"Sorry, I'm terrible about that," she said and then glanced over her right shoulder, waving and smiling in the direction of none other than Reed Alexander himself. Lexi must’ve been another admirer, although she didn't seem like the type to flirt with a guy so blatantly. I knew how nervous she’d been talking to Brandon for the first time.
"Come on," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me off the stool. "My brother's here."
She couldn't be talking about Mr. Alexander, could she? No. No way. Lexi's last name was Adams.
I glanced between Lexi and Reed, and my stomach squeezed. The resemblance between the two of them was clear.
"Wait." I stopped, causing her to turn and face me. "Reed Alexander is your brother?"
She nodded and smiled.
"But you're Lexi Adams."
"Yeah, I changed last names. There's an explanation for all of that—after dinner."
I looked back toward Reed and found him staring at me. Then something else began to make sense; it was all perfectly clear.
"It was you?" I looked back to Lexi. "You're the one who requested me for the Black and White event." I didn't phrase it as a question. I knew it was her.
"Yes." She had a guilty look on her face, but there was a wry smile there as well. "Are you mad? Please don't be mad," she pleaded.
Mad? No. Confused? Yes.
"But why?"
She shrugged innocently. "I knew you were stressing out about work. Reed and I have been talking about hosting the charity event again for a few months now. At first, I wasn't sure I was ready for it, but when I finally decided it was time, I wanted you to help organize it."
"Lexi, you didn't have to do that.”
"I wanted to do it. You've been a great friend to me. I wanted to do something to say thank you."
"I wish you would've asked me. I mean, there are much more qualified people who could do a better job." Christine's face popped into my head.
"This charity event was very important to my mother and me." She paused, closing her eyes. "It was very important to my family. I know you're going to be great."
"I don't know what to say," I said.
"Well, right now, just say you're ready to eat because I'm starving. We'll talk more after dinner."
Her eyes turned hopeful when she looked over my shoulder at someone behind me. Turning around, I saw who had made her smile so big—Brandon and Reed were talking near the entrance. Apparently, it was going to be the four of us. Funny, Lexi didn't mention any of this.
"Come on. I don't want to leave them alone together for too long." Lexi began to walk toward them while I followed her. As the two of us approached, the guys ended their conversation and Brandon's eyes met Lexi's as Reed's met mine.
"Emily, it's nice to see you again," Mr. Alexander said, smiling at me.
"Mr. Alexander." I felt my cheeks flush. This was awkward.
"Please call me Reed," he said. I nodded, quickly looking away from him and over to Brandon. This was the first time I’d seen him dressed in anything other than gym clothes. His blond hair was styled and slicked back, making his baby face and dimples on his cheeks stand out even more.
"Hey, Emily, have you been practicing the moves from last night?" Brandon moved around Lexi to give me a quick hug.
Please, please, don't bring up what happened in class yesterday, I pleaded in my head. Not in front of Mr. Alexander… er… Reed.
"Yeah, I think I've got them down." I smiled weakly.
"Chad's still recovering from that blow you gave him. It will be interesting to see who has the guts to partner up with you next week."
I winced, remembering the thrust move to his nose. "I'm really sorry about that."
"Don't be sorry. You did well." He sounded genuine.
I glanced back over to Reed to measure his reaction and noticed he was smiling curiously at me. "Should I be afraid of you?" he asked.
Great. He probably thinks I'm some sort of crazy person.
"Only if you really piss me off." The words flew out of my mouth.
Lexi and Brandon laughed out loud. Reed's eyes flew over to Lexi. The smile he wore faded as a look of peace spread over his face.
"Your table is ready, Mr. Alexander." The man from the host stand, the one that Reed had been talking to earlier, approached our group, breaking up the moment. He had no idea how thankful I was.
"Oh, I need to go pay for my wine," I said, totally having forgotten about it.
"I'll take care of it." Reed moved around me quickly and toward the bar. My eyes followed him. I saw Ben standing there staring at us. I gave him a small wave as I followed behind Lexi.
DINNER ALMOST seemed like an interview for Brandon. Reed was questioning him like a father would a boy that was interested in his daughter. Most of the questions were innocent and I would say that Brandon passed with flying colors, but the greatest part was how Lexi beamed the entire dinner. I'd never seen her so happy.
When the dinner was over, Brandon and Reed went to the bar for a drink, while Lexi invited me over to her condo, saying she wanted to talk to me about a few things. In the three months I had known her, she’d never invited me up to her place before now.
"Wow," I said, glancing around her condo. It was easily three times the size of my place. She lived on the twentieth floor, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan. "This is nice. Really nice."
"Thanks," she said, stripping off her coat and hanging it in the front closet.
I walked to stand at the edge of the windows, taking in the view. It was beautiful. She came to stand beside me. I noticed she was holding the right side of her face with her hand, trying to cover her scars. It was something I noticed she did when she got uncomfortable or nervous.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah." She smiled. "And for the first time in a long time, I actually think that's the truth. Normally, when people ask me that, I just lie and tell them that so they'll leave me alone." She turned around, took a seat on the white couch, and pulled a bright-orange pillow onto her lap. "Do you know what happened to me? Or anything about my family?" She clutched the pillow to her chest as she looked up at me.
I shook my head. "No," I answered, my voice barely above a whisper.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment and then opened them, looking up at me.
"I'd like to tell you about it, if you want, but you're going to have to come over here and sit down first." She smiled softly.
I took a seat in the chair beside the couch and waited for her to begin.
"Well, I figured I owed you an explanation. I don't want you to be mad at me for going behind your back at work. I was really just trying to help you."
I shook my head. "I'm not mad. I'm more confused than anything else."
"There haven't been a lot of people who I've let get close to me over the last couple of years. It's mostly my fault. After the attack, I pushed away my friends and refused to leave my condo. I've tried really hard to get better, and I think I've come a long way, but there are some things that may come out tomorrow after we release a statement to the press about the Black and White event. I want to tell you everything before you read about it in the papers. I'm not sure how interesting it will be since the attack is old news now, but if anything is printed, I'd rather you hear it from me first."
"Okay," I said, not knowing if I was ready to hear what she had to say.
She took in a deep breath and sat back farther into the couch, squeezing the orange pillow even tighter to her chest. "It's been two years. I know it's been forever and it should be easier to talk about, but it's still hard for me."
"You shouldn't feel bad about that. There are no time limits for things like this," I told her softly.