New rules

Kieran

Losing track of time, I had no idea how long it had passed since the sand-filled bag started taking the hits I so generously kept throwing at it, but judging by my bleeding knuckles, I was down in the gym more than I should’ve.

But it was worth it. The physical pain I inflicted on myself, the exhaustion that overtook my muscles and made it hard to breathe, relieved my swelled-up brain of some pressure, making it easier to think rationally and analyze all the wrong moves I made in my poor attempt to separate my brother from the girl I was convinced wasn’t the right choice for him.

I fucked up.

I relied too much on Philip and his rationality when I should’ve known better. He was desperately in love, and there was no way of knocking sense into him, no way of making him realize the truth.

It was a mistake trying to coax him into breaking things off on his own.

It was a mistake trying to use his illness to persuade him that leaving her and breaking her heart at the beginning was better than watching him in that state. We both knew how hard it was to watch the person we loved the most wither and die in front of our eyes.

I used the most painful memory we shared to manipulate his feelings, and it disgusted me! I despised myself for it! Because no matter the tricks I used in business to win deals and beat opponents, I had never been untrue to my family. This time, though, for a brief moment, I thought that maybe the end justified the means, realizing too late that it was the course I should never have set my sails on.

Especially when I knew the truth.

The same day when Philipp told me he wasn’t feeling well and that he had seen the doctor, I contacted him. Thanks to the generous donation I made to his department, the doctor agreed to withhold the results for a few days, as the preliminary tests showed there was nothing to worry about except for some shadows on his lungs that most probably were remnants of the inadequately treated strong flue.

I was disgusted with myself. I hated myself for what I’d done, and I prayed Philip would never find out because if he did… Nonetheless, I’d done it in the blink of an eye, sure it was foolproof.

After the deed was done, I realized I should’ve gone directly to the source instead of playing on my brother’s emotions. If I weren’t wrong, a nice sum of money would do the trick. A million would be a small price to pay for my brother’s freedom. Although I wouldn’t hesitate to offer more if needed. Would that break Philip’s heart? Probably. But it would pass. He would heal quicker than knowing he spent years sharing a bed with a liar. Because she had to be a liar! All women were liars. The only one that wasn’t was long gone and not coming back.

The lead-heavy feet took me upstairs to the bathroom, where I hoped a shower would wash away the evidence of my outburst: sweat and blood from my body and worry and angst from my mind. Indeed, the hot water relaxed both my muscles and my soul, and with the plan cooking in my head, I wanted nothing more than to take a break and forget everything until tomorrow. Or maybe I could grant myself a night out. God knows I could use some…

The doorbell disturbed my newfound peace as I was drying my skin with the towel. Had Philip changed his mind?

I strolled naked across the bedroom towards the window that overlooked the front yard, but I saw no car parked outside.

Great! I began imagining things. Had I gone mad?

The bell rang again.

Who could it be? I wondered while I put on the comfortable sweats I wore whenever I could get out of those smart pants. It took me a minute to get down to the front door, and by then, the annoying sound repeated what seemed like a dozen more times.

Angry at the disturber of my peace, ready to confront anyone on the other side of the door, I wide opened it, but the person standing behind them was not who I expected to see.

Actually, I’ve never seen the blond angel that stood in front of me… The blond angel with the entrancing blue eyes quickly transformed into the devil, the devil who provoked me, the devil who brought the worst out of me on the surface.

The devil whose brave, taunting eyes will haunt me for the rest of eternity.

The devil whose words kept me awake all night because they brought revelation and shed some new light on the events that occurred in the last few days.

Philip’s stupid girlfriend was pregnant.

And that changed everything.

New rules are now applied.

New plans had to be made.

No King offspring could be neglected or unacknowledged.

~ ~ ~

The morning found me in bed, fully awake. I hadn’t slept for a moment that night. Tortured by the knowledge that presented itself to me, becoming an uncle didn’t let me close my eyes, not even for a second. Finding peace in a dreamless sleep was impossible under the circumstances.

But what gave me more trouble throughout the night were those fiery blue eyes that wouldn’t leave me alone, no matter how hard I tried. They entrapped me in their ocean depths, not letting me escape their imprisonment.

Too late did I realize it was the feisty blondie who had done what I had been struggling with for almost a year – erase every memory of Nora from my mind.

As soon as the decent hours announced themselves, I emailed my secretary to cancel all of my meetings. I had more important things to take care of.

The next person on my list was Philip.

“Hey, brother,” I greeted him, my voice didn’t sound as stern as it usually did. “How are you?”

“Ellie is not picking up my calls,” he grunted desperately. I was sure he blamed me for it.

“About that…” Here it goes.