Right Where You Left Me | Reiner Braun

Chapter 14 - At the Edge of the Cliff

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I passed the days on until our next meeting, attempting to drive away the contemplations in my head about my brother asking to move to Ingolstadt. That was a whole ferry ride away from Port City, and though I knew Reiner would still come and visit me no matter the odds, the imagination of a long distance relationship was already torture to me. I would always crave his presence. His touch, his childishness, his voice. Having him on the telephone would not do. I needed to see him, feel him, hear him all the time.

And besides, I could not afford to leave Mr. Pascal now, even if he agreed to be taken in. Though the prospect of him being taken care of was somehow a lift of a load from my shoulders, it broke my heart to know that I wasn't going to be his main nurse, and even more so when I consider that I was going to be far away from him, especially at this time in his dusking life.

The conclusion was that I couldn't possibly leave Port City. Though it meant a new beginning for me and my only immediate family, my older brother, it also meant leaving the two other most important men in my life. I tried to situate myself in the circumstance, and all it did was send endless lashes of guilt and longing at my heart.

I just had to find the time to tell Jerome. I was sure he would understand that it could not be easy for me to just leave our hometown. We could move somewhere else that doesn't have to be as distant as Ingolstadt.

"How are you so ready to forgive him?" Sienna asked me one day at the office, as we were scanning if all the certifications were signed by the proper signatories. "How come you have jumped into considering whether or not to move houses instead of considering whether or not you feel okay with still living with him? He hurt you."

I was honestly, utterly unprepared for that inquiry. It struck me that I too did not know the answer to my close friend's question. "He's my brother. You know, siblings fight. Sometimes we get rough. It's... It's no big deal."

Sienna flashed a look at me, incredulous and flush with concern. "Eden, you guys are adults! Or at least, he is an adult. The 'roughhousing' isn't supposed to be normal between you guys anymore. What he did was straight up assault!"

"Don't be so loud!" I hissed at her and she let her gaze fall down with her voice. "It was just one time. And he promised to be better. He even bought me a gift and everything, and I could tell by his tone that he means to change. I must trust him to."

"Still I think it's not a good idea to go with him and isolate yourself from people who care about you." She answered. "Like me, or Mr. Pascal. Even if we can't really protect you, at least by being here in the City, you can always confide in one of us."

"I was thinking the same." I said. "It's a comfort to me, really. That I'm always going to be near you guys. And you and I, we'd still keep in touch even after... After getting laid off, right?"

Sienna took my hand and gave me a sympathetic look. "Of course, Eden. You still owe me a fiance, you know!"

"You have so many men at your heels ready to give you their mother's ring if you so much as give them the slightest hint!" I laughed.

"But I don't want those merchants and salarymen. They're office husks like us and even worse because they don't have personality." She said, making me laugh even more. "What I want is a soldier! Yes. A strapping young soldier with all the tales of glory he could share. I don't care one bit about the saying."