Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

 

A knock at her door snapped Irin out of her thoughts, and her eyes whipped to the clock to see if she was late to meet her brothers.  The green numbers indicated it was still twenty to noon, so she had plenty of time.  She got up and went to see who was at the door. 

 

“Hey, Jared,” she greeted with a halfhearted smile when she saw who was on the other side. 

 

Jared’s smile dropped the minute he heard her lackluster response.  “Hey, is everything alright?” he asked with concern.

 

“Yeah, it’s good.  How’re you?” she hastily covered herself, brightening her tone considerably. 

 

“Pretty good, actually,” he brightened upon her reply.  “The team decided to take off early today seeing as it’s Friday.  So do you always answer the door with such enthusiasm, or are you just that excited to see me?” he joked playfully.

 

“You just have a knack for catching me off guard, I guess,” she chuckled.

 

“Apparently.  Anyway, I was going to see if you’re interested in doing some light training today.”

 

She raised a challenging eyebrow.  “The fact you’re asking means we didn’t do enough yesterday.  You shouldn’t be able to walk right today.”

 

“Oh, I never said I can walk right today.  Moving has been rather challenging, actually.  I was more thinking along the lines of simple, basic technique or stuff that doesn’t require a lot of movement,” he clarified, wincing slightly as he switched his weight from one foot to the other. 

 

She grinned wickedly at the proof she had physically run him through the mill the day before.  Some might think her sadistic, but she took great pleasure in seeing her trainees suffer after a workout with her.  It was proof that they were getting somewhere.  “Yeah, that’d probably be a good place to start today.  We wouldn’t want you completely incapable of moving for the next few days,” she quipped, and her grin widened with his nervous expression. 

 

However, he wasn’t about to back out now.  “No, no we wouldn’t.”

 

“Alright, well I’m actually on my way out to meet my brothers for lunch, but I’m free after.”

 

“Yeah, that sounds great,” he smiled.

 

“Actually, if you want, you’re welcome to come with us.  We’re celebrating our first mission back with Mexican food down by the marina,” she offered, leaning on the door jam with her left shoulder.

 

“Are you sure?  I don’t want to intrude on a family thing,” he stalled politely, but she wasn’t about to take any of that.

“It’s not a family thing,” she countered, laughing.  “It’s a ‘we’re happy to be back and are hungry so we’re celebrating with food’ kind of thing.  Besides, I see my brothers every day.  It’s not like we need more time together,” she joked, eliciting a chuckle from Jared as well.

“Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I could go for a burrito.”

“Ok, give me two minutes to change and we can head out if you’re good to go,” she checked as she took a step back into her room and prepared to shut the door.

“I’m ready when you are,” he confirmed, and she nodded, shutting the door before she made her way to the closet.

She grabbed a pair of dark blue low rise jeans and a fitted black tee with a green graphic on the front, and she changed quickly, kicking her other clothes into a pile in her corner of the closet.  She spotted her left flip flop and slipped it on, kicking around other miscellaneous articles of clothing and footwear until she located its right counterpart.  With her hair quickly tied back and her wallet in hand, she stepped back into the hall to find Jared leaning against the wall with his arms casually crossed.

“Good to go,” she said as she pulled the door shut behind her.

He pushed off the wall and fell into step with her as they headed for the elevator.  “That was fast.”

“I said two minutes, didn’t I?” she challenged, pressing the down button.

“Yeah, but usually when a girl says that, it’s not really true.”

“Well, that was your first mistake,” she retorted, stepping through the open elevator doors and pressing the ground floor button.  “I’m definitely not usual.”

He smiled at that. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Ten minutes later, after they’d made their way out of the Company building to the everyday transit room, Irin and Jared cracked back into existence in a beige room with no artwork and only one monitor on the wall. 

