Perfect Strangers

“My mother,” she whispered.

“Your mother? You’ll have to elaborate on that statement, Juliet.”

For the love of god, it’s Myla! She shrugged her shoulders. “My mother frowns upon the fact I’m a workaholic and I never find the time to date. In a heated… Uhm… discussion once, I blurted out I was seeing someone and it’s escalated from there.”

His jaw gaped open slightly as he took in her words. “So why not just say you’ve broken up then?”

“What is this? The Spanish inquisition?”

He ticked his head from side to side for several seconds before smiling. “No, more like the Myla inquisition.”

Jerk! “What do you do for a living, Rain Man?” she threw back with a smirk and reached for her glass.

“I work in the family business,” he answered ignoring her Rain Man comment.

“Doing what exactly?”

“We have a cocktail bar, you may have heard of it, it’s called Baxter’s? It’s situated in Chelsea.”

He’s a barman? And there lies his fault. “Nope, I’ve never heard of it.”

“You’ve never heard of it? Everyone’s heard of it, it’s the top cocktail bar in London, it’s been an establishment for the past twenty years.”

“Well, no I’ve not heard of it, and I’m not everyone,” she replied flippantly.

“You can say that again,” he muttered as he brought his beer to his mouth.

She ignored his sarcastic comment. “Do you want to know what I do for a living?” Myla asked. She flipped her hair from her shoulder, with an air of grace.

“Honestly? Not really.” Kai replied, deadpan.

Myla pursed her lips and glared at him with all the contempt she could muster. “I can see why you have no one special in your life, you really are a pig.”

Shooting forward in his chair, he slammed his pint back on the table. “I’m a pig? Sweetheart, you don’t know enough about me to pass judgment. You have a vicious tongue in that pretty little mouth of yours, Myla.”

“Touché, Rain Man,” she sneered.

They both sat raining daggers at each other across the table, neither one backing down, neither one blinking or moving a muscle. Kai looked away first and Myla celebrated with a victory smile, one that reached from ear-to-ear. “How long, in your imagination, have you been with your fiancé?” Kai finally asked breaking the silence.

“It’s not in my imagination, I don’t fantasize about him, it was something I invented to keep my mother off my back,” she replied, annoyed.

He crossed his left leg over his right knee and laced his fingers together in a business-like manner. “Just answer the question, how long?”

“Two years,” she answered with a gulp, looking at her nails. I need a manicure tomorrow.

“Two years?” He asked loudly, causing the nearby table to turn and look in their direction. “Two years?” He repeated.

She was stunned into silence at the look sat on his face. His eyes were practically bulging from their sockets and his mouth had formed an O shape as he looked at her incredulously. She went to speak but clamped her mouth shut firmly when he let out another gut roaring bout of laughter. Knocking back her drink, she felt the anger at his insensitivity brew in her gut, and forced herself sharply to her feet. “I didn’t come here to be insulted, least of which by you, so good night!” she snapped with a nod of certainty.

“You can’t leave yet, Myla, I believe we agreed once we had finished our drinks, I still happen to have half of mine left.” He smiled victoriously as he held up his pint glass and pointed to it.

Yes! He is a Jack ass, all right.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Kai was sitting at the kitchen counter, in just his pajama trousers, staring at the latest message on his laptop from Myla. A hammering, like eruptions of thunder, began on his apartment door and he recognized the tuneful knock as Brody’s. Picking up his coffee cup he hastily walked towards the noise. “Well, just the friend I want to see,” said Kai as he opened the door and shot him with a dirty look.

Pushing his way past Kai, with Josh in tow, Brody dove on the couch and smiled. “So, how did it go? She’s a bit of all right, if you ask me.”