The Opiate, Summer Vol. 6
Sebastian’s Babylon, Chapter 6 Daniel Ryan Adler
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aturday morning Sebastian invited Lexi to dinner. She replied an hour and a half later that she was “busy.” He set his phone down harder than he should’ve, told himself it didn’t matter, and doubled over in pain. Maybe he was better off in a city less materialistic and competitive, where he had a chance of finding a woman who liked non-graphic print t-shirts and $2 beer instead of Louis Vuitton and lychee martinis. Then a voice told him what he’d tried for so long to forget: Lexi’s with the person she’s “seeing,” that guy in your dreams who’s tall, dark and handsome, makes two hundred grand a year and has a nine-inch dick. She agreed to your free trip to Venice—who wouldn’t?—but her boyfriend is the one who pleasures her. He clapped his hands to his head. Don’t I deserve a little more credit after what we shared, even if this invitation was short
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notice? Why did she sleep with me if there weren’t a kernel of something between us? Unless she was paying you back, said the voice inside him. A muscle in his cheek twitched. He stood up from his desk. Mood dips are dangerous if you sink too deep. The best thing to do when beginning a descent is be around other people. So Sebastian called Karl. His friend was leaving for the dogs. “The races at Yonkers,” he said. “I’m catching a 1:28 train out of Grand Central.” Sebastian checked the time on his computer. The idea of a greyhound race didn’t appeal to him, but he was desperate for company. Fifty-two minutes later they stood under the clock in the station. “Come on,” Karl said and they walked to their platform.
