Tyler was waiting again. Waiting for a chance, an opportunity, something to swing his way. Tyler was always waiting for something, whether it be a promotion for his under appreciated work, or for someone to miraculously fall in love at the mere sight of him. However, this morning Tyler was waiting for coffee.
His daily cup was a necessity for him to function throughout the day without a complete meltdown. Tyler had been living in his apartment in Los Santos for two years but still hadn't bought his own coffee machine. So every morning when he had to go into the office, he would go down to the Starbucks on the corner of his block, wait in line for five minutes to order, wait in another line for ten minutes to receive his cup, then leave for work. It was a bore sometimes, but it was time for Tyler to stand back and reflect.
He was stuck in a job he hated, he was a legal word processor for a law firm that didn't acknowledge him unless they had to. He went home to a cold bed, not even any casual flings, and he never got out enough to meet new people. Tyler tried not to stress, but he was twenty six and the last relationship he was in was when he was nineteen and it ended in tears. The girl he was with was unaware that to Tyler she was a coverup for his sexuality.
Growing up, Tyler always knew he was different, he never understood why his friends were girl crazy, or why they would be so persistent with dating them when Tyler just preferred his own company. It took until he was sixteen to realise he was gay, and he didn't have a problem with that. The problem was his parents. They weren't homophobic, as such, they were just adamant that Tyler should have a girlfriend, settle down and have grandchildren. That's who Alissa was for Tyler, she was someone to bring home for the holidays, but he never experienced any real connection outside platonic to her. She was madly in love with him, and failed to see that he wasn't straight. Once she found out he was gay, she cried, packed her bags and Tyler never saw her again.
The best thing in Tyler's life at the moment was the Vanoss project. He was able to concentrate on doing something that he enjoyed, helping people. He was able to help recover beloved stolen goods of innocent citizens, prevent murders and assaults, and make friends along the way. He met Brock and David through Evan, and he met Evan when he was interviewing Tyler on a national criminal case. The two hit it off, had Brock and David develop the technology needed for the missions, and put Vanoss' name and face on every front page in Los Santos. The new token superhero.
"Tyler," a bored voice called. Tyler walked up to the counter to receive his coffee, handed to him by a teenage girl who looked like she had better things to do with her time than serve men in fancy suits. Tyler gave a quick nod of thanks and took a testing sip of his coffee. Perfect, as always.
As Tyler turned around to exit the store, a chest collided with his own, and hot coffee was spilt all down the front of his white dress shirt. Tyler's own coffee was safely held in his hand, which he quickly put down on a nearby counter, so it was the other man's coffee that was now slopped down his front. It didn't hurt too much, but now he would be late to work.
"Shit! Man, I am so sorry, I didn't see you there!" A voice pleaded from in front of him. Tyler looked up from his shirt to find pleading green eyes gazing back at his own. The man reached around Tyler to grab some napkins and started blotting at the coffee. Knowing that it was entirely useless, Tyler grabbed the man's wrist and pulled it away from his chest.
"It's fine, um-,"
"Craig. Craig Thompson."
"-Craig, it's not your fault, it was just an accident," Tyler reassured, the shorter man looked like he was stressing himself silly over the ordeal.
"Surely I can repay you somehow? I can pay for the dry cleaning for your suit," Craig offered, the pleading tone still evident in his voice. Tyler shook his head.
"No, I'm alright," Tyler mumbled, not knowing what else to say. He wasn't going to get this random, albeit attractive, stranger to pay for an accident.
"At least let me give you my number, just incase you change your mind and decide to let me be decent and pay for the damage I caused," Craig argued, pulling out his phone.
"Alright, fine," Tyler succumbed. He pulled out his own phone and Craig punched his number into his contacts.
"I didn't catch your name, what was it?" Craig asked, looking back up to Tyler.
"Tyler Wilde," Tyler answered, locking eyes with Craig. He smelt like pine and vanilla, Tyler always liked the smell of pine.
"Well Tyler, I'll expect a call from you, won't I? Maybe we can discuss where you are going dressed up so fancy?" Craig dragged his eyes up and down Tyler's form and threw a wink at him before turning on his heels and walking away. Tyler stood there shell shocked for a moment before grabbing his own coffee and bursting out of the shop. He power walked back to his car and drove back to his apartment to change his shirt.
Before he left again for work, he grabbed his phone and called Evan who picked up after three short rings.
"The fuck do you want?" Evan asked groggily.
"Evan, I met someone! Can you believe that? Me!" Tyler shot back, barely containing his excitement.
"Well, congrats buddy, it's been long enough since the last time that's happened," Evan retorted.
"Shut up! He's really cute and he smells like pine, you know how much I love the smell of pine," Tyler replied.
"Ok Tyler, let's talk more about this the next time we meet for an outing, because I just woke up and need to get ready for work," Evan said.
"Alright, talk to you soon Evan," Tyler said and hung up. He jumped back in his car and didn't stall getting to work, a strange new energy flooded his veins.
Tyler left his cup of coffee sitting on the counter, for the first time in years he felt he didn't need it.
Hi everyone, I know this is just a filler chapter, but I want to put a bit of Minicat in this story so that's why this chapter is focused on Tyler and not Evan. I promise development in H2OVanoss in the next chapter though, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Thanks!