Standing at the stove while preparing pancakes flashes of last night flooded back to me, making a stupid big grin spread across my face. Humming softly I flipped a very thick, tiny pancake around. It was an open kitchen plan so the delicious, sweet scent traveled to the living room, making my whole apartment smell nice. The fact that I was in a good mood had nothing to do with the pancakes though. I had a great night at the club, taking pictures left and right, dancing like I just didn't give a fuck together with Evan and drinking cocktails. It had been a while since I let go like that, I only ever did it together with my girlfriends, but it had been a while since we went out. I never thought I'd feel as comfortable around Evan as I felt around my girls, but he proved me I was wrong about everything when it came to him. He wasn't just a rich selfish bastard who banged girls and tossed time aside like they meant absolutely nothing to him. Turning off the stove I collected my plate with pancakes, I had made a ton since I wasn't good with measurements and I figured Evan would show up any second now and also crave something to eat. Walking into the living room I placed the plate down on the table and was about to head to the kitchen to collect plates for us when the doorbell rang, announcing his presence. Smiling I wiped my hands on my apron and headed to the door, opening it thinking it was Evan.
"Good...morning."
Chris raised an eyebrow at her, "Good morning to you as well, Zoey." He glanced over her shoulder, "You mind if I come in? Evan is on the phone with Emily and Nick so that's going to take a while."
I stepped aside, "Of course I don't mind." I quickly told him, trying to get my good mood back, "I was about to eat breakfast, you want to join me?"
Chris was already seated on the couch, his eyes shifting to the plate of pancakes, "Yeah, it smells good in here."
"I can't promise if it also tastes good, they don't have the exact same products as back home."
"I'm sure it's fine."
Smiling I entered the living room placing a stack of plates on the table along with some utensils and a plastic bottle with syrup. Chris shrugged his jacket off, tossed it aside and slid down the couch to sit at the table together with me. We both filled our plates up with pancakes and ate together while talking about last night. Chris showed us around when we first entered the club, Evan had already seen it, but he accompanied us anyway. When people started showing up and the club filled up we saw less and less of Chris, he was working behind the scenes, making sure everything ran smoothly.
"These are amazing, Zoey." Chris told me, "I don't mind having breakfast with your more often."
He was a charmer and when he said those things in his voice with that accent a girl couldn't help but melt like butter in his hands.
"You sound like this syrup which sweetened up my pancakes."
Christ threw his head back and laughed, "God, Zoey, that sounded fucking dirty."
I blushed, realizing he was right, "Yeah, I guess so."
"You're highly entertaining."
I shot him a playful glare, "I'm glad me embarrassing myself is entertaining you."
"Highly entertaining me." He corrected me, which made me giggle.
Finishing up my last pancake I placed the utensils down, placed my palms down on the ground and leaned back on it. My eyes lingering on Chris who leaned back against the couch for back support, looking comfortable around me. I was glad he felt like he could be himself around me. We were going to see each other a lot for three months straight so I was glad he was making an effort to get along with me. I was going to make an effort too, Chris seemed reliable and kind, I liked having people like him around.
"Do Emily and Nick check in with Evan often?"
"They do, Evan and Nick are like brothers and when Evan found out about Nick's feelings toward Emily he pushed them to be together. He and Emily got along instantly, they always joke how Emily and Nick are like his parents. I think in a way they do fill up the void."
"Evan has no family?"
Chris frowned, "Well, his mom died a few years ago. I do believe his dad is still alive, but he rarely talks about him."
"They're estranged?
"His parents got divorced and his father has a new family, you know, those things happen."
I nodded, "Yeah."
"Evan has Emily and Nick, they're always there for him, so you don't have to worry about him. He's going to be fine." She could hear the smile in Chris' voice.
Family issues reminded me of my messed up one so I didn't want to talk about it anymore. I had a feeling Chris didn't want to share Evan's past with me either, so it was better if we changed the subject.
"So when am I going to meet the girlfriend?"
Chris's smile was adorable, it softened his face and warmed his eyes. He didn't talk much about his girlfriend, I knew she worked at a hotel and she was Japanese, but that was about it. I think he was going to move in together with her, but I wasn't sure if I heard it right. I had the opportunity to question him about it now. He didn't know I knew the gossip about his ex-wife and was still keeping up with it until I moved to Tokyo. I wasn't going to tell him that though, it would ruin the friendship we were building up.
"You'll meet her Friday night at the club. She has an early shift then so I can introduce you to her and let her meet Evan in person."
"Can she speak English?"
"Yeah, not fluent, but she understands it."
"Do you understand Japanese?"
Chris nodded, "I'm not fluent, but I picked up a few things since I moved to Tokyo to set things up for the club. I've been flying back and forth and Hikari sometimes speaks Japanese to me without realizing it."
