Chapter 83: A New Beginning
"What happened?" Rob asked in genuine curiosity.
"Well," Brent hesitated a bit.
He scowled once more and took in a large gulp of his beer and threw the empty can away. He unceremoniously opened another can and took in another large sip before looking at Rob.
Rob could see the vulnerability in Brent’s eyes at that moment. He felt that one wrong word from him would truly break Brent beyond repair at that moment. So, he stifled the questions that were eager to come out of his mouth and waited for Brent to speak.
"You were right," Brent smiled mockingly. "You were right about my so-called friends. They didn’t hang around here because we had some shared common goal. They only hung around to use the resources I had."
Rob didn’t comment on it. He felt that commenting now would be a bad form.
"After I decided that I wanted to finish something and shove it in your face," Brent spoke after a brief bout of silence. "I came here eagerly and told my decision to them. I told them that we will all pool in our talents and create at least one finished product by the end of this month."
"Well, they didn’t like that," Brent chuckled mockingly. "They didn’t want to stop what they are fiddling around with and build something with me. They vehemently opposed and said that if that was the way things are going to be, they wouldn’t come back here."
"I was shocked. I thought they would be on board with my idea and would truly want to create something collectively. But, I was wrong. Oh, so wrong," Brent laughed mirthlessly. "They just didn’t want to do it. Even when I told what you told me about them and said this was a way for us to make you take back your words, they didn’t relent."
"We started arguing and I flipped out. I gave them an ultimatum. They could only use the things in here in their free time if they pitched in with the project. Apparently, they didn’t like it. They started calling me names and deriding me. Our argument escalated and I told them to leave if they aren’t willing to pitch in. That’s it, they left."
Brent finished with a sad smile on his face.
"But, Byron and Peter stayed," Rob tried to make Brent see the positive side.