Kurt was still snickering to himself at his high school nemesis' misfortune as he walked into the Vogue offices that morning.
"Kurt! My office please." Isabelle called out from her office door the moment he stepped through the elevator. Kurt sighed; already figuring what this may be about but too indebted to Isabelle to ignore the request. He continued to remind himself that she gave him a full time position right after he graduated from NYADA and still allowed him a flexible enough schedule to go for auditions, although he hadn't been going too many lately, falling more in love with his role as a shoot designer and columnist for the website.
"You rang?" Kurt drawled as he entered Isabelle's office and slid her glass door shut behind him.
"You know what I'm going to say don't you?" Isabelle said without even looking up from her desk, her voice already sounding like a scolding mother.
"He doesn't even know I'm watching him! I don't see the harm!" Kurt burst out, exasperated.
"I'm very sure he wouldn't think of it that way."
"And I am very sure that if given the opportunity he would do the same to me, only he would film it and put it all over the internet!"
Isabelle looked up from her desk then, eyeing him over her glasses with an unimpressed glance before going back to her paperwork, coaxing, "I understand he was quite the ass in high school but you realize it has been 8 years since you two were in high school? Have you ever thought that maybe he just needs a friend in the big city?"
"I'm very sure he has tons of friends." Kurt muttered.
Isabelle merely glanced at him disapprovingly before gently continuing, "It may be almost a decade ago now, but once upon a time there was a fresh faced boy in this office that was new to the city and I gave him a chance, why don't you give Stephen the same opportunity?"
"Sebastian." Kurt instantly corrected before adding, "and because… well…" his sentence lingered off as he tried to think of a justified reason for finding so much joy in Sebastian's daily struggles, coming up blank other than the already dismissed high school drama, that he really wasn't upset over anymore. Isabelle was right, it had been a long time since high school and he wasn't one to hold a silly grudge that long. But still. It was Sebastian Smythe.
Isabelle smirked and Kurt knew he had lost the argument for today as she handed him some papers and sent him off to his own office.
By mid-afternoon Kurt was still battling with what Isabelle had said and in order to distract himself had opened up Facebook while formatting pages for the website for tomorrow's meeting.
He was working on a Christmas spread when his computer dinged with an incoming Facebook chat.
Blaine: Hey, aren't you at work?
Kurt: I'm multi-tasking.
Blaine: Lol, suuure. So, how are you?
Kurt: Haha, seriously I AM. I'm good, I guess. How are you?
Blaine: Okay. I miss snow. It still feels like summer out here.
Kurt: Well that's California for you. How's Cooper?
Blaine: Himself? Lol. As annoying as always. I'm hoping to get my own place out here soon, we're doing a lot better but he's still… a lot.
Kurt: Haha, well good to know he hasn't changed. That's awesome though, I hope you find somewhere nice but all of those are here in NY so… :D
Blaine: That's just mean. LA has plenty of nice places thank you. :P So… anything new?
Kurt sighed, watching the cursor blinking at him from the chat box. He knew what that question meant, Blaine asked it every time they talked almost. "Anything new?" was really Blaine's way of asking if there was anyone new in his life. Part of Kurt wanted to lie, to tell his ex-fiancée that there was a line of men outside his door begging to spend the evening with him, plying him with chocolate and lavish gifts just to get his eye to glance their way. Well maybe not that dramatic but still, something. But the truth was that there had been a few dates, set-up's from friends or guys he met when he actually went to a club on the weekend that had all turned out to be flops pretty quickly after the initial meeting. And yet, neither the lie nor the truth was something Kurt really wanted to share with Blaine. They were still working through being friends again and eventually they would have to get used to the other being with someone else that way but until then…
Kurt: Nothing to write home about I guess. You?
Blaine: Actually… I met someone.
Kurt released a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He had been waiting for this moment, every time Blaine asked; Kurt thought he was only asking so he could tell Kurt he himself had someone new in his life, almost like he needed to check with Kurt to know it was okay.
Kurt: That's great! Did you find yourself a beach boy?
Blaine: Lol. Almost! He is blonde. And a CA native. But he doesn't actually surf. Not many people do actually – not as many as the movies will have you believe anyway.
Kurt: What!? This cannot be true! I had every intention of coming down to visit you and spending the whole time fighting of beach boys covered in tanning oil and making none-too-subtle jokes about how much I like their boards. D:
Blaine: OMG KURT! :hides raging blush: not cool! I am in CLASS!
Kurt: Hahahahahahahaha. That is fantastic! #sorrynotsorry! :D Well, I've gotta make a coffee run or I may die, but we need to Skype soon so you can tell me all about your not-a-surfer boy! :)
Blaine: Definitely! I'll let you know when I find some free time when Cooper isn't home or else you know he'll just try to steal the entire conversation.
Kurt: Oh that's okay. I never really mind. ;)
Blaine: …… really? REALLY?
Kurt: Sorry, I couldn't resist. Let me know when you have a Cooper free moment and we can chat. :) Ttyl.
Blaine: Will do. Ttyl.
Once again left alone with his thoughts, now with Blaine's news also taking up residence in his mind, Kurt tried to focus on work but found himself simply too anxious. So, leaving the webpage layouts still half completed, he headed downstairs and to the coffee shop across the street, already feeling some of the tension leave him at the notion of a caffeine fix. He was reading a quick email from Tina while waiting in line when he heard a familiar voice ahead of him in the queue.
"One Grande, quad, nonfat, one-pump, no-whip, mocha and a – " he cuts off for a second to speak to the man next to him, presumably, Kurt assumes to find out his order, and then continues with, "Triple, venti, soy, no foam latte. Thank you."
Sebastian's voice was just as Kurt remembered it in high school, cocky and self-assured, but it had an almost staged quality to it that made Kur look up from his phone and look at the man he secretly watched every morning in his morning fiascos as Sebastian and his date? moved towards the pick-up station.
Kurt couldn't help but notice how different Sebastian seemed now compared to this morning. He was no longer the flailing, late, new-to-the-city, comically unlucky guy Kurt watched from his window; somehow – even with his collar still stained with coffee – he had transformed into everything Kurt had hated (and if he's being honest with himself was a little bit envious of) nearly a decade ago – smarmy, cocky, commanding and oozing with charm.
Kurt was so busy watching the other man and his maybe just a friend? as they took their drinks and sat down at one of the little square tables occupying the space and started looking over some papers Sebastian had pulled from the briefcase he always carried that it wasn't until he heard the barista call out a questioning, "Sir?" that he quickly moved ahead and gave his order quietly, hoping Sebastian wouldn't see him as he moved towards the pick-up station without trying to draw too much attention – a hard thing to do given he was wearing purple pants.
However Sebastian and what must be his coworker seemed consumed in the small mountain of paperwork now littering the tabletop and Kurt quickly got his drink and practically ran from the shop, not stopping until he was back in the safety of his office, dodging Isabelle's confused facial expression as he threw himself back into work, his newly acquired cup of coffee quickly forgotten.