Mentality

Chapter Twenty Five: Howl

"Howl, when are you planning dinner with..."

"I don't know. I don't think I'm even going to. He's just some guy. I don't know him." I said, sitting on the couch. Eloise was sitting next to me. Dan was sitting on the other side, his laptop on his lap. Phil was elsewhere.

"I could always go with. Maybe he just wants to get to know you." Dan looked up at me from his laptop.

"I don't know. Don't you think it'll be a little awkward having my biological brother meeting my actual brother?" I looked at him.

"No. It won't. It'll be fun." Dan smiled, closing his laptop. Eloise chuckled nad shook her head.

"I'd love to see that."

"Maybe. Maybe I'll ask Jackson to come." I sighed. "I honestly don't know if I'll be going. Like I said. I've never met him. The only thing we have in common is that we both came from the same place. We only share the same DNA. And besides, you're my real brother. You know all my quirks, what makes me tick, and how ticklish I am. This guy... He knows nothing about me... He's just some guy who shares the same birth parents." I replied, running my hand through my hair.

"What's his name? We'll look him up." Dan said, placing his laptop on my legs.

"He said his name is Ryan Jacobs." I said, typing away.

"Rayn? Ryan? Very close. I guess that's what happens when" I looked up at Dan, he paused and looked at me, "you have insane parents." He finished.

"Yeah. I guess that's okay. It's not like they were my parents." I said, looking back at the screen. "They didn't want me anyway" I scoffed, shaking my head. Eloise stood up and left Dan and I alone to talk about family matters.

"Howl, I didn't mean it like that. You know that. They are just people who happened to be married and happened to sleep together and have two kids on two separate occasions." Dan said, looking at me.

"I know. I don't know why I'm so hurt about this. I never even met them." I looked up at him. "It's fine. I'm fine. This all happened over 20 years ago." I closed his laptop before I finish look Ryan up. I placed his laptop on the couch and stood up, walking towards my room.

"Wait. Howl, stop." Dan said, coming after me.

"Dan, it's fine. Really. I joke about it all the time. You know that. I'm just having a hard time with Rayn wanting to meet me. I'm 23 years old and all of a sudden some random guy I know nothing about want's to meet me? Some random guy claiming he's my brother." I sighed, leaning against the wall. Dan looked down at me.

"So, you and I will look him up. We will find out the truth about him." He said, nodding towards the lounge. I sighed and nodded and followed him back the lounge. Dan sat on the couch and I sat next to him. Dan picked up his laptop and opened it.

"What did you say his name is?" Dan asked, typing into Google.

"Ryan Jacobs." I replied, looking at the computer screen. He nodded and typed the name in the search bar. Tons of names popped up.

"What was the number he called you from? Or email address?"

"He didn't give me an email address. But, here." I said, handing him my phone. Dan took my phone and read the number, typing it to the bar. Before he clicked enter, I looked away and took a deep breath.

"There. That's him. That is Rayn Ford. That is your brother..." Dan said, pointing at the screen.

"I told you. He isn't my brother. And... Oh my gosh." I looked at the screen and raised my eye brows. I glanced up at Dan and he had a small smile.

"What does he do? What his occupation?" I asked.

"CEO of a clothing company. Turns out it's a company he created we he was 17." Dan said, scrolling through Rayn's Wikipedia page.

"Wait... How old is he?" I asked, leaning on Dan's shoulder.

"35. So, he's 12 years older than you." He replied, scrolling back to the top.

"12 years?! He was 12 when I was born?"

"Says here he was adopted when he was 1. So, he didn't know about you until recently." Dan said, reading off his screen. I looked over his shoulder and read along with him.

"He made over one mil by the time he was 20!" I exclaimed, looking at his business article.

"Hey, what are you guys up to?" Phil asked, walking into the lounge and sitting at the dining table with a plate of food. Eloise was behind him, a cup of juice in her hands.

"Howl's brother is a millionaire." Dan said, closing his laptop a little to look at Phil.

"Dan, we've been over this..." I started.

"What?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. Rayn started a clothing company when he was 17 and he made over 1mil by the time he was 20. Dan and I are trying to figure him out so when I/we go meet him for dinner we know more about him." I explained to Phil.

"What's the name of the company?"

"Yeah. What is the name of the company?" I asked, looking at Dan.

"Polar Tycoon. Bit lame if you ask me." Dan said, looking at the website. I leaned over and looked at it with him. I saw a few dresses and shirts I actually own and gifted to a few friends.

"Dan! You own some of these shirts!" I exclaimed, pointing at a black shirt with a white and grey image on it.

"Oh..." He said.

"Are you going to call him? Ask if he still wants to meet?" Phil asked, a smug smile tugged on his lips.

"I don't know yet. Ryan is literally just some guy." I said, looking up at Phil. Dan very suddenly got up and left the room, his phone pushed to ear.

"So, get to know him. Build a relationship with him." Phil replied.

"Maybe. I don't know yet." I said, slouching into the couch. Moments later, Dan came back in, plopping onto the couch next to me. He placed his phone on my lap. It took me a minute to realize that it was actually my phone.

"You, Rayn, and I have dinner planned. Next week. Dress fancy." Dan said, slipping his headphones on and blaring Muse. I looked at him and got ready to yell. What he did was wrong. But, it had to be done. Otherwise I never would have called.