“Good for me that I don’t need to eat.”
“Sweetie?”
“No. I was at Chris’s place. Met his new mom, and had tacos. It was really good. I don’t think she cooked them though.”
“Aria, please come through,” Harvey said, calling toward her.
“I’m sure there is a law being broken right now. Why is he being such an ass?”
“The company means a lot to him, and he wants to leave it to someone worthy of it when he dies.”
“Mom, he’s like forty-five. He’s got years yet, but he’s making my life miserable.” She jumped off the counter and walked into the dining room. Her father was at the head of the table, next to a guy she didn’t recognize.
“What’s up?” she asked.
Whenever something like this happened, she always tried to appear uneducated, or like a spoilt brat. She had come to learn men couldn’t stand a certain type of girl or woman, and she made sure to find the mark, and exploit it.
“You must be Aria,” he said.
She stared at the man. He was around the same age as her father, and he stared her up and down.
“Yeah, thanks.” She looked at her dad. “I’ve got homework to do.”
“Sit down and eat.”
“No. I ate with my friends. Tacos.”
“Aria, I wasn’t asking,” Harvey said.
Glaring at him, she lowered herself down into her seat.
“Ah, here he is,” the mystery guest said.
She turned in time to almost vomit in her mouth. There in the dining room, stood Wayne. Great, just great.
Spinning around in her chair, she stared down at her plate, wishing she wasn’t there.
“Don’t you two know each other?” Harvey asked.
“We go to school together, isn’t that right, Aria?” Wayne said, taking a seat.
“I go to school with a lot of people. You’re one asshole in the crowd.” She smiled at him while her father blasted her.
“Aria, enough with that foul language.”
“Here we go. Something pulled together quickly,” Lisa said, entering the dining room, carrying a large plate of pasta sauce and meatballs.
Aria hated the churning in her stomach, and the way her father looked smug.
Her mother served everyone, but Aria covered her plate.
“You don’t want any?” Lisa asked.
“I told you, I ate at Chris’s house. When are you going to believe me?” she asked.
“Chris Fieldbrook?” Harvey asked.
“You know who Chris is. I’ve hung out with him since I was a kid. Rachel, Mary, Branson, and Eli were there. Also, Tara, Jonathon’s knew wife.”