Try Me

38.

-me & you

It was the day before Thanksgiving; November had flown by in a daze and I was exhausted. The boutique had been doing better and better each month to the point where the girls and I began to entertain the thought of opening up a second location. Jay and four of his brothers were also starting a new business; one that they were very secretive about and I couldn't wait to see what it was.

The upcoming holidays would be far different than any I'd had in the past; my brother was in Australia for an intensely tedious project and I wouldn't see him until January. It would be the first time in our lives that we didn't spend the holidays together but I knew that he wouldn't have taken the job if he wasn't sure that I would be okay without him. I knew that he didn't need me as long as he had work to keep him busy but I set an alarm on my phone so that I could call him on Thanksgiving and Christmas; Australia was fifteen hours ahead and I didn't want to miss it.

Said alarm started to go off, it was seven in the evening in New York which meant that it was ten in the morning on Thanksgiving Day for TJ. I dialed his number with a smile on my face, he answered immediately.

"Hey KK, you remembered." The smile was evident in his voice, "I miss you."

I smiled sadly, "Of course I remembered T! I miss you too though, let's switch to FaceTime." I did just that and resumed our conversation. "T you really need to cut some of that hair off." I chuckled, the top portion of his hair had become overgrown, which was made even more obvious by the fact that the rest of his head was shaved.

TJ whipped his hair and laughed, "Don't be mad because my hair is luscious Kira; jealousy isn't a cute trait." My brother joked. "Are you at work?" He asked as he took in my surroundings. I nodded with a smile, I'd spent more time at work than I did at home during the past three weeks.

"This is the last time though; we've been designing the winter collection and the New Year's collection and the same time so that we can go on the trip." I explained; doing that also meant that we had to account for every possible worst-case scenario, it was the only way that we could be comfortable with turning our phones off.

TJ shook his head, "The three of you may be the most paranoid people on the planet, I swear. We're still celebrating your birthday when you get back, right?" Unfortunately TJ couldn't go on the trip because he had another big job lined up.

"Yeah, the date is saved. How has work been?" I asked him as I propped my phone up so that I didn't have to hold it.

"It's good because it's a challenge. Their vision for the building sounds almost impossible which only makes me want to do it more." TJ chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "They're paying me well for the job, so it's the least I could do." I was happy to see that he'd bounced back after his minor meltdown about our father; I knew that he would.

"I'm super proud of you T and super thankful to have a brother as amazing as you." I told him honestly, if we couldn't spend the day together then I would make sure that I told him how much I appreciated him.

"I'm thankful for you too little star, when I used to be depressed about our situation I would look at you and know that I could never give up. I don't think you know how much you are to thank for my success; I don't know what I would've become if I didn't need to put you through college." TJ's face was overcome with emotion, I was the only person who ever got to see the real him.

I felt tears prick at my eyes, "The same goes for you T, you're the only reason that I ever made anything of myself. We'll always be in this together." My tears fell, hot against my cheeks but I was happy. "You're my brother, both of my parents and my best friend. Thank you for looking out for me even when I make it difficult to do so."