The Day After: 2
Beep... Beep... Beep... Beep...
I woke up, startled by my alarm clock. I threw my arm down towards my nightstand to quiet the shrill sound with my hand. My eyes opened to meet the familiar sight of my ceiling fan. After the last day's events it was comforting to find myself in familiar territory. I turned my head to the empty space beside me on the bed. Graham must've made his flight on time and graciously did so without waking me up. Though knowing Graham, he most certainly gave me a good bye peck on the forehead or cheek before leaving.
The weekend was over and I too would have to return to work. I lifted myself up out of bed and started my equally comforting routine of getting ready. Graham had left a pot of coffee on for me with a post-it note wishing me a great day. I did everything this Monday morning as I always did every Monday morning before it β all in the same general order. Coffee, Breakfast, Bathroom break, Shower, Shave, Brush, Comb, Change.
I wore a suit to work unless there was some ridiculous theme day going on β like crazy hats, or Hawaiian shirt day. Today, I was dressed in a grey 2 piece, with a monochrome lighter grey shirt and a solid Blue tie for color. My brown belt matched my brown Chelsea boots which was in the same color family as my messenger bag. I, like Graham, prided myself on style.
I left my apartment that morning, careful to lock the door behind me as I pulled the spare key out of the keyhole. If not for the spare key in my hand, I was reminded of Joey as I passed rather quickly by his doorway. I left the building, hopped into my jeep, throwing my workbag on the passenger seat beside me. I traveled the same route every morning and could literally do it with my eyes closed.
That was a good thing because my thoughts quickly skipped around to what happened over the weekend. As I made my way through street light after street light, I remembered that Travis and Chase would be working today as well. I shuttered at the multitude of possibilities those confrontations might look like. I just wanted to go to work and return to normalcy. I wanted to do normal everyday PG-rated things β of that, I was certain.
I pulled into my company's parking lot, entered the building, and made my way to my office. Holly was there already and greeted me with a warm hello. Holly was our administrative assistant. She was a Godsend. She was positioned in the lobby waiting room and there were three other offices in our little HR corner. One was mine, one was Kristie's, and one was Ambers. Holly handed me a coffee and asked if I needed anything before she made her rounds.
After telling her that I was fine and to have fun, I led myself back to my office and plopped down on my black leather office chair. It was nice to be at work. It was nice to bury my thoughts in something other than my mess of a personal life. Thankfully there was plenty of work to keep me occupied.
I worked for the next couple of hours when I got a text message. It was Chase. I immediately knew why he was texting. We met every day at 10:30am sharp on his break out back. He would typically smoke and I would snack on something or just shoot the shit with him. We had done this every day, without fail, barring some illness or vacation one of us was on.
"Where the fuck are you, homie? You ignoring me or some shit?" his text read.
The simple truth was β yeah, yeah I was ignoring him. What the fuck would we talk about? I was not ready to have those conversations. He no doubt would crack some joke at my expense and I mean, rightfully so. I mean, at least in some aspects, I had changed our dynamic. We were equals. We were bros. Now... now I don't know what we were. He now knew that I jerked off to him. He now knew what my ass looked like, and tasted like, and felt like. We now had secrets we were keeping from our partners, our friends. He fucking double-dicked me for Christ's sake! Yeah...I was avoiding him.
I slammed the phone down physically and mentally refusing to answer his text. I tried to continue working but my thoughts would return again and again to Chase. I just wanted to be his friend again β back to the way things were. But, I couldn't get that face out of my head. Chase's intense fuck face. That fuckable face.
My crotch started to tent as I remembered my friend's innate sexuality and how awesome it was to see that side of him. To see that directed at me. I rubbed myself through my pants and noticed a wet spot where precum was starting to come through. I was interrupted by an employee and returned my thoughts and my hands back to work, as I positioned my lap under the desk.
I continued to work until 12:00 rolled around. Lunch time! I needed to get out before Chase caught up with me. I went the roundabout way down the hallway in an effort to not bump into him. I went down a not so familiar hall and turned the corner when there he was walking down the hallway. It was Travis and he was headed in my direction. The sunlight doming in from the windows behind him made the scene that much more daunting as if he were a rockstar with a light show dancing behind him.
I literally froze in that spot as he continued his pace. Fuck, even in a maintenance uniform he was sexy and virile. His muscles popped out of his short sleeve shirt. His toolbelt wore loosely across his thick waist as he strutted down the hallway like he owned the place. I just stood there, still, unsure of what to do. He was feet away from me now but he wasn't making eye contact. He acted as if I wasn't there or he didn't know me. I opened my mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. Within seconds he was gone and all that was left was the smell of man and detergent. I breathed him in as I collected myself and headed for the exit.
I grabbed some Taco Bell and sat in my jeep as I ate a Gordita and listened to the radio. I wondered if Travis would ever talk to me again. Not that he really ever did before. I wondered if Chase and I would get back to our groove. We'd have to or Graham and Annie would suspect something was up. I wondered if Graham made it okay. I wondered where my keys were and where that shoe went and what if Annie found my panties?
My phone rang interrupting my thought process when I looked down thinking that it was certainly Graham who had called me. My smile quickly turned when I saw that it was Joey on the other end of the line. Fuck. What the fuck did he want? What was he up to? I let the phone ring until it didn't. I checked my phone multiple times later to see if he would call or if he would leave a message but he didn't. Phew. I dodged a bullet there.
I went back to work and finished what turned out to be a fairly productive day. I was excited at the prospect of locking myself into my house, vegging out, and binge watching some crappy show until it was time to go to bed. I picked up some takeout Italian after stopping at the hardware store to have a key made. Chase called me, but I again chose to ignore him. He also did not leave a message.
I got home, made my way up to my doorway and let myself in, checking that my new key worked in the process. I heard the television as I walked down the hallway, trying to recall if I had left it on. I made my way into the living area and dropped my bags at the sight in front of me.
"Honey, I'm home," Joey said as he redirected his gaze from the television to my linguini that was now splattered on the floor.