Refugees - 3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

 

After Robert left for the night, David shuffled into his office. He finally realized how Spartan and cold it was. It had no real style at all.

 

“Damn. I think this place looks worse than I feel. It needs some style.”

 

He was interrupted by the phone ringing. He punched the “line 1” button and picked up.

 

“Hello?”

 

It was Cal. “David? How’s it going, kiddo?”

 

“Hiya, boss. How are things?”

 

“I was gonna ask you that. How are things in the dead zone?”

 

David paused. “They’re alright. I have one patient who’s kinda nosy.”

 

“Oh? What’s he asking about?”

 

“About me, my personal life.”

Cal laughed. “Well, it’s as plain as day that something’s eatin' at ya. I’m sure he can sense it.”

 

“Yeah. I’m sure he can. He seems like a good enough guy.”

 

“Is he hot?”

 

“Cal! I can’t even think of that. Damn, I’m so hurt I’m thinking of switching teams!” The two laughed.

 

“Naw, you love it too much. You liked working at that modeling shoot well enough. That is, until you met Andrew there.”

 

David shook his head. “It started out well for one night. How quickly things fell apart from there, didn’t they? I had no clue what I was walking into.”

 

“You lived and you learned, too bad it had to be such a hard lesson. Well, I gotta run for the night, but I thought I’d call in and check on ya. Things okay otherwise?”

 

“Yeah, I had some other business. I get a lot of alone time for certain.”

 

“That’s what you need, trust me. I’ll call you again in a week or so. Take it easy, kiddo.”

“Thanks, Cal. I will. You too.”

 

 

Four days later, their third appointment arrived. Robert had to wait this time; there was another patient saying goodbye. She was a young girl of maybe sixteen. She walked past him in the lobby and smiled at him. He was always flattered when someone noticed, even girls.

 

David finally acknowledged Robert. “Hi, how are you?”

 

Robert took a breath. “Hey, I wanted to apologize, I don’t want to pry. Your life is your business.”

 

David stopped him. “No. It’s my fault. I’m sorry too. I thought about you over the weekend and about my situation. I get a lot of thinking time, being alone again.”

 

Robert sighed. “I’d kill for that. I moved back in with my folks. Talk about mayhem.”

 

David laughed. “Why, you have wild parents?”

 

“No, but I have a three-year-old brother who keeps us all hopping.”

 

David nodded. “Ah, I’m familiar with that. The guy I was with had a kid a little bit older than that. She’d run circles around us!”

 

“Kids do that.”

 

David ushered him into the treatment room. Robert took his usual spot on one of the tables. “Flex for me. Good. What’s his name?”

 

“My brother? Luke. He’s so sweet. I took a brief leave from college to take care of him, so did my twin sister.”

 

David’s eyes widened and he smacked his forehead. “Good heavens, there are two of you?”

 

Robert smirked and laughed lightly. “She’s the best sister. I tell her everything. Mom’s too clingy and Dad’s too angry. It worked out for me. Got the best of both worlds to be my support system.”

 

“Cool.”

 

There was a silence as Robert finished his first round of exercises. “That feels much better. That putty is great stuff. Hey, what was your almost stepchild’s name?”

 

David looked into Robert’s eyes but then away quickly. “Andrea.”

 

Robert cocked a brow. “Pretty name.”

 

“Pretty girl. Big brown eyes and silken blonde hair. She had an infectious laugh and smile. She oozed charisma, just like her father.” David finished with a whisper. He clenched his fists.

 

Robert put his hand on David’s wide shoulder. “What was his name?”

 

“Tell me yours first, your ex.”

 

“Which one? My ex-husband or ex-fiancé?”

 

David laughed. “My, you do get around. How about both.”

 

Robert sighed and looked into his therapist’s eyes. “My ex-spouse was Cleve. My twice now ex-fiancé was Phillip.”

 

David clenched his fists. “I hate that name.”

 

“Which one?”

 

“Phillip. That’s who my lover ran off to be with.”

 

Robert eyes widened as if a light bulb had just come on in his mind. “Whoa… was your ex possibly Andrew Bradley-Horner?”

David drew in a sharp breath. “You know him?”

 

“Far too well. We all lived together at college. We frequently fought over Phillip. Holy cow! Now I remember your name, he mentioned that Andrew had cheated on him with a David Griffin! What’re the odds?”

