“Well, sounds like it was luck that brought you together, but that doesn’t explain much, why not tell me how you met?” Jeremiah questioned. “Dave was saying you were both lawyers? I guess keeping secrets, that’s to be expected?”
Daniel said nothing but frowned in response. David came back before we had a chance to answer Jeremiah’s many questions. He slipped a virgin colada my way, and gave a beer to Jeremiah and Daniel. David had a flavored mineral water.
“Thanks mate,” Jeremiah said in response. Daniel thanked David under his breath and took a quick swig of his beer. Sitting next to him, I could feel the nervous energy and trepidation. He should be happy he’s met his twin brother, happy he has a brother at all, let alone a twin, I thought, but saw his feelings were mixed.
“I’ve been trying to get them to tell me how they met,” Jeremiah started. “Don’t they make a sensational couple?”
David smiled in response. “Guess you could say fate had something to do with it.” Staring straight into Daniel’s eyes, he stated, “Some guys have all the luck.”
Daniel averted eye contact and quickly turned to me. “We make tracks?”
“In a bit,” I told him, keen to find out more about David. “We haven’t even eaten yet.”
Daniel sighed heavily in response. If he could leave then, he would have, I was sure. His behavior was unexpected to say the least.
Daniel hardly ate. Midway through our meal, he asked me to venture away with him. He wanted to talk to me privately. Outside, by the stairwell leading out of the club, Daniel and I argued over the decision to allow David to stay with us. I argued that it would be a perfect opportunity for him to get to know his brother. Daniel argued that it would be a perfect opportunity for his brother to court me.
“Babe, you saw him. He’s a bigger, better version of me, he’s got the walk to match the talk. He’s a surgeon. He’s madly in love with you, he paid me fifty thousand dollars to keep you safe that night… I feel like we’re just getting to be happy here and he’s here to shake things up. I’m terrified of losing you,” he confessed, clearly feeling threatened.
“I have free will, you know,” I told him. “Things won’t happen unless I want them to happen,” I said. “Don’t forget I’m married to you.”
“When has that ever been an obstacle to any man on a mission to get the girl of his dreams!” Daniel argued. “He’s clearly still in love with you, and though he says he’s happy for us, I know he’ll stop at nothing to get you interested in him.”
“You don’t know that!”
“I do,” Daniel replied.
“Oh, so he’s told you that?”
“No, he doesn’t have to tell me anything. I’m a man, I know what he’s thinking.”
“He isn’t just any man – he’s your brother,” I reminded him.
“Yeah, and?”
“He respects you? I’m sure he wouldn’t try to break us up.”
He leaned back onto the staircase. “You wanna bet? He might be my brother, but he doesn’t respect me at all,” he claimed. “Don’t you remember the messages he sent after I rescued you? He’s come here to stake a claim on you. The fact that we’re brothers is irrelevant.”
I realized then that arguing with him would get me nowhere, and that the issue was not just about David being into me, it also had to do with Daniel’s identity. Up until this moment, he’d believed he was an only child. Now, he had a twin brother who knew more about his family background than he did. He’d virtually gone through most of his adult life believing certain things about himself, but now that his brother was here, he had to consider the fact that things were radically different from what he’d believed them to be.
Sudden movement behind the staircase startled us both. A man appeared from the darkness.
“Nearly scared me to death, man,” Daniel said.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to,” the man said. Stepping into the light, I noticed dirty blond locks that were extremely matted, a shirred black shirt that was ripped in places, and trousers without shoes. The man smelt of soot and stale cigarettes. I pressed into Daniel, and he held me tenderly. Instead of veering to go, Daniel stood there.
“Man, can I trouble you for a dollar?” the man asked.
“Sure,” Daniel replied, checking his pockets for some loose change. He took the coins that were in his pocket and placed them into the man’s hand.
“Thank you, man.”
