Strictly Business - 2. Where Did You Go?

The coffee break was over and Maggie returned to the office where Sam was already working at his desk. As he looked up and saw the annoyed look on her face, he knew she’d have a new story (gossip, to be more precise) to tell. He didn’t even have to ask anything, because as soon as she sat at her desk, she was ready to begin.

“Ugh, I had to wait fifteen minutes at the vending machine to get my coffee,” she said loudly.

“Why, what…” Sam started to ask, but Maggie already had the entire conversation planned and wasn’t going to be interrupted.

“Because Ellen didn’t know how to use the machine, so she called Tina to help her. Then, when she finally got her coffee, she realized she put too much sugar, so she had to get another one,” she explained. Sam wondered if he was lucky that Maggie wasn’t his friend outside of work because he’d probably go crazy next to her.

“I’m telling you, if I were a guy working here, I’d instantly turn gay,” she said adamantly. “No question. When you see these incompetent, menopausal women, you can’t help but become gay,” she stated matter-of-factly.

By this time, Sam was half paying attention to Maggie and half daydreaming about Brian. After this remark of hers, he thought it was the perfect opportunity to find out more about Brian without exposing himself.

“Well, it’s not like any of the guys here are a great catch. I mean, most of them are older and probably already married – you know, guys like Christopher or Brian,” he added nonchalantly, pretending that he’s returned to his work. He was actually anxious about her response, but managed to completely hide it.

“Yeah, you kinda have a point… Although, Brian is actually single,” she said flatly.

“YESSS!” Sam wanted to shout and make a fist pump, but he contained himself and just said “Oh, ok.”

Of course, he knew that Brian being single doesn’t mean he’s gay, let alone that he’d be interested in him. Sam got burned on false hopes too many times before and knew better than to celebrate and get his hopes up too early. This time, he would just play it slowly and see where this thing goes, if anywhere. After all, he’s only seen him several times over the past few weeks, and only in a business setting. Speaking of which, could he even date a coworker? He had no idea if there were any rules against it, but then again, it was probably too early to even think about that.

For now, he was just going to enjoy spending some time with Clara after work. They made arrangements to meet that afternoon for a drink. That would keep his mind off of Brian… At least until he saw him again.

--

As usual, Sam arrived first at the Bonfire café and found a table for two by the window. He sat down and started thinking about what to order, when he got a text message.

[Clara:] Coming in 1 min.

He put down his phone and looked through the window, looking for his best friend. Sure enough, just a few seconds later Clara appeared. Noticing him sitting inside the café, she smiled and waved. He waved back and went back to the menu, going through the list of drinks.

As Clara approached the table, she was all smiles. “Hey! Come here,” she said happily, extending her arms and inviting Sam for a hug.

“Hey there! Long time…” he stood up to hug her and a big grin formed on his face. He loved that she was always happy to see him, as if they haven’t seen each other for months. Now that he thought about it, it had been at least three weeks since they last met, and he missed her a lot.

Clara was similar to him in many ways, which was probably why they got along so well. Also, they truly respected and loved each other, and would always go out of their way to help the other one. In all of their time as friends, they never actually had a single fight.

After they got their orders – a cappuccino for Sam and black tea for Clara – the two friends continued their conversation as if they had been separated for months. Clara told him all about the painting course she enrolled in, and the mildly amusing events at her workplace that she knew only Sam would find interesting. She worked at a nearby university as an assistant professor. Although she was a bit unsure how she would deal with having to speak in front of people, she became better and better at it. She was a genuinely good and funny person, and Sam thought she was a damn good professor as well.

“So, you still hanging out with your biggest fan?” Sam asked with a wicked smile.

“You mean Jen, my stalker?” Clara said, half amused and half annoyed. “She bought me flowers the other day!”

Jen was Clara’s coworker that was desperately trying to become her best friend. At first it seemed harmless and even amusing, but lately it turned out to be “borderline creepy”, as Clara put it. Jen would always accompany Clara on lunch breaks and tell her all about her private life, trying to establish a connection between them. She didn’t seem to register Clara’s disinterest at all.

“Aww, she just wants a new friend,” Sam teased.

“Yeah, so I gave her your number,” Clara hit back. Sam burst out laughing, knowing that Clara is messing with him.

“Oh, yeah? Maybe she’ll replace you as my BFF,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

“She’s not that crazy,” Clara made a quick comeback.

“True!” Sam grinned.

“So, how’s the new job going?” she asked, happy to change the subject.

“Actually, pretty good. I mean, mostly boring, but much better than the old one,” he said. “Definitely the best decision I made in a long time.”

