“Yeah!” I shouted in reply, and slapped his hand with force.
You ignorant fuck.
Once the meeting had finished and the enthusiasm of the IT frat-boys had quietened down, I walked back to my desk where Louie, my four-year-old corgi, was waiting for me. When I stroked his back, he opened his eyes and pulled his ears back, then did his afternoon downward-dog yoga pose. He let out a little yelp of excitement as I put my laptop into my leather messenger bag, a sign that another gruesome day in the life of a game developer was over.
Being a senior developer wasn’t all bad. There were plenty of things worse than working on the backend of games. Even the thought of working front-end made my skin itch. Of course, I could have become a team lead, but I wasn’t one to lead people. Maybe I used to be, but not anymore. Leo was just much better suited to the job. I’d never be able to stand the constant bitching of the “just-graduated” and “I-have-the-best-idea-ever” junior devs.
I put Louie on his leash and walked to the exit, knowing full well that the next time I came into the office, I’d better bring a pillow and a blanket. Fridays close to big updates on our games always ended up stretching into Saturdays and Sundays.
“Alex,” Leo called, just as I was about to leave. “We’re running a one-shot in Exandria tonight and I know you love the Mercer’s world. What do you say? Pizza and D&D?”
“Nah, man. Not in the mood tonight,” I replied. Leo was always trying to make me more social, but I knew he had a kind heart so it never really bothered me. It also wouldn’t make me change my mind. “Have fun though.”
“Oh, I see how it is,” he said. “You got some special plans for your 35th and I’m not invited?”
I rolled my eyes and waved him goodbye.
“Will you stream later tonight, though?” he shouted as the office door was closing behind me.
“Yep!” I replied loudly, and Louie barked in agreement.
People often praised New York City and its beauty during the summer months. Songs like “Summer in the city” seemed to be favorited and shared pretty widely through social media at this time of year. But walking toward my apartment in Williamsburg, inhaling the fumes from the traffic jams and sweating with the extreme humidity of July, all I could hear was Final Fantasy XV’s “Hellfire” track. Come to think of it, I hadn’t listened to that soundtrack for quite some time. As I stopped for Louie to relieve himself on a fire hydrant, I put on “Apocalypsis Noctis” on my headphones and tried to mentally travel to that world. I barely managed to contain the urge to swing my hands around like an orchestra conductor as we continued walking through Brooklyn.
My stomach made the all-too-familiar groan to “stop neglecting it” and, seeing as today was my cheat day, I decided to make a slight detour and stop by Cheeseboat to buy my and Louie’s favorite dinner. I was happy to see that it wasn’t particularly busy, so I tied Louie to one of the heavy wooden benches outside and entered the restaurant. I quickly gave my order for one “El Chupacabra Cheeseboat” and told the waiter I’d be waiting for it outside.
I stepped out and sat down on the bench next to Louie. Since I wasn’t going to visit the gym today, I thought I should at least vent out some pent-up energy through my music selection, so I put on Amon Amarth’s “Twilight of the Thunder God” and proceeded to pet Louie while keeping an eye out for the waiter.
A few seconds later, I saw a group of five men in corporate suits crossing the street and approaching the restaurant. They reeked of the superiority that comes with high-salary white-collar professions. I bet they were into finance or something of the sort. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, laughing loudly as if the world belonged to them, crossing the street at their own pace and flipping a taxi driver who honked at them—typical boys who got too rich too quick. Not giving a shit about the world as long as their noses were full of cocaine and they had a new visitor in their bed each night.
Louie yelped as one of them stepped on his tail while I was scratching him under his chin.
“Leash your bitch!” I heard the same man say as I removed my headphones and launched myself up.
The men just ignored me as they entered the restaurant, as if nothing had happened.
“Who’re you calling a bitch, bitch?” I almost shouted, feeling my fingernails digging in my palms.
This was supposed to be another boring day, but you fuckers had to ruin it.
“What did you call me?” the man said, a sickening smirk on his face.
I’ll wipe that smile off your face, you bastard. Just keep at it.
“Are you deaf, bitch?” I asked, as I sidestepped to keep a safe distance from Louie who was still tied up.
The man walked toward me almost casually. I could see he was going to push me.
You hurt my dog, you bastard. We’re way past pushing each other.
My right fist landed straight on his nose. At the moment of the impact, I felt two cracks. One was my pinkie finger popping. The other was his nose breaking. When I pulled it back, my fist was red with blood, though not mine. The man’s nose was bleeding, creating a small dribbling fountain as he fell back, unconscious.
One of his friends rushed to pick him up while another simply stared, his eyes wide open in surprise at how easily his pal was knocked out. Logic told me to drop my fists and let this end here, but I had an uncontrollable urge to see that they all learned their lesson on the ground. One by one.
My choice was made for me as two more men stepped forward, trying to surround
