Page 33 of Aleko
“Oh,” she said. “I was right. You are old.”
He glared at her, and her eyes twinkled. She was teasing him, and the hint of a smile on her face stole every ounce of anger out of him. He wrinkled his nose at her and reached out and tweakedthe strap of her bag. He wanted to touch something of hers, but it was the only thing that he didn’t think would cause offense.
“Brat,” he said.
“Mr. Alekos!”
“Hello, Negosi,” said Alex, turning to the host.
Negosi’s brother worked for Ash Enterprises at their outpost in Egypt and had approached Alex about assisting Negosi in his immigration efforts. A decade later, Negosi had four children and a thriving restaurant, and Negosi had insisted on paying back the rest of the loan last year. With all the pandemic closures, Alex was worried that it was the wrong time, but Negosi had promised him the restaurant and family would be all right. Now the only thing Alex could do to help Negosi and his family was to eat dinner as often as he thought he could without looking condescending.
“And you have a friend!” Negosi looked at Eliandra with a beaming expression, and Alex tried not to blush. Did everyone in his life think he needed help dating?
“Hello,” she said, with a smile. “I’m Lia.”
“Wonderful! We love Mr. Alekos. I’m so happy to have you with us.”
Lia’s smile stretched, and he could see that she was pleased by the exchange, but he wasn’t sure why. Negosi showed them to his favorite table—although Alex resented the new plexiglass partitions between the tables—showering Lia with hospitality, which she accepted with all the graciousness of a lady that she’d just been claiming to not understand.
“I’ve never had Ethiopian food,” she said when Negosi had run through the specials. “I’m excited to try it. The whole place smells delicious, and I will eat whatever you recommend.”
Negosi could not have looked more pleased if she’d presented him with a stack of money.
“I will bring you the best of everything. You will see,” saidNegosi. “Ethiopian food is the best.”
Negosi bustled away, and Lia smiled. He wasn’t sure why she had gone out of her way to charm Negosi, but he liked it.
Her phone beeped and she checked the message and then made a face before flipping it face down on the table.
“Carlos apologizing?” asked Alex.
“Yes,” she said.
“Why are you hanging out with that guy?” he asked.
“He does good work and the organization pays me.”
The phone beeped again and she reluctantly lifted the phone and looked at the message.
“Let me guess? He was just trying to be a nice guy. He didn’t mean anything by it. Soon to be followed by the message that you’re overreacting.”
Lia glanced up at him. “He added that onto the end already,” she said.
“The guy is an asshole,” said Alex. “Stop working with him.”
“Stop telling me what to do,” she snapped, her eyes flaring angrily. “You do not own me.”
Alex wanted to bite his tongue. They had barely sat down, and they were already arguing. Why couldn’t he keep his damn thoughts inside his head?
“I never said I did. I said you belongwithus. That’s different thanto.” It was a very slight difference, and he didn’t think the difference mattered, but he’d go ahead and pin his argument on it.
“Forgive me, it’s a subtle difference that gets lost when I wake up inyourhouse, withyourclothes, andyourphone and the information that I will be staying withyou.”
“You should be happy about that. Do you want to work for more Carlos’s and Sergio’s?”
“Do not tell me how to feel.”
The phone beeped again.
