Chapter 49

There was a very urgent knock on the door, one that he wasn’t sure of who it belonged to. Nicholas was packing for his trip. Even though it was two days away, he could barely contain his excitement. He tried Cara’s number a few more times but it was unreachable. He decided that he would stop trying and give her the space she needed.

When he got to Hawaii he knew that he would find a way to reach her.

He didn’t know how long he was going to be gone and that exactly made packing so stressful. He planned on staying in Hawaii as long as Cara wanted to stay there, so the issue of packing was a bit problematic.

But he didn’t really mind.

He opened the door and found his brother on the other side of the door. They had not seen each other since that dinner.

Alexander was wearing a grey suit and a blue tie, there was a small smile on his face as he walked in. He looked friendly. Nicholas couldn’t fathom why he came to see him.

Before the dinner, the last time they saw each other was when they were both looking for Cara.

“What are you doing here?”

He asked with his arms folded.

Alex looked around, his eye landing on the half empty suitcase in the living room.

“Where are you going?!”

He asked and Nicholas shrugged.

“Hawaii.”

He said. Alexander didn’t look so surprised, he had probably guessed it already.

“Oh. That’s good. I hear the weather’s great there this time of the year.”

“I heard that too.”

Nicholas said and then stared at his brother.

“Look I’d love to sit and chat with you, but I have a lot going on right now so I’d appreciate if you just get on with it.”

Alexander nodded.

“Right. I would.”

He said as he moved to the nearest couch and sat on it.

“I’d like a glass of water if you were wondering. Room temperature.”

He said and Nicholas scowled, but nevertheless walked to the kitchen to get his brother a glass of water.

He came back a few moments later with a glass in his hand and bottled water in the other.

“Do you remember when we were in college and I punched that dude. That fucking weasel called Danny?”

Danny was a mouthy fool and he always took fun in poking Alexander. Alexander had retaliated after one particular heated argument over something he couldn’t even remember and he punched Danny so hard he slammed his jaw on the sink. After the incident Danny’s jaw had to be wired shut, so he couldn’t properly name who did it.

Alexander had quickly regretted his actions, he was an honors student, he was set to graduate best in his class, this could permanently taint his records.

Nicholas has swooped in and taken the blame. It hadn’t been particularly bad to believe him since everyone knew Nicholas got into his fair share of brawls in high school and college.

Nicholas had taken the fall. Luckily Danny didn’t think of suing, because he knew it wasn’t Nicholas.

When he finally got the chance to talk, when he started telling everyone it was Alexander nobody believed him.

Alexander said and Nicholas nodded.

“I did.”

“You took the blame for me because you didn’t want it to ruin my chances with Professor McDermott. Mum and Dad on the other hand were so pissed at you.”

Alexander nodded.

“Yes. Dad cut me off for a year. They had no problem believing it was me.”

“Yea. They didn’t. But you did it for me. Even when I didn’t ask, because I knew that asking would be too much, you still did it.”

Nicholas nodded.

Remembering the huge fight his parents had with him because of it, remembering how they took his brother’s side and compared him to Alexander. Even when Alexander later confessed they didn’t believe him, thinking he was lying just to spare his brother of his punishment. That was the final straw for Nicholas.

“Why are you talking about it now? You certainly had no problem forgetting it.”

“I didn’t forget it Nicholas. I didn’t forget what you did for me…”

Nicholas scoffed.

“Yea you didn’t.”

“You changed after that. You changed a lot. It was almost as if you resented me for something.”

Nicholas shook his head.

“I didn’t resent you Alexander. I never did. I just hated the fact that why I would always try and defend you when you were in horrible situations, you would never do the same for me.”

“But I did defend you… I told the truth didn’t I?”

He asked and Nicholas chuckled.

“You told the truth?! You told the truth a year later! At that family dinner. After everyone already believed that I did it. That was when you told the truth.”

“And even when you did they didn’t believe you’d ever do it! They still blamed me for it and you just let them.”

That was true.

Yes that bit was true.

“I’m sorry Nicholas. I truly am.”

Alexander said and Nicholas sighed as he rubbed his temple. He didn’t have time for this, he wasn’t exactly hoping for a reunion with his brother, nor did he believe this was the way it should go.

“Sorry for what? It was years ago. I don’t even care about it anymore.”

Alexander nodded as he gulped hard.

“That was when everything started to go downhill. You and I stopped talking. You kept to yourself and I suddenly became the golden boy in the family.”

“You love being the golden boy.”

Nicholas replied and Alexander shook his head sadly.

“I didn’t. At first it was good, it was nice, being the favored child. But then it started to get scary, frustrating.”


“I started to hate it. Hate the way you could just do whatever it is you wanted and I could only do what our parents wanted. You were free, I was not.”


“You chose that life Alexander. The moment you picked them before me you chose that life. Don’t come complaining to me.”

“You loved being mummy and daddy’s boy! You did all of their bidding with a proud smile on your face.”

Alexander laughed nervously.

“That’s what I made you think. But in truth I just acted like that because I envied you. I didn’t want you to see me as a failure.”

He said with his voice cracking.

“You’re nor a failure Alexander. You’ve done very well for yourself.”

Nicholas said in a gently voice. His brother looked visibly distressed, maybe he shouldn’t have been harsh with his words. He should have been more careful with the things that he was saying to him.

“Have I really? I can’t help but think that I’ve failed somewhere…”

“But you haven’t. You’ve done very weeks at the company, and that’s true, Dad praises you and loves you for it. You’ve done more than most people have done, and that’s something.”

“And if you still feel like a failure, just know that there’s always time to do something new and try out something new.”

Alexander nodded.

“I guess you’re right.”

There as a short silence between them before Nicholas cleared his throat.

“About Cara…”

He started.

“I’m sorry, I really am. If I hurt you in any way with my actions. I assure you I didn’t get with her out of spite to you.”

Alexander nodded, a small smile on his lips.

“Oh it’s okay. I understand. It hurts but yes I understand.”

“I loved Cara. In my own way I did.”

“I didn’t show it to her like I should have but believe me I did. And I was so blinded by that love that I couldn’t see that I was hurting her. I couldn’t see that the whole marriage was a scam.”

“I kept thinking I could fix everything, as long as we got married. I wanted her to be mine so bad I didn’t care if she didn’t feel the same way.”

Nicholas nodded.

“We’ve all made mistakes. I think the only thing we can do now is to move on from them.”

Alexander nodded.

“Yes. You are right. I think we can start afresh Nicholas. We have an opportunity here to become true brothers again.”

He said and Nicholas nodded.

“I would like that very much. I miss having you in my life.”

He admitted and Alexander’s eyes widened.

“Good. Maybe when you’re back from your trip we can catch up over a game of golf.”

“You still play don’t you?”

He added after and Nicholas smirked.

“Yes. And I’m still as good as I was before so prepare to get your ass kicked.”

Alexander stood up and straightened himself, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Oh don’t be too sure. I’ve had experience now. One of the job description of being a CEO is being excellent on the golf course. I have at least one or two games every now and then.”

Nicholas raised his eyebrows.

“I think I can top that. We’ll have to see when I get back though.”

“Indeed.”

His brother said as he said his goodbyes and he left.