With You In A Coma

Chapter 8

'What's happening to you and my brother?' Tiago asked descending the stairs.

I swiftly hid the note behind my back and stuffed it into my jean pocket. My lack of discretion had Tiago raising a suspicious brow. I brushed it off as nothing and he decided not to question my suspicious behavior.

'Relationship problems.' I said as a reply to his question. He was obviously not satisfied as he wanted to know the ins and outs of what was going on; I wasn't going to though since I had no idea myself.

The following day was one that we had anticipated for quite a long while. It was the day we were officially opening Johnny's dinner for diners.

Walking into the all too familiar building, I was impressed with all the work we had done to it. The tables and chairs were arranged in the centre and there were comfortable booths lodged into corners for those in need of privacy. On the balcony were more tables with a view of the bustling city. Our kitchen was loaded with equipment, cutlery and ingredients that satisfied our prestigious menu.

The amazing water feature in our dining area was just my cup of tea. It was a crazy bizarre idea that Eldon came up with but in reality it adorned the restaurant and gave it a uniqueness that no other food place had.

'Shall we also open up the balcony?' Isabella, the manager we hired asked. 'Of course we have to, that may even be our unique selling point.' I said. 'See you've been doing some research there.' Tiago teased. 'Yes she's right, only a few other competitors have such a wonderful view.' Eldon piped in. At the response, Isabella left for her office.

It was uncanny how a woman in her late 30s answered to teenagers like us.

We proceeded to talk to the head chef Ace Quereshi who informed us about the menus and food available. Neither of us knew anything about opening a restaurant but for Johnny, we played all our cards.

The restaurant was decorated and designed to its utmost best but only one essential was missing. As if reading my mind, a truck from RECSaM pulled up into the diner's driveway. Eldon and Tiago directed the truck near the diner's entrance to offload our purchase.

In the meantime, I helped out in the kitchen as they made pre-cooked dishes.

After a few minutes I heard the boys calling me to check out the new edition to our building. My eyes were drawn to the luminescent sign that read 'Johnny's dinner for diners' in beautiful cursive.

'Wow this is even more beautiful in person,' I said about to thank the RECSaM guys when I saw who one of them was. It was Lionel who had harassed me at their warehouse and the same Lionel who I saw in a dilemma with a certain man. I thought he was fired from RECSaM.

Eldon noticed the tension in my body and pulled me slightly behind him.

Oh now he wanted to protect me.

Tiago looked between Lionel, Eldon and I questioningly. He had no clue whatsoever to the monstrosity that was the man standing before us. The men excused themselves and left but not before the devil himself cast me a death look that was enough to put me six feet under. It gave me the same vibes that the threat note inflicted.

As the day progressed, the restaurant was loaded with customers that had us active on our feet. By the time we had to leave for our house, the three of us were ready to drop.

I was almost about to enter dreamland when Eldon let himself into my room. 'We can't go on like this Daisy.' He said. 'I know, I'm tired of it too.' We made small talk as he came and situated himself on the edge of my bed.

'I really care about you.' He whispered holding my hand in his. After passionately gazing into my eyes, he lowered his face and placed a gentle kisses on my knuckles. His kisses trailed up my arm to a light peck on my cheek. 'I care about you too,' I replied.

He pulled away and began to reminisce. 'Do you remember the time I tried to prom-pose to you and ended up falling into a ditch. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life.' I laughed at the vivid memory from special summer school. 'At least Tiago was there to make it less embarrassing. His knack for theatrics had him flying across the ledge right into the ditch next to you.' I said.

Eldon and I broke into a contagious fit of laughter 'till he sighed and laid his back on my pillow. He looked at my ceiling in thought. 'I love that weirdo...but don't tell him that.' He whispered the last part.

I smiled at him. These guys showed each other tough love but deep down they'd definitely risk their lives for each other. Their many years apart did not take away the brotherly bond they had.

'By the way, is Tiago even his real name?' I asked Eldon to which he shook his head.

'When he escaped the trafficking camps he had no connection to any family or friends. Nothing was there to put the pieces together. He was a teenager with no roots so he chose the name Tiago for himself. But when dad told me to go on a quest to reunite with my twin brother he told me another name.' Eldon spoke.

He paused as if deciding on whether to tell me or not. 'His birth name is Elton.' He breathed. I kept my face expressionless afraid of offending him by any unnecessary expression. 'Eldon and Elton,' I let their names roll freely on my tongue.

'Does he...?'

'No he doesn't know. I never told him.' He answered.

I refrained from questioning him further at the thought that it may be as hard for him as it was for me to understand.

Noticing the silence he took it as an opportunity to speak again.

'When he was at the trafficking camps, they called him Tiago. When he was in the orphanage, they called him Tiago. When he was amongst the foster families, they called him Tiago. He told me that that name was the past he knew and the memories he cherished. For that Tiago is his name more than Elton will ever be.'