Page 31 of The Boy from Half Moon

Alec made his way back to the chair in front of my desk, motioning for me to return to mine. I sat down and we remained quiet. He stared at me while I moved my eyes around the room. I knew the one who spoke first generally lost the argument. I was a lawyer. So was he.

“Tyler seems to think you have a crush on the boy who works there,” he said, breaking the impasse. “Says you seemed overly protective of the kid, even knew his name, and acted familiar with him.”

Now Alec had me wondering who it was that was truly interested in the answer to that insinuation. “Tyler knows nothing of my personal life, if that’s what you’re asking, Alec. And either do you.”

“Well, do you have a crush on that kid?”

“I met the kid at another of his jobs and barely know him. That’s how I know his name. Besides, he had a nametag on. Anyone could read his name,” I defended. Alec appeared nonplussed by my defense, seeming to want more of a definitive answer from me regarding Luke. “I only work here, Alec. What I do outside of here is my business.”

My blood was boiling. Part of me was pissed at myself for getting into this situation. Part of me blamed Tyler for his crude behavior in public, and his cruelty to Luke hurt my heart, but I couldn’t mention that and defend my stance at the same time.

“I’m in an impossible position, Tate.”

“Same here, Alec,” I said. “I will not work with Tyler. That’s my final offer. Period.”

“What do I get if I agree to relocate him to another department in the firm?”

My eyes tripled in size. “What?” I asked. I was dumbfounded. “You cannot be serious.”

“I’ll move Tyler to help you, and then what do I get?”

“You get to keep me as an employee,” I stated. “I want him terminated, so you moving him to another department and not firing him; that’s what you get.”

“And you and me?” he pushed. “Where does that leave us?”

Tread carefully, Tate. Proceed at your own peril. “Nothing has changed, Alec. I work for you and we’ve hung out outside the office as friends, which I have no problem doing again, so I don’t think our friendship has been harmed.”

Alec’s mouth twitched ever so slightly, and his body stiffened as he sat up in his chair. Was he angry? I couldn’t discern what his body language was telling me. We’d had the, I’m not looking for a relationship, discussion many times, but after learning more about Alec’s dating history, I wasn’t sure he listened all that well. In fact, I’d begun to believe that the man who had it all wasn’t used to not getting what he wanted.

He unhurriedly nodded as he let my friendship statement sink in once again, locking eyes with me. Truthfully, he frightened me with his dead stare, especially after learning what I’d learned from Tyler about his alleged stalking of a former lover.

“I’m not sure you’ve been listening, Tate,” he began, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward in the chair. “I don’t know how transparent I need to be, but I see you as more than a friend.”

As hard as it was not to shrivel under his stare, I knew this was a pivotal moment regarding my employment at the firm, so I remained laser-focused on him. He needed to hear me.

“After seeing what happened during a friendly night out with an employee, and in light of what is currently happening in my office, Alec, I think the two of us entering into anything other than a friendship is completely ill-advised for both of us,” I declared.

“Even if I fire Tyler?”

“Even if you fire Tyler,” I replied.

He continued staring at me, I assumed testing my ability to stand up to him. He didn’t blink. I didn’t blink. Good thing he couldn’t see my legs under the desk because they were bouncing around like I was barefoot on glass.

Alec stood, sliding his hand along the edge of my desk as he moved away from it. I watched as he walked to the door, taking his time. Once at the door, he remained facing it, his back to me. I swear time stood still as I waited for him to do something. Open the door. Pound the wall. Say something before he left. Anything. I glanced at the clock, the same one that pissed me off a few minutes earlier. Tick. Tick. Tick.

But he said nothing and walked out.

I remained seated, wondering what the ramifications would be after our meeting. One obvious result was that Tyler was completely untrustworthy. He’d spilled the beans about Alec to me, and I was certain he’d done the same with Alec regarding our visit to the furniture store.

If Tyler recalled properly, we’d just arrived at the furniture store and had barely finished introductions when he turned the visit into a shit show. There was no chance he could have picked up that I was interested in Luke. There’d been inadequate time for that sort of conclusion.

If anyone was interested in Luke, it was Tyler. His direct and unfiltered approach to a complete stranger like Luke was a total shock to witness. Not to mention this was in a business setting. The more I thought about the interaction, the more blame I put on the fact that it seemed people around these parts had zero respect for the people from Luke’s community.

Luke had mentioned weeks ago at the bakery that people made a daily habit of belittling his community of people with names like Moonies and Weirdos. Witnessing Tyler jumping straight into trying to pick up Luke for a date, as well as attempting to obtain his sexual preference, was plain awful.

Tyler, like Alec, and I assumed, like many folks in town, seemed to have an unreasonable disdain for Luke’s community of people, and it made no sense to me. In my opinion, Tyler’s actions were so abrasive because he flat-out didn’t respect Luke.

Two more things had occupied my thoughts after dropping Tyler at his apartment. While driving home from Tyler’s, I couldn’t help but focus on a surprising turn of events earlier at the store. The surprise was when I returned to the store after exiting briefly to calm down.

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