Justin shuffled through the death announcements, wondering which of them would be the most interesting to write. What he hated about the newspaper most was the fact that everything inside of it... well, most everything, was fact. How much more boring could it get? Sometimes he wondered what harm it would do to make up obituaries. Why would they care if they were dead?
His door flew open and Kyle stood there, looking panicked.
"God, Kyle," Justin exclaimed, getting up from his chair and shutting the door behind his brother. "How the hell did you get in here?"
"They thought I was you," he said, almost out of breath. "You haven't worked here for that long. No one even gave me a second glance."
Justin pushed his brother to a chair. "Sit down before you pass out," he instructed. "Now, what is going on that you had to drive all the way down here and sneak into my office for?"
"I needed to talk to you, and I didn't want to bother you at home."
"This is about Evie," Justin guessed. "Isn't it."
Kyle only nodded. "Things have gotten worse. Justin, she's relentless. She told me that if I promised to pretend to be her boyfriend, she'd..." he trailed off, glancing away from his brother. "But she never said I'd have to lie to you! She tricked me, Justin, but we had a long talk, and I know what's going on."
"Kyle, I told you to stay away from her."
"If Adelyn were after you, ripping off her clothes and demanding that you get in her bed, would you stay away from her?"
Justin raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Continue," was all he said.
"I know why Evie wants me," Kyle went on. "She's trying to prove to her parents that she's not who they think she is. Normally, if she brought a guy like me home, they'd send him out on his ass, but they can't kick me out, because I'm your brother, and Adelyn would have their heads."
"So, instead of just asking you to help her, she seduced you not once, but twice. Do I have this right?"
Kyle nodded. "I guess she just couldn't resist me."
Justin grinned at him. "I'll bet," he chuckled as he reached for his phone. "Wait till Adelyn hears about this."
Kyle put his hand over the phone before Justin could get to it. "You can't tell her," he said. "I promised Evie that if I told you, I'd make you swear not to tell Adelyn. If she's going to make her parents respect her, then she can't have Adelyn telling them what she's up to."
"What if I asked her not to say anything?"
Kyle gave him one of the most pathetic looks he had ever seen in his life. "I promised you wouldn't tell, Justin. I promised."
Justin sighed, drawing his hand back from the phone. "Kyle, I can't lie to my fiancé about this just because her little sister will stop sleeping with you if I don't. She's using you. Next time she tries to convince you that she's right, walk away from her. Just walk away."
"Easier said than done," Kyle said with a frown.
After Kyle had left, Justin sat there staring at the door. He didn't get any work done, but it would only take a few minutes to finish the few he had left. He picked up the phone, but didn't dial Adelyn's work number... he dialed Phil's.
"Caldwell Enterprises. This is Phil. Can I help you?"
"Phil... it's me. I have a problem, and I need your help. What time do you get off work?"
"In an hour," he replied. "What's going on?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Adelyn's working a double shift today, so we can have the apartment to ourselves. Will you meet me there around five?"
"Is everyone okay?"
"Right now? Yes. Everyone's fine... but things are getting way out of hand and I need your advice, big brother. Will you help me?"
"Sure. I'll met you at your place at five. Talk to you later, Justin."
"Bye." The second Justin hung up the phone it rang again. He picked it up. "Pioneer Press Obituaries."
"Justin," heard Adelyn's voice say. "We have a problem.
Justin gulped. "We do?"
"I called my sister this morning and she was with your brother. Now she's claiming that she's in love with him! Do you see how this can't be? How many days have they known each other? Three?"
Justin felt the guilt rise in his chest as he opened his mouth to reply. "Adelyn, I'm really sorry, but I've got a lot of work to do. Can we talk about this when you get home tonight? I'm sorry, honey..."
"This better be good," Phil said as Justin let him in the door.
"Oh, it is. I have the dirt on our little brother. He wants me to lie to Adelyn and I need to know what you think," Justin told him while the two of them went to sit at the kitchen table. Justin took cans of pop out of the refrigerator and put some snacks on the table. "Am I a good host or what?" he wanted to know.
"Oh yeah," Phil rolled his eyes and then reached his hand into a bag of potato chips. "The best."
The two of them sat down at the table and looked across at each other. "Tell me what's wrong with Kyle and why you would possibly need my advice on the situation," Phil requested.
"Adelyn's little sister, Evie, is using our brother to prove a point to Adelyn's parents, and I don't like it. I want him to stay away from her, but he won't."
"Why won't he?" Phil asked, popping a chip into his mouth.
Justin looked at Phil for a moment. "Because she's sleeping with him."
Phil didn't know what to say. He crunched down on the potato chip and swallowed hard. "Well, this isn't good," he said. "Doesn't he realize that your wedding is coming up?"
"Of course he does. But you remember being his age, don't you? If he's held out this long, he's not going to tell her no."
"You're saying that just because he's a guy he has an excuse to have sex whenever and with whomever he pleases? Can't you see how that train of thought is flawed, Justin?"
Justin rolled his eyes. "Come on, Phil, are you telling me that you waited until you were older than he is?" he laughed, as if he already knew the answer to his own question.
Phil picked up a can of Sprite and opened it up. The smile left Justin's face, replaced with a look of awe. He leaned forward in his seat, bracing himself with both hands on each side of the table.
"How old were you?"
"I'd rather not have this conversation," Phil let him know before taking a sip of Sprite.
Justin relaxed back into his seat, grinning. "Why?"
Now, Phil was starting to get angry. Justin had that same smug look on his face that he had seen way too many times in his life, and Phil hated it. "There's just no way I'm discussing my sex life with you, so you can just forget about it."
