James POV

All the hard work, the long working hours, the numerous files that had to be read thoroughly, the meetings, the sleepless nights – they were finally over for now. The white desk that had been my only seating spot for the last two weeks was now clean and no more papers were lying everywhere. It was neat and structured as it was before this bigger case came up. 

My hands were resting on my chin and my third cup of coffee was about to be emptied when Christel walked into my office.

Christel was one of my co-workers. She was a lawyer herself and was one of the sharpest lawyers in the firm. She was the one who helped me, and Brian to get the case and to win this case. She walked into the room with the high heels on and her perfectly matched clothes. Her hair was not long, but stylish and cut shorter.

'James, we have to celebrate that we made it through with this huge case. We did our part now and now it's up to the judges to evaluate'

I nodded and took a sip from my coffee. Then Brian knocked on the door and made his way into my office too.

'James, nice work pal. Wanna go out and get something to eat with us?' He pointed at him and Christel. I thought for a while. I wanted to just head back home and call Maya up to have a talk with her. I wanted to explain to her why I had been so distant lately. 

I knew that it wasn't fair to her to be so absent. I had this ongoing case that took all my time, but, I knew I had the time to at least call her. I just had to figure my thoughts out. And it was hard to do that when my job took all my focus in the middle of it. I sighed and thought about the offer my colleagues came with. It wouldn't be a true feeling of winning if we didn't somehow celebrate it tonight. I looked at my watch and saw the time was five in the evening.

'James, come on. You especially deserve to celebrate this. You made a huge difference to make things work with this case. We want to finish this off with some nice food and great drinks!' I looked at Brian and he knew at that moment that he got what he wanted. We all agreed to go out to get something to eat and then later get a drink.

I promised myself to call Maya the next morning though.

As we all went together towards the center of New York City I thought about how these couple of weeks had been for Maya. Was she doing okay? I wondered how she was and what she had been up to.

I missed her. I just didn't have the time to realize that until now. As we walked together as a group I noticed Christel walking close towards me. She was indeed a beautiful woman. She went to the same college as me, but she was two years older than me. So we hadn't seen each other at the college back then. But she was smart, and she really knew how to work hard. I admired her for her disciplined work ethic.

'What are you so caught up about James? You seem like you're thinking hard about something else' I looked at her and smiled. 'Nothing. Just a little tired, that's all'.

She smiled back, 'Well, I hope you don't feel too tired to celebrate with us'

We then talked about some other work issues and finally after about half an hour we came to the restaurant where we were planning to get dinner together. Brian walked beside us and talked about the new house that he bought recently.

As we got a table at the restaurant we sat together and looked over the menu card. I was so tired and I truly just wanted to go home and sleep. However I pulled myself together to find something that I'd like to eat.

I ordered a steak and Brian did the same thing. Christel ordered a smoked salmon with some salad on the side.

My mind wandered back to Mayas homemade cooking and all the spices that she usually used in her food. I longed after her even more now. I tried to push her out of my brain but failed numerous times throughout the evening.

When I finally got caught up in a very interesting conversation with the other two, I could feel my phone vibrate. I pulled it out from my pocket inside of my blazer and saw Maya's name on the screen. I saw her text and immediately felt conflicted. She was on her way to my house.

I replied back and told her that I still was at work.

"Not home. Still, at work, I promise to call you when it's all over"

I was together with my co-workers and we all just finished our work, but this technically felt like work too for me at this moment. So, it wasn't a lie when I texted her that I still was at work.

After some time Brian excused himself to the bathroom. Christel had been drinking quite a good amount of wine through the evening. I could sense that she was tipsy and she was much more forward with her speech now.

I tried to move a little bit so there could be a little more space between us but she somehow managed to get closer again. Christel was watching me. Her eyes were glistening and eyes pupils were dilated. She began to act differently by now.

'I think I'm about to head home now' I cleared my throat and desperately hoped that Brian would get back soon.

'Why so early James? You don't like to spend time with me and Brian? Do you have a girlfriend you have to get home to?'

She had this bit of a flirty hint in her voice and it made me feel a little uncomfortable. I chuckled by her direct question into my personal life.

'No, that's not it Christel. I am just exhausted from work. I need to sleep it off I guess' I scratched the back of my head. She was definitely influenced by the alcohol. She was usually more professional and composed. This was a whole other Christel than I was used to.

She started to form a sentence but failed miserably as she ended up slurring a lot of words and mixing them together.

'O-owne lasst drinkkkk James' 

Christel had now taken her wineglass more up in the air and she was coming on to me very closely. I knew that she would be embarrassed tomorrow if she heard about how she acted. I wasn't mad at her for flirting and trying to make a move on me. I was aware of her current state as it was obviously the alcohol who was the culprit behind it all. 

Even if she was sober and tried to flirt with me I somehow wasn't interested. I didn't feel the need to get any other attention other than from Maya. Yes, Maya was the one I wanted. She was the one I wanted to be close to.

I chuckled and said okay to one last drink.

I raised my glass of beer and clinked it with hers. 'Cheers'. She laughed and then I started to laugh by seeing her like this. This would be fun to tell her at work the next day.

'Hey! Are you drinking without me?' Brian had now come back and he sat down beside Christel. Christel was now in the middle of us both.

'Sorry Brian. But I tried to tell Christel I need to get home to get some rest. She insisted on having one last drink'

'Well, I think it looks like it should be the last drink for her too', he smirked and also enjoyed seeing the always very serious and composed Christel swaying from side to side and behave like a different person.

