"Hey Paulo! You're looking nice today!"

This was all James had to say to send Paulo's mind into a frenzy. It was the first thing he said to him when he clocked into work that day. Up until then, Paulo had mindlessly droned on with his menial work. Now, he couldn't still his racing mind no matter how hard he tried. It wouldn't have been the first time James had made him feel this way.

The day James joined their Burger-Tron team (or family as his manager Miranda liked to call it), Paulo didn't know what to make of him. He was more outgoing and extroverted than anyone he'd ever met. Even Daisy, who could really start bouncing around when she talked about something she was interested in. He waved enthusiastically to everyone and introduced himself with a big, bright smile.

It was from here that any shift with James meant high energy and excitement. As time went on, Paulo started to notice how he was kind of looking forward to shifts with the excitable fluffy cat. He hid this from himself, though, not wanting to think of the implications of it. James was just a fun guy to be around. Somehow, even if his day was a total dump, James always made it better. As much as Paulo wanted to resist smiling on these days, hearing James's excitement to seeing him brought it on.

"Oh man, I'm working with PAULO tonight?" He said in a sing-songy voice one night when he clocked in. "We'll have SUCH a good close!"

Something stirred inside the somali that night, something he never could have imagined was in him. A slight blush now crept in over his smile, but he quickly tried to wipe it away. For the rest of the night he did his best to keep his distance, but it hurt to do so. Whenever he was feeling down, James cheered him up, yet now he had to stay away from the thing that would make him feel better. James was like a warm sunny afternoon, and Paulo wanted to bask in his glow.

But he would never admit to himself. It was just a feeling he locked away deep inside.

And then something came along and opened that cage of feelings. As a joke, he kissed Abbey on the forehead. His mirth turned to frustration and denial when Mike questioned him on it. The cage was beginning to crack, and Paulo's meager attempts to hold it together with glue and tape failed. He had to let go, and after a conversation with Mike over liking guys, he felt a little more comfortable letting his feelings out.

But this didn't mean he wasn't going to keep them close to his chest.

However he did allow himself to experiment with how he felt with James. Secretly, he let his guise of being a ladie's man down (though make no mistake, he still very much appreciated the feminine figure), and teased the idea of maybe being close with the tan cat. He smiled at him more, stood ever so closer, and thanked him for compliments.

But never before had James complimented about the way Paulo looked. It was like they'd taken a step across a new threshold. Calling him cool and funny was one thing, but it was usually him that was admiring others looks. And now, here he was on the receiving end of it.

And if he was being honest, he liked it.

But Paulo didn't come to this conclusion without a great deal of turmoil. Why was James saying this? Was this as innocuous as all of the other nice things he'd said? Or was there something more behind it? Did James like him that way? Was he hoping James liked him that way? He had grown very comfortable around his coworker over the last several months.

Work didn't feel like the normal monotonous routine with James around. It was like he was getting paid to hang out with him, and the two certainly had chemistry. They could bounce stories and jokes off each other all shift, and Paulo wondered if things would still be the same outside of work. Work inflicted a level of boredom upon them that they teamed up to overcome.

Paulo teetered back and forth like a house built precariously on a crumbling cliff on whether or not he should ask James to hang out outside of work. He would start to ask, but he'd catch his own tongue and back down. Everytime he got cold feet he'd beat himself up, and this whiplash turned his interest in James into a longing, a pining for what might be.

"Yo, Paulo? You alright?" A fluffy hand waved in front of his eyes. "You've been spraying the same tray for the last few minutes."

Paulo blinked, giving himself a few moments to recalibrate his brain. He'd been so lost in thought he hadn't noticed James talking to him. "Ah, yeah, sorry man." Paulo put on a fake grin while his brain was still catching up. "What's up?"

"I was asking if you wanted to hang out this weekend…" James said, hands fidgeting slightly. "I looked up our schedules and we're both free."

Paulo let go of the sprayer. Once again, James was making his life easier. With a sigh of relief, Paulo responded. "Yeah, man. I'd love to."