 

“Classy,” Jared commented as he took a look around.  Irin just shrugged and led him to a door in the corner, which opened on a stairway.  They headed down and exited on the side of the building.  As they walked down the street, he looked back and noticed the sign on the building proclaimed Thompson & Thompson Accounting.  They had made it only a few feet from the building when Irin’s cell started vibrating in her pocket.  She chanced a glance at the caller ID and groaned. 

 

“Give me a minute,” she said, glancing at Jared apologetically as she accepted the call and placed the phone to her ear.  “Hey, mom,” she greeted, taking a few steps away.  “I'm doing well.  How are you and dad?” Pause.  “Actually, mom, I'm heading to get lunch right now and can't really talk.”  Pause.  “Yeah, I'll give you a call as soon as I get there.”  Pause.  “I'm actually meeting them for lunch.”  Pause.  “I will when I see them.”  Pause.  “Yes, mom, I promise.”  Pause.  “We will call you in ten minutes.”  Pause.  “Love you, too.  Bye.”  She rolled her eyes as she ended the call and walked back to Jared. 

 

“Your mom, huh?” he prompted. 

 

“Yeah, she's pretty insistent we talk to her on a regular basis.  If we don't, she thinks we've died.” 

 

“Parents tend to be like that,” he chuckled.

 

She rolled her eyes again.  “You have no idea.  One time we didn't call her back for five days, and she came for a surprise visit to check up on us.  It was a nightmare.”

 

His eyes widened.  “Oh wow, so maybe she's a little overprotective,” he conceded. 

 

“That's one way of putting it,” she laughed.  “Let's get this shindig on the road.” she said, leading the way down the road.

 

“So,” she said after they'd walked a few seconds in silence, “now that you know about my mother's mama bear tendencies, what are your parents like?” 

 

“It’s actually just my mum and I, and she could definitely be a mean mama bear if she needed to be,” he replied with a smile, and Irin waited to see if he’d elaborate.  “I think she tends to be a bit more relaxed than your mum does, though,” he continued with a chuckle, and she got the impression he was remembering something from his childhood.  “I call her every Sunday.”

 

“That's sweet,” she smiled as well, able to tell from his expression that he was at least a bit of a mama's boy.  “And what does she think of all this?” she asked, vaguely indicating their surroundings, but he understood she meant their roles in the city as part of the Company. 

 

“She's thrilled.  She never thought I'd be able to go to university with our means, so when the Company came with the scholarship offer for a prestigious private academy, she all but shoved me out the door.  She has my cap and gown picture on the mantle at home, and never misses an opportunity to tell anyone who will listen about me being away studying.”  His smile never faltered, but she didn't miss the barest hint of bitterness in his voice.  She understood completely. 

 

“It seems the scholarship story is the most popular nowadays,” she stated, thinking back to the day the men in suits had shown up at their door to invite Lance and Jace to come study at a prestigious boarding school. 

 

“Same for you?”

 

“Pretty much, only it was more the opportunity to be admitted to an elite academy than the scholarship.  Money was never an issue for my parents, but they wanted the best education available for us.  In fact, they only offered us a partial scholarship, and my parents paid part of our 'tuition.'”  She chuckled darkly.  Her parents would be really surprised to learn what their tuition money had actually bought their kids. 

 

“Such is life,” he grinned, and she felt herself smile as well. 

 

“So it is,” she agreed as they entered the small yet thriving district of the Waterfront.  She took the lead as they crossed the street to a little hole in the wall restaurant whose sign proclaimed it to be Rosa’s Authentic Mexican Cuisine.  From the look of the place, he wasn’t too sure how much cuisine they actually served there, but it seemed sanitary enough. 

 

“Mexican food heaven, huh?” he joked, glancing at Irin next to him.

“Yep,” she confirmed with a smile, letting the p pop.  She ushered him inside as bells attached to the door jingled.

“’Bout time you got here!” a voice called from the far corner of the sitting area.

“We were starting to think you were waiting for us to starve to death first,” another chimed in.  Jared turned his head in the direction of the voices and spotted the twins sitting sprawled on the bench that ran the length of the far wall.