 

“Not very high I’d say! Wow… so you’re the Robert? I guess since they decided to get back together, the argument is over at last.”

 

Robert reached out for his therapist’s face. “We’re their refugees, David. Their cast-offs.”

 

David nodded. “Very much.”

 

The two stared at each other for a long moment. They’d found unity in their shared pain. David held Robert’s hands gently.

 

Robert drew in a breath and stroked his friend’s hand. “My father went after him the night we broke up. I don’t know what happened, but he was so mad!”

 

“He rough him up?”

 

“No, but I know he wanted to. Phillip’s a cop, it could’ve been bad.”

 

“He didn’t arrest your dad did he?”

 

“No, Dad just had his say and left. That’s what he told us, anyway. I was at home hiding in my room, crying like a baby. I felt like a kid who’d run back to his mommy after getting a skinned knee.”

 

“It hit me like a load of bricks for sure. Hadn’t cried like that in… well. A long time. Seems like your Dad made a good call, kid.”

 

Robert scowled and whipped his hands away. “I’m no kid, David. I’m almost twenty-seven.”

 

David softened his tone. “Hey, no offense! Anyone under thirty is a kid to me. I’m sorry.”

 

“None taken, I’m sorry. I’ve just been real on edge.”

 

“Tell me about it. Can you sleep or eat?”

 

“Some. Mom’s a good cook. You?”

 

David shook his head. “I force down a protein shake once or twice a day, but that’s it, except coffee. Andrew did all the cooking. I don’t feel like doing much of anything.”

 

“I smelled the coffee emanating from you when we met. It’s the same for me. Work’s the only life I have. At home I play with Luke, he keeps me sane. It’s nice to play his simple games, give the brain a respite.”

 

“Yeah. Andrea’s games are all gone. Everything, except the bedding I bought her. He took everything.”

 

“Indeed.” Robert glanced at his watch. “Wow, its nine o’clock already?” he said in a disappointed tone. “I was hoping we weren’t done here yet.”

 

David cocked a brow, happy to hear that someone actually wanted to spend time with him again. “Unfortunately, time flies. How are your hands?”

 

Robert massaged them lightly. “A bit better, thanks. Still hurts to drive though.”

 

David took the man’s hands and worked them a bit more. “Better?”

 

“Yes, much. Thank you.” He looked into his therapist’s green eyes and saw a look that said ‘keep talking, please don’t leave yet.’

 

“Um, are you tired at all?” David stammered out.

 

Robert grinned. “Not at all. Why?”

 

David cleared his throat and looked into the sapphire eyes of his favorite patient. “Well, I just figured that now we know we have a couple of people in common, I thought maybe we could talk a while longer. Maybe even about pleasant things, like war.”

 

Robert laughed and was pleased David cracked a smile as well. “Yeah, that’d be great. Where?”

 

“Mmm, how about the coffee shop just down the street? I’ll drive. You save your hands and all my work on them.”

 

Robert smiled at the therapist and nodded. “Okay, let’s go,” he said cheerfully.

 

Their hands remained joined as they walked down the steps to David’s car. The blond was always the gentleman and opened the door for his coffee date/patient. He closed it, got in himself, and they drove off down the road. The men walked inside the café and ordered two coffees. They sat across from each other and continued their conversation.

 

“So… I saw on your paperwork you work for a congressman?”

 

Robert nodded as he took a sip. “Yeah. He’s a great guy, I hope they re-elect him. He’s done a lot for this town.”

 

David raised a brow. “Like what?”

 

“Well, like lowered the sales tax, and got the legislation for us to become a right-to-work state on the agenda. That’s huge!”

 

“That’s cool.”

 

Robert touched his hand briefly. “What about you?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“What about your work? How long have you been a physical therapist?”

 

“Oh, a few years. I’m actually a registered nurse too, but I prefer this right now. I need the quiet where I can sort things out.”

 

Robert traced his finger around the rim of the coffee cup. “How well I know that. Though I thrive on the frenetic pace of my job. The more I work the better.”

 

“I can understand that. But this works for me right now, especially some of the newer patients.” He smiled to himself. Robert grinned.

