“Hey dude” Justin said bursting through the door,
Josh absentmindedly waved at him while he continued to stare at the TV.
It
seemed like a Saturday thing, once in a while when neither had dates they hung
out together. Today was that day.
Justin
took little notice of his brother’s greeting and went straight to the
refrigerator. Eyeing the food inside before deciding to make a turkey sandwich,
he grabbed a few items from the refrigerator before closing it and pulled a
plate from the cupboard overhead. Once he finished making the sandwich he
plumped down on the couch beside Josh, taking the remote from his hand while he
took a bite out of his sandwich.
Josh
slowly turned his attention to his younger brother once he noticed Justin took
the remote control without asking.
“Justin
what are you doing?” Josh asked annoyed by the fact he changed stations, it
wasn’t like he was really watching TV but it was a matter of principle. He also
noticed that Justin was eating his food, which he didn’t mind either but was
once again a matter of principle.
“Eating”
he said with a mouth full of turkey sandwich.
“What
are you eating?” Josh asked again, putting emphasis on his first word.
“Food?”
he offered knowing full well that Josh was referring to the fact that is was
his food but he decided to pretend he didn’t have a clue what his brother was
talking about, knowing that would annoy by the way Justin was looking at him
that he knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Your
food” Justin said with a smirk. Josh shook his head and sighed but couldn’t
help the smile that slowly spread across his face.
“You’re
hopeless” Josh said while he ruffled Justin’s hair knowing he hated that.
“Hey!”
Justin yelled twisting his head to avoid Josh’s hand. Josh stood up and crossed
the room to the small kitchen seeing the counter full of items Justin had used
to make his sandwich, he’d made a mess and if there was anything Josh couldn’t
stand it was a messy kitchen, especially when Justin had made the mess.
“Justin
what is this?” Josh asked, resting one hand on his hip, the other one pointing
out the items on the counter.
“Uh
it looks like food” Justin answered after he’d twisted his head to see what
Josh was referring to.
“Your
food” he quickly added when he caught Josh’s glare.
“I’ll
clean it up al’ight” Justin defended, focusing his attention on the TV once
again.
“Yeah
you better” Josh said while he grabbed his drink and the plate Justin had left.
“Here
use a plate” Josh said pushing the plate in Justin’s hands before he sat down
beside him.
“I
rather eat without a plate” he said setting it on the table in front of them.
“Well
I rather not share my food” Josh countered.
“I’ll
use the plate” Justin amended quickly, bending forward to grab the plate before
placing it under his chin to catch the crumbs coming from his sandwich.
“How’s
your roommate?” Josh asked, Justin had left once he’d taken his test and was
now back with his annoying roommate, at least that’s what he called it.
“He’s
okay, he didn’t even notice I was gone!” Justin exclaimed indignantly. Josh
chuckled, which earned him a slap on his arm but instead of silencing him, the
chuckle turned into a giggle. Justin used to tease him with his giggle, saying
he giggled like a girl but Justin wasn’t up to the argument that would follow
so he sat back till Josh was finished.
They
watched TV in silence for a while before the phone startled the two young men
slumped on the couch, Justin nudged Josh, who was half asleep, in the side.
Josh groaned while he slowly opened his eyes and reached for the phone, since
he was closest to it and it was after all his apartment and therefore his
phone.
“Hello?”
he questioned groggily, fumbling with the phone a little in his haste and his
still half-sleeping state.
“Hi
sweetie it’s me” a female voice said happily on the other end of the line. Josh
frowned at the response, he couldn’t make out who it was, his sleepy mind
wasn’t really working with him.
“Excuse
me?” he said before clearing his throat.
“You
don’t know who I am” the voice said but this time with a whine in it and he
also recognized a hint of anger in the female voice. Josh rubbed his hands over
his tired face.
“You
know I…” he started a little annoyed, thinking some kids were playing a trick
on him but his words caught in his throat when it finally hit him to whom the
voice belonged.
“Louisa,”
he said softly into the horn while he turned his back towards Justin, he felt
Justin’s eyes on him but he ignored him. Too curious for his own good.
“I’m sorry”
“What
were you doing baby?” she asked with a certain sweetness in her voice that made
Josh roll his eyes.
“I
was almost asleep” he responded with a weary sigh.
“Well
I’m sorry I woke you up!” she said angrily at the tone in his voice.
Josh
didn’t know what to say, he did want to let her know that she was kind of
interrupting and that he didn’t feel like talking or pretending to enjoy it. He
could act he enjoyed it when he was awake but he had been on the verge of
drifting off to a nice and safe world called dreamland and he didn’t like the
fact that Louisa had interrupted his trip.
“Do
you want to come over?” she asked a few moments later, the sweetness was back
in her voice and Josh couldn’t help but wince at the question.
That’s
the last thing I want, I want to sleep!
“I
was just about to go to bed” Josh tried to protest but Louisa again wanted to
have her way.
“I
think you should come over” she said in a harsh voice and it surprised Josh how
quickly her tone of voice could change, one moment her tone was so sweet it almost
gave him a toothache, the next moment she was barking instructions and she
demanded he’d obey them, the underlining threat apparent in her voice.
“Kay”
he agreed reluctantly, hoping his annoyance wouldn’t come through in his voice,
vaguely aware of the fact she’d said he should come over. That hadn’t happened
before but he shrugged it off he was too tired to analyze what this could mean.
He figured she was probably too tired to come herself and wanted him to do the
extra work of coming over.
