Page 104 of Changed for You

How about Ocho?

IVAN

Fine by me. See you at 7?

It’s a date ;)

IVAN

Marcus is tagging along. I’ve been working on some advising for him and told him he could join us.

Marcus Grand is the posh heir to The Grand Hotel. While a little too opulent for me, our run-ins have been inevitable growing up in the same circles.

Ivan, a true nerd at heart, couldn’t abandon his finance advising background completely, so he’s acquired a few large clients over the years—my take is that Mr. Grand is one of them.

I’ll make sure to have my mother of pearl spoon ready upon arrival.

IVAN

Funny, leave your smart-ass attitude at home. This is a big gig for me.

Fine, I’ll behave.

Setting my phone back on the counter, I stir the veggies until they’re translucent, before adding my tomato paste, bone broth, and the appropriate measurement of orzo, before covering it to cook.

While I cut my chicken, I let my mind travel to places it only goes when Fia’s occupying it.

My previous life flashes in front of me, of the many women I brought back to my place with no goal in sight but my own. Never once did I have dreams of caring for them the way I do of her. The countless opportunities I had to have a girlfriend or nurture a relationship with someone I could have felt connected to, but didn’t let myself.

Since before I could remember, commitment was out of sight for me. If I’m honest with myself, my excuse has always been: if my biological parents didn’t feel they needed to commit to me, then why should I?

My excuses fell away when I met Fia.

I wanted her and didn’t care what I had to do to get her, even if that meant finally addressing my issues.

The smell of tomato and garlic sends a thrill to my stomach as I finalize the last few ingredients of my early morning meal.

Missing her more than I probably should, I set myself in front of the TV, but don’t reach to turn it on. In between scarfed bites, I find my hardly used social media page, the one I keep purely to look at her.

Passing and liking a few posts on Sienna’s account, I find myself looking through her page to see if I can find hints of my favorite girl. Her playlist curation turned into a brand of her own, and just so happens to always be trending. Any time I see a post, it’s almost always accompanied by music by Sienna.

It’s well deserved, truly. She’s talented as fuck.

Proud of the girl my brother finally fought his demons for, I click on the comments of her most recent post, knowing the reason for my snooping is to find the page I already know so much about.

Happy with my findings, the third comment on her post is from @FiFi22.

“This song is almost as hot as you are.”

Unable to control my fingers, I end up down a rabbit hole on Fia’s page, which I shamelessly know like the back of my hand. I’ve studied it, admired it, and unregretfully fucked my fist countless times to the photos on this page.