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Winston chimed in. “Yeah, you could’ve just told us you’ve been seeing someone. We legit thought you’d gone mad.”
It was only Jude who had the courtesy to welcome Ria, at first. “Nice to meet you, Ria. How did you two meet?”
I answered so that Ria didn’t have to. “We met at a company networking event. She’s a tarot card reader.” I quickly then changed the subject. “What are we drinking? We can do better than that. I’m going to get us something for a proper celebration.”
I made my way excitedly to the bar. Elsie, Jude’s wife, was waiting there too.
“Elsie! Hello.”
She turned around and grinned when she saw me. “Forest! The boys were starting to think you’d eloped.”
I chuckled at ‘the boys’, considering they were all in their forties. “Not too far off. My girlfriend Ria is here with me tonight.”
Elsie gasped. “Oh, I have to meet her! I’ll come and visit your table later when I’m sure the event’s running smoothly.”
“Well done on tonight. You’re a very fine party host. The best I know.” I turned to the bartender. “Bottle of your best champagne, please, whatever it is.”
“Splashing out?” Elsie was eyeing me with curiosity. She may have sensed my good spirits. You didn’t need a sixth sense to suss them out tonight.
“We all have cause to celebrate, don’t we? Especially you and the growth of your charity. Would you like a glass?”
“The staff bubbly’s good enough for me, thanks though. I don’t quite yet have the refined taste of a billionaire’s wife. It’d be wasted on me.”
I liked Elsie. She was humble, not with my brother for his wealth, and they complemented each other beautifully. I admit, it had given me second thoughts about the impossibility of ever having a wife, a family. But this whole situation with Ria and Apollo had put that option firmly out of reach once more. It was untenable.
But a man could have fun, couldn’t he? He could dream – even if he knew the dream was an impossibility. That is what spending time with Ria was becoming like: an impossible dream.
I took the champagne back over to the table, expertly managing to carry five glasses without dropping any. I offered it around.
Ria declined. “Oh, I’m still feeling a little under the weather, so I’d better not.”
My brothers all accepted a glass, with varying degrees of suspicion. Jude in particular was eyeing me very warily. So they’d not seen me in a good mood for a while, what was the big deal? I didn’t quite understand what all the caution was for. If any of them were happy, I’d be happy for them. I resolved to ignore their suspicion and enjoy myself.
“Say, Ria, do you want to have a bit of an explore with me? I feel like being a bit more in the action. We’re all cooped up here off to the side.”
Ria nodded, smiling.
As we departed, I heard Sylvester mutter something. “Not exciting enough company for our brother tonight, apparently.”
Winston snorted. “I don’t think you could compete with that knock-out, Sylvester. As glamorous as you are.”
Jude groaned, and then we were out of earshot.
I turned to look at Ria, who was smirking politely behind her hand. “I apologize for my brothers, truly.”
“Don’t. They’re just how I imagined them.”
“Really? You imagined three middle-aged billionaires who act like obnoxious teenagers?”
“Pretty much. You’re more mature.”
“That makes me, what, in my twenties?”
She grinned. “You wish.”
“Ouch.” I held my hand to my chest, miming being wounded. “Come on. Elsie’s charity organizes games and activities that bring people closer together. They’ve got a games corner over here.”
I wasn’t up for anything particularly intense, and neither was Ria. She seemed to be feeling perkier than earlier, though, which I was glad for. We decided to play a game of ping-pong where, when the other person scores a point, you have to give a fact about yourself – no matter how mundane.
