Altering the Plans Ch. 05

After a quick, awkward introduction of Landon to Krista, Toby, and Jackson, she led her panicked stepbrother back to the breakroom.

Maya was quiet for a moment as she took him in. His whole appearance was different. Landon had always had short hair and sharp suits. Even his casual wear had had a business-like aspect. Now he sat before her with shaggy hair down past his ears, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Even the easy confidence she remembered was gone.

"Have a seat," she said, and he did. She got him a bottle of water. "Now, what's going on?" she asked as she sat down. She was apprehensive, but tried not to show it; she was so tired of being afraid of people.

"What are you doing here?" Landon asked.

"Trying to talk to you," she said.

"Funny. You know that's not what I meant."

"Fuck you, Landon," she snapped. "You came looking for me, and here I am. You want to talk, fine. You're going to be an asshole, you can leave. I'm giving you a second chance after what you did. I see you're scared, but you don't get to take that out on me."

He stared at her.

She tried again. "I was surprised to see you at the club last night. And how did you even find me?"

"Yeah. I didn't expect to see you either." He seemed to give in to something and slumped back in the chair. "Why were you there?" This time his tone was genuinely curious.

"I fixed a dress for Charles—Trinity—and he invited me and my friends to the show. I went backstage to help someone else during the show and saw you on the way back to our table."

"So it was just a coincidence?" Landon asked.

"What else would it be?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line. "I thought Dad sent you."

"Roger? You thought Roger sent me to what? Spy on you?" Maya was baffled.

Landon sighed and dragged his hands over his face, and Maya saw how tired he was. Again, not a look she'd ever seen on him before.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said. "I talked to the guy that came to get you and got the information. Talked to Trinity and she showed me the store card. It's not funny," he added when she scoffed lightly.

"No, it's not, I'm sorry." Maya shook her head. "I just can't imagine Roger asking me to do anything like that. I don't think he remembers I exist if I'm not in his line of sight. Did you know that they moved to North Carolina?"

He nodded with a shrug. "Yeah, Dad wanted me to go with them. His company's opening a new branch down there. I helped check out a couple of properties."

"I'm glad they told someone," she said drily. "Mom called me from the airport."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. Suppose I'm lucky she remembered at all."

"So," Landon said after a minute, "what are you doing here? I mean, in the city. I thought you were living with your cousin."

"I was. My firm downsized, and Allie decided to go to grad school. I decided to seek my fortune in the big city."

"How's that working out?"

"It's picking up." Maybe she'd tell Landon more later, but she and her stepbrother had never been any kind of confidantes, and after his earlier behavior, she was on her guard. "What about you?"

When he didn't answer, she waited a moment before trying again. "Landon, you can tell me. I won't judge. I certainly won't say anything to Roger."

"I quit my job. I left the firm," Landon said.

"All right. Why?"

"Why? Just why? No, 'that was stupid,' or 'what were you thinking?'" He bit the words off, as though mad at himself.

Maya smiled gently. "Yes, Landon. Why did you quit?"

"I hated it," he said. "My god, I hated it so much." His voice caught. "The endless grind, the office politics, the—the fake camaraderie." He swallowed and lowered his yes. "Christ, it got to be a nightmare."

"I'm sorry," Maya said. "That sounds rough."

"I have hated it all for so long," he said. "I wanted to quit law school but Dad wasn't having it. He was mad enough when I didn't want to take the bar exam. Hell, I didn't even want to go to law school."

"No?" Maya was curious. "I never knew that."

Landon scoffed and shrugged. "It didn't matter. Dad was hellbent on me going, so I went." He gave her a rueful look. "He's a pretty intimidating guy."

"Yeah," Maya agreed. "He can be."

"I mentioned at one point that things weren't great at the firm, and he wasn't pleased. Told me to suck it up, keep my eye on the prize, all that shit. I said it was making me miserable, and he told me I was just spoiled and I'd have to man up."

"Wow. That was an awful thing for him to say."

"Thanks." He nodded. "Anyway, I found out one of the partners was involved in some kind of fraud. I said something, but was told to keep my head down and my mouth shut. I wanted out so bad; I sure as hell didn't want to be there if that ship went down, for one thing. So, I quit."

"Good for you."

"Maybe." Her stepbrother shrugged. "I had money saved because I worked so fucking much I didn't have time to spend it. I didn't know what I wanted, just that I never wanted to do that again, and I figured I could come here and just get lost, you know? Find a job and just disappear into the crowd."

"I never pictured you as a bartender," Maya said.

"I worked at a bar for a while in college and law school. I actually enjoyed it. I liked talking to people, and just the general vibe. I was walking by the club and saw a sign, figured what the hell. It's been good so far."

"Good."

"Listen, Maya, I'm really sorry about before," Landon said, this time meeting her eyes. "I shouldn't have grabbed you like that. I was just—I panicked, not that that makes it right. I will never do that again, I promise."

"Thanks," she said. "For what it's worth, I won't tell Roger anything. It doesn't matter because he'd probably never ask me anyway."

"I appreciate that. I know I'll have to tell him something sometime, but I haven't wanted to deal with it." Landon sighed. "Honestly, I don't talk to him that much anyway. He doesn't care. God, I have spent so much time trying to get his approval, and it was never going to be there."

"Yeah." Maya felt bad for Landon. She knew what it was like to struggle with the fact that your parent wasn't in your corner.

"Is your boyfriend going to rip me to shreds, or should I go out the back way?" Landon asked.

Maya laughed. "No, he won't." She took a chance and reached over to squeeze Landon's arm. "Listen, do you want to get some lunch?"

"Lunch?"

"Yes, you know, the mid-day meal," she teased. "Or at least some coffee. Seriously, why don't we? I have to work later, but maybe we could catch up a little."

"You want to catch up? With me?" Landon asked.

"Yes, I really do," Maya said. "Although I guess it's less catching up than starting to get to know you."

Landon sighed. "I've been doing a lot of thinking since I quit, for lots of reasons, and I am disappointed in myself. I know I treated you poorly, and I'm sorry, and I'd understand if you didn't want to talk to me."

"One thing I've learned in the last couple of months is that sometimes you need help, and you build your own family," she told him. "I'd always hoped we could be friends, Landon. Friends help friends. We can start there."

"Okay, I'd like that."

Maya stepped out of the room and nearly bumped into Toby, who was lurking near the doorway. He glared at Landon as Maya nudged him back.

"It's all right, Toby. He apologized," she said.

"He damn well better have."

"I owe you an apology too," Landon said, and held a hand out to Toby. "I'm sorry. I was a jackass earlier."

Toby took his hand with a skeptical expression. "All right. That's a start."

"We're going to get some lunch. Would you like to join us?" Maya asked him.

"I don't want to intrude," Toby said, looking like he very much wanted to intrude.

"Go on, Toby," said Krista. "Bring us back something."

Landon apologized to Krista, who was also skeptical but hid it better than her brother.

"Let's go." Maya patted Landon's shoulder.

She hoped she wasn't overly optimistic, but she was glad to have a chance to at least try to get to know her stepbrother. Maybe they could lose the "step" after all.