Five Plates, Four Sets Of Cutlery, Zero For Me Chapter 08

Five Plates, Four Sets Of Cutlery, Zero For Me Chapter 08

New York had been good to me, and I liked my new surroundings.

Over the next few weeks, their messages and calls kept coming.

Some were apologies. Some asked how I was doing.

Some were attempts at self-reflection.

I ignored every one.

That morning, I was working on a new design when a receptionist named Luke knocked on my glass office door.

“Nat, there’s someone downstairs asking for you. They said they’re your brother and… your boyfriend.”

The pen in my hand stopped.

“Have them wait in the conference room. I’ll be there as soon as I finish this.”

Ten minutes later, I opened the conference-room door.

My brother was sitting on the couch, and Evan was standing by the window.

When they saw me come in, they both straightened.

“Nat…” Evan spoke first, his voice a little hoarse. “You… you’ve lost weight.”

I sat down on the couch across from them.

“I’m fine. What brings you here?”

My brother gave me an ingratiating smile.

“We called, but you didn’t answer. We texted, but you didn’t reply. We had no choice but to come.”

I looked at them, my voice cool.

“What do you want?”

Evan took one step toward me.

“Nat, I know I was wrong. I’ve spent this whole time thinking about what I did. I don’t want to break up. I really don’t.”

“Yeah, Nat. We know we were the problem, but you can’t just stop coming home altogether. You can’t cut your own brother out, can you?”

I settled back into the couch.

“Your four-person chat didn’t include me, either. The rule was that everyone had to be there for family dinner, but somehow I was the only exception.”

“Did I ever really matter to you?”

My brother looked at me, awkward and ashamed.

“We… we thought you…”

“You thought I wouldn’t make it home from work, so there was no point waiting. But you never once thought Sadie might not come home.”

I continued in a calm voice.

“When Sadie came home late, you said it wasn’t family dinner without her. When I came home late, you bought enough food for four.”

“Sadie’s hands were for drawing design concepts, so they couldn’t touch grease. That’s why I washed the dishes.”

“I draw design concepts, too. Is my work worth less than hers?”

My brother and Evan stood there without a word.

“I could name plenty of other examples of how differently you treated us.”

“Like our graduation gifts.”

“Maybe you’ve both forgotten, but you spent three months preparing Sadie’s instant camera. For me, you picked up a little plant on the way.”

“Did you ever stop to think about how that made me feel?”

Evan lowered his head and said my name softly.

“Nat…”

I looked at him.

“Evan, you said Sadie was the youngest. I’m only two months older than she is.”

“Even if, as the older cousin, I was willing to let the favoritism slide,”

“what about the design concepts?”

I turned to my brother.

“Owen, last year I helped you put together a bid proposal because I didn’t want you to work so hard. I stayed up for three nights. Did you really think I didn’t see you as my brother?”

“You handed my designs to Sadie so she could enter the competition. You’re my brother, and she’s your cousin. When you came up with that idea, did you think about me?”

Then I looked back at Evan.

“You’re my boyfriend. You cared for and protected my cousin more than you ever cared for me. Do you really think that was what a relationship should look like?”

“Evan, you crossed the line a long time ago.”

Evan opened his mouth, then closed it.

My brother lowered his head, clasping his hands so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

I stood up.

“You came here today because one of you says he doesn’t want to break up, and the other says I can’t cut him out.”

“But did either of you ever think about the fact that you were the ones who stopped caring about me first?”

I walked to the conference-room door and looked back at them.

“Go home. New York’s been good to me. I’m doing fine here.”

Then I opened the door and walked out.

I never looked back.