Chalk Butterfly: Part One (First Time Erotic Romance) (4 page)

“Fine. But later, you spill.”

“Fine, fine! Now go do some actual work, you
wanker.”

“Yeah, yeah. See you later then,” Elijah
said through a mouthful of what Alexander knew to be a strawberry
jelly donut, Elijah’s trademark breakfast food.

“Yep,” Alexander murmured, shifting the
phone against his shoulder and ear. “Oh, and Eli?”

“Hm?

Alexander grinned widely. “It wasn’t some
girl.”

“Wait… what?”

“See ya.”

“Alexan-”

Alexander ended the call with a satisfying
smirk, and he could barely contain the giggle that threatened to
escape. He allowed himself a large, self indulgent grin, because
really, today was progress.

He sunk his hands into his pockets and
became part of the crowd again, something that felt odd but not
entirely bad.

Chapter
Two

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“There you are,” Daniel greeted, motioning
for Alexander to sit across from him. Alexander nodded and shuffled
awkwardly, squeezing between two tables. Daniel had grabbed one of
the few tiny tables outside the crowded Starbucks, and Alexander
settled himself in as best he could. There wasn’t much room to get
comfortable, as the tables were packed tightly together, chair
backs grazing other chair backs.

Alexander pulled his chair in and stretched
his long legs out. His knee knocked Daniel’s under the table and he
flushed, hurriedly scooting back. The chair dragged on the marble
floor, bumping into an older lady behind him. With a grimace, he
mouthed a quick apology, and pulled forward again, his eyes on the
table. Alexander’s cheeks were burning crimson and he bit at his
lip. Now Daniel surely was aware that Alexander knew their knees
had touched. And, really, the touch had seemed obscenely intimate
to Alexander.

Daniel chuckled low, and Alexander shifted
his legs around, squirming in his seat.

“So, I thought you’d run off,” Daniel said.
He stirred at his coffee with a plastic spoon, eyes on
Alexander.

“Oh, well, no. I mean, where’d I have run
to?” Alexander asked, reaching for the large coffee that Daniel
nudged toward him. “Thank you.”

“I wasn’t quite sure on that bit. Maybe
Niagra. You ever been there?” Daniel took a long swallow of his
coffee and wiped at his mouth with his jacket sleeve. The crude
gesture didn’t exactly fit Alexander’s expectations of Daniel, and
it mixed him up a bit inside. But he didn’t know Daniel, after all.
Maybe the man only appeared posh.

“Nah,” Alexander mumbled, enjoying the feel
of the steam wafting up from the cup and across his chin. “I don’t
travel much.” He dipped his head low, catching more of the
delicious warmth across his cheeks and eyelids.

“Just the big skip across the pond, then?”
Daniel took another gulp, and Alexander raised his head, watching
how Daniel watched him. Very closely it seemed.

“Basically, though I did move here from
Massachusetts a few years back,” Alexander said. He pressed the cup
lid to his lower lip. It was still a little too hot, but he gave
into temptation and took a long draught of the coffee. The moment
the steaming liquid hit his tongue he was gagging.

“Whoa, you okay?”

Alexander swallowed the coffee, coughing.
“Yeah…”

“I thought you seemed like a straight up
guy,” Daniel explained, and Alexander made a face.

“Oh, well, um. I don’t usually take it
black.”

“Sugar, then?”

“And cream, please.”

Daniel smiled and stood. “I’ll be right
back.”

“Thanks.”

Alexander watched Daniel push his way back
to the counter, disappearing into the crowd. He frowned down at his
dark coffee; he hated the stuff with a passion.

That was something he didn’t have to tell
Daniel. He shifted around in his seat, letting his hands relax
against the table top. His hands were overly warm under the
mittens, and he wanted to remove them, but he knew what
conversation would follow if he did. He didn’t want to dampen the
mood with talk of his bandages.

And then Daniel was back, all smiles,
leaning over Alexander.