“Make
it quick” she said this time without emotion in her voice and before Josh had
the chance to answer he was met with a dial tone.
“Okay
sweetie I’ll see you in a little bit” he said into the horn although the
receiver had already hung up, he wanted to make sure Justin wouldn’t get
suspicious but he felt ridiculous nevertheless. He carefully put the phone down
and turned towards Justin who was looking at him questioningly.
“I
thought you were tired?” he asked looking him over.
“I
am but Louisa asked if I wanted to come over…” he said letting his sentence
trail, hoping he didn’t have to explain anything else.
“So
you’re just going to jump up and go?” Justin asked incredulously while he
watched as Josh got up and went over to his bedroom door.
“Yeah,
I don’t mind, I like to spend time with her” he said, wincing at the lie all
the while hoping Justin wouldn’t see right through him, the fact that Justin
wasn’t able to see his face helped Josh’s statement.
“I
thought you wanted to break up with her” Justin recalled, not understanding why
he was still with her in the first place. Justin had never liked Louisa, they’d
only met a couple of times but he wasn’t very fond of her and didn’t understand
what Josh saw in her.
“I
changed my mind” Josh replied not wanting to go further with his explanation.
He couldn’t tell Justin why he’d suddenly changed his mind, he didn’t want to
scare him. He didn’t want to tell his kid brother he could be in danger just
because he’d picked the wrong girl to go out with. He would deal with this; he
would make sure Dan and Louisa would see how ridiculous this was and he would
make sure they would drop the deal and more importantly their threat. He wasn’t
going to scare Justin for nothing.
Justin
shook his head, then shrugged although he wasn’t entirely convinced. Josh had
been acting a little strange lately, like his body was there but his mind was
someplace else. Of course Justin couldn’t know what had caused it, it started a
few weeks ago and Justin knew Josh was going to break up with Louisa but
instead he came back simply telling Justin he’d changed his mind and to let it
go. Justin hadn’t asked, he’d let it go like Josh had asked him but he had a
bad feeling about it all together.
He
shook his head once again as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen
grabbing another drink while Josh came out of his bedroom pulling a shirt over
his head. When his head reappeared from underneath the cloth he saw Justin
looking at him.
“You
can stay if you want, don’t know when I’ll be back” he said while he grabbed
his keys and put on his jacket. Justin nodded in response while he sat back on
the couch.
“Don’t
eat all my food!” Josh called before he stepped outside and closed the door
behind him, Justin snickered at the comment before settling in on the couch.
***
“Hello
Josh” Dan said friendly when one of Dan’s men lead Josh to the living room.
“Hi”
Josh said carefully while he sat down in the chair Dan offered.
“I’m
glad you came, my sister is expecting you” Dan said while he instructed one of
his men to tell Louisa her boyfriend had arrived. Josh winced when he heard the
word boyfriend come out of Dan’s mouth but put up a fake smile when he caught
Dan’s eyes on him.
“How
are you doing Josh?” Dan asked, making small talk but it was more to bug Josh
and to make sure he still knew what they expected of him. Josh once again
winced before answering,
“I’m
okay” he said not really convinced by his own words, sure he was okay when he
wasn’t with Louisa!
“Good….
good” Dan said slowly, nodding to underline his words.
“Hope
you still remember our agreement” Dan said with a little smile, Josh looked him
over.
Their
agreement? He thought, more like their threat! He
would stay with Louisa and they wouldn’t harm his brother wasn’t exactly an
agreement, it was more like blackmail than anything else.
“Yes
sir” Josh said nevertheless while he downcasted his glance, he didn’t want to
risk Justin getting hurt so he played along. They were talking about Louisa’s
feelings while Justin was in danger physically. No matter what he did, they
could do far worse.
“I’m
glad to hear that” Dan said with a snicker while he picked up the newspaper,
which he’d put on his lap when Josh had entered the room, leaving Josh with his
own thoughts while he waited for Louisa to come down.
“Hey
I’m glad you came” Louisa said happily while she walked towards Josh who simply
nodded. When she reached him he reluctantly and carefully leaned in for a kiss.
“Let’s
go upstairs” she said before she grasped his hand and pulled him along towards
the stairs.
“You
want to watch a movie?” she asked once they reached her apartment on the top
floor.
Every
time she took him upstairs, which she didn’t do often, he was amazed by the
beauty. And no room was a disappointment, since it were actually a few rooms
that she could call her own. Louisa had a whole apartment, twice the size of
his own, on the top floor of the Treydson’s house and it was all designed in
her exquisite taste. When you opened the door you walked into the living room
with an adjacent kitchen behind it. Only a waist high bar separated the two
rooms. Through the portal, which was again beautifully decorated in the finest
details, on your right, you entered the bedroom. It had a king sized bed and it
resembled very much the bed of a princess. On the far end, there was the
walk-in closet. There was also a sofa and just like in the living room a TV set
with all the extras. He imagined you could live here without ever needing to go
out. But he really didn’t want to be here, he wanted to get out. He wanted to
sleep.
“Sure”
he shrugged.
Louisa
crossed the living room to the bedroom, stopping by the dresser next to the TV
on the way to pick a movie. She put the movie in the VCR before taking Josh
with her to the bed. They scooted on the bed and Louisa nestled herself in
Josh’s arms, resting her head on his chest, playing with his hair with one hand
while she pressed play with the other. Josh waited patiently till Louisa was
comfortable then closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep as yet.
