4. If only I looked
Leonardo
Bright rays of the sun zapped my eyelids. Palming my face, I twisted around to face the other side of the bed. That's when I felt it.
The warmth, the vanilla scent from her body had vanished. I sat up, peering at the watery patch on the maroon carpet where she'd stood. Deafened by the silence inside my room, I slid off my bed and checked every corner of the room.
"Kiera, are you here?"
I moved across the room, pushing open the balcony doors. Warm winds rushed in, embracing the artificially cooled air from the inside. Reality dawned. I had to leave for home.
A paper fluttered under the weight of a vase with artificial flowers on the table - a note from her, penned in cursive.
Hey Leo,
Thanks for a lovely night and for saving me from alcohol poisoning. I wish we'd met under different circumstances.
Take care
I read it a few more times before sliding it into my wallet, hoping the circumstances which made her leave were better than mine.
* * *
Mom stood at the entrance, arms raised to fold me into her protection. Her hair was grayer than before. The green of her eyes had faded, clouded with woes she never stated over calls. Yet it was her smile lines that throttled me.
"My baby, I missed you so much," Mom sobbed, "Tell me you're not going back. No more missions, please."
I peeled her feeble hold off me, gazing at her mist-laden eyes.
"I'm back, Mom." For now. I ushered her back into my embrace, wrapping an arm around her as we walked into our home. "Where is everyone?"
"Why'd you ask something you already know the answer to, Leo? They're at Work. As always."
The melody of silence was deafening.
I stood near the kitchen island while my mother moved around, organising breakfast for me. The smell of freshly baked biscuits wafted in the air.
Finally, I got to eat home cooked food.
Pulling out a chair from around the dinner table, she dragged it into the kitchen. "You must be hungry, right."
I nodded.
"Here, sit. I've made you your favourite."
Like old times, she served me breakfast and sat beside me. Her distant looks and the way she kept checking the entrance, made me ask.
"Mom, are we waiting for someone else to join?"
"No. I guess we are eating alone."
"Where's Antonio? It's still early for him to leave for office."
"Antonio has changed so much since you left." The intonation in her voice dimmed. "He doesn't even have time to look at me."
While I had moved away to escape my demons, Antonio nested within his to support Dad's empire. In the midst of it all, she suffered.
"I'll have a word with him," I said, savouring her famous biscuits and gravy. "We can't have two workaholics in the family. Dave Brenton is enough for us."
"After everything, I'm glad your sense of humor is intact."
She wasn't aware that humor came at a price. The price of my sanity, peace and a chance at a normal life.
* * *
While I ascended the glass elevator to our office floor, I recalled the last time I had seen my brother. A year ago, Antonio had been an impressionable clay, soaking up business knowledge from Dad. I wasn't sure if today, I was meeting my brother or a carbon copy of everything I detested.
"Sir, may I see your appointment confirmation mail?" the lady manning the reception said, tapping her pad. "Please enter your name here."
"I'm Leonardo," I said, typing the information on the pale screen. "Here to meet Antonio."
The receptionist peeled her spectacle over the lower half of her nose like a gemologist, checking my authenticity.
"Do you have an appointment, sir?" She stared harder at my jeans and shirt before checking the typed information. "Also, you didn't enter your last name."
It wasn't surprising that people forgot about me. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Brenton," I said, fishing out my ID.
The man in the photo looked like me but wasn't me. He was an imposter who bore only my name and my looks. He had died in training. I had risen in war – a man of seared flesh, taped up bones and a wounded soul which no medicine could cure.
I watched as the receptionist checked my ID, her eyes narrowing to read before widening. Looking up at me, and the card in her hand, all she could do was nod. Within a split second, I was validated.
With a lowered head, I moved into Antonio's office only to find him and Dad engaged in a stare and disagree contest.
"Good morning," I knocked on the open door and entered. "Hope I'm interrupting."
"Leo!" Antonio leapt off his chair and hurled his body at me, wrapping me in a hug. "Where the hell were you? I'd planned for your arrival photographs. Because of your disappearance, I had to cancel them."
"Unless you want photos of me flipping people off, never give away my location to them," I said, patting his back. "I stayed at a hotel to finish some work."
The moment I revealed the partial truth, memories of the girl, of her cheerful persona rose up. Her twinkling blue eyes, wet, black locks and a perfectly tanned, curvy body danced across my vision. Her jubilant laughter still replayed in my ears.
"Which hotel?" Dad rose from his chair, sliding his hand into his invisible hairline. "The ones we are merging with or our rivals?"
"I don't know, Dad. Didn't ask them."
Dad moved closer and hugged me – a display he had fashioned while we made public appearances but occasionally exercised at work as well. His cold grip contrasted sharply with my mother's warm and nurturing hold.
"I don't want you associating with our competition," Dad said, offering me a seat. "It doesn't look good for us."
"Next time, I'll send out a questionnaire, asking people if they're our competitors. Does that work?"
Though Antonio chuckled at my retort, Dad furrowed his forehead.
"Also," he began, pointing at me.
"What now?"
