I’m able to pry my mother off of me without hurting her feelings and finally make my way towards Jake who has been staring me down since I arrived.
“It’s about time”, he slurs. “I was starting to wonder when you’d come see your dear older brother.”
“Geez, Jake. Just how drunk are you?”
“I’ve had a few drinks. Open bar. And my dad’s the host. Not like I have a limit”, he grumbles before spontaneously bursting out into laughter.
“Shhhh, quiet, quiet--”
“Don’t tell me to be quiet. My dad’s the boss”, Jake groans.
“I know that, he’s my dad, too. How about we go over to your room?”
“My room..?”
He seems to perk up at the mere mention of being alone with me, which terrifies me. I backtrack and then ask if him he’d rather dance with me.
“I can’t dance. I might throw up all over you.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Declan better appreciate what I’m doing for him.
Jake agrees without hesitation. He stumbles on his way up and lands right between my cleavage. We’re not even on the dance floor and I have to tolerate this shit. But unlike most times when Jake engages in this nonsense, he apologizes and seems genuinely. He must have not meant to trip on his own feet trying to get up from his chair.
Taking my hand, he escorts me excitedly to the dance floor where we slow dance along with some of the older guests.
“So Jake…”, I can’t start asking him about Declan outright. But engaging in smalltalk sounds like a fate worse than death if it’s with Jake. “Pretty fancy shindig your dad put together, huh?”
He closes his eyes and nods, I think trying to enjoy the slow music. I shake off his drunken stupidity and attempt to dig deeper.
“You’re probably used to these events. You’ve probably held some of these yourself, haven’t you?”
This time, he shakes his head. His eyes are still closed and it’s pissing me off. He’s responding but he doesn’t seem to be paying attention to what I’m saying. Like he’s falling asleep. To further drive this home, his hands start slipping from my lower back down to my ass.
“Watch those hands there, Jake”, I warn him.
“I’m watching them alright”, he mumbles, flashing a sleazy, boozy smile.
Alright. Time to stop beating around the bush for the sake of my own dignity. There are photographers here. The last thing I need is to have the image of Jake grabbing my ass plastered all over the local paper.
“Anyway, I’ve been wondering. What are you going to do once your dad retires? Do you have something to fall back on?”
“Pfft. I’ll just get all of his money. He retires, I get his money and it’s all good, it’s all good.”
He’s making less and less sense by the second. But he continues.
“And I got other money. I’m good no matter what. It’s all good.”
“Other money”, I ask. “What other money?”
Jake finally opens his eyes with some effort and looks at me with a bewildered, humored look.
“Why do you want to know this? It’s not your business.”
“But I’m your sister. I just want to know more about you”, I say in a girlish, innocent voice.
He seems to think about it, and finally answers. “It’s just something I have. I’m gonna sell it and it’s gonna give me money.”
“What’d you find?”
“A bus. A fast future bus. It’s fast and I’m gonna sell it.”
I genuinely can’t make heads or tales of what he’s saying now. He’s either too drunk to get any info out of, or he’s telling me exactly what I want to know. Could he be referring to a design for some sort of advanced public transportation Declan drew up? I remember him mentioning something about that, but there’s only one way to make sure.
“Wow, Jake. That’s really impressive. A… future bus. And you thought of it all by yourself?”
He nods goofily but then unknowingly corrects himself, shaking his head from left to right.
I pry further. “Miranda thought of it, didn’t she?”
He removes his hands from my buttocks and throws them up in an “I don’t know” shrug.
“Don’t know. But it’s money for me she said.”
That’s all I need to know. But some physical evidence could be useful to have.
“Jake, can I see the bus? It sounds really interesting.”
“Maybe. It’s in my room.”
Nothing good ever happens in his room. Maybe I can wait for him to pass out and do some searching myself. It’s bound to happen soon and there’s no reason for anybody at this event to start wandering the halls of the mansion.
“Let’s just dance to one more song.”
“No, no, I don’t want to dance no more”, Jake groans like an upset toddler. “Let’s go to my room. I’ll show you something good.”
An open invitation to his room. This is going to end with him exposing himself to me, I can feel it in my bones. He’s got to pass out soon. There’s no way he can be this intoxicated and awake. If he drank as much as I assume he drank, he’s got to be at least five glasses of hard liquor deep.
“Alright, let’s go.”
The two of us walk to his room, this time with me leading the way. Jake is dragging his feet the entire way to his room but has a smile on his face throughout. I hate his smile. For most of my life, a smile from him has been an omen of embarrassment and unwanted nudity. I can still recall the time he recorded me naked. Once he passes out, I might as well try to see if I can delete any footage he has of me from his phone.
