It was a Monday afternoon. The sun was beaming down on the busy park. Flirting couples and friends messing around spread a friendly air around the park, putting a smile on everyone's face.
"Hey! Shein over here!" I turned to the voice I haven't heard in years calling me. Under the shade of a tree, my younger brother was sitting on the ground, using his arm to prop himself up. an infectious smile plastered on his face.
Unknowingly, my face put on a smile of its own and I dashed over to him, putting him into a bear hug.
"You fucker, where have you been?" I laughed as I let go of him.
"I told you, didn't I? I got stuck at work." My brother, Raz, said defensively.
"For 5 years?" I squinted my eyes at him "You said you would tell me when we meet."
"Work, work, work. Is that all you want to talk about after seeing your brother for the first time in 5 years?" Saz fakes disappointment and jokingly droops his shoulders.
"Fine, fine. What do you wanna do? I've been saving for a while now so we can do whatever."
"You got your bachelor's already?!"
"Yeah, I'm already teaching dumbass" My brother, seemingly shellshocked, gawked at me.
"C'mon, let's get a bite to eat." I got up, offering my hand to him.
I spent the whole day catching up with my brother. We had lunch, went to an arcade, and even went clothes shopping. At the end of the day, he invited me to his place for a bite to eat. Of course, I accepted.
"Home sweet home" Raz, opened up the apartment door revealing a comfy studio apartment. The living room and kitchen were connected, which was about 5 x 6 meters. A coffee table was in between a red fleece sofa and a mounted flatscreen.
I got myself comfortable on the couch and looked back at my brother, who was standing in the kitchen.
"What's on the menu, chef?" My brother answered my question by opening up the freezer and pulling out 2 cardboard boxes.
"No way." Looking at the familiar microwave dinners, memories of my childhood surged up. We were raised by a single father after my mother succumbed to cancer. At the time, my brother was 9 and I was 11. My warm and caring father lost himself in alcohol, beating us for any inconvenience. Sometimes, when he wasn't drinking, he would buy us the same microwave dinners and apologize, just to do the same thing the next evening.
"Beep, beep" While I was reminiscing, dinner was ready. He put the two trays on the coffee table and handed me a beer. I accepted before questioning him.
"Now, we've been hanging out all day so why don't you tell me where you've been." I cracked open the bottle of beer. My brother stopped mid-bite glancing at me before heaving a sigh.
"Huh~ I guess I should explain it to you now." He put down the plastic tray of mashed potatoes and fixed his posture."It'd be easiest to say I was making... a game." Raz phrased, sounding unconfident in his answer.
"A game? What's it called, I'll check it out when I get home." The game piqued my interest, especially since he cut all contact for 5 years to make it.
"I was gonna ask if you could participate. Since I'm a dev I can give you some perks." He winked at me.
"You still haven't told me what it was about,
dummy" I rolled my eyes at his playful demeanor.
"Sorry! I signed an NDA so i can't say. I'm sure you'll like it though." He replied with a shrug "I didn't want to tell you about it originally but your disposition is crazy so my hand was forced." He looked crestfallen at the end of his words. I slapped the back of his head at his words
"You fucker, I would've killed you if you didn't tell me"
"Ah, my head! It's splitting open!"
After a little more Q and A about his job, we put on a movie and enjoyed each other's company. Raz's presence left a smile on my face all day, so much so that my face was sore by the time the movie ended.
"Fuck man it's getting pretty late, I should get going." I tried to push myself off the couch before my brother grabbed my arm.
"C'mon, it's already 11 and we were drinking the whole time." He motioned to the assorted beer bottles and cans spread on and around the coffee table "Just spend the night here, you can play my game tomorrow." I was going to say no at first, but he caught my interest again when he mentioned his mysterious game.
"Fine, fine. Where should I sleep?" Instead of answering, he pulled me off the couch, lifted the cushions, and pulled out a queen-sized mattress.
"We'll sleep here."
"Sure, sorry bro, I'll be sleeping first." Not too long after I laid down, drowsiness took over and I fell asleep.