“Dan?” Josh called for attention when he was in
front of Dan. He still thought it was weird. Louisa wanted him but Dan took
care of everything; not once had Louisa punished him for his actions, not once
had Louisa directly informed him of the rules. She’d threatened him sometimes
yes but it was more Dan’s daytime job, not Louisa’s. He also had to ask Dan for
permission to leave the house, he shook his head mentally; this was a sick
situation.
“Yes”
Dan simply acknowledged.
“Can
I go to Justin after work?” Josh asked carefully, it had been almost a week.
“No”
Dan replied almost immediately. Josh’s mouth fell.
“What?”
“What
part of no don’t you understand?” Dan asked bored.
“No,
I mean why not?” Josh clarified; he understood the meaning of the word no,
probably better than Dan did since a few months ago Dan had completely ignored
his negative answer to the question if he wanted to stay with Louisa. He
understood the meaning of the word, he just didn’t understand why the answer
was no.
“Because
I don’t want you to” Dan said as if that was reason enough.
“What?”
Dan
sighed annoyed. “You can visit him when I say you can and now I say you can’t
so… you don’t get to visit him”
“B...but
why not?” Josh asked once again, totally shocked.
“I
already told you and that’s the end of it, you don’t get to visit him for now
so leave me alone” Dan demanded. Josh startled at the demanding tone and
quickly nodded and left. Dan’s temper could not have led to anything positive.
***
He
was not allowed to go see Justin, what was up with that. Josh tried it again
the next day and the day after that. Then it was weekend again and Louisa once
again wanted to spend the whole time with him. He had no choice but to obey but
first thing Monday morning he was back in front of Dan, asking him if he could
maybe visit his brother today. It had now been almost two weeks since he’d seen
or spoken to him. But the answer was once again the same; he couldn’t. He’d
tried to ask why not but Dan once again held his ground, not to mention his
glare and once again Josh eventually backed off to promise himself he would try
again the next day, hoping the answer would finally be positive.
***
“Where
have you been?” a very familiar voice asked Josh when he was at work. He was
just finishing up a report that was due for the next day when that familiar
voice made him look up.
“Justin?
What are you doing here?” he asked, a smile surfacing; happy to see his brother
again. But Josh could see Justin was not happy. He was kind of angry.
“I
came to see if you’re okay” Justin said. He’d decided to drop by himself, if
Josh wouldn’t come to him he would go to Josh. His work seemed easiest since he
didn’t want to run into that creep of a brother again.
“I
am, why wouldn’t I be?” Josh asked, immediately continuing when he saw the look
in Justin’s eyes.
“I
know I haven’t dropped by or anything but I’ve been busy, I had to finish this”
he said gesturing to the report on his desk and the pile of files he still had
to go through.
“And
Louisa needs attention too” he said as Justin crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m
sorry but I’ll try to come over as soon as possible”
Justin
nodded but not wholeheartedly.
“Don’t
worry about me okay, that’s my job” Josh teased, earning him a smile from
Justin.
“I’ll
try”
“Good”
Josh nodded.
“Isn’t
it time for class?” Josh asked knowingly. Justin huffed.
“Yes
but you’re not supposed to know that” Josh laughed.
“Tough
‘cause I do so go” he ushered him out but not before giving him a hug.
“Take
care and I will see you soon okay”
“Okay”
Justin accepted before walking out the door. Josh sighed; it wouldn’t be long
before Justin would really get suspicious; he was not stupid. Dan might think
he was but Dan didn’t know one shit about him.
Sooner
or later Justin would find out.
***
“I
heard you had a visitor at work” Dan opened the conversation as Josh came home
from work, shrugging out of his jacket.
“I
had yes” Josh confirmed as he avoided eye contact. He confirmed it although he
knew he didn’t have to confirm it, Dan wasn’t looking for a confirmation.
“Don’t
you remember that I told you, I didn’t want you seeing him?”
“I
do” Josh said softly.
“Then
what the hell was he doing there?” Dan asked angrily; to him Josh had disobeyed
his orders to stay away from his brother.
“Is
it really that weird?” Josh asked in return, angry too.
“What?”
“That
Justin looks me up!” Josh said angrily.
“We
hang out often, we talk to each other frequently, now he doesn’t hear from me
for almost two weeks. Is it really so weird that he comes to check if I’m
okay!”
“Watch
it Josh” Dan warned and Josh backed off, silencing. He might have gone too far
but he was right, he knew it.
“Okay
we wouldn’t want Justin to get suspicious now do we. We’ll figure this out” Dan
told Josh. Josh stared suspiciously, mentally saying whatever.
“Oh
that reminds me, Louisa had something she wanted to say to you” Dan said
changing the subject; he was going to think about it, or not.
“What?”
Josh asked.
“Do
I look like Louisa?” Dan asked mockingly.
“No”
Josh mumbled before turning around to find her.
***
“Dan
told me you wanted to say something to me” Josh said as he came in the room and
found Louisa on the couch. She got up and went over to him, hugging him, happy
to see him after he’d come back from work.
“Yes”
she said as she stepped back but she kept her arms around his waist as she
revealed the news.
“I
was thinking and well I think you should stop working” Louisa announced. Josh
was shocked.
“B…but
Dan said…”
“We
really don’t need the money; it’s our money anyway so why bother? You live here
now so no need to keep your apartment and we’ll take care of you. You really
don’t need the job” Louisa cut him off.
“Louisa
I….”
“Hush
my love” she said lovingly, putting a finger to his lips to silence him. She
placed a soft gentle kiss on his lips, wrapping her arms around his waist. He
lifted his arms allowing her to embrace him before he slowly dropped his arms
carefully onto her shoulders.
“I’d
like to keep working” he said softly looking away.
“But
what’s the point Josh?”
“It
would make me feel happy…. you know useful” his tone was still soft. He wanted
to keep working so bad, it was the only reason he got out of the house lately,
since going to Justin wasn’t permitted; work was his only refuge.
What
if he lost that?
He’d
have to stay here twenty-four-seven… with Louisa.
“I
can make you feel happy and useful if you stay home” she said wiggling her
eyebrow.
“We
could spend the whole day in bed now, just you and me” she said nuzzling
against his chest, running her hands over his back, sighing contently feeling
the muscles tensing but she didn’t care. He’s so gorgeous she thought,
closing her eyes.
“Please
let me keep working” he whispered under his breath.
“Don’t
you want to spend the whole day in bed with me?” she pouted. He forced himself
to pull her closer so he wouldn’t have to answer that.
“We’ll
have so much fun, you don’t need the job, you’ll stay home with me” she said
into his chest and Josh said nothing, he knew better than to argue when she
used this tone of voice. He knew in the end it really wasn’t up to him to
decide.
It
made him angry, very angry that they had the nerve to do this, to after all
these months continue to threaten his brother and that they would even go as
far as making him quit his job. He suppressed the anger because nothing good
would come of it, fortunately they still held all the cards and they had Justin
as security.
If
they said quit your job, he was acquired to say how soon.
Almost
voluntarily sealing his own fate as a prisoner in this house.