“Here we are,” Daniel said. He sat down and
set a few packs of sugar and cream on the table. Alexander frowned
at the small packets and covered them with one mittened hand. There
was no chance he’d be able to tear them open with his mittens
intact.

“Can I tell you something?” Alexander set
his hands in his lap, looking up directly at Daniel.

“Sure,” Daniel replied. He leaned across the
table on his elbows, as if inviting an intimate confession.

Alexander tipped his head forward a bit, and
said, lowly, “I rather detest coffee.”

Daniel blinked and sat back, his mouth
turning down.

“Seriously,” Alexander said, eyes wide at
Daniel’s reaction. “I usually go for tea, or maybe hot chocolate.
If we’re talking about warm things… and…”

Daniel’s face suddenly broke into a large
grin and Alexander choked back his rambling.

“Seriously?” Daniel asked.

“Completely, on my honor,” Alexander said.
Much to his surprise, Daniel burst into a quiet fit of
laughter.

“You have a very amusing way about you,”
Daniel said in explanation, and Alexander smiled unsurely. “I think
I mean charming.”

“Oh. Well. Me?” Alexander’s knees brushed
Daniel’s once more, and their eyes locked. “Um, I—”

“Yeah, you,” Daniel interrupted, pressing
his knee in quite unsubtly. “Hey, give me your coffee then.” Daniel
reached out for it, and Alexander pulled the cup back an inch or
two, just out of Daniel’s reach.

“Maybe I want it.” Alexander felt the words
slip out of his mouth before he could shove them back in, and he
almost groaned aloud at his audacity. Daniel rolled his eyes, and
grabbed at the cup again.

“Maybe you’re a masochist,” Daniel said.

Alexander shrugged, feeling the hot
flush move down his neck.
“Maybe.”

They shared some disjointed small talk for a
few more minutes where Alexander never exactly got the hang of the
conversation, and Daniel found every moment with the younger man
more endearing than the last.

The scene was sweet enough; the two huddled
over the steaming coffee, silly grins plastered on their faces,
knees touching. It looked, perhaps to an outsider, like a promising
enough beginning.

And then Alexander’s train pulled into the
station.

“Oh, that’s me,” Alexander said, struggling
to slide his chair away from the table. “Well, not literally me,
but the train and, um.”

“You’d make a very lovely train, Alexander,”
Daniel said. Alexander nearly fell over.

“Uh. Thanks,” he murmured,. He slipped out
from the maze of chairs and smiled. “I guess I’ll… thank you for
the coffee.”

“That you hated,” Daniel added.

“Yes,” Alexander said. “And for the
conversation.”

“You ought to have more conversations,”
Daniel said, standing as well. “With me. Now, I’ll have to be quick
and blunt about this, but would it be alright if I asked for your
phone number? We could converse, you see, through this manner.”
Daniel cracked a grin and Alexander smiled back, though his belly
was alive with a fluttering, twisting feeling.

‘No, no, no!’ screamed something from inside
Alexander. ‘You don’t need this confusion in your life.’ Alexander
looked past Daniel, into the throng of people.

‘Well, you only live once,’ he thought. ‘Or
twice if you’re lucky.’

“It’d be good practice for you. Free of
charge,” Daniel continued, raising an eyebrow. Alexander had to
smile wider, had to say something, had to rush his decision…

“Oh, in that case, sure, you can ask.”

“May I have your phone number?” Daniel
asked, leaning in.

“Alright,” Alexander said. Daniel pulled a
napkin from the table, holding it forward. Alexander looked dumbly
at it, taking the napkin.

“Have a pen?” Daniel prompted, and Alexander
nodded vigorously.

Alexander fished one from his pocket,
holding it awkwardly, and then realized Daniel expected him to
write his own number down. In normal, everyday life, for normal,
everyday people, this would have been the simplest of tasks.

But Alexander didn’t live in that world, and
his hands began shaking slightly. He’d have to remove his gloves to
write the number down and he didn’t want to explain his bandages to
Daniel.

