Текст книги "The Distance Between"

Автор книги: Zillah De Rigaud

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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 11 страниц)

“Okay, make it quick,” he said before he hung up.

I couldn’t stop smiling as I put down the phone. I was so happy that he wasn’t seeing anyone. I know it

was irrational to be so jealous all the time, especially since I fucked Remi almost every week, but I didn’t

want another guy touching my David. And I definitely didn’t want him to be in love with another guy.

I now called David on a more regular basis and when his birthday came up I decided that I had to get

him something. This year I couldn’t just pretend to have forgotten like I’d done in the past.

I talked to Remi about what to get David for his birthday. We were watching MTV on his crappy TV

and all of a sudden this old Bob Dylan video was on; the one were he’s holding up signs with the lyrics of

the song on them. “You should do that,” Remi said “I’ll make some pictures of you in the city holding up

signs with ‘Happy Birthday’ one them.”

“That sounds pretty corny actually but I think David might like it,” I said. So Remi and I got dressed and

rushed down to the nearest office supplies store to buy big sheets of white paper and a black marker pen. I

wrote ‘Happy Birthday’ on one of the sheets of paper and ‘Have a great day’, ‘Greetings from Paris’ and

‘Don’t drink too much’ on the others. On the last one I wrote ‘I miss you’.

Remi and I headed to all kinds of tourist attractions throughout the city. We did the ‘Happy Birthday’

picture in front of the Eiffel tower and ‘Have a great day’ in front of the Centre Pompidou. Then we did

the ‘Don’t drink too much’ in front of the weird colored statues next to the Centre Pompidou and the

“Greetings from Paris’ in front of the Arc de Triomphe. We saved the last sheet of paper for the Notre

Dame, where in the garden at the backside of the cathedral I held up the ‘I miss you’ sign. People were

looking at us; two guys with some big white sheets and a camera can attract a lot of attention. I tried not to

give a shit and to smile on the pictures.

The pictures turned out great and I emailed them to David on his birthday. I send him a text message too

on his mobile saying “Happy birthday, go check your e-mail.” He called me a couple of minutes later.

“Thank you,” he said when I picked up the phone. “It’s the best gift ever.”

“You liked the pictures?”

“Yeah I liked them. And I liked it even more that you haven’t forgotten my birthday this year.” I heard a

sob on the other side of the line and for a moment I was afraid that David would burst into tears. He could

control himself luckily.

“I never forgot,” I blurted out before I could think.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said.

“Don’t hang up,” I asked and then I send him the last picture. I’d taken that last one alone in my

apartment without Remi’s help. That last picture had me holding up a sheet of paper without any text on

in. Instead I’d just drawn a clumsy heart and held the paper in front of my chest. I hadn’t been sure if I

should send it to David but after hearing his voice I needed to. A couple of seconds later he saw the

picture in his e-mail.

“That’s the best one,” he said and I could hear his voice crack. I could still hear tears in his voice.

“I hope you have a great birthday,” I said.

“Yeah thanks, I’m really happy you called.”

“I was also hoping you’d say that. I’m happy I called too. I’ll call you again soon,” I said before I hung

up.

After David’s birthday I started calling him every week, sometimes even more often. I also send him emails

with pictures of Paris and even a postcard with Oscar Wilde on it; who had lived in Paris before

his death. I knew that David loved Oscar Wilde, his dad used to read to him from Oscar’s fairy tales

when he was a kid. He had the book on his nightstand back home.

I’d even started to make little videos for him with my camera, filming my room and showing him my

view from my window, blowing him a kiss before I turned it off. He sent me bare-chested pictures of

himself in return that showed the new tattoo on his back. I never liked tattoos but this one on David looked

great, he’d made the drawing for it himself.

“You look so much happier now that you’re speaking to your brother again,” Remi said when I saw him

later that week. The evening before, David and me had talked on Skype for an hour and I was soaring

from happiness just to hear his voice for such a long time and to make him laugh at one of my stupid jokes.

I longed to get home and I even didn’t feel like sleeping with Remi any more.

22. Glenn in Paris

Finally in the last two months of my stay in Paris, Glenn came over from New York to stay with me.

We’d been exchanging emails on occasion but I really missed having my best friend around. I was so

excited to see him that I couldn’t sleep properly the night before his arrival.

