Losing the Feeling of Feeling Unique

The clock struck 1pm; I jumped up from my uncomfortable desk chair and ran out of work, not wanting to be late meeting Ryan.

I ran out onto the chilly London street, I went over to the very edge of the pavement, right on the curb and flung my arm out, in hope of hailing a taxi. Luckily for me, one pulled over on my first attempt. I told the driver my destination and we set off.

While I sat in the back of the surprisingly clean black cab, I thought about how much my life had changed in a matter of hours. I mean, come on, who finds out that their long lost twin brother is one quarter of, and guitarist for a world renowned band?!

After 20 minutes or so, we reached the café. It’s a really nice, small café called Joe’s Kitchen. It’s a simple underrated place, a hidden gem in the large city of London. It was the perfect spot to meet Ryan.

I got seated at a small table in the corner of the café; I awaited the arrival of my…brother. It still felt weird saying that I had a brother!

Seeing as I was 10 minutes or so early, I got out my iPhone©, and searched Panic At The Disco on the internet. In a matter of minutes, I knew tons of stuff about the band, they all hailed from Vegas, except Jon, who came from Chicago. Also Jon wasn’t the original bassist for the band, some guy called Brent was (and if I may say, from the pictures, that guy is not hot!). I also found out that their first album sold in excess of 2 million copies! That shocked me so much; I mean how had I never heard of them before?

As I was getting over the astounding success of the band, I slipped the iPhone© back into my trouser pocket. I saw the newly familiar figure of Ryan approaching; I stood up and embraced him.

‘Hey Ry’ I smiled happily.

‘Hey Ruby’ he replied, his smile mirroring my own.

‘How was the rest of your night?’ I asked him.

‘It was okay, getting over the shock of finding out you have a twin is unbelievably hard’

‘I can only imagine’ I said, a smirk playing on my lips.

‘Hah ha, very funny Ruby’ he uttered sarcastically.

‘I know, I’m hilarious aren’t I?’ I said, also sarcastically, as he rolled his brown eyes at me.

We ordered our food and began talking again; we then got into a heated debate. About scarves believe it or not! We laughed and joked like we’d known each other for years, when in reality it had been less than a day. Ryan is a really amazing person, so nice. I couldn’t have wished for a better surprise brother.

We left the café, walking no-where in particular, just talking and walking. When out of the blue, Ryan asked me if I wanted to go back to the hotel the guys were staying at. Of course I agreed.

After walking around for a quarter of an hour, we reached the hotel, it looked expensive, but it wasn’t by any means flashy, an understated sort of class.

We approached the door and the very dapper doorman said, ‘Afternoon Mr Ross’, his very thick cockney accent shining through.

Ryan smiled, ‘Hey Jacob’

‘Who’s this lovely lady then?’ he asked, referring to me.

‘Oh sorry, Jacob, this is my twin sister Ruby. Ruby, this is Jacob.’

‘Hey Jacob’ I said shyly.

‘You’re very lucky young lady’ Jacob said to me.

‘I am?’ I asked slightly puzzled by this random question.

‘This is a great guy here, I’m sure he’s going to be a top brother’

‘I know; he’s the best brother ever’ I smiled, linking my arm with Ryan’s.

‘We’re off to our room, see you later Jacob’ Ryan said leading me through the marble lobby, away from the door and to the lift.

We entered the fairly large room to see two member of the band around a large wooden table. They were playing a card game. Since Brendon had no shirt on and Spencer, I think, had on only one shoe, I guessed they were playing strip poker or something. Ryan and I stood by the door unnoticed, they began talking in hushed tones, neither of them had a clue we were standing there. Ryan put his finger to his lips, indicating for me to stay quiet. I did so, and we both peeked out into the main area of the room, I was wondering where Jon was, until I heard him shout,

‘Do you guys want a beer?’

‘Yeah!’ they both called back.

Seconds later, Jon appeared, wearing…nothing! I screeched causing the three men to acknowledge mine and Ryan’s presence. Brendon hastily covered his nipples, which caused me to giggle and Spencer waved, I returned the gesture. My eyes then slowly wondered over to Jon, who was standing there, frozen and stark naked with a beer in each hand. I couldn’t help but let my eyes go…southward. Let’s just say, Jon is well endowed in the pants department.

After a minute, instead of covering up, Jon said, ‘You likey?’ he wiggled his eyebrows and posed in a suggestive manner.

‘JON! PUT SOME GODDAMNED CLOTHES ON!’ Ryan roared, seeming quite pissed off at Jon. I, on the other hand, found the whole situation rather amusing. As I giggled, Jon ran into the adjoining room, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

I sat down on one of the empty chairs at the table and said, ‘I’m in’

‘You’ll have to shed a piece of clothing every time you lose’ Brendon said, stating the rules.

‘I’m up to it’ I said boldly.

‘No way’ Ryan said protectively.

‘Ah, come on bro’ I said pouting at him.

‘Okay’ he gave in ‘But no stripping!’

‘Fine’ I huffed. ‘I’ll bet with money’ I stated ‘You guys can strip’ I said gesturing towards the three of them, Spencer, Brendon, and a now fully clothed Jon.

Although, that didn’t last long, within 20 minutes all three of them were sitting there in their boxers (well, they would’ve been naked, but Ryan said no!)

The whole time we were playing Jon made many, many crude but funny remarks. This earned him many a dirty look from Ryan. Which confused me, because they were just harmless jokes weren’t they?

Anyways, that’s not the point; I beat all of their arses and won a truck load of their money. As I was collecting some of my winnings, I decided to tease the boys.

‘How does it feel to get beaten? To get beaten by a girl?’ Ryan found this amusing, he chuckled as I continued to tease his band mates ‘Do you guys like getting beaten by girls?’ I got up from the table and found my bag and dumped the cash inside it.

‘She’s mean’ I heard Brendon whisper as I got up. I skipped back over ‘Aw sorry Brenny bear’

‘Brenny bear?’ he asked.

‘You don’t mind if I call you that; do you?’ I asked as I sat down on his lap.

As I sat down I’m sure I saw a flash of anger, or maybe it was jealousy, on Jon’s face. I ignored it and stayed seated on Brendon’s lap.

‘Jon, can I speak to you please?’ Ryan asked. Jon nodded and followed Jon into the room next door. Silence followed, Spencer was listening to his iPod©, I was wondering what to do, when I heard Jon shout

‘RY, LEAVE IT ALONE! I HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING TO HER!’ I heard a door slam, then Jon reappeared, slightly red in the face.