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Mitch

“W hat is your problem?” Mitch asked as he slipped into his jeans and a black cashmere sweater the next Saturday morning not wanting to look at Alex. He was in his modest bedroom of the two-bedroom apartment he shared with Alex.

“I don’t like one damn thing about this,” Alex said from the doorway to Mitch’s bedroom.

“I’m having lunch with a friend who I’ve known for years,” Mitch said. “What is wrong with you?”

“You know. I don’t like one of my best friends bullshitting me. And that is what you are doing. You’ve always had a thing for my sister. I saw it the first time you met her. Do you remember what you said when you saw her walking in the garden when she was like fourteen?”

“Yeah. I asked, who is that?” Mitch said with a little smile as he remembered the exact moment he’d laid eyes on Rebecca Stark for the first time.

She was just Alex’s kid sister, but the promise of a bright future when she grew up was all there.

She’d been wearing a green sweater that matched her amazing emerald eyes and a long navy pleated skirt.

Later, he found out it was a private school uniform.

He was always nice to her, though in a few years, it might get interesting, but in the moment, she was just a kid.

He had treated her like a kid sister, careful and protective.

Well, she wasn’t a kid any longer. She was eighteen… and legal.

“She is my sister,” Alex said. “I wouldn’t mess with yours if you had one.”

Mitch was an only child, and now he was an orphan, which was a punch in the gut. He’d always thought his parents would be there. As he’d gotten older, he hoped his mom would always be there and his father could go to hell.

“Your sister is eighteen now, and I would think I’m the lesser of many evils.”

“You admit you like her?”

“Relax. I passed the background check at Donovan Security. I have a start date. I’ll be going to London right after we graduate in a little over two weeks, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Come on. That isn’t what I meant. You are my best friend. I’ll miss you a helluvalot.”

“Good, I’m glad you will. I’ll miss you, too. But hey, there is a Stark International Hotel in London. Come for a visit. We will cruise some pubs, look for British women.”

Alex and Rebecca’s parents were letting Mitch crash at the corporate suite at the Stark International Hotel in London for a month until he found a place of his own.

He was still vacillating about Rebecca. His Bex was still off-limits to him.

He didn’t want to mess up the relationship he had with the Stark family.

They had taken him in and treated him like a son after his mother died.

He was especially close to Victoria, whom he considered to be a second mother.

He was the only one who could get away with calling her Vic.

Taking Bex to lunch was playing with fire, but he couldn’t stop himself.

“Don’t hurt my sister,” Alex warned. “She’s just a kid, and I think she had a crush on you. Actually, she has a crush on you.”

The news was music to Mitch’s ears, but he didn’t want Alex to know how much the information affected him.

He had suspected as much, but no one had ever discussed it with him.

His crush on Bex was legendary, at least in his mind, but he was not in a position to do anything about it. Alex’s strong opposition made him mad.

“Did you ever think that might be okay?” Mitch asked.

“No, I don’t think of my sister that way. And to know that you do does not make me feel good. Just how long has this been going on?”

“There is no ‘this.’ She’s a woman, a beautiful woman. She has dated and will continue to date. I hate to tell you this, but eventually, she might sleep with one of them.”

“Thanks a lot for that. Well, it isn’t like she can go into a bar and order a drink. She is a kid. Leave her alone,” Alex warned. “She’s a freshman at NYU for shit’s sake.”

“Do you not think I’m good enough for her?” Now that he had said it, the thought of her with another guy really bothered him. And what did Alex have against him?

“I never said that,” Alex said. “But you are my friend. I don’t want you having carnal thoughts or knowledge of my little sister.

And just so we are clear, you aren’t snowing anyone with this little bet that turned into a date.

I’m onto you. I know what you are trying to do.

You found a way to have a date with my sister. ”

“Oh, for crap’s sake, it is only lunch. I think this is our business, not yours.”

“Now you are just trying to piss me off. ‘Our business, not yours.’ I don’t like the Bex cutie nickname bullshit. Stop it.”

“Too late. She likes it.”

“Don’t do this.”

“Listen, Alex,” Mitch said, facing his friend for the first time in the conversation. “I’m not going to ghost her because the thought of my having lunch with her upsets you. Bex and I have been friends for years.”

“Look, tell her you met someone else. Let her have a chance to meet someone her own age,” Alex said in his parting words. “You are about to move to London. Make it a clean break…for her sake. I don’t want her pining for a relationship that will never be.”

“Is that what you object to? The age difference? I’m six years older. So what? Why am I asking you? This is a ridiculous conversation.”

“I give up.” Alex turned and left not only the doorway but the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Mitch had purposely antagonized him, but he was left wondering why Alex found him so objectionable.

Was it just that Rebecca was his sister, or was it something else?

He didn’t have a sister, so he couldn’t relate on that end.

He didn’t come from a monied background, not like the Starks.

Heck, his parents were dead, but he would make something of himself because that was just who he was.

He would show them all just how successful he could be.

He glanced at his watch. In three hours, he’d be with Rebecca.

Mitch caught a train for the two-hour ride to New York City.

He arrived with an hour to spare and made his way to the Katz Deli.

By the time he got there, he was a half hour early, but to his surprise, Rebecca was waiting with an anxious look on her face.

Maybe Alex was correct to worry. She was gorgeous.

