Page 6 of Ask No Questions

I walked away from them and started looking at the different options I had. I knew I wanted a car that was close to the same size as my old one, and definitely not an SUV. I noticed a row of convertible top cars and headed in that direction. I passed by anything silver since I didn’t want to match Brandon, or the rest of the population.

I stopped in my tracks and stared at the pearl white car in front of me. It was beautiful, perfect in every way. I didn’t even need to test drive it. I waved Brandon over as I walked around the car bending to peek inside at the plush, beige interior. Brandon and the man met me at the hood of the car waiting for me to give the okay.

“This is the one.” I beamed at Brandon.

We took it for a test drive at the insistence of the salesman, and when we returned, Brandon signed all the paperwork and asked for it to be delivered to the condo later today. It was shocking how easy the whole process was and that Brandon had simply agreed to the first one I said I liked. If this was how our relationship was going to be, I had a feeling things would work out marvelously for us.

As we pulled away, Brandon mentioned he needed to stop by the nearby outdoor mall. A short drive later, he pulled into the parking lot of Neiman Marcus. I was curious about why he chose this store of all the high-end options. My curiosity grew as he strode in like he’d been here a hundred times before and headed directly to the men’s section.

“I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Is this your favorite store or something? I pictured you somewhere more low key, like Gap or Banana Republic.”

He ignored me as a woman stepped out from behind a counter and greeted my brother like an old friend. She looked to be about his age with over-processed white-blond hair and an offensive fake tan. Her chest was barely contained in the blazer she was wearing, and her tight miniskirt looked about one step away from ripping at the seams. Her nails were filed to points and painted blood red, making them look more like dragon claws than sophisticated or chic.

“Brandon, my love! It’s been so long I was beginning to think you were cheating on me with some sleaze from Nordstrom. Are you here for the usual? I have some new items set aside for you to look through.” The woman finally noticed me, raised a perfectly shaped brow, and looped her claw-like hand around Brandon’s bicep and guided him away.

I stood frozen, trying to figure out what was happening and why my brother was letting this awful woman pull him into the dressing room. I caught his reflection as he walked into the personal fitting room and noticed he was smiling like an idiot at the woman! He obviously loved the attention. What happened to my smart, logical, self-proclaimed geek brother, and who was the cocky flirt that replaced him?

I wasn’t going to leave him alone with the dragon lady, so I marched forward and sat in the chair outside of the room to wait.

She sashayed out of a back room with the pile of clothes and to his room. They went through the assortment, then she left again to get more options. Never once did she acknowledge me or even look in my direction, which was probably for the best since I couldn’t stop myself from glaring.

Brandon stuck his head out. “Sorry, I didn’t expect her to have so much for me to see. It should only take a little bit longer.”

The smile on his face was ludicrous! He loved every second of Ms. Dragon fawning over him! They chatted away like old friends, but I refused to believe their relationship was anything more than professional. She didn’t seem like his type. At least, I hoped not.

After twenty minutes, he had all of the t-shirts, button-downs, slacks, jeans, and shoes he needed and came out of the fitting room. I rushed over to him and stopped him before he got to the register.

“What is all of this, and who is that putrid woman?” I threw a glance over my shoulder, making sure she wasn’t within hearing distance. The last thing I wanted to do was move farther up her hate list.

“This is my seasonal wardrobe update, and the woman is Margot, my personal shopper. I hired her a few years ago when I realized that I have no sense of fashion and needed to establish myself as a professional businessman. It’s pretty cool, huh?” And there was the goofy grin I knew. “I let her know a few days before I come in what I need. Then I show up, and she dresses me and stocks my closet with everything! Best decision I’ve ever made. Everything fits perfectly, and she makes sure I don’t look like a complete nerd.”

He smiled down at me as I laughed. As if he could actually look like a nerd. “Margot is all right once you get to know her, but I have noticed she’s not fond of other women. But she’s the best at what she does, so I put up with her attitude.”

He shifted past me while I tried to process this new information. My brother had a personal shopper?

Who was he? Our mother? I guess the apple didn’t fall all that far from the tree, even when said apple rolls halfway across the country.

“I’m all set here, so unless you want anything, we can get out of here and grab an early dinner before heading home to stare at your car.” He smiled at me again before walking away to pay Margot.

Four

Brandon knew of a few outdoor cafes in the area, so I told him to go to his favorite, which ended up being a glorified burger joint. Of course. At least that much hadn’t changed since he left home.

Once we settled into a private corner and ordered, he leaned forward, forcing me to make eye contact rather than watch people passing by on the boardwalk.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, Aubrey, but I want to hear your side of what happened in Chicago. All I know is what Mom told me, which I’m sure is nothing close to the full story.”

That was an understatement. Mom tended to exaggerate the wrong things to make me look like a rebellious teen.

I sighed. “What do you know?”

“Enough for me to ask her to let you move here to get away from everything.” He raised his brows over the top of his glasses. “But I think you’re going to need help to move past this. I can’t help you if I don’t know what actually happened.” He deflated like he had been holding onto those thoughts since I got here and sat back in his chair, not breaking eye contact.

“I don’t know where to start. There are things Mom doesn’t even know because she didn’t bother to ask me what happened or care about what I was going through. The fiasco at Neil’s birthday party was just what finally got her to realize something serious was going on. She never listened when I told her about the notes I’d been receiving. I don’t know if she thought I was being dramatic or begging for attention, but she never listened to me.”

Memories of what happened flooded my mind. I decided I was going to stay strong and tell him the facts as I had the police, maybe that way the tears wouldn’t surface. He waited patiently for me to continue, knowing I needed to do this my way.