“Yes, I’m sure you’ve withered away in the short time it took me to get here,” Irin joked sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she led him over to her brothers.  They took the two seats opposite the bench, but for the life of him, Jared couldn’t figure out which twin was across from him.

The brother across from Irin took notice of him and spoke up.  “Hey, man, how’d your a*s kicking go yesterday?” he asked with a grin.

“Lance!” Irin admonished, but she was doing a poor job hiding her matching grin.

Lance held up his hands in mock surrender.  “I just call them like I see them, and that right there is a man in pain.”  He looked pointedly at Jared.  Irin’s glare was severely tempered by her growing smile.

Jace leaned over the table and whispered conspiratorially, “Ignore them.  They stopped maturing right after toilet training.”  Lance took it upon himself to punch Jace in the shoulder, eliciting laughs from the whole table.

“So have we ordered yet?” Irin asked as the laughter quieted.

 

“Nah, we thought we'd be nice and wait for you to show up,” Jace responded, absentmindedly massaging where Lance had hit him.

 

Irin leaned her chair onto its back legs until she could see into the kitchen across the room and flagged the lone waitress.  An elderly Mexican woman came over to them, sporting a notepad in one hand and a pen in the other. 

 

“Buenas tardes,” she greeted them in the accent of a native Spanish speaker. 

 

Jared’s eyes widened in shock and slight dismay as all three Cavaleri’s proceeded to carry on a conversation with the waitress in flawless Spanish.  If he had to guess, she was probably admonishing them for not being in to visit in so long, and they were catching up on everything that had happened in the meantime.  He was beginning to feel awkward as the lone bystander when the conversation lulled and she turned expectant eyes on him. 

 

Unfortunately, he could only stare at her with a blank look.  “Um, I have no idea,” he admitted, looking to the siblings for suggestions.

 

“Try the California burrito �" it's amazing,” Irin suggested.

 

“Sure, I'll have a California burrito,” Jared told the woman, and nodding, she headed back to the kitchen.    “So, is ordering around here always so bilingual?”

 

“That's Rosa's mom Guadalupe.  She doesn't speak much English, so we just order in Spanish,” Jace explained. 

 

“She and her daughter brought their amazing cooking skills with them when they came here.  We'd point and grunt if that's what it took to get some of their food,” Lance assured him.  Clearly love of this place was a family thing. 

 

Jared glanced down at his watch out of habit and realized something.  “Hey, Irin,” he began cautiously, “it's been a little while since we left the Company.”  

 

“I guess, why?” she glanced at him in confusion. 

 

He cleared his throat.  “Something about a phone call,” he prompted, hoping he didn't seem intrusive.

 

Irin's eyes widened in alarm.  “Oh, s**t, you're right!” she exclaimed, immediately drawing the attention of her brothers.  She turned to them and said, “Mom called me a little bit ago, and I promised her I'd call her back when I met up with you guys.” 

 

“You should probably get on that.  You know how she gets,” Lance rolled his eyes. 

 

Irin pulled her cell from her pocket and looked up their mother's number.  “Here, I'll put it on speaker so we can get this over with,” she declared, tapping the screen a few times and then setting the device in the middle of the table. 

 

“Hey, honey, I was starting to think you might forget about me,” a woman's voice emanated from the device. 

 

“Hey mom, I've got you on speaker.  Lance, Jace and my friend Jared are here with me,” Irin explained.

 

“Oh, my boys!” Mrs. Cavaleri cooed, “How are you doing?” 

 

“We're fine, mom,” Jace replied, rolling his eyes at their mom's doting tone. 

 

“It's good to finally hear from you guys.  I got Lance's message last night, but your father and I were already asleep.  Who is this friend you said is with you?”  The curiosity in her voice was quite obvious. 

 

“Hello, Mrs. Cavaleri, my name is Jared.”  He felt a little silly introducing himself to a cell phone, but he went along with it. 

 

“He and I were in the same class when we were 16, and now we've met up again,” Irin explained. 

