Ikher plugged the power cord in, grabbed the remote, and turned his new TV on. It opened to a local channel with a tie wearing police officer standing at a podium. He motioned to the group beside him: a dapper dark-haired man in an expensive looking suit with his hands around a pre-teen girl and young boy.

“…and if you have any information please call. Please bring this family some justice.”

The camera zoomed in on the children as they put an image of the mother on the other side of the screen. It was the woman from the flier, Nadia Grisham. The kids looked like her, especially the daughter.

He turned at a knock at his door. When Ikher opened it, he found Cullen, the ginger kid who bought weed with his sister every week. Poor kid was stiff as a board with huge eyes and a freakishly large smile.

“Sup dude? You okay?” Ikher said.

Cullen jumped as a door shut on a big SUV parked behind him at Ikher's curb. A woman with shoulder length brown hair in a floral print dress walked around the vehicle, her head barely reaching the side mirrors.

She climbed his steps to stand next to Cullen. She smiled up to Ikher as she put her white gloved hand on Cullen's shoulder, making him flinch. “Hello, are you Ikher?” she asked in a tiny voice.

“I am.”

“Hi. I’m Jerrica, Cullen’s mother.” Chills shot down Ikher's spine. This was bad. She turned to her son. “Go wait in the car.” Cullen turned and walked down the steps. Jerrica watched him go and as soon as he was in the passenger seat she whirled around, teeth bared, and jabbed her finger in Ikher's face.

“How fucking dare you!” she hissed and stalked towards Ikher, backing him into the house. “How dare you sell this shit to my son!” Once inside, she slammed his door and resumed her advance. When they reached the living room, Jerrica glanced out the window at her son, terrified in the car, before jabbing a finger at Ikher again.

“My son needs to think I’m mad at you!” she said, throwing her hands in the air and walking around his coffee table, wild hand movements punctuating her speech. “I mean I am. I was going to call the cops on you. But then I thought 'be a shame to let this pot go to waste.' So I tried it and, holy shit, this stuff is amazing!” She swung back around and walked to stand in front of him.

“So here's whats going to happen." Light blue eyes shot lightning up her slightly upturned nose as she put her gloved fist in his face. "If you ever sell to my son again, I will put you under the jail. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes," Ikher said, raising his hands up and leaning back.

"Good." Jerrica held her fist there for a moment before she let it fall. She glanced out his window at Cullen in the car, who quickly found anything else to look at. Her smile squinted her eyes as she turned back to Ikher and smoothed her dress out. "That said, I haven't smoked anything this great since college. So I'll be back tomorrow for some."

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Ikher nodded.

She smiled and turned to leave. “Thanks for playing along," she said at his door. "The more dangerous Cullen thinks I am the better he listens.”

Her face contorted with rage as she ripped his door open, stepped out, and slammed it shut. He felt her stomp down his steps, then watched her climb into the vehicle and start laying into her son. Cullen looked like he wanted to die.

Watching them drive away, Ikher felt his heart pounding and realized he was breathing hard. He staggered over and fell face first into his couch. That could have gone SO much worse. Rolling over, he stared at the ceiling and decided there would be absolutely no more selling to anyone that doesn't look like a complete adult.

In need of something to calm his nerves, Ikher walked back and rolled himself a blunt. As he sat back on the couch, there was heavy footsteps on his stairs. Leaning back, he looked out the window to see a delivery driver as he knocked on his door.

"Eye-Curr Why-Bar-Ah?" the driver asked when Ikher opened the door.

"Close enough," Ikher said as he signed for the package.

He opened it on the coffee table and realized he had forgotten that he had ordered the latest game system last week. His stress was suddenly gone as he unboxed the system and pulled everything out.

As he plugged it up to the tv there was another knock at the door. Ikher exhaled as he stood. How many more people were going to come by today? Opening the door, Nancy stood there in a tan knee-length dress holding her clutch and a bottle of wine.

"Nance?” He did a double take before his eyes grew wide. “Oh no, it’s Friday isn’t it?"

She took off her sunglasses and chuckled. "It is."

His head fell back and he slapped his forehead. "It’s been a day. Totally gotten away from me. I'm so sorry." He stepped aside, waving her in.

"We can reschedule if you're busy," she said, shifting her weight to one leg as she regarded him.

