Hey There, Delilah

Open Your Eyes

Song: kpop soft playlist by My Lady

Lilah stretched, yawning as the bones in her back cracked one by one. She was unbelievably toasty as she picked at her black dress. It was thick and made of wool. Appropriate for the upcoming winter weather. But ill suited for Kiki's apartment which he always kept hot since he couldn't stand the cold in any capacity.

Her feet touched the wooden floor as she rubbed the sleep from her bleary eyes. She tugged out her white bow and dropped it onto the chocolate brown couch. Lilah's feet slipped against the polished floor as her black tights caused her to slide. She kept a steady hand on the eggshell hued walls while tip-toeing out of the messy living room.

She found Kiki in the dining room, hunched over the mahogany table. It was covered in architectural sketches and broken pencils. When Lilah sat beside him she saw his dull pencil sketching the outline of a townhouse.

"Hungry?" Kiki asked. He pushed back the black fringe hanging over his dark brown eyes to see her better. "I can order something now. Should get here by the time you're more awake."

Lilah latched onto his beefy wrist and turned it over, reading the time on his old rolex. Her eyes bulged. "It's almost seven?!"

"You literally said hi and then passed out on my couch." Kiki chuckled, going over a faded line and adding more detail to the brick fireplace. "Figured I'd let you sleep before dinner."

Lilah blushed, embarrassed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sleep that long."

"It's no problem," he replied, tapping on his phone to order their usual from the nearby Korean restaurant. "You looked like you needed it."

Lilah's mind went to Ambrose and the mental anguish she'd been enduring since falsely accusing him. She fiddled with a stray pencil and avoided meeting Kiki's gaze that flickered between her and his phone.

"I've been working a lot."

Kiki snorted and placed his phone face down to give Lilah his full attention. "Aren't we all?"

Lilah lowered her eyes to the landscape and contract designs. Neon bright sticky notes peppered the documents, listing things about construction. There were parks, golf courses, offices, and residential real estate sketches. All of them were still in development.

Lilah had no clue how Kiki handled being a landscape architect with so many projects on his plate and didn't lose his mind. Somehow, her brother always found a way to manage and he never complained either.

Making 140k a year was low compared to their family's usual salaries. But combined with the money he inherited and the real estate investments Kiki made, he was by no means "poor." Even though he'd never confirmed it, Lilah had a sneaking suspicion that he was the wealthiest out of all the kids.

Kiki maintained a lot of connections beyond their circle of old money wealth. He even dabbled in gold and artwork. Invested in the stock market. There was no business or area of art that he didn't have a contact in. Lilah was as impressed as she was befuddled by his tenacity.

Ever since Kiki was eighteen he'd been obsessed with making and saving as much money as he could. He saved and saved and saved. Only using his collected funds to pay life's expenses or buy gifts during holidays and birthdays. Other than that, he saved. Collected. Occasionally spoiled Vincent, then went back to working and investing and saving.

Lilah wondered what the driving force behind all this money hoarding was for but she never asked. She was curious but she never bothered asking because that was the thing about Kiki. If he wanted you to know something about him, then you wouldn't have to ask. You'd already know it.