He would arrive at the airport around noon and then go by train to Gare du Nord, the largest train

station of the city, where I would pick him up. When I saw him stepping out of the train with his suitcase, I

ran up to him and hugged him hard. He hugged me back.

“It’s fucking great to see you,” he said and laughed. “You look amazing, almost European.”

“You look great too,” I said. Glenn had cut his hair in this old-fashioned forties haircut, which looked

exceptionally good on him. He was wearing a nicely cut brown suit, like he just stepped out of a

Humphrey Bogart movie.

“Come on show me your place,” he said. “I really need a drink, I’ve been sitting next to a woman with

a crying baby for eight hours.”

We took a taxi to my apartment and I hauled up his suitcase up the stairs for him. I showed him around

and when he came out of the shower in some fresh clothes, I handed him a cold beer. He laughed, “So are

we going out tonight or what?”

We went out that evening, even though Glenn was pretty exhausted from the flight. It was good to be

together again. I’d missed Glenn’s clever wits and his brooding charm. I’d even missed his rude manners

and the way he always knew what I was thinking. I decided to show Glenn a small club not far from my

apartment. The place was crowed, even though it was a weekday and it was impossible to have a real

conversation with the music blasting my eardrums. We danced and drank and flirted with some guys, just

like we used to back in New York. But then it was really getting late and Glenn was starting to look tired.

He’d been up for more than 24 hours and he really needed to get some sleep.

“So how are things here?” he asked when we were walking home at 04:00 AM after that exhausting

night of partying.

“Things are pretty good,” I said. “But even better now that you’re around.”

“Are you seeing someone?”

“I’m seeing this French guy, Remi, I’ll introduce you to him tomorrow. He’s really nice but it’s more of

a casual thing and not an actual relationship.” He smiled.

“So how’s your brother?” he asked casually.

“He’s fine,” I said, hoping that he would not press the subject.

“Is David seeing someone back in Fresno?”

“No.”

“He hasn’t visited you?”

“No.”

“But things are still the same between the two of you?” he asked carefully. “Yeah, pretty much.” I

answered with a sigh.

“So how has it worked out being colleagues then?” “Why do you think I’m here again?” I replied.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said and for a moment he looked worried about me.

We went out to dinner with Remi the next day. Some of his friends, including Pavel, came too. I didn’t

even dare to look Pavel in the eye anymore; I’d completely forgotten to call him after our night of passion.

I was sure I’d hurt his feelings.

When we were all at our table, Glenn was impressed at how easily I talked in French to everyone.

“Wow, you’ve certainly adjusted,” he said. “Smooth talking in French with all the European boys.” He

was eying Pavel, who was too shy to look at him.

We had a great time eating and talking and drinking loads of wine and this anise flavored liquor that Remi

liked. Remi was looking super hot this evening. He had his dark hair slicked back and he was wearing a

dark blue shirt that complemented his nice olive skin color. Glenn was telling him stories about our partynights

in New York and in return Remi was giving him an update about what I’d been doing in Paris.

“It sure sounds like the two of you have had a lot of fun the last couple of months, too bad I wasn’t

here,” Glenn pouted.

“We’ve had lots of fun but Michael was a bit sad too sometimes,” Remi said. “He misses his brother a

lot, it’s so cute the way he talks about him.”

Glenn turned his head to look at me. His eyes caught mine and I knew that he knew…

Later, we all went to a club for some dancing. Pavel was talking to a slim French guy and after an hour

or so they both left. Glenn and I were standing at the bar, watching the other people dance.

“So what’s the deal with you and Remi?” Glenn asked while he was handing me a drink.

“We’re basically just friends and on occasion I fuck him,” I said.

“Well he’s a really cute guy… But not as cute as your brother,” Glenn said with a smirk on his face.

Glenn looked over at Remi who was currently French kissing a tall French guy. “He looks like he’s pretty

good at it,” he smiled.

“He gives pretty good blow-jobs too, maybe you should ask for one,” I joked. Glenn raised an

eyebrow, “I just might do that you know.”

“Go ahead, I really don’t feel possessive about him in that way,” I replied. It was true I really didn’t

mind that Remi was all over some other guy. I wouldn’t even mind if Glenn fucked him. I was only

thinking about that first night in New York were Glenn and me had met David and we ended up dancing

together for hours. I wished he was here now. I was feeling kind of empty although I should be happy that

my best friend was here.

