Lance sighed again and wanted to scream out and kick the dishwasher, which wouldn’t turn on.
“If you’re not careful, it’ll break,” came a voice from the doorway.
“Hey, Mr. Fatone,” Lance said, standing up. “The washer isn’t working?” Mr. Fatone asked, and Lance shrugged. “It’s probably just me, I’m too... I don’t know.”
“Why are you still here, Lance? We closed an hour ago.”
Lance sighed. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Wasn’t Joshua here earlier, I was back in my office and I thought I heard his voice.”
Lance nodded. “Yeah, he went home. He had to get to sleep early, he’s got classes to teach and then he’s meeting someone for lunch.”
Lance still remembered it in his mind. Dan and Chris had finished their food, and they were about to leave, Chris thanking Lance for the dinner, and Dan eyeing Lance in a way that the young blonde really didn’t like. Then Dan had asked Josh to join him for lunch the next day. Chris had just looked away, and Lance would’ve felt more sympathy for him if he hadn’t been feeling it for himself when Josh agreed.
“Just someone?” Mr. Fatone asked, and Lance wished that his boss didn’t know him so well.
“His old boyfriend, actually. The one he had before me. His name is Dan, and he’s in town.”
Mr. Fatone nodded, stroking his moustache as if he was trying to find the solution to some great mystery. “You shouldn’t worry, Lance. I’ve seen Joshua around you. You’re his world. You mean absolutely everything to him. I can tell just by the way he looks at you. I think you should just go home, wake him up, and tell him you love him too.”
“He hates to be woken up,” Lance said with a small smile.
“Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.”
*
Lance was really surprised to see that all the lights were on when he got home. He thanked Mr. Fatone for the ride and went inside his house to see Josh pacing around the living room.
Josh looked up when he heard the door open, and he was over to Lance in two strides, hugging him tightly.
“God, when you didn’t come home, I thought... I thought that something had happened to you. I tried calling the restaurant, but no one answered the phone, and Mr. Fatone wasn’t answering the phone in his office...”
Lance pulled away and looked into the concerned eyes of his boyfriend with a smile. “Then I thought you were mad at me for the whole Danny thing, and you have every-”
He was cut off by Lance’s lips on his own.
*
“So,” Dan said, taking a sip of his Coke, “you love that Lance guy?” Josh and Dan were out eating Lunch at a tiny restaurant near Dan’s hotel, and Josh wished he could be anywhere else, preferably with Lance, than where he was.
“Yeah, I do,” Josh said.
“How old is he? He looks a bit younger than you.”
“He‘s 21,” Josh told him, a hint of irritation in his voice. “So almost three years younger, huh?” Dan remarked, and Josh glared at him. “It’s better than cheating on your lover for someone who’s five years older than you.”
Dan sighed. “Look, I feel really bad about what I did Josh, okay? I mean, all I came here to do was get a few of my things I left with you. Maybe make amends, and hope that we could still be friends.”
“You came hoping for something that was a long shot,” Josh said.
“I know, but I took the risk. Doesn’t that say something?”
Josh was silent. He wasn’t sure exactly how to respond.
“Things between Chris and myself are kinda on the rocks. I knew that was pretty obvious last night. The thing is, I don’t want to lose him the way I lost you. Sometime next week, how about you and Lance come to dinner with us, and we can all just start over.”
Josh thought about it for a second, before replying, “Fine.
“Okay, then how about Saturday?”
“Sounds good.”
Dan grinned. It sounded good, indeed.
*
