Page 35 of So Worth More
My heart sank, worried at Alex’s response to Joe casually putting us all together. Not to mention that it was far too soon for me to see Helena. Alex though, just chuckled.
“You forgot Andy, little dude.” He said grinning at me.
“Who’s Andy, Daddy?” The poor kid looked confused.
“Uncle Will’s boyfriend, buddy.”
Joe just shrugged, “Okay, a chair for Uncle Andy too then. Can I sleep here soon?” He asked to leave the table before we could respond, desperate to make another drawing before he had to go home. I stopped him as he passed to give him a quick hug and to drop a kiss on his head.
My eyes burned at how casually Joe added Andy into his family circle and Alex squeezed my shoulder as he got up to start on the dishes. Seeing that I needed to get myself together, he put on some music and sang tunelessly as he washed up.
As I sat processing the last couple of days my phone buzzed in my pocket. I’d tried to ignore it all night, but I’d been constantly aware of it.
One line of text showed when I lit the screen up.
Andy: Yes to dinner. Last chance.
There was no stopping the tear that slipped free. Alex must’ve heard some sort of noise escape me as he turned, and seeing my face, immediately got the wrong impression.
“Oh, Will,” he started to say.
“I’ve got one last chance.”
Twenty Eight - Andy
After a strange day, it was almost a relief to go home to the emptiness and silence of my apartment.
Thanks to Clara, I hadn’t had to answer many questions about my non-date date at the gala. I couldn’t figure out if that was a relief or not since there’d been no reaction from Will.
Let’s face it, the only reason I’d gone through with it was to get some attention from the man, but still…nothing. Frustrated and hurt, I was tempted to go do something stupid. Like sign up for online dating, or go to a bar. I’d likely just buy myself a new toy online. Something I’d been eyeing for a while, like the tentacle dildo I’d never removed from my basket.
Getting home soaked and freezing from the downpour outside was the topping on the shit sundae of my day. I’d stomped off to the shower, complaining the whole time about my car refusing to start and having to leave it at work. I’d left work too late to deal with it today, and the office had been empty by the time I’d gotten out of my last video conference so no one could give me a ride home. The cleaners had neatly piled all my things on my desk which had been the only nice thing to happen.
Tired, grumpy and just plain lonely, I ordered some food even though I wasn’t in the slightest bit hungry.
The door buzzed not long after. Confused as it was too soon to be my food, I opened the door to my neighbor from 5A. He was a young guy, a student at the university, and our paths had crossed a few times with mail being mixed up. Thankfully, he’d never gotten any of my packages.
Taylor was holding a large bouquet of sunflowers and pale roses and held them out to me.
“I was asked to give these to you,” he said, passing over the flowers into my arms, “oh, and this too.” He added a card in a cream envelope and placed it on top of the stems.
Not giving me a chance to question him, he turned and left me standing in the doorway holding them awkwardly.
Closing the door, I went to the kitchen so I could put the flowers in water. There was only one person that had ever bought me flowers and butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I thought about what the card would say.
You wouldn’t send anyone flowers if you were unhappy with them, would you? Not a person’s favorite flowers, like these. I adored sunflowers. I’d no idea where he got them since they weren’t in season in December.
Carefully placing the flowers in the vase that the last flowers had come in, I turned to the card. Slowly taking it out of the envelope, I examined the heart on the front. Hearts were a good sign, weren’t they?
I think I read that message three times before it really sank in.
Andy,
I wanted to write to you because sometimes I’m not the best with words. It’s difficult to know the right thing to say. Usually when I’m around you, I don’t have that problem. With you I know I can say anything and you won’t judge me for it because you know what I really mean to say.
I hurt you and I’m sorry.
When I asked for a bit of time to get myself together, I don’t think either of us expected it to take this long. You were incredibly patient and I took advantage of that. It was too easy for me to push away all the things I needed to do in order to be the man that I need to be, for you. At some point, I think I stopped really trying, fearing that it was too much to deal with.
