Brothers & Best Friends

by Rose, Ashley

"When are you coming home?"

  "I'm not sure. I haven't talked to Jess."

  "You've been there for two days. If you haven't been talking, what have you been doing?" she asked sharply.

  She blushed again, thinking of the dreams. "We've just been hanging out, Mom, talking and stuff. He took me to Central Park yesterday."

  "Hooray for him," her mom said dryly. "When are you coming home?"

  "I'm not sure, Mom," Janine repeated.

  "Well, are you coming home today, tomorrow? Do you have a general idea?"

  "I'm not coming home today."

  "Does Jess not work?"

  "Of course he works. He has to work tomorrow."

  "Then are you coming home tomorrow? What's the point of visiting if he has to work?"

  "I don't know, Mom. I told you I'll ask him," she said, getting irritated.

  "Did you bring enough clothes to stay there this long?"

  "I didn't bring a lot, no. We're going to pick up some bread today, so we're going to stop at a Laundromat and I'll clean what I brought."

  "When are you going to talk to him about coming home?"

  "I'm not ready to come home yet, Mom."

  "I don't recall giving you permission to go in the first place," she snapped. "I have been very patient about letting my eighteen-year-old daughter stay in the same apartment that the twenty-one-year-old she thinks she's in love with lives in, and I have to say, Janine, my patience is really wearing thin."

  Janine said, "I know, Mom, and I appreciate your patience. But you know I could not be in better hands than Jess's."

  "Yeah, well, he better make sure he keeps those wonderful hands to himself."

  "Mom!"

  "Don't 'Mom' me. I don't appreciate you taking off to New York City without a word and going to stay with some guy. That is not like you and I don't know what you could be thinking."

  "I needed to talk to Jess. I got the idea, I packed a little bag, and here I am. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I figured you would say no, and...it's already done, so there's no point in making a big deal out of it."

  "Whatever, Janine. Call me when you've talked to Jess."

  "Okay."

  "Love you, bye," her mother said sulkily.

  "Love you, bye."

  Janine turned the phone off with a sigh, her mouth forming a little pout. She climbed out of bed and moped into the kitchen.

  "You look happy," Jess said with a small, sarcastic smile.

  "Thrilled," she deadpanned.

  "What'd she say?"

  "Get back to your tower and never leave again."

  He smiled. "Sorry, Rapunzel."

  She sighed. "She just wants to know when I'm coming home. It's very annoying. I keep forgetting I'm only eighteen, and she has no such problem. I just can't help thinking it isn't fair to have these childhood limitations when I've been thrown into an adult's life. Granted, she doesn't know about that," she said with a sigh. "But I don't want to tell them. I wish I didn't have to explain how I got pregnant. Isn't it enough to be pregnant? Does it really matter how it happened? It happened. Period."

  "It isn't your fault, Janie," he reminded her.

  "It isn't my fault I'm pregnant, no, but it's still going to hurt them when they find out what happened. They love me, and when you love someone, you hurt when they're hurt. I'm most worried about John. He's going to feel like he failed me, like he should have been there to save me. He's going to blame himself, thinking if he hadn't been talking to that girl, or if he hadn't let me walk away, this never would have happened. And I don't want that for him. It isn't his fault, but no matter what I say he's going to blame himself. You know him—don't you think so?"

  Jess nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

  "See. And how can I do that to him?"

  "It isn't your fault," he said weakly.

  "I know." She shook her head.

  "Maybe...maybe you don't have to tell them."

  She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

  He started turning the bacon, not looking at her. "You could just say you're pregnant. You're eighteen. I'm sure they'll draw their own conclusions as to how it happened. They might be angry, but then you wouldn't have to tell them."

  "They wouldn't believe it, Jess. I don't have a boyfriend."

  "It could have been a one night stand," he reasoned.

  "I would never have a one night stand," she said defensively. "What do you think I am, a tramp?" she responded heatedly.

  "No." He held up his hands defensively, frowning. "Wait, how did this get turned around on me?"

  "You said I would have a one night stand with someone I don't even know. You also implied I'm stupid, because I didn't use a condom."

