Standards

Anton almost choked as he coughed hysterically. "Carmine's kid?"
Roman nodded.
"Does the coffee offer still stand?" Anton hissed a string of profanities. "You know what? Make that a double shot of Irish whiskey. Gimme a Jameson."
Roman got to his feet and came back with a strong black coffee for himself and a glass half filled with ice and reddish-brown whiskey. He watched Anton take a sip, waiting.
Anton stared back at Roman with livid disbelief. "Have you thought about the implications? Didn't you say she's a teenager?"
My heart sank as I saw the disapproval in Anton's eyes. Roman sighed and then nodded.
"Reeves, our society doesn't take lightly to these kind of... relationships, you'll battle sexual harassment charges faster than you can say, Nuru." Anton folded his arms across his chest. He looked at Roman through narrowed eyes. "Are you hitting that?"
Roman swung his legs over the side of the couch and lifted his hands high above his head, craned his neck to the side; and took a long relaxing stretch. The tension rolled off his shoulders and his muscles softened. He let out a yawn."It's different with this girl."
"Hell, Reeves." Anton's voice was almost rude. "Then it must be serious if you aren't even sleeping with her."
Roman didn't say speak now and I wished I could see his face, his eyes, just to know what he was thinking.
"You're mixing business with pleasure," Anton continued, his words pouring out of him. "That's never a wise choice."
Roman buried his face in his hands.
Anton was grimacing as he took both his empty glass of whiskey and the cup Roman was still drinking on.
"I'm still drinking that!" Roman said, stretching out his hand for the black cup.
"No, you're done." Anton called over his shoulder as he strode to the kitchen. Roman followed.
"Reeves," Anton said, and then hesitated, opening the fridge and rummaging through it, searching for something. He pulled two bottles of Castle Lite and closed the door. "We come a long way, you and me. And you know I have your best interests at heart, right, Reeves?"
"Right," Roman agreed. "But I can sense a lecture coming."
"No! No lecture," he spoke slowly. He opened the bottles with his teeth and passed one to Roman. "But she's not a smart choice. She's not even the type you usually go for. She's not blond, not a model, God man, she does not even have any sort of fashion sense."
I was... worried about Roman, about what he might do, knowing his temper but he surprised me. He simply rolled his shoulders back before shrugging.
"So?" Roman asked in a calm tone. He took a swing at his Castle.
"So why are you with her?" Anton objected. He'd emptied his bottle in one swing. "And she's got you doing... whatever you say you are too busy to hang out with me for."
"No man, it's no big deal, really," Roman answered with a hard tone. He took another sip. "It's just a short trip downtown. She's got a friend getting married soon and she's helping Melissa pick up a wedding dress. And I promised her we'd watch some horror tonight. And then, well now, I have to finish reading Even Now before she wakes up."
"Even Now?" Anton frowned. And his eyes narrowed. He opened another bottle. "Drink up," he encouraged Roman. "That's a Christian Romance, a stupid novel."
Roman rummaged through the kitchen cupboard and pulled a pack of doritos, he opened the package and dropped the contents onto a bowl. They sat down and shuffled through the TV channels until they agreed on a sports channel.
"Actually, it's great." Roman mumbled between chewing and gulping a fair share of beer. "I —"
"Oh just shut the hell up, man," he interrupted. "You fucking hate shopping, fuck Reeves, I even saw pork in the food warmer, you hate pork, you don't touch it. Well before this Lynn girl came along you used to hate it. I'm sure you still do. Horror? Reeves you can't stomach horror, it gives you nightmares, and reading romance? Reeves, I won't even get started on that."
"Now now," Roman began. "Slow down, man, enjoy the beer. Relax. "Oh come on man, it's not that big of a deal."
Anton paled in shock. "Reeves," he said curtly. "You reading a book, just so you can have an idea of what she's talking about is a big deal. You're changing your entire world just for her?"
"It's not as bad as you make it sound," Roman disagreed, it looked like he was working to keep his voice even and quiet.
Anton glared at Roman balefully. "Why do you subject yourself to this?"
Roman sighed and slumped his shoulders. "Honestly man, it's like she's got mystical powers and I'm helpless to do her bidding."
Anton glared at the ceiling for a long moment and then his palm smacked down on the table with a loud bang. "You're a sap, man. I will not allow that."
I startled, gasping as my heart launched to my throat.
Roman narrowed his eyes. "I'm not giving you a choice."
Anton glared at Roman, disapproving, furious.
There was a brief moment of silence as Roman thought of what to say. "I know you mean well, Anton... but seriously there's nothing to worry about."
