Sprawling in my Adirondack chair, I take a long sip. A car zips down our street, its engine cutting through the quiet evening air. Brie sets her glass on the armrest of her own folding Adirondack, which she’s pulled up next to mine. She stares at me intently. “Tell me everything.”
I recount the entire lunch—the proposal, Devin’s attempts to keep me out of the meeting, and his silence once I found out his dad’s plans.
“So, this whole time he’s been secretly trying to screw his own brother out of his business? That asshole,” she breathes.
“Yeah, that about sums it up.”
“Did you confront him? What did he say?”
“He followed me out of the restaurant when I left and tried to offer some kind of excuse, but I didn’t stay to listen; I’m sure it would have been bullshit. I told him we’re done.”
“I’m so sorry, Cass.”
“Thanks.” Tears blur my vision and I take another gulp of wine. “I really thought for a second Devin might have been ‘the one,’ you know? Like maybe my memories of him was the universe’s way of bringing us together. I was wrong.”
And now I’m alone… again. Tears gather at the corner of my eyes and I swipe them away.
Brie leans over to hug me, and my heart lightens a fraction. A rustle and a flap precedes a soft weight settling onto my lap. When Brie pulls away, I discover that Xerxes has hopped onto my thigh, his talons dully pinching my skin through the thin material of my leggings. He peers up at me through one beady pale-yellow eye, but his usual malice is gone. Irony climbs up my throat and I hiccup. This might be the first time in fourteen years that Xerxes has ever voluntarily interacted with me. Maybe parrots can sense emotion and my misery is too much, even for him.
Reaching over to the small bowl of sunflower seeds on Brie’s armrest, I pick one out and offer it to Xerxes. He nips my finger before taking the seed, but the bite is markedly gentler than his typical bloodthirsty pecks. “Still couldn’t help yourself, huh?” I murmur as he cracks the seed in his beak. Smiling despite myself, I run my fingertips along the short gray feathers on his back. I’ll take all the comfort I can get right now—even from Xerxes.
Brie smiles at her parrot like a proud mother before returning her attention to me, expression shifting back to concern. “Did you tell Perry what’s going on?” she asks.
I’d considered calling Perry the second I left the restaurant, but anger makes you do rash, stupid things, and I knew I needed to calm down first to think through the best way to break the news to him. In a perfect world, Devin would have immediately told Perry about his dad’s selfish plans the second he learned of them, but of course he didn’t. So now it’s up to me. “Not yet, but I will. He deserves to know.”
A black BMW pulls up in front of our house then, parking neatly next to the curb. Every muscle in my body tenses when I spot the face through the driver’s side window.
Devin.
“What’s wrong?” asks Brie, frowning at my strained posture.
“He’s here,” I breathe.
Devin’s walking up the sidewalk toward our house now, steps jerky as though uncertain. I set my glass on the flat, expansive armrest and shift to stand, momentarily forgetting about Xerxes. He flaps indignantly before Brie snatches him and settles him on her shoulder. Standing, she folds her arms over her chest and widens her stance like a tiny, disgruntled bodyguard.
Devin’s heavy footfalls thud up the steps as he approaches. When he reaches the porch he pauses, glancing from me to Brie and back again. “Hey,” he says, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
Brie marches right up to Devin until they’re practically nose to nose. “You have some nerve showing up here.” Xerxes gnashes his beak menacingly, and Devin wisely takes a hasty step back.
“I need to talk to Cass,” he says.
“I don’t think she wants to talk to you.”
“Cass, come on. You didn’t let me explain earlier,” he says around Brie’s shoulder. “Give me five minutes, please. If you don’t like what I have to say, I’ll leave and never bother you again. I promise.”
For a brief moment, I have the ludicrous urge to shout, “Sic him, Xerxes!” But I don’t. I owe it to myself to hear him out, if for no other reason than to gain closure in this relationship. After tonight, I’ll never have to see Devin again—a fact that makes my stomach squirm in equal parts disappointment and heavyhearted relief.