Page 2 of Brighton

“No, more of an acquaintance I occasionally hung out with. Open it, let me know what’s inside. Should be something good. Stevie always bragged about how loaded Edward was.” Mario was far too excited about this.

“I wouldn’t feel right doing that.” Edward’s sad face reappeared in my mind. “Do you know where he lives or works, Edward that is? I’d like to give it back.” Keeping it felt all kinds of wrong, plus it wasn’t intended for me.

“Nope. Stevie was super hush-hush about his Daddies unless it came to sex. Then that boy was chatty as hell. Too open, if you catch my drift. Especially while I was in a dry spell. Went through lube and nearly sprained my wrist during those months.” Yeah, not having close friends right now worked to my favor. I could’ve done without that visual my co-worker just gave me. Jeez, I’d never be able to look Mario in the eye again without turning various shades of red.

“If you hear from Stevie, let him know I have his gift, please.” Time to wrap this up before I lost more of my life I couldn’t get back.

“Will do. Ta-ta.”

Was it possible for eye drops to seep in and cleanse your brain? The images now taking up valuable real estate in my mind needed erased like, immediately.

I finished hooking up the TV and DVD player and slid a favorite in. Anything other than what was in my head right now would be divine. While the movie was playing, I ordered more of what I needed online, consisting of the things the stores were out of today along with take-out delivery for dinner. Tomorrow, I’d tackle the grocery store. Today the car was overloaded and there was no way I could add that haul to the mix, and I was far too tired to go back out in the crappy weather now.

To me, snow was beautiful if I got to stay indoors and didn’t have to go out in it. Sliding on the ice and falling on my ass I could do without, though it was inevitable as I managed to do it at least once a season. But there was something magical about it as I watched the fluffy flakes frommyown window, that elevated it a touch right then.

Exhausted and with a full belly, I crashed midway through the movie and woke the next day to a trail of ants stomping across the counter.Ah, adulthood.Now that bug spray had been added to the ever-growing grocery list, it was time to embark upon that mission. Thankfully the superstore around the corner was a one stop shopping hub, or so they claimed, and I was just the man to test that claim. Had I not needed as much as I did, I would’ve walked considering how close it was but carrying countless bags would’ve been a disaster.

Screaming children, and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” piped in on what felt like an endless loop combined with jam-packed aisles did not make for a happy Brighton. I did my best to locate everything on my list as quickly as possible but as expected, another online order was in my near future. The checkout lines at the registers spanned the aisles with no relief in sight. People I could do in small doses but to this extent it set my anxiety on high. I nearly offered to pay for the groceries for the family that checked out ahead of me just to get them to stop handing the cashier coupons so I could get the hell out of there. They had two carts, one full of groceries and the other full of their offspring, which continued to wipe their snotty noses on their siblings.

This is why some animals eat their young.

Parenthood was not for me and obviously the nature channel was.

With the car once again loaded to the roof, I swung through the nearby coffee shop on my way home and swore to myself, I wouldn’t leave the house for the rest of the day. I unloaded, parked the car and checked the mail on the way up, then happily locked myself inside and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. A double dose of Xanax was in my near future.

The couch, bed, dresser, and small dining table delivery confirmation came through my email and brightened my dour mood. In the future I’d consider ordering groceries online or shopping late at night while the majority of the population was already in bed. Crowds freaked me out and I’d never done well with them. Crowds around the holidays were a panic attack waiting to happen. At least for me they were.

I’d picked up a TV stand and matching coffee table from the small furniture department the big box store had. Both claimed no tools were required, everything was inside. Here’s to hoping that held true because I owned exactly zero tools. And more items added to ever-growing shopping list. An hour and a few choice curse words later, who knew fuck could be used as a conjunction, they were assembled and oddly sturdy enough for use.

“Nice job, Brighton.” Kinda fun to be your own cheerleader without hearing,any man can do that, in the background. The rest of my Sunday was spent in the silence of my new place which was taking shape and working its way toward a decent first home.

“Brighton, good morning. How’s the new apartment?” my boss, John, asked the next morning as I stepped into my cubicle.

“Morning, John. It’s big and empty but it’s mine.” Maybe not big to some, but bigger than my childhood bedroom was. I really enjoyed the team I worked with. We had many seasoned professionals here who actually enjoyed sharing their knowledge and mentoring those of us who were new to the field.

“Excellent. Don’t forget, team meeting at ten.” I shot him a thumbs up. Every Monday there was a team meeting at the same time and every week he reminded the group just the same.

Nine fifty-eight rolled around and as one we converged on the conference room. These meetings had the same agenda each time, large audits updated, new client discussions, challenging clients and how to better assist them without losing your shit. Mindless words spewed and I was exhausted. My mind wandered to the list of things I still needed for my apartment. Where to place the new furniture. How was Edward doing.

Where did that one come from?

I hadn’t thought of him since I talked to Mario, not sure why I was now, but his sad face was at the forefront of my mind. Never having been in a relationship, hell, I’d never even been kissed. But still, how could someone treat another the way Stevie had Edward? Granted, I didn’t know the other side of the coin but based on the hurt reflected in Edwards eyes and what Mario shared, it didn’t paint a pretty picture of Stevie. Not for me, anyway.

The meeting was adjourned, thankfully with no questions shot my way, and we returned to our cubicles.

“Hey,” I jumped at the sound of the voice behind me.

“Jesus, you scared the crap out of me.” Mario stood there laughing.

“Sorry, didn't mean to. A couple of us are going out to lunch and I wanted to see if you'd like to go with?”

“Thanks for the invite but I actually brought mine.” Look at me being an adult again. But eating out wouldn’t replace my depleted savings account.

“No worries, we'll catch you next time. Hey, did you open that gift?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “No, and I'm not going to. It's not meant for me and if I knew where to find Edward, I'd return it to him.”

Mario laughed. “I wouldn't worry about it. These Daddies, they don't mind, and they have the money to spend. It's not like he's gonna do anything else with it. I only met Edward a couple of times, but he was really into Stevie. Kind of feel bad for the poor guy now.”

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