Remi was finished with kissing the tall guy and came over to us. “So do you want to dance?” he asked

me. I shook my head. “How about you?” he asked Glenn and gave him a seductive little smile.

“I’ll dance with you,” Glenn said to Remi and I could see he was in a predatory mood now.

I watched them dance while I remained standing at the bar. They were really grinding their belies

together, like David and I used to do. I could see they were both having a lot of fun. I was happy for them

but felt a bit melancholy too. Why couldn’t I just be more like Remi or Glenn and just go out and have fun

for a change? Why did I always need to think about David?

At 02:00 AM Glenn came over to the bar again. “Do you mind if I go home with him?” he asked. “No

of course not,” I said. “Just go ahead and I’ll see you in the morning. I really need to get some sleep so

I’m going home.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with this,” he asked. I smiled warily. “It’s not like your asking me to sleep

with David so do whatever you please.” I probably shouldn’t have said that last thing, but I figured that

Glenn knew how I felt anyway. “Then I’ll see you in the morning,” he said and rushed over to Remi again.

Remi and Glenn really hit it off and I think Remi almost saw more of Glenn during those two weeks

than I did. Actually I was feeling relieved because I didn’t feel like sleeping with Remi anymore now that

I was calling David so often and I was glad that he and Glenn seemed to like each other so much.

“I can’t believe you haven’t fallen for this guy,” Glenn said when we were having a late breakfast in a

café. “I know he’s perfect,” I said. “But he’s just not perfect for me.”

“I think I might actually fall for him myself,” Glenn said. “Really?” I asked surprised. To my

knowledge Glenn had never really been in love before.

“I’m thinking about asking him to come and see me in New York.”

“You should do that. He’ll love it,” I said.

When Remi later walked in to join us he and Glenn gave each other a long kiss and I saw in Remi’s eyes

that he liked Glenn just as much as Glenn liked him.

Then Glenn’s visit was over way too soon and I was preparing to leave as well. My contract at the

French law firm ended two weeks before I would leave and for my final two weeks in Paris my dad came

to visit me.

It was nice having my dad around, just for myself, and doing guy-stuff with him. I showed him all my

favorite spots in the city and we talked about work a lot. He was very relieved that still wanted to come

back and work for the firm.

I introduced Remi to my dad and the both helped me pack my stuff and bring things that I could leave

behind to Remi’s apartment. I gave him most of the books I’d bought because they were too heavy to take

with me, and also the espresso machine. The last evening we saw each other, he cried. “Please don’t do

that,” I said.

“I just can’t help it. We’ve been seeing so much of each other and I hate losing a good friend,” he said.

“I’ll be back in France in a while and you’ve already bought your ticket to see Glenn. Maybe I can fly

to New York and see you both there. Glenn and me can show you around in New York, we know all the

best places to go.” He cheered up bit. We hugged each other and said goodbye for the moment.

PART 6 FRESNO

23. Back at home once again

So after another year in France I was flying back home to my family again. They were all waiting for

me at the airport when I landed. Christine ran up to me and hugged me when I walked in to the arrivals

hall. She was almost smothering me in her arms. I could see David standing behind my dad, laughing and

waiting for his turn to welcome me back. After I’d been thoroughly kissed and hugged by Christine and

Juliette and the twins had said “Welcome back”, I walked up to David and hugged him.

It been a year since I’d had him in my arms for the last time and I’d forgotten how tall he was compared

to Remi and how broad his chest was when I held him. Hugging him felt like we were two pieces of a

puzzle that fit together easily. I locked my arms around his back and buried my head against his neck for a

second. I didn’t give a fuck about who was watching us. Everything was so intense in that moment; I could

feel his strong arms around my waist, the muscles in his back, the smell of his hair and the sound of his

breathing. I only led him go when my dad said that our taxi was waiting for us outside.

In the taxi-van everybody was asking me questions about my time in Paris and about my flight. I was

really too tired from travelling with all my suitcases and almost fell asleep on the way home.

“We’ll drop you off at your own apartment. I’ve brought the key,” my dad said. “You should get some

sleep and then we’ll see you in the morning.”

I nodded. David and the twins helped me with getting my luggage out of the van and carried it upstairs

for me. We hugged a second time. “I’m so happy that you are back,” David said. “But you should get some

sleep Michael, you look exhausted.”

