Sailing With Destiny

Brotherly Things

Mitchell's POV

Josh remained silent for a few seconds but each second felt too long and added to my nerves. I had no idea what the fuck was going on but I needed to find out.

"Joshua!" I irritably snapped.

"Hi, Mitch," I heard the hesitance in his voice but I was not in the mood for small talk or fucking pleasantries. "I'm sorry I missed your call; I forgot my phone at home in a rush for class this morning."

"I don't care, just tell me Katie is with you." I insisted.

"Um, she's not," he replied in a small voice and that got me more anxious. "I haven't seen her in the last week. We're uh... going through a bit of a rough patch."

That was news to me, while Katie never shared every detail of her life with me, she always knew she could come to me when things weren't going well. Yet, she didn't mention a thing and the last I saw Josh and Katie, they seemed happy so this mishap must've been relatively new.

I took in a calming breath, "Sorry to hear but Katie called, barely said a word, and hung up. I haven't been able to get hold of her since and I'm a little worried."

"Shit!" I heard the concern in his tone, "Sorry for the language... um, I'll go check on her and keep you posted."

"I'm in London and should reach her place in another fifteen to twenty minutes. Meet me there."

"You're here?" Josh sounded surprised but also... nervous?

"Of course, it sounded like my sister needed me. I'll see you soon." And I hung up.

Thankfully, the drive from Heathrow to my sister's apartment building in Camden was only a little over thirty minutes. The rain turned to drizzle and after I paid the driver, I made my way into the tan-colored, brick building.

The reception area of the building was a lot warmer than outside and I did not complain, London was great but the weather always put me off – the sun rarely ever came out. I spotted Josh seated on a sofa as I entered, he nervously shook his foot that was crossed over one leg and I wanted to snap at him but the worn down, tired look on his face made me pity him.

"Hey, Mitch," he immediately stood and offered a hand. His brown eyes appeared dull and drained. 

"Josh," I gave his hand a firm shake and scrutinized his features. "You good?"

Josh ran a hand over his face and shrugged, "It's been a long week. Anyway, let's head up, I have a key."

I nodded and followed him to the elevator, Josh was quiet and I wondered if Katie's weird call was related to their relationship problems. 

"Her car is parked here so I'm certain she's home," Josh muttered."I tried calling but she didn't answer."

I grew more anxious when the elevator door opened and followed Josh to Katie's apartment with quick steps. Josh opened the door and gestured for me to enter first while he trailed behind. I took in the living space and everything seemed in order, the apartment was spick and span that I felt my shoes from walking in the rain would've ruined the wooden floors.

Rain stained the tall, ceiling to floor windows that had an urban view from the matte grey, silver, and white sleekly fitted kitchen. I stopped in my tracks and caught sight of Katie's phone which sat on the grey island counter. I picked it up and it appeared she didn't even touch it because she had about a dozen unread messages and missed calls.

I dropped her phone and made my way down the wide passageway to her bedroom. There were two bedrooms in the apartment and I wasn't sure which was hers so I looked Josh's way and he pointed to the door further down the hall.