Apparently, Justin found this amusing because his grin only became larger. "You're embarrassed!" he decided. "You were like twenty-five, weren't you!"
Phil could only glare at him.
"Oh, my God!" Justin went on. "You were older than that!"
"If you don't shut your mouth this second, I'm going to leave. And you can forget about me standing up for you at your wedding because I won't even be there." When Phil got up to leave, Justin followed him out of the kitchen and blocked his way.
"I'm only teasing you, Phil. Come on and sit back down." Then, he gave one of those smiles only Justin could give. "Please? I won't pick on you anymore, I promise."
Phil frowned at him, and didn't say anything. When Justin grabbed his shoulders and turned him back around to face the kitchen, he didn't struggle.
"I'm just shocked you could wait so long," Justin muttered as he pushed his brother back through the kitchen doorway.
At that comment, Phil spun around to face him. "How come every time I upset you, you throw a tantrum and go storming out of the place, but when you upset me, you can always convince me that you did nothing wrong? Does this seem right to you?"
"Of course it does, Phil, because in reality I'm actually never wrong."
Phil couldn't help but smile at him. "For the life of me, I can't understand how you can get away with being so modest."
Justin pushed his brother back into a chair and then took his own seat back. "It's hard, but it's me, through and through," he said, shoving his hand into a bag of pretzels and pulling exactly one out. "What a chore."
"Enough about you and let's get to the topic of conversation at hand. Kyle."
Justin nodded. "I'm worried about him. He doesn't even see how dumb this plan is."
"Plan?"
"It's Evie. She thinks that if she can convince her parents that she's in love with our brother, then they'll realize she's her own person and they'll stop trying to run her life. It's a good idea, I mean, her parents shouldn't be controlling her, but what I don't understand is why she has to use Kyle to make it happen."
"What if I go talk to him," Phil suggested. "With a role model like you, telling him it's not his fault he can't resist her, no wonder he's confused."
Justin crossed his arms. "You're warped, Phil."
It was six o'clock that evening, and Kyle was sitting in his room, forcing himself to study his English definitions when there was a knock on the door. He saw his roommate, Andrew, still sitting at his computer and not moving an inch. Kyle wasn't even sure that Andrew heard the door. With a frown, he moved his books from his lap and set them down before he got up from the bed and opened the door. Thinking that it was Evie, a half hour early to pick him up, he was surprised as hell to see Phil standing in the hallway.
"Hey, Kyle. I hope you don't mind me just dropping by here, but I wanted to talk to you about something. Can we talk in here?"
Kyle blinked, still taking the shock in. He stepped past Phil so they were both in the hall and then closed the door behind himself. "What do you want to talk to me about? My roommate's in there."
"We need to go somewhere else then," Phil told him.
"I'll check and see if anyone's in the study lounge," Kyle suggested. "But what is this about? This isn't serious, is it?"
"It's serious, Kyle, but don't worry too much. Let's just find somewhere to go."
Kyle nodded, and then led Phil down the hall to the study lounge. He peeked his head in and finding it empty, he gestured Phil inside. They sat down across from each other at a table.
"Is Justin okay?" Kyle asked. "No one's hurt, right?"
Phil shook his head. "No one's hurt. I talked to Justin, though, and decided that maybe I should talk to you myself."
Kyle hung his head. Now he knew what this was about. "I really don't want a lecture, Phil. Besides, I already know what you're going to say."
"What, then?"
He looked back up at his brother. "You're going to say that I shouldn't be sleeping around, and I shouldn't let her control me. Am I right?"
"Yes..." Phil said slowly. "You're right. You shouldn't be sleeping around. There are a lot of diseases out there that a condom doesn't always take care of."
"Save it. I know all of that already."
"Okay. But do you know what it's like to be with someone when you really honest to God love them with all your heart and soul?"
Kyle stared at him. What was he getting at here? "Phil, I'm nineteen-years-old. I've barely had a girlfriend much less loved anyone like that."
"Exactly. And that's why you should listen to me. Justin may not have a problem with you jumping into bed with random girls, but I do."
"Random girls, Phil? I've only been with Evie. And you don't understand."
"I do understand. I know what it's like to be a man, but you need to understand that you can't go pulling your pants down every time the opportunity arises."
Kyle's eyes widened. He'd never heard his brother say something so bluntly before. "I know!" he said, his cheeks turning red. "God, Phil. You didn't have to say that."
Phil looked so concerned that Kyle had to do a double take. "I don't want you to get hurt," he said. "And it's not fair that you're making Justin keep such a secret from Adelyn. What if they get into a fight, and she calls off the wedding? Do you really want that hanging over your head? Is this worth it?"
"No," Kyle admitted, looking down at his hands on the table. "I don't want to mess up Justin's wedding. It's just that... well, Evie can be so convincing. You don't know how convincing she can be!"
Phil frowned. "I have a pretty good idea. Stay away from her Kyle. She's not good for you."
"You don't know her," Kyle insisted. "Justin can tell Adelyn, I don't care. I did my part."
"You're being selfish."
Kyle stood up and walked to the door. Just as he was about to walk out, he turned back around. "Just because you all of a sudden decide you want to be a part of my life doesn't take away all those years you barely said two words to me... and it doesn't give you the right to come here and try and tell me how to run my life."
"Kyle, I'm only trying to-"
But Kyle didn't wait for him to finish. He shut the door as hard as he could and then walked back to his room. Once inside, he locked the door behind himself and then went back to his English book. He didn't care if it was a Friday night. Anything was more interesting than listening to Phil's preaching.
Chapter 9
Keeping the Peace
Family: Timberlake
Non-Nsync Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email Me (irishgirl982@yahoo.com)