I sipped at my coffee slowly while sitting on the park bench, thoughts from last night swirling around in my head. I could barely sleep without thoughts of Kaz filtering into my dreams. I couldn't believe that people willingly got into cages and brawled like that. Didn't anyone see how out of date the practice was? We weren't gladiators in Roman times anymore.
I took another sip of my coffee before checking my watch. 8:55. This was ridiculous. Here I sat outside of Daniel's apartment building for fifteen minutes. What could he possibly be doing that would make me being punctual so important. 8:56. Close enough. I dumped my empty cup into a trash can and got up, walking across the street and into the condo complex, towards apartment 4D.
I looked at my watch. 8:58. I knocked on the door. After a moment, the door swung open and there sat Daniel with an unimpressed look on his face.
"You couldn't be late if you tried, could you?" He asked.
I frowned. I could be late when I wanted to be late. "Not for my job," I chirped back walking into the apartment. I forgot how grey it was.
I looked behind me and saw Daniel just sitting there, staring at me. "How are you?" I asked after a moment.
He shrugged, gesturing to his wheel chair, "Great."
"Is your brother around? I was hoping to ask a couple questions about expectations and what he's looking for exactly." I trailed looking around the apartment for the hulk of a man.
"He's not here," Daniel replied wheeling his way over to the tv. "But I can tell you what I'll need loud and clear: space. You stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours." He flipped the tv on and grabbed a chocolate bar he stashed in his chair.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Where is your brother?"
He shrugged, "Don't know."
"How old are you?"
He cast me a side-long glance, "Who wants to know?"
My goodness he was insufferable. "Fine, I'll just call the number that I have from the ad. Is that your brother's number?" I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I wasn't sure I still had the number at all but I would search through every number in my call log until I found it.
He reached out in panic, "You don't have to do that! I'm fourteen. See, that was easy."
"What's going on, Daniel?" I asked, but before he could answer we both swivelled our heads to the sound of the door opening. Daniel switched the tv off and shot me a nervous look.
"Hey, Daniel." A masculine voice called, "You ready for the interview?"
In walked the gorgeous man from the day before, sweat dripping off of him, his black t-shirt clinging to his muscled frame. All I could do was stare. His piercing blue eyes connected to mine for a moment before turning to Daniel, "What did you do?" He asked frowning at him.
"I asked Emily to be my caregiver!" He replied grinning at his brother.
I just stared at the two brothers. I wanted to cut in with 'do I still have a job?' but felt it was a little insensitive timing.
"Someone's coming in 5 minutes, we're still interviewing." The man said without another glance in my direction.
"Come on, Lucas! I can't deal with another Greta!" Daniel whined.
"We'll find someone different," Lucas reasoned.
"Greta tried to feed me, Lucas. Feed me."
A small smile played on Lucas' face and lord, if I thought he was good looking before, he was breathtaking now.
"We'll specify that you can feed yourself." Lucas stated, walking towards what I imagined was his room but not before taking his shirt off along the way. I got a first row seat to his tattoos that travelled along his back and the ripples of pure muscle that accompanied it, and I wasn't complaining.
"Emily hasn't attempted to feed me yet," Daniel vouched for me.
"It's true," I called out to Lucas.
Daniel shot me a look, "Why don't you let me handle this?" He whispered. It was probably a better idea. I was too busy drooling over his brother.
Lucas came back into the living room, wearing a black hoodie now and sat down next to Daniel. He gave me a once over and I sat a little straighter in response. I wished I wore something other than jeans now.
He sighed running a hand over his face, "Fine," he said to Daniel who let out a whoop. "Trial period only. The first sign that you're not good for him and you're out," he said to me with so much vigour that I gulped.
I nodded, "Since I've talked my way back into the job, can I ask for some details about what's expected?"
Lucas ran a hand through his hair, "We'll need you everyday, usually from 9-5, some days 5 pm to 11pm. Daniel has an injury in his lumbar spine and will need help with everyday tasks. He'll need you to take him to appointments, manage his medication, and do some physical therapy."
"I can do that," I said confidently.
The door bell rang and Daniel grinned, "I can't wait to prank this nurse." He wheeled his way into the hallway and to the door.
Lucas looked at me for a moment before staring at the direction Daniel rolled to, "Daniel is also going to need a little help with the emotional side of things. He's having a tough time adjusting to this being his new normal. I'm trying, but I don't think I'm doing a great job." Lucas admitted quietly.
"It's a hard adjustment for both of you. I'll work on a plan that suits his needs, but I think he'd benefit from a more positive outlook on his situation. Telling him there's hope goes a long way. People have recovered from lumbar spinal injuries before." I explained seriously. I saw the flicker of hope when I mentioned it. I felt like Daniel needed to hear it. Sometimes a little bit of hope went a long way.
Lucas didn't respond at all and Daniel wheeled his way back into the room grinning from ear to ear, "I tried to convince her that she had the wrong building and when she got angry, I pretended I couldn't speak anymore." He flipped the tv back on and sighed contentedly.
I didn't fail to notice that Daniel didn't seem to have much going on right now. I wondered if this was his normal routine for the day. What did he have for stability so that he could learn to be okay with his life at the moment?
I turned to Lucas and saw him looking at Daniel with a slight frown on his face.
He gazed back at me swiftly before replying, "I'll try."