New Beginnings

Chapter 11

A few weeks passed. Work remained the same. Friendships remained the same. Carter, April and Henry hadn't spoken a word to Marley since the fight. He tried forgetting about it, but knowing his friends would leave him for such a small thing hurt. 

Marley heard his phone ring, distracting him from his worries. "Evander?"

The dark-haired man heard his friend talking excitedly with whoever was on the phone. He returned to his work, blocking out the noise around him—the distractions.

After a few minutes, Marley strolled towards Alexander's desk with a small plastered on his face. "Guess who I was talking to?"

Alexander rolled his eyes, smiling. "Who?"

"My brother! He said he's driving down today."

"Oh, that's good. Will he be staying with you?"

"I imagine so," Marley shrugged. "I'm glad you'll be able to meet him. That is if you'd like to."

The brown-haired man gave Marley a small smile. "Yeah. I'd like to."

"So, does Saturday work? Tomorrow I should say."

Alexander nodded, resuming his work. Marley sauntered to his desk, excited his brother was visiting.

Tomorrow. February the twenty-third. A day on which Alexander was especially ignored. A day Alexander learnt to forget. He ensured it was a pointless day. The people around him shut it out, so what better to do than block it out yourself?

Later that night, Marley lay on the couch by himself, watching television. Shai was fast asleep in her cot, for it was almost midnight. The sound of a car pulling up his driveway was heard, jolting Marley's head up. He was seconds away from falling asleep, so he stood up and opened the front door.

A tall man opened the car door, smiling at Marley. He had short blond hair, a grey turtle neck shirt and a black blazer overtop. He paired it with plain black slacks and shoes. "Hey, buddy," Evander smiled.

"Hey," Marley smiled.

Evander gave him a quick hug before scanning him. "Could've tidied yourself up before I arrived."

"Glad to have you back," Marley replied sarcastically.

Evander chuckled, grabbing his bags from the car. "How's Bonnie doing?"

Marley held the door open for Evander as he walked in with his things. "Ask her yourself tomorrow."

Evander snickered. "So, is this my bed?" Evander asked, looking at the couch in the living room.

"Afraid so."

"Where's Shai?" the blond-haired man asked, flopping onto the couch.

"She's sleeping in my room."

"Can't believe she asked you to take care of her. I mean, you, of all people."

"She couldn't exactly hand her to you. You live hours away from us."

Evander rolled his eyes, flicking through the television channels. "Well, I'm going to be a great father. Better than you."

"Sure," Marley scoffed. "Can't believe a woman actually wants to  marry you."

"Can't believe you don't have a lover. You're attracted to all genders. It's not like you have limited options," Evander rolled his eyes.

"Shut up." Marley grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen, standing near his brother. "Oh, I wanted a friend of mine to meet you tomorrow. Is that okay?"