When I went in to my apartment it was clear that Juliette had been here to brighten things up. There

were fresh flowers in a big vase on the table, with a welcome back card and the fridge was stuffed with

microwave meals and cold beer. I took out a bottle of beer and opened it. It felt strange to be back in this

big, white apartment when my home had been in Paris for a year. I sat down on the couch, kicked off my

shoes and fell asleep.

24. A new ‘brother’

That Sunday was the first time I met Brad. He was Christine’s boyfriend and they were very ‘serious’

when it came to dating. They’d met at a fundraiser that one of Christine’s friends had organized and now

they were a super cute couple. Christine had blossomed from a pretty girl in to an elegantly dressed young

woman with a taste for designer clothing and pearl earrings. Brad too was handsome and sharply dressed.

He was a lawyer as well, he’d been to Harvard, and was smart and funny. I liked him immediately. He

was a big guy with a broad muscular chest and a square face with friendly brown eyes. He wasn’t my type

but I could see what Christine saw in him. His hands were enormous; especially when he held Christine’s

slender fingers in his’. I wondered where he bought his suits; he was so big that he must get them fitted

especially for him.

Brad had been around for a couple of months already while I was still in Paris. Apparently he had been

coming along with Christine for every Sunday dinner because the whole family was used to him.

“He loves mom’s cooking,” Christine told me while she looked at Brad lovingly. “I guess he loves it a

lot by the look of him,” I joked. Christine giggled. She was very much in love with Brad.

“You must be Michael,” Brad said when Christine introduced me to him. “I’ve heard a lot about you,”

he said smiling. “They all talk about the big brother of the house so much around here.”

“Well I hope they’ve told you only good things,” I said.

“According to your dad you’ll reach sainthood soon,” he laughed.

“You’ll soon find out that my dad likes to exaggerate,” I said.

“Well as I heard it, your résumé is quite impressive.”

“Don’t let that fool you,” I replied and asked him “So where are you working?” He told me the name of

the firm. “Nice,” I said. “I heard that they pay better than my dad does.”

The doorbell rang and Christine walked in to the hallway to open the door. David came in, looking his

usual shabby self. He had on an old pair of jeans, Converse All Stars and a grey college sweat shirt. Still,

to me, he had never looked better. I felt frozen to the floor as he walked up to us and hugged me hard in

front of Brad. He hadn’t even said ‘Hello’ to the rest of the family. I put my arms around his waist and

quickly rubbed my face against his cheek. He never shaved in the weekend and I liked to feel the stubble

on his face. Every time I touched him it felt like the both of us were melting together into a single entity.

“Hi Brad,” he said to Brad while I was still holding him.

“Hi David,” Brad said. “You sure look glad to see your brother again.”

“I am,” David replied and reluctantly we let go of each other. I wished that I could be holding him for a

little while longer.

At the dinner table David and me sat at our fixed places on opposite sides across the table from each

other. I was sitting between Dad and Christine. Brad was talking to my dad about some case he was

working on Dad was clearly enjoying his company. Then when Juliette had just brought in the main

course, Brad stood up and took Christine’s hand in his hand. Everybody went silent.

“You all now that Christine means the world to me and that’s why I’ve asked her to become my wife.”

“I said yes,” Christine filled in. “You’re engaged?” my dad asked. They both nodded and Christine took

out a small diamond ring out of her purse. “That’s wonderful,” my dad said from the heart. Christine put

the ring on her finger and showed it to Juliette. “It’s beautiful Christine, and you’ll make such a beautiful

bride,” she said.

“We’ve been waiting for Michael to come home because we wanted to tell the whole family at the

same time,” Brad said. He looked at Christine lovingly. My dad got up from his seat and hugged

Christine. He lifted her up in the air like he’d done when she was a little girl and kissed her on both

cheeks. After he put her down he shook Brad’s hand. Juliette stood up from the table to kiss Christine and

Brad and then David stood up too to do the same. I felt a little overwhelmed since I didn’t know Brad but

got up too to congratulate them. “Thanks,” Brad said and he raised his hand to shake mine.

“So how did you propose?” the twins asked almost simultaneously. “Did you get down on one knee?”

“It was wonderful,” Christine swooned. “He’d asked the florist to fill up the entire house with roses

and there was this little box on the table and when I opened it the ring was inside. Then Brad walked in

and he got on one knee and proposed. It was so romantic. It was like everything I ever dreamed of as a

little girl.”

