Between Brothers

The Prodigal Son

Tara

“I am getting married in four weeks” I say, pacing the floor of my office. There’s so much left to do, I shouldn’t even be here. I should’ve taken more time off to get prepared, f*****g Daniel saying we should stay at work as we can’t afford more time off.

My mania is briefly interrupted by Marisol, assistant and bestie. She peeks her head in to remind me of the meeting I’m having with Derrick in twenty minutes. I’d rather not meet with Derrick or any of his clients but that’s kind of my damn job. I try to find notes on the client but there aren’t any, of course not!

“Marisol, has the new client arrived yet?” I ask, nervously wringing my hands together as I continue to pace.

“Yes, they are all waiting for you in the conference room.”

“Why didn’t you come get me? f**k!”

“You're fine! Relax mamita. But I will tell you the client, he’s definitely fuckable!”

“Marisol! Stop it. How fuckable?”

“I’d f**k him on the CEO’s desk fuckable”

“Damn!”

We both burst out laughing and exit my office, the last client of the day and then I can go home. I hear someone laughing, their voice booming through the halls of this tiny office. He sounds familiar, I stop in my steps to look around but I can’t see anyone.

It can’t be? No… He left seven years ago, no way he’d be back now.

I shake the notion from my head and head to the meeting room, I step inside and I’m halted by those green eyes with shimmers of hazel gold.

“Tara, this is Mr. Blane. Our new client”. Derrick explains, I paint on a smile and take my seat.

What the hell is he doing here? f*****g asshole! He’s so pretty still.

“Mr. Blane” I say, nodding in his direction but not making eye contact.

“Ms. Lewis, I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure to meet”

“I suppose we haven’t”

We lean across the table to shake one another's hand, his large hand engulfs mine. Holding on a little too long, brushing my knuckles with his thumb and sending bolts of electricity up my arm.

I’m doomed.

We finally let go and go back to our seats, His eyes penetrating me like he has so many times before. I can’t believe he’s here, this is not going to be good.

“Well, Mr. Blane, Tara here is the best of the best so I’ll leave you in her care.” Derrick stands and quickly leaves, taking Marisol with him.

“So, Mr. Blane. Where do you want to see your business in five years? Are you looking for financial growth or a more spread playing field?”

“I’d like to see something spread out but it’s not my financial report Tara. How have you been?” He asks, leaning across the table to hold my hand again. He hasn’t changed much over the years and yet it seems like he’s changed too much. He’s a little taller, a little older, more defined and definitely more tattoos. I guess the suit was supposed to hide the art but his neck and knuckle tattoos are still very, very visible. But I must admit a grey pinstripe suit with a blue button-up shirt and blue gators is pretty fuckin’ sexy.

His hair is dark, almost black but the slight hues of light brown shine in. He is still the epitome of a man, but I can’t allow myself to get tangled up in this. I’m getting married in four weeks.

“I’m engaged if you must know Mr. Blane”

“Engaged?! To whom?” He asks, the surprise in his voice causes me to sound a little more annoyed than I should be. I smirk as the answer leaves my lips, knowing he expected me to stay single until he decided to come back.

“Daniel actually.” I say, the matter of factness in my voice was definitely a blow. I was as he clenched his fist, leaning back to stare at me. He’s clearly not pleased and that makes me happy.

“That’s great! I’m happy for you Tara.”

“Are you now?” I respond, staring back. I know he’s a liar, I can hear the contempt in his voice.

“I am Tara. Why wouldn’t I be? My little brother and ex-girlfriend are getting married.” Yep, he’s pissed.

“Oh, I don’t know. You’ve always made a way of placing claims on things that weren't yours.”

“Tara, dear. You were and ARE mine! Just because I took a hiatus doesn’t mean a fuckin’ thing!”

There’s something about the way he said that, that causes me to shift in my seat uncomfortably. There’s no way, after seven years of him being gone I still want to be his.

He left me! He left and didn’t even say goodbye, I had to deal with the aftermath alone. I believed him when he said he loved me and didn’t even get a f*****g goodbye.

“Anyway, Mr. Blane, I’d be happy to draw up the contract and a mock-up of your finances for the next 5 years. If you like the numbers we can start our way to them.”

“Do you really think I’m here for stupid Financials? No, I’m here for you.”

“Mr. Blane, I'll get started on that right away. I’ll send them to your assistant and you can contact me again at your earliest convenience.”

I quickly exited the meeting and left, scurrying to my office. Not even five minutes after entering my office, Marisol enters.

“Derrick is looking for you!”

“Why?”

“Because Mr. Blane is pulling his account if he doesn’t get to talk to you again.”

“Derrick can forget it. Christopher can f*****g forget it. I will quit first”

“No you wont! You love this job”

“I hate Derrick!”

