Chapter 5

Paul looked at his wristwatch; the lug was gold plated and attached to it was a brown leather strap.

"Six thirty," he said to himself.

He couldn't help but think that he came early. There were quite a number of people at the venue, the sound they generated was quite loud and music played; so far, he thought he enjoyed the music that had been selected for the party.

He was yet to see his brother or his dad but had seen some people he knew, people he worked with, and they seemed, to Paul, to be visibly surprised at his presence. Paul wasn't surprised that they were.

It was dark, but he thought he could still see the blue sky as he looked up for some time. Anyone should see it if they paid enough attention, he thought. He could also see the full moon, but its presence was not as pronounced as it would be some hours later.

He looked around at the ambience of the location he found himself; there was no dancing, at least, not what he would call dancing, there were no empty bottles, and it was still relatively calm.

"Definitely came early," he said to himself, before drinking from the can of beer in his right hand.

He was at an event center, there was the main building in front of him, it was a three-story building. There were a number of other buildings, but the vast majority of the place was an open space. There were pools and he had seen three of those already. There were different types of chairs placed under different types of canopies while others had no canopies above them.

He saw two people kissing each other at the far end to his right. He knew who the guy was and wasn't at all surprised by what he could see.

The different colors of the lights at the venue made it difficult for him to tell the colors of the things he saw. He wondered what color was used to paint the main building; he could guess, but he wasn't interested.

More people came in through the entrance and he could hardly take his eyes off the ladies.

He was twenty-seven years old, and he was yet to have any relationship that lasted more than three months. The last woman he was with had told him to "get his head out of his ass' if he was going to have a meaningful relationship." Paul didn't think that was going to happen anytime soon. He wanted to make something of his life before he could allow something like a relationship or a family to tie him down.

He emptied the beer in his hand and dropped it on the table. He thought about getting another, or something else to drink, but let his thoughts overwhelm that desire.

He still was looking at the women coming into the venue and couldn't help but wonder why the hormones in his body drove him crazy whenever he saw a lady he liked. It's always been that way, he thought to himself.

He was barely eleven years old and was still in elementary school, when he used to put his hands in his hands in his pocket to hold down his erection around girls; he had zero control over himself. Maybe he now had about thirty percent control over myself, he thought and smiled.

"Hopeless guy."

He was about to get up from his chair when someone patted his back three times.

"He lives!" the voice behind him said. It wasn't as loud as to catch the attention of other people around.

Paul didn't have to look back to know who just spoke, he knew it was Pete; it was a voice he would recognize anywhere, even in death, he imagined.

"I was beginning to wonder when you were going to get here," Paul said. "It's not like you to miss a party."

Pete laughed and Paul couldn't tell if it was genuine or not.

Pete sat down at the other end of the chair, with a table dividing them.

"You know me too well, brother. I live for moments like these," he said as he pointed at some of the ladies in the room. "But of course, you already know that."

"I guess I do," Paul said.

"In contrast, you're not a party guy," Pete said as he tilted his head to his head, looking at Paul inquisitively. "So, why are you here?"

"I thought you wanted me here. You told me about it, didn't you?"

Pete gave a knowing smile to his brother and said, "So you're saying you came because of me?"

"Anything for family," Paul replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Pete said. He drew himself closer to the table so that the distance between himself and Paul was shortened. "You should save that bullshit for your wife and kids, if you ever have one."

Paul smiled.

"You know where Dad is?" Paul asked.

"Who the fuck knows. He's probably in one of these buildings doing what he does," Pete said as he pointed at some of the buildings around.

"What he does as in sniffing coke from a bottle that is supposed to contain ulcer drugs?" Paul asked.

"Still high on your righteous horse I see," Pete said. "He's probably doing that and seeing some of his clients and investors."

"Right," Paul said.

Pete signaled a waiter to get them drinks and to bring some ice along with him. The waiter was leaving to get what he had requested when something caught his attention.

"See those two girls at that table?" he said, turning his face in the direction he was talking about.

"I see them," Paul said.

"They've been looking at us for a while now and they're doing it again," Pete said.

"What should I do about that?" Paul asked.

"Is that a question?" Pete asked, bemused. "Talk to them, get laid, live!"

"I see you have not changed at all," Paul said. "We probably don't need to go there though, they'll probably come over here. I also took notice of them."

"You want to bet on them coming here?" Pete asked.

"Why not," Paul said.