The Right One

Eighteen

Raymond wasn't in a much better mood the next day as he'd hoped. If anything, all the events of the previous day seemed to have finally caught up with him as he started the day with a raging headache that felt like a whole battalion marching in his head.

Still, he found himself getting ready and going to work. Left to him, he would rather have spent the whole day locked away in his office, buried in work but of course his brother had other plans. Even though he had been expecting it, he still wasn't prepared when his secretary announced that Alex was there to see him.

Reluctantly, he asked that his brother be let in and one look at him had Alex shaking his head disapprovingly.

"I asked you to rest today," Alex chided. His gaze roamed his brother's frame perched in his seat and bent slightly over his desk. He tsked as he settled on the seat opposite Raymond. "You don't want me telling you what you look like right now."

Raymond chuckled, leaning back and rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Whatever it is, I feel even worse."

Alex hummed, tilting his head slightly as if trying to figure something out. "So, are you going to tell me what happened to you?"

"Straight to the point, yeah?" But seeing as it was Alex, he would have been an idiot expecting anything less. "Will you let me off if I say no?"

"No," Alex replied, grinning when Raymond groaned. "Don't you remember? You were the one who suggested we always talked to each other about things like this. You can't go back on your own words now."

Raymond scoffed. He'd never have thought at the time saying that would one day come back to bite him in the butt.

"So . . . ?" Alex prompted, both brows raising in question. He wasn't giving up without a proper explanation.

Raymond huffed out a breath, giving in. "Fine. I met up with Rose yesterday."

He paused, waiting for his brother's reaction. A part of him expected Alex to maybe lash out at him for not listening, but all he got was an encouraging nod to continue.

He proceeded to narrate the whole story to Alex, leaving nothing out. When he was done, Alex was wearing a thoughtful and confused expression.

"So, are you going to say anything?" He demanded of his brother, growing a tad defensive. He'd not spilled out his guts just to be met with silence.

"Calm your tits. I'm thinking," Alex teased.

Raymond chuckled, feeling himself slowly relaxing. Talking about it actually made him feel a little bit better.

"She lied to you," Alex finally declared, an unusual confidence present in his words.

"What?" Raymond asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

Alex sighed. "You might not like to hear this, but it was all for your good, alright?"

Raymond's eyes narrowed as he grew considerably suspicious. "What did you do?"

Alex snorted. "Whatever you're thinking is not it, okay? You kept seeing Rose even after all that happened between you both. I found that really worrisome so I have kind of been keeping an eye on your girl for a while now."

"Keeping an eye on her, how?" Raymond demanded, his suspicions increasing.

Alex shrugged in response but offered no other explanation.

He felt annoyance growing but quickly stemmed it. Getting angry with Alex was surely going to get him even farther from answers. "And? What does that have to do with the boy?"