Dangerous Desire

Chapter 1
Intriguing Prospects

(Monday night)
“Wanna trade?” Jake’s co-worker, client, and friend, Mike asked.

“Whatcha got?” Jake asked. He didn’t care to which job he was assigned. He was in a good mood and happy to be employed. He’d been on Anteros for about a year and worked as a personal trainer at Ultimate Health and Fitness, one of the gyms on the island. He still didn’t have enough clients to support himself solely on that so, on Mike’s recommendation, he’d taken a position in the facilities and maintenance department at the Blue Flamingo Hotel and Casino. He didn’t mind the work and liked his other co-workers besides Mike.

“Trashola,” Mike grumbled and ran a hand through his blond hair. “I hate gettin’ that one.”

“The trash hasn’t done anything to you,” Jake teased and then blew his bangs out of his face. He had short, dark brown hair, with a few long bangs that reached his sapphire blue eyes.

“I swear, Jake,” Mike continued. “I’m gonna snap if I see one more piece of gum stuck to a bag this week.”

“You’re not looking at it from the right point of view.”

“I see people here and at the gym chewing gum and then I see it in the wastebaskets everywhere and I just wanna scream.”

“Jorge and Lenny said they were looking for someone part-time to clean the locker room.”

“No!” Mike narrowed his eyes and glared at Jake while shaking his head.

“Free membership.”

“No way. One cleaning job is enough for me, thankyouverymuch.”

“You shouldn’t let it get to you,” Jake pointed out.

“I usually don’t,” Mike retorted. “But assbag’s speech really pissed me off.” The second shift employees had just gotten out of a company meeting where the general manager had babbled incessantly about what a ‘great job’ everyone was doing quickly followed by a minimal explanation that the economy was in shambles and, therefore, no one would be getting their quarterly raises.

“That guy’s head is stuck so far up his ass,” Jake agreed. “All he sees is shit.” The Blue Flamingo had hired Ernie Higgins as general manager to cut down on costs and increase efficiency. Most of the regular employees hated the young man and felt that the hotel would have been better off saving the hundreds of thousands of dollars used to pay his salary.

“Hear, hear! He’s worse than a consultant. The guy should do the world a favor and…and…”

“Pull his lip over his head and swallow,” Jake supplied merrily.

Mike scrunched his nose and thought about Jake’s words for a moment. “Yeah, that works,” he said eventually and chuckled. “So, you want trash?”

“Sure,” Jake agreed pleasantly. “I have glass.”

“Huzzah for window duty!” Mike hollered and earned himself a glare from their supervisor. “We’re switchin’, Tony,” he yelled to the man. “Jake’s goin’ a la trash and I’m gonna be sprayin’ blue cat piss on windows.”

“Don’t leave any streaks, Mike,” Tony replied and shook his head. “Last time you did windows, I had to have Pedro go back and do them again.”

“How was I supposed to know someone came in the clean towels?!” Mike yelled back and caused everyone in the room to laugh.

“When you’re done, look at the windows and the mirrors, amigo,” José, another one of their co-workers, instructed sanctimoniously although his eyes sparkled with mirth. “If they’re dirtier after you clean them, then something is not quite right.”

“Whatever,” Mike grumbled and retrieved a stack of clean towels and two bottles of glass cleaner. “Thanks, Jakey. I love ya!”

“My pleasure,” Jake replied as he took the rolling garbage bin out of the maintenance closet.

“Okay, peeps,” Tony yelled. “You know that I appreciate you. Do a good job out there and make it look good.” Several people cheered. Tony shook his head, picked up his clipboard, and then walked over to Jake. “The VIP offices on the second floor need their monthly detailing done tomorrow. Do you want it?” Jake nodded.

“I do!” Mike stated gleefully.

“It actually needs to get done so I’m askin’ Jake,” Tony stated pointedly. “Get to work, slacker.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Mike grumbled then looked at Jake. “When’s my appy tomorrow, Jake?”

“Eleven o’clock,” Jake replied.

“Are you gonna kick my ass?”

“I always kick your ass.”

“His ass needs to be kicked,” Tony added, smiling. “I’m thinkin’ that I gotta come see you, Jake.” He grabbed his stomach and shook it. “The beer belly is getting outta control and I’m not happy with my health.”

