Eternity (24 page)

He eventually returns around six, but it’s clear that absence has not made his heart grow fonder, as he stalks past me to the kitchen, only offering a meek ‘hi’ in my direction.

Anger replaces the dread, I’ve had enough of this, he’s acting like a petulant child and it’s got to stop, “For God’s sake Carlos, what is the matter?” I vent harshly, “and don’t you dare say nothing, because clearly something is bothering you”.

“It’s not, I’m fine” he snaps back.

“How is this fine?” my voice is raised now.

“Just leave it” he growls.

“You know what, I wish you would just man up and say it. You don’t want me here, we both know it, so just stop with the attitude! In fact I’ll make it easy for you and just pack my things up and I’ll be gone. Happy now?” I’m shouting the words, I’m sick of rejection, I’m sick of men. They’re all the same, too cowardly to do the right thing and be honest with you, so they just act like assholes until you do the hard work for them. Well I’ve had enough, this isn’t going to be me anymore!

I’m storming furiously towards the stairs when he grabs my arm, “Get off me!” I yell, snatching my arm away.

“Kate, wait a minute.” He pleads, but I’m too seething to stop.

“Kate…..Kaitlin! Will you just stop!” he bursts out, grabbing my arm again and turning me towards him.

“What?” I glare at him.

“It’s not like that” his tone is soft, as if he’s been wounded by my words. “I don’t want you to go, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be taking it out on you. It’s just……” he breaks off, lowering his head.

“Talk to me” I whisper, slowly leading him to the sofa and pulling him down to sit next to me. I wait silently for him to continue, intrigued to hear what could possibly be the cause of his unrest.

It seems like minutes before he explains, “I said to you last night about not seeing my brother much because he lives in America.” He pauses, running his hand across his forehead. “Well that’s not really the reason we don’t speak. It was a long time ago” he mentally counts the years, “seven years now.” He stops again as if weighing up if he actually wants to tell me.

Taking his hand in mine I squeeze it gently, “what happened?” I ask quietly.

“There was a girl, back then” he starts cautiously, his eyes searching my face for my reaction, “we were pretty serious, together for four years, I guess we were kind of childhood sweethearts” as he says it, the faintest wisp of a smile touches his lips, but then vanishes in the blink of an eye.

“She was my world, I was even planning on proposing, but then I spoke to Marcus; I needed my big brothers help, you know, with what to say and how to do it” he looks at me apologetically, like I should be the last person he should be telling this to. In a way I guess it’s true, but it was so long ago and with everything he has had to put up with, with Jake, I don’t think talking about his ex is really going to shake the foundations of our relationship.

“He knew how I felt about her, he knew what she meant to me” he runs his hands through his hair, it may have been seven years but it’s obvious that it still haunts him.

“Well the week after we spoke, I’ve bought the ring and I go to Marcus’s room to ask if I can hide it there and walk in on them together, in bed.” He looks as if someone has just crushed his soul, it’s as though he is re-living it just by speaking the words out loud.

“My God, your brother and your soon to be fiancée?”

He nods grimly, “Needless to say I never spoke to her again and as for Marcus, we just avoid each other.”

“But then how come your parents arranged for him to stay with you?” I question, confused by their actions.

“They don’t know what happened. They know we fell out and have never made up with each other, but they don’t know the whole story. I guess they figure it’s about time we sorted things out, but…” he trails off again, his expression tormented by the prospect.

“There’s still one thing I don’t get?”

“What?” he looks at me expectantly.

“Well, if all this has been about your brother, why have you been so angry with me?” I’m careful not to sound accusatory.

“I don’t know, I’m sorry” he looks down at his lap, too ashamed to meet my gaze. “I just can’t get the image of him being here, with you, out of my head and I guess the frustration has just been coming out in other ways”

I move in closer, cupping his chin with my hand and moving his head until he is facing me, “You know I would never do that to you, right?”

“I never thought that she would either” he replies solemnly.

He has a point there, I haven’t done anything to make him distrust me, but I haven’t done anything to prove he should trust me either; I need to keep reminding myself how short a time we’ve been together.

“Good point. Then how about I go and stay back in my old room, just while your brothers here?”

“No I don’t want that.” He states.

“It would only be for while he’s here and then as soon as he’s gone I can come back.”

“No, Kate, I …I….” for a fleeting moment I think he’s going to tell me that he loves me; my heart starts to flutter, I haven’t thought this far ahead. I mean sure, I’ve day dreamed about it, but I never for a second thought it would actually happen so soon.

“I miss you when you’re not here. I love waking up with you in the morning and coming home to you when I finish work. I don’t want to lose that, even for a few days, you’re not here for much longer now and I don’t want to miss a second of it if I don’t have to.”

I’m moved by his speech, it’s not quite ‘I love you’, but the word love was in it and that’s good enough for me.

I encircle my arms around him, “I feel the same way” I admit, holding him tight.

“I do think you should speak to Marcus when he arrives though, get it all out in the open” I venture on to thin ice.

“Kate, please just leave it.” His voice is quiet, but I can hear the subtle warning tones woven in.

“OK, OK” I put my hands up, agreeing to let it go. It is none of my business, but I hate seeing him like this, maybe I’ll speak to Marcus when he gets here, see if he will be reasonable?

