Whisper Their Legacy | Anderperry

Legacy

Graduation had come and gone. Todd tried not to remember it too much, how happy he should've felt, but how wrong it felt without Neil by his side.

Now, he lived in his one-bedroom apartment in Vermont. He had always dreamed of living in New York, but he couldn't bear to be further than the walking distance of Neil. 

For now, he worked as an author. 

Soon, months became years. Todd had published several books, made a comfortable amount of money, and felt cozy in his life. 

He still had his bad days. Days when it was too hard to get out of bed, so he'd just lay there and pretend he didn't notice all the ways he could end his life without even leaving the house. But most of the time, he was able to cope as a functional, normal adult. Although the thought of Neil never really left him, he was able to push it to the back of his mind to focus on other things.

This all was fine and dandy until his birthday, when he received a phone call.

It was a bad day. The sun shone a little too bright for November, and the wind blew in crisp wafts. Todd lay in bed, thankful that he didn't work a nine-to-five, when his phone rang.

If we was going to do one thing all day, it would be to answer the phone. So Todd dragged himself out from under his comforter and dashed to the phone.

"Happy Birthday, Toddy!" Charlie yelped from the other end of the line. 

Todd cleared his throat. Was it his birthday? He hadn't been keeping track. "Uh, thanks."

"You don't sound too excited."

"My parents don't send desk sets anymore, why would I be?"

"Because you're only twenty-three once, my dear bitchboy! That's it, I'm coming over," Charlie proclaimed.

"...you're coming to my apartment?"

"Yes, I'll see you in fifteen minutes," Charlie insisted.

Todd face-palmed. "Charlie, you live in New Hampshire."

"Made the trip last night!" Charlie yelled, before abruptly hanging up the phone. 

Shit, Todd thought, before instinctively cleaning every surface he could. 

As promised, fifteen minutes later, Todd heard a knock at his door. He opened it to find Charlie, leaning on the door frame. 

"Hola," he smirked, and let himself in.

"What are you doing here?" Todd asked.

"I said I'd be here," Charlie gave him a confused look.

"But why?"

"Where celebrating your birthday," Charlie insisted, making himself comfortable on Todd's couch.

"Alright then," Todd said. "Can I get you a drink?"

"No, it's all good...what's this?" Charlie said, picking up a letter from the coffee table.

"That's not important," Todd dismissed, but Charlie read it anyway.

"Holy...Todd, they're asking you to write a series? This is huge! You have to-"

"Relax, Dalton. I'm not taking it."

"Why the hell not? You would have full creative freedom, this is everything you've ever worked for."

"The job requires me to move to New York, to meet with my editor more often."

"You'd be stupid not to!" Charlie exclaimed.

Todd flushed with anger. "Well, I'm not."

"Why not? You love New York, what's possibly keeping you here?"