“Sure,” Jake said, nodding. “You don’t need to lose a lot of weight but working out is good for your health no matter what you weigh.”

“How much do you charge?”

“It’s twenty five bucks for half an hour and forty for an hour,” Jake explained. “You don’t have to belong to Ultimate. They let you use the gym any day that you have personal training.”

“That’s nice of ‘em,” Tony said.

“Well, they get a cut out of my fee so that’s their way of making it up to the client. I mean, yeah, it is nice of them and you can use all the facilities. We have a pool, a sauna, a whirlpool, and a eucalyptus steam room. It’s great.”

“How much is a membership?”

“It’s fifty bucks a month but I think that it’s worth it to get the membership. They’re open twenty-four hours a day. For the same amount of money, you can get two half hour sessions with me or a whole month at the gym.”

“Okay.”

“I can do a program for you if you want and then you’ll be good to go.”

“I dunno,” Tony said and laughed good-naturedly. “I have no discipline. I used to belong to a gym back when I lived in Connecticut but I never went.”

“It’s hard. I know. If getting there and sticking with the program is a problem, then, yeah, personal training is the way to go. I’ll hold you accountable and make sure you do it.”

“Yeah! That’s what I need.”

“And we do have a great bunch of people there. If you feel weird about me since you’re my sup, one of the other trainers would be happy to help you out. No hard feelings at my end.”

“I wouldn’t get funny about workin’ with you, Jake,” Tony said. “You know I consider myself one of the guys, not a supervisor.”

“I know.” Jake nodded in agreement. He enjoyed working with Tony and wouldn’t mind being his personal trainer.

“Is that how you know Mikey?”

“Yeah. He’s my second oldest client.”

“He’s lost a lot of weight and just looks great since he started working out.”

“He does. He works hard.”

“At the gym, maybe,” Tony said and shook his head. “Here, it’s minimum expenditure.”

“Management hasn’t been making things easy for us lately,” Jake pointed out.

“I know. Now I understand that Ernie is just doin’ his job, although we won’t talk about how important I think his job is…”

“Not.”

“Yeah. I wish he’d find a better way to say things. It’s like he opens his mouth and says things in the worst possible way.”

“He’s just an overpaid little shit,” Jake said which caused Tony to smirk and nod in agreement.

“I’m not gonna say anything, Jakey,” Tony responded and then erased Jake and Mike’s assignments before writing down their new ones. “You should let Mike do trash every now and then.”

“I don’t mind, really.”

“You’re too nice.”

“Doin’ trash means I get to go inside the offices,” Jake explained and his lips curved upwards just barely enough to hint at a smile.

“Have you talked to him yet?” Tony asked and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Still nothing more than hi or hello,” Jake answered. Three months ago the Blue Flamingo had hired a new income auditor, Kyle Matthews, when the man who’d held the position for over ten years had retired. Jake had been smitten with Kyle from the first minute that he’d seen the young man but he was too shy to utter more than a casual greeting.

“You just need to ask him out on a date.”

“I dunno,” Jake said while carelessly shrugging one shoulder.

“Or ask him if he’s single. He seems shy and quiet so I don’t think he’s got a boyfriend.”

“Does being shy and quiet make one automatically single?” Jake asked teasingly.

“No, but he strikes me as single.”

“We’ll see.”

“Seriously, you’re a great guy, Jake. You’re nice and easy-going. You’re good looking. You’re not just healthy; you’re like an athlete. You’ve got muscles that not only make any man quiver like a girl but they belong on the cover of a magazine!”

“Oh, please.” Jake rolled his eyes and his face colored slightly as Tony went on with the flattering description.

“I mean you’re not gross like some of those body builders but you are so ripped…”

“I’m going to go do trash now before I throw up,” Jake interjected.

“I mean it,” Tony insisted as he gazed seriously at Jake. “Any guy would be honored to be yours. Just ask him out.”

“We’ll see. He may not be in today.”

“Ya know,” Tony said and rubbed his chin. “Maybe I’ll investigate things for you.”

“No!” Jake yelled as he wheeled the bin towards the door.

“I’ll find out if he’s single!”

“No. See ya later, Tone.”

“Later, Jake. And consider me on the case.”

