“I don’t care if her brother is dying, this is her project.”

Brian was seething. He had just checked his messages and had one from his top earner, she had called out for a few days because her brother was in town. He couldn’t be that important because Molly had worked for him since she graduated college, he had offered her a job after her internship. He knew she had a husband that told stupid jokes, a son that barfed on Brian’s new shoes at the Christmas party last year, a daughter that reminded him of one of those Village of the Damned kids. There was also a mother she had to take off to take to the doctor a few times last year. But he had never heard of a brother.

“Brian, you can’t get mad because she has family problems. The campaign she’s working on can hold a few days,” Cynthia told him, giving him that look he hated. It was the look that said he was being unreasonable.

“You can calm down, boss. I came in to get some things taken care of.  My brother will be with me in my office, just to let you know.”

Brian looked up and saw Molly Taylor-Grayson standing there looking at him with an amused look. Behind her was a long-haired blond who was about her height. He was gorgeous, very fuckable but too young. He had to be around twenty-five, that was much too young for his fifty-one-year-old self, hell he was a grandfather.

“I didn’t know you had a younger brother,” he said casually.

Molly glared at him although he was unsure why. The blond behind her laughed.

“I’m actually older than her. I’ll be forty on my next birthday.”

Brian did his best not to drop his jaw. The man really did look twenty-five. Brian didn’t look fifty, but he didn’t look twenty-five either. He was a bit jealous over the man seeming to have found the fountain of youth.

“In all fairness, Justin doesn’t have any responsibility,” Molly said, pushing her brother away lightly. The blond didn’t seem upset he just smiled, and what a smile it was. He needed to get them out of his office.

“Alright, take this back to your office. I expect Kimble to sign as soon as next week.”

“Will do,” she said before grabbing the blond’s hand and pulling him away.

Brian went back to what he was doing but his mind kept going back to the blond down the hall. It had been a while since he had such a visceral attraction to someone. When he was younger, he had this idea that relationships were for those who had no imagination. But years of going home to a dark house and feeling like a fifth wheel with his friends, had changed that. It was sad and pathetic, and he’d rather be home alone like a loser than be seen as pathetic to others.

Standing up, he headed for Molly’s office. Purely to check on her progress, that was the only reason. He lightly knocked on her door and entered when she answered. Inside she was alone typing away on her computer.

“You’re alone,” he said.

“Yeah, Justin wandered off.”

“Wandered off?”

“Yeah, I love him because he’s my brother but without weights holding him down, he’ll just float away.”

“He’s flighty?”

“He’s…an artist. A traveler. A different kind of person.” She looked at him. “Yeah, he’s flighty.”

Brian nodded and left the office. As he was walking down the hall back to his office the supply room door opened. His art director and Molly’s wayward brother both stepped out looking disheveled. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what they had been doing in there. That pissed him off too. While he wasn’t above fucking people at work, he had higher standards for his employees. Not only that, it annoyed him that his art director had already touched Justin. His married art director at that.

“Stephen, needing something from the supply closet?” he asked, his art director looked well caught.

“Brian, I’m sorry. I-I was looking for toner.”

“And you had to take your shirt off for that?” he asked, pointing to Stephen’s shirt that was inside out.

“It’s just sex,” Justin said, looking unbothered.

“This is my company and that’s not how I run this place.”

Stephen jaw dropped and he sneered. “Since when?”

“Go back to your department while you still have a job,” he demanded.

Stephan looked like he wanted to argue but he had a mortgage and Brian would be in the right to fire him. He left, leaving Justin and Brian standing in the corridor alone.

“I guess I should get back to Molly.”

“Think you can find your way with falling onto someone else’s dick?” Brian asked, even to himself it sounded hostile. He didn’t know where it was coming from.

“I guess we’ll just have to see,” Justin said giving him a lazy smile before walking off.

It had been a long time since he had someone new that wasn’t scared of him. Even his longtime employees knew not to push him when he’s looking for a reason to rage…like fire someone.

Instead of following him, Brian went back to his office so he could seethe alone. In the less than twenty minutes that he’s been in the company of Justin, he’s wanted to kill throttle him and throw him down on his leather sofa and have his wicked way with him. Maybe he should leave early for the day. Cynthia had been right; the pitch could wait.

He gathered his things and headed out the door. Once he was outside, he saw a horrific sight. What was that monstrosity doing in his parking lot? Sitting right there for the world to see and think someone in his office drove it was a white and lime green VW van. He shuttered and thought about having it towed but he chose just to go home.

“Your boss is hot,” Justin said watching the man saunter to his car and get in.

“Don’t even think about it,” Molly said, her voice hard.

“What do you mean?”