The twins looked a bit nauseated from all this romance stuff. They were both pretty nerdy teenagers who

apparently had more interest in playing gruesome video games then in girls.

“So when is the big day?” I asked after I’d kissed Christine and shook hands with Brad. “We’re

thinking about the 25th of June, so in a couple of months,” Christine said. “That’s great,” I answered. I

didn’t know Brad yet but at least he seemed like a nice guy. “It’ll be a beautiful wedding,” my dad said.

“Christine you are my only girl so I want you to know that I’m paying for the entire party.”

“No you really don’t have to, it’s too much,” Brad protested.

“When you have your own little girl in a couple of years you can start saving for her wedding. Christine

is my princess and she’ll get a wedding fit for a fairy tale.” Christine stood up and hugged my dad. “Thank

you daddy,” she said and kissed his head.

“My little girl is getting married,” my dad said. “I still see you with your braids and pink dresses.”

“I still have pink dresses, only the braids had to go,” Christine laughed.

I was happy for my sister and thought she deserved my dad paying for her wedding. She’d been my dad’s

ray of sunshine when my mom died and she’d kept our family together with her friendliness when my dad

remarried. Christine had been his little ally when he met Juliette and without her there would be no family

Sunday dinners.

Over dinner we talked some more about the wedding proposal and about their plans for the wedding.

After dinner we had coffee and cake outside. Brad and Christine had also brought some champagne to

celebrate. We all drank a glass, except for the twins who hated the taste and switched back to Dr. Pepper

after a few sips.

David was sitting across the table from me, next to Brad. Everything about his little mannerisms was

familiar but exciting again at the same time. The way he fumbled with his fingers when he was listening to

Brad and my dad talking, the way he sipped from his glass because I knew that he did not like the taste of

champagne either, the way he sometimes looked at me and gave me one of his dazzling smiles. It still

made my heart race to see him smile like that.

“Michael,” Christine lightly touched my knee. I’d been staring at David so intensely that I hadn’t even

head Brad talking to me.

“Sorry, I’m still a bit jet-lagged,” I said.

“That’s alright,” Brad said. “How was Paris?”

“It’s been really great. It was better this second time actually. I already knew the city pretty well and I

met some nice people. But now it’s good to be home.”

“It’s good to have you back,” Christine said and she pinched my cheek. After another bottle of

champagne was emptied, Juliette and Christine went inside to look at pictures of wedding dresses online.

Brad and my dad were still deeply engaged in conversation.

“Do you want to play some basketball?” David asked. I knew that he was asking because he wanted

some time alone with me.

“Of course, but I’ll beat you, you know that.”

“We’ll see about that or have you been practicing your skills in Paris?” he laughed.

When we started playing David clearly had the advantage. I hadn’t been playing basketball in over a

year and I was wearing new Italian shoes with narrow noses that pinched my toes. He took of his

sweatshirt. Underneath he was wearing a black sleeveless T-shirt. I watched the muscles ripple

underneath that shirt as he worked hard to beat me completely. When we’d played for thirty minutes, I had

to sit down.

“These shoes are fucking killing me,” I moaned.

“Excuses. I beat you fair and square,” he laughed.

“Yeah you did,” I said and I punched him on the shoulder playfully. We sat down on a little brick wall

that separated the driveway from the lawn. It was almost dark now and a bright light illuminated the

driveway. In the distance I could hear dad and Brad laugh about something. My heart was pounding as I

looked at David. He was anticipating my move and quietly waited for what I would do. I moved closer to

him and put my arm around his shoulder. It felt like electricity was crackling beneath my fingers where I

touched his bare skin. His body relaxed in to my touch. He put his head to one side so that it rested against

mine.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he said and then he turned his body so that he was facing me. He wrapped

his arms around my waist.

“I missed you too,” I said hoarsely. I pushed a strand of hair away from his face and then traced the

bridge of his nose with my hand. I brushed my fingers across his lips and he tightened the grip on my

waist. Then he leaned forward…only to stifle when we heard footsteps on the gravel path and we quickly

let go of each other. It was Brad who’d disturbed our little reunion. “Your dad asked if you want to join

us again.”

“Sure,” I said and I looked at David. “Of course,” he said. “We were just playing around a bit.” He

gave me a wicked little smile when we walked behind Brad back to the terrace. My dad handed us both a

glass of wine.

