Cesar
When we get inside, I find that my father is already sitting at the head of the table. His fiancé is sitting on his right hand, and Casey is sitting next to her. So the other side of the table is left for me and my little brother, Victor.
I put Victor in front of me so he can stay close to Leonard, and I sit next to him so I am facing Casey. The food starts getting to the table, and it looks like a feast. My father is sitting there smiling. He seems happy, and content, looking at everybody in the room. But my eyes are only on one person, Casey.
She sits there doing everything she can to avoid looking at me, doing everything to avoid eye contact. But everything goes on well during dinner. My father keeps saying family this and family that as if he deserves to be my father.
I was going to bounce on him the minute he signed his company over to me. But I guess, after this realization that Victor is my young brother, I am going to give him some slack and try to get closer to my young brother. My father, Leonard, was right. I had always wished I had a sibling.
It's too late now to say I need a sibling though since I'm already so... I won't say old. I'm already grown up. I already have my own life and my own friends. It's something I wasn't expecting to have, especially at this age. But I think I'm going to give this little man a chance. I like him. He reminds me of myself.
As we sit there eating, I am contemplating how I'm going to approach Casey. Which way should I go about with her? She obviously hates me and resents me. Whatever it is, she doesn't like me. How am I going to approach this? Her?
As we waited for dessert, Leonard cleared his throat and spoke up.
"So, Cesar."
"Yes," I answered as I looked at him, pulling my eyes away from Casey.
"I've been meaning to talk to you," he continued. "Irina told me that Casey is looking for a job, and so far, she hasn't had any luck. Do you mind taking her under you at the company?"
I don't know why, but when he said under you, my eyes instinctively flickered toward Casey. I would love nothing more than to have her under me, screaming, moaning my name. But then I realized that everyone at the table was looking at me. I quickly wiped the image from my mind, straightening my expression as I answered.
"In what capacity do you mean?"
"You don't have a permanent personal secretary yet. I thought it would be a good idea," Leonard explained. "She would be able to learn closely from you, be more involved in the company, and maybe later, you can find her a suitable position to her capabilities."
I looked back at Casey again. Leonard was throwing a lot of innuendos tonight, the stupid fucked had no idea of my history or my thoughts towards Casey.
I wanted to say yes right away, but with the way Casey was acting, I didn't want her to feel like she had any control over me. I didn't want her to think I would hand her anything she wanted so easily, especially after how she had been treating me—acting as if I didn't exist.
Ignoring me.
"I don't know ..." I said, making sure my voice sounded sceptical as I looked back at Casey. "I mean, I just started at the company. Everything is so great, and I would want to have someone who is already working at the company as my PA, so I don't have to teach her anything. Where did you work before?"
I make eye contact with her. She doesn't look at me. She looks down.
"I just graduated," she says.
That doesn't sit right with me. When I was graduating, she was in her first year, if I remember correctly. She should have already graduated by now.
"Shouldn't you have graduated already?" I ask.
She shrugs. "I took a few years off college."
"Why?"
Her mother chimes in. "That's not the point. The point is, do you think you can get her the job? She is so excited to work with her brother."
I nod slowly, ignoring how Irina tried to pass us off as siblings. "Hmm, I see. I don't know. I will have to think about it. Why don't I give you an answer tomorrow?"
"Of course," Leonard says. "I don't want it to seem like I am controlling you and your decisions at the company."
"But aren't you, though?" I ask. "Asking me to hire her?"
"If you don't want to hire her as your personal secretary, you can give her any other position at the office. I was just hoping that with you, she could learn more because I want her to reach far, even if it's not inside the company. But having a CV from our company would do wonders for her wherever she wants to go later."
I nod, looking at Casey, and then at my dad. "Like I said, let me think on it. I just met Casey. Let me get to know my..... my step-sister first."
"Of course," Casey's mom says. "It's not a problem. Like you said, you guys already knew each other, you went to the same university. I'm sure we will all get along just fine."
I smile. If only her mother knew how much we knew each other.
After dinner, we head to the family room with our drinks. Leonard and I have whiskey, Irina has wine, Victor has a glass of milk, and Casey is drinking juice. I don't know why, but I just want to talk to her. I want to hear her voice. I just hope she will stop ignoring me like that.
As Leonard and Irina are debating which movie we should watch, I decide to talk to her.
"Casey," I say, but she doesn't look up. She seems to quit responding.
"Aren't you having a glass of wine? Are you sick?"
"No," she replies, finally responding. "I've just had a very long day and I don't feel like drinking. I'm just... I don't even know how long I'll watch the movie. I'll probably sleep halfway through it. I don't want anyone to carry me upstairs."
"I'll carry you upstairs," I say, putting a little growl in my voice as I add, "I'll even tuck you in."
This actually gets her to look at me, but she doesn't meet my eyes. Instead, she throws me a death glare before pulling Victor into her lap and starting to make funny faces at him. It's clear she's decided to shut me out.
It's the first day, I tell myself. I'll take it in stride. I'm patient. I'll wait.
After all, her room is right next to mine, and Victor's. The parents are upstairs on the second floor, and we're on the first floor. I'll see how much fight she has when I get inside her room later.