Disclaimer: Wolf Films owns them.
Christ.
"I'll be over as soon as I get off," Ed's voice echoes in my head. I slam a file drawer closed in frustration and rest my forehead against the metal. Get your mind out of the gutter, I tell myself. Never mind that you have absolutely no idea as to what you're going to do once he arrives. What, sit him down in one of those chairs and tell him, "Ed, I'd like to have sex with you."
Oh, yeah. That'd go over beautifully.
I pace across my office, then flop down onto the couch. The leather squeaks and I run my hand over the arm. Hmm....
No. Not with the fantasies right now. I get up and peer out the window into the hallway, toying with the blinds. Open might convey the wrong message. But what kind of message would closed convey?
Disgusted, I shut the blinds and go back to my desk. This is unreal, me behaving like a teenage boy on his first date. Not even first date; just asking for a first date.
There's a knock at the door and I reach it in two strides before pulling it open.
God. Try as I might, I can't keep from smiling when I see him. "Ed, thanks for coming," I say, stepping back and waving him in. He's grinning too, like he knows something that no one else does.
For some reason, a tiny little worm of doubt starts to wiggle at the back of my mind. What am I really trying to do here? Get him home with me? Is that the point of this?
I'm flying blind now, and as I search for something to say I unconsciously step towards him. Before I realize it, I'm in his personal space. He tilts his head to one side and smiles that secret smile again. I have to say something, anything, or else I'm liable to--
He kisses me.
Immediately I kiss him back, sliding my arms around his waist and pulling him even closer to me. It's so right, so simple, so easy--
So easy. No, no, it can't be easy, there has to be a snag somewhere--he's not supposed to just walk in and KNOW what's going on--this isn't right--
God, what am I doing? This can't work out--so what if he's kissing me just as enthusiastically as I'm kissing him? Nothing in my life's ever been this simple, it can't be this simple now, not when I've gone through dozens of other relationship that needed work, dammit, no one can read minds and just KNOW.
I can't do this--can't relax, can't just enjoy the feel of his hands sliding down my shoulders to rest on my biceps, can't just enjoy the taut muscle beneath my hands, can't just enjoy the way he takes over the kiss--I can't do this. Every neuron is screaming at me to do something. I pull back and push him away, gasping for air.
"Stop."
On to Part Eight, Lennie's POV, by Cirocco
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jack's POV.
Copyright June, 2003, Tobias Charity