“Thanks. I could use a new friend in my life. My family is so sick of the drama that this whole story has become. I don’t blame them. It’s pretty annoying to listen to me talk about the man that broke my heart twice. I try to hang out with my little brother more often. His world is a lot less complicated.”

 

David sighed. “I hear you there. My brother knows I’m gay, but he’s got three kids and a wife… he doesn’t need my drama.”

 

“But they’re your family.”

 

“I know,” David whispered. He drank down a large gulp of his coffee and swallowed hard. “Hey, let’s talk about something more pleasant. Maybe we could solve some of the world’s problems in the next couple hours.”

 

Robert shook his head and laughed. “I don’t think they’ll listen to us; but what’ve we got to lose? What’s your first topic?”

 

The two sat back in the booth and drank more coffee and talked for two hours.

 

 

Robert checked his watch and saw it was past 11:00. He drank down the rest of his coffee and scooted towards the end of the booth. “I gotta get home. Work tomorrow.”

David glanced at his watch as well and gasped in surprise. “Wow, time flies, huh? Come on, I’ll drive you back to your car.”

 

“Thanks!”

 

They reached the parking lot and both men paused for a moment.

 

“I had a lot of fun tonight, David. Thank you for inviting me out.”

 

“Anytime. I enjoyed it. I hope we can do this again soon.”

 

“So do I. Maybe we can end our Friday sessions like this.”

 

David grinned. “I’ll be certain to pencil you in for every Friday then.”

 

“You’ve got a deal.”

 

They both opened their arms and leaned in to hug one another. They held on tight. Robert felt a few strands of the blond hair beneath his fingers and closed his eyes.

 

“Good night, David.”

 

David didn’t let go yet. Robert felt his body tremble against his own. They patted each other’s backs.

 

“Thank you, Robert. For everything.”

 

“Anytime.”

 

The embrace finally ended and Robert exited the car. David called out to him.

 

“Good night, Rob. Drive carefully.”

 

“You too, David. Night.”

 

 

Over the next week, the two spoke quite a bit. They’d exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. After a month of sessions, and a lot of at-home therapy, Robert’s hands healed. On their final visit together, David confided that he hated living alone and knew Robert didn’t want to stay with his parents anymore.

 

After their session was over, they went to the same coffee house they’d grown to love.

 

“Rob, I wanted to ask you something.”

 

“Fire away.”

 

“Well, I know it’d be a bit further from work for you, but, it’d be an out and you’d have privacy….”

 

Robert leaned forward. “David, what’re you asking me?”

 

David took a sip of his coffee. “Move in with me? As just friends at first, roommates. I get so damn—”

 

“Yes.” Robert answered without hesitation.

 

“—lonely. Yes? You’ll do it?” David smiled widely.

 

“I said yes! I need my space too and I don’t mind the extra distance. We get along well and I really hate living at home. Kinda cramps the whole being single thing, ya know? When did you want me to move in?”

 

David fumbled for words, but found a few. “Uh, I guess whenever you can. I’ll help you, if you’d like. My brother has a truck he lets me borrow.”

 

“Yeah, that’d be good. Hey, okay, this is gonna sound so high-school, but you wanna meet my parents?”

 

David smirked. “Ask your father’s permission to be your friend? That’s fine. I look forward to it.”

“Me too. I’ll meet your brother too, what’s his name again?”

 

“Daniel.”

 

“Cool. My sis Serena is so awesome, you’ll like her too.”

 

They finished their dessert and went outside. David walked Robert to his car and opened the door for him.

 

“Wow, I’m so not used to a gentleman,” Robert sighed.

 

“I guess I’m old-fashioned that way.” David looked down at his friend and the two exchanged a smile.

 

Robert reached out his arm and hugged David from the side. David stiffened for a moment, but after a moment put his arms around Robert as well. “Good night, David.”

 

“Good night, Robert. Call me when you get home.”

 

“I will. We’ll set a date for the move too.”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

Robert started his car and drove off the lot. David smiled and waved goodbye to the man. He watched the car pull out onto the empty street and did not take his eyes off it until it was out of sight.

 

“Damn, this just might be a salvageable year yet. Better get the house cleaned up. I won’t let this one get away. I hope we get to be more than friends someday, but right now I’m not gonna screw this up! One thing at a time, Griffin.”