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“Contracts? Nah. Don’t really want to talk about that.” Dax pauses and then smiles mischievously. “But seriously, though. Did you see the heels she was wearing?Cuteisn’t the word I’d use to describe those shoes. Too bad her legs were covered up by those nicely fitted pants. Just saying.”
His emphasis on the word cute makes me roll my eyes. I’m sure Dax is being purposely exasperating. “Unfortunately, I was too busy working to waste time looking at my assistant’s footwear.”
Dax pushes off the wall and shrugs as he walks to my desk. “Your loss, brother. Your loss.”
“I’ll somehow learn to live with the pain,” I say dryly. “So, the contracts?”
“Oh, come on. We worked most of the weekend, and we both need a break. Besides, it’s late, and I’m starving. Those contracts will still be here in the morning.”
I surprise him by saying, “You know, I’m feeling the same. Let’s get out of here.” After my conversation with Amanda, I feel the need to get out of the office.
We decided on one of our favorite steakhouses, McKinley’s. The hostess greets us by name and shows us to our favorite secluded table in the back of the restaurant. I come here frequently, probably too frequently. I also take a lot of clients here because the food and service are excellent, and the atmosphere is warm and elegant.
The server greets us shortly after we are seated.
“Good evening, Mr. Anders, and here you go, the other Mr. Anders. I brought your usual drinks, an old-fashioned with extra bitters andyour bourbon, neat,” she winks at my brother while handing him his bourbon.
“Hi, Elena. This is perfect, thanks. And when are you going to finally call me Dax?”
“Probably never.” The waitress laughs.
“You’re breaking my heart,” Dax shakes his head at her. “But I heard you say probably this time. I think I’m finally wearing you down.”
Here we go again. If I don’t stop Dax, he’ll be flirting all night, and we’ll never get our dinner. Women seem to be drawn to his irresistible charm. It can get annoying sometimes.
“Hey, Elena,” I break in. “We’ll take the calamari and wedge salads to start. Then, could you please ask the chef to send out whatever is best for dinner tonight? Thanks so much.” I snap my menu closed, signaling an end to the conversation.
“Of course. I’ll be back shortly.” Elena takes our menus and then saunters off while making sure her hips sway just a little extra for Dax. I fight the urge to roll my eyes.
“Alright, Dax. We need to talk about Ethan. Have you heard from him?” I ask.
“Ethan? Yeah, I spoke to him a few days ago. He said something about going to Denver. Said he had some business to attend to. I didn’t realize we had anything going on in Denver.”
“We don’t. There’s nothing going on in Denver at the moment. He’s probably out skiing or whatever else he’s doing while he is supposed to be working.” I sigh and cross my arms. “I can only cover for him for so long. The board has been questioning me lately, and I’m runningout of excuses.”
Without interrupting us, Elena quietly drops off our appetizers and another round of drinks. She flashes a smile at Dax before leaving.
“I’ll try and talk to him, Jake. I think he just needs a little time. Dad put a lot of responsibility on us when he stepped down. I know that most of it falls to your shoulders, but I am not sure Ethan can handle the responsibility we’re giving him.”
It’s difficult for me to understand why Ethan is unable to take our business seriously. Ethan is not lazy or stupid or anything like that. Once upon a time, he loved working here. Ever since my father stepped down, he has become less and less reliable.
Ethan, Dax, and I have always known we would eventually take over the business. When we were teenagers, my father began bringing us to the office after school each day. He made it known that we were training to take over and that, ultimately, I’d be in charge of everything. It made sense, given I am the oldest. My brothers have always been okay with that, since neither have the desire or the drive to run the company as I do.
When my father stepped down as CEO a few years ago, I took over as planned. I had already been doing the job unofficially for two years prior, so it was an easy transition. My brothers already had their place in the company as well, so not much really changed. However, in the last few months, I have noticed that Ethan is spending more and more time away from the office. He has always been the most carefree of us brothers, but I never would have called him irresponsible. It bothers me that he is blowing off meetings and not coming in on scheduled workdays.
A server drops off our dinners just as Dax starts talking.
“Hey, when is Amanda getting back into town? You have that dinner thing on Saturday, right?”
“Her job was extended through the weekend, so she won’t be back in time for the party.” I shrug, pretending I’m not bothered.
“No way. Seriously? Well, I’m not going to be your date. You know I hate attending those things. Did you rope Liz into going with you?”
“Nope, she was busy. My new assistant is going with me,” I admit reluctantly.
“Oh heeeeeeell no,” Dax drawls out. “Your girlfriend can’t make it. Liz can’t make it. So poor you. You’re just going to be forced to take your hot-ass assistant with you? I feel so incredibly bad for you,” he says with light sarcasm. “How will you ever make it through the night?”
“Shut up, idiot.”