“TARA!” Derricks’ voice booming from the office door, I feel a “You're fired!” coming on.

“What?” I reply, gathering my purse and laptop.

“If you don’t finish that meeting…”

“Let me fix this for you and the company. I quit! I’d rather live in a box than be HIS financial advisor”

I flip Derrick off as I brush past him going to the elevators, where I’m met by those green eyes again. He’s leaning against the wall, pressing the call button for the elevator. The smile he’s wearing is of pure sadistic pleasure, I f*****g hate that I’m even responding to his ass. The elevator doors open and I step inside, leaving behind the only life I’ve known for the past 4 years. I whisper bye to Marisol, knowing full well I’ll be seeing her tomorrow probably. I’m joined by Mr. Blane, who is so tall he had to bend down to climb on.

“Christopher, what the f**k do you want?” I say as I smash my hand onto the stop button.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I was quite clear up there, Tara I came back here for you” His words are engraving themselves into my brain. He’s here for me, I’d be lying if I said that some parts of me weren’t elated to know that. Elated to know he hadn’t forgotten about me, but I’m still angry, still hurt. I cannot forgive him just yet.

He steps closer to me, closing the space I had created. The heat from his body pressing against mine is making it harder to breathe. Chest heaving, I’m starting to panic. I need to get out of here before I do something we’ll both regret, I’m marrying his brother for Christ’s sake.

He smells of Jack Daniels and Cigars with a slight musk note hovering around, It does things to me. He’s pressing against me, nudging my thighs apart with his knee. He brushes my hair out of my face, forcing me to look him in the eyes. He looks angry, as if I broke his heart. I want out of this damn elevator, I need to go home and put space between us. Before I can get loose enough to press the button for the elevator to start again, I’m captured by the lips. His full lips smashed against me, causing a friction that I’ve missed. There will surely be a bruise later.

I’m sucked into his magic again as his tongue snakes into my mouth, causing my breath to hitch. I’m trying to wiggle free, trying to resist the passion he’s displaying, trying to remember the pain he once caused me but I can’t. I can only whimper against him, practically begging for more. Begging for him to rip my panties from my body and plunge into the depths of me left unexplored.

I was able to press the button and the doors popped open, I slipped away straightening my clothes before he could pull me back into his grasp. I walk out of the building feeling renewed, the weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Why did it take me so long to do this? Is it because around Christopher, even in short bursts I feel more like myself? No, I can’t let that be my truth.

I start walking down the street, heading for home when a big Black Danali blocks my path on a cross street. The door swings open and out steps Christopher, he just won’t quit. Reluctantly I climb in and slide to the other side of the seat before being joined but the dark king himself.

“Why are you resisting this? That kiss told me everything I needed to know” He says, closing his window and submitting us further into darkness.

“Resisting what?”

“Us!” He says into the darkness, I can’t see him but I can feel him looking at me. I’m not resisting but I refuse to pretend that none of that mess happened. My heart is still mending, I just can’t forgive him.

The ride was silent. My lips are tingling from the kiss in the elevator, I rub my thumb across my lips feeling the bruise grow. It plunges me back to a time where his kiss was all that mattered, his kiss was the translation of a perfect day.

I was so lost in my own head I hadn’t noticed the car had stopped until my door was opened and his hand extended. I brushed his hand out of the way and climbed down from my seat, looking in his direction. He looked annoyed that I didn’t take his hand. Oh well!

I look around and realize we’ve arrived at my building, how the hell did he know where I lived? Know what? I don’t want to know.

“Thank you, Christopher. I will be going now” I say squeezing past him and going into the building, as I wait for the elevator I take one last peek outside and I see him standing there watching me.

The road ahead of me is bumpy, I need something to go my way. I climb into the metal box and start texting Marisol, I need wine and cbd.

Me: Mari, I need you!

Marisol: Already on my way! Is Mr. Tall-Dark and Handsome there?

Me: Really? Just bring the damn wine!

Marisol: Unlock the f*****g door, be up in a second.

I love Marisol! She knows what I need before I do, maybe she can help me get sorted.

I walk into my apartment to find it empty, Daniel never comes home before 11 PM anymore, it’s almost like he doesn’t want to f*****g be here. Not that I blame him, I wouldn’t want to be around my insanity either. Wedding this, Wedding that, it’s pretty much on repeat all day long.

I kick off my shoes as I make a slow and steady path to the bedroom, leaving the door unlocked and clothes in my wake. I hear the door click and slam close as I pull on my pajama pants, assuming it’s Marisol.

“Oh God! I’m glad you’re here, I need to drink and smoke something” I shout, pulling on my top as I exit the room. I’m back in my living room and I’m met with the only grey eyes that matched mine and it’s definitely not Marisol.

“Hello Love”

“Julian”