{"id":355,"date":"2003-02-24T10:30:49","date_gmt":"2003-02-24T18:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/?p=355"},"modified":"2023-06-24T00:49:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-24T07:49:24","slug":"nemesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/nemesis\/","title":{"rendered":"Nemesis"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"boldgrid-section\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-lg-12 col-md-12 col-xs-12 col-sm-12\">\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cSo, do you like working in a bank?\u201d he asked, biting into one of the particularly hard breadsticks that the Italian restaurant offered to every patron, probably in the hopes of getting rid of the stale, tasteless things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">She smiled slightly, running her hand up over her forehead and through her thin blonde hair, teasing it in another direction, and returning her gaze to his eyes. Her light blue eyes were chilling and set her bright red lips even further into contrast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cWell, it pays the bills\u2026 It isn\u2019t very fun, but you meet a lot of people and the bank is pretty lenient. They let you be up to fifty dollars over or short every day\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cReally?\u201d he asked, wanting her to go on, hoping that by letting this girl talk that he could get into her pants. She really was gorgeous. He had, of course, met her at the bank, but had been set up by a mutual friend who knew that they both had a few things in common, such as eating, breathing, and enjoying the company of the opposite sex.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod took another bite of the breadstick and concentrated his peripheral vision along her body, her figure, her mildly revealing white dress, while keeping a firm and understanding gaze on the girl\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">She finished whatever it was that she had been saying and he had to respond to her somehow. Rod hoped that she had reached some conclusion to his line of questioning and asked a new question.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cSo, you been seeing anyone lately?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cOh, no,\u201d she smiled in a way that made Rod think that play was imminent. His chances weren\u2019t bad regardless. He was in most way average, which seemed to work toward his advantage. Not too tall or short, not too fat or thin, not too serious or funny. Average.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cDo you go on many blind dates, then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cNo, not really, but I knew you from the bank\u2026 or remembered you, at least. Enough so that I could be set up without being afraid of who would show up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cWell, thanks\u2026 That\u2019s flattering, at least.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYeah\u2026 There\u2019s just so many creeps today, you have to be careful\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">They both lapsed into silence, smiling gently and staring at each other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cAnd here it is\u2026\u201d the waiter interrupted, placing two plates of food in front of them. Rod was unimpressed by the size of the portion, but that was the price of eating at an expensive restaurant. You were essentially just paying to impress your date.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cThank you,\u201d Rod muttered, turning his attention away from his tiny chunk of filet mignon and back to his date, the larger and tastier morsel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cSo, what do you do for fun then\u2026 outside the bank?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cOh.\u201d She considered it thoroughly, not really having any hobbies. \u201cI guess I read sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cOh, really? What do you read?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cHmmm\u2026 Mainly Cosmo and John Grisham novels\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">He sighed internally, trying to keep any disgust he felt from showing on his face. His eyes stayed fixed and glazed and he managed a nod to imply recognition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Her eyes focused over his shoulder, widening slightly. He wondered what she was looking at, but was definitely not going to be so obvious as to look over his shoulder. She kept looking and Rod began to worry about whether or not a chance meeting with one of her ex-boyfriends would be in his disadvantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Her eyes drifted and followed something until it was above Rod\u2019s head. He felt the presence, the closeness, of someone standing behind him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">He finally gathered himself, trying to move smoothly, confident but seeming strong and possibly imposing, and turned around in his seat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Behind him was a man in a tight spandex and lycra costume, like a superhero, colored black and blue, covering him from head to foot, boots, a mask, and a large \u2018N\u2019 across the chest of the costume in a muted purple. Rod sighed and lowered his eyes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cSo we meet again, fool!\u201d the stranger bellowed and raised a fist defiantly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod began to turn back to his date, eyes closed, dreading this whole exchange.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cWeakling, turn from my gaze! Run from your own damnation!\u201d The man burst into a fit of shrieking laughter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod turned back and spat \u201cI thought we had an agreement\u201d under his breath, low enough that his date might not hear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cRod, do you know this man?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod cringed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYes, peon, introduce me to your concubine that I might drink of her beauty as I exact my revenge upon you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod offered a curt \u201cBrian, Tiffany. Tiffany, Brian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cI am Nemesis!\u201d Brian bellowed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYou\u2019re behind on rent, that\u2019s what you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">The ma\u00eetre d\u2019 arrived finally. \u201cIs there a problem here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYes, this man is accosting us\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cBastard, you will pay for what you have done to me!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cSir, without proper attire and a reservation, you will have to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cI will do no such thing! I am unstoppable! Stand aside or be annihilated!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cSir, I will have you removed,\u201d the ma\u00eetre d\u2019 warned fiercely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cNo man defeats Nemesis!\u201d Brian screamed, being dragged from the building.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Embarrassed, everyone settled back into their seats, went back to their eating or their jobs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYou knew him, Rod?\u201d Tiffany asked, more curiosity than an accusation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cUm\u2026 Yes. That was\u2026 Brian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cNemesis?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYeah, that too\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cAnd where do you know him from?