“Nooo-oh” Jake yelled back and shook his head in dismay. He’d already decided that today he was going to say more than just hi to Kyle. His plan was to see if he could engage the young man in a simple conversation about the weather or maybe about the fountain in the lobby. The Blue Flamingo had a different fountain in every room and they all featured blue flamingoes. ‘That’s gotta be a safe topic,’ he mused. ‘If he talks to me, then I’ll know that there’s a chance. If he disses me, then I’ll move on.’

He made his way to the first floor offices and started emptying wastebaskets. When a liner was dirty, he would change the bag. Mike’s biggest gripe with this particular job was that people spit their gum in the basket and it would stick to the bag, which would then would have to be changed. Jake didn’t care about gum. If he needed to change a bag, he would. ‘It’s better than prying gum off the floor,’ he thought as he changed a bag that had five pieces stuck to it.

Jake didn’t truly dislike any aspect of his job. He wasn’t fond of cleaning up messes in the bathroom or when someone threw up but he did it as good-naturedly as possible. It was part of the job. After finishing all the offices on the first floor, he stopped in the bathroom before going out to the main floor. Employees were expected to look clean and presentable when they were in areas where they would be seen by the public. Once he determined that he looked acceptable, he proceeded to the casino area.

Jake liked the gaming rooms. He liked being among the throngs and feeling the excitement of the patrons as well as seeing new people every night. He did not like the advances. Focusing his thoughts on what it would be like to take Mr. Kyle Matthews out for some ice cream, he began emptying the wastebaskets and changing bags. In public areas, the bags were changed every time.

“Hey, big boy,” a voice interrupted his musings. “Wanna come check out my room later?” Jake frowned and turned his head to observe a man, dressed in a navy blue business suit, eying him licentiously. “I bet a boy like you knows exactly what to do with a man like me.” The man reached out and grabbed Jake’s biceps. “Wow!”

Jake shook his head and felt heat fan across his cheeks. “I can’t,” he murmured and stepped back to free his arm. “I have to work.”

“I’ll make it worth your while,” the man stated and leered at him.

“No, thank you,” Jake replied and was relieved to notice that Trent, one of the security guards, was moving closer to him. ‘I’m not a prostitute,’ he thought irately.

“Am I not good enough for you?” the man asked incredulously. “I’ll really make it worth your while.”

“I can’t,” Jake explained politely although he felt his anger rising. Because of his looks and his physique, he was frequently approached. Most people respected his refusals. This one didn’t seem to being doing so. Jake took a deep breath to control his emotions.

“Mr. Collins,” Trent stated crisply and eyed Jake as though he were annoyed. “I need you to one, get back to work, and two, take care of the bin by the hotel lobby immediately.”

Jake didn’t smile but nodded and looked away. He liked Trent. “Yes, sir,” he murmured as contritely as he could mange when he really wanted to punch the client squarely in the face. “Excuse me, sir,” he said to the other man and quickly moved out of the room. He heard Trent apologizing and suggesting that another round of roulette would be more productive than chasing after employees.

Moving quickly down the hall, he proceeded to the back of the casino so he could empty the bin in the outside dumpster. Jake needed a quick break to calm down. He was still angry but he knew that it was inappropriate and unacceptable to lose his temper in a public area. Once outside, he took several deep breaths and forced his spiraling rage to dissipate as he emptied the bin into the dumpster. “Stupid people,” he muttered quietly. The cool night air began soothing his nerves. ‘Only ten more rooms and then I get to go to the second floor!’ he thought and finally smiled. He was looking forward to seeing Mr. Matthews. ‘Maybe he’ll turn out to be really nice…’

After emptying the bin, he walked back into the building. ‘And tomorrow I get a really kickass workout,’ he mused. The previous day, he’d gotten a shot and he felt good. Jake took very small amounts of Primobolan and testosterone to bolster his strength and improve his performance. While he’d always been a good and strong athlete, the low levels of steroids not only maximized his workouts but they also improved his results and made him feel good about his life overall.

