The Hated Billionaire by Erica Frost

Chapter 20: Brett

I worked late that evening. I don’t know why – I guess some small part of me still waited to receive word from Christina. Or maybe I hoped she would come into work at some point during the day.

“Mr. Caden? Is it okay if I go home now?” My secretary asked from the doorway. I looked up, nodding at her over the top of my laptop.

“Sure,” I said. “What time is it?”

“It’s six-thirty, Mr. Caden.”

“Oh. Great. Thanks, Terri.”

“No problem, Mr. Caden.”

I bent back to my work, the sound of her high-heeled shoes clicking on the floor as she walked down the stairs across from my office. I turned my attention back to the screen, where I was just adding the finishing touches to a yearly report for the board. It wasn’t due yet for another month, but I wanted to check through what had been written and get it done and off the list.

I read through the copy again, yawning. I was hungry and a bit tired. It was probably time to go home, I thought, blinking under the bright lights of the office. I reached for my phone.

I had a reply from Christina!

I felt my heart thump as I saw it, but was surprised by the brevity. It just said that she was fine. It could have been written for anybody, not for somebody she was particularly fond of.

“Brett, you’re overreacting now.”

I put the phone back in my pocket. I was being silly. She had replied, and that mattered to me, a great deal. It had been sent just before midday, I noticed. At least I knew that she was okay. I had no idea if she was really fine, or if she just meant she was a bit sick, but I decided to assume that she really had taken off work because she felt ill. She’d never done it before, so I knew that she wasn’t just taking off because she wanted to. It was for some serious reason or other.

“Like, maybe, because she wants to avoid me.”

I laughed at my insecurities. Of course, that wasn’t it. Why would she bother replying if she was mad at me?

I went out and took the lift down to the ground floor, heading down to get my car.

On the way back, my phone rang. The traffic had already thinned out a great deal. I was at a stoplight and I pulled it out.

It was my brother, Teagan.

“Hey, Brett?”

“Hey, Teagan,” I replied, feeling reassured by hearing his voice. “How are you? Can’t talk…I’m in traffic – I just need to put it on speaker…”

I sat it on the dashboard, ready to talk.

“I just wanted to ask if you want to come over for dinner tonight,” my brother asked. “I know it’s short notice, but if you don’t have any other plans, I will get it going and have it cooked by around seven pm?”

“Oh!” I felt my stomach growling. It would be great to have a dinner ready-made, and I would welcome some company. It sure beat spending time by myself at home worrying about Christina. “Great.”

“That’s great,” my brother replied, sounding pleased. “I’ll go and stick the dinner in the oven, so it’s ready when you get in.”

“Thanks!” I was genuinely pleased. “I’m on my way.”

I put my foot on the gas after slipping my phone back into my pocket, hurrying up the street.

I got there with ten minutes to spare.

My brother lived on the top floor. I got out and rang the bell and was pleased when he answered it, his cheerful voice drifting down to me where I waited on the top step in the cool air.

“Hey, Teagan,” I greeted. “It’s me.”

“Great! I’ll let you in now.” He sounded enthusiastic to hear me, which made me feel happy too.

“Hey! Brett, come in!” my brother greeted me as I took the lift to the top floor. It was only three floors, the building where he lived, but I took the lift anyway. He was waiting at the door to let me in.

“Hey, great to see you,” I said, pausing to shake his hand and being swamped in an embrace. My brother is a good few inches taller than me, which makes him very tall indeed, and he has big shoulders and arms still from all those hours in training with a baseball bat. He stepped back, looking at me, squarish face lit with a smile.

“So good that you could be here, Brett. Come in! Come in.” He stepped back, letting me pass through into the hallway, where a delicious smell floated up from the kitchen.

“Man, that smells amazing,” I commented, following him to the kitchen.

“Good! It’s a vegetable curry. I baked bread to go with it, too – all totally free of animal products.”

“Wow,” I said, genuinely impressed. My brother had become vegan recently, and I was full of admiration for the time and effort it involved. I also had to admit that the few times I’d eaten his cooking, it was super-good. This vegan thing had something to recommend it, I thought with a grin as I sat down at the kitchen table.

“Thanks, man,” he said, noticing that I had brought some wine along with me. “That’ll be great. And it’s a Cabernet Sauvignon, too – well chosen.” He went to fetch the salad and put it on the table, which was already set with some really nice gray-black plates and cutlery.

“So, how was your day?” I asked, as I helped him carry things over to the table.

“It was a good day,” my brother said, taking the plate over to the table. I went to join him. “I didn’t have a lot of work today…had a chat with some guys from the development baseball group. They’re doing great things for kids from disadvantaged homes.” He grinned. “One of our guys is looking to play semi-professionally already.”

“That’s so great,” I said. He looked so happy for those kids. “You know, Teagan, I’m so proud of you.”

“What?” Teagan said. He had tears in his eyes, his face a picture of pure shock, and I felt my heart ache as he blinked them away. “What?” he asked again, sounding uncertain. “You serious?”

I nodded, feeling terrible that I’d never realized how important it was to say that to him. “Of course! Hell, you’re my big brother, Teagan the baseball star,”

“Brett,” he said, after a long moment during which he tried to get a hold on himself. “You know how much that means to me. You see, I always felt that you were so mega-successful. Mom was so proud of you, and when I got my injury and I couldn’t play, I felt like I’d let everyone down.”