“Here we are”, he announces trying to keep his eyes open. “Jakey’s room.”
He fiddles with the doorknob for a bit before my frustration gets the best of me and I open the door and walk into the room quickly, leaving Jake behind.
“So where is this bus of yours?”
I switch the lights on and dart my eyes from one corner of the room to the next, trying to locate his laptop. I see a bunch of video game systems, unopened video game cases, clothes strewn about, but no laptop. Jake falls face first on his bed and keeps one of his arms dangling down to the floor. He groans while he’s on the bed, but I do my best to ignore it and walk into his closet. Just more clothes. Things I’ve never seen him wear. This jerk has more money than he knows what to do with. It’s sickening.
“Here it is”, I hear him say.
Jake holds up a flashdrive up above his head with the hand he had dangling off the bed. A bright red flashdrive.
“Can I see it? Hold it, I mean.”
“NO”, he shouts. “I can’t give it to anyone!”
I shush him, though I’m certain nobody is around to hear his drunken tantrum. “Okay, okay. But what if you didn’t give it to me. I just want to borrow it. Giving is different from borrowing.”
After some silence, he places the flashdrive in his pocket. “No. I can’t give it to anyone. But.. maybe I could let you see what’s inside”
“Yes, that’d work.”
“For a price.”
“Pri… Price? Jake, you have all of the money in the world, what would you possibly charge for me to see what’s in that flashdrive?”
“Not money”, he sings playfully pointing at his chest as if they were mine.
“You want to see my tits? Didn’t you already get them on video a few years back?”
“Alright. No flashdrive.”
Goddamnit. I’d do anything for Declan but I definitely have my limits. Flashing my stepbrother is definitely up there as a limit.
“Isn’t there anything else I could do”, I ask him.
Without saying anything, he points to my crotch.
“Come on, Jake, something that doesn’t involve my body.”
He slowly shakes his head from side to side before stopping. It seems as though he’s finally fallen asleep.
“Jake? Jake… Jake!”
No response.
I didn�
�t come all this way for nothing, I’m getting that damn flashdrive. I walk over to Jake and get on my knees next to him. Without exercising much caution, I dig my hand into the pocket I saw him stash the flashdrive in. I’m able to grab a hold of it, but before I can successfully pull it out, Jake rises up like a vampire from his coffin and holds my wrist with both of his.
“What are you doing! STOP”, he cries out.
“You dropped it, I was just giving it back to you”, I pathetically claim.
“You’re lying! Just get out!”
“Alright, alright. Damn it, Jake. How about… instead of seeing me naked, we go on a date?”
“What are you talking about?’
“If we go on a date, would you let me see what’s on the flashdrive?”
He pauses and thankfully gives it some thought. I’m nervous to hear his answer, knowing I won’t be a fan of either one he chooses. If he doesn’t agree to a date, I’ll have to find another way to get his flashdrive and if he does, I have to be seen outside with the one person in this world I can very comfortably say I hate more than anyone else.
“Fine. If we go on a date… and I get a kiss.”
“It’s a deal.”
He didn’t specify that it had to be a kiss on the lips. That’s what I’ll work with for now. Jake mumbles something about Thursday, so I figure that’s when he’ll want me to come over for the date.
Before I can get another word in, Jake moves his hands down his pants and starts stroking himself, giving me the cue to exit the bedroom and head back to the party. I have a few days to think of a game plan. Kissing Jake isn’t the worst thing he could ask me to do but it’s not something I’d do voluntarily.
But for now, this will have to do. I’m not backing down now, I’m too close to helping Declan prove that Miranda stole his designs. I’m going to help him no matter what.
On the way back to the party, my mother stops me once again and asks me where I went.
“I saw you head somewhere with Jake. He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
Despite being near blackout drunk, having seen me walk with Jake seemed to have sobered her up.
“No. He was about to pass out, and I didn’t want him to embarrass himself in front of all of Dad’s friends.”
“That’s so sweet of you to do, honey, you-- wait… You just called him Dad!”
A slip of the tongue. With everything that’s been going through my head, I couldn’t think of Jacob’s name and just resorted to the best word to describe him.
“The fumes of your breath must be getting to me. I meant to say Jacob.”
“But you didn’t, you called him Dad. Oh, honey, I’m going to start crying.”
“PLEASE don’t”, I beg her. But it’s too late. She holds onto me and starts bawling, drawing some attention of the party guests. I rub my mom’s back to calm her down but it doesn’t seem to be of much help. I suppose I should be happy that she’s crying tears of joy.