Jake didn’t want to be a professional athlete, bodybuilder, weightlifter, or even a model although many people had suggested it to him. He just wanted to be healthy, happy, and look good. He believed that the supplements helped him in achieving his goal of being a top fitness instructor. The job at the Blue Flamingo allowed him to build his client base at the gym and it provided benefits that the gym did not offer. As he was finishing the last room on the floor, he saw Frank, one of the security guards, approach him. “Yo, Frank,” he greeted.

“Jakey, how are ya?” Frank replied.

“Couldn’t be better.”

“Great. Although I wish you’d cheer up, man. You’re too damn miserable all the time!”

“No point in getting upset about anything,” Jake said and smiled straightforwardly at Frank.

“Too true. Wanna have a beer at midnight?”

“That’ll be a root beer for me.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. You don’t drink.”

“I’ll be happy to join ya for a bit though.”

“Awesome. And, uh, Trent needs you ASAP in the Mermaid room.”

“Great,” Jake grumbled but then smiled. “Being needed around here is not necessarily a good thing. Did he say what it was?” The other man shook his head. Jake nodded and rolled his eyes. He hoped that he wasn’t in trouble or that the patron hadn’t caused difficulties. Forcing himself to remain calm, he headed towards the room. When he approached the doorway, he noticed that it was dark inside the room and that people were leaving. Trent was leaning roguishly against the doorway. “What’s up, Trent?”

“Most of the light bulbs blew,” the security guard stated. “We’re moving to the Atlantic room but it still smells of paint so could you deal with this as quickly as possible?”

“Sure, no prob,” Jake replied. ‘I guess my hot date with the cute auditor will have to wait.’ Nodding to Trent, he moved the trash bin to a corner, peeked into the room to see how many lights were out, and then headed for the supply closet. ‘Sucks that three outta four sets went,’ he thought. ‘One of them was flickerin’ yesterday. Although it shouldn’t have taken the rest of them out.’ He sighed. One of the things that he’d noticed early on in his employment at the Blue Flamingo was that they didn’t take preventive measures. They waited for a problem to arise before fixing it and then spent as little as possible to do so.

After grabbing a box of fluorescent bulbs and the ladder from the supply closet, he returned to the Mermaid room and began the somewhat arduous task of changing the bulbs. The Blue Flamingo had very ornate lights that required a lot of effort to remove the covers. ‘They need to buy better bulbs,’ he thought. ‘Or have scheduled changes so that gambling customers aren’t inconvenienced.’

“Jake, dude, whazzup?!” Mike yelled as he entered the room.

“Me, asshole,” Jake retorted. “Notice the ladder.”

“What the fuck?”

“The flickering one obviously blew and I don’t know why the other two went.”

“To piss you off.”

“Eh…this is better than getting hit on by the patrons,” Jake said.

“I wish!” Mike exclaimed. “Jakey, I tell ya. There was this serious hottie at the drinking fountain over by the big ass mirrors in the Antigua lounge. Oh, my god! So fine!”

“Did you ask him out?”

“No. But I did make a big show of really polishing the mirrors and I gave him the look.”

“Did it work?”

“Nope. He promptly went to sit in some guy’s lap while giving me a dirty look.”

“That sucks.”

“It’s not like I said anything rude to him or stared at him for five minutes.”

“Maybe we should tag team,” Jake suggested as he climbed down the ladder and proceeded to work on the second light. “We’ll get the work done together and you can have all the ones that bug me.” Mike laughed. “Ya think asshole GM will go for that?”

“Not if it means making our job more enjoyable.”

“No shit.”

“Have ya talked to the cutie-pie yet?” Mike asked with curious expression on his face.

“Nope,” Jake answered and sighed. “I almost made it to the second floor but then the lights blew and I got derailed.”

“Maybe the universe is tryin’ to tell you to find someone else.”

“No.”

“I mean he is chummy-chummy with dickwad.”

“And maybe you’re trying to scare me off so you can score,” Jake teased. “He probably has to deal with him more than we do so he has to be nice to him.” He didn’t envy anyone having to spend more time with the general manager.

“So he should have ample opportunity to flip the loser a big ole bird instead of makin’ nice.”

“But that’s your job.”

“And I do it,” Mike admitted. “Every time I see the dude and he’s not lookin’ at me. Tweet-tweet.” Jake laughed. “Seriously, anyone who hangs out or is palsy-walsy with the super schmuck needs to have their head examined and their ass beat.”

