My Type of Socializing | ✓

Chapter 18

After the night Adam cried about the messages Archie sent, Assad advised him to block the number.

"Don't think too much about it. It's going to affect your workflow," Assad had said, rubbing circles on the older man's back the next day.

He was right. Whenever Adam had a spiral concerning Archie he slowed down on work, made mistakes, or worse; he would stop working completely and leave his clients in the dark. Overall, it wasn't a great reputation to have and it cost him money and openings he would have been given otherwise. It didn't matter if it was out of his control, being labeled as the unpredictable and 'difficult to work with' person, had been bound to happen, and had happened.

Adam had blocked Archie's number after hesitating a bit. His ex knew his number and his address, so in the grand scheme of things blocking one of the many numbers he used to reach him wasn't going to do anything, but it made Adam relieved even if it was only for a little bit. He spent the next month working on his project and communicating with the other artists at the studio. He had been worried that his social disposition wouldn't let him interact with them properly or form a good impression, but all his co-workers so far were understanding, and before Adam knew it he had a few more names aside from Assad's on his frequent call list.

Today, Adam had taken his drawing pad with him to Assad's apartment. It was a Friday evening, so Assad had just returned from lectures and was looking for something for both of them to eat.

"That looks great," Assad said, hovering over Adam who was sitting at the dining table. The older man paused, drawing to look over at Assad who was giving him a bright smile.

"Concept art?" Assad asked, pulling out the chair beside the man before taking a seat.

Adam nodded. "Yeah." He watched as Assad tugged at the end of the drawing pad, pulling it towards himself as he took a detailed look at it.

"Mind if I do something here?" Assad asked, pointing to the blank spot on the page.

Adam shrugged. "Knock yourself out." His tone was neutral, but he was interested in seeing what Assad would do. He had only ever seen the man's fancy school projects. He had never seen him draw cartoons.

Assad grabber the pencil Adam had been using before doing a neat sketch at the far end of the page. At first, Adam wasn't sure what to think, but when the man was done, he gawked at the drawing in surprise. It was good. A little too much on the realistic side for a cartoon, but good.

"It's good," Adam said out loud making Assad chuckle.

"Are you sure? You look stunned," Assad said as Adam pulled the sketchpad to himself.

"Yeah I'm sure," the older man said, leaning back on his seat as he narrowed his eyes at the character design. "I think early on, you told me you were working on a comic," Adam said, remembering something Assad had told him months ago when they hadn't been so close.

"Yeah," Assad said, sighing as he rested his head on the table.

"It's just difficult. It takes forever to finish sketching a page, not to talk of coloring it and formatting it. I don't know how you post a whole chapter every week. I know you do it all by yourself. Even the writing," Assad added, poking the exposed skin of Adam's arm with a finger.

"I think you make it hard for yourself," Adam muttered, making Assad raise his head.

"I make it hard for myself?" the man asked, sitting up. "How."

"There's a reason cartoons are stylized," Adam said. "Your character art is too realistic," he added pointing at the drawing.

"You can't do full shading, extreme detail to facial features and hair if you want to quick," Adam said. "Cartoon artists take a lot of shortcuts, you know. Why do you think some cartoon characters have four or three fingers? It's just faster to draw."

"Hmm..." Assad trailed scooting closer to Adam. "I see your point."

"I'm not a character animation student or anything, just a plain arts and designs dude, so I didn't know that," he said. "So, I need a style or something?"

"Yeah," Adam said smiling at his boyfriend. "You can start by simplifying the one you have now."

"I'll look into that," Assad said, getting up from his chair. "But first, I should take out the sweet potatoes from the oven."

There was a smile on Adam's face as the two ate dinner that evening. He was glad that he was able to give Assad some advice today. He always felt like he was on the receiving end of all the help, and it made him feel good to offer it in return.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Assad said when Adam put on his slippers and left through the front door. "Glad we're both going to have a free weekend at the same time," Assad said, grinning at Adam who gave him a wave before turning. Assad closed the door to his apartment, and Adam went down the stairs to his.

A letter? Adam wondered, noticing the envelope in front of his door. Had the mailman really come to drop things off when he left for Assad's place at about five in the evening?

Adam sighed, squatting down to pick up the envelope. He became even more confused when he noticed that it had no address or sender written on it.

Is this for me at all? he wondered, getting up from the floor before opening his apartment door and walking in. He dropped the envelope on the kitchen counter, and let it sit there for a while as he drank a glass of water and replied to emails. It wasn't until it was one in the morning that he considered opening it. If it wasn't for him, he would just leave it in the return to sender mail slot outside the apartment complex.

The tire opened the envelope and took out the folded white piece of paper inside. He unwrapped it, letting his eyes gloss over the words.

Was this a bill? No, it was a cease and desist.

Dear Mr. Adam Noel/To Whom It May Concern.

This letter serves as notice to you and your company to immediately cease and desist all activities involving the use of my intellectual property.

Archie Carter.

Adam felt his blood run cold at the sight of it. He knew he could ignore it. He knew that there was no way Archie would have told his own company about what was happening without him trying to shut Adam up first, but all Adam's logical thoughts were locked away at the back of his mind as his paranoia and anxiety took over.

He couldn't breathe.

The letter slipped from his hands as he attempted to regain control of his lungs. He slowly slid down to the floor, resting his head on the bottom cabinet by the sink as he slowly but surely started breathing again. He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he forced himself not to cry.

Archie Carter was done scaring him.

Adam wasn't going to let him scare him.

If the man was going to use faux law letters and threatening emails, Adam decided that he was going to take the issue to his studio. He swallowed back the cries in his throat and got up from the floor after picking the letter, and without even thinking it through he made his way out of his apartment and walked up the stairs to Assad. Because if anyone was going to assure him and point out when Archie was attempting to pull low blow mind tricks, it was Assad.