  "Okay, forget I said anything." He turned his attention back to his cooking.

  She looked at him and sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just don't understand how you can think that I'm the kind of girl who would have a one night stand, let alone get pregnant from one," she said quietly.

  He sighed. "I don't think that. I'm sorry. I was just...suggesting a way around it."

  "I know. I forget you haven't seen me for four years. It's not like you would really know I'm not that kind of girl. I was always backward and kind of prudish before, and I keep forgetting no one actually believed I would stay that way. I just...got defensive. I didn't mean to bite your head off. I'm sorry."

  "And I didn't mean to imply I think you're a tramp."

  "I don't want you to think I'm a tramp," she said. "I'm not. I'm far from a tramp. I don't even date. Nobody would be fooled if I said I just hooked up with some guy at a party and I don't know his name. Nobody that knows me would believe that."

  "I know. I'm sorry."

  She smiled. "Don't be."

  Janine was in Jess's room putting his folded shirts in the crate when his phone started ringing.

  Jess was in the shower so she opened the door and said, "Your phone's ringing."

  "Can you get it?" he asked, peeking out the curtain.

  "Yeah," she said, running out to get the phone. "Hello?"

  "Hi," answered a girl's voice. "Is Jess there?"

  "He isn't available right now. He's in the shower. Can I take a message?"

  "Um, who are you?"

  "Janine, who are you?"

  "Rachel. You're not his girlfriend, are you?"

  "Um, no..."

  "Oh, good. Just tell Jess to give me a call. I go to NYU and I got these passes for a play I have to review. I thought Jess might like to go with me. So tell him to give me a call and let me know if he's available. Thanks, bye," she said, hanging up before Janine even got a chance to reply.

  "Bye," Janine murmured to no one.

  She went in and finished putting Jess's clothes away, her expression more glum than before.

  Jess emerged a couple minutes later with a towel around his waist. "Who was it?" he asked.

  "Rachel from NYU," she said, not looking at him. She missed a beat before adding, "She wanted to know if you wanted to go to a play with her. She has to review it. She goes to NYU," she said again. "She sounded pretty."

  "Janine."

  "Hmm?" she asked, not looking at him.

  "You're babbling."

  "I'm not babbling. I was relaying a message. Relaying is not babbling. They're two different things completely."

  "You sound a little bit jealous," he remarked, leaning against the door.

  "Why would I be jealous? I have absolutely no grounds to be jealous. I'm just your best friend's little sister. You can't be jealous when you're your best friend's little sister, unless of course she's also your best friend's little sister, in which case, yes, I might feel a bit threatened."

  "Wow, you still ramble when you're unsettled." Jess chuckled.

  "I am not unsettled. Why would I be unsettled? It's not like I expect you to stop living because I have a problem. It's not your problem, it's mine, and by all rights I had no right to intrude upon your life for something that..
.isn't your problem."

  "Janine, she's nothing," he said dismissively, shaking his head.

  "It's none of my business if she's not nothing. You don't have to explain yourself to me."

  "Janie. It's nothing," he repeated, a little slower this time. "We went out a couple times. That was weeks ago. It is nothing. I'm just gonna call her back and tell her that I can't go."

  "You don't have to do that," she said quietly.

  He shrugged. "She's kind of obnoxious, actually."

  "Is she?" she asked, being a little bit nicer to the clothing but still not relaxing completely.

  He nodded. "Fake blonde, pouty, legs too long, skirts too short, complains about everything, talks loud in movie theaters, refuses to eat in front of me, and she's never read Howl or anything by Salinger."

  "She's at NYU and she hasn't read Salinger?"

  He nodded. "Apparently so. I brought it up last time and she gave me the blankest look I've ever seen before she said—and I'm not even joking—'Oh, you mean the terminator guy?'"

  Janine started laughing. "Salinger? The Terminator? Oh, my gosh."

  "Yeah. She's a little bit ditzy. I believe her life goal is to write for Cosmopolitan. When she's thirty-seven she plans to get married, unless she's already married, and then start thinking about kids. She decided on thirty-seven because thirty-five isn't old enough but forty is too old."

