Page 63 of The Producer: Aaron

Of all the explanations he could give me, this one didn’t even cross my mind. I have always seen his mother in public next to his father, elegant and perfect in dresses sewn on her. Not even a hair out of place, let alone drunk enough to make a scene, always with a smile, but her eyes, perhaps, a little sad. He’s never told me about her, and it seems a bit strange since we exchanged several anecdotes about our childhood, but now that I think about it, his memories are never tied to his parents.

“How is your relationship with her?”

Aaron shrugs and shakes his head slightly.

“Nonexistent.” He inhales deeply and stares at the table in front of us as if looking for words. “My brother and I were raised by nannies. Our parents never took care of us, as happens in ordinary families. We never received any gesture of affection from them. When we were old enough to understand how much my mother was always stuffed with antidepressants and alcohol, Evan and I began to keep an eye on her to prevent her from making headlines with a scandal.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, resting my lips on the back of his hand.

The smile he gives me is tender, sincere, almost melancholic. I get lost in his eyes that at first seemed the color of ice but now warm my heart. Boiling ice, that’s what I would call Aaron. A man who can set you on fire with just a glance.

“You don’t have to be sorry. In all honesty, I don’t miss my family. Evan is the only affection I care about, and he is present, even if we don’t see each other often. He squeezes me to his chest, letting slip away some of the melancholy of this moment. “But can we talk about happy things like your birthday? What do you want to do to celebrate?”

I understand that he doesn’t want to continue on the subject, but I appreciate that he decided to share something so personal with me. This little glimpse of his life is the most beautiful gift he could give me for my birthday.

“This cherry cake looks great.”

“But weren’t you the one who wanted pancakes?” He chuckles amusedly.

“After seeing the cake, they took a back seat.”

He holds me to himself and doesn’t let me go even when the waitress comes to take our orders.

“Sorry to interrupt you. I wanted to hug the birthday girl.” A voice I don’t recognize catches my attention.

I look up and see a younger version of Aaron, same ice-gray eyes, dark hair, and tailored suit.

“Oh my God, there are two of you!” I squeal surprised making them laugh.

The guy in his early thirties lowers himself and hugs me. “Happy birthday,” he whispers to my ear.

“Dakota, this is my brother Evan,” Aaron introduces.

“Nice to meet you” A smile spreads on my face. It’s sweet Aaron wants to introduce me to his family, or at least the part that is more attached to him.

“I didn’t want to crush your birthday breakfast, but I’m in town for a few more hours and wanted to meet the girl my brother can’t stop talking about,” he explains, sitting in front of us grinning and looking at his brother.

I look at Aaron and find him hiding an embarrassed smile. I didn’t know he talked about me with Evan. He seems almost shy in front of this confession.

“It’s not like we had a lecture about the topic. You asked me about the gossip magazines, and I answered you.” It’s clear he’s trying to downplay the conversation they had.

“You definitely bragged about it,” his brother laughs while I smile seeing Aaron embarrassed.

“So, are you both born with those suits? Is it something branded in your DNA?” I joke, focusing my attention on Evan and giving Aaron some respite.

They both chuckle and nod.

“You can say that. The Jailbirds give me shit about it all the time.” His eyes soften when he talks about his clients, and from what Aaron told me, best friends.

They are the most famous rock band in the world, and I can imagine them making fun of his un-rock attire.

“But I can see you have some influence on my brother,” he continues. “Why are you wearing Chinos in public? You look like an old dude. What is the next step? Cargo shorts and New Balance? Are you trying to pull off the dad outfit?” He gives Aaron a hard time, but I can see the amusement on their faces.

“Shut up, you idiot!” Aaron pushes him by his shoulder.

I love this interaction between those two. From what Aaron told me during our endless conversations, they weren’t on good terms until a short while ago, but they are fixing their relationship and becoming closer by the day.

“I’m happy you succeeded in the hard task of getting him out of that office. It’s time for him to enjoy his life,” Evan says, returning his attention to me.

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