Brian managed a half-smile. "I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Great.” Colby’s voice was unnaturally elevated. “Yes, you will.” She nodded then stole a quick glance at Liam. “Have a safe flight back tomorrow.” Colby made a hasty exit from the building almost as quickly as Lila.
Brian picked up his beer, turned it all the way up, and drained it.
The woman had obviously rattled him. “So, that’s Lila?” Liam asked.
Brian was shaken. “You ready to go?”
“You need to learn to mask your feelings better,” Liam responded.
Brian was irritated. “You need to take your own advice. Let’s not pretend I didn’t interrupt whatever the hell that was between you and Colby?”
“I don’t know what you think you were interrupting, but she and I were just getting to know each other.”
“Yeah. Mmkay.” Brian didn’t believe that for a second, but he didn’t have the space in his brain to entertain it. “I’ve already left my credit card information with the management. They’ll send me the final bill tomorrow. I’m going to the car.” Brian didn’t wait for Liam to answer before getting up and stalking off.
Liam was out of his element. From beginning to end, this entire situation felt like something from the Twilight Zone. Business was business, but this was that mixed with a lot of other shit.
He sighed and rose from the table. Liam left three crisp hundred-dollar bills for the tip then followed his brother out to the car.
*****
Liam got into the back seat and closed the door. As soon as he was settled, the driver pulled off from the restaurant parking lot to take them back to their hotel. Liam didn’t return Brian’s negative energy for energy. Instead, he asked calmly, “What was that?”
Brian wondered if Lila was why he received a congratulatory call from Anthony shortly after closing the deal. Was she a spy? Did Anthony send Lila to mess with his head? Brian slid a hand down his face. “Of all the places to run into Lila? Here? In this town?”
Liam was matter-of-fact. “I would agree. Seems like there’s a lot of unfinished business between you two.”
Brian sighed. He gazed out of the window. There was a long pause before he spoke again. “I was going to marry her. Bought the ring and everything.”
Liam knew that Brian had been hurt by Lila but was surprised at that revelation. “I’ve never heard this before.”
“I never told you.”
Liam was genuinely shocked. They didn’t always agree, but Liam thought they shared the important things. “Why?”
“I knew she wasn’t the type of girl you and Dad would approve of me marrying.”
“I’m an asshole. I’m skeptical of everyone, but why wouldn’t I have approved? What don’t I know?”
Brian was done with this conversation. He didn’t want to talk about Lila.
Liam wasn’t ready to let the matter drop. He needed to know what he was dealing with. “She was your first love, but you never mentioned her until your breakup, and, even then, you were drunk as a skunk.”
Brian remained silent.
Liam continued to prod. “She is beautiful.”
“You noticed that?”
“Kind of hard to miss.”
Brian released a breath. “Lila has always commanded any room she was in, only back then she didn’t know it. We met my junior year. Even though she was a few years younger than me, she had a wickedly brilliant mind. She was the reason I rarely came home during breaks and also the reason I graduated on time. She tutored a few students as part of her work-study. Lila had a reputation for being able to help the helpless. Since I was struggling in a couple of my classes, I figured I would give her a try. It took one session for her to turn my life upside down.”
“That powerful?”
“Yeah.” Brian nodded as his mind flashed back to that time.
“I don’t get it. If Lila was the one, why didn’t you ever bring her home?”
Brian’s expression said you know why. “Dad would never have approved. I didn’t want to deal with the she’s not right for you bullshit.”
“You’ve said that twice. What the fuck does that even mean?” Liam was perplexed.
“C’mon dude. Let’s just say we didn’t grow up in the most progressive house.”
“Again, what is that supposed to mean?”
“You didn’t notice that Lila is black? And not the Beyoncé kind of black. She’s the Lupita kind of black.”
“So?”
“So? You know damn well that Dad held racist . . . sexist . . . classist views. Hell, he was all the ists. He would never have approved of Lila as my girlfriend. As my wife, he wouldn’t have had a choice. I wasn’t quite sure how everybody else would feel.”
“What do you mean? Dad’s views were his alone. You’ve never heard me practice or say any of that shit! I admired Dad when it came to business, but I would never say he was a good man, father, or husband. For the record, he and I always had blowup arguments when I’d point out his isms.”
“I would have loved to have seen it.” He never saw Liam and his father disagree on anything.
“I’m almost eight years older than you. You weren’t around for most of it, and then you just stopped coming around altogether.” Liam was pissed. He had always been honest and fair. To think Brian didn’t feel as if he could bring a black woman home to meet the family made Liam sick to his stomach.
“You wall off your emotions, so it’s hard to know what you’re really thinking.”
“Then ask!” Liam roared. “After all of your fuckery over the years, I’ve always had your back. How could you question my loyalty? I’m in this godforsaken town right now, trying to help you navigate the mess you created when I could be back at home running my businesses.” Liam was angry. He took a second to calm down before speaking