He waved her in again, shaking his head. "No, no. I'm good. The food'll just be a little late. Make yourself comfortable while I figure out what we're eating." Nancy nodded and handed him the bottle as she walked in. “What’s this?” he said, examining the fancy French label.

“You’re feeding me so it’s only polite I provide something,” she said as she sat on the couch. He stole a glance as she smoothed her dress.

Nancy dressed really well, like she had just come from a magazine photo shoot. She was different in normal clothes, softer, more relaxed. In workout gear, she had a focused, almost hard energy. She was still intimidating, just less so now.

The other things that stuck out were: one, her legs were skinnier than he would have thought. Her calves looked strong though, probably from all the running. And two, how much the work out gear downplayed her; Nancy was bustier than her track suit let on.

She looked up at him. “I hope white is okay?”

Oh yeah. The wine. Cooking. “Ummm, yes! Helps me figure out what to make," he said and put the bottle on the counter before ducking his head in the pantry. "Is chicken okay?"

"It is," she answered with an odd tone in her voice. He glanced over the pantry door to see Nancy examining the unfinished blunt he had forgotten in the ashtray. She smelled it before turning to him and smiling. "I thought I smelled reefer when I was here last."

He swallowed, his eyes huge. "I'm SO sorry. I try to clean that stuff up before I have people over."

She shrugged. "It’s fine, I smoked in college."

Interesting. Maybe she wasn't as uptight as she appeared. Ikher set the cans on the counter and smiled. "D'you go to college in the sixties? Cause no one calls it 'reefer' anymore."

Nancy shot him a glare. "I did not go to college in the sixties, thank you very much."

Ikher chuckled, shaking his head before he turned to pull the chicken and veggies from the fridge. "Straight-laced Nancy smoked weed in college huh? I don’t believe it."

"I did in fact," she said, sitting back on the couch after putting the blunt back in the ashtray. "It helped me relax. I used to get high before my exams."

"Wow, that's ballsy. No way I could have taken a test high," he shook his head. Ikher patted his pockets until he reached in and tossed his lighter onto the couch next to her before turning to rinse the vegetables. "Spark it up."

“Oh, no. I'm fine, thank you though," she said, placing the lighter next to the ashtray.

"You sure?" he asked. "Seems like you could use some chill. I mean with everything you have going on. Situations boiling over and all."

Nancy's gaze lingered on Ikher prepping for a moment before shifting back to the ashtray. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at the coffee table, her foot shaking. He looked over his shoulder and chuckled at Nancy's internal battle.

After a moment she sighed, “I’ve got nothing going on until tomorrow."

Ikher nodded and turned back to cutting his vegetables as Nancy lit the blunt. She took a short drag and held it for a moment before exhaling.

"So what do you do Ikher?" Nancy asked, watching the smoke trail up as she blew it out.

Ikher dumped the vegetables in a bowl and swapped cutting boards to slice up chicken. "What do you mean?"

"Well," she said, sitting back and looking around. "You're not a chef by trade. So what puts the roof over your head?" She took another pull before coughing a few times. She shook her head, sitting forward, then took another long drag which launched her into a coughing fit. Ikher rinsed his hands and went over to her.

"This stuff is strong. You can’t suck it down like that. I should have warned you, sorry."

Nancy caught her breath for a moment and suppressed another cough while narrowing her eyes at him. She exhaled and started to say something before launching into a coughing fit. Ikher rubbed her back and took the blunt, shaking his head.

"Slow and easy.” He stuck the blunt in the corner of his mouth. “If you try and hoover, it'll drop kick you," he said, grabbing the ashtray and setting it on the opposite side of the counter as his prep area.

Nancy took deep breaths for a few minutes before rubbing her cheeks. She shook her head and pointed at him. “You never answered my question."

His heart rate picked up. There was no way he could tell her he sold weed. "I'm in... sales."

She pursed her lips as she looked at him. "Hmm. That makes sense."

"Really?" Ikher said and slid the vegetables into the pot with the broth. He took another drag from the blunt before bringing it back to Nancy in the ashtray.

She nodded, taking the ashtray from him. "You're a little pushy but affable and seem genuine. Good qualities for a salesman. What industry?"

He cursed to himself. She's in business. He should have known better. "Umm... pharmaceuticals." That wasn't entirely a lie and far enough from construction that he should be safe.

