Are You Sure? (Marina)

Forty.

Carina

The look on Andrea's face was one I recognized. It was the same face he presented with when he came to my flat in Milan. The one I saw when Meredith called me over because he wouldn't get off her couch. Even from the small heartbreaks he called me about when we were teenagers. "Drink with me?"

"You're not living on my couch." I specified as I walked towards him and he nodded. He followed me into the apartment except he stopped at the entrance and I continued into the kitchen to grab some glasses. When I turned Maya was talking to him and I couldn't make out what she said, but she turned to go to the room. "Bambina, you don't want to join?"

"Umm," she turned to the room then back at me like she was unsure if she should be apart of this. I looked at my brother who shrugged.

"I'll be in bed later."

"Can't wait," she gave me a small smile that didn't touch her eyes and I followed her with mine until she closed the door behind her. I walked into the living room where Andrea was already chugging on the bottle.

"Okay! Whoah!" I took the bottle away from him, "You know you can't mix too much with your medication. How much have you had? This bottle is almost half gone."

"I came to drink Carina, not get lectured." He snatched it from me and poured some into a glass. "Wait, can you drink?"

I waved off his offer, "I'm okay. What happened? Did you drive here?" I sat down next to him and he slumped against the couch with the glass in his hand, he turned his head to me and his eyes watered. "Andrea.."

"Go ahead, say I told you so." He swirled the whiskey and then sipped his glass. As much as I didn't approve of the relationship that essentially sent my brother to jail and almost cost him his career didn't mean I wanted him to be upset. I scooted over to him and brushed his hair back.

"Mi dispace Andrea, I'm sure it's just a fight." His head slid over and landed on my shoulder. This hurt more, he was rarely affectionate and this showed me how much he was hurting. He hadn't been like this since his depressive episode that required hospitalization. Before that he was 6 and was having bad dreams.

"No. It's over, it's for the best. She said we are at two different places and I know she- she doesn't see me as her equal Carina-"

"You're not equal, she's your boss Drea, it doesn't mean she doesn't respect you. That's something you can't have an ego about. What you want is definitely something you need to think about." He shot up from my shoulder to look at me as if I had said something ridiculous. "What?"

He scoffed at me, "How could she respect me when she sees me as less than her? You're on her side!?"

"No Drea, I'm on your side ma sei molto testardo con questo, if you feel so strongly to have ended it then.." I shrugged my shoulder and dropped my hand to my lap.

"But you don't think I'm right. Does me being with her bother you that much?" His face was narrowed at the brows and his eyes were screaming in pain, the look itself troubled me and reminded me of the way he would talk to me before he started his medication. There would be no reason for him to stop taking his medication, he was doing so well.

Still I didn't want to seem unsupportive, or like I was smothering him, "No, you do what you want fratellino, it's your life. Simply, I think you haven't taken the time to realize what being with her means. Are you more mad about her saying you are in different places or about you thinking she sees you as less? How much is it about your masculinity?"

He rolled his eyes and finished the rest of his drink, "I just wanted to drink."

"Hmm and you came here where you know I'd not give you the satisfaction of 'just drinking'." He groaned and fell back again against the couch. "You can sleep on the couch, you're going to get drowsy from the alcohol and medication mixture."