“Nice, I’m glad to hear that,” she said, sipping her tea. “Any cute guys at the office?” she asked, already guessing what the answer will be.

“Nah, not really,” he said, shaking his head slightly. For a second, he was concerned she would read his mind and see Brian’s name written all over it. “You know, all serious businessmen, not my type at all.”

Clara knew that Sam didn’t really have a specific type of guys he would fall for, it’s just that he thought that mature, serious men were out of his league.

“Well, you never know,” she said, tilting her head and shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe you need to have your world shaken up, you know, explore new territories.”

“You know I’m always up for that,” he replied while rolling his eyes.

--

It was Friday, so that automatically meant that Sam was in good spirits, looking forward to the weekend. Just two more hours and he’d finish work for the day. There wasn’t much work left – all he had to do was deliver some papers to a colleague on the floor below. As he walked down the hall, he saw a man standing with his back turned to him, but he immediately recognized it was Brian. Hearing footsteps behind him, Brian turned around. Sam could have sworn he saw his lips curve upward into a smile when he saw him approach.

“Hey,” Brian greeted him.

“Good afternoon, how are you?” Sam replied politely. He had no trouble speaking to women, but when it came to men, especially those he found attractive, he was pretty shy. He spoke to other people as if they had been friends for years, but with Brian, he was always nervous and even slightly intimidated.

“Doing great, and you? And please, Sam, you don’t have to be all formal with me, we’re colleagues,” Brian replied. He was definitely smiling now.

“OK, sorry ‘bout that,” Sam said, nodding and smiling back at him. “So, what’s up?”

“Umm, not much, just got back from a coffee break. I so needed that!” Brian replied.

“I hear you! Thought I was going to fall asleep today at the meeting,” Sam shook his head. “Well, I gotta get these to Tim, have a nice weekend!”

“You too,” Brian said warmly, looking after Sam as he walked away. He thought about how Sam was different from all the other guys he had met so far. “There’s something about him… Honesty, kindness… It’s so refreshing,” Brian thought as he checked his colleague out.

“OK, now that’s a nice ending to this week,” Sam thought. For a brief moment, he thought about turning around to see if Brian was still standing there, but decided not to.

--

Needless to say, Sam spent much of his free time during the weekend daydreaming about Brian. After too many imaginary conversations with him, he decided he had to take his mind off of him and called up Clara to see if she was free to meet with him. Luckily, she was, so they spent the entire afternoon together, eating junk food and watching movies. It was just what the doctor ordered, as it helped Sam forget about Brian, at least for a while.

Of course, Monday came too soon and both of them had to go back to work: Clara to keep avoiding her stalker/friend, and Sam to try and see if he can make any progress with the man that was still on his mind.

However, a very busy week left little time for socializing, and Sam didn’t even notice that Brian wasn’t there. It was only after several days that he realized he hadn’t seen him in a while.

“Oh, just as well. I don’t wanna get my hopes up too soon,” he thought, but then realized it may already be too late for that.

After two weeks since their last encounter, Sam was now definitely feeling Brian’s absence. He missed his smile and their little random chats in the hallway.

“Hopefully he’ll come back soon. He’s probably on vacation, or maybe he’s sick so he took some time off,” he thought, waiting for the elevator. Of course, he also considered the possibility that maybe Brian had quit his job and he’d never see him again, but he really didn’t want to entertain that notion.

The elevator finally came down and the door opened. Sam entered, together with several coworkers. Just as the door was about to close, one last person managed to squeeze in.

“Sorry,” the man apologized to no one in particular as the door finally closed.

Sam looked up to see who the man was and their eyes met for a second. A very handsome young man was looking back at him, he must have been around Sam’s age. His short black hair, chiseled jaw and tanned skin made him look like a model. Also, a very fit body, with firm pecs and broad shoulders, was clearly hiding behind his tight shirt and jacket.

As the elevator got up, people got out one by one, until only Sam and the stranger remained, waiting to reach the top floor. Both could feel some kind of tension in the small space they shared, but neither spoke a word. After the ding sound, the door opened and both men came out, heading in the same direction.

“A new guy,” Sam thought. “OK, if Brian quit and this guy came to replace him, I hate him already,” he thought, half serious, half joking. As they passed Brian’s office and the new guy kept walking alongside him, Sam was relieved.

The stranger stopped in front of the office just opposite of Sam’s, before turning and saying: “I’m Jared, by the way.”

“Sam. Nice to meet you,” Sam replied, extending his hand.

“You too,” Jared gave him a firm handshake as their eyes met once again.