Nancy took a quick hit followed by several deep breaths. She pointed the blunt at him as she exhaled. "Really, what company?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Of course she would know people in other fields. He was just digging himself deeper. "I'm... umm... freelance," he said, stirring the soup. Best to change the subject. "What about you? You said you're in the family business?"

"Yes, architecture and construction.”

"Did your whole family work there?"

"No, just my father."

"That must have been fun, working with him."

"Not really," Nancy said as she stared at the floor and exhaled. She reached down, pulled her heels off and set them beside the couch. She laid back into the corner of the couch, folding one leg under her knee. She watched Ikher sway to his inaudible beat while he cooked before she looked back down his hallway. "My father was... difficult to deal with."

Ikher walked over and took a quick pull from the blunt before putting it back in the ashtray. "Did you two not get along?" he asked, walking back. He dumped the chicken in the soup, and turned the flame up. When she didn't answer, he turned and saw Nancy staring down his hallway, eyes moving slightly. He waited a moment then walked over and waved his hand in front of her, breaking the spell.

“I’m sorry,” she blinked, looking up at him. “What did you say?”

“I asked if you and your dad didn’t get along.” He reached down and took the blunt with a smile. “Maybe I keep this for a bit.”

Nancy sat forward, running her hands over her face and sighed. "My father and I got along fine when I was just his little girl. My mistake was trying to be his heir. From then on, I was never good enough.”

“Really?” Ikher asked, quartering some limes as a savory smell filled the front room. “Don’t you run everything now?”

“I do, and better than he ever did," Nancy said, walking over to the kitchen to peek over his shoulder. “I’m either very high or very hungry because that smells amazing.”

Ikher chuckled. "Thanks. Can you grab some bowls?” he asked, pointing with his elbow. “So, if the company's doing well, then what’s his problem?”

“I didn’t have a dick,” she said as she set the table. Ikher laughed until he turned to look at her serious face.

“Wait, really?”

Nancy nodded as she leaned on his counter, arms folded. She sighed again, staring at the floor. “My father was very concerned with his legacy and the company name. When my brothers died, he lost his heirs.”

Ikher shook his head. “But, you're his daughter. That makes you his heir."

"Mmm." Nancy nodded. "As progressive and forward thinking as he was, my father was very old world in some ways."

Ikher nodded, stirring the soup. "You keep saying 'was'. Did you get the company when he passed?"

“No, I gave him a male heir by finding the one man in the world who was willing to give up his name and take mine. And then I was lucky enough to have a son on the first try."

“That was enough for him?”

“No," she sighed. "But by that point, he'd written himself into a corner and had to hand over control.”

Ikher stared up at her, lost in thought, and contemplated his next question for a moment. "Do you ever miss him?"

Eyes distant in some old memory, she sighed again. "Sometimes. I miss the version of him when I was little. Before he became horrible." Ikher's hand on her shoulder made her jump. She blinked and turned to look at his sober expression.

He gave her a weak smile. "I'm sorry, my father's gone too."

Nancy took a deep breath and looked him up and down. "You seem fairly well adjusted. I'm guessing you and your father had a good relationship."

"Oh yeah. He was my best friend," Ikher said before poking her with his elbow. “Food’s ready.” He grabbed the pot and poured the soup into their bowls. Looking over his shoulder, he nodded to the counter next to her. “There’s a corkscrew in one of the drawers. I don’t have wine glasses, so you’ll have to slum it tonight.”

Nancy chuckled and rummaged for his corkscrew. She poured the wine into two tumblers and they sat down to eat. Nancy took a spoonful and held it in her mouth. Like last time, her eyes closed and she melted back against her chair. She opened her eyes and shook her head at him as she spooned another mouthful.

"Ikher, this is very good."

His smile was enormous and made his ears move up. "Awesome, I'm glad you like it."

Very high, they both tore into the meal and had reached the bottom of their bowls when Ikher looked up. “Was it fun having brothers? I'm an only child.”

Nancy glanced up and thought for a moment as she chewed. “Well," she swallowed. "Clarence was my father, always very focused on goals. Plus, he was older and being groomed to take over, so he didn’t have much time for me,” she gestured with her spoon before smiling.

