"Victor, this place is amazing," I tell him before moving towards the windows, looking down at the bustling city lights below.
"Yeah, it’s great but back to you and Chase," Victor's voice is stern, causing me to whip around. His posture says anything but relaxed as he’s standing with his arms crossed over his chest. Beyond Victor, Chase stands awkwardly, still holding our bags.
I notice Melissa isn't around. "Where's Melissa?"
"She'll be home soon. Stop evading the question."
"Victor," Chase speaks up. He releases our bags at his feet and looks at my brother. "We're sorry to spring this on you. It wasn't our intention. "
"What are your intentions?" Victor cuts Chase from finishing his sentence. Victor's facial expression is one of concern, and I'm starting to doubt our decision. I thought he would be the most understanding out of all my brothers.
"I have no intentions, other than making her happy." His words make my heart skip a beat. Chase's eyes move to mine, in silent understanding, and he strides across the room to me. Despite my brother standing feet away, Chase looks confident. His arm wraps around my shoulder when he reaches me, pulling me into his side. I stare at him in awe, momentarily forgetting my brother. Chase smiles and looks towards Victor. I dare to glance at Victor, afraid of what I'll see exactly, but his posture has visibly relaxed. I exhale, the nervous dispersing. It's going to be okay. This time, I believe myself.
The front door opens. "Vic?" the female voice calls out. A second later, Melissa appears in the dining room looking fresh from work. She places a brown bag on the table. "Oh hey," she pauses and looks around, "Everything okay?"
Victor's face lights up when he sees her. "Yeah, everything's good. V and Chase wanted to share some news with us." He holds out his arm for her, and she moves into it, her head tilted back as she waits for a kiss, which Victor readily gives.
Her gaze moves to us. "Oh, yeah?"
I smile at her.
"So, it's official then?" she asks.
"You knew?" Victor says loudly, looking down at Melissa.
"No, not officially." She shrugs her shoulders, "But I noticed at the lake. They're smitten." She smiles wide towards us.
Victor shakes his head. "I don't know how I missed it." He sighs, "Well then…" He looks at us, and takes a step forward, causing Melissa to do the same. His hand moves out to Chase, who returns the gesture. "If she's going to be with anyone, I'm glad it's you. I know you're an honorable guy, and you know that I'll kick your ass if you hurt her."
I move forward quickly and wrap my arms around Victor. From behind me, Chase speaks up, "If I hurt her, I will come to you, so you can kick my ass."
It's all okay.
The tension completely evaporates, as Melissa moves from the room and into the kitchen. "I bought some food for tonight, but we can save it and go out instead?" she yells.
Victor looks at the two of us. "Let's go out."
I feel so elated like I'm on top of the world.
"So, why haven't you told Vance yet?"
And just like that, I fall right off that world.
I move into the living room, taking a seat on their brown leather couch. Chase follows, and sits down next to me. Victor’s sitting in the love seat across from us. "Well," I start, "out of you all, Vance seems to be the most protective. You're not around as much, and you have Melissa. I thought you'd understand the most," I tell him honestly.
He nods and glances towards the kitchen. Melissa is visible through the pass-through opening. "I'll admit, I probably wouldn't have been so understanding had I not met Melissa. I get how telling me was such a big deal." He looks at me, "You know her father's my boss. We took a risk by being together, too. I could have lost my job. She walked into the office, and I instantly wanted to get to know her. She is so different from any girl that I've ever known. I immediately asked her out,” He starts to laugh, “I didn't even know that she was Greg's daughter! It wasn't until weeks later when I found out. She didn't want to tell me. She was scared to." Melissa came to sit next to Victor, I watch him grab her hand and look at her. It was a side of Victor I've never seen. It made me admire him so much more than I already did. "It worked out for the best." He kisses the side of her head gently. I look away to give them their moment only to find Chase looking directly at me.
"What?" I whisper. He doesn't say anything, just continues his staring, but his mouth slowly spreads into a beautiful smile. He moves forward to capture my lips. I gasp in surprise at this bold move in front of my oldest brother.
"This is weird." I hear Victor say, and Chase laughs. "It's going to take some getting used to."
"It's so cute." Melissa gushes and I can feel myself blushing.
"Oh my gosh." I cover my face. "Anyways, let's move onto another topic."
"I'm gonna say one last thing," Victor speaks up, "You need to tell Vance as soon as possible. He most likely won't take it well, but it needs to come from you two before he finds out from anyone else. We live in a small town, and people notice the smallest things." I look at Chase worriedly, and he nods because I know he agrees with Victor. "Okay!" My brother claps and stands up. "Enough of that shit, let's go out!"
"You guys like sushi?" Melissa asks, "There's this amazing sushi bar not far from us."
I shrug, "I've never had it."
Her eyes bug out of her head, and she looks at Victor who shrugs, "We come from a very small-town Mel. Sushi bars aren't common."
"Well then, it's settled!" Melissa says
We all gather our things and head out the door, walking into the elevator that delivers us to the lobby. I can feel Chase's hand on my lower back as we exit the elevator into the beautifully massive lobby.
"Have you had sushi?" I ask Chase as we walk through the lobb. It looks more like an expensive hotel, rather than a lobby of a condo building, but then again, this is the first time I've ever been in one.
"I have." Chase answers.
"Did you like it? Is it really raw fish?" I cringe at the thought.
He laughs lightly, "It's okay. There are all kinds, not all of it is."
"Okay. Good."
True to Melissa's words, the Sushi Bar isn't far. It's at the bottom of a massive building and it’s pretty busy. The place is actually called Sushi Bar. We walk inside, and surprisingly, it doesn't smell all fishy like I expected. There's an actual bar at the front, and it seems to be moving. I watch guests sit in front and pick up the sushi with their sticks from the moving plates.
"This is so cool," I whisper to Chase. A hostess greets us then leads our group to a table for four. Settling in, Melissa explains, "Normally we'd sit at the bar, but it's usually just the two of us."
"So you just pick from the plates of what you want?" I ask, and look back at the people sitting on the stools.
"Yeah, they're made fresh and placed on the moving bar."
A very small young woman approaches the table with a smile, "Hello." she greets us with a slight bow, "Welcome. What would you like to drink?" Her accent is noticeable, but she speaks English well. We place our drink orders, and she walks away from the table.