overturning tables
and chairs. The judge had enough and sentenced me to thirty days in jail. The
courts agreed to keep the documents sealed, insuring I wouldn’t be able to find
my brothers or locate the adoptive family. They said they did this for
everyone’s safety. I have no idea where they are or where they live. They have
a different last name and I don’t know where to start looking. They are
seventeen now. When I lost them, I lost everything.”
I finish, and there’s definitely silence between us, the
only sound the rising and falling of our chests.
“Is that a picture of your family on your night stand?”
“Yeah. It’s from a long time ago,” I answer, and I’m
surprised she even noticed the photo. “I know you think I’m a bad guy, Claire,
but a good side of me does exist. I would have taken care of my brothers. I
wouldn’t have let anything happen to them. I would have never gotten into this
business if I had known I had them looking up to me. But once I lost them, I
lost all hope.” I feel exhausted all of a sudden and Claire has yet to speak.
Suddenly, she props the good side of her face up with her hand so she’s facing
me. The thin strip of moonlight illuminates her slender body from her head to
her toes.
“Brandon. Who was the big shot lawyer?”
I don’t answer immediately because I know this is a rhetorical
question. She already knows the answer, but I don’t really know how she’ll
respond if I actually say the name. The silence encompass us for another full
minute before I decide answer her question.
“Your father.”
I hear nothing but silence in the room as Claire processes
what I’ve just said.
“My father has the sealed files.”
“I’m assuming so, yes.”
“And that’s why you were in the filing room snooping around,
posing as an intern.”
“Yes.”
She’s still turned towards me, and I’m seriously about to
run my finger down every inch of her body the moonlight displays. She’s
gorgeous and I know I need to put my mind elsewhere. I turn my eyes back to the
black ceiling and start to run sports plays in my head.
“Brandon, sealed files are not located in the filing room.”
I sigh because she’s right. I was an idiot to think they
would be that easy to discover. “I didn’t know where to start looking. I only
wanted to find my brothers. They’re almost legal now, so I won’t try to adopt
them or anything, but I don’t even know their new last name. I don’t know where
to start looking for them. I thought if I could break into that office, I could
find them.”
She places one of her soft hands over mine, and a feeling of
peace crawls through my arm. How does this girl calm me like this?
“Tell me about your brothers.” Her voice is smooth like
honey and all of a sudden, I desire to tell her everything. I want her to know
it all, the good and the bad. And I know this is because she won’t judge me.
“They were an ‘oops,’” I start and smile at the thought. “I
was already ten and my parents were done having kids. Then, here my mom is
pregnant, and not just with one, but with twins. They brought joy and chaos
into our lives, and we were a happy family for a while. I loved my brothers.
They were nothing like me. They were smart and made the grades in school. I was
always the one joking around and getting into fights. They looked up to me and
I protected them.”
“I thought you said you were the studious one? You said you
were the one who did the reading with the library books.”
I give a small laugh at the memory and then shock comes over
me. “You remember me telling you that story?”
“Yeah.”
I’m happy she remembers, but I’m also mortified. I was such
an asshole that day. “I was always a good reader. That was the one thing I was
good at, except of course fighting and causing trouble.” I smile and tilt my
head in a flirtatious manner at the last part, and I’m rewarded with a small
smile from Claire. The moonlight
and chairs. The judge had enough and sentenced me to thirty days in jail. The
courts agreed to keep the documents sealed, insuring I wouldn’t be able to find
my brothers or locate the adoptive family. They said they did this for
everyone’s safety. I have no idea where they are or where they live. They have
a different last name and I don’t know where to start looking. They are
seventeen now. When I lost them, I lost everything.”
I finish, and there’s definitely silence between us, the
only sound the rising and falling of our chests.
“Is that a picture of your family on your night stand?”
“Yeah. It’s from a long time ago,” I answer, and I’m
surprised she even noticed the photo. “I know you think I’m a bad guy, Claire,
but a good side of me does exist. I would have taken care of my brothers. I
wouldn’t have let anything happen to them. I would have never gotten into this
business if I had known I had them looking up to me. But once I lost them, I
lost all hope.” I feel exhausted all of a sudden and Claire has yet to speak.
Suddenly, she props the good side of her face up with her hand so she’s facing
me. The thin strip of moonlight illuminates her slender body from her head to
her toes.
“Brandon. Who was the big shot lawyer?”
I don’t answer immediately because I know this is a rhetorical
question. She already knows the answer, but I don’t really know how she’ll
respond if I actually say the name. The silence encompass us for another full
minute before I decide answer her question.
“Your father.”
I hear nothing but silence in the room as Claire processes
what I’ve just said.
“My father has the sealed files.”
“I’m assuming so, yes.”
“And that’s why you were in the filing room snooping around,
posing as an intern.”
“Yes.”
She’s still turned towards me, and I’m seriously about to
run my finger down every inch of her body the moonlight displays. She’s
gorgeous and I know I need to put my mind elsewhere. I turn my eyes back to the
black ceiling and start to run sports plays in my head.
“Brandon, sealed files are not located in the filing room.”
I sigh because she’s right. I was an idiot to think they
would be that easy to discover. “I didn’t know where to start looking. I only
wanted to find my brothers. They’re almost legal now, so I won’t try to adopt
them or anything, but I don’t even know their new last name. I don’t know where
to start looking for them. I thought if I could break into that office, I could
find them.”
She places one of her soft hands over mine, and a feeling of
peace crawls through my arm. How does this girl calm me like this?
“Tell me about your brothers.” Her voice is smooth like
honey and all of a sudden, I desire to tell her everything. I want her to know
it all, the good and the bad. And I know this is because she won’t judge me.
“They were an ‘oops,’” I start and smile at the thought. “I
was already ten and my parents were done having kids. Then, here my mom is
pregnant, and not just with one, but with twins. They brought joy and chaos
into our lives, and we were a happy family for a while. I loved my brothers.
They were nothing like me. They were smart and made the grades in school. I was
always the one joking around and getting into fights. They looked up to me and
I protected them.”
“I thought you said you were the studious one? You said you
were the one who did the reading with the library books.”
I give a small laugh at the memory and then shock comes over
me. “You remember me telling you that story?”
“Yeah.”
I’m happy she remembers, but I’m also mortified. I was such
an asshole that day. “I was always a good reader. That was the one thing I was
good at, except of course fighting and causing trouble.” I smile and tilt my
head in a flirtatious manner at the last part, and I’m rewarded with a small
smile from Claire. The moonlight
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