When she saw him, her face softened. She smiled, and then he watched as color kissed her cheeks.

She was blushing. He loved it when she blushed.

He had first noticed that when she was younger.

It was a tell that she might have a little crush on him.

He closed the distance and pulled her into a hug.

It took her off guard, and then she melted into him. He liked it. Uh-oh.

Did it last too long? Yes. He needed to be careful. He didn’t want to change the dynamic of their relationship. Some of Alex’s words had sunk in on the train ride.

“You’re early,” she said.

“So are you,” he said. There was tension where there had not been tension in the past.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all week,” she said.

“Me too,” he said. Okay, that was a bit of a declaration. He had to watch it. This thing could get out of hand quickly. He had a job waiting for him in London.

They were early enough they didn’t have to wait long for a table. They had Reuben sandwiches for two, which included pickles, fries, and coleslaw.

Once the orders were placed, they sat across from each other, and for the first time in several years, they didn’t seem to have anything to say to one another. Truly, he had a lot to say, but he wasn’t sure it was the time or the place.

“Is it true?” she asked.

“What…exactly?” he asked.

“Alex told me that you have interviewed for a position in London, and they were just waiting on the background report. Did you get the job? Are you really going to move?” she asked as a look of pain crossed her face.

Mitch saw it. He knew she had more feelings for him than he had originally realized.

It made him happy, but he had to tread carefully.

“Yeah, it is looking good. It is a security company that would be a great experience for me. They need a new VP of Operations. At least, I think that will be my title. I don’t look forward to moving to London, but I need to make the most of the opportunities that come my way.

I have to put my education to use and start paying my student loans.

My mother’s life insurance didn’t cover grad school.

But as for the job, I passed the background check.

” What he didn’t say is that he didn’t come from a family that was loaded with opportunities.

He wasn’t angry about it. It was just a fact.

“Did you talk to my father? I’m sure he could find something for you at Stark International. That way, you wouldn’t have to move. They love you. They…especially Mom…isn’t going to be happy about the London move. What will we do without you on the weekends?”

Mitch shook his head. “Your father is a kind man. I have no doubt he’d find something for me. But I need to get experience. Then, when the right position opens up at Stark, I’ll apply for it. Hopefully, I’ll get it on my own merit, not because of who I know. It’s important to me to work my way up.”

“I’m going to miss you, and I don’t know how I feel about that,” Rebecca said, and then, to his great surprise, a tear leaked from her eye.

“Bex, honey, don’t do that. I have to take this opportunity,” he said. “You’ve got four years of college ahead, maybe more if you get a master’s degree. I want you to enjoy every moment. Don’t think about me.”

“I bet within a few months of living there, you’ll meet someone and forget your time with us…

with me. And if I was twenty-four instead of eighteen and had my college degree, you might consider me a woman and not a girl.

I’m sorry. I don’t even know if you like me, but I like you, and maybe it is stupid.

” Mitch could tell by how flustered she was that disclosing this was costing her something, and it was embarrassing her.

“I’ve tried to forget you,” she said, “but I can’t. It’s a crush, a stupid crush. I know it, and I feel like an idiot.”

He wished at that moment that he wasn’t going to London.

She was adorable, and he didn’t think she should feel like an idiot or feel embarrassed.

He was touched. He reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

“You are not an idiot, and I’ve never felt more flattered.

We have a connection, Bex. I feel it, too, but the timing…

We are at two different places in our lives.

Who knows what will happen? Maybe someday we will meet again, and it will be different. ”

“Sure,” she said. “And my brother has no doubt told you every embarrassing and horrible thing there is to know about me. He probably threatened you, too.”

“He worries about you,” Mitch said. “He’s a good brother to you and friend to me.”

“I didn’t ask to feel like this. I’d like to punch Alex, just because.”

Mitch really didn’t know what to say. He wished he was drinking something stronger than Coca-Cola.

“Okay, new subject. Tell me about school. Do you realize I don’t even know what you want to do when you graduate?”

“In four or six years, if I go for my masters,” she said. “Nice segue.”

“Time passes quickly. Before you know it, you will have a degree or two under your belt. Do you want to work in the family business?”

Ignoring him, she said, “I have an idea, something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. You won’t like it.”

“Okay, I’m listening,” he said.

“I can’t believe I’m going to tell you this.”

“If anything, we are friends,” he said. “You can tell me. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“My brother, my parents, they can never know. I know you are best friends with my brother. Can you keep a secret—a secret from him?”

He did seem to ponder this, and that made her happy. If he had answered too quickly, she would not have believed his answer.

“Yes, I can keep your secret,” he answered, and she felt like they were the only two people in the deli. All the other conversations seemed to dim. They were possibly the only two people in the world.

“You care about me,” she said.

“Of course, Rebecca. Are you in some kind of trouble?” he asked.

“I need you to do something for me.”

“What?” he asked, as his other hand covered the hand he held.

“I want you to be my first,” she said, meeting his eyes.

“Your first what?” he asked, then the answer dawned on him as he took a sharp intake of breath. She saw the moment he understood what she was asking. A lightbulb not only went off in his head. He jerked with the realization.

It was unnecessary, but she clarified it anyway. “Mitchell, I want you to be my first lover. I want you to take my virginity.”