Brothers & Best Friends

by Rose, Ashley

  With that, Janine picked up her bag and stood up, shoving it back at him across the table.

  Will just stared at her as he caught the bag, looking surprised.

  "And that, Will, is your only option."

  "Don't be an idiot," Will said, grabbing Janine by the wrist before she could turn to leave. "Sit down, Janine, we haven't even had dinner yet."

  "I don't want to have dinner with you," she spat, pulling her wrist away, but when he didn't let go she stopped, not wanting to make a scene. "I don't want to have anything with you. I don't care what you want, Will. I care what I want. I care what Jess wants. The only things I care about are the people in my family, and that will never be you. I don't know what part of this is so damn hard for you to get, but I don't want you to make anything up to me. It's over. It's done. I don't care anymore. I just want my life to go back to how it was before I saw that stupid picture in your room."

  Looking pointedly at the empty booth across from him, he said, "Sit."

  "I'm not a lapdog," she told him.

  His cold glare met hers once more, and she got that scared feeling that she got the first night she met him in New York—like he wasn't someone to mess with.

  Without fully understanding why she couldn't just walk away, Janine found herself taking her seat across from him without another word.

  His eyes were still flashing dark as he took a drink from his glass, then he folded his hands and looked at her across the table. "You know, I really try to be nice to you, Janine, and sometimes you make it very difficult. Can't you look on the bright side of anything? You are an eighteen-year-old with a poor boyfriend living in a shitty apartment with a lowlife roommate. You have not been dealt the best hand in life. What this baby can give you…I don't think you're comprehending what I'm offering you. As I said, I am willing to make sure you are compensated for this obstruction in your life. My mother will take care of your living arrangements because she doesn't want her grandchild to be raised in a rat-infested roach hole, but it doesn't end there. Janine, we will take care of you. We will make sure that you don't struggle—the baby will want for nothing that is within my power to give him. The finest schools from preschool to college—can you give him even that? If you took two more jobs you'd be lucky to even pay for his college, let alone anything else."

  She hated the way he made her feel ashamed of not being born with a silver spoon in her mouth—like it was a choice she made.

  "I'm trying to do the right thing here, Janine," he said, looking remarkably human.

  Then why was it making her so damn depressed?

  "If you want to do the right thing, Will, just walk away. I am at a great place in my life right now, and I know I probably sound foolish telling you that I don't want your help, I don't want your money, I don't want your mom to find me a new place to live, and I don't want anything else from you. But I'm don't. I am making the only choice that is right for my life."

  "You're being so naïve." He shook his head. "Look, Janine, I've already laid out my demands. You are going to be so much better off in your life if you just listen to me and stop being so short-sighted. You have to do the whole virginal protest thing to protect your rep and appease Jess. I get it. You did it. You're done. Now you can be sensible and say, 'Okay Will, you can help me out with my kid since I'm a single teenage mother and you're in a position to do so.'"

  "I'm not single, Will. That's the whole point. Jess is going to marry me and be my husband, and I can tell you now he is not going to go along with all this. He isn't as easily bullied as I am. As soon as I tell him about all this, he's going to freak out on you and tell you exactly where you can shove your offer."

  "Jess has to speak for you?" he questioned, his eyebrows arching upward in surprise.

  Frustrated, Janine said, "I don't even want to talk to you anymore, Will. Can't I please just go? I don't want to be here. I'm tired, I'm cranky, my feet hurt. This day probably isn't going to get any better, because when I go home I have to tell Jess everything. I have to ruin everything with the truth, and only because you won't go away. If you would just stop being so pushy, I would forget that I ever even knew."

  Shaking his head a little, Will said, "It's too late for that, Janine. Don't you know that you can never go back?"

  "I could if you'd let me," she said quietly, trying one more time to appeal to him.

  "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. If you had never remembered, this could have all been overlooked because you would never have known, but now that you do… you're dangerous to me unless I take you under my wing."

  "But… Jess…"

  Not letting her finish, he said, "Don't worry about Jess. He'll come around. However, right now I would suggest you delay telling him. I think my mom wants to talk to you first."

  "No," Janine said immediately, shaking her head. "I cannot—will not—marry Jess without him knowing the truth. If he doesn't want to deal with this, with you…I have to give him that option before we get married."

  Nodding, Will decided, "That's fair. I'll call my mom and try to get her here to meet you as soon as possible. Don't tell Jess yet. Take some more time, think about what I've said to you, and have a talk with my mom. Maybe you can even convince her of your little idea to just forget you remembered anything and go back to your previous life."

  Feeling a little bit of hope, Janine said, "Really? Do you really think she might…?"

  Shrugging, he said, "Hey, she might; who knows? You can at least plead your case. If my mother sees things your way and finds a way around this that keeps me safe, I'm game."

  That had to be it, Janine thought. That had to be her loophole, her way out. She wouldn't tell Jess yet, because she still had a chance to salvage everything before the wedding. All she had to do was talk to Will's mom and reason with her, explain that she would never come back to wreak havoc in the future.

  If she could convince Will's mom, he would leave her alone.