"She's a teenager!" Anton choked in disbelief. He used a tone that made it clear that this was a big deal.
My legs felt hollow and I had to brace myself on the wall.
"She's almost eighteen," Roman groaned. His face fell in his hands again.
"Dammit! Roman!" Anton said under his breath. "She's forbidden fruit. Gasp that. She's the deceitful snake at the Garden of Eden."
"I tried to fight it." Roman sighed as he took to his full height and vacationed at the windowsill instead.
Anton's eyebrows shot up. "Fight harder."
Roman didn't waver. "I can't."
Drawing in a long, relaxing breath did absolutely nothing to alleviate my apprehension.
Anton shook his head once. "Can't or won't?"
Roman's jaw locked. "If it were that simple don't you think I'd have taken a different route?"
Anton snorted. "Maybe you should give it another go with Regina."
"Look, Anton," he said between fits of boiling anger. "Now I love this girl, so you can either stop telling me to leave her and accept the idea of us together or you can continue trying to make me leave her. But be warned. If you choose the second option, I'd be cutting someone out of my life and it won't be Nuru."
Anton was bewildered but he recovered quickly.
"I don't want us to fight over this," Roman whispered slowly. "You're more than a brother to me. Now... if you had legitimate reasons besides worrying about her age. I'd consider it. I know this is a big deal, the age gap but..."
"Just break it off before she feels something." Anton instructed. He shot to his feet in one swift motion "You know how clingy bitches get. Even worse, she's a teenager."
I shook my head, horrified.
"That's not an option," Roman spoke through thinned lips.
"Are you insane?" Anton was mortified. He paced back and forth between the TV and the window. "That girl is fucked up, she's a mess, has a dysfunctional upbringing and if you had any sense at all you'd get rid of her."
"Nuru stays." Roman's voice rung with finality.
"You're actually in love with her," Anton realized with despair. "Regina, you loved her but I'm afraid with this girl it's much more. You're making her the centre of your life."
What? Roman was in love with me? I shook my head in doubt. There was just no way that this Godlike being could love me back.
Roman shrugged. "My only consolation is that I know she feels the same way."
Feels the same way? Did that mean — ? No it couldn't be. My heart was thudding violently.
"How could you possibly know that?" Anton scoffed. "Women are tricky, bedbugs."
"When I talk to her she gets this dazed look, when I touch her, Anton man" — he shook his head, bewildered — "I can hear the sudden rush of emotions as they make her heart pick up pace. And when I kiss her, oh man, the breath ceases out of her lungs."
Anton studied Roman for a long moment. "Okay..." he mumbled unsure. I could see it in his eyes, he didn't understand what Roman was telling him.
"As far as true love goes, she is it," Roman confessed.
"That's so stupid," Anton said. "What about your job?"
"She knows."
Anton's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"
"She knows." Roman repeated himself, emphasising each word.
"What exactly did you tell her?" Anton's voice was thick with implications.
"Everything." Roman's voice was irritated. I knew him well enough to know that he was done being friendly but he hadn't lost his patience.
"What do you mean, everything?"
Roman sighed. "Everything, from my parents, my real parents, to my day job, everything."
"I can't deal with you right now." Anton got to his feet. "I don't approve. Now the secret is not safe."
"I trust her."
"You're gambling with our lives," Anton grumbled. "What do you think she would do if she had to protect her mother with the info you told her. How do you even know that Nikolai didn't send her here to fish out info for him?"
"I trust her," Roman mumbled again.
"This will backfire."
"I trust her." Roman repeated.
"You're turning into something I don't know, weak."
"I know."
Anton wrinkled his nose. "Do you know the damage control I had to do when the picture of the both of you at her school got leaked?"
"I appreciate it." Roman sighed.
"Why would you compromise yourself like that?" Anton shook his head. "Couldn't you eat with your own hands?"
I turned back to the bedroom, where I paced along the side of the bed. Anton didn't trust me, he didn't think I was good enough for Roman, good enough to be one of them. I sighed and walked into the bathroom my emotions swelling up inside me. I took a cold shower.
After dressing in jeans and a tank top, I found Roman drinking coffee in the bedroom.
"Hey," he said smiling up at me.
"Good morning," I whispered.
"I have to tell you something."
"What?"
His brow creased angrily for a moment. "Anton has been lecturing me about you."
I stared in surprise. I didn't think he'd tell me. "Yeah?"
"Says I'm lowering my standards by being with you."
I couldn't speak.
I finally was able to speak, though my voice was faint. "So, is this your way of being a rebel or something?" I said flippantly, trying to alleviate the suddenly tense atmosphere.
It worked; he laughed