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“And years later, have you thought what was okay then may not be okay now?”
“I told her it would never change for me, Jaasiel. I can’t control what changes for her. If she wants more, then she needs to consider going and finding it,” I declare.
“You’re a real selfish bastard, you know that? Just when my irritation with you over this situation begins to subside, you do or say something to piss me back off. Would you really be okay if she walked away from you forever?”
“I’d deal with it.”
“Hmm, that didn’t really answer my question. I love you, brother, and I will always love you, so take this with love. I hope that you wake up and realize Brooklyn is the best thing that has ever happened to you, and she loves you, and even though you don’t want to admit it, you love her too. But if you can’t figure that shit out, I pray she leaves your ass and finds someone who can give her everything she deserves.” He stands, placing his plate in the dishwasher.
“That’s love?” I ask, equally hurt and pissed off.
“Aryan, life is short, and it’s unforgiving. We have been blessed with wealth, and then we went to work and made that wealth grow exponentially. We all have good health and an amazing family and support system. Have fucked up things happened in our lives, yeah, but that’s even more reason to appreciate when something good is dropped into our lives. It’s something to cherish, not try to control it by putting it in a box. I don’t know what happened to you, brother, to make you not want to marry the amazing woman in your life but to also give up medicine, but haven’t you given it enough of your life? Forgive yourself or forgive them so you can live this wonderful life with the rest of us,” he says once again at the stove, cooking what I assume to be breakfast for Parker.
“Parker has made you soft,” I tell my brother, really looking at him. He seems to have matured in the little bit of time he’s been married to Parker. “Listen to you waxing sentimental.”
“Shut up,” he says, laughing.
“I’m serious. But seriously, Brooklyn knew this was never going to be anything serious, and she had to do what was best for her. I care for her a lot, so much that I would rather see her with someone else happy than with me miserable. If that is what she needs to do, I’ll have to be okay with that. It’s the choice I made,” I tell him, meaning it. Do I want to lose her? No, but if she has come to want or need more, I’ll have to accept that. “She is here, she has access to everything that matters: all my money, credit cards, cars, etc. Does it matter that we are not official? The woman runs my black card at will. What more does she need?”
“You can’t be serious,” he looks at me like I was dropped on my head.
“Dead serious! Do you know how many women would love the arrangement? I don’t step out with other women, she has the same rights and access to my stuff as Parker has of yours, and she doesn’t have to commit to me. Why isn’t that enough?” I genuinely ask.
“Because your stuff isn’t you dumb-ass,” he says like he’s sure I was dropped on my head. “All of your actions say committed, and then you open your mouth. You are giving mixed signals, brother. And for the record, we gave Brooklyn a small fortune when she moved here to care for Joseph, and we paid for her school bills; she is a doctor with no debt. She doesn’t need your money.”
“If you say so,” I say.
“One thing that made you an amazing doctor was your tenacity, but you are just being stubborn at this point. I am going to tell you this, and I hope you remember it, when Brooklyn finally realizes that this is all she is going to get from you and leaves, it’s going to destroy you. Atlas was a mess without True, and Joseph’s stupidity almost cost him Joyce, but they won’t hold a candle to how you will be.” He picks up the plate and walks away.
I watch him leave to take Parker her breakfast. He doesn’t get it. I lost my parents when I was a child and got through it. I will make it if Brooklyn leaves me. However, she is dealing with a lot at work, which is taking a toll on her. I pull my phone out and text Lennox. Once she gives me the information I need, I begin making arrangements. I stand from the island and notice he left another omelet on a plate with Brooklyn’s name on it. I grab the plate and head back to our bedroom to wake her with breakfast. At least her snoring has simmered down from wild bear to human.
“Brook baby, wake up,” I rub her hip to wake her up. “You need to eat,” It took me a minute to realize that Brooklyn will sleep all day and wake up sick from not eating the next day. I sometimes had to force her to stop what she was doing to eat something.
“I’m still sleepy,” she mumbles from up under her blanket.
“Just eat, and then you can go back to sleep if you want to, okay? Jaasiel cooked it,” I wait for a long moment before she says,
“Okay,” pulling herself from under the blanket to get up. A second later, she jumps up and rushes to the bathroom, then comes back to climb on the bed, grabbing the plate out of my hand to inspect what I brought her. “Yum,” she says and digs in.
“I talked to Lennox, she said you have the next week off?” she nods in the affirmative. “Okay, well, I want you to pack because after your shift today, we are going to go on a trip, okay?”
“Alright,” she responds warily, and I hope that this trip will get us back on track. We had a good thing, I thought, but somewhere down the line, something changed.
“Pack before you go to work, and I will pick you up, and we’ll head to our destination.”
“Where are we going?”
“Tongabezi Lodge, Simonga, Zambia,” I tell her.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, come on, D, eat so you can go to work, and we can go,” I tell her, relieved to see the smile on her face instead of the sadness that seemed to take up permanent residence in her eyes. I kiss her on her nose, “I’ll be back in a while. I have to pack this order up so that it can go out today,” Her mouth is full, but she nods in understanding, and I leave her there. I get to my workshop and pull out the five-carat Kashmir Sapphire platinum band ring to give it a final polish. Once it is sparkling, I place it in a velvet box before packaging it up to prepare for shipment. The stone is rarer than a diamond, making it one of the most expensive gems on the planet. A special bonded courier is the only one who can transport it, and they are set to arrive shortly. Taking the package down to the front door, I make it when the bell rings, and it’s the courier. I validate his credentials before he signs for the ring and leaves. Heading back to my workshop, I pass by the room to see the plate on the nightstand, and Brooklyn has fallen back asleep. I decided to go back to the workshop to work on the unknown project I started.
“Aryan!” I hear Brooklyn calling for me and realize I have been here for hours again. I put the piece I was working on up and hurriedly cleaned up my area.
“Are you leaving for work?”
“Yes, you’ve been in here for hours, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
