Page 37 of If I See You Again

Malcolm

I t took a good week before I felt like I looked presentable enough to be out in public again.

David had ventured to my apartment to bring me some clean clothes and empty my refrigerator of food that had gone bad.

With each passing day, Mr. Thomas got more and more agitated with my inability to return to work.

It only reaffirmed that I’d made the right decision to put in my notice when I finally got in.

And that day was today. I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, readjusting my tie for the tenth time, when David slid in behind me.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

At first, I’d thought it would be a bad idea, but after he’d spent the last week taking care of me, I no longer cared what my boss thought was happening between the two of us. It was all true, and it wouldn’t matter soon enough.

“It’s not like I’m clearing out my desk today, just giving my notice, but yeah, I think I’d like to have the added support.”

David smiled, giving my shoulder a squeeze before he shuffled back out of the bathroom.

It would be nice to see the outside of this damn hotel.

At least the place was fancy, and the bed was comfortable.

The food had been outstanding, even if I felt guilty every time I ordered something.

I knew David could afford it. That wasn’t the problem.

I wasn’t used to being spoiled that way, and I wanted to be able to contribute in return.

Hi. I’m still Mr. Never Had A Relationship This Long.

The wind blowing off the lake was downright frigid, and when we stepped out the front door of the hotel, David handed over a large wool jacket.

I pulled it on, grateful for something to keep me warm.

People stopped to look at me, since there was still a little residual bruising on my face, but I couldn’t do another day indoors.

I couldn’t hide forever. Sure, airbags were there to save your life, but that fucker had done some damage at the same time.

Having to use a rideshare was weird. I liked having the ability to get myself from one place to the next, but until I could go car shopping again, this was my only choice.

My insurance company offered me a rental car, but most places were fully booked because of the upcoming holidays and a car theft problem in the area.

My poor Caddy was a total loss. I knew she would be, but it didn’t make it sting any less.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait in the cold for long, and our ride pulled up.

David held the door open for me before sliding in on the other side of the car.

The driver seemed friendly enough. He was a middle-aged man with slightly gray hair and a full beard.

He smiled at us in the rear-view mirror before he pulled up our destination on his GPS and started driving.

The ride was awkwardly silent, only broken up with intermittent mechanical directions through the speaker system.

I would have given anything to take my mind off what I was about to do.

Instead, all I could focus on was how tight my tie suddenly felt.

It was annoying because I’d redone the thing so many times that if I went to adjust it again, David might actually blow a fuse.

My fingers twitched with the urge to do it anyway as my breathing quickened.

“Are you all right?”

I jumped at David’s question, only to realize the car had stopped at a stoplight. We were almost at the office, which did nothing to ease my anxiety.

“Nervous.” I chuckled half-heartedly, finally giving in to the urge to fuck with my tie. The second my fingers wrapped around the silk, David knocked them out of the way.

“It’s going to be fine. You’ve worked there too long for him to have treated you that way, and you have a right to walk away from it all.”

I nodded because I still didn’t have a solid plan for after.

David and I had briefly discussed a few possibilities, and it felt strange to expect that he’d uproot his entire life to stay there in Chicago with me.

While I’d fallen head over heels for the man, it was all very fast. Okay, it was months in the making and the man had been pushy as hell about it, but if he hadn’t, I never would’ve gotten my head out of my ass and realized what I had in front of me all along.

Someone I wanted in my life. To find love and happiness for a change.

He knew what he wanted and went after it.

By the time the car pulled up outside the office building, there was a lead ball sitting in the pit of my stomach.

I was on the verge of emptying the contents of said organ all over the sidewalk outside of the car.

The driver eyed me skeptically through the rearview mirror, no doubt because I’d gone a bit green.

Of course, I knew the rules. Didn’t everyone?

It was expensive as hell if you threw up in a rideshare car.

I would not be making that mistake today.

The vertigo set in as I looked up at the imposing building in front of me. Eight damn years. I’d given this place eight damn years of my life and I was about to walk through the doors to tell them I was done.

David set a hand on my shoulder, giving it an encouraging squeeze, and we made our way through the front entrance. It was the elevator ride that ultimately did me in. By the time we got off, I had to rush to the nearest trash can to empty my stomach.

When I straightened, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, David stood by the elevator bank with his eyebrows raised. “You sure you can handle this?”

I laughed because I knew how insane this all looked.

All I had to do was walk my happy little butt into Mr. Thomas’s office, hand him my letter of resignation, and let him know I was officially issuing my notice.

People did stuff like that all the time, but it felt like the end of the world to me.

This place had become my home. The co-workers I had here had been with me through some of the roughest parts of my life, and I was leaving them behind.

Finally, after a couple of tries, I managed to take a few deep breaths and nod. “It’ll be fine. It just doesn’t feel real.”

David walked closer, pulling me into a loose hug. “Just remember that I’m here and have your back. I’ll even come into the room with you if you need it.”

Warmth spread through my limbs because I knew that. I knew David was really there for me and that I could count on him going forward. It didn’t matter what Mr. Thomas thought. If I was really doing this, I was doing it without giving a flying fuck.

As soon as David let me go, my hand instantly drifted to his.

The feel of his palm against mine gave me a renewed sense of confidence.

His smile was wide as I pulled him down the hall toward my boss’s office.

Maybe it was a little cliche to do things this way.

We’d only just tried to convince him that nothing was going on, and here we were proclaiming it loudly.

Hell, I wanted the whole damn world to know. David Garrison was mine.

I didn’t get the chance to knock as both David and I jumped a little when Mr. Thomas’s door swung open. He looked between the two of us before his shrewd gaze landed on our joined hands. Instead of cowering under his stare, I squared my shoulders and did my best not to let my fear show.

“I see you decided to make it into work today?” Mr. Thomas asked, still not looking at me, but at where my fingers were linked with David’s.

“I did, and there are some things we need to talk about.”

That seemed to get the old man’s attention.

Maybe I needed to give him a little more credit because he looked tired.

The wrinkles around his eyes were more pronounced and his normally tidy hair wasn’t as kempt as it usually was.

But going through a tough time didn’t give him the excuse to treat me the way he had.

Mr. Thomas didn’t smile. He seemed more resigned than anything as he stood to the side and motioned to let us into his office. He didn’t even question when David came with me. We haven’t fooled him after all; it seemed.

Once we were in front of the desk, I finally released David’s hand and removed the wool jacket he’d given me. I lay it over my arm as I waited to see what Mr. Thomas wanted us to do.

“Please have a seat, gentlemen. I have a suspicion this isn’t going to be a conversation that I’m going to like very much.”

My gut twisted again, but at least there wasn’t anything in it this time. Not that the measly piece of toast and the few sips of coffee had been much to begin with.