“Boys,” he said. “I’ve just asked Brad to come and work for the firm too.” My dad looked really

cheerful. “He’s going to be family and since you and your brother both work for the firm it seemed logical

to ask Brad too.”

“And have you accepted the offer?” David asked Brad.

“I have, but one the condition that you both agree with it too. I mean the firm is going to be yours in a

couple of years.” He was looking at me and not a David. “I don’t want you to think that I’m just barging in

on things, I know you don’t know me very well yet.”

“Michael is not going to think anything like that,” my dad said. Actually it was exactly what I was

thinking. I would have preferred for my dad to wait with hiring Brad until I knew him a bit better.

“If you think it’s a good idea to work with your father in law and both your brothers in law then go for

it,” I said.

“Are you okay with this too David?” “Yeah sure,” David said but I could see a look in his eyes that I

did not recognize; I think it was jealousy.

25. Office disasters

On Monday I started working for my dad’s firm again and it only took me a couple of weeks to

completely screw things up with David again. Within weeks we went from ‘all over each other’ to ‘at

each others throats’ again and like always, it was completely my fault. It was just that working together all

the time was too much for me to deal with.

When I came back to the firm, my office was still intact, everything kept exactly the way I left it a year

ago. The first case I helped a colleague with was a pretty boring property settlement for a bitchy fortyseven

year old client whose husband had cheated on his wife with a twenty-two year old intern. I had

several meetings with her and was thankful afterwards that my dad had married a nice stepmother and not

a witch like this. During the final hearing of the court proceedings, the court accepted our evidence as to

the husband’s assets and what we believed were our client’s entitlements to a property settlement. I was

completely drained after this case, working my ass off for an ungrateful rich bitch.

Brad had started working for dad as soon as his contract with the other law firm could be ended.

Working with him went surprisingly well. He was levelheaded and concise and generally a nice guy to be

around. My dad liked Brad and trusted some important cases to him immediately. He won those cases,

impressing my dad and his new colleagues.

I was happy for Brad but felt bad for David too; although David was a good lawyer, he and dad now

clashed frequently about the way cases should be handled, which prevented my dad for giving him any

high-profile cases. To be honest, David was such a good boy sometimes that it was a pain in the ass to

work with him. Ethics always came first for him, even if it meant that he had to lose a case over a minor

thing. He always worked exactly by the book. Not that my dad would ever do anything which wasn’t

legal, but he liked to seek the boundaries of the law to win a case. David would never do that, he wasn’t

as creative as my dad and he wasn’t a great rhetoric either. Brad and me were more like my dad,

persuasive and dashing in court cases, charming a judge or jury over in no time. David wasn’t like that;

his strength lay with researching cases not with presenting evidence.

My dad started to think that David didn’t have what it took and gave him the most boring civil law

cases to work on. Sometimes I agreed with my dad. I knew that David was smart but he would get on my

nerves so bad that I treated him poorly at work. I always felt bad about that afterwards…

I worked long hours, like I’d always done. Most of the evenings David stayed in late too, even long

after my dad had left. He came to check on me every hour or so if it was getting really late; bringing me

coffee when he thought I needed it or ordering some take-out. I never showed him how much I appreciated

all this because by now my feelings were really getting to me. I felt constantly watched by my dad and by

Brad and it made me even more chagrin than I usually was.

During one of the firm’s strategic meetings I really snapped at David in front of everybody for the first

time. He was going on and on about some about the way we had procured some evidence for a case until I

told him to “Please shut up and listen to dad for once!”

My dad had figured out a way to present the evidence, which normally wouldn’t have benefitted our case,

in a new light that was way more favorable.

“It just doesn’t feel right presenting it like this when we know that… ”

“David if you want to drink tea and babble like an old maid you should have stayed with your human

rights buddies in New York,” my dad said. “I just want you to keep your mouth shut for once and let us

win this case!”

“If you don’t like the way we handle things here, feel free to find another job,” I added. “You would

like that wouldn’t you,” he replied.

Brad looked at us squabbling and I’m sure he didn’t understand; who were these guys that were normally

all over each other in the weekend?

At the coffee machine in the hallway things got even worse. “You didn’t have to put me down in front of

dad,” David told me.

“Well your doing a great job of screwing things up in front of him yourself.”

“It beats sucking up to him all the time like you do,” he replied.