"I want you to wear better clothes."
"What's wrong with this?"
"What Dad meant is..." Antonio tapped at the table. "When you come to the office, dress like a Brenton."
I wondered if I would ever get to see that shy, calm-headed Anto who followed me around like a shadow. Barely twenty-three in age, Anto was better both at business and acting maturely. And I, two years older than him - still had to make peace with being a Brenton.
"Learn from Anto. It's not that difficult," Dad murmured then abruptly faked an urgent call and left.
Antonio shut the door behind him, unable to contain his smile. "I'm getting engaged, Leo."
"The fuck! To whom?"
"To the Ford heiress," he said, fishing out his phone. "Here's her phot-"
"Are you telling me this is a business deal?"
"Yes, but-"
"If you are looking for my blessings, brother, forget it." My brother was still too much a child to grasp the consequences of a relationship without love and compatibility. "Who on earth marries for business?"
"Most industrialists."
"You're telling me that there's a girl out there desperate enough to marry you without love?"
"Her hotel business was suffering." Antonio walked across the room to my side, pivoting my chair. "She asked for help and I offered."
"So you trapped a helpless, golden hen." I clasped his shoulder, peering into his glassy eyes. "You won't understand this now but please... please don't play games you don't know the rules of."
"You talk like mom."
"And you're acting like Dave."
"He's our dad, brother. You can call him that," Anto said, sighing. "You know what. Maybe we should both try to not be like our folks."
I knew there was no swaying him to do the right thing. He wasn't a child anymore. I wasn't his protector either.
"Come, I've got something more to show you." Anto dragged me from his office, pushing open the door to another room.
"What more? You've arranged for children too?"
"Funny."
The girl sitting at the desk hopped off her seat, eyes still glued to her phone. It was Haley, our publicist. Her tightly secured pony danced up and down as she walked toward my brother. The smile on her face could absorb all the sorrows in the world.
"Antonio, the schedules have come." She continued to scan her phone, thumb trailing over the screen. "You and Zemira will be attending a few parties where you'll make a speech for the cameras. I've prepared them myself."
When she looked up, her amber eyes widened. "Ohmygod, Leo."
Her arms curled around my neck. Her head into my shoulder, pulling me closer. This bubbling-energy-in-human-form was our childhood friend who, according to Antonio, had always had a crush on me.
"How have you been?" she asked, then punched my gut. "Dammit. It's been so long."
"I'm fine. How are you, Hales?"
Shrugging, she bit her lower lip and giggled, tucking hair behind her ears. "Good. I'm so glad you're back." Her phone beeped. "Shit. I've got a meeting now so I'll let you two catch up. But seriously..." Her finger danced near my face. "Don't leave before I come back."
Haley left, taking her smile and her Japanese Cherry breeze scent with her.
"Didn't I tell you? She likes you, brother." Antonio smacked my gut.
"What's with everyone hitting me today?" I fell into a chair, closing my eyes. Barely an hour at the office but it felt like an eternity. "And for your information, you suck at reading people."
"I'm telling you what I've observed." After a brief pause, he continued. "You know, I can fix you up with Hales. She's helping me with the whole Ford publicity stunt."
"So, you do agree that it's a stunt."
"Yes," he said, taking on a chair beside me. "I'm not in love with Zemira. But I know that our decision will help the businesses. And maybe," he turned, a soft smile tipping his lips. "One day, we might even..."
I stood and walked away from his loophole filled plan, gazing through the transparent glass door. Haley sat outside in a cubicle, attending a video call.
Her laughter was soft, carefree like the pleasant winds of spring. Knowing there wasn't enough light in the world nor a smile on any face that could rescue me, I decided to pull a stunt of my own.
A stunt that I wasn't aware would cost me everything. Almost.
"You know what, Anto? Fix me up with her."
~
In a span of two weeks, Antonio convinced the world of his love for Zemira Ford. He gave interviews about their meet cute, their slow romance and everyone ate it up.
A few weeks before his proposal to his fake fiancée, Haley drove me to meet them at a photo shoot. She dragged me towards the garden, telling me details about Zemira and her Hotel business.
"With this photoshoot and their upcoming interview, the world would get to know them better," she said.
I'd believe it when I see it.
"Zemmy," Haley hollowed, throwing her arms up. "We're here. I can't see you."
Through the sea of camera crews and makeup artists, a girl emerged. My eyes popped out of their sockets. Air cemented in my lungs. It was her.
Antonio emerged alongside, accompanying her. Her steps faltered as she saw me, her vision glued to me.
"Zem, I forgot to introduce you before. This is Leonardo, my older brother who just returned from his mission a few weeks ago."
"Hi..." My throat pricked, my steps halted near my soon-to-be sister-in-law. "Umm. Hello, Zemira." I managed to smile. Or did I? "Nice to meet you."
"Nice to...meet...you too," she said, biting into her trembling lip, her face paler than usual. "Thank you for your service. You've my utmost respect, soldier."
~
These initial few chapters are a bit lengthy but as you proceed, you'll see them going short.
Please tell me in the comments, your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.
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Love
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