Run, Girl (If You Can)

Violet hardly heard a peep from Noah all week after they played cards. He had seemed a little off when he left but she chalked it up to being tired. It was late after all.

But days went by and he never texted her first. He barely managed to text her back when she asked about his day on her breaks at work. Something was clearly wrong. She would have to ask him about it when she saw him on Sunday.

Aside from worrying about her best friend, her week had been going great. The casting announcement had been made and she was Clara! Even though it was only her third Christmas season with the company!

Violet excitedly told Jeremy over dinner that night about how that was practically unheard of and he seemed impressed as he congratulated her. The look on his face as he complimented her accomplishment made her all warm and fuzzy inside.

Despite what she had told Noah, Violet did like him the more she saw him. But he was so much more sophisticated than she was. She was afraid of liking him because he worried she wouldn't be able to be her whole self around him.

Having Noah around had spoiled her. She didn't have to worry about how she acted around him because he always liked her as a person no matter what. The same didn't extend to other people—she had learned that early on in life.

Kaleb didn't like her for a while because she was too clingy. People in middle school thought she was a goody two shoes. It wasn't until she only showed people what they wanted to see that she was able to make friends in high school.

Jeremy was a good conversationalist but Violet got the feeling he wouldn't enjoy something as mundane as playing games with her brothers. Maybe she should test him before she got more attached.

"I know you've already asked me out for dinner for the whole week…but could Kaleb and possibly Nathan join us tomorrow?" she asked out of the blue as they worked their way through their entrées.

He smiled and leaned his head on one hand. "Sure. I would love to meet your brothers. What about Oliver?"

"He's at MIT, didn't I tell you? He'll be home for Thanksgiving in a few weeks though."

"Oh, right. It's hard to keep track of all of your  siblings. I don't know how your mom does it," Jeremy joked.

And that was that. The harder part was convincing her brothers to go along with it.

Kaleb had been stunned to find out she was dating someone, let alone their dad's assistant. All this time he had really thought she had a thing going with Noah. She crossly set him straight.

Once he realized she was serious, he immediately went into overprotective brother mode and asked a million questions. Not only to her but to their dad. That had opened a whole other can of worms.

"You've been dating Jeremy?!" Aaron was completely thunderstruck and sunk into the back of the couch for support.

"Yes?" she said, wishing it didn't sound so much like a question.

"How long? What have you guys been doing? He hasn't done anything inappropriate, has he? Because if he has I'll kill him!"

It had taken more than fifteen minutes to calm her dad down after explaining that it was very casual. Especially since he found out Violet wanted to introduce him to her brothers. That was a sign of things getting more serious.

She had a headache by the time she managed to get both Kaleb and Nathan, who were acting an awful lot like guard dogs, to agree to come and behave. Originally they wanted to give him the third degree.

Both of them ended up taking the Subway to meet her at her studio and drive over to the restaurant together the next day. Kaleb had actually shaved and tidied his hair so he didn't look homeless anymore.

He and Nathan had both dressed up and put on their most intimidating looks. Those idiots. They had been like this with every boyfriend she ever had.

Oliver had too. He would probably be just as annoying about it when he came home, provided Jeremy managed to pass the brother test and they were still going out. Violet really hoped she hadn't made a huge mistake by inviting them.

"Behave yourselves or you're dead," she hissed as she yanked both of them down to her level to hear her better. Why did they have to be so stupidly tall, anyway?

They nodded and rubbed the ears she had grabbed as they walked into the restaurant. Jeremy was already waiting for them.

"Hey, Violet," he greeted cheerfully.

He reached out for a hug but Kaleb stopped him with a hand and a glare. "Don't you think you should introduce yourself first?"

Jeremy stepped back and held a hand out to shake. "Jeremy Ward, nice to meet you. I assume you're Kaleb?"

"How did you know?" 

He shrugged. "Lucky guess. I had a fifty-fifty chance of getting it right."

Kaleb scowled. "I suppose that's fair. You probably already know this is our brother Nathan then."

Nathan waved wordlessly when his name was mentioned. The atmosphere was so tense Violet could feel it pressing down on her. She plastered on a smile and ushered everyone into the restaurant.

"So," Kaleb began in a somewhat threatening voice once the waitress had taken their drink orders. "Tell us more about yourself, Jeremy."

He remained as calm as ever, completely ignoring the fact he was being threatened. That earned him brownie points in Violet's book. She hadn't even warned him an interrogation was coming and he was already handling it well.

"I grew up in Washington D.C. as an only child and studied economics and mathematics at Yale. I enjoy reading and doing word and number puzzles in my free time."

Nathan's eyes narrowed. "What free time? My dad says you're always working."

Jeremy remained unperturbed. He waved his hand casually as he replied. "I take pride in my work but that's still an exaggeration. If I was really 'always working' I wouldn't have had time to hang out with Violet, now would I?"

He grumbled and conceded the point. Violet was surprised. Nathan was usually more argumentative but he had been neatly put in his place. Another point to Jeremy.

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