The Lawyer (Book 1 of the New York Brotherhood Series)

Chapter 9

Vanessa

I sleep for a few hours; I wake up as the sun starts to go down. I normally sleep during the day so I have blackout curtains in my room but I leave them slightly open so I wake up when the sun is setting. Grabbing my phone, I realize it's almost 6, and it hits me there is someone in my apartment with me. Getting out of bed I change out of my pajamas and into the same jeans and gray t-shirt I was wearing.

            Walking out of the bedroom I notice the tv is on but Mateo is gone or well not sitting on the couch his things are still here, he didn't just dip completely. Maybe he's in the bathroom, nope the door is open. I turn the corner to look in the dining area, reading nook and balcony not there either. Heading into the bathroom I wash my face, brush my teeth and put my hair into a ponytail.

            "You should keep your hair down more." Someone says, I jump looking over towards the door and see that it's Mateo. "Sorry didn't mean to scare you." I notice he's holding a few bags. "I didn't want to wake you so I ran to grab a few things, I was told by Kevin Thai food is your favorite." He walks over to the dining table and sets down the bag starting to take out the food.

            "Thanks, you could have woken me up you know so you didn't have to go by yourself."

            "It's not a big deal." He gives a small smile. I walk over to the kitchen to grab some glasses and get some water for us. We sit down and he starts sorting out the food. He hands me two container one with rice and another with Gange Garee, a yellow curry. I give him a small smile. "He said that was your favorite and you like it a bit spicy so I got you medium."

            "Thank you, did you really call Uncle Kevin?"

            "Yeah, I didn't want to wake you and well didn't want to get something you wouldn't like." I give him a soft smile and nod my head.

            We mostly eat in silence and I every once in while I catch him looking at me, but more like staring. The more I look at him the more I notice the little things, the small scar above his left eyebrow. The small dimples he has when he laughs, and his muscles that slightly budge from his shirt, but not too much that makes him look like a douche. His hair is black but has small flecks of brown in it and he just uses his hands to brush it out. His skin is darker than you would expect for an Italian maybe he isn't fully Italian, or maybe I am just staring too long.

            As I slightly gawk at him, he looks directly at me and stares right into my eyes and it feels like he is hitting my soul. "What?" he asks.

            "Nothing." I respond. Great he thinks I'm a crazy person who just stares at people all day. I am a people watcher but I generally don't do it when I am two feet away from them. We continue to eat in silence the only sounds is the tv where a college basketball game starts playing and our utensils moving around. I try to avoid staring but I can't help it and I don't know why.

            We both finish our food and I get up to grab the empty containers and put them in the trash. He gets up as I walk into the kitchen to grab a rag to wipe down the table. "I'm going to jump in the shower." He says and walks away to the bathroom and shuts the door.

            I let out a long breath not realizing I was holding it in. I clean off the table and wipe down the counters like I do every night. Grabbing a stem wine glass from the cabinet I pour a small glass of wine hoping I'll finish it before he gets out of the shower. I chug the wine like I never had before maybe to calm myself. Cleaning the glass in the sink quickly, and placing it back in the cabinet I head to the couch to watch the game. Noticing how the blanket is neatly folded and on top of pillow he slept on last night.