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cWell\u2026 We\u2019ve known each other since we were kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cDid he always walk around in a super hero costume?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cNot always. That came after he got a job and could afford it\u2026 Obviously, the costumes have changed and gotten better over time. The last one cost him around $500. He designed it and took it to a seamstress\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cHow do you know all this? How do you know so much about him if he hates you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cWell, we\u2019re roommates, you see\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Okay, so it was back in the mid-seventies. We were kids\u2026 teenagers, really. We spent most of our time hanging out, chasing girls, skating, listening to albums. Brian always liked comic books, read them all the time. He actually got made fun of quite a bit at the time, but so did I a little. We were best buddies, all that stereotypical stuff you think about in bad coming-of-age films. That was us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">We were close. Like brothers. We had good times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Then one day I invited him to a concert. I told him it was some really good stuff and he went based on my promises of a good show. We rode with my older brother and his hippie girlfriend, who was the one who really wanted to go. I just wanted to see a concert. Brian\u2026 well, Brian wanted to belong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">We get there\u2026 and it was pretty horrible. And Brian had a terrible time. He would never quite forgive me for ruining the day and talked about it for weeks\u2026 He had paid his own way, so he felt like I owed him and I apologized, but he never forgave me. I think I even eventually offered him the money for it, but he refused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">So he started by inflicting petty vengeances on me, stuff like simple pranks, hiding things from me, which progressed into stealing, talking about me to my friends behind my back, spreading rumors. It was pretty bad for a while there until he realized his true calling: to be my tormentor, to be my super villain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">He started wearing the costume. No amount of making fun of him dissuaded him. If anything it only made it worse, because he learned to block all of that out, only to trust his own thoughts. He became, in his mind, my Nemesis.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">So we went off to college. We even roomed together. Things were fine around the room. There were subtle things, he would eat my food, drink from the milk in front of me and then burst into crazed laughter, stuff like that. He would only wear the costume, which was getting more elaborate, less of a little boy\u2019s towel cape fantasy and more of a Halloween costume, he\u2019d wear it out and follow me around, hurling insults, throwing rocks, pushing me. There\u2019s been a few times I\u2019ve snapped. I beat him up pretty good once, but he just vowed revenge and it added in to his fantasy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">After college, we got jobs, went off into the world\u2026 He still followed me around, so I eventually asked him when I needed a roommate. If he\u2019s following me around, he can at least pay half of bills, I figured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">We\u2019ve been living together for a few years. He still follows me around, we live together, he insists on wearing the suit. I occasionally try to get him to cut me some slack\u2026 like tonight. But, unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten our deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">He keeps getting crazier and trying to pull more stunts, more pranks, but he has the rent on time. But constantly being followed is an annoyance, not that I could do anything about it anyway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">And all this just because I dragged him to see Cat Stevens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cYou let a madman follow you around and torment you because you took him to a bad Cat Stevens concert?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cNo, just <i>a<\/i> Cat Stevens concert. And there\u2019s nothing I could do about it anyway, except kill him. Restraining orders, jail time, wouldn\u2019t stop him. It\u2019d all just make him think he\u2019s really a super villain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">She sighed and stood up from the table. \u201cI think I need to go home now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod understood, so didn\u2019t try to dissuade her. \u201cDo you want me to walk you to your car?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cI\u2019m okay\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cReally, it\u2019s no problem at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Tiffany paused. \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cCheck please.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod and Tiffany walked beside each other down the sidewalk, back into the parking lot beside the restaurant. They were quiet for a while.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cI\u2019m really sorry about tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cIt\u2019s okay\u2026 Your life\u2019s just\u2026 a bit much for me right now. You know, I want something <i>normal<\/i> in my life. I work at a bank\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cI totally understand\u2026 Friends?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Tiffany thought for a second and then reached out to give Rod a hug. \u201cOkay.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">From out of the shadows, a figure leapt on to them, shrieking. \u201cVengeance is mine!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">The three of them fell to the ground, rolled on the pavement, darkness and shuffling noise. Tiffany began to crawl away and turned to see Rod lift Brian up and punch him squarely in the face.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Brian shrieked like a girl and fell away. \u201cWe talked about this, Brian!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">The Nemesis quickly rose and ran into the night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Rod helped Tiffany back up and dusted off her dress. \u201cAgain\u2026 I\u2019m really sorry about this whole night. I wish things were different\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Tiffany seemed angry, but calmed, her face taking on a certain acceptance. \u201cIt\u2019s okay\u2026 I wish things would have gone better, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Tiffany got in her car and closed the door. The window slid down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cGood night, Rod.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">\u201cGood night, Tiffany.\u201d Her car drove away into the night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"western custom-indent\">Somewhere in the distance, a voice cried \u201crevenge\u201d over and over again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cSo, do you like working in a bank?\u201d he asked, biting into one of the particularly hard breadsticks that the Italian restaurant offered to every patron, probably in the hopes of getting rid of the stale, tasteless things. She smiled slightly, running her hand up over her forehead and through her thin blonde hair, teasing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"index","bgseo_robots_follow":"follow","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-short-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":373,"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ryanspeck.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}