I felt tears in my own eyes. “Teagan!” I said, shaking my head fondly. “How could you say that? Mom adored you. Frankly, I got the impression that you were her favorite son.”

“No way!” he laughed aloud, disbelief on his face. He passed me the plate of bread and I took some, already eating my stew. I raised a brow.

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” he was laughing again, shaking his head in confusion. “You mean, you thought that Mom preferred me, out of us brothers?”

“Of course,” I said, fairly sure that was obvious.

He shook his head. “Brad, you know…you’ll have to believe me when I say that I never saw it like that. I always saw it the other way.”

It was my turn to stare at him. “You really thought that Mom put more effort into looking after me?”

He shrugged. “More time. So, yeah, I guess, more effort. I don’t know why I felt like that. I just felt as if you mattered more, like you got everything right. I can’t believe I’ve never talked about this before.”

I nodded. “I know. It’s taken thirty years for us to finally address this. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that the way she treated us was actually fair.”

“Yeah,” my brother said. “It was equitable, not equal.”

I stared at him. “You’re right,” I said. Strangely, just knowing that made years of misunderstanding suddenly wash off me, my heart healing in places where it was sore before.

“Yeah!” Teagan grinned. “It’s only now that I get to thinking about it that it becomes so clear.” He reached for another helping of curry, taking a slice of bread to eat with it. somehow it seemed as if we’d become closer, as if a barrier that I’d never even known was there had gone, letting us talk with real trust.

I could see that he was close to tears, and I felt that way too. I hadn’t realized that we were both carrying pain and sorrow from our past and that we’d both felt so confused and unloved.

Mom had been stressed a lot, and I think that we’d both learned to downplay things so that we didn’t make more trouble. We’d also both learned that we had to try and do things to please her, and not just to be ourselves.

After a long moment, during which I recalled her sweet, wide face framed with pale brown hair, her wide smile and ready laugh, I was able to say something.

“Thanks, Teagan,” I said.

“What for?”

“For being ready to talk about this stuff. I think we both needed that.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, grinning. “I think so too. It’s amazing how much stuff a person can carry from their past…it’s so important to talk more.”

“Yeah.”

We both sat quietly for a long while. I finished my bowl of curry and took some more bread.

“I wanted to ask you something,” I said shyly. I felt more able to trust Teagan now that we had talked about the past. “I’ve wanted to ask you for ages, actually.”

“Yeah, sure,” my brother said, leaning forward over the table. His brown eyes were soft. “I’d be happy to answer anything.”

“Great. I wanted to ask you about that girl I dated. At my work, you know? I have been wondering if maybe she did feel pressured by me.” I felt my throat tighten, just thinking it. I felt so ashamed. “I don’t know how to tell, and I feel ashamed that it never even occurred to me before.” I took a breath, sure my worry showed on my face.

“No,” Teagan said instantly.

“No?”

“Brett, you know…” He began carefully. “I spoke suddenly when I said that about her feeling threatened. And I misjudged you. Sure, a lot of people would just take advantage and not really think about it – especially if they were too self-absorbed to look too carefully at how the other person responded. But I had no reason to think you might be like that. I think you would notice something like that.”

I let out a deep breath. “You do?” I wasn’t too sure myself anymore. I could almost believe that Christina had not really wanted me, that she had tolerated me and then suddenly not been able to tolerate any more. She was so hard to read! She never really talked about anything; her real feelings hidden behind a big wall inside.

“Yes. I really think that. But, you know,” he added after a long moment. “I think that my opinion doesn’t count here. The only person you should really ask is her.”

“What?” I stared. I felt choked by nerves. “No. Bro, I feel a lot for her but I couldn’t ask her that. I guess I just don’t have the nerve.” I felt ashamed about it, but I had to tell him because that was true. I didn’t think I could call Christina and ask her what she really thought of me.

I couldn’t really understand the look in those soft brown eyes. It could have been pity, but it felt warmer and heartfelt and I looked back, trying to understand what he meant. After a moment, he cleared his throat.

“You know, you really shouldn’t doubt yourself so much. I am sure she really wants you. Why wouldn’t she? You’re handsome, funny, kind…you’re a great guy. I think nobody could fail to see that.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. But with the money, I can never really tell if all anybody sees when they see me is a big bank cheque.” I let out a breath, feeling really tired. The topic of people not seeing me, just seeing the cash, upset me.

Teagan chuckled. “Well, maybe some people would see that. But they’d have to be so shallow they could slide out of the elevator doors. I am sure that you wouldn’t be friends with such people.”

“Thanks,” I said. “And thanks for talking this evening…it’s been great.”

“Thank you, too,” he said.

We finished our meal, both lost in our own thoughts. I found my mind wandering to Christina again and again, wondering how she was and what she really thought. I could feel worried for her now, too – if she really was ill, I hoped she’d get better soon.

I decided to text her as soon as I got home and ask her if she’d see me on the weekend for a hike – it would be great to be able to talk to her about all the stuff that was on my mind and finally find out more about her.