JOINED (The Joined Series) (10 page)

“But isn’t that a major mind fuck?” My heart sped up.

There was a pause. “Life is about taking one mind-fuck at a time and knowing what to do with it.”

I took the keys that he dropped on the floor, put on my workout my pants and tank top. Turning to his inscrutable face, I said, “Thank you for your time. We both served our own purposes.”

Stunning myself into silence, I left. I went to the locker, retrieved my belongings, slipped into my flats, and sped out of the yoga facility. I couldn’t help feeling like I made a major mistake. Yet, I didn’t think I could handle being his yo-yo. My emotions were all over the place as it was.

             
             
             
             
***

Showered and dressed in another set of bras and underwear courtesy of Mateja, I read my e-mails and was delighted to have some inquiries for phone interviews. I had to help Brayden with the bills. It didn’t matter that he
told me not to worry about it
or that he refused the money that I gave him
. One stranger, Mateja gave me the gift of not having to
buy
my wardrobe, even if the cost was that I felt a little unsure of myself. Okay, very unsure of myself.

Quietly, Brayden came in, holding his dry cleaned clothes in one hand, and a paper tray with two large sized coffees in his other hand. After he placed the tr
a
y on the table and set his clothes away, he patted me on my back.

“Good morning to you!” I feigned amazement.

“Hey Becca!” He sat down and took a huge gulp of his coffee. I did miss
caffeinated
coffee
.
I figured that my sugar/starch addiction was enough to manage.
Plus, I loved tea more.

“Did you have a nice, long, and satisfying date last night…or was it into this morning?” I
arched
a brow at him,
mocking
uncertainty.

He spat out his coffee, a
lmost getting me directly in my
eye
s
.

“
I was just
teasing you.”

He exhaled a relief sigh. “I had a good date.”

I smiled at him. “I am
happy that you had a good time,
” I told him honestly because it was clear from reading his letters and hearing his voice that his conscientiousness could make him tense. After indulging in a deep swig of my latte, I
went on
, “You
deserve to be happy
.” I almost reached out to him, but he
tensed
. “Are you scared because you had a good time with a female other than Sarah?” He
slid me a discomfited glance
, evidentl
y feeling guilty with himself.
“Both of you agreed to separate,” I reminded him.

“Thing is that I don’t know if it was really right to have a good time
with another woman
.” Sighing deeply with frustration, he continued, “And I don’t know what I want right now.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s what this separation is about, figuring what you want and what to do,” I tried to assure him, despite the fact that I was in no position to hand out assurances.

“Yeah, I know. But it sounds easy.” He
ran
his fingers on his cup of coffee. “How’d you know
…
I was on a date anyway? I could’ve been hanging out or—“

Raising my eyebrows at him, I interjected: “Even though I can clearly smell that you showered and are dressed in clean clothes, the bite marks on the back of your neck tell me a different story. I figured…you
and
… Sarah or
someone else
.”

“No wonder
Luego
looked at me funny in the lobby when I came in earlier this morning. And I didn’t even do the walk of shame. No ducking my head, or covering my face with
a
hoodie…He loves Sarah.”

“No surprise there. Everyone love Sarah, with the exception of mo
m
, of course.”

“
True.
Where’d you go this morning
anyway?”

“I left my phone here.” I playfully snarled at him. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

He
leaned forward, peering at me seriously
. “Because you’re my s
ister, the only one I have left, I am gonna be concerned about you
” His voice grew thick. “You didn’t answer me.” He reclined back into his chair powerfully, a serious side to him that I didn’t expect. Maybe he did have some backbone in his relationship with Sarah.
I couldn’t refrain from giving him a prideful smirk.

“I
went for a walk
and then I went to yoga,” I told him
a half
truth.

He coughed.
“Really?”

“Really.
” I smacked him on his shoulder
and he chuckled
.

             
             
             
             
***

On the wide roof of one of the biggest suites in
United
hotel, I
had
a wonderful view of the tall surrounding buildings amid nearby trees. Once Brayden entered the room, people hustled around him, cleaning his face with wipes, combing through his blonde hair, and
they
removed
his
shirt for him like he couldn’t do it himself. Despite all of th
is, he wasn’t frazzled, and he
adjusted very quickly. He was in his own zone—all business.
He invited me go with him and I thought it was a great opportunity to see him in action.

Beautiful waifish models, who each probably came from the seven continents, swarmed Brayden and one of the other male models. I
could understand any
possible
concerns or
feelings of inadequacy on Sarah’s part. This was never-ending walking, bending, laying, and barely dressed female temptation. I couldn’t believe how much work went into the lighting, the make-up, and arranging the room to highlight the
clothes
, not glamorous like I thought it would be. There was something a
lluring
about being on the highest level of the building
.
It made me think about what I wore underneath my gray blouse and jeans; I squirmed, my nipples and my sex still very sensitive.

