Chapter 2

~Gabe

I had no intention of hiring anyone until the moment I offered the job to Justin. I agreed to meet my stepbrother mostly to humor Royce and a little bit out of curiosity. His father never talked about him and that made me want to meet him.

Then I end up asking him to work for me. Royce said that Justin needed a job desperately and that I just as desperately needed someone to keep me from keeling over from hunger.

Then Justin nearly did pass out practically on my doorstep. He"s so thin and pale. It"s like looking at a ghost.

Nothing Royce said prepared me for how worn down and starved Justin looked. I couldn"t just let him leave. He is obviously even worse at taking care of himself than I am. I had to do something for him.

Justin is gone now, and I"m still reeling from meeting him and hiring him. Then I text Royce to make sure my stepbrother doesn"t have a drug problem. If he does, he"s going straight into rehab. Royce assures me he"s not on drugs.

"He"s had some troubles." That"s all Royce will say. I already know that his mother died a few years ago. There might be more, but that one fact is enough. Losing my dad was hard enough though we weren"t that close. Losing Derrick was hell. Still is.

I don"t sleep much, haven"t since Derrick died. I lie down, try to make my mind go blank and wait for the night sky out my window to turn a pale gray. This morning, I feel more animated maybe because Justin is supposed to report to work.

He took the job, but I don"t know if he"ll actually show up. He seemed shell-shocked after my job offer, like he couldn"t quite absorb it as a fact. Still, that"s hardly a good reason for me to be on pins and needles wondering if he"ll be here.

Justin shows up a little early and looks almost as nervous as yesterday. As I let him in, he asks if I have any instructions.

"Get the kitchen in order," I tell him.

"In order?"

"Use your judgment," I say a little impatiently. "I don"t want to think about food, drinks, dishes. Take care of what needs taking care of. Stock the kitchen so it looks like someone actually lives here. That might get my aunt off my back about that one thing at least."

Actually Aunt Brenda has wanted me to hire a housekeeper for a while instead of just having a service in to clean and get out. But I think my aunt was picturing someone matronly to keep me fed, and not a guy barely in his twenties who looks like he couldn"t fry an egg.

I can"t wait for my aunt to meet Justin. Maybe that"s why I really hired him. Since he"s so thin, I tell him, "Help yourself to anything you want." Then I remember the state of the fridge. "Or fill up the fridge then you might have something to help yourself to." I give him a wry smile. He just stares blankly, like a sleepwalker.

Justin seems to be about ten steps behind, but I just keep going. "This is your phone and a credit card as back up. The phone is set up for payments." I hand them over and he stares at them like he has never seen a phone or a credit card before.

While he turns his blank, blue-eyed stare on me, I tell him as encouragingly as I can, "I"m sure you"ll figure it out." With that I leave him to do whatever he wants about the kitchen and go to my office.

I usually get immersed in my work, but for some reason I keep having this urge to see what he"s doing. And it"s not because I want to check up on him. It"s that blank stare, the stillness that came over him just before I left him alone.

When I finally give in and go to have a look at him, I find him in the kitchen making a list. He is frowning with concentration, focused and I"m surprised. I don"t disturb him, just feel strange as I look at him bent over the notepad and writing. It gives me a feeling of tightness in my chest that I can"t explain.

I go back to my office, try to immerse myself in work. It"s about an hour later when I notice Justin hovering in the office doorway.

As I raise my head and eye him questioningly, he looks hesitant, like he"s afraid to speak up. "Um, am I supposed to do something about breakfast?"

"You can go out and get us some coffee and bagels," I say offhandedly. I figure he"d like to get out as much as possible or I"d tell him to have it delivered.

"Us? You"re expecting someone," he says and frowns like this is a major curveball. "How many should I get? I mean for how many?"

He thinks I"m having a guest. "No. It"s just for you and me," I tell him.

"Me? Oh." Now he seems even more confused.

"I"m not picky. Whatever you get is fine." I realize that"s a lie and correct myself. "OK, that"s not true. No onion bagels."

"Right. I won"t get you anything adventurous," he says and I look at him. I"m pretty sure that was a dig.

After a while I hear him come back from his errand and now he"s hovering in the doorway again. I look up and see he"s empty-handed. "I have it set up in the kitchen," he says.

I"m about to tell him I plan to eat at my desk, but he"s already gone. I might as well go and make sure he eats. Not that that"s my job.

He got plain bagels and a few different spreads, and we sit at the kitchen counter to eat. The last time we did this, it didn"t work out too well. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Justin eat half a bagel then he stops. It"s better than nothing. Then I realize I did the same thing.

"Thanks for breakfast," I tell him. "Any time you get something for me, get something for yourself. On me, of course."

"Thanks," Justin says.

"And when you"re shopping too. Make sure there"s stuff here for you," I tell him and he nods.

Then he suddenly asks in a rough voice, "What did Royce tell you about me?"