Aurora

Chapter 4

I practically jumped into my brown pencil skirt and beige satin blouse the next morning.

"It's already 8:30", Ian shouted from where he stood, outside my room.

I made a mental point to never pay attention to his existence again.

Groaning, I ran to the door, unlocking it, nearly missing crashing into my brother as he started jumping.

Yes jumping.

He's doing his warm-up, no doubt for today's match. I somehow manage to half-hug him, while I prepare to leave.

"Hey, wait", he ran to the kitchen, as I hang my purse on my shoulder and slide into my shoes.
I groaned at the spot, opening the Uber application. No subways today. No way.
The nearest cab was five minutes away. Ugh.

"Oh look, who is it? My favorite shittiest person.", Ian had materialized beside me somehow while I was booking the cab.
I widened my eyes at him, sending don't-fuck-with-me look to him. I opened my mouth to retaliate and suddenly, a piece of cheese toast was stuffed inside my mouth.

"Now out", Ian pushed me out of the apartment, advancing at me with his huge body and I stumbled on the stairs catching myself on the railing before face-planting on the floor and cracking some teeth.

"Ian Le-Blanc-", I fumed but was interrupted by an unknown caller.

Yes uber.

As I slid inside the cab, I exhaled the first breath of relief of the day.

I just hope Mr. Hawthorne hadn't entered the building because if he had, I'm dead. He loathed latecomers. Once an intern fresh from university ran late by ten minutes, and he fired him on the spot in the reception area before he could even start voicing the reasons. Not only that, but I couldn't afford to be on Mr. Hawthorne's radar. Not that he'd insult me in front of the whole office and I will cry in the corner. I'm afraid of him, but only to an extent. I have worked here for five years, can't let that drown only to get crushed by him one day.

I don't know how I ended up sleeping last night, one minute Ian was filling me up on today's match information. I potentially ignored him while I tried to focus on my romance novel, next minute I was waking up in the middle of blanket islands with a sleepy smile on my face, which had turned into an ugly one as soon as my eyes connected with the watch on the wall.
I glanced down at my old and sleek brown wristwatch. It's Mama's. My breath hitched at the thought, emotion welling up my throat. The cab driver thankfully considered my situation and drove fast as skyscrapers blinked by. The beauty of Boston still unnerved me, if it'd up to me, I'd paint it a thousand times if possible. But well, I can't. Before Mom left us, I was sure I wanted to make a career out of art. I painted our previous dilapidated home, and I painted Ian's room when he joined me. I remember the day perfectly, it was one of those days when we'd finally started bonding and not topple each other to the ground. He painted a shuttle cock, which grossly resembled poop but he smiled fully. That was the first day he smiled fully after Mom left.

Because of all of this, I try to give what I can provide my brother with because he was too young to lose his inner child at the tender age of seven. He didn't deserve it, no child did. A beautiful, safe childhood was what every single child deserved. I know Ian hasn't healed properly, but I don't push it. He is all smiles but he can't fool me. I studied him more than I studied the syllabus. It was the two of us against the world. It still is.

The cab halted in front of Hawthorne Construction and Holdings and I stumbled outside.

I passed a smile to the driver, thanking him, and entered the building.