“You’re the writer. They make money off of you, tell him off or tell them to find someone new.” My brother kept chewing his food.
“I wanted to give him a try, see if he would be a positive influence on me. Plus, I didn’t want to seem like a bitch right away. Yes, I'm having trouble with the latest book and he keeps telling me which only makes it worse.” I took my bottle and drank the last of the water.
“What’s it about?” he asked.
“It’s not so much as ‘what’s it about,’ as much as how do I make it into a three book deal? He wants three books and I can only make this into two. He doesn’t get that the storyline and the characters will suffer otherwise. So the third book has now become the bane of my existence,” I whined, annoyed that I got myself into this stupid predicament.
“You know he only wants to make his mark using you. Ditch the guy or your writing will suffer.” Darios had finished his meal and stood up, taking the plate to the sink.
“I guess,” I said meekly.
“You must be tired. There’s no way my little sister would let a jerk-off like him step all over her.”
I shrugged at his comment. “I'm exhausted.”
He moved closer to me and patted me on the head.
“Come with me to the gym tomorrow. Work out your frustrations with some boxing, then call the fucker and tell him off. You know it would make you feel better.” I slid off my stool and headed upstairs. “I’ll be here at ten to pick you up. Be ready!” he shouted after me. I reached the second floor and I could still see him downstairs getting ready to leave.
“Oh, Darios?” I called out.
“Yeah?” He nudged his head to look up.
“Dishwasher!”
He rolled his eyes and marched back into the kitchen, taking the plate out of the sink and placing it into the dishwasher.
“Night!” I shouted, as I reached the third floor.
“Night,” he called out, closing the door behind him.
Gelateria
True to his word, my brother showed up at ten. It was a nice, hot day in the summer, so I decided to wait for him outside on my steps. The sun was now shining brightly, taking away whatever signs of rain we had from the night before. He rolled down his window and shouted, “Let’s go, baby girl.”
I jumped up from my top step and jogged down the rest until I reached his door. I hopped inside his large Escalade. God, the man was too much.
“So this is your new chick mobile?” I looked at it disgusted.
He pulled down his glasses and smiled wickedly. “You know it.” He turned up his heavy metal music and began driving us down to his gym.
As much as my brother was a man whore, he was good with his money. The thought was frightening enough. He took whatever money he made with his job and kept investing it, opening up a few health clubs, which were becoming popular with the New York crowd. From there, he would reinvest into buying properties. He wanted money and loved using it to his advantage. Our parents were now retired and traveled a lot. We essentially only had each other.
He pulled into the building his gym was in and drove down to the parking lot. We walked to the elevator and he pressed the number four. The doors opened to reveal the main entrance to his gym.
There was a young girl at the reception area. Her hair was bleached blonde and her body was tanned to the point that it looked slightly orange. Without a doubt, she had implants and her nails were gelled making her look entirely fake.
She smiled the moment she saw him. Her eyes then drifted to me. Her mouth gaped opened and I could swear I heard her snarl at me. I turned to see my brother smiling.
“Asshole,” I said under my breath.
She ran to him and hugged him, her arms wrapping around his neck. He gave her a one-arm hug back.
“Hey, Jessica. How are things?” he asked, letting her go.
“Good, you?” she said, looking at me.
“Pretty good,” he answered. She then turned and smiled at him.
“Here to work out?” she asked.
Obviously a stupid question.
“Yeah.”
“Yah!” she squealed. I rolled my eyes and put my bag down. This was taking too long.
“And who is this?” she asked rather cattily.
“This? This is my little sister. Remember her, because she’ll be coming to this gym.” He pointed at me.
Her mouth formed a little “o” and her eyes became wide. I knew my brother’s tone. She had crossed the line. He hated territorial women, especially if there wasn’t anything for them to feel territorial about. He pushed by her and waited for me on the other side. I smiled and passed right by her.
“Where do you find them?” I asked.