“If you hit ‘em hard enough during the ass beatin’…”

“It’ll knock some sense into ‘em!”

“Yup,” Jake agreed, chuckling. “Oh, no,” he groaned loudly when he saw Trent entering the room. “Did you blow out some more lights?”

“No,” Trent responded grimly. “A client threw up in the bathroom near the Atlantic room.”

“Hey! That’s my cue to go on break,” Mike hollered and waved to the other two. “Sayonara, kids!”

“I don’t think so,” Trent snapped coldly and froze Mike with his icy glare. “You will finish the last light while Jake deals with the bathroom.”

“But---“ Mike started to argue but then wisely stopped. “I’ll…uuuh…”

“Give me thirty seconds to screw in the last screw and I’ll be done with this one.”

“Jake’s good at screwing,” Mike said and smirked playfully at his friend. He ignored Trent. “I guess duh love life is gonna hafta wait until you’re done cleanin’ up duh puke.”

Jake rolled his eyes as he descended the ladder. “All yours, Mikey,” he said.

“I hate it when you call me Mikey,” Mike groused but still seemed amused. “Trent, you’re gonna hafta explain to Tony-baloney why I’m not done with windows if I don’t finish.”

“See to it that you finish,” Trent replied crisply before looking at Jake. “Let’s go.” Jake followed the other man out of the room. “How do you put up with him?” he asked loudly and then smiled when he heard Mike shouting something unintelligible in response.

“It would be boring around here without him.”

“True,” Trent agreed. “Sorry to do this to you, Jake.”

“I don’t care.” Jake shrugged and smiled at the other man. “Shit happens.”

“That it does. Altogether too frequently.”

“Yup.”

“Although you’re getting a good dose of it tonight.”

Jake shrugged again. “Makes the evening go faster,” he said.

“So what’s this about your love life?” Trent asked and eyed Jake speculatively.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

“Don’t tell me you shacked up with somebody else after turning me and Mitch down,” Trent teased.

Jake laughed. Trent and Mitch, the head of security, were an established couple with exotic tastes. Jake also occasionally saw them at the gym. A few rumors about the pair circulated there as well. Trent had invited Jake to join them for an evening but he had declined. He was too conservative for threesomes although he was glad that it had been Trent to ask him. Mitch was ruthless. Jake knew that he would have had difficulty in saying no to the other man. “No. It’s not like that at all.”

“You better tell me.”

“I don’t think it’s wise to do so,” Jake teased.

“Oh, c’mon. I won’t tell.”

“I just think someone is cute and I wanted to try and talk to him tonight.” Jake shrugged nonchalantly as if to show that it really wasn’t a big deal.

“Nice. Who is it?”

“Not tellin’.”

“C’mon,” Trent coaxed. “Out with it.”

“Not this time, Trent.”

“Fine. I’ll get it out of Mikey,” Trent threatened which caused Jake to groan. “Okay. I won’t…but I expect you to tell me everything if things progress.”

“Sure. Although I think I’ll be so fuckin’ happy that everyone’s gonna know.”

“You’re always fuckin’ happy, Jake,” Trent stated. “Can I con you into working out with us tomorrow morning?”

“I’ve got a couple of appys but if you time it right, sure. I have Mikey at eleven and someone else at ten. I was gonna work out at noon but I could do it before my ten o’clock.”

“Both sound good. I’ll ask Mitch which one he prefers.” They reached the bathroom and Trent pointed to the door that had a ‘temporarily closed’ sign in front of it. “There ya go,” he said. A loud yell was heard from beyond the door. The two looked at each other. Coughing and sputtering, a man suddenly ran out of the bathroom. “You would think the sign would have been a big clue.”

“Obviously not,” Jake deadpanned. “I’ll just go ahead and get moving on this one.”

“Yeah,” Trent agreed but snickered at the reference to the movie Office Space. “Why don’t you just go ahead and deal with it. And thanks for taking care of everything for me tonight.”

“No prob,” Jake replied as Trent started to walk away. He eyed the bathroom door with dismay. “But I’ll be a happy man when I get off this damn floor.”

“I bet. And good luck with the prospect.”

“Thanks,” Jake said and waved to the security guard. He then decided to see how big of a mess was in the bathroom so that he could clean it expeditiously.