Things could be worse. I may have to see Jake later this week but I’m one step closer to getting Declan some much needed justice, and I was able to make my mom cry tears of joy.
I’ll chalk tonight up as a success.
Chapter 11 - Declan
Today is the first time I’ve worked out in months. It’s also the first time I’ve woken myself up before 10am.
My entire body is sore. I did half of the workout I used to do five days a week before I met Miranda. 40 pushups instead of 100. I may still look the same on the outside, but I’ve definitely lost the strength I once had. My inner strength as well.
Meditation is something I took up when I was going through some hardships. It helped me concentrate on designs, and helped me after the whole ordeal with Miranda. After working out the most that I could and eating a protein bar, I sat in my bed silently. I felt my body move with each breath I took. I felt the air coming in through my nostrils and out through the small opening my lips made as I exhaled. My chest rose. My shoulders moved with me. Once I felt every inch of my body all at once while breathing, I felt as though I could get back to where I was in life. I could be successful again. I will be.
I already feel as though my brain is working as it used to. Meditating has been helping me think critically about items that could be sold as commodities. It feels good to be back to my old self. I’m taking baby steps but it’s a start.
It takes 21 days to form a habit, so for the next 21 days I’m going to be waking up at 7am, working out, meditating, eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, and trying to get back to work until I find a new business to partner up with. Getting back to my old routine might even shake some old ideas loose.
After meditating, I make myself a large breakfast. 4 eggs sunny side up over a bowl of brown rice, with some greek yogurt on the side and a protein shake with some banana mixed in for taste. As I make this meal, I feel a smile creeping up. I’m feeling nostalgic for a boring routine that most successful people go through each morning. Some may think that’s a bit silly, but it makes sense. I was happiest when I was working and enjoying the money I had rightfully earned. Though that’s not my only reason for smiling.
With my breakfast prepared, I dig in while perusing some local news. I haven’t even touched my phone to look through news apps in so long. Things definitely have changed. A lot of the apps I used to use look vastly different from what they used to look like, but resemble each other in their layout. Nothing new on the business side of things. Politics are a bit depressing to read about first thing in the morning. It’s not exactly what I used to do but a nice morning may call for some local fluff pieces.
Callie.
Callie is in the news. She was the caterer from some charity event. She told me she had a gig but she never mentioned anything about showing up in the news. This is amazing! She’ll definitely be getting more customers from this kind of publicity. It’s what she deserves. But… it was hosted by Miranda’s old man?
Pictured: Jacob Dennings, carving the extravagant cake baked by his own stepdaughter, Callie Owens, owner of Simple Treats in downtown.
Stepdaughter… Jacob Dennings. Dennings. Jacob Denning’s stepdaughter. Callie is Jacob Denning’s fucking daughter. Miranda’s stepsister.
I was seconds away from closing the app and calling her up to congratulate her but what the fuck. She had made such a big deal about honesty when the entire she had been hiding the fact that she was related to Miranda and her snot nosed brother. Of all the things to have kept a secret, why and how would it be this?! The more I think about it, the more infuriated I get.
She was mad at me for not telling her about Miranda, when she’s her own stepsister. Callie made me feel guilty for keeping something from her, that she must have already known. As a matter of fact…
Callie could be trying to fuck me over again.
She’s either working with Miranda or thinks that since I was dumb to fall for it once, I can be duped a second time. Sorry to disappoint, Callie, but I’m not being tricked by a heart sucking succubus again. Doesn’t she realize that I’ve already lost more than I ever could? How could two people be so evil as to try to destroy a man. Someone who has given them nothing but kindness and… love. Maybe I fall in love quickly, but that’s no reason to be emotionally abused or taken advantage of financially.
I’m speechless. Immobile.
No.
I’m going to do as planned. My life will get better without Callie. There are 6 billion people on Earth, it’s not as though she’s my last hope for love. I can find someone who loves me for who I am, instead of my wealth.
This rich man is officially single until someone who truly loves him comes along. Callie can go find some other millionaire to leech off of. As for Miranda… she can jump off a cliff for all I care. That whole family can rot. Nothing good has come from them.
I am going to finish this breakfast and do some more meditation. Nothing else matters right now. All that matters is coming up with a new design for something that I
could sell to businesses around the world. There’s not much hope in waiting for someone from the gatherings I’ve been going to to get back to me. My name is stained. My only hope for being allowed back into the tech industry is to prove that my skills are still valuable.
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