"Why are you staring at your phone?" he deadpanned.
"Charlotte called."
Ethan's hand paused for a moment, trying to take in this new information. Then he sat down and started pouring the scotch.
"So what did she say?" he finally asked as he handed a tumbler over to his brother.
Jordan took a sip and looked down at the phone. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"She left two messages on my phone, but I haven't listened to them."
The brothers stared at the piece of technology, both pensive about what to do next. Jordan was worried that Ethan would laugh at him when he told him about not listening to the messages. But instead, Ethan just took a drink from his glass.
"What are you waiting for?"
"I don't know if I want to hear them. I mean, what if it's bad?"
Ethan shrugged. "Won't know until you listen."
"Because it could definitely be bad."
"Oh, for God's sake!" His brother dropped his glass on the table and quickly grabbed the phone. "We're listening to them now."
"Wait, I don't—"
"What's your password to unlock this thing?"
Jordan smiled in stubborn triumph. "I'm not telling you."
Ethan pressed some numbers and earned a few negative tones from the phone before a ding finally confirmed he unlocked it. "Seriously, Jordan? Dad's birthday? That's way too obvious."
"Not that obvious," he replied. "It could've been 6-1-6-1."
Ethan smirked. "I tried that first."
Jordan slumped in his chair, a feeling of dread washing over him. Not only was this not going to be good, but Ethan was going to be there to witness the whole thing. Better to just accept his fate and let it happen at this point. It couldn't get any worse.
"You know, she called three times."
"I know."
"And it doesn't look like she left a message the first time."
"I'm aware."
Ethan looked up tentatively from the phone's screen, his blue eyes searching Jordan's face before finally deciding to move ahead. He called into Jordan's voicemail, put the phone in the middle of the table and pressed the speaker button so they could both hear.
"Hey, it's me. Charlotte." Does she sound happy or not happy? "I was just calling because I heard you got hurt and I wanted to check and see if it was OK. I mean, if you were OK. So yeah, I... hope you're OK and maybe we can talk. So, bye."
It was calm and collected and made Jordan feel conflicted. Was she just calling because he was hurt? And why did her voice lack any emotion? Was she nervous or didn't know what to say or really didn't care that much about calling in the first place?
"Jordan?" He looked up to see his brother staring at him. "I can hear you thinking."
"Sorry," he replied quietly.
Ethan gave him a consoling look. "There's still another message on here."
