The Better Brother

Michael

I handled everything at work in record time. My client threw a huge fit over the increased price of our toolset. He flipped out on Marcy, screaming and cursing at her until she was reduced to tears. After that, I knew it wasn’t worth the money. I cut him off and refused to work with him ever again. Problem solved.

But once that was put behind me, my mind was free to dwell on Julie again. I tried to call her as soon as I finished at work, but she didn’t answer. When I went to her house, she didn’t answer the door. Her car wasn’t in the driveway, so I didn’t know if she was gone or if she just d

idn’t want to talk to me. Either way, things didn’t look good when I went into the office on Wednesday morning.

I sat down behind my desk and pulled out my phone. I called Julie twice that morning, but I got her voicemail both times. I thought about leaving a message. My mind played through a million options. Nothing seemed good enough. So, instead, I just hung up and sat back in my chair. I stared at the ceiling and tried to make sense of everything that happened.

Julie and I talked the day before. We smoothed things out. We were good. Or so I thought. After I left to deal with work, everything changed. Suddenly, Julie wasn’t answering my phone calls. She didn’t open the door when I stopped by. When she finally responded to my texts, she just said she was busy with her new writing assignment.

I wanted to believe her, but I just couldn’t. Something was off. She said we were okay. She promised that Josh wouldn’t come between us. And yet, just two days after seeing him, things between Julie and I were tenser than ever.

As much as I hated to even consider the possibility, I wondered if Julie’s feelings for my brother had suddenly resurfaced. Was seeing him too much for her to handle because he broke her heart? Because she was still angry with him? Or because she still loved him?

Just the thought made my skin crawl with disgust. Knowing everything Josh put Julie through made me livid. I hated that he treated her so badly for so long. When Julie talked about Josh, I could tell she was beaten down by him so many times. He ripped her apart and, for that, I hated him.

But he was still my brother. We’d worked hard to build a relationship over the past two years, and I didn’t want to just throw all that away. He was the last person I wanted to talk to that afternoon, but I picked up my phone and dialed his number anyway.

“What do you want?” Josh asked when he answered. He didn’t so much as say hello before starting in on me.

“To talk,” I said vaguely. “That other night was intense.”

“Yeah,” Josh said with a snort. “To say the least.”

“Well,” I said. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Josh’s anger was evident in his voice. I immediately knew that calling him was a mistake.

“Look, I was just checking on you, okay?” I said. “I thought that, after seeing Julie, you might want someone to talk to.”

“And you thought that person should be you?” Josh snorted again. “The guy who’s fucking my ex-girlfriend?”

“My relationship with Julie is—”

“Relationship?” Josh interrupted. “Please. You and I both know what this is.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“You know exactly what it means,” Josh said. “I’ve seen you work your way through women for two years now, Michael. I’m not an idiot.”

“I don’t know about that,” I said. “Dumping Julie was pretty idiotic.”

“Well, it worked out pretty well for you, didn’t it?”

My own anger was growing by the second. Josh and I clearly weren’t ready to have a civil conversation. I knew he would be angry, pissed even, but I never imagined he would be this nasty.

“Julie means a lot to me,” I said simply. “She’s not like the other girls I’ve been with.”

“You’re right,” Josh said. “She’s not, because she was my girl first.”

“Do you hear yourself?” I asked. “You sound like a petty little bitch, Josh.”

“Whatever, Michael,” Josh snapped. “I don’t have anything else to say to you.”

“Fine,” I said. “We don’t have to talk.”

I was ready to hang up when Josh exhaled sharply and caught my attention again. Despite what he said, he clearly wasn’t done yelling at me.