Nothing Less

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Songs for this chapter are:

Treacherous- Taylor Swift

Real- Years & Years

Something Great- One Direction

Show Me Love- Sam Feldt ft. Kimberly Anne

...

"This is a two-thousand-nine bottle of Chateau Moulin de Roquette, Landon. It's from Bordeaux." Stausey explains with a touch of a French accent. I have no idea what she's talking about. I'm assuming she's telling me the type of wine it is? But I wouldn't know the difference, anyway. I nod and tell her that sounds great. It could be a bottle of six-dollar wine for all I care.

Stausey's husband comes around the divider and reaches for my hand. His outfit is much more casual than his wife's. His dark jeans are worn and he's barefoot. His plain white t-shirt gives me the impression that he's much more laid back than I expected him to be.

"Hey man, nice to meet you," he smiles at me. Man, his teeth are white. "I'm Ameen, but you can call me Todd. Or Ameen." He shrugs his shoulders and looks at his wife.

"Sophia told us a lot about you. I hear your parents live right by ours. What a small world," Stausey says, looking right at her sister.

So she calls her Sophia? Noted.

"It really is." I tell her, unsure what else to say. It's a small world Stausey, but you appear to live on the top of it.

I look around the room, taking in the grand piano and modern furniture. Everything matches perfectly, from the decorative pillows piled on the couch to the painting hanging over the doorway to the hallway.

"Come," Stausey says, grabbing my hand. "Dinner is almost ready." She leads me to the dining room and sits me at the head of the table.

"Landon, come sit by me." Nora pats the chair next to her. I nod and walk over to sit down. Stausey ends up sitting down across from me and Todd sits next to her, across from Nora.

"Todd is the best cook," Stausey announces to us as Nora fills up my wine glass. The food looks great, a roasted chicken with rice and every other starch known to man. Stausey kisses her husband's cheek and he gives her a smile of pure admiration. "Isn't that right?" She asks, looking straight at her husband. I look at Nora and she's staring down at her plate.

Her eyes raise to mine and she smiles and bites down on her lip to keep her smile small. She grabs a pair of tongs from the center of the table and digs into the second platter stacked high with vegetables.

"So, Landon," Todd is nice enough to initiate conversation since the rest of us can't seem to be able to. Though, I do wish he wouldn't have chosen the exact moment I stuffed a forkful of chicken in my mouth to do so. He continues, "Sophia says you're studying at NYU? How are you liking it? I had a lot of buddies graduate from there."

Nora takes another bite of her food and I chew quickly so I can answer him. "I love it. I'm taking Early Childhood education, so Sophmore year is when it gets fun."

Stausey chokes on her bread and I reach for my water to calm my itchy throat.

"Sophmore? I thought you were a senior at New York University?" Apparently, acronyms are below Stausey's pay grade.

"No, I'm a Sophmore. I'm ahead by a few credit hours, but I just transferred from Washington Central after my Freshman year."

Nora stares at me with an unreadable expression on her face and Stausey turns to Nora, obviously confused by her misinformation.