The last was said honestly. Maxime may be a selfish man and a shitty husband, but he was an excellent chef.
He nodded, much too confident to do anything but agree with my statement.
Maxime tapped a finger on the dimple in his chin, a habit that brought back memories that weren’t terrible.
“There is a young man, Brendan O’Malley, that I had the pleasure of meeting when he was traveling last year. I’ve heard that he is a contender for the job. This pleases me, as he was a very apt pupil.”
I had a crazy and overwhelming desire to snatch Brendan’s name off his lips. My stomach curled at the thought of them working together. Although I knew it would be good for Brendan’s career, the thought of my ex-husband and semi-current lover creating side-by-side made me uneasy.
I cleared my throat and tried to school my features, so as not to give away my feelings for this particular student.
“Yes, Mr. O’Malley is currently the top of his class. There is just one other student who is competing for the position, but if O’Malley wants it, I’m confident that he’ll get it.”
“Why wouldn’t he want it?” Maxime asked, his natural arrogance showing through. “Who would turn down a position in the best restaurant in the world?”
He sniffed at the thought.
I didn’t reply. My heart was pounding, my breathing hard, at the thought of Brendan taking the job. He’d said he wouldn’t, but now that I’d told him I didn’t want to see him anymore, what was stopping him.
“Well, Maxime, it was good to see you,” I lied, gathering my things and hoping he didn’t realize there was a reason I didn’t answer his question.
I’d made up a meeting earlier to escape from Brendan, and now I needed to get out of here. Away from the school, memories of Brendan, and the actuality of my ex-husband being on my turf.
I needed a stiff drink, and Ming … and to work out the confusing thoughts and mixed emotions that were tearing me apart.
“I was hoping we could have dinner, Chéri,” the man I used to love with all of my heart said with a charming grin. Unfortunately, that grin had ceased to work on me after the first time I’d caught him in bed with another woman.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I have a date with Ming.”
His lip curled, as I’d known it would at the mention of my friend. The two had never been fans of each other, and after she’d found out about his extracurricular love life, she’d threatened to cut off his balls with a meat cleaver.
“I guess I’ll see you later then.”
I nodded, not wanting to encourage his attempts to see me outside of school, then without another word, fled the office. Once I made it to my car, I shot Ming a text to see if she was working late or if she could meet, then got the hell out of there.
Chapter Twenty-Three ~ Brendan
I’d just gotten home, still reeling from the encounter, and subsequent dismissal, with Bronagh. I was itching for my guitar and heading in that direction when my phone rang.
“Shit,” I exclaimed, frustrated at the interruption, but picked up immediately when I saw my brother’s name.
“What’s up?”
“Hey, Bren,” Brady said, his voice sounding hurried.
“Yeah?”
“I just left Jake’s. They said Natalie’s missed her last three shifts, and they can’t get ahold of her.”
“Brady,” I began, knowing where he was going with this, “it’s not your business, brother.”
“I’m heading over to her place now,” he replied, confirming my fears.
“Don’t,” I warned. “If there’s shit going on with her husband, you don’t need to get in the middle of it. Why isn’t Jake or one of the girls going over there? Have they called the cops?”
“Don’t know,” Brady answered. I could hear his car door shutting in the background.
“Brady, stay out of it, man.”