“The kettle calling the pot black, eh?” said the businessman, inflecting his voice at the end of the sentence higher than normal, like a small whiny child. “Listen,” he sighed exaggeratedly before continuing, “I want your opinion on something.”
“Why would a multi-billionaire want my opinion on anything?” said Rod, visibly flabbergasted.
“I’ve asked Jam, and I was wondering what your take is on it.”
“Has this got something to do with your product? The system thing?”
“And what if it does?”
“Didn’t you just make a deal with the Tories?” asked Rod.
“Yeah, it’s approved to be implemented in every NHS hospital across the country; thought you didn’t know anything about it.”
Rod grunted, “It’s hard not to take notice when it’s all over every social media platform known to man.”
Aleku chuckled, “Why, my good man, do you think Jam also has heard of it then?”
“Isn’t he a software engineer?”
“Ha! Do you not know what has happened then? When was the last time you have spoken to him?”
Rod rubbed his chin, “It’s been...years.”
“So long! I guess you have not heard then?”
“Heard what?” said Rod, shrugging, and then tilted his head up in thought, “last I heard he had graduated from university and moved to Thailand.”
“Oh, well then, you are behind indeed in all aspects of life.”
“It isn’t my fault,” hissed the young man, “you stole my business idea and pushed me out of the company we started!”
“Is that what you’ve been telling yourself all these years?” replied Aleku calmly. “I’ve always admired your story telling ability.”
“You know that it’s true, Aleku ,” said Rod bitterly. “You are a liar and a spoilt brat.”
“And you aren’t, eh, my good man? Come on, pal, I wanted a civil conversation with you. Why resort to name calling? How’s your social life, eh? Done any travelling? I’ve just been in Poland helping my old man build a cabin in the Tatras.”
“Isn't that like a national park?” inquired Rod.
“Yeah, but I bought it off the government years back when they were in a recession a few years back. They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but I’ve had a good return on my investment. Didn’t you say you had made friends with other polish people in the polish society? How’s that going, you still hanging out with them?”
“You know what happened,” hissed Rod, his eyes suddenly dark with anger.
“Oh that’s right,” chuckled Aleku , “I remember. Wow, so you couldn’t contain yourself, huh? Got yourself some nice friends and a beautiful girlfriend and just fucked it all up? Typical Rod,” he laughed again. “You know what’s brilliant about you? Sometimes I see a glimmer of genius within you but then you just act so stupidly in social situations it just baffles my mind. You are like a character in a book. Whenever I mention you to my parents they laugh and say how stupid you are. You remember when I let you meet them that one time? Ha! What a mistake! They asked me if I was indeed your friend and not just an absolute idiot because the things that you came out with were just the most idiotic things one could say. I mean really? Twenty-four years old and unable to have a physical relationship with a woman!” Aleku roared with laughter.
“Yeah, well...” stammered Rod, unable to comeback from such a scathing assessment.
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“And to top it all off, you spent hundreds of pounds on a woman who then doesn’t even want to hang out or talk to you. I am crying at how funny you are, my good friend. There is honestly no one like you at all.”
“Why did you say my idea for the system sucked then? That it was the worse idea that you had ever heard and that I was the stupidest man to ever live? Why, if I was so stupid, did you then take my idea and build a whole company on it? You used your daddy’s resources to profit from my idea of a system. Isn’t it funny, eh, my good friend, that the very next day after I told you about my idea for a system that would rewrite consciousness that you then pivoted your dad’s whole company from construction to artificial intelligence? Tell me, my good sir, why that was the case when you have never once in your life been interested businesswise in artificial intelligence, or technological development in general?”
“Even if that was the case, anyone can have ideas. Ideas are cheap. Ideas are like the butts of cigarettes smudged into the pavement. What truly matters are the feet who do the crushing. You are just bitter that you are a deadbeat, and I am successful.”
“You are only successful because of the superior material conditions that you were born into; if you were born into poverty then you would have been malnourished and uneducated. It is a laughable fact that you are so against immigration but you yourself are an immigrant, in that you have benefited from this country allowing you in in the first place! But now you wish to close the door against those like yourself. Why? Because you think that your own success was a product of your own efforts. Ha! No – fat chance! While I and Jam and everyone else had to struggle working just to survive, you enjoyed the privilege of having a family to support you financially and emotionally. Face it, Aleku, your privilege contributed greatly to your success.”
“The crux of the issue is that I work hard and don’t blame everyone else for my problems unlike you. This is the reason that your relationship with Veronika failed.”
The young man winced and stumbled back as though a blow had struck him forcefully in his chest. “Shut up!” he cried. “My relationship with Veronika failed because of you and Jam’s evil influence on me! You’ve made billions off me and got away with it!”
The young man winced and stumbled back as though a blow had struck him forcefully in his chest. “Shut up!” he cried. “My relationship with Veronika failed because of you and Jam’s evil influence on me! You’ve made billions off me and got away with it!”
Aleku sighed, “You can either continue to be mad or do something about it; but right now I am just chilling smoking this fat cuban cigar and enjoying the lovely company of this beautiful European model, whose name I do not know and care not to learn, while my gorgeous traditional wife stays home taking care of the children. Life is good. Life is really good. Listen, my man, you have to just work hard to get the life you want. I don’t understand why you refuse to accept this fact of life. You were like this in highschool: all you would do is complain about not having a girlfriend like some sad sack of shit. You are utterly pathetic and I almost feel sick talking to you.”
“My life turned out the way it has because of you and Jam. I would be so popular, with lots of friends and a hot, loving girlfriend if it wasn’t for you and Jam keeping me down all those years. You admitted it yourself that you kept me down to make yourself feel better. Hm...perhaps you kept me down to also look better – and to enrich yourself! If I was never friends with you or Jam in highschool I would have had a good experience and wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
“You are stupid and narcassistic. You are just making excuses and that is why you do not have any friends.”
“You are just a fucking nepo baby.”
“Say what you want but you know it’s true you utter failure. You know what? I phoned you up out of pity because I know you and I know that you don’t have any friends and probably could use someone to talk to, but your personality is so trash that I don’t even think that the idea of ending this call and never talking to you again and effectively dooming you to a friendless existence is becoming more and more attractive the more you speak. Jam and I are the only ones willing to put up with your shit personality. Now, listen, I’ll cut to the chase, if you do not give me an idea on how I can beat my competitors, who are launching a similar system at a much lower price point, then consider me the very last friend you’ll ever have and one more to add to those you’ve hurt in your past; I know very well how stuck you are in the past, how much you ruminate over it. Now, although I have successfully lobbied all the hospitals across the UK to adopt Systemcare, the rival company might very well succeed in undermining me and offering the hospitals a much lower price,” said Aleku, spitting down the phone line with his arrogance, “since you are a medical student, I was wondering if you had anything to say about my system and how I can further appeal to the medical community on getting it adopted by them.”
“You must be joking!” scoffed Rod. “I helped you once and made you into a multi-millionaire and when I tried to do the same thing you pushed me down and I received nothing but scorn. I’m not going to help you keep your multi-billionaire deal.”
“Our friendship hinges on you helping me. Think about it, you are a bad friend. I have carried this friendship for years and now I am seriously asking you for a favour and you again make it about yourself. How can you ever hope to become popular without being able to maintain his only friendship?”