After Ben (11 page)

Theo’s split second of horror stretched out long and thin as he mentally calculated whether to smash his window as a distraction, or try to reach his phone first. Thankfully, the scrap of paper the other man pulled from his pocket waved in the breeze like a small white flag, signaling surrender.

Almost panting as if he’d been running instead of standing still, Theo hung onto the window sill as he watched Evan lean in toward the other man, frowning as he took the paper from him. He nodded, then gestured toward Theo’s building. The other man turned to look in the direction Evan pointed, removed his helmet and placed it on the bike’s seat. All Theo saw was a mess of dark hair and a huge smile.

Theo backed away from the window some, then edged closer again as the rider proceeded to strip off his jacket, looking around for a moment for somewhere to put it before thrusting it into Evan’s arms. Theo blinked and shook his head as he watched one man start to strip—right there, out on the sidewalk—while the other held a growing pile of his discarded clothes.

The other man shed a black band T-shirt before replacing it with a crumpled dress shirt from a side pannier on his bike, which he tucked into equally creased dress pants.

“What the hell?” Theo had never seen anything like it. Perhaps Evan hadn’t either. He stood, clutching the pile of discarded clothes, eyes wide. Once Theo stopped fearing for Evan’s life, he could almost see the humor in the situation. It wasn’t every day that Theo got to see a nearly naked young man outside his apartment window, and the taller dude was built.

Tanned and built.

He smiled as he watched the taller young man’s—and he was young, Theo saw that once he turned again to look at the building—expressive face crease with a frown. He made a hand movement that Theo interpreted as how do I look? Theo smiled a little wider as Evan looked mildly horrified and shook his head. He translated that as terrible. You look terrible.

The tall man shrugged, wide shoulders slumping. Then he stuffed his discarded clothes into the side panniers on his bike.

When Evan began to undo his own tie, then went on to loop it around the other man’s collar, Theo moved a little closer to the window, feeling slightly voyeuristic. This was the most entertainment he’d had in… forever.

Evan finished straightening his tie on the other man, then carried on talking for a while, pointing at his hair. Theo heard the other man’s laughter from three floors up. Then he watched the man lean down a little as Evan pulled a comb from his back pocket.

Evan did his best, but even Theo could see that his mission was hopeless.

By this time, Theo had guessed that the taller dude was his next potential intern, Joel Hudson, an environmental studies major. Yes, he looked a little like he belonged in the great outdoors, rather than in an office.

Evan shook his head, and Theo couldn’t blame him. Even in a shirt and tie, the other man looked the opposite of suitable for a formal interview.

Still, he was resourceful; Theo would give him that at least. He’d nearly killed a stranger—just like Ben had with him at their first meeting—then used the opportunity to get some help with his interview preparation. He watched them for a few more minutes, while his back yelled at him to sit down again already. Oh yes, this guy was an opportunity taker.

He noticed the way he talked to Evan the whole time, his face completely animated.

When he pulled out a cell phone, Theo saw Evan recite, as if giving his own cell number.

“Smooth move, dude.” Theo remembered how Ben turned his own anger at their near-death almost-collision into an opportunity to extract his hotel name and room number from Theo within five minutes. When he’d opened his hotel door later that night to the handsome, energetic Italian, his life had changed forever.

Later, much later, Theo found himself wondering if opening the door to Joel Hudson was the moment that his whole life changed again.

W
HEN
Maggie arrived just before one, arms full of files and takeout for lunch, Theo heard her lean on the door buzzer, then let herself in. Even if he’d wanted to he couldn’t have explained exactly how he came to be flat on his front, stretched out on a sheet across his living room floor. It was, he judged, fairly inexplicable.

Besides, the fact that a smiling young man was kneading oil into his lower back would probably make any explanation he could come up with pretty redundant. So instead of explaining, he lowered his head to the sheet again, and groaned as Joel’s long, strong, amazing fingers pushed his pain away.

“Theo Anderson!” Maggie dumped the files on the couch before kneeling down beside him. “What did I tell you about lawsuits?”

Theo shook his head. He had no idea how he had progressed from interviewing the young man to allowing his shirt to be removed and practically begging him not to stop once he started with his massage demonstration.

