“Infidelity. What a word that is. You know it means without loyalty?” He laughed. “No, that’s not why. They cheated. Over and over. Didn’t even hide it. Some of it was just for fun. Some was to hurt the other. All of it was because they couldn’t care less about anyone or anything. Including me.”
I’d always thought Alec’s aversion to cheating was harsher than usual. No one likes cheaters. Some hate them, but Alec despised them.
He shoved the piece of food waiting on his fork into his mouth. “They were shit parents, but I know they loved me in their way. They’re just selfish people. Took me a long time to come to terms with that. I didn’t speak to them at all in high school. Not that I saw them much, but when I did, I’d ignore them. Ships passing in the night kinda thing. And what’s most fucked up is that they’re the reason I got into sales. And why I’m good at it.”
“What do you mean?”
“My whole sales persona is a mix of my parents. The slickness of my dad and the flirtatiousness of my mom. That, plus how good I read people, makes me an excellent salesperson. To outstanding success, I might add.”
Alec looked so sad, gazing at me. But that wasn’t it. Not all of it. There was so much to him I found it hard to see all of it at once. The longer we lived together, the easier it got, but it was still tricky.
He didn’t need to wear glasses for me to see the separate parts anymore. The way he looked at me and how his voice was just above his speaking register, some of those fractions of Alec came together. There was dark stuff there, but he made the best of it. From his shitty upbringing came the numberone salesperson at FinCrest. From his failed marriage came the perfect roommate.
“Very, very great success.” I smiled.
Alec smiled too, then took a deep inhale through his nose. “Enough about that shit.” He stood up. “You want any more?”
“Yes, please.”
He took my plate to the kitchen, saying, “Tell me more about your giant happy family.”
“What do you want to know?” I laughed.
“What are they like? I bet your dad is a snarky asshole, but has never gotten below an A+, and your mom dotes on the whole family hand and foot,” he said, placing our refreshed plates of cheeseburger meatloaf down.
“Not really, no,” I chuckled.
“Then where’d you get it?”
“I have nothing like that from my parents. Well, no, I have my mom’s love of spicy food. But none of their personality traits, especially not from my dad.”
“I thought you were close with your dad?”
“He’s closer to my brother and older sister. My younger sister and I were always closer with our mom.”
“Didn’t you go fishing with him all the time, just the two of you?”
“No, that was my grandpa.”
“Oh, shit, yeah. That’s right. Sorry.”
“No worries.”
“You were close with him, right?”
“Yeah. He was awesome. Lived a crazy life. Used to tell me stories for hours, but not boring old man stories. The sun would set, and I’d feel like we just got out there because I’d be so into what he was saying. Just a good dude all around.”
“That must’ve been nice. My grandparents all passed away before I was born.”
“Damn. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s awesome you had someone to make such a big impact on you.”
“That’s true, man. I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for my grandpa. I think he saw my dad preferred my brother and paid extra attention to me.”
“Oh shit. It was like that, then?”
“Well, no. I guess, kinda. My dad wasn’t a dick about it. They just share a lot of the same interests and have similar personalities. They’re friends, where my dad is just my father, you know?”