  "You promise if I can convince your mom that I'm not out to get you and I'll keep your secret…you'll really leave me and Jess alone?"

  With an easy smile, Will said, "I promise."

  Well, that was something.

  With a new strand of hope to hold onto, Janine thought it would just have to be enough.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Although Janine's life seemed to be balancing precariously on a tightrope, she decided to be optimistic and throw herself into the wedding.

  Karen came over to help Janine make wedding favors, and the girls set Jess to work filling out thank you cards for afterward. John sat on the couch and watched TV.

  "Hey, when are you making dinner?" John asked Janine.

  "She isn't," Karen answered for her.

  Looking quite put out, John demanded, "Why not?"

  "Because your sister is a bride right now and we have eight thousand things to do to get ready for the wedding. As soon as we get done with these party favors, Janine and I have to go pick up Hope's dress and finalize everything at the cake shop."

  Janine looked at Jess. "Hey, did you ever hear back from your mom?"

  "Yeah," he replied. "She isn't coming, but she said she'll send a card with money in it."

  "So expect to maybe get a card with ten bucks in it in about a month, month and a half," John told Janine.

  "His mom isn't coming to his wedding?" Karen asked with a little bit of surprise. "Rosie, are you sure you sent her Evite to the right address?"

  "Yep. She isn't coming. It's no big deal."

  "I'm sick of writing these," Jess said. "Can't we just thank half the guests and assume the other half won't give us any presents?"

  "If they don't bring presents I'm not letting them in," Karen said.

  "I don't even have room for anything else in this apartment." Jess sounded exasperated.

  "Well, are you guys still looking for a bigger one?" she asked him.

  Janine hoped that her rising discomfort level wasn't obvious as she fumbled with the bow on the fa
vor she was working on.

  "I'm working on it, but they aren't cheap, you know. Besides, with the wedding and everything we just don't have time right now. Once we're married we'll get more dedicated to apartment hunting. Todd's never home anyway, so he's not really that much in the way," Jess answered.

  "Well, if you would give up this fixation on living in this part of Manhattan and move where the rent's a little cheaper…" Karen trailed off, raising her eyebrows pointedly.

  "That's a last resort," he said. "I would like to try to maintain our location if at all possible."

  Shaking her head, Karen said, "That's ridiculous. You're going to have to find a second and third job if you want a two-bedroom in this area that you can afford without a roommate."

  "Well, we might be able to scrape by with a one bedroom if the apartment was just a little bigger," he reasoned. "The baby will still be little for a while. If I have to find a second job, that's what I'll do," he said.

  "You will not," Janine stated.

  "Janine, do you know the cost of rent?" Karen asked. "When you have the baby you're going to be taking time off—time you're not getting paid for. If Jess doesn't get a second job, there's no way in hell you guys are going to be able to make rent and still eat. It just won't happen."

  Frowning, Janine looked to Jess and said, "Why have you not mentioned this?"

  "Because it's temporary," Jess stated. "If I even have to get a second job—which isn't guaranteed or anything—it will just be while you're out on maternity leave. Just don't worry about it, hon. I might already have something lined up, and it's not a big deal at all, just Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights when you guys will be sleeping anyway."

  Janine was speechless for a moment, then she said, "You never discussed this with me at all."

  "I didn't want you to worry," he said dismissively.

  "How long?"

  "Just 10 to 2:30 every night. It's no big thing, I worked there once before and the guy liked me, so…I jump back in and make a little extra money."

  "Well…why don't we just stay here until after we have the baby?" she suggested. "We're able to pull this rent and everything without you having to take a second job, so what if we just stayed here a while longer? After he's born and we get settled in and I head back to work, then we can look into moving."

  "Janine, we don't have room for a baby in this apartment," Jess said. "I thought it was understood that we needed to move before the baby comes. We don't even have room for Todd, and he can sleep anywhere."

  "Well…couldn't we kick Todd out and make room for the baby?"

  "We could," he said with a nod. "But I still can't swing this rent on my own while you're on maternity leave, and it will be tight even before that."

  "Then I'll get a different job and make more money," she said. "I'll work more hours, at least before the baby is born, that way we can use the money…"

  "Look, don't worry about it," Jess said easily. "We will figure out a way to work this all out, okay?"

  Frowning, Janine nodded and let it go for the moment, but on the inside her worrying didn't cease.

  ***

  "I can't wait until the wedding," Karen was saying as she and Janine walked from the bakery up to the subway on 4th Street.

  "Yeah," Janine murmured, forcing a smile.

  "I love cake. Cake makes everything worth it," Karen remarked.

  "Definitely," Janine said, nodding a little.

  "Okay, where are you?" Karen asked suddenly.

  "What?" Janine said, looking up at Karen.

  "You've been off all night. I have been babbling nonsensically since I came over to your apartment and trying everything I could think of to get you talking—baby talk, wedding talk, every other kind of talk that has flitted through my brain—and you've been spaced out the whole time. Jess told Chad you've been acting weird too, so spill. What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

  "I just have a lot on my mind right now, you know? The wedding, the baby coming…we're really strapped for money, and I didn't even realize it—shouldn't Jess have told me this?"