'True, Brian can you get her home safely? I really need to get home now'

He nodded and I bit him my farewell. I paid my bill and then got out of the restaurant and bar. When I came outside of the building I took a big breath. Inhaled and then exhaled. 

My eyes were heavy and my legs were like two big clumps of stone. I tiredly dragged my feet back to the car and drove home. When I arrived at my house I didn't feel like taking anything off other than my shoes. I went straight into my bedroom and fell on the bed. 

* * *

The next day I went to work still feeling tired and exhausted. My whole body was telling me that I needed more rest. I was not in the mood to go to the gym either after work. Our day was more relaxed and I got off a little bit earlier than imagined.

Christel was at work but didn't utter a single word to us. It was obvious that she was embarrassed to have behaved like that yesterday. Brian and I didn't say anything to her. But she knew by our smirks plastered on our faces, that she did make a fool out of herself. We didn't judge her, we just thought it was fun to see her being more carefree and loose.

When I got home from work again, I went straight to bed. Nico kept licking me on my face and woke me up at the exact time I normally took a walk with him. I groaned and slowly stretched my whole body. 

'Coming buddy. Just give me a sec'. I petted Nico on the head and then went to the bathroom to freshen up.

As I went outside to walk Nico I enjoyed the time I had now. The weekend was mine. I hoped I could see Maya soon and tell her about the case and tell her how I was feeling about her. I wanted to express myself finally. After being terrified over my feelings toward her, I still felt the same way today and I figured out that I just needed to be hers and she needed to be mine. I wanted to feel her touch and be closer to her than ever before. She made me feel alive.

When Nico and I were about to head back again to the house my phone started to beep. I saw my dads' number on the screen and picked up.

'Son, it's urgent. You need to come home now'. I couldn't quite understand the urge. Since when did dad ever call me? But then again, if he suddenly called there must have happened something serious. Nico kept going and had to stop when the leash finally stopped him. I watched Nico turn to me, but I just froze.

'Dad, what is it?'

He was silent on the phone for a bit but then answered. 'You're brother... He had an accident'.

Nico kept urging me to go on by walking but I couldn't make a single move. What dad told me shook me to my core. How bad was it? Was it life-threatening or just a minor accident? My mind started to think the worst.

'I'll be there as soon as possible!' I told him and then hung up. I quickly made a move and almost made it to jogging instead of just walking. Nico seemed like he didn't notice any change. He seemed happy that I finally started moving. His tongue was hanging outside of his mouth as usual and was happy as always. 

Poor Nico.

I had to find someone to look after him while I was gone.

I got home and changed my clothes into something more presentable and made sure my neighbor could take care of feeding Nico later.

As I drove toward my parent's house I got even more anxiety. What exactly happened to Owen?

It took me forty-five minutes to get from New York City to Scarsdale. I parked the car and knocked hard on the front door. I was greeted by my mother at the door. She looked like nothing had happened though. I got a little confused but took a step inside. As I walked into the living room I caught a glimpse of Owen laying on the couch.

I walked over to him and kneeled so I could meet his eyes.

'Hey, buddy. What happened?' I searched for bruises or any other major scratches on his fragile body. Owen didn't say much. In fact, he couldn't say that much.

Owen was handicapped. He functioned well enough to do things while sitting in a wheelchair though. He could move his arms and his brain was functioning very well too. He just couldn't walk properly and he had so many small difficulties. It had always been like that since birth.

Owen was twenty-six years and he was for the most part mostly at home. My parents made sure to have a nurse and a care helper to be around the house all the time. 

Owen made some grunting sounds but I couldn't understand him. I looked up at my parents and waited for them to explain.

'Well, can someone tell me what happened to my brother?'

'Some irresponsible man hit him with his car when Owen tried to cross the road. He flew out of the wheelchair and got a pretty hard hit on his lower back. So, he must lie down for a couple of days'

I sighed of pure relief. Luckily it wasn't something so serious that he had to be admitted at the hospital or anything. Running my hand through his hair to comfort Owen, I then turned back to my parents.

'So why didn't you just tell me on the phone?'

My father looked anywhere else but at me. I knew it. There had to be something going on that they didn't want to tell me before I got here.

'Your mother and I have some pretty urgent meetings to catch up to this weekend. We need someone to take care of Owen while we are gone' he said without blinking his eyes. 

'What about the care helper?'

'She's gonna be here too, but we can't leave without having someone from the family here. That wouldn't look nice, would it dear?' 

My mother. Typical of her. Always the kind of person who lived her life to please others and to make a good impression. 

A sudden rage and anger welled up inside of me. How in the world could they still get themselves to go on with their plans when their handicapped son was lying here after an accident? They should have canceled everything and stayed here with him!

I tried to collect my chaotic emotions and the injustice that I felt within me. I took a breath and told them that I would take care of him. I didn't want Owen to listen to any negative conversations right now. 

Owen needed someone and if that had to be me, I would gladly take care of him. It wasn't like it was a new thing after all. I always took care of him since I was a teenager. My little brother was all I had when it came to family. Even though my parents were here they were always mentally elsewhere.

At the thought of all this I got reminded of Maya and how I wanted to see her this weekend. My plans didn't quite fit me now, but I knew that Owen needed me. My parents didn't take long before they walked out of the door to do what they always did. 

Leaving us alone was somehow what they were best at.

'Okay, buddy. It's just you and me now'.

Thanks for reading guys! What do you think of James' family? 

Did it come as a surprise about Christel and his brother's disability? 

Please share your thoughts and keep on supporting me! :)