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“What the hell?” I asked in surprise.
“Nice to see you, too,” he said, walking past me.
He went to the kitchen and set the beer on the counter.Make yourself at home,I thought. He opened the box and pulled out a beer and then another. He tossed it to me and I almost fumbled it before steadying the cold can in my hands.
“A peace offering,” he said, popping the tab of his beer.
I stood there, unsure if I wanted to kick him out or let him stay.
“Thanks,” I said, opening my beer and taking a sip.
I guessed it was time to stop being an asshole.
We stood there drinking our beers in silence for a moment. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but I was the one to blame for that. The past few months I had been in my own world and shutting everyone out.
“So…” Brody started, “I don’t know what’s going on with you, and not to be soft, but I care about you. You’re my brother, and I’m here for you.”
I took a deep breath before nodding toward the couch. “Come. Sit. Chinese food is on its way. I ordered way too much.”
“Junzi’s?” he asked hopefully.
“Where else?”
He smiled and followed me toward the couch.
We both plopped down and sunk into the large plush cushions that I had fallen asleep on more times than my own bed in the past few weeks.
“Well… I’m listening,” said Brody, taking another sip of beer and raising a brow.
I gazed out the large glass windows and thought for a moment. As I looked out at the skyscrapers towering nearby, I spoke about something I hadn’t thought about in years. Something I had blocked out.
“Remember Danielle?” I asked.
“Danielle,Danielle?From college?” asked Brody, a note of surprise.
“Yeah.”
“God, yes. That was a fucking mess.” He shook his head.
“I know. I feel like ever since then…”
“Ever since she tried to completely screw you over?”
I gave him a look.
“Okay, okay,” he said, putting his hands up.
He was right, though. Danielle was my girlfriend through college and I thought she wasthe one. We had been together for four years. She was beautiful, bubbly, and fun-loving. I really thought I had our lives all figured out. But then I found out she was cheating on me with the teaching assistant in one of her classes.
I was crushed. Pissed. Sick. She said I never had any time for her, which was partially true because I was trying to get my tech start-up off the ground while juggling my senior year. She had always said she supported me. She was rooting for me. But I guess she got tired or lonely. She found comfort with someone else.
I broke up with her and threw myself into my start-up even more. I had a vision for AI long before AI had even become what it is now. Some say, I was the founder of artificial intelligence. After graduation, my start-up got noticed. Major tech giants wanted to get their hands on it, but I refused. I never wanted to sell it. I wanted tobeone of those major tech giants. By me holding onto it and the buzz surrounding it, the value shot up and I eventually landed where I am today.
I lost Danielle in the process, but I couldn’t say I regretted it. Especially after what she did to me. Months after our breakup, when the buzz around my start-up becoming a full-fledged company was all over the press, she called me. She told me she was pregnant and that it was mine. I was shocked. We had broken up months ago.
I was scared to death, but I was also ready to step up and do whatever she needed. But Brody wasn’t convinced. He said things weren’t adding up and to be cautious. He insisted I take a paternity test. Danielle was pissed, but legally she had to allow me to.
It turned out, the baby wasn’t mine. She was actually only a few weeks pregnant, so it couldn’t possibly be my baby. I never found out who the father was. I didn’t care. I wanted to get as far away from her as possible. To know that someone could lie and use someone for their own personal gain was scary, but when it was someone you once loved. That was a whole other level of fucked up.