Interlude
The shift is nearly over by the time I arrive at the lab. I had ignored Nick who had driven besides me and told be to cut the crap and get back into the Tahoe. No fucking way, man! I don't have to let him diss me, right? He gave up after a mile or so, unnerved by the cars driving by and blowing their horns for he was a damned obstacle.
I walked off some of the steam and finally decided to find a way to get back.
After a while I managed to catch a cab that brought me to the lab.. Charged me twenty bucks. Christ, what do they fuel their cars with? Liquid gold?
I close my eyes, take a deep breath and brace myself for whatever awaits me. Cath is probably extremely pissed. I hear loud sounds from the break room and head there after realizing the rest of the lab is dead empty.
"Holy fucking cow, look at this!" that's Greggo. He sounds like he's freaked out a bit. His exclamation in followed by sounds of disgust and disbelief.
"hah-hah! Now, THIS makes you jealous, Greg, doesn't it? Christ, how's that suppose!" it's Sara and it sounds like the two of them are having a great time. I stick my head through the doorframe.
"Havin' fun there?" I say.
They whirl around as if I have caught them with making out or some such. Greg turns beet-red. Now that's a new one. I can't seem to remember when Greg had ever blushed before. Sara looks extremely guilty. What is this about? I approach the table and spot a magazine. Some hardcore S&M… Greg and Sara would love to evaporate!
"This is evidence! What are ya thinkin'?" I recognize the mag. "Are the prints being taken?" I can see the powder all across the glossy paper yet I need to nag about it.
"Of course. Nick took them all and then he went searching the internet for all those weird abbreviations." Sara explains.
Great. I would have wanted to explain to Nick what they meant, that I hardly did such things but the way it was, after our clash in the car I'm not in the mood. I check my watch: twenty more minutes. Suddenly my cellular rings. I check the display and my heart skips definitely more than one beat.
"Hi there!" I answer the call and turn my back on my co-workers, hastily leaving the room in search of some privacy.
"Warrick!" Ah, Gil's voice! At once I both relax and tense up: I have to take care not to say anything that might betray who is on the phone right now. "How are you?"
"Doing fine." Not necessary to tell him 'bout the clash with Nick. "Missing you. When do you come back?"
Gil laughs softly "Ricky, I only left last night."
"Yeah, I know. But I haven't SEEN you in 24 hours..." holy fucking shit, I behave like a crazy teen! Is this Warrick Brown, the man who's never been owned by anybody? Yes, Sir, that's me. Madly in love with the Bug-Man.
"Then you've already survived one third, Rick. Only two more nights."
I can only groan with frustration.
"Is Cath around?" he asks. Of course, the job. He's married to it, I'm the affair he has secretly.
"Yeah, doing all the paperwork."
"I'll call her now, hear how things are going. I'll call you tomorrow. I miss you, Ricky." It's his way to tell me he loves me. I know that. He is hardly ever saying it at all, I have to read between the lines most of the time. Sometimes I think it's as if Gil is afraid those three little words, that short sentence 'I love you' fades out a bit every time it is being said. That one day it is completely gone and he wants to delay that moment as long as he can. Maybe one day I can make him see that it can grow, at least stay as fresh, good and strong as it was on the first day. That its color is completely resistant to anything that threatens to let it fade. He deserves that much. Deserves to be rid of that fear.
"Alright. 'Til tomorrow then." The lines goes dead. Tomorrow? My ass! I'm not going to wait that long! The urge to leave the lab is suddenly even stronger. I want to avoid Nick who is just about to learn what CBT means aside from 'computer-based-training', I want to avoid my co-workers being pleasantly grossed-out from reading a kink magazine and I oh-so-urgently want to go home, call Gil and hear his voice.
So I excuse myself early, telling them I don't feel too well – which is not a complete lie after what Nick and I had said. We seem to have ruined a damn-good friendship with a few unreflected words. Shit.
