"You say Arabs invented this mind game?" Adonis asked,referring to the game of chess they were in the middle of.
Vincent nodded. "Out in the desert,they say. They had all the time in the world." He chuckled, closely studying the board too.
"See, that's what I don't get. They had all the time in the world to figure out mathematically accurate ways in which these pieces move,right? Like up and down, diagonal, two steps at a time, even L-shape. Then when they got to the queen,they just what? Got tired? And just decided that she was the piece that could move whichever way she liked?" Adonis asked.
"Trust Don to analyze every little thing in front of him," Eric joked as he joined them on the kitchen island. Having just gotten off a phone call from his wife. Apparently from where he was standing by the window; he could hear their conversation, or at least sensed Adonis's analytical mood on his way back.
"Well, someone has to." Adonis countered, and they all laughed.
Every work week was different,for him. Some cruised by smoothly. Some felt like climbing an impossible to climb mountain. And what got him through the ones that came with the frustrating catastrophes and hectic deadlines, were the Saturday afternoons that he shared with his friends.
These were his childhood friends; people that he grew up with in his old neighborhood, went to school with and even got to share a number of college experiences with. The connection they forged when they were kids; got to a point where it even led them to starting a band, during their college days. Which was one of the many things that added to their memory box.
Their closeness and bonding as kids developed an eternal brotherhood between the four of them. Over the years,they went through each other's highs and lows as a collective.
When it came to their aspirations; their competitive natures would sometimes make them eager to go out of their way to outdo each other, the very same way that siblings sometimes behave. But as they got older, their diverse interests led them to exploring different career choices.
Adonis became an architect. Vincent Garwood,their numbers guy- ventured into accounting. Which everyone felt like it suited him well. Because he was the introverted one in the group. Always twisted up by his thoughts; not a dungeon dweller or a web geek more goofy, just a little mentally lopsided sometimes.
Eric Morell, the most outspoken of them all- ended up in politics. And while climbing up the ladder of his career; recently became the leader of one of those men's clubs where they have secret handshakes and other stuff that makes you, you know, 'prominent in the community'.
Who completed their diverse assortment was Damien Roston, their entertainment guy. Whose life direction ended up heading down the music path, and so he became a full time musician.
"Your lives just got better gentlemen!" Damien announced as soon as he walked in. "For I have arrived!" He lifted the two beer carry packs that he had in each hand.
"Someone's in a good mood!" Adonis noted.
"Aren't we all?" Damien asked,putting the beer in the fridge.
"My wife just gave me a whole speech about how I was failing the team, just because I forgot to load the dishwasher." Eric shrugged. "So,no. Not all of us."
"I saw a mind doctor just a few days ago," Adonis ventured into his story. "And I think she messed my head up, in ways that I cannot even begin to understand." He shook his head, "so I'm definitely not in a good one too."
"Jenny and I slept in separate rooms last night," Vincent said laughing bitterly.
"I could sense the depression from right across the street," Damien joked. Looking from one face to the next.
"But cheer up boys, because I've got some good news." He said, hopping onto a stool to join their circle around the chess board. "There are two pieces of it though. So you'll have to choose if you want the good news first,or the great ones."
"The good ones," Adonis took a sip of his beer.
"Yeah," Eric nodded. "Let's work our way up."
"Okay, then." Damien grinned. "Drum roll,please." He gently tapped his hands on the counter,creating drum like sounds. Vincent joined in excitedly. While Adonis and Eric briefly made eye contact and found themselves sighing in unison.
"Well,are you going to tell us? Or do we have to crack your skull and read your mind?" Eric asked impatiently.
"I'm going on tour in just a few weeks," Damien announced. "And you boys have to tag along."
"It's about time!" Adonis extended his fist to him,for a bump.
"Yes!" Eric exclaimed. "That's definitely something. And if I'm done with the campaign I'm working on, I'm definitely tagging along."
"Congratulations man," Vincent said.
"I'll keep y'all posted on the dates. So that you can take a break from your frustrating jobs and wives, and come have the time of your lives with me." Damien said and they all laughed.
"So, what's the great news?" Vincent asked.
Damien wasted no time on this one,and just blurted it out.
"I popped the question last night," he grinned.
Silence fell for a moment or two. Because they were all probably trying to digest what he had just said. After all,they were aware of the fact that charming and deceiving girls was practically Damien's own raison d'être.
"What question?" Adonis' mind quickly cancelled the marriage proposal idea that had crossed his mind first. And instead chose to wander, but couldn't come up with anything else that made sense. So he ended up asking for clarity's sake.
"Whoa!" Vincent said, obviously understanding what his friend meant.
"What?" Eric paused,mid gulp. He too getting the picture.
"To who?" Adonis asked. Because he had gotten it too at this point, despite the denial that he had initially.
"Alexa,who else?" Damien shrugged excitedly.
"How come?" Vincent asked. Probably because he had mentioned just last Saturday that they weren't in speaking terms.
"I can't keep up,I thought you were in the dog box." Adonis mused,thinking about the same thing that Vincent probably was.
