Ugly Davey - 11. Chapter 11 – The Love God

Chapter 11 – The Love God

“Hold the elevator, please!” I shouted out as I quickly made my way through the lobby. A hand shot out of the elevator to hold open the door and I entered it while precariously trying to balance the tray holding two cups of coffee and the pack of Timbits I had just bought.

Ever since the coffee incident with Dean, I had made it a mission to never step foot in the break room again. That’s why I had started getting coffee from the Tim Hortons down the street instead of risking another run in with the Witch Bitch.

“Thanks,” I said to the man who had held the door. After fixing my hold on the tray, I looked up and right into the face of a sneering Dean Smith.

“Ah fuck!” I said looking at Dean’s face. Oops shouldn’t have said that out loud, I thought as Dean’s expression darkened even further.

“Morning,” I tried giving it another shot while using the hand holding the Timbits box to shift my glasses back up my nose from where they had slipped.

Dean didn’t respond. No surprise there. Instead he looked me up and down and I could see that like usual, he hated what he saw. But then again I was wearing a sky blue wool vest with a pattern of clouds and a bright yellow necktie covered in tiny orange suns.

“Do you like my tie,” I asked him, trying to appear as innocent as possible and noticing how Dean’s face twitched momentarily with annoyance. Oh yeah! I was getting to him, I gleefully observed. “I wore it in honor of the wonderful weather we’ve been having the past few days,” I continued. Yup, there was the twitch again; warning me that Dean was only seconds away from exploding. Hmm I guess I better stop now before it all blows up in my face.

“You think you’re a bloody comedian don’t you?” Dean jeered.

Damn too late! I thought, looking at the floors go by, desperately wishing for the elevator to finally arrive on the 16th floor so I could get out. Should’ve just kept my big mouth shut, I contemplated in hindsight.

“Don’t try to get all cocky just because you’ve survived two weeks at the job. Tyler may get off on how you look, but I’ll make sure that you will be kicked out of this firm on your fucking ass within two weeks’ time,” Dean continued his repeated tirade.

I rolled my eyes. This guy really needs to learn of some new threats.

“And how will you be doing that?” I asked, staring up at him with my best puppy-eyed look.

Just for a moment, a moment so fleeting that I couldn’t be sure that I had imagined it, there was an unexplainable look in Dean’s eyes when our gaze met. But before I could even begin to decipher it, it was replaced by the usual disgust as Dean continued his rant.

I rolled my eyes again and let him go on while counting down the floors to go before we arrived at our destination. 14th floor…15th…almost there!

All of a sudden I was struck with inspiration. “You know what you need?” I asked staring at Dean’s anger filled face as he stopped mid-rant. “You need a little sugar to sweeten up your attitude.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You’re crazy! This just proves that your unfit to work for Fritz LLP. If I were your boss, I would fire you right on the spot! You’re so fucking pathetic. You know that?” Dean continued to seethe.

“Uh-huh,” I said noncommittally, no longer paying attention, as I was too busy trying to balance the coffee tray in one had and opening the Timbits box with the other.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“Sure I am,” I replied, as I continued to rummage through the Timbits box, before pulling out one of the small round sugarcoated donuts.

“Ah hah, perfect!” I exclaimed, a second before I shoved it in Dean’s unsuspecting mouth, and just as we arrived at the 16th floor.

“Wha..da…fugh…!” Dean tried to say through the mouthful.

Before Dean could overcome his shock, I pressed the button for the 20th floor and the button to close the elevator doors. Then I quickly got out of the elevator before they shut. I stood looking back at the elevator as the doors started closing with Dean still inside, quietly snickering and wiggling my fingers in good-bye. The expression on Dean’s face just as the doors closed and he realized what had happened was priceless and I couldn’t hold back my laughter.

Even though I was pretty sure Dean would now kick the shit out of me for this stint, I couldn’t help but be proud of myself for catching him unaware.

I can’t believe there was a time when I actually got hard over that asshole! I thought as I made my way towards Tyler’s office.

I knocked on Tyler’s office door before entering and like always, my breath caught when my eyes landed on him. He was seated behind his desk looking as dapper as ever as he checked over some files. Today he was wearing a steel gray suit with a silver tie that matched his eyes. How can anyone be so gorgeous? I wondered as I walked towards his desk.

“Morning Tyler! Here, I got you some coffee,” I said putting his cup down next to the files.

“Coffee! And from Tim Hortons! God David, I could kiss you!”

I gasped at his words and my knees almost buckled. I had to grab the corner of the desk to keep myself from falling down. My heart was thundering in my chest as all of a sudden I was hit with an onslaught of flashes from both our steamy encounter and of my dreams. It was all too much and an involuntary groan escaped my lips.

I quickly looked up in fear to see if Tyler had noticed my reaction, but thankfully he hadn’t been paying any attention to me. His gaze was solely focused on the cup of steaming hot coffee.

