Chapter 22

She gasped and became furious.Stepping away from Jaiden,she got up in my face and poked my chest with a pointy fingernail.“How would you know,you fucking faggot?You moon over Jaiden like some lovesick idiot,hoping he’ll see you as the only one for him.A guy like you could never get a guy like him.Go back to wearing your fucking ugly blazers and crooked bowties,you little cunt.Nobody cares about your new wardrobe.It doesn’t change anything.You’re a loser.You’ll always be a loser.”

I shoved her back hard,causing her to stumble against Jaiden and squeal in outrage.Jaiden had remained silent the whole time.His expression had become unreadable,but I had no illusions about our“relationship.”We’d worked together for a short time,it was over now,and I would go back to working in HR.Life would go on.

My anger deflated right then and left me hollow.Was that how Heather had really felt about me?How everyone felt?I couldn’t…

I excused myself quickly and sought out Anderson and Albert.But they were currently holding court with a bunch of people on the other side of the room and looked to be having too much fun to deal with my non-issues.I sent a text to Anderson and headed outside to wait for Lyft to pick me up after I scheduled a ride.

It was time to get out of my dream world and back to reality.

Except,on Monday morning,I decided,to hell with everyone.I liked my new clothes and haircut and they made me feel good about myself,for the most part.Fuck Heather and all the rest if they couldn’t handle it.I was doing this for me,not them.

Anderson hadn’t come home until Sunday afternoon,when he told me he and Albert had gotten frisky at his friend’s apartment.He didn’t seem weirded out by it at all.In fact,he decided that Albert would be his fuck buddy and teach him all he needed to know about gay sex.I was happy for him.

When he’d asked me about my evening,I’d been vague,and he didn’t push,thankfully.Now it was time to go to work.I straightened my tie and adjusted the collar on my dark teal shirt before adding the jacket and heading out the door.

Everyone stared at me as I walked by,but it wasn’t in a mean way,surprisingly.A few people even nodded at me,and I nodded back.Whatever was going on,I didn’t care.

I got to my desk and set my messenger bag on top before going to IT and asking Melvin to remove my access to the Finance directory on the server.He smiled at me in a friendly way and patted me on the back.

“I’m gonna have to call you‘Balls of Steel Al’from now on,”he said before turning to his monitor and tapping a few keys.“You ripped Heather a new one,man.Nobody’s ever done that.And she called in sick today,too,so I heard.Dude,you are awesome.”

I didn’t feel awesome.“Uh,thanks?”

“Oh,and nice suit,man.I’m glad you took my advice.Don’t let those idiots walk all over you.Their petty lives are just that.Petty.Hold your head up and keep on walking.We should do lunch.Now get lost,I’m busy.”

I went back to my desk and got to work.I learned later in the week that Heather had transferred to another department.Of Jaiden,I neither saw nor heard a word from him.What did I expect?It had been only a temporary working relationship,after all.And the things Heather had said in front of him about me,and what I had said?There was no reason to believe he’d want to associate with the disaster that I was unless absolutely necessary.

It was strange,though.Over the next few weeks,people who’d ignored me or had made fun came up to my desk every so often,and they seemed to really want to be around me.Many apologized for their behavior toward me in the past and I wondered if Heather had been the poison in the department.Still,it was nice to be asked to lunch,or if I wanted to hang out after work.I rarely said“yes”because,hey,I was a guy who preferred to stay at home and watch my shows and go to bed at a certain time.That hadn’t changed.

If Jaiden asked…well,I hadn’t seen the man,so it hardly mattered.I’d been tempted to text him or email a dozen times,but it just didn’t seem the right thing to do.

But on Valentine’s Day,I found a red envelope on my desk with my name on it.The department was decked in red ribbons and white balloons.It was what they normally did,but the card was new.

I sat down and logged into my computer before opening the envelope.It might be a prank,but Heather usually did those and she wasn’t here anymore.In fact,the new guy who now sat next to me was kind of nice.

I pulled out the card.It had a red heart on the outside.Inside was written,Have dinner with me tonight?The handwriting looked familiar,but I wasn’t sure why.It had a date and time of this evening at seven for a swank Italian restaurant.It was signed Jaiden.I’d never seen Jaiden’s handwriting.I almost dropped the card when I read his name.He wants to have dinner with me?

After calming a bit,I quickly sent a text saying“yes,I would love to have dinner.”He didn’t respond,but I assumed he was probably in a meeting or something.

I could hardly keep my mind on work the rest of the day,as you could imagine.I left at five on the dot and rushed home,took a shower,and consulted my resident fashionista,who was shockingly not watching gay porn.

“Is this a date with Jaiden?Because you need to dress to impress and put out.”

“What?No!”I replied.“I haven’t had sex in so long I might as well be a virgin.Dinner is more than enough for now,thank you very much.”

Anderson rolled his eyes.“You should always be prepared.Maybe you should watch some gay porn.Loosen you up a bit.”He winked and I groaned.

“No.”As usual,he ignored me and helped me pick out a pale pink shirt and gray slacks with a matching blazer.Then he went to the bathroom and brought back two condoms.

“You never know,”was all he said before shoving me out in the hallway with my wallet,keys,and cell phone.“Go get‘em,Tiger,”he said.“Albert will be over later,so take your time coming home,or wear earplugs.”He grinned and shut the door in my face.