We wake the next morning to a God awful clattering coming from downstairs. I spring from the bed, grabbing a stray stiletto as a weapon, ready to attack whatever intruder lurks outside. Still half asleep Carlos mumbles into the pillow, “What are you doing?”

“There’s someone downstairs” I reply in a harsh whisper, the heel raised to my shoulder and poised for action.

“It’s probably Marcus” Carlos points out, “he is incapable of doing anything quietly, but by all means throw that shoe at him, be good to bring him down a peg or two” he laughs, pulling me back down into bed and wrapping himself around me; his morning glory apparent and pressed into my back, as his hands fondle my breasts.

“Hey! I’m not doing that with your brother just downstairs”

“Awww what?” he employs his whiny child voice.

“If we can hear him, then he can hear us! I don’t want him listening in”

“But what if he stays for a week? You mean to say we won’t be having sex that whole time?”

“No, we will just have to be a little bit more inventive about where we do it” I say, turning to face him and throwing him a quick wink.

“Challenge accepted Ms. Mavers” he says, before kissing me.

“Right, come on. Let’s get up and meet this brother of yours.”

Walking downstairs, Carlos clinging to my hand possessively, I catch my first glimpse of Marcus; he’s in the kitchen, his back is to us as he moves around cooking up what smells like a fry-up. He has broad shoulders and you can make out every rippling muscle under his tight, white t-shirt. He has the same perfectly bronzed skin as Carlos, but his hair is shorter and a lighter shade than his siblings, more of a golden brown colour that shimmers when it catches the light.

He hears our approach and turns towards us, his face is almost identical to Carlos, they have the same strong jaw and dimpled cheeks, the same green eyes and captivating smile.

“Hey you guys” he says in a voice similar to Carlos but with more of an American twang. Wiping his hands on a towel he steps forward and outstretches his arms as if he is about to hug me, but I cut off his advances by extending my free hand for him instead. He shakes it firmly before greeting Carlos, “Little bro, how’s life been treating you?” he asks giving him a playful punch on the shoulder.

“Fine” Carlos smiles, politely, but offers nothing more. Marcus doesn’t seem to notice, or care and instead turns back to me, “You must be Kaitlin, I’ve heard a lot about you” I don’t know who from as he is barely on speaking terms with Carlos.

“Marcus, I presume” I say formally, keeping a wary distance, “I could say the same about you.”

“All good I hope?” he responds, as if unaware of any bad blood between them.

“Hmm” I react coldly, baffling him for only a second.

“OK, well I’ve made breakfast if you’re hungry? Pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, sit down and I’ll bring it over” he turns to finish putting everything in separate serving dishes while Carlos and I move to sit at the breakfast bar; I take the end stool, while he sits in the middle, removing me from any further contact with Marcus.

Me and Carlos eat in silence, listening to Marcus chatter excitedly about his latest business venture. Something to do with import / export couriers, it’s all rather dull, but he is convinced it is some sort of goldmine.

I’m half tempted to hook him into advertising through us, Mick was just starting to toy with the idea of going international when I left. So this could be a good jumping off point, if it’s as successful as he claims it will be; but somehow I don’t think Carlos would be fond of the idea and frankly when I think about working closely with Marcus it gives me a foreboding feeling.

I don’t know if it is just what Carlos has said about him, but I can’t help feeling uneasy around him. It’s something I can’t quite put my finger on, I just can’t shake the inkling that nothing good will come of him being here.

The morning drags by, Marcus is unwavering in has charm offensive and Carlos equally so in his refusal to give more than one word answers. Twice I offer quietly to Carlos to leave them alone to hash it out once and for all and twice I am refused.

Alternatively I find myself stuck to Carlos’s side at all times, like a conjoined twin. Don’t get me wrong, at first it was enchanting to have such constant affection from him, but when I can’t even go to the toilet without him asking where I’m going, it starts to grate.

I feel suffocated, I need to get out for a while, but there’s no way Carlos is letting me out of his sight, at least as long as Marcus is around.

There is nothing more I can do to re-assure him, we spoke about it, I gave him my word and I have been true to that; playing along with the ‘couple that can’t keep their hands off each other’ scene he invented, keeping my distance and being nothing but ice cold towards Marcus. What more can I possibly do, past having sex with him right here on the floor, for all to see? Or have ‘property of Carlos’ tattooed on my forehead?

I tell Carlos I’m going to the toilet, again, but instead slip silently through the connecting door into our bedroom; picking up the phone in there I carefully dial through to Blair’s room, it rings once, please answer, twice, please be in, three times, oh come on Blair! My plan is to get her to call right back with some sort of emergency that means I must go to her immediately, but something that is too sensitive for Carlos to come as well, maybe a fight with John or something. That way he’ll be forced to stay behind and interact with Marcus. That was the plan anyway, but after ten rings, I have to accept that she is not in.

Placing the receiver back in its cradle I plod back downstairs defeated, into the kind of atmosphere you could slice through with a knife.

Marcus is sat watching TV, while Carlos perches on the breakfast bar, glowering at the back of his head.

“Can we please go out or something, I’m getting sick of sitting around all day” I speak to Carlos.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” he says openly, then under his breath “be nice to get away from him for a while”

I nod in agreement, taking his hand and leading him straight to the door before he has a chance to change his mind. The second my fingers make contact with the handle, Marcus speaks.