Ghost Lover

That night, their father got home early to their surprise and bought dinner on his way back. He made them both have dinner with him while talking and narrating his ordeal at work. Austin couldn’t help but think his father was drunk and he could bet his brother thought the same with the disbelief written all over his face.

But Mr Richard wasn’t drunk, he had gotten promoted at work that day, something he had been dreading ever since the loss of his wife. He put his career In Front of everything else in trying to subdue the pain he felt losing her. That night, all he wanted was to share his happiness with his sons. The mood was getting lighter and Jollier as he kept going on with his stories, Austin laughed and his brother was busy smiling from time to time. They would sneak a peek at each other and pretend like they didn’t notice it.

After dinner, They both tried to clean up but their father stopped them and asked them to rest up and he’ll do that. Austin couldn’t just believe what was happening, all he wanted was for this to happen often and he wouldn’t mind.

Allen was busy preparing his bed for the night when he heard his door creak open. He grunted, thinking it was his father who came in. He was happy his father was in a great mood, but he was honestly tired of the stories.

“Hey”

“Now you want to talk to me?” Allen replied without looking back, focusing his attention on his bed.

Austin sighed and buried his head, “how did we get here?” He whispered with all sincerity and sadness in his voice. “We were perfect growing up, I remember you being my only Friend”

Allen paused, turned back to Austin and arched a brow “you are the reason why we got here”

“Me?”

“Yes, you” Allen raged, “you continue to blame me for everything that goes wrong in your life.”

“And is it not your fault?” Austin whispered to him, not wanting issues to escalate, because he could tell Allen was getting agitated, but getting into a piss off contest with his brother wasn’t his plan here.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“You were the reason mum and dad had no time for me man, it sulked. You always needed their attention, if they aren’t stopping you from getting into trouble, it’s always another thing”

“You took my parents away from me” Austin’s voice rose alongside his breathing.

Allen rolled his tongue, “Get out” he pointed at his door, but Austin stood still.

“Get out!” He screamed and pushed Austin on his chest, but he wouldn’t budge. Their heartbeats racing and their breath unaligned, the tension in the room wasn’t hatred but it was something close to it. They both stood there, staring at each other. Allen knew his brother wasn’t leaving, but he did not know what he wanted from him.

“Did you bother to know what I was going through” Allen began with his voice breaking, ” All you thought was I chose to be rebellious on my own. You were mum’s favourite, and Dad didn’t have time for any of us. At Least you had mum, I had no one. So if you think I took them away from you, I’m so happy I did, because that was the only way I could get their attention. Luckily for me it worked.”

Austin couldn’t say he was disappointed at what his brother just said but he never expected his brother to be this cruel.

“Wow” a tear dropped from his eyes, as he fought back to hold the rest in. He wiped his tears off with his palm. “I’m gonna go, I think I’ve heard everything I needed to hear”

Austin ran off to his room and fell to the ground immediately he locked his door. His heart was breaking into tiny bits, coming back as a whole and breaking again. He was crying after having a wonderful night with his father, why do things always have to go south for him, he thought. Happiness was never a long lasting thing for him. He blamed himself for walking into his brother’s room, all he wanted was to talk and make things better between them but the opposite happened, he felt farther away from him and he hated him. Yes, he hated him. He did everything with the intention of taking them away from him and he won.

He picked up his phone and dialled a number..

“Hey Austin, I’m not in the moo…”

“I’m sorry Nala” Austin said breaking down on the phone and his voice shaking, “I’m sorry for everything”

“What’s wrong?” Nala asked, sounding concerned. “Talk to me”

“I just realised you were more important to me than anything” he wiped his eyes and his voice sounded more composed. ” I wanted you to know that and understand that I value you.”

This proclamation followed with a short silence and he had to ask “Are you there?”

“Yes yes, I am” she replied, ” I guess I’m just shocked by this”

“Why would you be shocked?” he smiled, “can’t you tell you are the most important woman to me?” he teased.

“Oh please shut up” Nala sighed and replied, “You just confuse me alot. You keep me out and then you make me feel important, then you keep me out again. This circle of events keeps hurting me.”

“I am sorry Nala, I promise it won’t happen again” he reassured her.

“You’ve been saying that alot, I don’t know what else to think” she wasn’t convinced by what he said and Austin knew that but he had no idea how to get her to trust him again. “And is that why you were crying like a baby”

“You should be glad I did, because now you would know I’d definitely die if I lose you”

“I’m not buying that”

“I’m not asking you to” Austin stood from the floor with a smile on his face and began moving around the room. There was something about Nala that always made him happy, being around her was his medicine for Joy and laughter. Somehow he knew this, her smile made him drown in love, whenever she grabs him, he doesn’t want her to let go. Spending time with her felt like a millisecond, regardless of how long he has been with her.

“Or has your boyfriend ever shed a tear for you? ” he teased her and he heard her let out a long and mischievous hiss while she told him goodbye.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry” he hurriedly replied, laughing.

“Just don’t tease me with him again”

“I’ll try”

“Goodnight Au…stin” she yawned as she stretched his name. Austin knew she was Probably tired and she needed to rest like him.

“Goodnight Nala, dream about him or me, but I assure you, dreaming about me is way better…” he gasped as he completed his statement and looked at his phone, she hung up even before he finished.