FORBIDDEN FRUIT

• five •

Adaline

Karma is a bìtch.

And I heard she has a thing for butts. So, she's come back to bite me in the butt.

Or maybe Tall Tower is Karma herself. He's karma in the flesh. And his name is Atticus. He's come back to punish me after I almost cheated on my husband last night. As if waking up in the hotel room, confused and alone, wasn't cruel enough. As if his ruthless rejection wasn't cold enough. He's come back to finish his job. He's come back to finish me completely.

That's why he's sitting across from me on the dining table, his face blank of emotion. Eating the food that I made. For my husband.

I know nothing about him but I hate him so much. I hate him so much that I can't even bring myself to look at him.

I pour myself some wine and set my eyes on Ace, completely ignoring Atticus.

“Baby.” I say. “What do you mean when you say he's your brother? Were you best friends in high-school or college?”

“No.” Ace says. “He's my blood brother.”

A long pause follows.

“We've known each other for five years and you never thought to tell me you had a brother?” I hate how annoying my voice sounds in this moment but I can't stop myself. “A blood brother?!”

I take a swig of the wine and swallow hard, trying my best not to turn and look at Atticus. Ever since he set foot at my door, I've been ignoring him. Ignoring his existence. Ignoring his eyes.

“Honey.” Ace says calmly. “We'll talk about it later.”

“I want to talk about it now.”

I chug the wine until the last drop.

“Maybe you should take it slow on the wine.”

I hate how calm Ace's voice sounds in this moment. I hate how cool and collected he always is. I bet he was a cucumber in the previous life. Or maybe he'll be a cucumber in the next life. It's great for someone as chaotic as me to have a husband as calm as Ace. It creates balance, my sister says. But sometimes it sucks. Sometimes I want him to get mad. Sometimes I want him to just yell and throw things at the wall. Maybe that would make me feel a little bit better about being a chaotic person. Maybe that would make me feel a little less guilty about bringing chaos into my calm marriage with my calm husband.

“It's my fault.” Atticus says. “It's my fault that he never thought to tell you about my existence.”

Dead silence haunts the table.

I turn to look at Atticus and my heart is thrown into a loud drum festival and suddenly, there's a feast of violent butterflies. The party inside my body is so loud that I'm almost terrified that they can hear it. That he can hear it. All this time, I was telling myself that the reason I can't bring myself to look at him was because I hate him. And I hate that we crossed paths last night. And I hate that he showed up at my door a few seconds ago. And I hate that he's my husband's blood brother. And I hate that he's eating the food that I made. But it was all a lie.

The only reason I couldn't look at him was because of this feeling.

The feeling I felt when our eyes met for the first time. The feeling I felt when he took me back to his hotel room. The feeling I felt when he lay in bed next to me. The feeling I felt when we shared a pillow, his face so close to mine. That feeling is back now that I'm looking into his eyes.

And it's exciting. And it's thrilling. And it's intoxicating. And it's terrifying. And it's everything I never thought I would feel before. All at once.

I quickly look away and turn to Ace.

“What does he mean?”

“I ran away when I was twenty.” Atticus replies as if I asked him. “I packed my bags and left when I was twenty to chase my dreams. I didn't say goodbye to my dad. I didn't say goodbye to my little brother. I didn't say goodbye to anyone. I just packed my bags and ghosted everyone.”

“He drained the bank too.” Ace adds coolly. “He forgot to add that part.”

Atticus turns to look at his little brother, his eyes filled with pure emotion.

“I don't regret most of it.” Atticus says to my shock. “Not even draining the bank. The only thing I regret was leaving you behind.”

Ace rolls his eyes.

That's the first time I've ever seen this man roll his eyes. In the five years I've known him, he's never rolled his eyes at me. And I've never seen him roll his eyes at anyone. Except Atticus.

Ace grabs the bottle and fills it with wine.

He gulps down the wine to the last drop, his eyes fixed on his big brother.

“Look.” He drops the glass on the table. “I said YES to you living in my house only because of the financial crisis my company is facing. You are only here because of the company. You are not my colleague. You are not my friend. And you are especially not my big brother. Inside these walls, you are just an investor. Stick to your lane.”

Ace leaps from the table and runs upstairs.

Even when he's angry, Ace doesn't raise his voice. He doesn't throw tantrums. He doesn't bang the table. He doesn't even slam the door. He just confronts someone calmly and disappears upstairs. And whatever Atticus did to get that reaction, he definitely deserves it and worse.

I finally turn to look at Atticus, glass in my hand.

I want to feel anger when I look at him. Anger that he abandoned me at the hotel. Anger that he showed up at my house. Anger that he's eating at my dinner table. Anger that he's made Ace angry. But a rush of adrenaline is the only thing I get.

“So, you have a fetish for ghosting people?”

He stares at me for a long moment silently, his face blank of emotion. I can't read his mind. I would give a million dollars just to read every single page of his mind.

Atticus leans on the table, his green eyes fixed on me and then he says something shocking.

“Name your price.”

“What?”

Silence. Long excruciating silence.

“I will pay you anything to divorce my brother.”

••••