Now I knew why Larissa came home tired after modeling many days: acting in
many
stilled caption
s
could be
exhausting
. Brayden and some of the other models were truly professionals. The photographer didn’t have to give much direction; they were in their own element, a product of good fine-tuning and the best agencies.

As I watched Brayden in his different poses, able to execute various emotions naturally, he easily became another man. I was
proud
by how good he was. This wasn’t just a job for him, a way for him to prance away, being effortlessly handsome. Quite honestly, a few of the models there were more handsome than he was,
but
most of them didn’t exude the natural ability to look like a small town boy to a striking starving artist, to a man who amassed an empire for
different captions
. For the first time, Brayden wasn’t just my brother; he was a person, who like me, was trying to make sense of his life. And this person was a talented model.

W
e left ahead of schedule. On our way out in the lobby, I couldn’t seem to stop admiring the earthy tones of the walls and the
well-placed
furniture, along with its sophistication. With my arm linked with Brayden’s, I breathed contentedly. He stopped me, looking above my head.

“What’s wrong, Bray?” His mouth thinned. Then, he protectively brought his heavy hand on my shoulder.

“This guy—“I turned to see who he was, but he stopped me—“has been looking at us since we came out from the elevator. He just
signaled
us to wait.
”

I opened my mouth to protest on being manhandled for the second time in one day when someone cleared his voice loudly.

“Mister,” Brayden said sternly. Not realizing that I held my breath in for so long, I heaved as I pulled in oxygen to my abused lungs and strained muscles.

“Good Afternoon. I am Mateja Guvo, owner of this hotel.” He bared his teeth, not smirking, or grimacing. I looked at Brayden, fearing he knew that I had very
intimate
knowledge of this man. “I just came from a meeting and thought I should say hello,” he said casually
.
“
You brought a…female friend
with you
.” He sounded surprised. Why was Mateja acting like this? Why did he go through the trouble to find out why my brother and I were there?
This was just too convenient; the second time in one day that I crossed paths with him. He was the last person I expected to see again
, especially after that power trip thing that he tried on me
.

“I am Brayden
.
Just came from a shoot. Is there a problem?”

Mateja turned me around, brushing Brayden’s hands off my shoulders. He gave Brayden a tight smile and I wrapped my arms tightly around myself.
Brayden
looked
irate.
He wasn’t an irascible person; I knew that much about him.

“No problem at all. You
’ve had work here before, right?”

“Yeah, a few times.” Brayden looked confused by the question.

“You’ve never brought
guest
here
before
, especially no one as divine as her.”

Brayden’s mouth slackened and then he erupted in roaring laughter. I didn’t know whether or not he laughed because Mateja confused me as his girlfriend, or because he thought I was divine, or both. I decided not to take offense either way
.
T
he
unspoken
aggression between the both of them was suffocating. In the midst of the traffic in the lobby, some guests glanced at us
.

Mateja scowled at him. The roaring laughter came to an abrupt end. “Something I said
funny
?” Mateja brushed his fingers in the middle of my inner arm, forcing everything in me not to moan. I wouldn’t have pegged the
tender skin on my inner arm as
an erogenous zone. Adding to my
struggle with
self-control, my insides went molten. Perfect time and place for this, in front of my brother!

Furrowing his eyebrows, he gawked at Mateja’s fingers on me and he pulled me by his side. “With all do respect…You’re mistaken,”—He stood
in front of me
—“I don’t know who you think my sister is.
Don’t put your hands on her again
.”

Two tall men, in casual clothing, and built like brick-house WWE fighters rushed into Brayden’s face out of nowhere.

“Everything is fine,” Mateja told them. They loosened their grip on Brayden, who didn’t flinch. “A misunderstanding.” The two men nodded at him and dispersed into the crowd. I tried to track where they went, but I couldn’t. Just as swiftly as they came, they exited.

“I thought she was your companion,” he said,
as if
that was enough of an explanation for his rude and domineering behavior.

“Why would it matter if she was my companion or not?” Brayden finally asked, taken aback. “I know that you own this hotel, and we
’ve
do
ne
shoots here, but I won’t accept you confusing my sister for someone she’s not!”
I couldn’t love Brayden more in that moment for his protectiveness over me, but all his energy was
misplaced and as their exchange
continued, I realized that I did a poor job of
handling
this confrontation.