The sane part of his conscience, the part
that would have suggested possibly reciting his number to Daniel,
letting the older man take down the digits, had checked out when
Alexander had ignored it previously, so he was on his own.

Alexander bit his lip, aware that he was
gaping dumbly at a pen. “Why don’t… you give me yours?” Alexander
asked,. He held the pen and napkin out to Daniel and the older man
sighed, taking them.

“If you don’t want to give me your number,
it’s alright,” Daniel said, taking a step back. “I didn’t mean to
assume. I wasn’t being untoward, and…”

“Please,” Alexander interrupted,. He was
quite shocked at the sound of his own slightly pleading voice. “I’d
love to call you. Really.”

“Are you going to?” Daniel remained
unconvinced.

“Maybe,” Alexander said, smiling small and
shy. “Please, my train’s leaving…”

Daniel gave Alexander a long look, and
pressed the napkin against a cement pillar, scrawling his number
down messily.

“Alright, but only because my train’s about
to head off, too. Otherwise, I’d interrogate you right here and
now. That’s a nine, remember that,” Daniel said. He stepped in
close and tucked the folded napkin into Alexander’s jacket
pocket.

“I will,” Alexander said, near breathless.
He stepped back. “It was very nice. You. The you was nice. God,
okay. Sorry.”

Daniel chuckled, and patted
Alexander’s cheek.
“Yes. Goodbye,
Alexander.”

Alexander nodded and turned away quickly,
making his way toward the train.

“Wait,” he whispered. He turned sharply,
watching Daniel walk off in the opposite direction. “Hey!” he
called. Daniel stopped in his tracks. “You said this was your
stop!”

“I lied!” Daniel called back, lifting his
coffee in a mock toast, and taking a swig. He was pushed back a few
feet by the moving crowd, and Alexander fought to keep Daniel
within his eyesight.

“And you stole my pen!” Alexander cried.

“You’ll have to get it back later!” was
Daniel’s reply, and then he disappeared among the crowd. Alexander
watched the crowd move, and sighed.

“What have you gotten yourself into?”

He wasn’t entirely sure.

Chapter
Three

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“For the fifth and final time Eli, you can
wait until our lunch break,” Alexander teased. He ignored Elijah’s
pleading look and turned back to the computer, studying the
monitor.

“Come on!” Elijah whined.

“Elijah, you can be so petulant,” Elizabeth
said, bringing a load of paperwork into the backroom. “Are you
working on the new cataloging, Alex?” She flashed Elijah a harsh
look.

“He wanted to,” Elijah said defensively.
“Besides, I’m doing all the actual work. He’s only typing it into
the database.”

“I can use a computer, Elizabeth,” Alexander
said gently. He knew how worked up and overprotective Elizabeth
could get over him.

Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head, and
plopped the folders down beside Elijah. “Eli said you’ve been
having more trouble lately, you know, with your hands.” Elijah
groaned, slapping a hand across his brow.

“Eli!” Alexander glared over at Elijah from
behind the monitor. “I didn’t mean for you to worry Elizabeth.”

“Elizaaaaaaaaaaaabeth.” Elijah drew the word
out, long and whining. “I told you not to mention it.”

“See, he’s petulant,” Elizabeth said,
turning to Alexander. “And he’s supposed to be the boss, huh? Alex,
what’s going on?”

“I’m fine, Liz, I swear,” he said. “It’s
been a tough month for me, you both know that, but it’s mostly all
clear now, and things are good. I won’t even have to wrap for much
longer.”

“Alex met a boy,” Elijah added. “On the
subway.”

“You’re kidding me!” Elizabeth exclaimed,
the worry in her eyes replaced with excitement. She sat down beside
Alexander, eyes wide and curious.

“Oh, come on,” Alexander huffed. “Why is it
so shocking?”

“Alexander Price, you’re blushing,”
Elizabeth said. She scrunched up her nose and giggled. “Oh my God,
Eli, look how red he is.”

“You guys…”

“Well, spill the beans, Alex. What
happened?” Elizabeth asked. She poked him in the shoulder with a
pointed nail and grinned.