"Well,that was last week." Damien said. "I'm out now and about to get hitched too."
"Looks like it's true what they say about people forgiving many things in the name of love," Adonis mentioned. "I guess Carly is no exception."
Damien had ended up in the dog box because he had been caught in the arms of another woman. A fan, apparently. He's always attracted girl trouble the very same way TV screens attract dust. And this little drama of his, led to Carly refusing to talk to him. Damien has been in an on and off relationship with her, for years. And even though they both strayed from time to time, they still believed that they belonged together. And this engagement was proof of that.
"Nope," Damien responded.
"Put it here," Vincent extended his fist. "This is even more reason to celebrate," he said. It made sense that he would be this happy for him, because he was a family guy through and through. He and Jenny may appear to have problems right now, but everybody knew that they loved each other beyond the boundaries of sanity. Of the whole bunch, Vincent was the one who's always wore his heart on his sleeve at all times. Which is probably how he got to getting married first.
"Yep," Eric said. "Welcome to the stress club." Which resulted in laughter. Eric was a married man too; but his was a marriage of convenience. He and his wife, Rosalie, were a very high rising profile couple.
They were both in politics, and everything between them was about optics and playing the political games to win. Which made him the one guy of the four, who understood perfectly how stressful marriage can be. Especially when it's not even based on love.
Adonis was the single one of the bunch. He saw women here and there, but never got serious with any of them. Even during their college days, where they all tried steady relationships. He didn't have a problem with bouncing around alone. He's always been both cynical and commitment phobic.
"You know, I sometimes ask myself if making things official with someone is even worth it." Adonis said,retrieving a Coors light from the fridge.
"It is," wide eyed and true, replied Vincent. "Different people have different expectations. So it's better to spell certain things out to avoid the confusion and blurred lines." He expanded.
"Yeah," Adonis agreed with him then stated his worries. "But it ups the pressure. I feel like leaving that little room for mystery is what keeps things interesting."
"That's nice when you have just met someone,but why would you want that mystery to go on forever?" Vincent asked. It was like Eric and Damien weren't in the room with them,the way they exchanged without them commenting on anything. Instead,they silently listened to them.
"Because relationships can be a hindrance sometimes," Adonis said. "And the mystery basically means that there are no rules between these two people. Everyone just lives by their own code. And this way,no one ends up being tied down by the other's ideas of right and wrong."
"Why not work on unravelling the mystery of one person though? And just decide to settle down with them instead?" Vincent asked, trying to sell him a perception. He was the most passionate of them all. Especially when it came to love and commitment. He and Jenny had been together since they were teenagers.
"I don't know," Adonis shrugged. "Maybe because you can never really get everything you might need for the rest of your life, from just one person."
"I've never met anyone who got everything that they wanted in one person," Vincent said. "Sure, in the beginning it feels like it could be magnificent and perfect. Then you realize that they have a lot of flaws. But that's always okay, because in the real world all you can do is hope to live with the little tiny perfections that you may find in the very flawed people that you come across. Take Jenny and I, for example. We slept in separate rooms last night, but we'll fix it. Because even though our love is like a garden covered with thorns sometimes, we both know that it is still our garden."
"You sound like a very bad Sunday school teacher," Damien piped in with a joke, and they all laughed.
"I admire your ability to ruin moments," Eric directed to Damien. "You do it with panache."
They bursted into more laughter at the comment.
Adonis wasn't ready to let the conversation go. "I worry about one little flaw in your airtight logic," he mentioned, deep in thought.
"I'm listening," Vincent said.
"The garden covered by thorns you mentioned, isn't it self destructing to keep working around those thorns? Isn't it risky?" What led him to asking that question was the very same concern about safety that he had mentioned to his shrink just a few days ago. He felt like what Vincent was selling him, was the perfect recipe to finding yourself in a position where the other person has destroyed you to shreds.
"There are no manuals to love. There are no guarantees either," Vincent explained. "But if you really love someone, that risk is kind of worth it." He smiled, probably thinking about Jenny. Adonis guessed. Because he knew that one would have to be blind to miss how in love those two still were, even after so many years.
The atmosphere had gotten thick in the room. The conversation had transported him straight back to Morrison's therapy, where he felt like his insides were shrinking. Except this time,he couldn't even put a finger on why he was feeling that way.
"I could bottle and sell the fear in your eyes," Eric said to Adonis in a low voice. "Is this about what your head doctor said?"
"Just a bit," he admitted. " She really got me thinking about a lot."
"She says you'll be okay?" Vincent asked.
"Probably after fifty sessions," Adonis responded bitterly. He hadn't intended to tell them about his therapy sessions or even to slightly open up like this. In fact, he didn't even exactly know how he had gotten to this position. Except that he suspected,he could've just blurted it out - out of the need to prove Morrison wrong.
"Well you can drop her any minute, and talk to me instead. You all know how many times I've had to be the shoulder that girls leaned on." Damien joked.
"Girls always liked you because they think you're cute," Adonis playfully slapped him on his back."But thinking was never your strong suit,my friend." He teased. Resulting in laughter erupting from all of them.