“Excuse. Me,” a voice said. Jake turned and saw a middle aged man, who was speaking slowly and exaggerating every syllable. “Where. Are. The. High. Stakes. Poker. Tables?” The man was dressed elegantly and sported a diamond-encrusted watch as well as several rings. An attractive strawberry blond, who looked as though he were a model was hanging on his arm and seemed to be sneering.

“Pardon me?” Jake asked. He’d heard the individual words but since they had been spoken so slowly, their combined meaning was eluding him.

“Do. You. Speak. English?”

“Yes, I do,” Jake retorted. It suddenly dawned on him why the man was speaking so slowly and enunciating every word. The man’s previous question finally pieced itself together in his mind. “Even though I wear a facilities uniform and have a maintenance job, I do speak English, have a college education, and understand polysyllabic words.” He smirked at the look of shock that appeared on the man’s face. “The high stakes poker tables are at the other end of the casino. Go past the big fountain that has the blue flamingoes and the little green sea turtles then head right past the roulette tables. There are five small rooms and that’s what you’re looking for.” Both men snorted and then walked away in the direction that he had indicated. Frowning, Jake watched them go. He hated when people assumed that he was stupid just because of his employment. “You’re welcome,” he muttered and pushed the uncoiling anger back down once more.

*~*~*

Kyle walked quickly down the hall towards his office. The soft jazz music eased his nervousness but he still hoped that he wouldn’t encounter anyone else before making it back to the safety of his office. He had light brown hair cut boyishly around his face and brown eyes. That evening he was dressed in a dark brown suit paired with a white shirt and brown leather shoes. He felt that he looked ridiculous in a suit but the Blue Flamingo had a dress code for everyone in the finance department.

As he approached his office, he rolled his eyes when he saw Ernie sprawled in a chair opposite his desk. Even though the general manager was the only person who had befriended him in the past six weeks since he’d started at the Blue Flamingo, he found the other man to be somewhat annoying. The GM had medium brown hair and mischievous hazel eyes. He was approaching thirty. Kyle was twenty-two and had just graduated from college. “Ernie,” he said in greeting.

“Where were ya?” Ernie asked. “Jeez. I so needed a break.”

“I was putting the receipts in the safe.”

“Did I give you that responsibility?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. That wasn’t very nice of me.”

“You said that you didn’t want to do it,” Kyle pointed out as he opened the folder on his desk that contained the remainder of his work for the evening. “And that it was going to be my job since I’m the newbie.”

“I’m such an ass sometimes.”

“Yes, but I don’t mind doing it,” Kyle said and shot Ernie a lopsided smile. “And it’s the only exercise that I get so it’s all good.”

“You’re such an optimist. That’s one of the reasons why I like you.”

“It’s not my charming personality?” Kyle quipped. Normally he was extremely reserved and painfully quiet until he truly got to know the other person. He was starting to feel comfortable enough around Ernie to try and joke with the man.

“What?!” Ernie yelled playfully. “Are you sassin’ me?”

“No…” Kyle’s eyes widened in surprise and he hoped that he hadn’t spoken inappropriately.

“I was just teasing you and I really do like you a lot,” Ernie said and picked up one of Kyle’s pens before starting to twirl it idly in his fingers. “Are you doing anything special on your days off?” he asked.

“Nope,” Kyle answered. He had Wednesdays and Thursdays off. “Nothing besides going to the store and doing the weekly shopping as well cleaning the place.”

“How’s the cooking coming along?”

Kyle sniffed disdainfully. He had lived at home until moving to Anteros and his mother had always cooked. Everything he tried in the kitchen was a dismal failure at best so he made sure to have a large supply of inexpensive frozen dinners in the freezer. “I made a pot full of glue last night,” he announced with mock pride.

“Glue?”

“It was supposed to be noodles,” Kyle admitted while smiling sheepishly as he recalled the culinary disaster.

“Oh, no.”

“I haven’t figured out what I did wrong yet but it was gross.”

“You need a caterer,” Ernie suggested.

“I need your salary for a caterer,” Kyle countered and both men chuckled.

“Tell me you at least have a fire extinguisher.”

“I have four. One in each room.”

