Page 34 of The Weight Of It All

Fourteen

I woke up before Reed and slipped out of bed to shower. It was his day off, and given the physical nature of his job, I wanted him to enjoy a sleep in. I should’ve known his stomach would wake him, because as I was making his breakfast, he surprised me in the kitchen.

And by surprised, I mean made my jaw hit the floor. Wearing only his jeans slung low on his hips, he was shirtless and sleep rumpled with stubble and mussed hair. It was the stuff of dreams. And porn.

I stood there with a slice of toast halfway to my hanging-open mouth. He smirked and swiped my toast, biting into it. “Good morning.”

“Yes it is.” I mean, there was no point in lying about it. It was a fucking great morning. “I was making you breakfast,” I added, nodding to the tray on the counter with a coffee and juice and an empty plate. “Just waiting on your toast.”

He held up the piece he took from me. “Have some, thanks.”

I snorted. “You’re welcome. ”

He chuckled then sighed happily. “Thank you. It was very thoughtful.”

“You know, you dressed like that is a good enough reason for me to call in sick.”

“Tempted, huh?”

Just then the toast popped up. I grabbed it and buttered it for him. “I would, but I have a video conference meeting today that I probably shouldn’t miss. Vegemite okay?”

He sipped his juice and nodded. “Perfect, thanks.” When I handed it to him, he looked me up and down. “The suit looks good.”

It was hard not to believe him with the heat in his eyes and the gruff tone of his voice. “Oh.” I’m pretty sure I blushed. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever be into the corporate actuary look, but you do it so well.”

I had to put my coffee on the counter before I spilled it down the front of me. “There’s a corporate actuary look?”

Reed grinned as he chewed his toast. “Yep.”

“Is that a nice way to say I’m a boring suit?”

He chuckled. “You’re far from boring, Henry. And I like you in your suit. It fits you well.”

“I could probably miss that conference call,” I mused. “It’s just a national one, oh and a few offices throughout Asia. I’m sure it won’t be too important.”

Reed laughed. “You’re not missing work on my account.”

“But technically, I wouldn’t miss it, at all, because what we’d be doing instead would be so much more fun.”

“Nice try.”

“Are you making me go to work?”

He finished his juice and leaned his entire front against me so he could put his empty glass in the sink. “Yep.”

I mumbled into his chest, “You don’t play fair. ”

He laughed and stood back, only to fix my necktie. “You better go if you don’t want to be late.”

I had to adjust my now-aching dick. “Thanks for giving me something to think about all day.”

He grinned proudly. “You’re welcome.”

I rolled my eyes, though I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll drop you home on my way, if you want?”

“Okay. Just let me get dressed.”

Ten minutes later, I pulled up at his apartment complex. “I’ll call you. And probably text you as well,” he said. He opened his door but didn’t move to get out. “Thank you. For dinner last night and for breakfast this morning.”

“Anytime.”

“So, I was thinking maybe we could do it again on Friday night?”

“Sounds good.”

“But I’ll see you Friday morning for your usual gym session.”

“Yes you will.”

He leaned across the console and licked his lips before kissing me sweetly. “You smell really good,” he murmured. “Just how important is that conference call?”

I laughed. “Get out of my car.”

I left him on the footpath with a smile and a promise to talk later, and before I turned onto Darling Street, I called Anika.

I told her all about my night, including running into Graham in Coles.

“Reed said we were boyfriends and that I smell really good, and he really likes my suit, and I’m pretty sure he wanted me to spend the day with him. ”

“He told Graham all of that?”

“No, just the boyfriend part. All the rest was later.”

“Henry, you know what this means?”

“What? ”

“I need to meet him.”

“Oh.”

“It’s my obligatory right as your best friend.”

I drove a block in silence.

“Henry? You still there?”

“Yes. Just doing a mental step-by-step of worst case scenarios.”

Anika laughed. “It won’t be that bad.”

“I really like him, Neeky,” I whispered.

Her reply was just as soft. “I know you do.”

“This Sunday,” I suggested, “at the Bay Run. You can be there as they carry me across the finish line on an ambulance stretcher. You can meet him then.”

“Deal. Text me the details.”

“Of what? My private health cover details? The ambulance fees are included.”

She snorted. “No, the details of the run.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Love you, Henry.”

“Love you, too.”

I was going to tell Reed that Anika wanted to meet him in one of our many texts or phone calls but figured it would be best done face to face. He’d been sequestered to have dinner with his parents on Thursday, so I didn’t get to see him until Friday morning when I arrived at the gym.

