cantankerous
[kan-tang-ker-uh s]
1. disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish:
a cantankerous, argumentative man.
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Phil sat deep in his chair and
grumbled at the TV. Janet heard the
sound and sighed.
“What is it now?” She asked
heavily.
“Everything, that’s what. The world’s going to hell, and these people
are cashing in on it.”
“Oh for…you sound like an old man,
you know that?”
“What’s wrong with that? I am an old man.”
Janet looked at him and blinked
before saying anything. “Phil, you’re
31. You’re not old, and the only people
who think you are still have their baby teeth.”
“You can say that. You’re still in your twenties.”
“I’m 29. Not exactly a big age difference there.”
“Still counts.”
Janet rolled her eyes and ended the
conversation. She liked the guy well
enough, but it was impossible to have a reasonable conversation when he got in
such a mood. She would try again when he
was feeling more cheerful. Whenever that
would be.
“Hey, what should we do for dinner?”
She asked after a few minutes. Like all
men, there were some subjects that were guaranteed to bring on a good mood, and
food was one of them.
“Whatever.” He grumbled.
That was a surprise. He usually had some opinion on the subject of
meals. There was always something he
wanted to eat. That was fine by her,
since Janet liked all the same foods as he did, so there was rarely any
conflict. But he always had some
opinion.
“Seriously? Nothing?
No ideas, nothing you want today?” She tried again. He just shrugged his shoulders. “Wow.
What’s gotten into you?”
“Maybe I just don’t care
today. Maybe I don’t always have to
think of stuff.” He said. His tone matched his earlier grumbles and
mutterings.
She was starting to get the
picture. He was being difficult just to be difficult. He got like that sometimes, but only when he
was in a particularly bad mood. Something
had happened. Something big.
“Okay, what’s wrong?” Janet asked
through a light sigh.
“Nothing.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, tell me.”
Phil huffed, crossed his arms,
scowled, and did his best to sink deeper into the chair.
“Oh, don’t be like that, you big
baby. I know there’s something wrong, so
spill it.”
“Well, right now my girlfriend is
bothering me while I’m trying to watch TV.
Does that count?”
“No. Now talk, or I’ll hide the remote.”
“You mean the one in my hand right
now?” Phil held up the item in question.
“Okay, fine. If you want to act like a child, I’ll treat
you like one. Tell me what’s wrong, or
you won’t get dinner.”
Phil huffed and tried to put an
indifferent face on. Janet was not
fooled. The threat of not eating got
under his skin. He would talk; it was
only a matter of time.
“Now, where should I eat? Maybe I’ll go to Joey’s? Nah, I’m not up for that. Oh, I know, Trendies! I have a gift card anyway. Yeah, I think that’ll do. Oh, but you’ll be staying here.” Janet could see Phil’s Adam’s apple
twitch. He was breaking. “It’ll only take a few minutes to get ready,
and then you can sit here and sulk in peace.”
Janet went to grab a light
jacket. She put the garment on and
headed towards the door.
“Wait.” Phil called. Just like she knew he would. “Fine.
You want to know what’s wrong? It’s
like this…”
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And that, as they say, is a story for another day. Muahaha and all that evil laughter stuff.
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