Page 6 of Call Me Sir

“Nice,” I say, genuinely. “How are things going for you two?”

He does a little dance. God this man is too good to be true.

“I’m going to ask her to move in with me!”

“Wow, that’s huge!”

He nods and continues his little dance.

“Are you asking at lunch today?”

“Yeah.”

“Good luck buddy!”

We fist bump and he goes back to his desk.

I did not plan on being a twenty two year old with a best friend who’s almost forty five. But he crawled into my heart two years ago when we shared cat memes and annoyed everyone else about The Office jokes.

My desktop pings and I see there’s another instant message.

Salvatore A: Will you come here a moment?

Me: Sure

I haven’t interacted with him this much in the last six months. It can’t be bad news, I tell myself.

When I get into his office he motions for me to close the door. Then he motions for me to sit. I follow the quiet instructions.

“I didn’t mean to intrude on your personal life yesterday, but I just want to be sure you feel safe.”

This dude who never talks to me is worried about my safety?

“I don’t know what you saw…” I begin to say.

He holds up his hand. “You don’t need to explain yourself. I’m just making sure you haven’t felt discriminated against at any point.”

Ah. Because I’m gay. My brain filters through the last two years of being here.

He clears throat. His dark eyes narrow. “And to make sure you’re… safe.”

“I’m fine.” My answer comes out sharply.

What does he care? As far as I know, he hates me. Those dark, brooding eyes never look at me with anything other than what I would describe as disdain.

“Okay. Let me know if you need anything.”

Huh? Where did that come from?

We look at each other for a long moment before I realize it’s my turn to speak.

“Okay.”

I get up and leave, closing the door tightly behind me.

I’m annoyed… but for some reason Anthony’s big, curious eyes and the feeling of my boss’s gaze following me makes my stomach do flips.

I sit at my desk and tune everyone out.

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