A Tale of two Brothers

unbelievable package

I was the first to get to the office today, a rare occurrence if I may add so, I took the liberty of getting everyone a cup of coffee and croissants to celebrate and say a little thank you for all the assistance they’ve offered the past weeks.

“If I had known this would be the result of signing you a contract, I would’ve sent you thousands in the past.” Gladys moaned with a mouthful of croissant.

“Tell me again, where do you get your pastries? I search the whole of Manhattan and all I find is plain flavoured flour in the name of croissants. No crust or butter.”

My lips stretched into a smile as I watched her. Gladys was a very simple girl, feed her and rub her nice and you’d have her undivided loyalty. Charlotte likened her to a cat and love to call her puss.

Charlotte…..

Fuck. I completely forgot to send her a thank you text for the chocolates and update her on the interview. I know Gladys must have said something to her, she wasn’t exactly the best at keeping her excitement in but I knew Charlotte and I knew she’d appreciate hearing the news from me too.

“I’m talking about my difficulties finding the perfect bakery and you’re texting?” Gladys asked, her face a picture of fake mortification.

“I’m sorry Glad, “ I sent an apologetic smile her way, “I just remembered I didn’t text Charlotte about the interview or acknowledge her gift.”

“You don’t have to, I told her you shed tears of joy when I gave you the chocolates and you completely bam-dazzled the board.”

“Is that even a word?” My fingers stopped mid air as I watched in amusement as she wiped her mouth with tissue.

“Now it is. Update your dictionary.” She discarded her paper bag and tissue into the waste bin. “Honestly, I don't think Charlotte would mind, she’s really chill about these things. She’s definitely happy it all worked out for you. You’ve been on this since college, at some point it stopped being a personal goal of yours and became a general goal for us all.”

“Yeah, but I feel I should inform her myself.” I said, flipping off my phone and turning it back on when I realized I was yet to hear from Jeremiah.

“What’s up?”

“Huh?”

“Your face, it dropped all of a sudden. Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know…. Yes…. I mean, I’ve not heard from Jeremiah since Yesterday. I don’t know what’s going on.” I mumbled, worry etched on my face.

I knew Jeremiah got busy, I understood the nature of his business but it was unlike him to go completely ghost. He didn’t even call or text to know how my interview went and he knows I love to talk about these things.

He sent a bouquet with the sweetest note, that should count for something. The more reasonable time part of my brain whispered.

It was always a constant argument between my heart and my head when it came to these things. I couldn’t help making up the worst case scenario’s, what if something happened to him?

It couldn’t be, if something happened to him it would be all over the news. So why on earth would he not take his calls?

“Hey,” Gladys reached over, taking my hand in hers. “When was the last time you spoke?”

“Yesterday morning, before I got to work we texted a bit.”

“It’s not been so long then. My mum used to say my Dad sometimes attends these closed door meetings where they stayed indoors and no one came out until the negotiations are done and a deal is struck or not. Maybe it’s one of those meetings, I’m sure you can understand.”

Gladys had a point, I wasn’t a stranger to these things. Growing up, I saw my father once a month and sometimes, once in two months and that was him trying to be available. But Jeremiah wasn’t like that, he’d at least send a text or have someone communicate with you.

I shook the feeling of dread crawling over me. He was fine, Gladys is right, it’s definitely work. He didn’t fall off some cliff and die and when he is done he’d call.

“You’re right, I’m probably restless because I really want to talk to him about the interview and he’s not here.” I pouted.

“He will be and he’ll listen to all you have to say.” Gladys replied playfully, rolling her eyes. “God you’re so clingy.”

“He’s my husband.”

“Okay,” she surrendered, “you’re right, he’s all yours.”

I checked my phone to see if a text magically appeared in the last two minutes, perhaps there was already one I missed, nothing. I flipped it off and invited Gladys to lunch with me, from there, I’ll see if I could get my licence started.

Jeremiah was my first love, my first attempt at finally letting down my walls and trusting a man. My father wasn’t exactly the best model male figure and I developed some form of trust issues towards men till I met him.

I’ve been with him for seven years, dated exclusively for three years and married for a year and I wouldn’t have it any other way but, sometimes I miss the good old days, the comfort of having a private life, and not having people make a living off invading your privacy.

But I was here and if this was what it takes to be with the man I love and watch him make his dreams come true, I wasn’t going to complain, besides I had my own thing going on, my new consultation firm for example. We were going to be the absolute power couple and I was here for it.

“We were out for almost four hours, need I remind you that while you have one foot in and one foot out of this company, I’m still very much a full time employee and I can’t make certain movements without permission.” Gladys complained, her breaths coming out in pants as she almost jogged to the elevator.

“Relax Glad, the project is still for the company. I’m working under them so it’s their name on it and not mine. I’m sure they’ll understand if I need help. And you have to slow down, we’re not all athletes.” I teased, catching up with her.

Her feet were practically bouncing off the floor as the elevator moved. While I might be the mother hen and the damsel in distress of our little trio, Gladys has always been one to worry. Often times, she blew things out of proportion and tends to lean towards the worst case scenario.

Charlotte was the balance we both needed, with her easy charm and quick wits, she always kept us grounded and reminded us just how simple and easy life was. I called her fresh air because that was exactly what she felt like, a breath of fresh air after being stuck in a stuffy room.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Knight.” Cara, the receptionist greeted with a sly smile. “This came in for you, it’s from your husband.” She handed me a sealed package.

Gladys bumped her shoulders with mine and gave me a look that said “I told you so.”

I felt a feeling of warmth spread through my chest, he might be busy but he had his way of making me feel his presence. A call would be much appreciated but this would do for now I guess.

“Thank you, Cara.” I smiled, making my way to my office with Gladys hot on my heels. All her worries about not being productive in the office, long forgotten.

“Hurry, open it.” She squealed, swinging her legs from my table.

“One would think the package is for you with the amount of excitement in your voice.” I shook my head playfully as I unsealed the package.

“You can’t blame me, I’m feeding the romantic in me with your beautiful love story. Plus Jeremiah gets the best gifts, I’m always anticipating what he’ll do next on your behalf.”

The admission drew a soft laughter from me, Gladys had the most innocent heart and I hoped she got the love she deserved one of these days.

“A flash?”

My face scrunched, my prior excitement watered down. Why would Jeremiah send me a flash drive? It was very odd.

“Play it dummy, maybe there’s a secret reservation or it has one of those sweet personalised website thingy in it.” Gladys urged, still evidently excited and not deterred one bit.

“He could’ve just sent a link if that was the case.” I replied, plugging the flash into my laptop.

“It’s a video.” I said, looking at Gladys.

She looked at me like I was dumb, “Well to play it, we don’t have all day.”

I’ve clicked on bugs and websites that ended up infecting my laptop with viruses and corrupting important files, I’ve also clicked on links that resulted in my account getting hacked.

One time when I was younger, I followed a link that somehow took me to the dark web. I've even mistakenly stumbled on disturbing videos online. I've also had my fair share of disgusting videos sent to me by creepy men.

The list of all the things I’ve encountered on the internet could go on and on and so could the list of the ways I’ve been hurt go on but nothing prepared me for this.

My heart sank levels to levels I never knew excited and my body went completely cold as I stared at the scene unfolding before me. I didn’t want to believe it, I searched the video for glitches, anything to prove this was a prank, Ai or photoshop. Anything at all but I knew an original video when I saw one. I felt my already sunken heart crack and break into a million tiny pieces.