Daniel then reached into his back pocket for his wallet, opened it, and took out a few bills. Briefly checking what he had, he rolled the bills up and placed them in the man’s hand. “Get yourself somewhere decent to sleep tonight. Get yourself more than just something to eat,” he said.
The man briefly counted the bills aloud, but under a whisper. “Bless you man, bless you. God bless you. Thank you so much. Thank you, you don’t know what this means to me,” he said visibly shaken and overwhelmed at Daniel’s kindness.
“Don’t mention it,” Daniel said, slipping his hand back around my waist. “You take care man,” he said, and we walked a short distance from the stairs. “We head back in?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied. Before we walked back up the stairs, I stated, “You need to know that David being here doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”
“I should hope not,” he said, his voice deep with concern.
“Daniel, I’m with you. He just can’t sweep me away from you.”
“A man in love can be very persuasive,” he argued. “Trust me, I know. I was able to convince you that I was worth your time.”
“Daniel, give yourself, your entire being, your essence, some credit. I fell for you too. Deeply. You didn’t have to work that hard to convince me,” I told him.
“I hear you, but I need you to hear me. A man who’ll pay fifty grand to have you rescued is willing to do a whole lot more to make you his.”
“And I’m a woman in love, with no one else but you,” I assured him. “I know what I want, and what I want is to be with you.” For a moment, he seemed convinced. He pulled me in and kissed me deeply, in earnest.
“I wish we could just split, and lose this crowd,” he said, gently rubbing some stray lipstick off my mouth. “Go home, do something naughty.”
“Me too, but just not tonight,” I told him, smiling as I wiped off the lipstick that had transferred to his gorgeous lips. “Your brother’s staying with us, remember?”
“I hope I’m not going to regret having him live with us, even if it is just for a time.”
“Think positive baby. Look at it as a chance to find out more about him, and indirectly, more about you.”
“Okay,” he agreed, reluctantly.
“And we can still do the naughty,” I told him. “Just have to start closing our bedroom door and you’re going to have to work at being a little less vocal.”
“Sounds like an alright plan,” he said, loosening up a bit. “Well, I’m looking forward to consuming you and having you to myself,” he stated, giving me a playful squeeze on the behind as we walked up the stairs.
Inevitably, our plans got delayed. When we got home, I freshened up then rushed around, fixing up the guest room for our visitor. David. A past prospective love, he was now my brother in law.
“A Scotch?” Daniel offered, pouring himself one.
David declined. “I don’t drink,” he said. I’d noticed he didn’t when we were out but had assumed it was because he’d offered to be the designated driver.
“What can I get you then. A Coke?”
“Naw man, just some water.”
“Any reason why you don’t drink?” Daniel asked suspiciously.
“I’m not a fan of dulling my senses,” David replied. “I fancy myself a bit of a hedonist.”
Daniel raised a brow and took a deep swig of his drink.
“Plus there’s the fact that I never know when I’ll be called out to deal with an emergency procedure at work,” he explained.
“I see,” Dani
el replied, unconvinced.
“Just some water for me,” he confirmed. “I am a little peckish though. I know it’s after midnight now, but can I fix us all up something to eat?” David asked.
“Go for it,” Daniel said.
“I’ll show you the kitchen and I’ll show you around the rest of the house,” I stated. “I’ll get you that water.”
“Great,” David said. “Anything you can’t eat, big brother?” he asked, turning to Daniel.
I saw Daniel flinch, as though slightly taken aback at the mention of the word brother. He shook his head in response, and replied, “No, anything in that kitchen – my kitchen, I can eat. As I said before, go for it,” he suggested, pouring himself another Scotch.
“Will do,” David said, somewhat curtly. He seemed somewhat relieved to leave Daniel’s presence.
I could tell that having David in our house would take some getting used to.
“So, this is where you live,” David said, as a matter of factly as I showed him through the house. “Are you happy, Temwani?” he asked all of a sudden, stopping in his tracks and startling me with such a direct question.