  "A nice middle ground," Janine said with an indulgent smile.

  "Very." He smiled and walked over to her, patting her on the head. "Silly rabbit." Then he shook his head and walked out.

  Janine was grinning like an idiot by the time he left. "Take that, Rachel from NYU," she said, putting his last pair of socks in the crate.

  Chapter Four

  The next morning, Janine woke up before Jess. Since she had remembered Jess muttering about having to pack his lunch, she decided to surprise him by packing it for him. Then she made eggs, biscuits, and a fresh pot of coffee.

  Jess came stumbling out of the bedroom scratching the back of his neck. He's so adorable when he's sleepy, she thought happily.

  "Good morning," she chirped.

  "I hate mornings."

  "Usually I do too," she agreed with a smile.

  "Yes, it looks like it," he said dryly.

  She smiled and cut his biscuit in half. "Do you like butter, jelly, or nothing on your biscuit?"

  He raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

  "I made you some breakfast. I also packed your lunch. I made you a sandwich, and I gave you a bag of Cheez-Its, and..." She trailed off when he gave her an odd look. "Is something wrong?" she asked. "You don't have to take the lunch if you wanted something else, I just thought...I'd offer."

  "You made me lunch?"

  "Yeah. I hope you don't mind. If you don't want it, it's no big deal. I can save it and have it for my lunch," she offered with a smile.

  He smiled. "Of course I want it. You just saved me enough time to have breakfast."

  She grinned.

  "You don't have to do this for me, though," he told her. "You can stay in bed as long as you want. I pretty much know my routine."

  She smiled. "I know. But I'm already inconveniencing you so much, I just wanted to try to make up for it."

  "You are not inconveniencing me," he told her. "And I appreciate this very much. I'm just saying, don't think I expect it. I don't. You rest as much as you want."

  She smiled. "I appreciate that. And I will probably take you up on that tomorrow because I'll be tired from today."

  He smiled. "That's fine. Thank you," he said, walking over to her and wrapping her in a sideways hug.

  Her insides fluttered and she smiled at him. He chuckled and kissed her on the cheek, taking the plate and going to sit down.

  She blinked a few times then picked up her own biscuit and egg, taking her plate and sitting with Jess. "So, my mom's probably going to freak if I don't call her today and tell her when I'm coming home."

  "When do you want to go home?"

  "Never," she replied with a grin.

  He smirked. "Well, you can stay with me as long as you like, but I don't think your mother will like that plan."

  "Probably not," she agreed.

  They talked a little while they ate. Todd came rolling out of bed shortly after they started eating. There was one more egg in the pan and Todd happily claimed it. He dumped the egg on his biscuit and took a bite.

  "Mmm, Jenny, this is really good," he said as he chewed.

  "Thank you," she said.

  "Her name's Janie, not Jenny," Jess said with a smirk.

  "Oh." He laughed a little. "Sweet. Anyway, it's good."

  Jess finished the last of the food on his plate and nodded. "Yes it is. Now I have to go take a shower real quick. I'll be back."

  Janine smiled and watched Jess walk in the bathroom. Her smile waned as she watched Todd walk around eating his biscuit and egg sandwich without a plate, crumbs dropping everywhere. When he was finished, he went to wipe his mouth with his sleeve but she shoved a paper towel at him in time.

  "Mmm, thanks." He picked up a plastic bag at the end of the couch and handed her the bag and a dollar bill. She blinked. "Here's my laundry," he said.

  Her fist clenched at her side. "Thank you. I love laundry," she said sarcastically.

  He smiled. "Cool."

  "Do you have any idea where I can find a vacuum cleaner?" she asked.

  He nodded. "The woman across the hall has one. She leaves between ten and eleven though."

  She nodded. "Thank you."

  He nodded and walked over, picking up a wrinkled T-shirt. He sniffed it, then pulled the shirt he was wearing off and slipped it on. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned away, going back to the kitchen to do the dishes. She looked at the bag of dirty clothes and scowled, setting them down. Oh well, I am invading his home, too, she thought grudgingly. There would be no harm in doing a load of laundry for him. Even if he didn't give her enough money to do it.