“No fucking Brian, that’s an order.”

He shrugged. “Alright. Don’t think he likes me much anyway. Caught me coming out of the supply closet with a guy.”

She froze at her computer. “What guy?”

“Don’t know, went to look at the art department and met him. Dirty blond hair with gray at the temples.”

“YOU FUCKED STEPHEN?” 

“Yeah, I think that was his name.” He didn’t care one way or the other.

“He’s married…to a woman. He’s got kids and everything.”

“Sorry,” he said, he didn’t like making her upset.

She sighed and got up from her chair, coming over to him and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her back, he missed this. He’s been a rotten brother.

“Could be worse, could be the Connor James fiasco again.”

He laughed. “I don’t think anything could be that bad.”

About fifteen years ago he was in California, it had been when he was still young and poor. He was driving a POS Plymouth Valiant that should have been in a junkyard. He was working catering for a temp agency. He met superstar Connor James and they had sex that night. What he didn’t know was some wannabe paparazzi was following Connor. So, a sextape of him and Connor James made the rounds and the man’s very public divorce followed. That was when Justin knew maybe LA wasn’t his kind of town. He then went to Alaska to try his hand at crab fishing.

“You know about once every few years some internet sleuths try and find out the identity of the bendy blond in video.”

“It’s a little weird that you seem to know exactly what’s in that video.”

“I didn’t watch it, but I may have asked my husband to and give me details.”

“You are a sick woman.”

She cackled. “Yeah, not as sick as my husband wishes. I had to break his little heart about a threesome he had planned for us.”

Justin gagged. “Thanks for that. Remind me to ask Jeff about this.”

She shrugged. “Knew he was bi when I married him. I guess like with the straight guys who have fantasies of sisters, he’s just evolved.”

“You said perverted wrong,” he said, laughing. He really did like her husband Jeff; they were a great couple. “To bring this down, we have to go meet Dad.”

That made her stop laughing. There father was an asshole. Justin hadn’t talk to him for twenty years. When he was twenty, he had fallen and gotten hurt, he had called his dad from the hospital asking him if he could send him some money so he could eat. His dad told him that his filthy life wasn’t a part of his concern anymore. Justin hated asking his mom, she had gotten screwed in the divorce, but he had no choice, being hurt he couldn’t work. She had sent as much as she could. He paid her back with interest. In fact, he paid for her honeymoon with his signing bonus with the magazine.

The drive to their dad’s was quiet. They took Molly’s car, leaving Fred in the parking lot at her work. He weirdly thought that if his dad saw Fred, he would damage him.

Their dad’s condo was nice, but a little plain for what he pictured for the man. Even though it was close to Christmas there were no lights on his condo unlike the others around it.

“Tonight, we have to go out, get drunk and sing karaoke badly,” he said.

“But you can sing.”

“Yeah but you can’t.”

She laughed and pushed him. When she was little, he never thought about his sister being his friend but now he couldn’t picture his life without her. Sadly, he was a crap brother, never calling and checking in. Never being there for her when she needed him.

“Asshole. I guess I could have fun for a night, it’ll be like Vegas.”

“God, I hope not. I don’t remember much of that night and I think that’s for the best,” he said laughing.

When Molly turned twenty-one, he invited her to Las Vegas, paid for her ticket and hotel. He is working set design in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. It was a fun weekend and a great memory of his sister…what he could remember.

“Any idea what he wants?” Molly asked.

“No clue.”

Justin got out of Molly’s car and stood straight up. He was going to need to be someone he hadn’t been in a long time for this. For over twenty years he just did what he wanted, if things got tough, he left. His father had this way about him to make him feel like a naughty schoolboy.

“It’ll be alright, I’m here,” Molly said, grabbing his hand. It should be the other way around he was older after all.

He nodded and they walked to the front door and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and his father stood there. After twenty years there he was, standing there older and frailer than he’d ever seen him.

“Hey, Dad,” he said around the lump in this throat.

“Justin,” he said, nodding then looked at Molly. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Well, here I am.” She was making her stance; she was much more in your face than Justin had ever been.

“Might as well come in,” their father said, waving them in. He moved slowly, like he was in pain.

The place had a stale smell to it, like fresh air was a foreign thing. He started to get a bad feeling looking around. He may hate how his dad treated him, but he still loved him, and this was no kind of place for him to be living. There was dirty dishes around, dirty clothes on the floor and the furniture.

“What’s going on, Dad?” he asked. He looked over to Molly and could see the same guilt in her eyes. Just because their dad was an asshole it wasn’t an excuse to let this happen.

“Things are bad, doc says I’m not gonna make it to Christmas.”