The shift is nearly over by the time I arrive at the lab. I had ignored Nick who had driven besides me and told be to cut the crap and get back into the Tahoe. No fucking way, man! I don't have to let him diss me, right? He gave up after a mile or so, unnerved by the cars driving by and blowing their horns for he was a damned obstacle.
I walked off some of the steam and finally decided to find a way to get back.
After a while I managed to catch a cab that brought me to the lab.. Charged me twenty bucks. Christ, what do they fuel their cars with? Liquid gold?
I close my eyes, take a deep breath and brace myself for whatever awaits me. Cath is probably extremely pissed. I hear loud sounds from the break room and head there after realizing the rest of the lab is dead empty.
"Holy fucking cow, look at this!" that's Greggo. He sounds like he's freaked out a bit. His exclamation in followed by sounds of disgust and disbelief.
"hah-hah! Now, THIS makes you jealous, Greg, doesn't it? Christ, how's that suppose!" it's Sara and it sounds like the two of them are having a great time. I stick my head through the doorframe.
"Havin' fun there?" I say.
They whirl around as if I have caught them with making out or some such. Greg turns beet-red. Now that's a new one. I can't seem to remember when Greg had ever blushed before. Sara looks extremely guilty. What is this about? I approach the table and spot a magazine. Some hardcore S&M… Greg and Sara would love to evaporate!
"This is evidence! What are ya thinkin'?" I recognize the mag. "Are the prints being taken?" I can see the powder all across the glossy paper yet I need to nag about it.
"Of course. Nick took them all and then he went searching the internet for all those weird abbreviations." Sara explains.
Great. I would have wanted to explain to Nick what they meant, that I hardly did such things but the way it was, after our clash in the car I'm not in the mood. I check my watch: twenty more minutes. Suddenly my cellular rings. I check the display and my heart skips definitely more than one beat.
"Hi there!" I answer the call and turn my back on my co-workers, hastily leaving the room in search of some privacy.
"Warrick!" Ah, Gil's voice! At once I both relax and tense up: I have to take care not to say anything that might betray who is on the phone right now. "How are you?"
"Doing fine." Not necessary to tell him 'bout the clash with Nick. "Missing you. When do you come back?"
Gil laughs softly "Ricky, I only left last night."
"Yeah, I know. But I haven't SEEN you in 24 hours..." holy fucking shit, I behave like a crazy teen! Is this Warrick Brown, the man who's never been owned by anybody? Yes, Sir, that's me. Madly in love with the Bug-Man.
"Then you've already survived one third, Rick. Only two more nights."
I can only groan with frustration.
"Is Cath around?" he asks. Of course, the job. He's married to it, I'm the affair he has secretly.
"Yeah, doing all the paperwork."
"I'll call her now, hear how things are going. I'll call you tomorrow. I miss you, Ricky." It's his way to tell me he loves me. I know that. He is hardly ever saying it at all, I have to read between the lines most of the time. Sometimes I think it's as if Gil is afraid those three little words, that short sentence 'I love you' fades out a bit every time it is being said. That one day it is completely gone and he wants to delay that moment as long as he can. Maybe one day I can make him see that it can grow, at least stay as fresh, good and strong as it was on the first day. That its color is completely resistant to anything that threatens to let it fade. He deserves that much. Deserves to be rid of that fear.
"Alright. 'Til tomorrow then." The lines goes dead. Tomorrow? My ass! I'm not going to wait that long! The urge to leave the lab is suddenly even stronger. I want to avoid Nick who is just about to learn what CBT means aside from 'computer-based-training', I want to avoid my co-workers being pleasantly grossed-out from reading a kink magazine and I oh-so-urgently want to go home, call Gil and hear his voice.
So I excuse myself early, telling them I don't feel too well – which is not a complete lie after what Nick and I had said. We seem to have ruined a damn-good friendship with a few unreflected words. Shit.