 

“How lovely.  Pleased to meet you, Jared, so to speak.” 

 

“You as well, ma'am.”

 

“Well, would you look at those manners?” Mrs. Cavaleri gushed, causing all of her children to roll their eyes. 

 

“Are you guys still in Moscow?” Lance jumped in.

 

“Heavens, no.  We came to St. Petersburg a few days ago.  It's quite beautiful here.”  Her impression would have carried more weight if it weren't the same thing she said about every city she visited. 

 

“We're glad to hear you're still having a good time,” Jace conveyed. 

 

“Certainly,” Mrs. Cavaleri agreed, “but your father and I do have good news for you all.”  Jared watched with amusement as the three siblings looked at each other suspiciously. 

 

“Oh?” Lance prompted finally. 

 

“We've decided to come to town for a visit in two weeks!” she exclaimed, completely unaware of the alarmed looks her three children were giving one another. 

 

There was a pause as the siblings processed this information, and Irin was the first one to pull herself together.  “That's great, mom!” she cried, albeit a little too falsely. 

 

“You know we can't miss the birthday of our baby girl,” Mrs. Cavaleri gushed.  “We were going to fly in on Thursday evening, but we know you have classes on Friday, so we decided to come Friday morning.  Then we can spend the whole weekend together.”  It was interesting that she didn't check to make sure none of her kids had anything going on that weekend outside school. 

 

“We'll definitely look forward to it,” Jace took over smoothly.  He was undoubtedly the best of the siblings at keeping his head when their mom began throwing surprises their way. 

 

“After all, nothing is more important than commemorating the birth of our ickle Irin,” Lance cooed with a wicked gleam in his eye, as if daring Irin to retaliate in the presence of their mother.

 

After a second's hesitation, Irin decided to punch first and deal with the consequences later.  Of course, she should have counted on Lance's over-dramatic exclamation, “Ow, Irin, stop hitting me!”  She groaned in frustration, knowing what was coming.

 

“Hitting?” their mother shrieked.  “Irin Cavaleri, are you being violent with your brothers?  You know that is unacceptable behavior, and I will not stand it!”

 

“Sorry, mom, my hand slipped,” Irin replied sarcastically, but their mom was having none of it.

 

“Don't you try and pull that crap with me!  I wasn't born yesterday!” Mrs. Cavaleri shrieked, causing both Jace and Lance to grin evilly, glad not to be on the receiving end of that tone.

 

“Of course not, but we're going to have to run, mom.  The food's just coming out,” Irin fibbed quickly.  It'd be true in a matter of minutes, anyway. 

 

“Fine, but this conversation is not over,” their mom declared with a huff.  It was an empty threat, though.  The siblings knew that once her temper had calmed down, this would be just another minor incident in the past.

 

“Sure, sure,” Irin rolled her eyes.  “Give dad our love!”

 

“Of course.  Lance, Jace, it was great to hear from you both!”  The smile had returned to her voice already.

 

“You too, mom.  Love you,” Lance replied. 

 

“We look forward to seeing you soon,” Jace continued. 

 

“Take care!  Bye!”  With a quick tap Irin ended the call.  Silence reigned for the few seconds it took her to replace the cell in her pocket, only to be broken by her lightning quick lunge across the table to slug Lance in the arm.

 

“Hey!” Lance yelped, massaging the sore spot and glaring at his sister. 

 

“Serves you right,” she replied primly, her attention caught by Guadalupe emerging from the kitchen with a tray of food.  If there was one thing that could quiet the bickering Cavaleri siblings, for a little while at least, it was the steaming hot food heading their way.  Jared chuckled to himself as Lance swallowed whatever childish retort he’d planned and joined his siblings in focusing on the food.  He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to keep up with the siblings’ fast changing moods, but he looked forward to the wealth of entertainment they might provide.  Smiling at the thought, he bit into his burrito and almost groaned.  The Cavaleris were right �" this was Mexican food heaven.

 

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