Chasing Smoke

Chapter 2: Brothers

"I brought your favorite wine." I dangle the wine bottle in my hand after Jason opened the door. "Not for Sarah obviously." He widens the door for me to enter his cozy house. I can see that Sarah is busy preparing the feast for four from the wide of the door.

"How are you?" Jason hugs me tightly.

"Great. You?" I hug him back.

He pulls back and smiles, "superb."

"Hi, Jenna. Please wait for the steak. It's still in the oven." I love Sarah. She's so nice and warm and pretty and all of best quality you want in a woman. I always think that Jason and Sarah are so lucky to find each other, to complete each other.

"Yeah okay. I'm not hungry yet. I can wait." I pull up the dining chair while enjoying the very nice and positive atmosphere in this house. "So, how's the little one? Boy or girl? Or do you both still want it to be a secret?" Okay, I lied. I'm hungry. And now I keep eye-ing the fries.

"Sarah, I think our sister is hungry. She is making a weird face with the fries." Jason holds his laugh.

I smack his head while heading to the fries. "Can you not?"

"Hahaha it's fine Jenna. You can eat the fries before the steak. And we still want it to be secret. You know the surprise thrills me." I like Sarah's voice. So soft, so nice. I have no doubt she'll be an amazing mother.

"I don't understand about keeping the baby sex a secret though. I mean what if you bought a wrong color or wrong things for the baby?"

"Then I guess I'll just buy the right one then."

"Well, the perks of being a billionaire. Cheers." I say as I clink my glass of wine to Jason's. Then the positive vibe is gone because of my stupid sarcastic mouth.

"Dinner's ready." Sarah smiles, knowing she saved us from the awkward silence.

The meal is great. Sarah is a great cook, same as Anna, my step-mother. My family has this tradition where we'll eat breakfast together every Sunday morning but the food is cooked by ourselves, well I mean Anna and Sarah. I do help, a little. Dad always said that Grey woman must know how to cook. Because the fastest way to go to the man's heart is through his belly. And actually it is a true story, food was the reason Jason and Sarah ended their war on their early marriage, well other than the great sex they had by accident.

After we eat dinner, we relax ourselves in the living room. I sit on Jason's expensive beige wool carpet while stretching my legs. I know that Jason really wants to talk about what happened this noon between Dad and I. But, the thought of talk about that still disgusts me.

"I'm gonna head to bed. You can sleep here tonight. The room is always yours." Sarah gets up from her seat and pats my shoulder.

I've been known as Jason's tail. Being his twin, we're kind of inseparable. He's the best brother I could ever ask. I was causing many troubles for Jason on his early marriage. My constant deranged self put him in a very difficult position. But, that's the thing I love from Jason, he always puts me first. I'm his number one priority. When he moved out to his new house, he specifically spared one room. He said it's my room and I'm always welcomed on his house. Sure, it was causing trouble at first, but I've grown up and learned to not put my brother in a difficult situation anymore. He deserves the best.

I look up to see Sarah's tired face. "Thanks Sarah. And the meal was great."

I know Jason and Sarah are not perfect, but I always think if I marry someone it will be like them. They are so happy with each other. I want that. Is it so wrong that I want to marry someone I love?

"So, are you gonna tell me or not?" Jason's voice scatters my thought.

"What do you want to know?" I ask reluctantly.

"Everything. You know you can't keep things inside you. And you do know you have to talk. Remember what Dr. Bill said."

"Yeah, I know." I lie down on the carpet. Nice wool carpet. It feels warm.

"Jenna. You zoned out again. Are you okay?" I hear worry tone in Jason's voice.

"Sorry. I'm okay, it's just, I don't know, I can't describe it with words."

Jason lies down next to me. Our head rests on each other. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. It was weird when Dad scheduled a meeting for me suddenly. If only I knew."

"It's fine, he always five steps ahead from us. He won't stand a chance if you were there to defend me." I laugh.

"Us twin have to stick together." Jason punches the air with his fists. I laugh looking at his act. "So, you two were fighting? People said they heard Dad yelling."

I scoff, "it was barely a fight, more like one side conversation combined with yelling."

"So, what happened?"

"Dad's trying to trade me off."

"The Grey-Smith deal you mean?"

I roll over to lie on my stomach and rest my head on my hands. "Do you know about it?"

"Yeah. I know about the deal. But, I don't know about the arranged marriage part. Dad just said that we'll merge with Smith Co. and it'll be a tough and a big one."

I roll my eyes. "Merge? That's weird. We never merge, only acquired."

"I thought that too. I asked him but he shooed me off from his office. I don't know that it will involve you though."

"Ohhhh, believe me, it involves me big time. I have to marry the Smith's son, to ensure the deal goes right. I don't want to. It's my life. What kind of person would agree to the arranged marriage for a deal between two companies?" Jason's face changes suddenly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that."

"It's okay." He smiles at me.

"I want what you have with Sarah."

"And what's that?"

"Love. I can see in both of you. The way you look each other. The way you talk to each other."

"Jenna," Jason takes my hand, "listen to me. You haven't met the guy yet. You don't know about him. Maybe he's a good person and maybe he's the one. Don't beat yourself over it. Meet the guy first. Then you decide what's the next step. And if he's an asshole, you have three brothers that will beat his ass to the grave. Okay?"

Jason always knows what to say. Even when we were a child, he's always the mature one and very protective of me. I don't know how my life would turn out if I don't have my twin brother by my side. When I felt my world was going crazy and my mind was going away, he and my two little brothers were always there for me. They always make sure I'm still here, alive, and well.

"Thanks, Jason." I smile at him.

"Besides," he looks around then whispers, "Sarah was a kind of pain in the ass. You knew the story." He grins.

"I knew, and you still fall for her and love her."

Jason nods then smiling even bigger. We spend the rest of the night telling stories about our childhood. Once or twice Jason told me a story about Sarah and him. I seriously don't know what I will do if I don't have him in my life. Family is really a gift from God, no matter how crazy and complicated they are.