“Last training session before the big Bay Run this weekend,” Emily said as I walked in.

Ugh. “There was no newfound Mayan calendar that predicted the end of the world on Sunday morning by any chance? ”

“Nope. Not that I’ve seen.”

“That’s a shame.”

She chuckled. “It won’t be that bad.”

“Oh well, it’s not the actual run that scares me now. My best friend wants to meet Reed on Sunday.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. I should ask him if he has a mouthguard and shin pads. I don’t think he’ll need them, and truthfully Anika’s not a violent person. I’m sure she’ll love him. She’s just protective of me, that’s all.”

Emily nodded slowly, while trying not to smile. “I’m pretty sure Reed can hold his own.”

“Reed can hold his what?” Reed asked from beside us. His smile was as much curious as it was cautious. “Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?”

I tried to reassure him. “Oh, it’s not that bad. Do you have life insurance?”

He blanched. “Uh…”

Emily laughed. “Maybe I should go for backup.”

By now Reed was looking a little lost and a bit scared, so I explained, “Anika wants to meet you, that’s all.”

“Oh,” he said with a relieved exhale. “Yeah of course. That’s fine. When?”

“Sunday, after the Bay Run of death. Look at it this way,” I added, “if I do happen to die before I finish, you’ll be off the hook.”

Reed laughed and led me toward the treadmills.

“You’re not going to die. And if it makes you feel any better, I had to answer a hundred questions about you to my folks.

I’m not saying you’ll need a mouthguard when you meet my mum, just that she can make the Spanish Inquisition look like amateurs day. ”

Before I could really process that he was talking about me meeting his parents, he hit the Start button on the treadmill and made me run three kilometres.

Then I had to do a fifty-calorie climb on the elliptical, and then he made me drag my sweaty, lifeless body over to the free weights for a cool-down.

“You’re really focused today,” he said. He was looking at me weirdly. “You okay?”

I puffed, still trying to catch my breath. “Focused? Um, no, just trying not to die.”

He smiled, apparently able to read me better than I thought. “I told my mum we weren’t ready for that just yet. I told her if she absolutely had to meet you today, I would have no problem with that, but maybe we could just go at our own pace. She was happy then.”

“Oh.”

“That okay?”

I nodded. My breathing had steadied somewhat.

“Yeah. Perfect. Actually, my mum might have said something similar, but I just didn’t go there.

I mean, you have technically met her, but not in a boyfriend capacity.

That still sounds kinda weird to say out loud, just so you know.

But if you really want me to introduce you to her, she waits at the Nespresso café in the city for George Clooney every Sunday. ”

He burst out laughing. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So you’re really okay with meeting Anika? I promise she’ll be on her best behaviour.”

“Henry, it’s fine.” He checked his watch. “But you better get to work.”

“We still on for dinner tonight?”

“Hell yes. Pasta and a movie with you. Sounds perfect. Though I do have to be at work by six tomorrow morning, so I’ll need to be in bed pretty early.”

I cleared my throat. “I have no problem with that.”

He was still smiling when I left.

Sunday morning came around too fast. I woke up part excited, part dreading what I was about to do.

I’d never imagined I would attempt a seven kilometre anything, but there I was doing ridiculous things like eating a sensible breakfast and pulling on my running shoes.

I had trust in Reed’s expertise and his faith in me to be able to do this.

But just to be on the safe side, I took a final look around my house and watered the plants in case I was hospitalised for any length of time.

I called into the gym to pick Reed up. He was just finishing up his session with Nadia, who had graciously swapped with me so Reed would be free to do the Bay Run.

“Good luck, Henry,” Nadia said as she was leaving.

“You got this, Henry,” Dave chimed in.

Emily clapped me on the back. “See you on the other side.”

I wasn’t sure if she meant the other side of mortality. “I’ll be the one walking into the light.”

She burst out laughing. “Not that other side.”

“Shame. I was looking forward to seeing my two childhood pet cats again. Andy and Robin really understood me.”

“Andy and Robin?” Emily asked, amused. “From Winnie the Pooh?”

“No. The Bee Gees.” God, didn’t these people know anything?

Everyone within hearing distance laughed just as Reed came over with a bottle of water in his hand. He seemed to pick up on my discomfort and quickly came to stand by my side. “You ready for this?”

“Not at all. And just so you know, I want “Staying Alive” played at my funeral. You know, for irony and laughs. ”