Utterly Forgettable | MM Romance | Complete

Ten: Yet Here You Are Anyway

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"Enter," Emery called out in response to Josh's knock on his door. Josh had been there for less than a week and he was already on his way to an argument. He certainly knew how to make friends. "Josh. What can I do for you? Can I offer you something to drink?"

"Not unless you have an energy drink."

Emery looked appalled. "You're not serious."

"'fraid so," he confirmed, suppressing a grin at Emery's reaction.

"I see. My apologies, I don't. But please," he gestured to the chair closest to Josh and closed the lid on his laptop, making three different monitors go dim, "take a seat. Did you need something?"

"Yes. I need you to come to dinner tonight."

Emery's eyebrows rose. "I'm sorry?"

"Dinner. In your dining room, with your sister at the table, at the same time."

Emery barely glanced at his wristwatch. "I would, but I can't tonight. I have a conference call—"

"Reschedule."

The hardening of Emery's stance was instantaneous. "You haven't been here that long, so you may be forgiven for—"

"And I won't be here much longer," Josh replied, tone curt, "if you continue to undermine my work.".

Emery's jaw clenched. "How am I supposedly undermining your work?"

"You told me you wanted your sister to smile again."

"I do," he protested, trapped between indignation and fury.

"How," Josh looked him straight in the eye, reclining in his chair and crossing his leg to appear harsh but non-threatening, "if you hardly ever see her at all?"

"I have a demanding job—"

"—and I'm sure you'll regret every hour you don't spend on it now after your sister passes away."

A lesser man would have allowed his indignation to segue into anger, possibly firing him on the spot. Emery, on the other hand, deflated. "I love my sister very much," he said in a subdued voice.

"I know you do," a kinder tone now, because there were more flies to be caught with honey than with vinegar, "and she knows it, but what's the use if she doesn't feel it? I'm not a Get Out of Jail Free card. I'm here to help, not replace. If you want to see your sister smile you'll start by eating dinner with her every day."

Emery studied him for a moment, brown eyes sharp and clear. "You're bluffing. You wouldn't leave the work you're doing with her just because I don't live up to the standards I should. But I appreciate what you came here to do, and it isn't..." He paused. "It isn't a hardship, dining with Emma. I didn't set out to avoid it — I've just been busy."

Less than a week and the man already knew he was bluffing? He was good.

"Be less busy at dinner time. You'll regret it if you don't, and you won't ever be able to make up for it."

Emery nodded. "I'll be there at 8. And, Josh?" He added as Josh rose from his chair. "Thank you. For looking out for her enough to call me out on it. I know I'm not an easy man to go up against."

Josh offered him a lopsided grin. "I'm beginning to think it's less bite than bark." He didn't stay long enough to allow Emery to formulate a reply.