“Of course I’m happy, David.” I answered quickly.
“Of course you are,” he said in response. “How far along are you?” he asked of my pregnancy.
“A few weeks shy of three months now,” I told him.
“Pregnancy suits you,” he said quickly. “You’re even more beautiful than I recalled.”
I sighed in response. “Thank you David. But you’re not allowed to flirt with me.”
“Oh. I’m not allowed to pay you a compliment?”
“You know exactly what I mean,” I told him.
“Yeah, I understand. My brother Daniel won’t be too happy,” he acknowledged, sourly.
“That’s part of it,” I said, leading him to the patio. “So, this is it – our house. Your room is just off the living room area, where Daniel is…”
“Ah yes, I’m not prepared to waken a sleeping dragon at the moment,” he said, referring to Daniel. I giggled in response.
“I see I can still make you laugh,” he said, squeezing my arm affectionately.
“Yes, I’d forgotten how much fun you were. You were the life of the party.”
“That may be the case, but I wasn’t enough for you at the time,” he said somberly.
“David, things were complicated back then. I wasn’t looking for love.”
“You weren’t even open to it,” he corrected.
“That’s not entirely true,” I reminded him.
“Oh?” He was facing me directly now, his deep blue eyes staring into me, beholding me whole.
“Never mind,” I told him, not wanting to again explain how I’d desperately tried to get in contact with him through friends, weeks after he’d left.
“You know, I’m not sure if me staying here is the right thing to do,” he said. “Daniel wasn’t exactly thrilled to finally meet me. He isn’t exactly thrilled to have me here tonight.”
“No, but he’ll come around,” I hoped.
“I’m not sure about that…”
“Sooner or later he’ll have to, you’re family,” I reminded him.
“We’ll see,” he said hesitantly. “Let me fix us up something to eat,” he said, changing topic.
The David that busied himself in the kitchen was a different David from the one I’d known all those years ago. The David I knew back then was awkward, hesitant and impressionable. He was also outgoing to a fault, with a false sense of bravado, to avoid drawing attention to his insecurity and unease as he grew from a boy into a man. This David was confident, full of purpose and radiant, in body, mind and spirit. He spoke of Australia with deep fondness, and laughed with reckless abandon when he recounted the memory of friends since gone, and scandalous house parties.
He was in the middle of recanting the story of how a major fight had almost broken out over a missing Bacardi Breezer when Daniel stepped in.
“Howdy, howdy,” he said. “Am I interrupting something special here?”
“No, no, not at all,” I said. “David was just reminding me of the fun we had back when I was at uni in Oz.”
“I see,” Daniel said, eyeing his brother suspiciously. “Any chance I could get something to eat?”
Always hungry, I thought.
“Of course you can,” David said. “I’ll plate it up now. Take a seat Temwani,” he suggested.
He plated up Eggs Benedict – poached eggs, hollandaise sauce on toasted ciabatta bread.
“This is amazing David!” I exclaimed.
“It’s not bad,” Daniel said flatly. I kicked him under the table and he frowned in response. “It’s pretty good,” he said quickly.
“Thanks guys,” David said in reply. “Thanks for letting me stay with you while I’m in town. Hospital food and room service gets old after a time - there’s nothing like a home cooked meal.”
“Amen to that,” Daniel said, winking at me.
I smiled back at him, but noticed the wistful look on David’s face.
“Where’d you learn how to cook so well?” I asked.
“I’ve been alone for a long time,” he said. “Time on your own gives one enough time to do any number of things.”
“Yeah, and I bet ain’t none of them are pretty,” Daniel said sharply.
I rolled my eyes in response. The rising animosity from Daniel’s end was stifling.
“Thank you for the meal, David. Tea or coffee?” I offered, getting up.
“I’ll have some tea,” David said, gathering up the plates.
“I’ll do that,” I insisted, taking the plates from him and urging him to sit down. “Thanks for that, but you’re the guest here.”
