Interlude

Chapter 21

The days that followed were difficult and forlorn. Rose buried herself in work, taking more tasks than any assistant ever had. Her colleagues watched her with concern and Simon Banfield grew weary. He briefly considered taking to Cary and having Rose be taken off some tasks. But the girl's determination was too sincere and he decided to give her some time.

Dev's twelve-hour work days grew to fourteen, even fifteen. His conversations with people were limited and specific. At one point his mom worried that he may be ill. His little sister Annie tried to question if this had something to do with Rose. She had met Rose once while visiting his apartment and had been anxious ever sense. He ignored her prying questions.

It was an unlikely person who knocked on Dev's door on a Saturday morning.

"Nia?" Dev exclaimed. He was in his pajamas. His face worn out, circles under his eyes indicating minimal hours of sleep. Before he could gather enough energy to greet or wonder, Nia had ushered herself inside.

"I thought I needed to catch up with my cousin." she said, far too brightly for his half-sleepy disposition. She looked surprising fresh, in her light denims and red sweater.

He followed, yawning.

"Here" Nia kept a mid-sized brown box, that said Victoria Bakery, on his coffee table. Dev returned to his spot on the couch and watched the open box of baked goodies, all his favorites - banana bread slice with pecans, almond croissants with chocolate, a strawberry scone and a couple of cake pops. He grew instantly suspicious. He looked from the open box to Nia, who was sitting next to him, casually sipping a cup of coffee.

Nia was pretty, in her own way. Her clothes were never overtly revealing or ostentatious. They were subtle, expensive and fine quality with a subdued theme as if the wearer aimed to hide her self. It worked for her, for the most part. At first glance, no one noticed anything remotely impressive about her. But once they saw her, really saw, once they heard her thoughts, and knew the kind of person she was, it was impossible to look away. She casually hid her charming personality under a highly wound box of politeness and reservations.

Amongst all his cousins, Dev felt most comfortable with her. She had a knack for getting people to confide in her without obvious probing. Her quiet, open nature made her trust worthy and safe. She was only a year younger than Dev. Somehow, through the years they'd shared parts of their lives with each other. Even though she had an older brother and Dev had Annie, Nia and Dev had a genuine bond of familial affection. They understood each other.

Dev's gaze dropped to the open box again, then rose back up to Nia.

Down to the box. Then up to his cousin.

Down. up.

Down. up.

"No matter how many times you look it'll still be there." Nia chirped, smiling sweetly.

"This is for me?" he asked, pointing to the box.

"Yeah."

"You brought this for me?"

"Yeah."

"To eat?"

Nia huffed, rolling her eyes. "Why are you being so dramatic?"

"Because the oatmeal girl is offering me this," he picked up on one scone with two fingers, like it was a specimen to be examined, "this tiny mountain of sugar." He set it back in the box. "So excuse me for being a tiny bit shocked."

"Oh God," she waved one hand, rolling her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. "You know how early I had to get up to make it to Victoria's? They sell out of their croissants so fast. I actually wanted to try the brownies but..."