Page 94 of Back to You

He wouldn’t do it again. He mattered too much.

“Sorry sir, I have somewhere very important to be tonight,” Ethan said, continuing to pack away his things.

Cartwright seemed confused. “Oh. I’m so used to you working my hours, I never thought you’d be busy elsewhere.”

“Yes sir, I was. But I was burning out. So now I’m working on maintaining a better work-life balance,” Ethan said.

“Ah.” Cartwright came further into the room. “That’s smart.”

Ethan stopped, shocked to hear those words from Cartwright, of all people.

Cartwright laughed at his expression. “I know the reputation I have around here for being a workaholic, Thompson. And it’s true. I always believed that this place couldn’t get by without me. It’s a bad thing when you’ve made yourself irreplaceable, even though it sounds good at the time. Who wouldn’t want that kind of job security? But now I’m 57, I have two ex wives, and kids who barely talk to me.”

He headed out of the office. “Don’t be like me, Thompson.”

Ethan stayed still for a moment, struck by the sadness in Cartwright’s voice. That could have been me, he thought. Thank god it’s not.

He drove home, where he tried to relax for a few minutes. Brandon wasn’t due to pick him up for another hour. He fidgeted nervously while pretending to read a book. Finally he just gave up and jumped in the shower.

Once he was clean, he quickly dried his hair before dressing in his brown fitted suit over a pink dress shirt, not bothering with a tie since he knew Brandon would rather eat a tie than wear it.

He went back to fidgeting on the couch. “It’s like I’m a teenager going on his first date!” he grumbled, annoyed with himself.

Finally he heard the knock on the door. He opened it, and …

“Wow.”

Every thought was knocked out of his head other than how amazing Brandon looked. His hair was perfectly styled for once. He wore perfectly fitted navy pants with a white dress shirt and a navy and gray striped vest. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

It worked for him. It was definitely working for Ethan.

“You look incredible,” Ethan said.

“Thanks,” Brandon said softly, his eyes raking over Ethan. “So do you.”

They stood in the doorway staring at each other for a full minute before Ethan shook it off. “I was just thinking I’m acting like a kid on his first date.”

“God, me too. The whole way here I was telling myself to chill out.”

They chuckled softly, then Brandon held out a hand. “Ready to go?”

Ethan set his hand in Brandon’s and beamed. “Ready.”

They sat in companionable silence on the way to the restaurant. Ethan was thrilled to see where they were.

“I can’t believe you remember this,” he said.

“I remember everything about us,” Brandon replied.

They went inside and got their table. It was a beautiful restaurant, dark wood everywhere with cream-colored tablecloths and votive candles on the tables. It looked exactly the same as it had when Brandon brought him here three years ago.

“Do you remember that first date?” Ethan said.

Brandon started laughing. “I felt so bad, you were so strung out from studying that you didn’t know which way was up. I thought you were so cute.”

“You don’t think I’m cute now?”

“I think you’re cute, and gorgeous, and beautiful.”

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