Whore.

Chapter 38: Fess

"What have you been doing, Michael?"

I was surprised at the question. Bradley honestly wanted to know what I had been up to. And I told him, as best as I could. The guy I had been gay for - because that's how he understood it - had been a bad man who had ended up in jail with the help of my friends. I discovered I had a twin brother whose name was Jeff, and he told me all about my true beginnings. He was gay for a very good friend of mine, Jason. My friends Emmet and Alex had planned to get married in spring the next year. My other friend Dorian was in New York and wanted us all to come over for the wedding. I had gotten a new job and was working in a diner where I had a meal combo named after me. I was aware that the stories I recounted were as much for Swash as they were for Bradley, so I said everything I could remember. And I apologized. I told him I was sorry for avoiding him, that I only did it because I thought it would be better for him if I wasn't around. He hugged me after that.

"It's okay, Michael. I'm not mad at you."
"Really? Thank you."
"We make mistakes all the time. Just like you were not mad at me when I put your toothbrush in the toilet by accident."

I smiled. I couldn't believe he still remembered that incident. I guess, through my actions, that I had taught him the power of forgiveness. He leaned over and kissed my forehead, then looked back at me and smiled.

I loved this kid.

"I'll make it up to you. I promise."
"I want you to visit every Saturday."
"I will. I promise."

He was content with that. He got off the couch and went into the bathroom. Swash watched Bradley as he disappeared down the hall. He turned back to me and smiled.

"Thank you."
"I understand now. I'm sorry I was so stubborn before. It’s just; I thought I needed time away to figure things out. But Bradley needs me too. I guess I can fix my life and be his friend at the same time."
"Thanks again, for everything. And for helping my career."

I raised my eyebrows at him. A smile crept onto his face and he looked like he was about to burst with excitement.

"I got promoted to head of advertising!"
"What? How?"
"You know how they put me on probation? The higher-ups were waiting to see the results of my change in the advertising campaign. The advert I had really pushed forward was one about a woman screaming about the platter food on her wedding day, which was from a brand that was not ours. Then it turned out she was just dreaming, and we captioned it "You won't even dream of anything else". It was dramatic. Our quarterly reviews came in and our sales had increased by forty-seven percent. It was attributed to the new adverts, and the superiors were so impressed by my risking everything for what I thought was a good idea, I was praised for my innovation and promoted to run the division. All this happened on Friday. So, come tomorrow, I'm moving to a new office with a couple of extra perks and a higher salary. And I owe it all to you and a YouTube video."

I smiled. I remembered seeing that advert on the park bench in the park in front of Bradley's school. It made sense now that he had explained it. I was happy for him. I was even happier that I had been involved in his success story. Of course, he was the one who took the initiative to implement what he had imagined, but it still felt good to be blamed for his success.

"I want to offer you a job?"
"What?" I blinked.
"Be Bradley's baby sitter. I'll pay you whatever you ask. I think it's a good idea. You'll make some money while Brad would get to see you more frequently. It’s a double win."
"Swash, I don't know...I-"
"Just think about it, okay?"

I had already thought about it. I didn't want the job. While I had promised to visit Bradley more often, I had a life I was trying to run now. Giving up all of that to become a baby sitter did not seem at all lucrative, no matter how much he offered to pay me. I wanted to control things in my life for a change. I couldn't just hand over that locus to Swash. Bradley came out a few minutes later and we had some fun. Swash had done so much to try to get Bradley to cheer up, including buying video games. Bradley offered to play with me and we were laughing and competing on Mario Kart after a few minutes. I totally enjoyed myself. By the time we were done, it was evening. I got up and began to say farewell when Swash held my hand.