Contempt of a Great Man (Part 1)

The moment that your life changes is difficult to recognize; it happens so quickly with such a subtle action that in order to pinpoint the exact moment is almost impossible. For better or worse, your life is destined to alter; if not, everyone would go on the same path of monotony, day after day. My life was at a plateau, I wasn’t improving yet I wasn’t declining. When I was invited to my cousin’s party, I didn’t know my life would change. Then again, does anyone know when their life will?

The party, to a bystander, wouldn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary; it contained rich businessmen who couldn’t let loose for even a second. Personally, I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the party. Bear in mind, I have never been a party person. In fact, I have had a disdain of parties for as long as I can remember. My mother would hold elaborate parties for me when I was a child. She would include everything necessary for an outstanding party, yet I never enjoyed any of them.

My cousin sent me an invitation to his party on the 23rd of April; it had raised gold letters and was delivered by his assistant. My cousin had gained a substantial amount of wealth since leaving Iowa four years prior. He had accepted a position at a business in New York and was well on his way to becoming a wealthy New Yorker I had learned to hate. The little boy with grass stains on his jeans and mud on his face disappeared under a façade of a rich business-man.

My cousin and I had been close when we were children, but our interests switched and soon they no longer paralleled. He enjoyed reading about the stock market, while I was reading about fictional characters. Even through our differences, we had always had a mutual respect for each other. His confidence and intelligence amazed me; He had a sort of presence to him that could not be matched by anyone. He knew who he was and he never was ashamed of it.

Shortly after he moved to New York, I decided to follow and move into a nice apartment in New Jersey. For the first few months, I saw my cousin every few days; we would meet at a small bistro a few blocks from his work. I had taken a job as a journalist in New York and spent the majority of my time in the city. After awhile, however, we began to see less of each other as our lives grew even further apart.

Then, I saw him when I was interviewing a political official in front of a courthouse. He had come to testify against an opposing business who had stolen blueprints of an upcoming invention soon to be patented by his company. I didn’t recognize him at first; he had cut his hair and had slicked it back. As soon as he smiled, however, there was no denying who he was.

When I saw him, I quickly ended the interview (it wasn’t very interesting anyways) and ran up to hug him. As I was hugging him, his body grew as tense as the suit he was wearing. I could guess that he was worried about what his colleagues would think of a young woman practically jumping on him. I didn’t think about how long it had been since I last saw him. All I could think of was the boy he used to be, the boy who was once my best friend.

“Meg,” he said as we parted, “it’s been awhile.”

“It has,” I responded, not really knowing what else to say. I stared down at my feet until he spoke again.

“I’m having a party,” he proclaimed, as I looked back up at his face, “I’ll send my assistant over to give you an invite. You still live in at the same place, right?”

“Yeah,” I answered, as he looked at the people he had been walking with before I interrupted.

“Good,” he said, switching his stance a bit, “Well I better get going. It was great seeing you again.”

“Yeah it was,” I lied, as he started to walk towards his companions.

We said our goodbyes and we went our separate ways. This was the most awkward conversation I had ever had in my entire life. The awkwardness of his undeniable stiffness was only added to by the disapproval his friends had as they glared at me. The cousin I once knew most definitely changed. The confidence he once had was replaced by need of his colleagues’ approval.


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