Chapter 55 Nikki
The walk to the Serendin Atlas is a long and draining one. It takes me well over two hours of nonstop walking and when the sun went well past the skyscrapers, and the cold rain began seeping into my clothing, I was more than ready to turn around and be home.
Instead I continued walking towards my ultimate goal of seeing my brother, in fear that if I turned around and went back to the penthouse, I would walk into an image that would leave me a blubbering mess.
I couldn’t take much more of what I saw before I left.
“Nikki?” I hear a deep voice call out to me as I enter the old abandoned hotel and run when I see it’s Brody sitting at the top landing of the first stairwell. My body envelopes his as he dips his head down and engulfs me in a long hug. It feels like it’s been years since I have seen Brody and although it has only been a few weeks, it’s the longest we’ve been apart since our parents died.
“Brody.” I cry out and I suddenly can no longer hold in my emotions. Everything I have been feeling since I saw Brody being arrested and was sent on my mission with Bronson, comes bubbling out. I cry and sob and lay it all out there, in the middle of the small stairwell with my brother’s arms the only thing holding me up.
“What’s going on? Talk to me Nik? Is it that guy? Did he hurt you?” I don’t answer any of his questions. I simply shake my head and continue sobbing. I only look up when I feel us move and notice he has taken us down the stairs and outside the Serendin.
“Brody…. what–"
“Didn’t want anyone else seeing you. Mick and Charles left about an hour ago, I don’t want them to assume you’re not taking the orders.” I nod my head, hating that he is now the one taking care of me.
We walk over towards the park that I remember sitting at before, the park that started all of this when Rand found me attempting to make myself look like your typical homeless girl. Who knew from that day on, something else entirely would have happened from my original plan.
“She doesn’t mean to me what you meant to me. Cassandra. I had to help this woman, she’s the one that saved my life and if I choose to put her into my home to give her a better life, I have every right to do that.”
I shut my eyes when I hear his voice from before, speaking to Casandra about me in such a detached term. I meant nothing to him. Nothing but a debt, an obligation he wished to fix, to make right.
Brody sits me down on a small park bench. The chair is cold, but I’m warmed by my brother’s care for me. I take him in as he sits beside me, really take him in and note every detail. His hair is messy, like he most likely has just awaken and his eyes are red rimmed and sleep deprived. I can tell he has been using again, something I knew was going to happen. But when he turns his head and smiles at me, I no longer care about his stupid behavior a few weeks ago at the charity event. I no longer care that he is using and could still put us in trouble. I only care about being near my brother again, where I can keep him safe. His nose is longer than mine, and his chin is wider. While he has most of Dad’s prominent details, I took after mom.
“So, you want to tell me why you were crying?” I study him for just a moment there, then look out past the horizon as the sun hits the ground as it sets on the city.
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