Page 66 of Filthy Beautiful
Then I pulled out my phone and sent him a text, letting him know I was here.
While I waited, Freddy appeared, head-butting my ankle.
“Hey, snuggle puss.” I scooped him up and hugged him to my chest like a security blanket.
It took a few minutes, but then the door opened. My brother stood there, looking at me as I snuggled his cat in my arms.
“Hey, cupcake,” he said. Like no time had passed since the last time he saw me. Like this wasn’t weird at all—that I had to text him to ask permission to see him, and he had to let me into a locked, soundproofed suite in his house to visit him.
“Hey. I brought you coffee.” I’d picked up the usual, like I did pretty much every morning, whether he actually drank it or not.
He bent down to pick up the mug at my feet, and he smiled at me a little. But it wasn’t a real smile. Just one of those halfway, forced smiles that he put on because he probably knew other humans expected him to.
“Thanks.” He stood back to let me in, and I slipped inside with Freddy. He closed the door behind me. “You were at Angie’s?”
“Yeah. Just for a few nights. You know, girl time.”
That, and I stuck my boobs in Xander’s face and humiliated myself, so I needed somewhere to hide.
I bit my tongue on that part, obviously.
“How’s she doing?” he asked, as I followed him up the hall.
“She’s good.”
At the other end of the dark hallway, we emerged into the main room of the studio, which had once been a big family room. The walls were now soundproofed and draped in curtains, the floor layered in rugs, and comfy furniture was scattered around.
Cary settled onto a couch, and I sat down at the other end of it with Freddy, who snuggled into my lap. Freddy adored Cary, but he always seemed to like it when I was around, too.
I’d given him to Cary as a kitten, about a year after Gabe died. For companionship. I’d read that having a pet could help people suffering from things like PTSD and depression. I had no way of knowing if Freddy had helped my brother, but he was a friendly cat who offered cuddles in spades, so I figured he did more good than harm.
Even if he sometimes annoyed Cary by scratching up his furniture.
Plus, he always gavemecomfort when I had to talk to my brother about things I was nervous about saying.
“I wanted to tell you…” I said, stroking Freddy’s fur. “I talked to Angie about my job here a bit. Elle has an assistant, Joanie. Angie asked Elle for me about what Joanie does for her and got a list of duties, things Joanie does to help her out. There’s quite a lot. I made a list for you.” I dug out the paper I’d brought in my back pocket, unfolded it and handed it to him.
Of course, Xander also had an assistant, but I was hardly gonna ask him for anything.
Cary took the paper and looked it over. The list was extensive, though I’d removed anything that would involve him actually leaving the house, tailoring it the best I could to working for someone who never left home.
“If there’s anything on there that you’d like me to do for you… I can do it.”
“Thanks, CC,” he said. “That’s cool.” Then he put the paper aside.
And with that, I knew he wasn’t going to ask me to do anything.
But at least I’d tried?
“And, uh, speaking of my job… I was thinking. You really don’t have to pay me so much. I mean, my expenses are low. I’m living here anyway.”
“It’s the same rate I was paying the other assistant. Seems pretty standard.”
“Yeah… Except, he had a ton of experience. I’m new at this, and besides, it doesn’t seem to be very… busy right now. It doesn’t seem worth it for you to be paying me so much.”
He shrugged. “You’re here if I need you. That’s worth it to me.”
“But… I wasn’t here the last few days.”
