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“I’m not telling him who he can’t have over.”
“You’re telling me instead.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t come over.”
“You didn’t have to. You’ve made it clear that you don’t want me here.” She opened the refrigerator and snatched a bit of creamer, settling it near the coffee pot. “Do you have a mug?”
“Yes.” He did not move to find it. “Is Dixon ever planning on coming back?”
“That’s a conversation you should—”
“I’m asking you. He won’t tell me anything. I’m his damn brother, but you’re back in town for an hour, and he fucks off and spends the whole day with you.”
“He took me to my trial. We didn’t go shopping and have ice cream.”
“You could have taken your car. He’s declared himself your personal chauffeur.”
“He was being a friend.”
“What’s he being now, then? Your trial is over, and he’s practically moved into the oracle’s compound with you. He says he’s on vacation, whatever that means.”
“It means that he needs a break.”
“From me? With you?”
“Maybe it’s not about you. In case you haven’t noticed, I do have a lot going on in my life right now, things that have absolutely nothing to do with you.”
“So his vacation is about you?”
“Maybe Dixon’s vacation is about Dixon. Stop dragging me into it,” she grumbled, staring at the coffee pot. “Can I borrow that mug now?”
“It might be easier not to drag you into it if he’d stop messaging me from the oracle’s compound. He’s having so much fun. Did you know? He’d already started becoming unreliable before he wandered off with you, but now he—”
“Now he’s treating you as a brother instead of a boss? He’s treating the shop as a job he quit instead of a home? I remember him telling you once what he wanted, but you never had that conversation with him, did you? You never gave him what he wanted. Maybe this is the consequence of not having that talk.”
“I’m tired of trying to win over people who don’t want to be won.”
“Maybe he feels the same way. Maybe he’s tired of trying to please you. Maybe he’s stopped, too.”
“Is that what he said?”
Lila’s shoulder’s fell. “I refuse to have this conversation with you, Tristan. This is something you should talk about with him. I’ll not play mediator between you any longer. You and I are not friends. I’ll not be your sounding board or your counselor or your advisor. Your side of things is not my problem anymore.”
“So this is what you and Dixon have been doing? You’ve just been complaining about me and—”
“We have other things to talk about, you self-important little…” Lila gripped the counter. “Dixon hasn’t told me much of anything about what’s going on with you. I haven’t asked. I don’t care. All of this, you, your work, none of it is my business anymore.”
“So you haven’t convinced him to leave?”
“You said he was unreliable before I came back, so stop trying to blame me for his sudden vacation. There were warning signs. You ignored them. You’re both grown men. Stop acting like children and just talk with one another.”
“Yes, because talking always works so well.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I tried talking to him. He barely tells me anything. I tried talking with you before you ran off with La Roux, and—”
“I didn’t run off with La Roux. Go play the wounded victim with Katia. I don’t want to have this conversation again.”
