The Missing Piece

Levi 22

Teddy and I were bantering ( "doing a small discussion" as he would say ) about which of the various outfits we had previously matched and laid out on my bed should I wear tonight when the shrill ringtone of my phone pierced through our conversation. I pressed a finger to my lips, motioning him to be quiet while I answered the call. My younger baby brother crossed his arms and pouted at me, seemingly offended by the rude interruption. 

Weird. I've never seen this phone number before. "Hello?"

"Hey, sis. Remember me?" A familiar low chuckle rumbled through the call from the other side of the phone. 

What the- "Andrew? Is that you?" I didn't even bother masking my surprise and excitement upon hearing from Justin's older brother. Intrigued by my sudden agitated pacing and change of tone, Teddy inched closer and strained his ears to listen to our conversation. 

"Yeeeet. I'm sorry that I didn't get around to tell you that I've changed my number. My ex boss kinda threw my phone against the wall when we had...an argument," he answered sheepishly. I raised my eyebrows at Teddy, which only piqued his curiosity further. 

I've always known his job was a challenging one; but, to this extent? "What you really meant was he got caught cutting off too much budget on the building materials again and was throwing a tantrum about it, wasn't it?" I could practically imagine his shoulders slumping as his defeated sigh reached my ear. "I'm glad that you left the company though. Justin told me you're quite content with working at your current company," I looked over and found Teddy waving a black leather mini skirt in my face. 

"Oh my, the company I'm now working in is a far cry from my previous one. Appreciative boss, friendly colleagues, higher salary... I couldn't believe my luck, really," he further elaborated with much enthusiasm. "Enough about me! I was calling to invite you to my wedding! I know you went shopping with Justin and my mum for preparations, but are you coming?" 

I had to stifled a laugh at his nervousness, but I guess a little teasing wouldn't do too much harm. "Well, I didn't receive any rose-scented wedding invitation with my name printed in calligraphic golden letters on it..." Walking over to my bed, I pointed at a pair of white washed ripped blue jeans which Teddy shook his head at. 

He laughed easily before continuing. "C'mon; you're definitely invited because you're family." 

A small smile slipped from my lips as my heart felt warmer at the mercy of his choice of words. "Speaking of family; where's my little guy?" 

"Ah...he's actually with me for this whole time. I'm gonna put you on speaker in a second..." Placing the phone on my bed; Teddy approached it cautiously, peering at the phone screen as he did so. 

"Knock knock." I rolled my eyes at Andrew's trick.

"Who's...there?" Teddy asked timidly. 

"UNCLE ANDREW!!!" The childish adult hollered through the phone, his booming voice successfully boosting the child's already high energy levels to overflow. Teddy shrieked at the sudden increase of volume and ducked under the covers of my blankets before reducing to an uncontrollable pile of giggling mess. "Helloooo~" My baby brother greeted his unrelated by blood brother fondly.