Dreams & Other Lost Things {Sequel to B&TBR}

Chapter 5: Empire State of Mind.

"Get to talking, then," I urged as I hastily tapped my foot on the ground. I pushed myself up, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder as I packed my things up and into my bag. My messenger bag hung off my shoulder and bounced against my knee as I left the café. Even with my jacket on, the brisk air felt like needles against my skin.

"I thought it would be better if you figured it out by yourself. But, I didn't think you'd figure it out that fast. How did you, anyway?" He asked thoughtfully, an almost joking manner. I only grew more flustered.

"This isn't funny," I seethed shakily thought gritted teeth. They were almost chattering from my lack of clothing against the cold air. "How do you think this was okay? You acted like stranger..."

"I wasn't laughing," Luke replied. "What did you want me to do? Go up to you and say, 'Hey, Bea, I'm your long lost brother, nice to meet you!'" I could feel the sarcasm in his voice.

"Something like that," I agreed. "Where are you?"

Luke laughed sarcastically. "Why, so you can punch me in the face?"

"I'm not a violent person, Luke. I just want to talk to you in person about this," I shot back, my face beginning to feel frozen. I searched around me to find him, but his face was nowhere to be seen. I suddenly wondered if he looked like my dad in any way.

"Hey, New York changes a person. I'm already feeling like elbowing these people as I walk by..." he trailed off. I scoffed to myself. Does everyone think that a city can change you that much?

"Luke –" I shouted into the phone just as I bumped straight into a person. I clutched my phone and jerked my head up to apologize. Luke stood there, looking down at me like he was looking at a completely different person. His eyes searched my face just as mine did his. His hair was brown like mine with soft hazel eyes. Those were the only similarities I could find between my dad and him.

"You're looking at me like you've never seen me before." Luke started walking away from me, a flat smile on his face. I raced to catch up with him as I bumped into people and threw sorry's out randomly.

"That's because I haven't. Well, not really." I was in complete awe.

"You should really stop," he told me. "I'm starting to think you're weird."

I smacked his arm and smiled – I could already read into his fake seriousness. "How did you know I was going to be in that bar the other night?"

"I didn't, it was just luck. How did you find out I was your half-brother?" He asked. I guessed we were playing twenty questions then.

"My mom told me I had a half-brother just the other day. I was really mad about it because they never told me. It would've been nice having someone around," I explained.

"Well, wasn't that perfect timing? Jamie must have been on that phone of his dialing your mom's number the second I left his house," Luke said distastefully. I furrowed my eyebrows and faintly noticed how he used my father's first name.

"You went to my dad's house?" Our dad. Luke licked his lips and looked up at the sky like he was beginning to feel annoyed.

"Yeah, I did. That's not the point here. How did you find out I was your brother?" He inquired impatiently.

"I just wanted to know, Luke. And I found out from Facebook. It wasn't that hard," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest. He watched me for a second before running a hand through his long hair. I narrowed my eyes at his tall figure. "What are you not telling me?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know, Bea. Some things are better left unsaid." His voice carried away with the wind flowing between us.

"Why can't I know them? I just have the simple questions like where were you this whole time and why did my dad make you stay away from me?" I didn't want to be mean or dig deeper into things I didn't need to stick my nose in, but the curiosity and emotional attachment inside me edged me on.