New York, New Man

Chapter 8

John's birthday was entirely uneventful. Martha baked a cake that nobody ate; Henry handed John a box wrapped in green paper that contained a watch. "Henry, thank you, I love it." John put the watch on, faking a smile.

Henry nodded politely and then went back to his room. "Here you go, John," Martha slid him a small box.

Inside was a mini watercolor set, with little swatches of every color. "This is so cool! Thanks, Martha," John wrapped an arm around his sister.

Alexander grimaced, awkwardly sitting in the faux leather armchair.

Halloween wasn't much better. They didn't hand out candy, instead they just set out a bowl. Since the estate was down a long road, they didn't get many trick-or-treaters. The chickens showed up at the doorstep more often than children did. James had his costume hanging up in the closet, he was going to dress up as an astronaut. Nobody could even bear to look at it. Alexander was sort of like the caretaker of the house. He cleaned up the broken branches from the magnificent oak tree when nobody else wanted to even look outside. He cooked when Martha was too distraught to do it. Every time he did something, he'd never hear the end of the "thank you"s and the "love you"s.

November 2nd. Alexander and John were finally going back to New York. The night before they were supposed to leave, John sat down on the bed next to Alexander, who was shoving balled-up clothing into his suitcase, trying to make it fit. "Hey, you okay?" Alexander nudged John's arm.

"Uh, I have something to tell you," John fiddled with the drawstrings on his hoodie.

Alexander nodded.

"I'm going to stay here for a while. I don't know if a while means a few more days, or weeks, or months, but I'm just not ready to go. I really need to be here for Martha and Henry. And James."

John's words hit Alexander's chest like a bullet.

"Oh," Alexander murmured.

John looked guilty, as if he had done something wrong.

"John?" Alexander placed a hand on John's thigh. "I'm not mad at you. I understand."

"You sure you'll be fine on the plane without me?" John whimpered, his voice hoarse.

Alexander chuckled. "Don't you worry about me, babe."

A brisk peck was all Alexander got from John before he sat down in the backseat of an Uber. "Text me when you're about to board," a message from John popped up on Alexander's phone.

He replied with a "will do" and gazed out the window.

The plane ride was turbulent and Alexander just wished John was there. He had a book in his lap, but he just stared at the back of the seat in front of him the entire flight. When he landed, his baggage took about an hour to show up. He didn't want to bother any of his friends, so he just called a cab to take him home. He'd get all the work he missed in class from Aaron or something.

It was almost 4 when Alexander got home, and rather than fixing up a late lunch he just skipped it entirely. He was so exhausted.

Eliza was desperate to get someone else working her shift. With John absent, she had to do everything. They were understaffed in the first place, and Eliza already had double shifts. "Peggy, please?" Eliza begged her sister as she swirled froth into a latte.