“Johan and I were closer in age, so we spent a lot of time together and got into a lot of trouble,” Nancy laughed and then sighed, sitting back in her chair. “We could always make each other laugh,” she said, spacing out again as he smile faded. She blinked a couple times and sniffed as her eyes watered up.

Ikher put his spoon down and reached over touching her hand. "Hey, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to bring up anything bad."

Nancy closed here eyes and took a deep breath before giving him a smile. “It's fine. Perhaps we change the subject?”

“Sure,” he smiled, picking his spoon back up. They discussed their different university experiences over a second bowl of soup. Nancy declined his invitation for a second blunt as the street lights came on.

"Thank you, Ikher. This was nice," Nancy said, slipping her heels on.

“You’re very welcome," he grinned, wiping his hands on a towel after putting their bowls in the sink. "It's always good to have company. Plus I got to see the real Nancy."

“I beg your pardon?” she said, with an eyebrow up as she grabbed her clutch and jacket.

Ikher walked over and leaned against the door frame. "The real Nancy. Not the guarded, unapproachable, invincible businesswoman," he said, puffing himself up with his fists on his hips which made her squint at him. "I could see your protective shell melt off. Just like I can see it reforming now,” he said with a laugh. “You’re much more open and genuine when you're relaxed.”

“Ugh!" She rolled her eyes. "I’m so sorry for bothering you my life story.”

“Don’t be sorry," he waved at her. "Sharing’s good. We all need to let our guard down every now and then.”

She laughed. “Well thank you doctor. Any other advice before I depart?”

“Nope. Other than I'll see you back here next week for your follow up,” he said, causing her to do a double take.

“Next week?”

“Yeah. I thought our deal was that if the food was bad you never had to come back. You said it was great, so that warrants a return trip,” he shrugged with his hands out.

Nancy regarded him for a moment before shaking her head. “I should have asked to see the fine print on our deal,” she chuckled, opening his door. “Thank you for the food. I’ll let you know if I’m free this week.”

“Sounds good,” he said, watching her descend his steps. “Drive safe!”

Jared was picking between suits to wear to the interview when he was hit with the skunky, earthen smell of marijuana. How the hell did Michael smuggle weed into the house? He threw a shirt on and exited his bedroom.

He walked toward Michael's bedroom, but the smell dissipated. Confused, he backtracked to the stairs and picked it up again, coming from Nancy’s side. He didn't even want to imagine how she would lose her shit if Michael was in her room smoking.

Cracking the door, he didn’t see his son anywhere but the smell was strong and the light was on in her boudoir. Jared burst around the corner.

"Just what in the hell do you-" he started as he came around the corner but stopped when he saw his wife undressing. "Nancy?" She glanced up, red rimmed eyes, leaning on the wall removing her heels.

"Yes?" she sighed.

He walked back and closed her bedroom door. "Holy shit, are you high?" he asked in a hushed tone as he came back into her closet. Nancy sighed again, placing her heels in their spot on the wall.

She turned around to Jared's stunned face and chuckled. "I was." She crossed her arms under her chest and leaned against the shelf.

"How much did you smoke? I could smell you down the hallway!"

She shrugged. "One joint."

"Is this going to be a regular thing for you now?" he asked, crossing his arms. She laid her head back against the shelf and took a deep breath, trying to hold onto the calm.

"No," she said, looking at him again. "But if it was, it’s none of your concern."

His jaw dropped again. "I think it is actually. I'm your husband for fuck's sake! What if you had gotten pulled over?"

"That’s touching Jared, but people like me don’t get pulled over unless I’m driving on the sidewalk or down the street the wrong way,” she waved her hands around wildly. “And even then, I would tell them who I am and who you are, and they’d let me go with a warning."

"Yes, but if my bosses found out..." Jared said shaking his head.

Nancy squinted at him for a moment before it hit her. "Your precious promotion," she sighed. “You know Jared,” she said, shaking her finger at him. “For a second there, I thought you were actually concerned about me." She ran a hand through her hair as she pushed off the shelf. Jared started to say something but she held up a finger.

"For the first time in a long while, I’ve had a nice day," she said. "I really don't want to argue. If you're set on giving me the fifth degree, I'll take my lashes tomorrow. Tonight though, I'm going to shower and go to sleep. Good night Jared," she said, walking past him into her bathroom.