Courtesan

Supposed to feel

"Finally we meet" he smiled down at her.
"I'm sorry but do I know you?" She was sure she doesn't know him but how does he know her name?

"I think my jerk of a brother didn't tell you about me" he laughed. It all made sense now, he was Alvaro's brother.

"Oh! I'm so sorry I just" she said sheepishly as she gave him a shy smile.

"It's alright, can I come in though?" He asked her laughing.
She laughed in reply and called him inside.

They went to the living room where they sat but he insisted he wanted to go to the kitchen so they went to the kitchen.

"I'm Nikolai" he said as he offered her his hand to shake. She smiled and shook his hand "Harley"

"Trust me I know you" he laughed again.
"Yeah I was wondering about that"
"My idiot of a brother won't stop talking about you" Nikolai shrugged.

"I didn't know that" she said in a low voice. Alvaro talked about her to his younger brother?

"Yeah, I'm sure he must be too shy to admit. Speaking of him, where is he?"

"He's still sleeping"
"Always sleeping" Nikolai chuckled "well that's nice because this gives us more time to get to know each other" he winked.

"It does" she laughed. Curiosity got the hold of her "what does he talk about me?" She said and her cheeks burned.

"He praises you. He says you remind him about our mother" he spoke in a small voice.
Brandi's eyebrows furrowed but her heart warmed "I would love to meet her some day"

"I'm afraid that's not possible. She's no more" Nikolai spoke as a matter of fact.

"Oh! I had no idea I'm so sorry" she apologised as guilt filled her.

"It's alright. I didn't take it as hard as him"he said.
"What do you mean?"
"That's for him to tell" he gave her a helpless shrug and she nodded in understanding. "But ever since he saw you in that club he couldn't stop taking about you"

"The club?" Her eyebrows shot up in question but just then, Alvaro came running to them.

He hugged Nikolai but as soon as he saw her, his face fell. Her eyebrows were scrunched up in confusion and she was looking up at him like he had just cheated on her.

"I think I should go and unpack in my room." Nikolai spoke and both of them nodded at him as he made his way out of the house to carry bring his bags.
"You need any help?" Alvaro shouted.
"No it's just a single bag, I got it" Nikolai gave him a thumbs up as he made his way outside.

Alvaro had defeat in his eyes "I don't know how much Nikolai told you but I know there are questions in you mind"

He held her hand inside his hands and put it on his chest. "Let me explain everything to you"
Brandi reluctantly nodded and they made their way to their room hand in hand.

Once they were inside, he pulled her onto the bed and sat infront of her.

"I haven't been clear to you about a lot of things" he said.

"My mother used to be an escort" he confessed. He searched in her eyes for disgust or pity or judgement or something but there was just understanding. She nodded and it encouraged him to go further.

"Our whole childhood, she used to be away. Nikolai is 12 years younger than me. She doesn't know whose son he is, but he's my brother for all I know." He took a deep breath and continued.

"All my life I was bullied because of what she did. I was bullied and abused. I was the fat kid everyone made fun of. But in my case it was because of my mother more than my weight. I hated it and I hated her because of it"

"She made a lot of money but she also made me get humiliated. Once a guy in my class went to her and paid her to do stuff. She had no idea he was underage. I don't know how that stuff worked but then they did stuff and he recorded it. He circulated it in the whole school and everyday I felt dead inside" Alvaro's voice shook.

"So I started hating her even more. And then one unfortunate day, she died. She committed suicide when I just turned 17 because of how everyone behaved with her. She left me and Nikolai with huge amounts of cash but left a void in my heart."

"I took the whole amount of cash and sold the house. I shifted here with Nikolai. He was just 5 then. Then I started working here and got huge success when I was in university. But a few month ago everything changed" he whispered in a low voice.
Brandi held his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze. She didn't know how much more she wanted to hear but she knew he wanted to get it out of his body, he wanted to talk.

"I got posted some letters she wrote before she committed suicide and they told me about the horrendous way she was being treated at her workplace. There was an address for the club" he looked at her deep in the eyes.

Brandi had a feeling that she knew where this was going.

"It was the same club you worked it. When I went there, I saw you. You looked familiar and you looked innocent. I couldn't even pry my eyes away from your face which was covered in the mask. I wanted to know more about you. So I left the club and waited outside in my car" he ran a hand through his hair.

"And that's when I saw you coming out. I instantly recognised you and then realised you were my student in university"

"And that's why you offered me to help you" she completed the sentence for him.

He reluctantly nodded. "Initially I felt something for you, a connection and I thought that it was because of the guilt about how I treated mom. But then it became stronger. It's not about helping myself anymore. It's much more complicated than that"

Brandi pulled her into her chest and hugged him. She knew how hard it is to take out everything and she was proud of him to do so.

But what she didn't understand was how she's supposed to feel anymore.