387 Weekend in Sin City 3 (1/2)

”What?”, Bri asked when she realized that her two besties are looking at her with complex expressions, and everyone is silent, Anderson brothers included.

”A girl called Quentin on a Friday evening, he said it's important and left so that no one hears what they are talking about… and you are cool about it. It's… unexpected.”, Mia said what everyone else was thinking.

”It's Kendra. She is his personal assistant.”, Brianna responded.

Liz glanced at Max and noticed that he is avoiding her gaze.

Max does not need to be a genius to feel the protective hostility that rose in Liz and Mia when Quentin left the room in order to get that call.

Of course, Max knows who Kendra is, but there is no way he will talk about it without Quentin present because he does not want to risk saying anything that might be incriminating. The phone call on its own might be harmless, but the fact that Quentin went to take it in private, and that both Liz and Mia disapprove is a problem.

”Do you know her well?”, Mia continued probing.

Brianna shrugged. ”Not really. She is his assistant, not mine.”

”You said, PERSONAL assistant. That should stretch beyond work. Right?”, Liz asked.

Brianna nodded in confirmation, and Mia was back to her original question: ”If she is part of his private affairs, how come you don't know her?”

Brianna pressed her lips into a line, obviously not liking where this conversation is going.

”Does she usually call him on Friday evening?”, Liz asked Brianna in a small voice.

”No. But Quentin made several changes in his life since we got serious, and that includes Kendra taking over most of his trips that are related to the company.”, Brianna responded. ”As much as I know, she might be on a trip right now. They usually communicate through emails and texts, and I guess she called him because this is important.”

”Oh…”, a sound escaped Liz's lips. ”As long as you are aware of it, it's cool.”

Liz didn't believe her own words, but she didn't want to escalate the situation further. They will talk later, without the guys present.

Mia was not satisfied and she didn't care about the audience or the situation. ”Why are you coming up with excuses for him?”

Brianna pursed her lips. ”Wouldn't you do the same if Hunter was the one who took the call?”

Mia exhaled in frustration. This is not like Brianna. How can she be OK with her man talking to another woman in private? And he did it in front of others! Mia wanted to say a few mean things about Quentin, but she knows that other than him being rude toward Brianna, she does not have any evidence, so Mia swallowed her words back. For now.

No one is used to emotional Brianna, and Brianna knew that her besties are exchanging concerned glances, but she decided to focus on her food.

Brianna is aware that Kendra did many things for Quentin, for a long time before Brianna showed up, and that included coming to Quentin's apartment. Brianna never said anything, but Quentin picked up that she does not approve, and since Brianna moved in with Quentin, Kendra never came to that apartment.

The truth is that Brianna is uncomfortable with Kendra's presence in Quentin's life, but Brianna feels that she has no right to intervene.

Quentin stopped traveling and attending photoshoots where models are present, in order not to make Brianna suspect that he is cheating. She is grateful for everything Quentin does, and as much as they are living together, Brianna is aware of how Quentin has his life, and Brianna is only one part of it.

Brianna does not expect Quentin to flip his whole life just because they are dating and asking him to distance himself from his assistant is not practical. How can Quentin have an assistant if they are not frequently in contact?

Brianna expected to see Kendra at Reynolds Publishing on Monday, but Kendra was not there, and Brianna didn't think it's important enough to ask. After all, she does not want to appear like a jealous girlfriend or the one that is sticking her nose into his business.

Before moving to Seattle, Brianna decided to give her best shot at this relationship with Quentin, and that should include trusting him… even if sometimes she has doubts that need to be pushed down.