Standing at the stove while preparing pancakes shes ofst night flooded back to me, making a stupid big grin spread across my face. Humming softly I flipped a very thick, tiny pancake around. It was an open kitchen n so the delicious, sweet scent traveled to the living room, making my whole apartment smell nice. The fact that I was in a good mood had nothing to do with the pancakes though. I had a great night at the club, taking pictures left and right, dancing like I just didn’t give a fuck together with Evan and drinking cocktails. It had been a while since I let go like that, I only ever did it together with my girlfriends, but it had been a while since we went out. I never thought I’d feel asfortable around Evan as I felt around my girls, but he proved me I was wrong about everything when it came to him. He wasn’t just a rich selfish bastard who banged girls and tossed time aside like they meant absolutely nothing to him. Turning off the stove I collected my te with pancakes, I had made a ton since I wasn’t good with measurements and I figured Evan would show up any second now and also crave something to eat. Walking into the living room I ced the te down on the table and was about to head to the kitchen to collect tes for us when the doorbell rang, announcing his presence. Smiling I wiped my hands on my apron and headed to the door, opening it thinking it was Evan.


    “Good… morning.”


    Chris raised an eyebrow at her, “Good morning to you as well, Zoey.” He nced over her shoulder, “You mind if Ie in? Evan is on the phone with Emily and Nick so that’s going to take a while.”


    I stepped aside, “Of course I don’t mind.” I quickly told him, trying to get my good mood back, “I was about to eat breakfast, you want to join me?”


    Chris was already seated on the couch, his eyes shifting to the te of pancakes, “Yeah, it smells good in here.”


    “I can’t promise if it also tastes good, they don’t have the exact same products as back home.”


    “I’m sure it’s fine.”


    Smiling I entered the living room cing a stack of tes on the table along with some utensils and a stic bottle with syrup. Chris shrugged his jacket off, tossed it aside and slid down the couch to sit at the table together with me. We both filled our tes up with pancakes and ate together while talking aboutst night. Chris showed us around when we first entered the club, Evan had already seen it, but he apanied us anyway. When people started showing up and the club filled up we saw less and less of Chris, he was working behind the scenes, making sure everything ran smoothly.


    “These are amazing, Zoey.” Chris told me, “I don’t mind having breakfast with your more often.”


    He was a charmer and when he said those things in his voice with that ent a girl couldn’t help but melt like butter in his hands.Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    “You sound like this syrup which sweetened up my pancakes.”


    Christ threw his head back andughed, “God, Zoey, that sounded fucking dirty.”


    I blushed, realizing he was right, “Yeah, I guess so.”


    “You’re highly entertaining.”


    I shot him a yful re, “I’m d me embarrassing myself is entertaining you.”


    “Highly entertaining me.” He corrected me, which made me giggle.


    Finishing up myst pancake I ced the utensils down, ced my palms down on the ground and leaned back on it. My eyes lingering on Chris who leaned back against the couch for back support, lookingfortable around me. I was d he felt like he could be himself around me. We were going to see each other a lot for three months straight so I was d he was making an effort to get along with me. I was going to make an effort too, Chris seemed reliable and kind, I liked having people like him around.


    “Do Emily and Nick check in with Evan often?”


    “They do, Evan and Nick are like brothers and when Evan found out about Nick’s feelings toward Emily he pushed them to be together. He and Emily got along instantly, they always joke how Emily and Nick are like his parents. I think in a way they do fill up the void.”


    “Evan has no family?”


    Chris frowned, “Well, his mom died a few years ago. I do believe his dad is still alive, but he rarely talks about him.”


    “They’re estranged?


    “His parents got divorced and his father has a new family, you know, those things happen.”


    I nodded, “Yeah.”


    “Evan has Emily and Nick, they’re always there for him, so you don’t have to worry about him. He’s going to be fine.” She could hear the smile in Chris’ voice.


    Family issues reminded me of my messed up one so I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. I had a feeling Chris didn’t want to share Evan’s past with me either, so it was better if we changed the subject.


    “So when am I going to meet the girlfriend?”


    Chris’s smile was adorable, it softened his face and warmed his eyes. He didn’t talk much about his girlfriend, I knew she worked at a hotel and she was Japanese, but that was about it. I think he was going to move in together with her, but I wasn’t sure if I heard it right. I had the opportunity to question him about it now. He didn’t know I knew the gossip about his ex-wife and was still keeping up with it until I moved to Tokyo. I wasn’t going to tell him that though, it would ruin the friendship we were building up.


    “You’ll meet her Friday night at the club. She has an early shift then so I can introduce you to her and let her meet Evan in person.”


    “Can she speak English?”


    “Yeah, not fluent, but she understands it.”


    “Do you understand Japanese?”


    Chris nodded, “I’m not fluent, but I picked up a few things since I moved to Tokyo to set things up for the club. I’ve been flying back and forth and Hikari sometimes speaks Japanese to me without realizing it.”


    “That’s awesome,” I told him, ncing up when I heard a firm knock against the door.


    Chris followed my gaze, “That’s Evan.” He got up, stretching a bit while I headed to the door.


    Opening the door I indeed faced Evan who grinned at me, “Morning, Zoey.” He nced at his phone, “Yeah, it’s still morning.” He walked past me and nced at Chris who looked ready to leave, “You leaving?”


    “I need to check on a few things back at the club and then head out to have lunch with Hiraki. It’s a busy day for me.”


    “Guess the girlfriend hasn’t seen you in a while.” Evan nodded, “Go and spend time with her.”


    Chris smiled and walked past his friend, leaning down to kiss my cheek before he left. I couldn’t help but sigh as I closed the door behind me.


    “Chris is freaking amazing.” I shared with Evan.