Saved by a damn coffee! I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks so much for the coffee, David. Anything is better than that piss they serve in the break room!”

“N-no problem,” I managed to say. I shook my head to get my mind back on track before continuing. “I don’t get it though. The owner of this firm is your dad, why don’t you tell him to buy better coffee?”

“You think I haven’t? I’ve told him countless times. Problem is that he loves that stuff.” Tyler made a face of utter disgust. “I think the old man’s beginning to lose his sense of taste.”

I couldn’t help laughing thinking about Robert’s sense of taste in other things, like his horrendous tie collection.

“Anyway, let’s get started. From what you told me yesterday, we have a long day ahead of us,” said Tyler as he sipped his coffee.

“That we do,” I replied before delving into the day’s schedule.

***

“Hey David, over here!” I heard Megan call as I carried my tray of food towards the seating area. I made my way towards the table where my usual lunch crew featuring of Megan, Janet, Jared, and Dolores were all sitting.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” I asked nearing them.

“Are you coming with us today?” Megan asked me.

“Where?” I enquired in confusion as I took the seat next to Jared.

“Dude we’re going to the bar a few blocks down the street,” answered Jared. “We try going there every few Fridays a month. You should definitely come with us today. It’s great! Good booze, hot chicks, what more can a guy need, eh David?” he said elbowing me in the ribs.

Megan looked a little miffed at Jared’s response, but Jared didn’t seem to notice. I caught Janet’s eye and she discretely nodded towards the two before winking. Ahh seems like Megan might be crushing on Jared. Interesting. I grinned back at Janet, letting her know that I understood.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be going,” I said.

“You should go dear.” Dolores reached over to pat my hand. “Go have fun for old Dolores’ sake. Then you can fill me in with all the gossip on Monday,” she said sending a pointed look towards Megan who was still staring at Jared.

I grabbed Dolores’ hand. “Anything for my sweet Dolores, and don’t you ever call yourself old. If you weren’t married, I would have swept you off of your feet last week when I first set my eyes on you.”

Dolores giggled like a schoolgirl. “Oh you charmer! You must have the ladies swooning all over you.”

“Sure if the girl was blind,” piped in Jared.

“Jared!” Megan shrieked.

“What? It’s not like what I said wasn’t true,” Jared said defensively.

Before things could escalate, I butted in to stop any further conversation regarding my appearance.

“It’s OK Megan, I’ll go out with you guys tonight. It sounds like fun. So what’s the plan? Do we head out right after work?”

“Yup,” Janet piped in, also trying to divert any oncoming squabbles. “It’s not far, so we usually just walk there. You’ll have a good time David. The atmosphere is great; they even have a small dance floor and everything.”

“Dweeb’s don’t dance, Janet,” said Jared as he laughed at his own joke, right before Megan’s elbow found it’s mark.

Oh if only he knew how this “dweeb” had been dancing just last week, I reflected as I once again found myself getting lost in thoughts of Tyler.

***

The bar was crowded and bustling with activity when we got there. It was packed with many office workers, so it seemed like we weren’t the only ones wanting to celebrate the week’s end. Janet had been right about the atmosphere. Instead of the dreary mood I expected from the patrons being tired after a long day’s work, the ambiance was lively and jovial. There was a small dance floor in the corner of the room, where a few couples were dancing to the lively music. It was completely different than the gay clubs I usually went to, but nice nonetheless. Wonder if I’d get any shit for dancing with a guy here, I thought as eyed all the straight couples.

We made our way across the room until we finally found an empty table.

“So what would you girls like to drink,” I asked as the others sat down.

“Oooh you’re such a gentleman,” giggled Megan before sending a glare towards Jared. “Someone here should be taking tips,” she said to him. The glare and comment were completely lost on Jared, as he was too busy checking out the women nearby to be paying us any attention.

I saw Megan’s frown deepen at Jared’s lack of response. Janet caught my eye and just rolled her eyes as if to say that this was usual behavior for them. “Just get us some cosmos,” she said while discreetly making a hand motion to take Jared with me.

I just shook my head and reached for Jared’s arm to pull him up. “Let’s go get the drinks Jared.”

“Yeah umm sure…” mumbled Jared as he unconsciously got up, still too busy staring at buxom blonde sitting a few tables over. Megan’s frown was quickly turning into a scowl, so I hurriedly pulled Jared along behind me to the bar.

When we got to the bar, there were still about 15 people waiting for drinks ahead of us, so we turned around to do some people watching while we waited.

“Damn David, check out the brunette at six o’clock. You think those tits are real? I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on those.”

I looked at Jared, who was practically drooling with his eyes glued on the woman dancing on the dance floor.

“Like I know you’re a dweeb and all, but even you won’t be able to say no to that, eh?” he said

“Actually I would be able to say no, seeing as she’s lacking the most important equipment,” I replied.

