"You're not working."
Sam looked up from his crossword puzzle and looked over at Gwen, who didn't take her eyes off her screen.
"I'm working. The computer is just pretty slow today."
The computer wasn't the only thing that was slow today. The entire night felt like it dragged on forever. Judging by the clock, Sam had only been at work for twenty minutes, but to him, it felt like hours. Maybe it was also because Alice was sick today and Sam really had to concentrate 100 percent on work, which was difficult because the computer took forever to load a single case. It's a good thing he at least had a newspaper from last week lying around.
"Then get Colin."
"He's not there."
Gwen looked up from her computer and turned to Sam. "What do you mean 'he's not there'?"
"I mean that Colin isn't there! I've tried looking for him, but he's nowhere to be found," Sam sighed. "I tried to ask Lena if she knew where he was, but she just chased me out of her office because she had an important phone call."
Gwen shook her head. "He has to show up at some point. We would know if he was sick too."
"I hope so..."
A few seconds passed. The clicking of a keyboard and the crying sound of computers that should have died two decades ago filled the room.
"What about Alice?"
Sam looked up from his crossword puzzle again. "Alice?"
"She's not here either."
"She caught a cold after dancing barefoot in the rain."
Gwen huffed. "How childish one must be..."
"You can allow yourself a little fun every now and then!"
"Did you dance in the rain too?"
"No." Sam hesitated. "I held her shoes and purse so they didn't get wet..."
"Shitty car! Shit weather! Shit night work!"
Gwen and Sam both looked at the door where a dripping wet Colin stormed through and slammed the door violently behind him.
"What happened to you?" Gwen asked with actual concern.
"What happened to me? My fucking car had the bright idea of giving up in the middle of the road while it's pissing like the second flood was coming!"
Colin brushed away the wet strands of hair that were stuck to his face.
"Had to wait for the tow truck and then walk here because for some reason all the taxis in this goddamn city are occupied!"
Colin stomped towards the locker room and his two colleagues could do nothing but look after him worriedly. Only when the two heard the door slam did they dare to move.
Sam jumped up and tried to run after the Scotsman, but Gwen stopped him.
"Where are you going?"
"Help him! What else?"
"And the work?"
Sam pointed to the email on his computer that had been loading for fifteen minutes.
"This thing takes a decade to display a simple email. The quicker I help Colin, the quicker he can take care of this problem!"
Gwen sighed in defeat. "Fine!"
The men's locker room wasn't particularly big and only had five simple lockers, a bench, a shower and a toilet with a sink. Privacy was only available in the shower stalls, so Sam was immediately confronted with a half-naked Colin as soon as he opened the door.
He immediately felt the blood rush to his face and he turned to his locker and fumbled with his lock until he got it open.
He took out a large towel and a hairdryer that he had gotten from Alice.
Sam looked over at Colin, who had managed to get out of his wet jeans and was now just standing there in his underwear. The sight wasn't good for Sam's heart, which had been racing ever since he entered the locker room. It was bad enough that Colin was standing in front of him almost naked, but the rainwater flowing from his hair down his strong body was bordering on torture.
Sam was so busy trying to calm his own heart that he didn't even notice Colin watching him from the corner of his eye.
Eventually, Sam had managed to muster what little courage he had and stepped closer to his colleague and offered him the towel.
"Thank you," Colin said as he accepted the towel. His eyes remained focused on Sam, who was staring intently at a tile behind Colin.
The IT specialist began to rub his body dry, but noticed that he had difficulty keeping his arms up for long as he tried to dry his hair. Probably a sore muscle after installing the new washing machine this morning. That could be a problem.
"Sam?"
Sam looked at him like a deer in headlights. "Hm?"
"Can you help me?" Colin pointed to the hairdryer he was still holding. "I don't have the energy to raise my arms above my shoulders right now."
It took Sam a moment to process Colin's request, but once he arrived he nodded quickly. "Yes! Yes, that's no problem!"
While Sam looked for a power outlet, Colin pulled the bench closer to him and sat on it so that Sam could get better access to his hair.
As soon as Sam turned on the hairdryer and stepped behind Colin, he noticed how long the Scot's hair was. Normally they were tied into a ponytail to keep them out of his way while he worked, but now they lay open and wet on Colin's shoulders.
Dark brown with a few gray streaks, probably caused by stress.
Sam hesitated before running his free hand through his colleague's hair so that the lower rows were also hit by the hot air from the hairdryer.
The first few times he was very cautious and anxious, but the more he ran his fingers through his hair, the more confident his movements became.
Sam began to gently scratch Colin's scalp with his nails, eliciting a low hum from him. Sam repeated this until the humming became a deep growl.
He gently tugged on his hair to get Colin to turn his head and he did so obediently.
Sam looked at Colin's face to see if he was uncomfortable or if he was being too rough, but what he saw instead surprised him more. Colin had his eyes closed and his face was completely relaxed. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, but Sam convinced himself it was just his imagination.
"Was muss ich tun, damit du dies jeden Tag tust?"
Again with the German. Sam was sure he did this on purpose because he knew Sam couldn't understand him. But what exactly did he say?
Sam pulled Colin's hair one last time - this time a little harder than he wanted - and the Scot tilted his head back. To Sam's surprise, he opened his eyes and looked at him. This was the first time Sam was close enough to see Colin's eye color clearly.
Stormy gray.
They were beautiful. So hypnotic. He could look into them forever.
Sam caught himself before he lost himself and turned off the hairdryer. "I'm done."
Colin made a frustrated sound before standing back up. "Thank you, Samama."
Hearing Colin use his full first name brought back that tingling feeling down his spine and Sam hurriedly ran back to his locker to put the hairdryer back in.
He left Colin alone in the locker room so he could get dressed in peace. Sam hoped Gwen wouldn't notice how red his face was.
Translation: "Was muss ich tun, damit du dies jeden Tag tust?" = "What do I have to do to get you to do this every day?" Since there is not much to translate, have a list of berries in German: Erdbeere = Strawberry Himbeere = Raspberry Heidelbeere/Blaubeere = Bluebeery Schwarze Johannisbeere = Black Currant (my favorite Fanta flavour) Stachelbeere = gooseberry Hagebutte = Rose Hip (my favorite donut filling) Brombeere = Blackberry