"That's awesome," I told him, glancing up when I heard a firm knock against the door.
Chris followed my gaze, "That's Evan." He got up, stretching a bit while I headed to the door.
Opening the door I indeed faced Evan who grinned at me, "Morning, Zoey." He glanced at his phone, "Yeah, it's still morning." He walked past me and glanced at Chris who looked ready to leave, "You leaving?"
"I need to check on a few things back at the club and then head out to have lunch with Hiraki. It's a busy day for me."
"Guess the girlfriend hasn't seen you in a while." Evan nodded, "Go and spend time with her."
Chris smiled and walked past his friend, leaning down to kiss my cheek before he left. I couldn't help but sigh as I closed the door behind me.
"Chris is freaking amazing." I shared with Evan.
"He like totally is." Evan agreed with me in a mocking tone which caused me to laugh, "Did you save some for me?" Evan sat down on the floor and like Chris, he leaned back against the couch for back support while grabbing a plate, "I think you're the one who is freaking amazing here, Zo."
I swayed a little, the stupid big grin coming back to me, "I love it when you compliment me, please don't stop."
That made him chuckle, "You're a good cook and fucking hot which is a perfect combination in my book." He suddenly got a serious look on his face, "And I suppose my friends will feel the same way so when they fly over this weekend, please don't mind them. I apologize for their behavior beforehand."
I grabbed the dirty plates and put them away in the sink, "They can't be that bad."
"They're not that bad." Evan agreed with me, "But it's a bachelor party so the guys are going to be drunk and stupid so you've been warned. You know how things go on these kinds of parties."
I joined him back in the living room, sitting down beside him on the floor while I reached for the remote control to turn on the TV, "I got it. I won't hold it against you." I promised him.
Evan's gaze was fixed on the TV, watching the news program together with me, "Emily and Nick are coming over on Monday. They'll stay for a few days."
"After the bachelor party?"
"Yeah, the guys will leave Monday morning while Emily and Nick arrive Monday night."
I observed his face for a bit, "You seem more excited about Emily and Nick coming over than the bachelor party."
Evan met my gaze, "I do love to have a good time, but ever since Emily and Nick got together I found out I also don't mind spending quiet time-" He gestured between us, "Like this. I think I prefer this more, you know, getting to know people. Only having a few good friends instead of a hundred acquaintances who only befriend you to get ahead in life."
I completely understood where he was coming from. It was the same for me. The closest friends I had were Laurel and Sasha, I shared everything with them. I hadn't talked to them about Evan yet, but we would talk about it when I had the time. They had my back, always. Evan had that with Emily and Nick, and I figured also with Chris. He knew that only those people would never stab him in the back and would be there for him when life wasn't going well.
"Quality over quantity."
Evan chuckled, "Exactly."
When Evan finished up breakfast we went grocery shopping together. I figured he had better things to do, but he assured me that wasn't the case. I had his full attention. After walking around town for hours we had dinner at a sushi restaurant, it was small and secluded. Evan told me because it was more expensive than the usual sushi restaurant, but he wanted to treat me. I protested at first, but he wasn't listening so I just agreed. We had a great time together, eating delicious food and drinking sake. We didn't have many glasses since we still needed to walk back to the apartment. I took a few pictures of our food and also a few together with Evan. I posted them without thinking about the consequences. I wouldn't even care if my parents hated it. I had a great time and I wanted everyone to know. It was also part of my job so it was a win-win situation. We walked home after we finished dinner, Evan carrying my grocery bags while I walked closely beside him. Once we were back inside my apartment he helped me put away everything and then excused himself, needing to catch up with emails and whatnot he told me. When he left the apartment I couldn't keep things to myself anymore. I texted Laurel if she could talk, the girl texted me back instantly letting me know she could face cam with me. I settled on my bed and talked with Laurel, telling her all about Evan. When I told her everything she told me something I didn't want to think about. She told me I had feelings for him. It hit home because I knew that was true. I'm pretty sure those feelings didn't start in Tokyo either, it happened way before that. I was just too stubborn and proud to admit that.
"Just face it, Zoey, it started way back when Nicolas introduced you to him. That's why it upset you so much when you saw him with other women."
I knew it was true, but I still wasn't going to admit it.
"Tell you what, I'll try and get some days off to come to visit you. I feel like we have a lot to talk about."
I nodded, "We do."
Laurel smiled at me, "Okay, honey, I gotta go. We'll talk soon."
"Love you."
"Love you too."
Laurel was coming over soon which would definitely help with getting my feelings straight. I knew why Evan was always on my mind, but I'd explore that after I had a talk with Laurel face to face. I didn't want to take any risks, life was already too complicated for me right now. The last thing I wanted was to ruin my friendship with the guy.