Lex

I had never really thought about it until I met him. We met at a casual get together at an apartment on the North side of town about 3 years ago. My first impression was not the best. His name was Lex. He was fairly attractive, but at that time, he presented himself in a way that somehow totally masked these looks I would become so fond of later on. He was arrogant. Oh boy, was he ever. Lex spoke very confidently about things that no one really gave two shits about, but his presence and voice were so commanding that everyone listened. Everyone kept their full attention on this one man as he spoke, and during the times when he was not speaking, everyone was waiting for him to start back up. I noticed the tone in his voice and the confidence he exuded, but was not as impressed as the others. I saw that he got off to the attention and I was never really a fan of kissing ass because someone thought they were worthy of it.
I walked in and kissed the cheeks of my current lover, best friend, and brother and began to tell about how I saw this old man with a knife on the bus earlier that day.

“He was piss drunk falling all over the place, and after he finally sat down he kept sucking on his knife and staring at me! I didn’t know if he wanted to fuck me or kill me.”

Suddenly the attention turned from him to me. I noticed him giving me “the look.” No, not the “fucking me with his eyes” or “fuck you” look…more like a “game on.”

“It’s funny that you assume he would automatically want to have sex with you.”

“Well, 50% of the men I meet want to have sex, 25% of them want to murder me, and the other 25% would partake in both. It’s statistics. I’ve done the research. I was just having trouble deciphering which demographic he was in.”

He was not impressed with my smart ass remark, but didn’t have a rebuttal. He just kind of laughed and started talking to a slightly intoxicated and very cute girl beside him. This was the only interaction I had with him that evening that I can remember. To be honest, I got a bit intoxicated and distracted by the beautiful Italian man that I had been involved with for quite some time. We disappeared into the bedroom, never to return and I didn’t think once more about Lex that evening.

I woke up the next morning to the sounds of a blender and my brother yelling “WHO WANTS A GOOD MORNING MARGARITA!?” Let me tell you a bit about my brother: Will was a very intelligent, very cynical, and depressed alcoholic. He was also not my brother. We bonded over our love of alcohol and immediately had that fraternal bond. Relation at first sight, or some shit. He admitted to his alcoholism, no problem, but saw no problem. He preferred a life of constant inebriation to the lives of “squares” who were always stressed with work, school, and “normal” life. He was the party. If you were at his place, you were drinking good beer, and good liquor, but you were eating 4 month old E-Z Mac. He ordered humongous amounts of alcohol every week with his mother’s credit card. (His parents were extremely wealthy. So wealthy, that it took them about a year to notice he was ordering 400 dollars’ worth of alcohol every month.) William had a few bad moments where we would have to coax him down off of the balcony and such, but aside from that and his aggressive tongue when he drank til 5 am, he was a great guy. He valued his friends and would die for a select few. I was one of those few and I could read him like a book. I really adored him like a brother and he adored me just the same.
He was provided a loft on the North side of town by his parents while he was “figuring out” school and such. It was a beautiful space with high ceilings, hardwood floors, and appliances that told you to “have a good day,” or to “enjoy your meal.” I always thought that was fancy and it really impressed me. At this point in my life, I was 19 and in the midst of coming out of a huge depression and a close to 4 month drinking binge. I had not lived with my mother since I was 17 and had lived with Will since I was 18. We stayed in this loft and I crashed on the couch, because the other bedroom was occupied by a family friend. I lived here for a while and met a lot of people before Lex came into the picture. When I first met him, I thought he was just another person who comes through hoping to score a cool place to crash, a girl to fuck, and some free booze. Boy, was I wrong. I would have told him to turn back and never come around if I had been able to predict the future. I am the worst thing that ever happened to Lex Daniels.