Fortuitous (BoyxBoy)

Nine

SUNDAYS ARE NICE

            I’ve never thought about why I liked Sundays so much. I never had a Sunday routine. There was nothing specifically I looked forward to on Sundays. Sometimes I woke up at my father’s house. Sometimes I met my father at his house so we could all drive to church together then after that we’d go to IHOP. Sometimes we met up at IHOP. Sometimes I’d surprise them on Sunday evenings for movies. Even when the evening didn’t go as planned they were always the best.

            I went to church with Dad and Simon and then we had IHOP. Simon insisted that he wanted a latte from Dunkin Donuts and I couldn’t stop laughing at how silly and badass he looked while he sat there reading over his IHOP menu (pointless because he knew what he wanted) while sipping his latte from Dunkin Donuts. My brother was the best. Oh, he also decided, after hours of research, that accounting was boring and habitual and he didn’t like it anymore.

            “Accounting one was like…I don’t know. Max. What do you call it when, when…uh, like oh lure.”

            “Lure?” Dad asked.

            “Yes, Dad. Lure. They lured me in and it’s boring. False advertisement. Oh I forgot to tell you guys. I got an internship with the New Jersey State Police. That’s so cool. I was bored and I went over to the career center, I don’t know why, and bam!”

            “Congrats, bro!” I said excitedly, reaching over the table to ruffle his hair.

            “Yeah, Kid, good job.”

            I still found it adorable when he got shy from getting attention, no matter how minimal, and he went back into his little shell until it has passed.

            “I met Max’s boyfriend. He’s Spanish. From Spain. I guess that makes him Spaniard.”

            Or just turn the attention on me, that worked too.

            “Did you now?” Dad asked Simon but I could sense his eyes boring into my face even though I wasn’t looking at him. I took a sip of my coffee.

            “Yeah,” Simon said. “He’s tall, like Max. And really handsome. I don’t think Brian should meet him.”

            “Oh, God,” I groaned.

            “Really? Really? And why not? What will Brian do?”

            Simon snorted. “Dad. Come on.”

            “Food’s here!” Thank God.

            I knew the conversation wasn’t over and as soon as our waitress left it picked up where it left out. It wasn’t like I planned for Simon to meet him. Simon happened to stop by after class one evening and Sein happened to be there. I hadn’t saw the text Simon sent and it was complete surprise when he opened the front door. A surprise that I was glad didn’t include anything inappropriate. They played video games together and I played referee. Simon liked to talk crap Sein fell right into it. Usually I’d hit Simon with a couch pillow or toss his console across the room.

            “So when is it my turn to meet this...—”

            “Seh-een, Dad. Sein—”

            “—Sein, it’s only fair since I signed you up.”

            “Too soon, Dad. Sometimes I feel like this is just a really amazing dream that I’m gonna wake up from one day.”