It wasn't the end. It was never the end. No matter how much he tried not to, or how angry he got with himself for doing it, he always found himself Duo-watching. Indeed, in the months since the man started the number of avid Duo-watchers left in the building had filtered down to one. Wufei Chang. Some like Hilde got to know him and became his friend; others just lost interest or found other interests. He was the only one left with this embarrassing obsession. No matter how many times he told himself he wouldn't do it again, every coffee and lunch break found him in a quiet spot where he could watch his desire unnoticed.

For the most part it was unnoticed too. Only Sally, and later on Hilde (thanks to a careless comment by Sally) knew he was infatuated. He'd never even told his closest friends. The whole thing was just too humiliating. The part that made it really difficult was that Wufei wasn't entirely sure the guy was straight. The man gave off mixed signals.  Wufei could have gotten over Duo if he knew he was a womanizer or happily married, but the man kept his private life just that… private. It was a full six months after Duo started that Wufei ever spoke to him.

~~~

He pushed the elevator button for the ground floor. He normally took the stairs, but he was tired. He'd had to work late and there was the mother of all headaches threatening to split his skull open.  Leaning against the back wall of the elevator car he tilted his head back and closed his eyes trying to will the discomfort away. He wanted to go home and rest, but he had his laptop with him and he had more work to look forward to at home.

Just as the doors were closing they opened again. Curious, Wufei opened his eyes to see who'd gotten on with him. Staring directly at him was the blue eyes he'd been fantasizing about for last half a year. A swarm of butterflies started doing acrobatics in his belly. The flip-flopping of his stomach managed to distract him from the pain in his head. For some reason that struck him as funny and he felt himself give a weak smile.

"Going down?" the man asked a little out of breath. He must have ran to catch the elevator. Poor Wufei was hard pressed to hide the shivers that went down his spine. It was all he could do to nod an affirmative. Trapped in a small box with that body sent his system into overload. He was a little ashamed to notice how low his mind sunk when it supplied a totally different meaning to the words going down. He tried to be thankful when Duo broke eye contact and stepped in to stand beside him, but the man's close proximity had just as much effect on him. Duo was wearing a black shirt with the top three buttons undone. That small glimpse of skin made Wufei want to bury his face into the other man's neck.

"Working late?" the braided man asked. Yes, this is good Wufei thought. Give him something better to think about than hitting the stop button and locking himself in the car so he could have his way with the man next to him.

"Yes. Unfortunately I still have more to take home with me." He answered hoping it didn't come across as whiny.

"Well make sure you put in for overtime. You never know, you may get lucky and get some." He smiled.

Wufei's smile turned a little bitter at that. Clearly Duo was unaware of whom he was speaking to and that overtime requests went to him for approval. All that time lusting after the man and the object of his lust didn't even know he existed. Well it wasn't like he went out of his way to introduce himself. If he were honest with himself, he'd actually gone out of his way to make Duo not notice him.

You may get lucky and get some why did everything out of the guy's mouth have a potential x-rated meaning? Wufei was relived when the doors opened and let them both out. His mind was so deep in the gutter right now he was afraid he was going to do something stupid. Just as they were parting ways, Duo said something and Wufei didn't catch it.

"I'm sorry what was that?"

"I said good night." Duo was giving him an almost shy timid smile. The guy almost seemed insecure which was absurd. In all the months of Duo-watching the man was always confident and vivacious. Perhaps I made him uncomfortable. Wufei knew he wasn't renowned for his people skills. In an effort to reassure Duo he smiled at him and tried to put as much of his attraction to Duo as he dared into it. He hoped that the other man would understand that he enjoyed his brief company.

"Thank you and good night to you as well."

He didn't get any work done that night, and his dreams were even more plagued with blue eyes, a husky tenor, and a long braid than before.

~*Duo*~

He was running late meeting Heero and Quatre for a couple of beers. Jogging through the parking lot he went to grab his keys only to find they weren't there. Doubling back he grabbed his keys from his workspace and sprinted to the stairs. Ah ha! The elevator doors were open. He ran up and pushed the down button stopping the doors from closing all the way. As they parted Duo almost swallowed his tongue. They opened to reveal one very delicious looking Asian man that looked like he could have walked right out of one Duo's best fantasies.

His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back resting against the wood paneled wall behind him. The occupant of the car opened his dark eyes and regarded him with a small smile playing on his lips. The whole image could very easily be transferred to how the man would look in bed after really good sex.

"Going down?" Ungh! Now why the hell did he say that? He was horrified to realize it sounded too much like 'Do you like guys who…' Judging by the man's expression, he'd heard it too. Duo quickly stepped in to the car and beside the other man. Now that he wasn't looking directly at him, he picked up other things like the spicy/citrus scent of his cologne. He struggled to think of something more intelligent to say. "Working late?" Not the most intelligent thing but still better than going down.

"Yes. Unfortunately I still have more to take home with me." The braided man had to fight the urge to groan. He even found the man's voice sexy. That much appeal in one person should be illegal.

"Well make sure you put in for overtime. You never know, you may get lucky and get some." Arrgh he did it again! Get lucky and get some? Think before you let words escape your mouth! Stealing a glance at the other man Duo was convinced he blown the chance he probably never had to begin with. The Asian's smile had turned a little sad. Oh well he sighed to himself he's probably married with five kids. Still that didn't stop him from trying to salvage the impression he'd made. "Good night." He said almost to himself wondering why he was wasting his time.

"I'm sorry what was that?" his dream guy stopped and was looking him directly in the eye.

"I said good night." Yeah good night pleasant dreams. Seeing as mine will probably be featuring you in several positions you'd never want to be in. He joked to himself. He decided he was going to skip meeting his friends and go home to sulk about how unfair fate was. But instead of a curt 'good night' he got a smile from the man that almost turned Duo into a melted puddle on the floor.

"Thank you and good night to you as well." It wasn't until Duo had walked (it felt more like floating) all the way to his little car that he realized he never got the man's name.

The bar was not exactly a 'gay bar' but it was a popular spot for people who enjoyed alternative lifestyles. It turned out to be a good thing that the patrons here were so open minded, because his friends were sitting in a booth in the far back Quatre was practically sitting in Heero's lap. They had an assortment of appetizers spread out on the table before them and were feeding each other.

"Oh for the love of God you two get a room!" He snapped. Their relationship was still fairly new and they hadn't got past the lovey-dovey cuddling stage. If they didn't outgrow it soon he was going to throw up. Still, his irritation at seeing them cooing at each other couldn't quite wipe the grin off his face.

"Duo! There you are! What kept you?" Quatre responded. It was had to take a reprimand from the blonde seriously while he was groping his boyfriend.

"You know Duo I think I'm going to start telling you to meet us forty five minutes earlier than I actually want. That way you might accidentally be on time." Was Heero's snide remark.

"I forgot my keys at work and had to go back." He paused not sure if he wanted to tell them more or not. "While there I met the sexiest man breathing." They both perked up to that. He knew they would. He just hoped that he wouldn't regret telling them.

"So what's Mr. Wonderful's name?" asked Quatre.

"I have no idea. I was too busy trying not to make an ass of myself I didn't think to ask."  He'd remember to ask next time. And if he had anything to say about it, there would definitely be a next time.