It was easy to tell them apart. David had a strong Aussie accent and rich auburn brown hair. Daniel had a distinctively southern accent and chestnut brown hair. David was chatty and energetic, Daniel, somber and reserved. For now at least.
Exhausted after doing the dishes, I went to bed alone, leaving the two to catch up. I woke not long after to raised voices. They were arguing. The clock on the bedroom wall read 5 am. Daniel hadn’t been to bed yet. Craving grapes, I made my way to the kitchen where they were still both seated.
“You’re suggesting she’ll eventually leave me for you?” Daniel questioned.
“You might be married to her now, but I loved her first,” David insisted. “I still love her now.”
“Keep this up and I’ll run you out of town,” Daniel threatened. “She’s my wife now, and she isn’t your anything and that’s how this will be from here on out.”
“You need to cool down. I’ll try talkin’ to you when you’re sober,” David said, getting up to walk away. He startled slightly when he saw me standing at the kitchen door. “Sorry we woke you,” he said, walking off.
“Having him here was a mistake,” Daniel said moments after we heard David shutting the bedroom door of the guest room.
“You need to be reasonable,” I told him. “I understand you feel threatened by him, but you getting all riled up over everything isn’t the way to be. He is your brother after all.”
“Babe, I just can’t stand this. Everything I’ve believed about my family, my upbringing, according to him, is a lie. About the only thing that isn’t is what we have. Or is it all subject to change too, now that he’s here?” he questioned.
“Of course not, Daniel. What we have is for life,” I reminded him. “I think you’re thinking too much, right now. Get some rest.”
“I wish I could, but I can’t,” he said. “Amongst other things, my mom’s been lying to me about a lot of things all this time.”
“Such as?” I asked, curious.
“Call me stupid but I didn’t know I was adopted.”
“Daniel…”
“And I guess I fell out of the stupid tree and got hit by every branch on the way down, as I was stupid enough to think that running away with you that night, and making yo
u mine, would mean I’d get to keep you forever.”
“Daniel, I think you’re taking this too far. Nothing and no one will keep me from you.”
Unconvinced, he stated, “I hope you remember you said that, one day.”
“Daniel…”
“His being here means war. C’est la guerre. He’s come back to stake a claim on you.”
“You’re being very dramatic right now. Besides, you can’t stake a claim on someone who has no wish to be possessed,” I said.
“Well, that’s what Jesse thought about Lestat in the Vampire Chronicles. And we both know how that ended up.”
What the? “I think you’ve had way too much to drink, your thoughts are getting away with you, and you desperately need to get some sleep.”
“Trust me, sleep is the last thing I need,” he argued.
“Trust me, sleep is the very thing that you need, Lestat. Dawn is rising,” I told him, grabbing him by the hand and forcibly directing him towards the bedroom.
There was no sleep to be had by Daniel. He insisted we sit outside on the porch and talk it out. It was all about David, and he wouldn’t give it a rest. “Aren’t you curious to know why he’s here all of a sudden? Don’t you think he’s here for something else?”
“Other than for me, you mean?”
Not amused, he waved off my response, stood up to go, deciding to head inside for a while.
I sat on the porch for a while longer and David joined me, a glass of freshly pressed orange juice in hand.
“For you,” he said, offering it to me immediately.
“Thank you,” I told him.
We sat in silence for a while before I asked, “So, David, what do you believe in?”
“What do you mean?”
“What’s your M.O. – your modus operandi?”
“You’re gonna have to talk to me in plain speak,” he laughed. “I don’t speak lawyer-speak.”
“Right,” I laughed, taking a sip of my juice. “Simple question. What gets you out of bed in the morning these days – what do you believe in?”
He paused for a moment before stating, “That’s easy. I believe in love everlasting, I believe in love in action. I believe in showing more than telling. I believe that actions speak louder than words, and I live my life doing to others – helping others how I can.”
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