“There’s no need to worry, ma’am. He already offered me the job, and I already accepted the position. This massage is for therapeutic purposes only, although if I’d known the effect it would have, I guess I would have offered right at the start. It would have saved a whole lot of talking.”

He wasn’t wrong.

Joel talked as if someone might ration words at any minute. He’d only stopped talking once he started rubbing Theo’s locked-up muscles. The silence had been incredible, and Theo had fallen headfirst into it, almost drifting off to sleep once he was sure that Joel’s actions weren’t going to make his back spasm any worse. Theo craned his head to the side, blinking into Maggie’s dark stare. “Get out while you still can, Maggie.” Theo’s voice dropped to a hoarse whisper as he said, “I think he hypnotized me.”

“I can stop any time you like, Mr. Anderson. You just say the word.” As the warm hands on his back slowed, then stopped their rhythmic motion, Theo whimpered. He could hear the smile in Joel’s voice.

“That’s what I thought, boss.”

It had been Joel’s smile that led to Maggie finding them this way. The interview hadn’t gone according to plan at all. Theo had barely made it to the front door this time before Joel had pushed it open. His cheerful, “Hey, how are ya?” was quickly countered with a, “Wow, he wasn’t kidding. You do look like crap.”

Theo could almost hear Evan saying that exact phrase.

Before he knew it, Theo had found himself shuffled to his living room, eased back onto the couch, and under rapid-fire investigation. Did he need a drink, something to eat, any medication? What was the problem, how had it started, and what was helping? When Joel moved on to making suggestions for alternative therapies, Theo stopped him.

“I’m guessing you’re Mr. Hudson.” Theo tried to sound calm and composed. Joel nodded, then apologized. “That’s all right, Mr. Hudson, this isn’t the most formal of interview sessions that I’ve ever run. It’s been one of those weeks.” Frankly, it had been one of those years. “Perhaps you could tell me why an environmental studies major is even looking for a spot in my department.” All of Theo’s years of experience in hiring and firing had taught him that asking open questions was the best way to extract the maximum of information.

Mr. “Call me Joel” Hudson had started talking, and hadn’t stopped for at least ten minutes.

He began by explaining his rationale for choosing his major. He’d been deeply influenced by several well-reported man-made disasters and, as a nature lover and ardent spokesperson for the voiceless—Theo guessed that he meant for trees and wildlife—environmental studies was a natural choice. He spent a year traveling—Australia mainly, taking in a little of Asia—and had made a point to visit environmental research centers in each country he visited. Theo didn’t doubt his enthusiasm, but after a lecture on deforestation in Borneo, he was still no closer to understanding why the man wanted office experience in what sounded, by comparison, such a pedestrian field.

Joel had an answer for him, and hearing his thinking made Theo want to log into chat immediately. Morgan would absolutely love the way Joel’s mind worked. Or he’d hate him passionately. It just depended on the day.

As Joel talked and talked and talked, Theo wondered again if Morgan was okay. It had been days since he’d answered Theo’s pings.

He missed Morgan.

He missed his company.

Yes, that was it. He missed Morgan’s witty company, especially as he had so much time on his hands. Starting suddenly, realizing that the room was silent, Theo saw that Joel was studying him intently.

“Who hurt you?” Joel asked.

“It’s just an old football injury.” Theo watched as Joel pursed his full lips a little. He really did have the most expressive face. Honestly, it bordered on ugly, but when he smiled, it was practically gorgeous. His smile was amazing, all bright white teeth and just huge.

Really huge.

“I don’t mean your back. That’s obvious. I mean what happened to you?”

Theo shook his head.

This wasn’t the time or place. He had zero intention of talking about himself, especially to a complete stranger. “Tell me again why you want to intern. Just keep it short this time.” Theo settled back, wincing, as Joel started talking again. He had a comforting accent that revealed he’d grown up in Minnesota, or
Minne-snow-ta
, as he called it, shivering a little.

“I aim to work for a nonprofit or even start my own one day, but there’s little point wanting to change the world if you don’t know how the world works right now.”