  Jess, on the other hand, left a bunch of cash on the counter, in case Janine wanted to do any grocery shopping. "And if you need anything else, anything at all, just call me," he said.

  "Okay to text you while you're at work?" she asked.

  Jess laughed. "Oh, I don't text. My phone is too old." He held up a tiny flip phone. "It would take me 10 minutes to type 'hi.' Just call anytime, okay?"

  "Okay." She gave him a little hug before he walked out the door.

  While Jess was at work, Janine made her first trip into the city alone to do Todd's laundry, and got lost twice. When she got back from the Laundromat, she found a note on the door. Frowning, she picked it up. She was tempted to read it but decided to behave and let Jess have his privacy.

  She had been pleased to borrow the vacuum cleaner from the neighbor, who might possibly have mistaken her for Jess's girlfriend, and it might possibly have slipped Janine's mind to correct her. It was fun to pretend, if only for a couple days, that she was actually dating the man she had been in love with since before she was even old enough to fall in love. The woman had even been friendly. She said she completely sympathized with Janine for living with two bachelors, and she was welcome to the vacuum cleaner whenever she needed it. Janine had taken it gratefully and cleaned the floors of every room. It was definitely a bachelors' apartment. No one else could possibly live in something so disgusting.

  As she was scrubbing the bathroom sink, her phone rang. It was Jess.

  "Oh, hi," she greeted happily.

  "Hey."

  She looked up at the clock. It was lunch. He was actually calling her for lunch. Her heart soared.

  "How's your day going?" he asked.

  "Uh, fine. My day's fine. How's yours going?" she asked.

  "Good." There was a brief pause. "So...I wanted to ask you something."

  "Okay."

  "A friend of mine from work was planning to take his wife out to dinner tonight. It's their anniversary, so they had a sitter to watch thei
r son. Well, the sitter canceled, and they don't have a backup, and...I told him about you visiting and assured him that you're obviously responsible enough to watch him. He called his wife and she begged him to ask me to ask you if you would be willing. They have reservations at this steakhouse that she's been wanting to go to for ages, and... so I wanted to ask if you might want to do that. You don't have to or anything. I mean, the pay isn't very good, only twenty-five dollars for 3 hours, but I thought I'd call and ask."

  She blinked. "How many children?"

  "Just one."

  "And...you're saying only twenty-five dollars for 3 hours?"

  "Janie, this is New York. Manhattan. No decent babysitter will work for less than ten bucks an hour here."

  She gasped. "Wow, are you serious?"

  "Yep. So...do you want to or not?"

  "Of course. I wouldn't want them to have to cancel their date. Besides, this is a way for me to get some money so I can give it to you for your trouble."

  "You are not paying me for doing my laundry."

  "And Todd's laundry," she added. "Which I think was trying to walk out of the apartment earlier."

  He chuckled. "Yeah, Todd tends to think he only has to wash his clothes once he's worn them four or five weeks. And you really can't tell what's clean and what isn't, so...Wait, did you do Todd's laundry?"

  "Yep. He gave me a load before he left."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Yeah. It isn't a big deal. I mean, I am mooching in his apartment, too."

  "You are not mooching, you are an honored guest."

  "Well, I'm glad you think so, but he doesn't know me, so I doubt he really cares if I'm here or not."

  "Ah, Todd's a doofus. Anyway, I'll let Tom know, and they should be dropping Greg off at about six. Is that okay?"

  "Yep, that's great."

  "Okay. Well, I'll see you at home."

  Her heart flipped. "Okay, I'll see you then."

  He hung up the phone and Janine let out a satisfied sigh before hanging up the phone herself. "Home," she said quietly. Then she smiled and went back to scrubbing the sink.

  ***

  Later, she looked up as she heard the key turn in the door. It swung open and there stood Jess, looking absolutely delicious. He looked up and smiled at her before his gaze fell to his left. He started to look down, but his head snapped back up and he stumbled back a step, his eyes wide. His jaw dropped open and he looked around the apartment as if he had never seen it before. And, really, he hadn't. He was probably surprised to see there was carpet on the floor. He looked up at her, his eyes still wide.