  "Honey, it's New York. If you're not a Rockefeller, it's hardly uncommon to be strapped for cash."

  Janine was just about to respond when she felt a little vibration from her pocket and her cell phone rang. Pulling it out carefully so Karen couldn't see who it was, she read "Will" across the screen and sighed. "I'm sorry, I need to take this…"

  "Sure, no problem," Karen said easily.

  "Hello?" Janine said into the phone.

  "Hey," he said.

  "What's up?" she asked, unsure of how to conduct the call with a witness.

  "I talked to my mom," he said, mercifully cutting to the chase. "She wants to meet you tomorrow."

  "Oh…okay."

  "You sound distracted," Will remarked casually. "I know you aren't over-the-moon with excitement about talking to me, but…"

  "I'm just tired," she said. "Listen, can I call you a little later to finalize the details? I'm with Karen right now getting ready to get on the subway in Brooklyn. We need to focus."

  "Don't get mugged," he advised.

  "It's not on my to-do list," Janine assured him. "I'll call you back."

  "I will be sitting by the phone," he intoned.

  Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Janine murmured a good-bye and hung up.

  ***

  Janine was forced to call Will back that evening to get the details, and he gave her an address somewhere in midtown. He told her just to take a cab and he would pay the fare when she arrived.

  The next day, Janine made some wedding-related excuse to explain to Jess that she was going out, and then caught a cab and gave the driver the address Will had given her.

  On the way there, Janine had all kinds of crazy fantasies about Will and his mother. By the time the cab driver stopped the car, she had decided that Will was luring her out under false pretenses, and he was going to kill her and throw her body in a garbage can somewhere. It would be a much simpler, more cost-effective plan.

  But Will was standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets when the cab pulled up, and he must have been watching for her because he immediately approached the cab.

  "You gettin' out, lady?" the cabbie demanded.

  "Oh, yeah, sorry," she said, realizing she had made no move toward the door. Janine opened the door, and Will handed the cab driver the cash as he held the door open for Janine.

  "Glad you could make it," Will said with a pleasant smile.

  "Like I had a choice," she said shortly as she climbed out, not thanking him as he shut the door behind her.

  "True," he agreed.

  "I thought I was meeting your mother. Why are you here?"

  "Well, to introduce you, of course. Don't worry, I won't be here the whole time."

  Glancing around at the unmarked buildings, she said, "Where am I anyway?"

  "At your new apartment," he stated. Then, after a brief pause for effect, he said, "Well, it could be, anyway."

  "I already told you…" she began, but lost her steam when she thought of the problems they were having with finding an affordable place to live.

  "Come on," he said, gesturing for her to follow him over to the door, where he pushed a buzzer and then waited for a moment. The door was unlocked and he held it open, allowing Janine to walk in first.

  "I still half expect you to kill me and hide my body," Janine stated.

  Shrugging, he said, "Too many people would notice you missing."

  She looked back over her shoulder with slightly widened eyes at the solemn reply, and when she did she saw his smile, those glimmering gray eyes.

  Swallowing, Janine followed Will over a threshold and into an apartment, moving in front of him as he hung back to close the door.

  Immediately to the right was the little kitchen area—a fridge, sink, stove, and an open counter area. It was basic and similar to the kitchen that Jess and Janine already had. Above the stove and s
ink there were cabinets, and everything looked very clean.

  "That's the kitchen," Will said needlessly. "Not extremely impressive, I admit, but it's not bad for a starter apartment."

  "It doesn't matter, I'm not going to be living here."

  Beyond the kitchenette there was a living room area—very spacious by New York standards, and despite her better judgment, Janine visualized a couch in the center of the room, a television in front of it, a little table in the corner for the baby when it was able to toddle around…even with all their stuff, there would be a lot more space than the cramped little living room that Jess had.

  "At the very end of the hallway is a bathroom," Will stated, pointing. "But my mom is waiting for you in the baby's room."

  Her heart dropped again, and she took a breath as Will stepped inside a yellow room.

  When she stepped in after him, she didn't even see the woman standing there, only the beautiful mural of Noah's ark that was painted on the back wall next to a window. It was gorgeous, and instantly she could see the room alive, with white sheer curtains over the window and a crib in the corner. The floor was wood, but they could put a big, soft, area rug down for when the baby started crawling, and a rocking chair would sit in the corner opposite the crib—the light would stream in through the window and there would be a shelf full of children's books near the rocker and a colorful organizer right next to that, with little toys and baby shoes neatly lined up inside.

  "I think she likes it," Will said with a smile, pulling Janine from her little daydream.

  There was a flash and Janine quickly turned fully around, seeing the blond woman in the room for the first time, and glancing at the camera in her hand.

  The woman smiled, baring straight white teeth. "Janine, I presume. My name's Caroline, it's nice to meet you," she said, offering her hand.

  Janine absently shook the woman's hand, trying to remember all the things she had practiced to say since Will had called her the night before.

  Caroline gave Janine a thorough once-over, lingering on her protruding stomach.