It was like a physical blow to both of them. In his heart Justin had always thought that one day his father would say he was sorry, and he loved him. But this man wasn’t his father, this man was tired and broken.

“Oh.” It was all he could say.

“Daddy?” a small voice asked.

Both he and Molly jumped at the sudden voice. Turning they saw a small child of around five. Justin didn’t know if it was a boy or girl. They were wearing a dirty green shirt and shorts that were too small. It was too cold in the condo to be dressed like that. He looked around again for any trace that a child lived there but there was none.

“What’s going on?” Molly demanded of their father.

“Justin, Molly, I’d like you to meet your brother Caleb.”

Molly walked over to the boy and put her hand out. “I guess I’m your big sister. I have a daughter your age, her name is Summer.”

The boy didn’t answer just looked at her with big scared eyes.

“Dad, what?” Justin asked.

“Had a thing with a teller at the bank some years ago. Showed up on my doorstep with him a year ago. She was getting married and the new husband didn’t want a left-over kid. Not that I blame him.” Justin knew then his father hadn’t changed, he was still an asshole that only thought of himself.

“Why call me? What do you need me to do?”

“Thought that was obvious, I need to you take the boy.”

“What?” both him and Molly asked causing the boy to whimper.

“You used to be smart Justin, I said I called you here to take the boy. I had my lawyer fill out all the paperwork giving you guardianship. Gina even said she would give up her rights to you when I crook.”

“What about Molly? I don’t have a home; I live in a van.”

“I’ve been keeping up with you on that website. You’ve been a lot of places but that’s not living, that’s floundering. Molly doesn’t need the responsibly of a kid that’s not hers. You on the other hand need something to hold you down.”

“Why do you care? You haven’t given a damn about me since I was seventeen.”

“I know I’m never going to win father of the year on this father thing but looking death in the face, things get clearer. You move around, not staying in one place more than a few days because you don’t think you deserve a home, and that’s on me. Molly takes on more responsibly than she should because after you left and I left, she was the only thing left to keep your mother going. She had to take care of her when your mom was falling apart.”

Their mom had started drinking after he left, Molly had to take on that responsibly as a little girl. It was another thing Justin felt guilty about.

“I’ll take him, Dad, it’s fine,” Molly was said.

“No.”

“What?”

“You’ll treat him different from your kids, you won’t mean to do it but you will. The only good thing I can do for him is give him a parent that will always put him first. Justin, you was made to be a parent, I remember you used to carry that teddy bear around like a baby. This twenty-year flight of fancy you’ve been on, that’s because of me. I know it. It’s time to come home.”

Justin looked at Caleb, who looked so lost and scared. He couldn’t do this, he couldn’t.

“I’m sorry, I can’t take him. I have a job that isn’t suited for having a child.”

“I’ll take him, Dad,” Molly said.

“No, no, no, it has to be Justin.”

“Why? You keep saying all these things but none of it rings true. You don’t give a damn about Justin having a family. I don’t even believe you care about Caleb being first in anyone’s eyes. What is really going on?” Molly demanded.

“He can’t have a mother.”

“What?” Justin asked.

“Gina, she’s a little crazy…ok a lot crazy. She doesn’t want him, but she doesn’t want him calling another woman Mom. When I told her I was sick, I told her I would ask Molly to take him. She lost her damn mind, saying that her son wouldn’t call another woman mother. She said she would take him back, I thought that was fine, so she did take him back. I got a call a week later saying that Caleb was in the hospital. They said he fell, but I don’t believe that, her new husband broke his arm. Like I said, I did you two wrong but besides that night I kicked you out Justin, I never laid a hand on you. But you were almost a man by then, he’s just a little boy. I can’t prove the husband abused Caleb and if I leave him with Molly she’ll come back and take him. I’m scared he’ll end up dead if that happens. But I told her about Justin, the idea that he’s never going to have a wife, she agreed if Justin takes Caleb, she’ll give up her rights but only to him to adopt. Please, this is the only thing I can do before I die. It wronged you both don’t let me wrong him too.”

Justin believed that story, he had met a lot of different kinds of people in his travels. Some were so into themselves they had to have everything their way. His father would have to have found a woman even more entitled than himself.

“I’ll do it,” he said softly. His heart wouldn’t allow him to run the chance of his little brother going to a home that he would be abused.

“Thank you,” his father said, Justin saw the relief in his father eyes. He may not have loved Justin or Molly like he should, but it was good to see he at least wanted Caleb safe, that was more feeling than he thought his father had.

His father hobbled over to a trash bag on the floor and picked it up. “This is his stuff.”

Justin promised himself when he had a moment alone, he would cry for the childhood his little brother had so far. Then he would have to go about figuring out how to adult. Fuck.