Stella

Thirty-nine

death by tinsel

"Cas?" She looked at the figure on the sofa who was sipping a glass of whisky and looking at a file. His bowtie was undone, and his suit jacket was discarded over the sofa as he sat in a waistcoat. The undone buttons of his shirt revealing a glimpse of skin and fine hair to her greedy eyes. "What are you doing up?"

He looked up then back to his file. "I had a few things to look at."

"Oh." She blinked and shuffled to the kitchen to get a glass of water before returning. "Do you want some company?" She perched herself beside him. He glanced at her but didn't want to be rude, so he kept mum. He guessed it was rhetorical anyway. "Where's Stella?"

"Hopefully she's asleep." Cas glanced at his watch. "Why are you awake?"

"I was thirsty." She gestured to her glass. "Did you have a nice night?"

A ghost of a smile lingered on his lips. "Very much so."

She blinked and nodded before sipping her water. "That's good." She looked at the paper in his hand and understood none of it. "I don't think I could read these sorts of things every day. It's like a different language."

Cas nodded. "It isn't for everyone."

"I think I'll stick to nursing." Lexi chuckled. "You must be very capable though."

He sighed and picked up his pen to make a note on the document. "I was taught from a young age – like most of us."

"Us?"

"People in this society. We're educated to a higher degree than most children."

"Oh, right. Yeah, I've heard. June said most days she would spend over ten hours on school and tutoring almost every day. It sounds awful."

"June Murray?" He raised a brow.

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"I know of her, yes." He shook his head. "Our education may sound awful but it's really not that bad. It sets most up for success, even if they don't follow the plans set out for them by their parents, they're still prepared for further education. Though some feel pigeonholed and can't handle the pressure."

"I guess." Lexi shrugged and leaned back in her seat. "It's just a lot. I mean, what about just being a kid? I know Stella and Robert were finished with college early." She sighed. "Did you feel pigeonholed?"

"Not really," he murmured, eyes still on his page. "I knew what I wanted to do and was lucky enough to want to do what everyone else wanted me to do."

She nodded. "So, you never wanted to do anything else?"

He sighed. "Not really." He sipped his whisky.

"What do you like about it?"

His brows pulled together. "I strategize and make sure the company moves in the desired direction and can see the success of the company firsthand." He scribbled down another note under a paragraph. His brows pulling together in frustration at the skipped ink. He shook the pen.

"That does sound pretty cool."

"Yes," he muttered before taking a sip of his whisky.

She shuffled closer to look at what he was doing. He eyed her leg that was just about touching his and looked back to his paper with furrowed brows.

"What does 'open the kimono' mean?" She furrowed her brows.

"It's just something stupid my brother decided to slip in. It just means to reveal information."