“Good idea. Hey, Thursday night is Alaska night here,” Ernie said. “I think what’s-his-beakaroo the chef, said that he was having salmon and red king crab imported. It sounds like it’s gonna be a fantastic feast.” Kyle nodded. “I made sure to block off a good four hours for that. Miguel’s going to love it.”

“I’m sure he will,” Kyle said nodding. He’d frequently heard how much Ernie’s boyfriend enjoyed seafood.

“You should join us,” Ernie suggested. Kyle shook his head. “You should.”

“No.”

“Yeah, you should. You need to get out and meet people or at least do more than go home, destroy your kitchen, eat those one-dollar micro meals and then read alone.”

“I’ll think about it,” Kyle muttered unenthusiastically.

“I can easily add one or two to the rez.”

“I don’t want to intrude.” The mere thought of spending time with people that he didn’t know very well caused Kyle’s stomach to tighten uncomfortably.

“You wouldn’t be intruding if I damn well just invited you! That’s it. I’ve decided. I’m gonna make it a rez for four.”

“I think that’s the night I planned on going to the grocery store.”

“Oh, puhleeze!”

“And I don’t have a date.”

“You should ask someone,” Ernie stated. “There’s lotsa people here who would love to go out on a date with you.” Kyle laughed and shook his head. “I mean it.” Kyle shook his head again but with more determination. “I could just go down the list of flunkies that work here and have one dress up…well, let me rephrase that. Find one that owns decent clothes and tell him that instead of working, he’s gonna be your date for four hours.”

“Uuuuuh…no. I’m not that desperate. Although I do have a ton of work to do right now, Ern.”

“Don’t worry about that. You’re goofing off with me. And I know that you’ll get the work done anyway.”

Kyle sighed and realized that he needed a new topic of conversation to get Ernie’s mind off of finding him a date. The general manager tried to do that altogether too frequently. Even though Kyle saw it as a sign of friendship, he wished that the other man wouldn’t. He didn’t like being alone but it was better and easier than talking to someone whom he didn’t know. “How did your meeting go?” he asked.

“Splendidly,” Ernie exclaimed. “The peons weren’t happy but, hey, that’s life. We gotta save money and it’s no raises or start firing people.”

“You’d think they’d understand that,” Kyle said in support of his friend even though he guessed that Ernie had delivered the news with his usual flip and irreverent attitude and that probably hadn’t been appreciated by the recipients of the news.

“You would but most of them can’t see past their noses to realize that there’s a big picture out there. We seem to hire some real morons here.”

“Not all the---”

“Menial laborers are…morons?” Ernie supplied and then laughed. “Maybe, but they sure as hell aren’t smart enough to get a better job and---” He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Kyle was relieved that perhaps someone had come to retrieve the general manager. He needed to finish his work and chatting with Ernie was not conducive to that.

“Yes?” Kyle inquired and then frowned when he saw the maintenance person standing there. He’d seen this one before. The dark haired man was always friendly and greeted him politely although he never said anything else beyond that. Kyle had been tempted to try to start a conversation but wasn’t sure how to begin or what subject to broach. Now he felt uncomfortable. The man had probably heard Ernie’s remarks and that didn’t make him happy.

“Garbage,” the man said quietly and reached for Kyle’s wastebasket.

“Complete sentences!” Ernie snapped and then laughed. Kyle snickered at the way his friend spoke but then regretted it. He wasn’t laughing at the other man although he guessed that it certainly looked that way. He immediately felt bad and color suffused his cheeks. Closing his eyes, he desperately tried to think of something to say to mitigate Ernie’s words without insulting his friend. “Talk about rude interruptions,” Ernie grumbled loudly.

Kyle’s eyes snapped open. It was Ernie’s comment that had been rude. The man had just been doing his job. And now he was gone. “I need to finish an audit,” he said quietly while feeling a strong pang of regret for what had just happened.

“He probably doesn’t even speak English,” Ernie continued loudly. “I need a cup of coffee and you’ll work faster once you get your favorite fancy-schmancy hot chocolate in ya. Let’s go.”

Kyle sighed and rose. ‘Maybe tomorrow I’ll apologize to him,’ he thought as he followed Ernie out of his office. ‘Although I don’t even know his name…’

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