Theo nodded at his logic.

“An internship with your company, particularly in your department, will look so good on my resume. But, more importantly, I need to see what business looks like from the inside out. I’m an idealist, but I guess that money will always talk. I figure that it can’t hurt to at least understand a little more about corporate America, even if you all are directly responsible for destroying the planet.”

Yes, Theo decided, Morgan would love him, then he’d tear his argument apart, then he’d love him some more.

They discussed the reality of the intern spot, and Joel nodded his agreement to basically file and copy for six weeks or so.

“Will that blond dude be starting with me?” His ugly-gorgeous face was suddenly immobile, utterly focused, until Theo nodded. He cracked another huge smile, saying, “Sweet!”

Theo shook his head. “I’m not sure that you two will have much in common. Maybe you can learn how to be serious from Evan.”

“Maybe I can help to loosen him up a little instead. Hey! Maybe I can loosen you up while I’m here.” He pulled out his cell phone, placed a call, then strode to and fro across the room. Theo looked on, wondering how exactly the conversation had moved on from Joel talking his way into a job he showed zero aptitude for, to him talking with his mother on his cell about deep-tissue massage.

Joel fired questions at Theo while he talked and walked around the room: How exactly had Theo injured himself? What was his normal course of treatment? How long did episodes usually last? Who was the dude in all these pictures?

Theo answered them all, even the last one, caught out by Joel’s rapid-fire questioning.

“That’s my partner, Ben.” He was relieved when Joel moved on, reacting neither positively nor negatively to information Theo wouldn’t usually share with a stranger. Joel spoke with his mother, then instructed Theo to take off his shirt.

“What? No!”

“Here, talk to my mom.”

So, somewhat reluctantly, Theo found himself lying on a sheet that Joel Hudson, a young man he hadn’t even met an hour before, had found. He’d spoken to his mother, who had told him—at great fucking length—about her business as a sports massage therapist. Joel had learned at her knee, and Theo could rest easy in his hands. Theo wanted to rest easy, but as he listened to the woman, he heard Joel opening and closing cupboard doors. When he came back to the living room clutching a bottle of Ben’s best herb-infused olive oil, Theo closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, Joel was on his knees in front of him.

“I promise you’ll feel better.”

Theo shook his head.

“You don’t want to feel better?” Joel looked confused.

“I do, it’s just… not what I was expecting to happen today.” Theo inched toward the edge of his seat, determined to show the newest intern out.

When Joel started speaking again, Theo found himself raising his arms as his shirt was gently pulled over his head. Then he found himself first kneeling, then being helped down onto the sheet that had been thrown across the rug. Joel’s words made him feel like he was dreaming or overmedicated—high, even. It was the only explanation.

“Now that I’ve got the internship, I’ll tell you the real reason I applied. All the other stuff was true, I do need the experience. But I guess I could have gotten that anywhere, maybe even somewhere related to my field.” Theo nodded; that was probably true. A lot of nonprofits were huge corporate-style operations.

Joel’s hands were warm against his skin.

“You know the dude who panhandles down at the corner of Cherry Street and First?” At Theo’s silent shrug, he expanded a little. “The dude with dreadlocks and a shopping cart?” Theo nodded slowly. He recognized the description. He’d sometimes seen a guy like that outside the coffee shop near there. “Well, he comes to the project I volunteer at. Not all the time, just when the menu appeals to him.” Theo quite liked that—a discerning hobo.

Joel continued. “He told me that you were one of the good guys, and that good guys were rare in the business district.” Theo wasn’t sure that was true at all. At least it didn’t used to be. Maybe his company had become a little more mercenary recently. He thought for a moment about other department managers, seemingly unconcerned about the cuts they had to make. Then he thought about the fact that staff in his department didn’t voluntarily leave. Staff retention had never been an issue for him.

Shrugging again, then wincing some more, he encouraged Joel to continue his story. The oil trickling along his spine felt cool and soothing.

“He said that he asked you for spare change one day last winter, but you gave him your coat. It was a good one: down-filled, waterproof but lightweight. Too good to give away, he said.” Theo shook his head. There was no way that happened; he would remember.