not a bad guy so give him a chance please?"
Jared touches my arm, "I'm just messing with you M, I'm sure he's a swell guy. I mean you seem really happy so that's all that matters to me"
I smile, "Just be nice to him, don't be your usual bratty self"
"I make no promises" Jared grins.
We then hear the doorbell ring, "He's here" I say suddenly feeling anxious for some reason. I fix the hem of my dress as I walk towards the front door Jared following closely behind me.
"Behave" I narrow my eyes at Jared before opening the door.
There stood Nayel in his usual black button-down full sleeves shirt and black pants, he was smiling holding a bouquet of white daisies.
"Hello" Nayel grins showing off his white teeth handing me the flowers.
"Hi, what are these for?" I smile.
"Just felt like getting flowers for my girl" Nayel shrugs leaning in to place a kiss on my cheek.
"Thanks" I mumble grabbing his arm pulling him inside the apartment.
"Nayel this is my brother Jared" I introduce the two of them, they nod in a very boyish way and shake hands with each other.
"Nice to meet you dude" Jared grins at Nayel, I purse my lips together holding in a laugh as I close the front door.
"You too" Nayel nods trying to be nice.
"Dinner's almost done, why don't I get you a drink?" I smile at Nayel.
"Yeah, I'll have a beer too thanks" Jared smirks sitting down on the couch.
"I am not providing alcohol to underage dorks" I scowl at Jared.
"Just because you raised me and all doesn't mean you have to act like my mother. You can be the cool older sister sometimes too, don't you agree Nayel?" Jared shoots Nayel a look wanting him to back him up.
"I'm not" Nayel chuckles shaking his head, "I'm not getting in the middle of this"
I smile victoriously at Jared, "So a lemonade for you?"
Jared sighs, "Why not?" He shrugs in defeat.
....
"So Jared, what brings you into town?" Nayel asks taking a bite of his meal.
"Well, it's spring break so my buddies and I are going to LA in a couple of days so I decided to drop by the big apple to spend some time with her" Jared gestured to me making me smile.
"Please, you were dying to see me" I tilt my head at Jared.
"What are you majoring in?" Nayel asks.
"Well I'm thinking about switching majors but I'm majoring in political science as of right now"
Nayel nods, "That's such an interesting field why are you thinking of switching?"
"Well" Jay pauses, "I've recently developed quite an interest in law so I might not switch might stick with this until law school maybe"
"Oh, law huh?" Nayel grins.
"I guess it's in the Reynolds blood" Jay makes eyes at me making me chuckle.
"Well if you're seriously considering law, we have a summer internship program for students who are doing undergrad or in law school. It's a great learning experience, however, there are very limited slots I could save you a spot if you're interested" Nayel offers.
"Wait for real?" Jay's face lights up.
I shake my head, "You don't need to do that just because he's my brother"
"If he's even half as talented and hard-working as you, I'm just doing the firm a favor" Nayel smiles at me.
"But still" I frown, "He can apply for it and if he qualifies he does it," I suggest.
"Why don't you send me your CV and we'll see what I can do from there" Nayel suggests, "Just forwarding it to someone, not guaranteeing anything just seeing if he's up to the mark. Just slight nepotism" Nayel looks over at me smiling.
I sigh and point a finger at Jared, "You need to work really hard for this"
"I plan on it sis, I'm not a slacker." Jared grins, "Thanks for the offer Nayel" Jared looks over at Nayel who nods.
"I think I need to give you a speech about how I'll fuck you up if you even think about hurting my sister," Jared says.
Nayel laughs, "I do not plan on it" he squeezes my hand, "but duly noted" Nayel nods.
"You must've been really surprised when I told you about us" I look over at Jared.
"You mean after the years of you telling us how he's the worse person you've ever met?" Jared grins.
I look over at Nayel and mouth a quick sorry but he seemed fairly amused.
"I wasn't shocked when she told me you guys were dating the sexual tension had to go somewhere?" Jared shrugs and Nayel chuckles.
"There was no sexual tension, he was a dick and now he's not" I state.
"Sure Maria" Jared rolls his eyes.
"Also" Jared pauses setting down his fork, "I feel like this is an appropriate time to bring this up because I don't think you'll go super batshit crazy on me with Nayel here" Jared scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.
"What is it?" I furrow my eyebrows at him.
"Well, hmm" Jared gulps, "mom has been trying to reach out for a while and she just wants to talk so I told her that after spring break we'll set a date to meet. Just wanted to let you know"
I was staring at Jared but I could feel Nayel's eyes on me, I sigh, "Fine whatever it's your life" I shrug getting back to my food.
"Don't be mad M, I just want to hear her out once doesn't mean she's an angel in my eyes all the sudden" Jared argues.
"I just" I shake my head, "she's going to let you down again, I just don't want to see you hurt and what side do you think she's going to tell you? She willingly left her children for her new family and never kept in touch and now she feels guilty? Okay, what about our entire life when we needed a mom? Screw her. I'm not going to try to stop you. You're an adult, if you want to see her go do it. Just keep me out of it"
"I don't want you to feel like I'm betraying you by seeing her" I look up to see Jared looking at me with soft eyes.
I shake my head and smile at him reassuringly, "No, I understand and respect your decisions. It's all cool I promise"
....
Nayel wraps his arms around my waist pulling me closer to his body, "Tonight was fun" Nayel smiles.
"It went better than I expected, Jared wasn't a complete headass" I shrug.
Nayel chuckles, "I like him, he's a cool dude" Nayel imitates his lingo making me laugh.
"Sorry about the conversation at dinner, it got a bit heavy with all that stupid family drama" I roll my eyes.
"It was completely fine, I'm happy you trust me enough to have conversations like that around me." Nayel smiles.
"I have gotten quite smitten with you" I wrap my arms around his neck.
"It's about time" Nayel rolls his eyes making me giggle. I lean in and press my lips against his.