“Molly?”
Looking up, I came face to face with the prettiest blonde. She was dressed similarly to me because it was Sunday evening after all, only she looked less like she’d just gotten over the ten-day flu and more like she was modeling athleisure. Her hair was pulled over her shoulder in a braid and the yoga pants and long sleeve tee she wore were not stained or ill-fitting.
She was the yin to my very badly dressed yang.
“Hi,” I smiled at her, hoping I didn’t smell bad too.
“Dillon.” She pointed at herself. “I don’t know if you remember me or not, but we met at Killian and Vera’s engagement party. I’m Ezra’s sister.”
I nodded along, feeling weird that she was explaining herself to me. I felt like out of the two of us, I was the forgettable one. She made a very strong impression.
“I remember,” I assured her. “So did you have a good time?”
Her eyebrows drew down, reminding me of her brother. “Where?”
“Er, at the engagement party?”
“Oh, right! Yes, I did.” Her expression relaxed and her smile widened. “I always have a good time at parties. They’re like, my thing. If I could do them professionally, I would. Although Ezra’s head would probably explode.”
We laughed together and then I realized this was a really good opportunity to covertly pry into Ezra’s life uninvited. Hey if he could stalk me at my jobs, a little secret spying on my end wasn’t going to hurt anybody.
“He’s super intense about work, isn’t he?” I prompted.
“For sure. He’s always been like that. Our dad was a workaholic too. I would swear it’s genetic except I’m the total opposite.”
“You’re in culinary school though, right? Killian mentioned it Friday night when we hung out.”
She nodded, patting the basket hooked over her forearm. “I’m almost finished actually. I just have this semester left.”
“Where are you going?”
“Charlotte. CAI.”
“Oh, my friend Vera went there. She loved it.”
Dillon grinned. “Vera is basically my hero. I love her.”
I smiled back, immediately endeared to anybody that loved the same people I did. “Me too.” I set my basket on the ground when it got too heavy to hold and resumed my snooping. “So, are you going to get Bianca after you graduate? I hear Ezra is having trouble finding an executive chef.”
She glanced at the ceiling, again reminding me of her exasperated brother. “I wish. But there’s no way Ezra would trust me with executive chef. Or even sous chef. Honestly, I’ll be lucky if he lets me be a dishwasher in one of the three witches.”
“The three witches?”
“His restaurants,” she clarified. “It’s what I call them because he named them after three of the worst hags that I have ever met.”
I felt my eyes bug, but there was little I could do to hide my surprise. “Are you serious?”
“You have no idea. They were horrible women. They only cared about his money.”
Swallowing a laugh, I admitted, “I always pictured these great, passionate love stories. I mean, he named famous restaurants after them! And the names are so… exotic.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please, Ezra is not that exciting. He works too much to have erotic affairs. Really, they were just money hungry party girls that wouldn’t know a good man if he bit them in their lipo’d asses.”
Dillon was this perfect mixture of stuck-up socialite blended with sass and genuine charm. I really liked her. “If they were so awful, why did he name restaurants after them?”
She shrugged. “Revenge? To remind him of all the mistakes he’s made along the way? I honestly have no idea. He’s weird.”
“I agree with that. He is weird.”
Her smile wobbled. “But you like him, don’t you? I mean, you’re friends?”
Not in the slightest.
“Er, maybe? I don’t really know what we are, but friends doesn’t seem to fit us.”
Her eyes brightened and she nodded enthusiastically. “You’re friends,” she decided. “He talks so highly of you. He’s always like, Molly this and Molly that and you should see what Molly did to the website. Honestly, I feel like we’re already friends because I’ve heard so much about you.” She wiggled her finger back and forth between us.
I laughed nervously, not knowing what to make of any of that. “Can I ask you a question?”
She dropped her heavy basket next to mine. It was full of ingredients I would have no idea what to do with. “Sure.”
“He has this weird thing with me wearing a coat. What’s that about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Because it’s cold out. He always wants me to wear a coat. He’s like obsessed with it.”
She rolled her eyes, but her expression was warm with sisterly affection. “He’s used to taking care of people. It’s how he shows love. Trust me, I know how annoying it can be, but it’s better to just let him have his way. Besides, he can’t help it. His mom was really sick when he was a kid and he had to take care of her until she died. And then he didn’t really have anyone, so he learned from a very young age to take care of himself. Then he took care of our dad when he was dying. Although our dad, the selfish bastard, didn’t deserve it. And now he takes care of me. I probably don’t deserve it either to be honest.” She looked down at her shoes and smiled warmly. “And thank God, you know? Could you imagine me on my own? I would be so lost without him.”
Something warm and bubbly sprung up in my chest. It felt like melted chocolate and fuzzy slippers and understanding for a man that was always such a mystery. The feeling shocked my entire system, surprising me with its permanency. I tried to reason it away. This was the heavy-handed maniac that had basically demanded I ride with him the other night. No gentle please. No thoughtful consideration. Just bullying me into whatever he decided was right. I shouldn’t feel sympathy or compassion or anything hot and fizzy and comfortable. “I guess that explains why he’s always so… responsible.”
“Oh shit!” she gasped. “Is that really the time? I’m so late! I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
“No worries!”
She stepped forward, pulling me into a surprising hug. “It was so good to chat with you. We should go to dinner or something sometime. I’ll get your number from Ezra.”
“Oh, uh, okay.” I cleared my throat, feeling awkward in her prolonged hug. “Sounds fun.”
Dillon pulled back and gave me her thousand watt smile. “Yay! K, see you soon!”
Then she was gone, taking all her excitable energy with her. I stared after her for a minute, marveling at how different she and Ezra were. She was all in your face with her enthusiasm and big smile. Ezra was dark ambiguity that slipped in and out of social situations, preferring to be unseen. She came in like a hurricane. Ezra was the silent night sky.
Or storm clouds before they released their rain.