“Yeah? What’s that? A nice juicy ass?” asked Jared, his attention still diverted towards the woman.

“No, just a nice juicy dick,” I answered nonchalantly while checking to see if the line had shortened.

I could tell the exact moment when that bit of news sank into Jared’s head. His head jerked towards me and both his eyes and mouth fell wide open. He leapt a step away and turned to look at me. “A d-dick?”

I raised an eyebrow at his reaction before answering smoothly. “Yes Jared, a dick. Seeing as I’m gay, it’s an important part of the anatomy of the person I’m attracted to.”

“You’re g-gay?”

These questions are really starting to get annoying.

“Yeah Jared, I’m gay. You got a problem with that?” my voice clearly indicating my irritation.

“N-no, I don’t.”

But I could clearly tell that he did judging by his unconvincing tone of voice and his unwillingness to close the large gap between us.

“You’re not going to hit on me or anything, are you? Because let me tell you straight, I do not play for your team.”

I rolled my eyes at that. “You don’t have to worry about anything like that. You’re not my type.”

“Why not?” Jared suddenly demanded, “what’s wrong with me?”

I was taken aback. Here he was one minute freaking out that I would hit on him, while the next demanding why I didn’t find him attractive. Jeez Jared, can’t you just make up your mind!

“Because,” I said trying not to grit my teeth, “you’re just not. Why does it matter anyway, unless you want me to hit on you? Do you, Jared? Want me to ask you out on a date?”

“Fuck no!”

“Well then problem solved.”

That seemed to appease Jared, and he went back to his inspection of all the women in the bar. I watched him for a while before bringing up the big question. “So what do you think of Megan?”

“Huh? What about her?”

“Oh nothing. I was just wondering that had I been straight, I would probably have been all over her trying to get her to go out with me,” I said, trying to get some information out of him.

“Megan? Our Megan? Seriously?”

“Yeah sure, why not? She’s really pretty, and intelligent as well. What’s not to love?”

Jared got a contemplative look in his eyes. “Well I guess she’s kinda cute, and she can be quite funny when she wants to be.”

“Mmhmm,” I said nodding my head in agreement, secretly congratulating myself for successfully planting the thought in Jared’s head.

After we returned with the drinks, Janet noticed the change in Jared’s attitude immediately. Jared’s attention was now solely fixed on Megan, as he seemed to look at her with new eyes. No one was more surprised than Megan herself when Jared asked her for a dance.

“Are you the Love God? And if so, can you please work your magic on me as well,” said Janet as we watched Jared pull Megan onto the dance floor.

I laughed at that, “if I was the Love God, I would have worked the powers on myself first before turning them on anyone else.”

Janet let out a lilting giggle. “Well look at all the women here, just take your pick and ask her to a dance.”

“Sorry doll, but you’ve got the wrong half of the population,” I said waggling my eyebrows.

Janet flushed a slight pink before letting out another giggle. “Oops my bad. Well then just repeat what I said, but fill in the ‘women’ with ‘men’.”

I smiled at her as I shook my head. “I doubt anyone would want to dance with me,” I said indicating my wardrobe.

The look in Janet’s eyes turned serious before she took a hold of my hand and gave it a light squeeze. “Just remember David, you have a really good heart. So never let something as insignificant as looks hold you down from taking the chance.”

I was touched by Janet’s sincerity, but at the same time overwhelmed with a great wave of guilt. I felt as though I was betraying the friendship we had developed by not telling Janet the truth about Rick’s stupid bet. Would she still think so highly of me if she knew I was a liar? Maybe I should just tell her the truth…

“Look Janet, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you…”

I was interrupted when a man appeared by our table. He was tall with dark skin the color of caramel, and his dark brown eyes were solely focused on Janet.

“Hi, my name is Raj,” said the man holding his hand out to Janet. “I was wondering whether you would give me the honor of having a dance with you.”

Janet blushed as she shook his hand, and then turned to give me an inquiring look.

I waved her off. “It’s nothing. You go have some fun since I just used my Love God powers for you.”

Janet gave me a smile and took Raj’s as he led her towards the dance floor.

The music turned into something much softer as I sat all by myself, drinking my beer. I watched Janet dancing with Raj, her face flush with excitement as they talked to one another. I could tell by the way they were looking at each other that this could be the start of something new. On their other side, Jared was giving Megan a twirl as they danced to the romantic music. They all looked so happy dancing with their partners, that I was hit wit a huge wave of loneliness. They were all there having fun, while I sat alone and fiddled with the label on my beer bottle.

I was just wondering whether I would get into trouble for bailing out early, when a voice sounded next to me.

“Seems like somebody’s been ditched.”

I looked up into the stormy gray eyes that always managed to pierce my heart.

“Tyler…” I breathed out.

To be continued…