“Who’s the barista?” Zander purses his lips. Up until a year ago, he has always taken it as some kind of personal offense when I share more of my life with Lukas than him, though I think he’s starting to like my friend more.
“Th-there’s a barist-sta at Steamy Beans. I—”
“And you’re getting more than coffee from her, aren’t you?” Zach waggles his eyebrows. As always, his thoughts immediately went to sex.
“I’m not getting anyth-thing from anyone. I jus-st have some occasional light conver-rsations with her.”
“But you went out.” Zander continues to give me the third degree.
“Yeah, and it was th-the first t-time. She’s…a fr-riend.” Yeah, friend is a much better title than fake wife for a day. “If there’s s-something for you guys t-to know, I’ll tell you.”
“Hey, bro, we don’t need to hear about your bedroom adventures,” Zach says, his face sincere. “But if you need my expert advice, feel free to call me up anytime.”
* * *
“How’s your assessment on the new start-up?” Zach leans forward, picking another muffin from the box.
He’s in the Cherrywood office for a few hours today, and my sweet sister-in-law Hope sent some of her baked goods for us. But Zander and I haven’t even touched a single one of them, as the box is still sitting on Zach’s lap.
“My t-team will attend confer-rences organized by these guys.” I motion toward the high-definition screen, where the webpage of said start-up is open.
Holding a medical degree and being the chief technical officer of our pharmaceutical company, Elixir Inc., I’m often the one with final say when it comes to the acquisition of tech start-ups, even though mergers and acquisitions is Zach’s department.
I take a sip of water before continuing. “One this month-th and another later. That sh-should give us a better id-dea—”
I’m about to say more when the phone resting face down on my desk rings. I wait for two more rings in case someone dialed by mistake, because I fucking hate phone calls. Meanwhile, I grab my glass of water off the table and gulp some down. When my phone continues to ring, I pick it up with a sigh.
“Mr. Teager, I’m calling from the Cherrywood Hospital,” a woman blurts from the other end, and it takes me a while to make sense of her words. “Your wife had a bad fall. Someone brought her to the ER.”
Shit.
Vienna.
“I’ll be right th-there.” I rush to get up from my seat and am already marching toward the door when Zach calls me.
“Hey, Zane. What’s happening, bro?”
Fuck.
Holding the door handle, I turn around. “I need to be s-somewhere. Can we d-do th-this later?”
“Yeah, that’s okay. But what’s the emergency?” Zander rushes to where I’m standing. “Everything okay? Is it Lukas?”
My brothers think the extent of my life beyond family is Lukas and maybe in some ways that’s true. But this new addition happened by serendipity. And I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to share it with anyone right now.
It’s hard to comprehend, even for me, why all of a sudden I’m in her life or she’s in mine.
How the hell do I explain this to my brothers?
“Yeah, all’s fine. I jus-st have to be s-somewhere.”
Thankfully, Zander nods, even though there’s a deep frown on his face.
I’m usually a safe driver, but today, my foot presses on the accelerator a bit harder as I navigate through the streets to reach the hospital all the while my chest pounds in worry for Vienna.
“Hi, my w-wife—” I’m talking to a hospital staff when Mary rushes to me.
“Mr. Teager, thank God you’re here.”