His little stepbrother ddlb 18+

Chapter 11 Chad

To say that the days that followed were unbearably awkward

would be an understatement.

Alex and I couldn’t avoid each other even if we tried. He

was stuck in San Francisco with nowhere else to go. I didn’t think he could

afford his own place, otherwise, he would’ve already packed his things and

left by now.

We still shared a room. We still met in the evening, after my work and

after his classes. We still exchanged pleasantries even though they were

limited to ‘hey’ and ‘you good?’ Sometimes he’d remind me about the letters

that were stuffed in my mailbox down at the lobby. One time, I told him

about a package that arrived from Greenville. Other than those instances,

however, we never talked.

Not about anything.

And especially not about what happened that f****d up night a week ago.

Geez... ‘f****d up’ doesn’t even begin to describe that evening!

It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to him about it. I did. I wanted to tell him

why I felt the need to play along with the baby act that he was putting up. I

wanted to tell him that I only pretended to be his father because I was

desperate to help him as he looked so irredeemably lost and so alarmingly

depressed that night. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t like it when he touched

my c**k, not because I’m homophobic (because I most certainly wasn’t), but

because I didn’t roll that way (and even if I did, I doubted if he’d be my

type). I wanted to tell him that if he’s gay (and chances are, he was), then it’s

alright and we could still be buds and roommates but he had to remember that

I was straight - as straight as a damn, f*****g ruler!

Yeah, I really wanted to talk to him.

But I was afraid that it would only make things even more uncomfortable

between us.

And so, I just reminded myself that in less than three months, the

semester would be finished and he’d move out... as was the original plan. Just

three more months. That wouldn’t be too bad.

Friday came and I went to work, hoping that the day wouldn’t end as I

dreaded the weekend. I didn’t like the idea of being stuck at home, especially

not after everything that has happened.

I spent the entire morning of that day trying to convince myself not to

worry it.

Come the afternoon, my boss Luis visited my desk.

“Hey Chad,” he greeted me.

“You here to tell me that my output sucks and I’m still uninspired?” I

responded sardonically.

I expected him to laugh and to deny what I just said. But he didn’t.

“Actually, yes,” he confirmed with surprising candor.

“So, you didn’t like that new scenario I submitted last Wednesday?” I

wanted to know. I poured my heart out on that quest line just to prove to him

and to the people he answered to that they were wrong about me.

“Never mind what I think,” Luis answered with a surly voice. “It’s the

testers who matter... and they weren’t really enthusiastic about it.”

“Well, they can’t be enthusiastic about everything now, can they? There

are thousands of quests in the game. They don’t have to think that mine’s the

best.”

“That’s true, Chad. But you see... the testers... they weren’t just

unenthusiastic about your new scenario... most of them skipped the quest line

after the first three tasks.”

“Most of them?” I asked for a clarification. ‘Most’ is a pretty subjective

word.

“A great majority of them, actually,” Luis spelled out.

“You gotta be kidding, Luis!” I yelled at him.

“I wish I was, Chad. But it’s true. The testers didn’t like your scenario.

The testers haven’t liked any scenarios you’ve submitted in the past year.”

“I... I don’t get that. That quest line’s fun. How can they not like it?”

Luis grunted before speaking. “That quest line’s irresponsible,

sophomoric and unimaginative, Chad.”

“Ohhhh... so you’ve expanded your vocabulary now, huh? No longer

content with uninspired and unoriginal?”

“That quest line’s a veiled attempt to undermine the structure of our

company,” he started to accuse me.

“Jesus Christ, Luis! It’s a quest about setting off to a new area of the

world! How’s that subversive to the company?”

“It’s a quest about the player being kicked out of the kingdom and feeling

bitter about it,” Luis expounded.

“Well, yeah. Quests need motivation, and that’s the player’s motivation,”

I explained.

“Chad... in your scenario, the player was kicked out because the king

didn’t appreciate all that he’s done for the kingdom.”

“And it’s an excellent stimulus to kickstart a grand adventure, correct?”

“No!” Luis spiritedly denied. “The player can never leave the kingdom

because that would ruin the very core aspect of the game. You can’t create a

scenario where the king doesn’t appreciate all of the player’s efforts because

that would just give him the impression that the game doesn’t value all the

hours that he has invested on the title. And you can’t say in your quest line

that all the other quests don’t matter because that would render the other

scenarios - scenarios which your colleagues worked hard to create, by the

way - irrelevant and downright pointless.”

I scoffed.

I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to tell him how wrong he was. I

wanted to tell him that my quest lines were the best in the game... always

have been and always will be.

But I didn’t.

I was just tired.

Too tired.

Too tired to continue.

Too tired for anything.

And so, I just stood up and grabbed my personal stuff.

“What are you doing?” Luis asked. The other programmers were all

looking at us like we were the main act of a street play.

“Sorry, Luis, I can’t do this anymore,” I told him as I began to walk

towards the exit. “I’ll just email my resignation letter tonight.”

“Chad... wait... think about this...” Luis pleaded without giving chase.

I pretended that I didn’t hear him and continued to walk away from the

job that I once thought was a dream come true.