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“You two are worse than Mom when it comes to sitting at a desk and not talking to anyone,” Tyler said.
“Not everyone has to move around and talk with people all day long,” Brent said.
Tyler was a physical therapist and enjoyed gabbing with his clients as much as he worked with them. Brent had always thought Maureen was the outgoing one of the family, but Tyler had them all beat.
“Whatever,” Tyler said. “I like people, you don’t. That’s why you stare at letters on the screen all day long and wait for a beep before you move your butt off the chair.”
“Not true,” he said. “I move if I need a drink or have to go to the bathroom.”
“Now who is the ass,” Tyler said.
“Boys,” his mother said. “I’m thrilled it seems like nothing has changed since you moved out for college, but can we have a peaceful conversation here? Brent, how is it living in Paradise Place? I just love the name and it’s so not you. Your neighborhood is nice and quiet. So yeah, I guess that is you, just not the name.”
His parents had seen the house before. He lived about ninety minutes away from them, as they were outside of Poughkeepsie. Tyler right in the city enjoying life in his apartment. His younger brother wasn’t one for commitments longer than a year.
Of course, he was one to talk since he hadn’t been in a solid relationship in years, let alone a home of his own until recently.
He wasn’t thinking of homeownership when he moved to Colonie, but finding an apartment that met his needs hadn’t been easy. He also realized he was done with people and he wouldn’t be able to get away from them if he rented an apartment.
He was in the older section of this development that was massive. But most kept to themselves and it worked for him. What also worked for him was the size of his house.
He had a ranch and it was perfect in both size and style with enough land that he had neighbors but they weren’t on top of him. He was surrounded by two-story houses, and if his ranch stood out a bit more, he didn’t care all that much.
“It is,” he said.
“I think you need a dog,” his mother said.
“What?” he asked. They’d never had a dog in their house growing up and he wasn’t sure what would possess her to make that comment.
“You’re all alone. You never get outside. If you had a dog to care for, you’d have to let it out and walk it. Go to the store to buy its food. Socialize or see other humans now and again.”
“You can order pet supplies online like you can everything else in this world, Mom. That’s lame.”
“Mom, what if Brent forgets to walk the dog? It will shit in his house and then you’d have another thing to complain about.”
“No, it wouldn’t because Brent isn’t a slob. He’s only unorganized.”
His mother was right. He might not put things away, but he wasn’t dirty. There was a big difference there. No dirty dishes in his sink or his house because he used paper plates, but his cups for his coffee and silverware were always in the dishwasher after he’d used them and rinsed enough they almost looked clean.
“Who have you been talking to that told you I needed a dog?” he asked.
His mother flushed and his father laughed. “I told you, Kelly,” his father said. “Brent isn’t stupid.”
“I’m the smartest in this family,” he said. “We know that.”
He’d gone to MIT on a full scholarship and had been scouted by the government for his job. At first he’d thought it was a joke but then soon learned it wasn’t.
Sure, he’d started out doing normal analytical work. They wanted to see how good he was, how much he could be trusted, and how well he handled himself in times of stress, pressure, or...limited time in cases of emergencies.
It hadn’t taken long, two years, before they were assigning him smaller projects. Things that would test him and he’d known that.
He passed every single time. By the time he was thirty, he was visiting DC and NYC when needed but spending most of his time working from home at all hours.
The past few years though, he’d been granted high-level access to a task force that very few knew existed. Shit, he wasn’t even sure who else was on it. He knew names and had seen a few faces on calls, but not all. There were a couple more like him out there and they were located all over the US and some in foreign countries; that was all he knew.
“I see you haven’t lost your bragging rights,” Tyler said.
“That will never happen,” he said, reaching for some chips and dip. The food was in front of him and he was starving. Might as well make the best of the day.
