Twisted game

Asim zipped the last pocket and moved the bag to the side, it was the holiday season at last, it was a long overdue time off. He was a high school coach in Texas, he coached his school basketball team. And while he liked parts of his life there, he wanted; bigger skies, new streets, a fresh start. He grabbed her favorite Christmas sweater; and dragged the suitcase down the hall with a grin. This would be his first Christmas in Manchester. Asim was going to surprise his boyfriend Aiden, although they talked on the phone but nothing could beat seeing him in person. The apartment felt colder than usual, he turned off the lights, and he shivered into his sweater before fumbling for his coat. His phone buzzed in his small bag slung over his shoulder. The taxi driver was already waiting, he hopped out to help him with the bags. Asim thanked him, thumb on the screen and smiled when Karen’s name lit up. “Hey my big boy,” Karen’s voice chimed. “How are you doing?” Asim voiced as he answered the phone. “Asim, I’m fine, just missing you” she replied, “I’m missing you too” Asim could hear the pout in his best friend’s tone, immediately feeling a pang of guilt. Karen was one who wasn’t good at keeping surprises, and she didn’t want anything to ruin this. Aiden didn’t know he was coming. “You sound out of breath” Karen asked concerned “Me? Oh... I’m doing a little winter cleaning” he lied, laughing to sound casual. “Really? You? Cleaning?” Karen wasn’t buying it. “What? Why do you sound shocked?” he asked rolling her eyes. “Tell me the truth, are you having a visitor? Because the Asim I know doesn’t clean” Karen laughed “Would you calm down, I’m doing a little cleaning before the cleaner come” he shot back. “Now that’s the Asim I know. I’m sure Aiden would be as surprised as I am” “Whatever, how is your vacation going?” he asked changing the topic “Well it’s going beautifully well, only one thing is missing?” Karen spoke “And what’s that?” “You dummy; I miss you” “Promise I’ll make it up to you next Christmas?” he said “Promise?” “I promise.” He signaled the driver to wait a bit. “I love you” “I love you more, enjoy your holiday” the call ended. Asim slipped the phone into her bag, breathe steadying. He got into the taxi apologizing for the wait. The plane took off, cloud-scopes painting the hours between Texas and Manchester. He could hear his heartbeat, the fear that Aiden wouldn’t like this kind of surprise wandered into his mind. But it was too late to turn back, he told himself. He thought about the life that had brought him here. At a very young age Asim was abandoned by his parents, his mom was just 17, a few weeks with a neighbor who didn’t want to raise the child and then the orphanage, Until Karen’s mother, who was grieving a lost pregnancy decided to adopt him. Karen became family and Karen’s parent became home. Karen studied to be a doctor and Asim a sport coach. Now Aiden was going to be a part of it. After a few hours the fight came to an end, he picked up his bags and booked a taxi to Aiden’s apartment; darkness had fallen; Festive light blinked on the streets like distant stars. “We are here sir” the driver announced. He paid, took a deep breath and tugged his suitcase up the walkway, Aiden had given him a spare key on their anniversary but it was barely used because of the distance between them but tonight he finally used it. The door popped open, he rolled his bags across the threshold and sniffed air, and there was no scented candles, no twinkle of lights. The apartment was dark and quiet; he must be out with his friends. Parched, Asim helped himself to a bottle of water and gulped it down. The silence felt heavy with possibility. No decorations up yet, he knew he had a lot of work to do. Asim set his bags down, hands itching to unwrap the surprise he’d planned but he was distracted by a faint noises coming from down the hall, alert he stood to his feet, someone was in the apartment? His feet moved without thoughts; he grabbed the first thing that might serve as a defense, a kitchen knife off the counter, he slowly made his way back into the hallway; slowly walking towards Aiden’s bedroom. He opened the door slowly, his muscles tense. Light spilled from inside the room. “Aiden?” he called, his voice small. The room answered only with a stillness that felt wrong. He took another step, and his foot hit a pile of clothes; his stomach dropped. There were tangled sheets, there were panties and a bra didn’t belong to him, Aiden flailed; trying to cover the other body with an arm as Asim ripped the sheet away. He was on top of another woman, Aiden was in his underwear; his face a portrait of guilt. “Asim, I can explain” he blurted, turning his back in other to shield the woman on his bed. The knife dropped from his numb hand, falling to the ground; tears came fast and hot. The present he had hoped to give Aiden but this was more of a surprise, a betrayal. “How could you do this?” he asked, voice cracking. Aiden scrambled to pull up the covers around the woman. “How long has this been going on” he asked not knowing what to do but Aiden reached out for him. “Don’t you f*****g touch me!” he yelled, more from shock than anger. “A…. Asim, listen to me. Can we talk outside? Please” he stepped toward him, disregarding her warnings At that moment Asim imagined swinging the knife that was lying on the bedroom floor. “You want to explain? Okay I’ll give you a chance tell me” he said with his eyes glancing over to the bed, the lady was still under the sheets. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean for thing to end up this way please...” “Sorry? Oh My God! I can’t deal with this right now” he cut off Aiden’s statement, he fished his phone from his bag, his thumb on Karen’s number. He pressed call with tears still rolling down his cheeks. “Asim” he said; reaching out to him but Asim smacked his hand away with his bag. His eyes immediately travelled to the dresser where the phone on the night stand was ringing, his leg moved on their own as he saw his picture display on the screen along with the words ‘big boy’. “s**t” Aiden cussed under his breath. Time slowed down, he slowly picked the phone up in his hand, his heart breaking into a million pieces, he walked towards the bed and with his hands that wasn’t steady, and he pulled the sheets aside. “Karen?” she whispered in disbelief.