Page 30 of Pursuing the Egoist
Behind him, twenty feet away, Leiris examined the contents of the police truck, partially filled with plastic packs of white powder. Blowing into his fingers, he uttered something into his transmitter, before shoving the device into his pocket and rubbing his hands together.
The mayor approached him with a confident gait. A howling wind shredded their conversation to pieces. Yugo couldn’t make out what the mayor said, but he heard Leiris’ sharp reply. “Giving an interview and helping you win the election isn’t a part of my job description. Excuse me, I have things to do.”
Leiris turned away, and the camera switched to the reddening face of the mayor. Yugo turned the video off.
“Boss…” Greg’s quiet voice chafed Yugo’s nerves. He linked his gaze with the obscure black eyes, searching for emotion but only found exhaustion. The stubble on Greg’s cheek and chin suggested he hadn’t shaved in days. His clothes looked clean, but a sour stench poisoned the air giving Yugo the idea that he’d put clean clothes over his unwashed body. “What do we do now?”
I gave you a fucking vacation, and you dare to come here looking like shit?Did you fuck non-stop for a week and didn’t shower or what?
A wave of pure, white anger, directed at Greg, scalded Yugo’s mind, as he looked like the perfect outlet for his aggression. Fingers itching with a need to destroy, Yugo stepped back and faced the window.
“Leave. Now.”
“Boss?”
Yugo’s cheek jerked at Greg’s inability to read his mood. If he stayed a little longer, Yugo might do something he would regret.
“I said leave. I don’t want to see you right now. Go, enjoy your boy-toy or whatever. I don’t need your half-assed presence.”
“No.”
Anger bubbling in his throat, Yugo spun and sliced Greg’s face with a sharp, hateful stare.
“You don’t seriously think that you looming around will change anything? Or is it guilt?” Greg’s face darkened and hardened, hinting Yugo had hit the bull’s eye. “Get out. Go and fuck around all you want.”
“That won’t likely happen.” The dull notes in Greg’s voice pushed Yugo’s anger back. Giving another look at the pale face, Yugo failed to see the glowing happiness of a sexually satisfied man. Instead, he saw reddened sclera, dry, grayish skin, and the white slice of a downturned mouth.
“Why?” Yugo asked before he managed to stop himself from prying.
“We’re done.” Greg shrugged.
“Are you an idiot?” Grabbing a cigarette pack from the windowsill, Yugo threw it at Greg’s chest. For some reason, this small gesture released the tension in his shoulders. “What the fuck are you doing here? I told you to concentrate on it. You don’t seriously think that I gave you personal time to cure your sexual frustration? Disappear and don’t come back until you fix it.”
A corner of Greg’s mouth quivered as he tried to smile. Bending forward, he picked up the pack and placed it on the desk. “I don’t think it will ever work…”
“I don’t get you… If you like him—take him.”
Greg laughed, but his eyes darkened. “Sometimes, no matter how much we want something, things just aren’t meant to be. At times like this, the best we can do is realize it, accept it, and let it go.”
“Who told you this bullshit?”
“No one. I learned it the hard way.”
Yugo gave him a small headshake, approached the bar, and poured whiskey into two glasses. Coming up to Greg, Yugo forced a glass into his palm. “Fuck him. Drink up and forget this fling.”
“Fling?” Greg chuckled, and every line on his face sharpened, making him look a couple of years older.
“Wasn’t it? How long were you together?”
“Seventeen.”
“Days?” Yugo cocked a skeptical brow.
“Years,” Greg said and tossed the liquid down his throat, before slamming the glass against the desk. “I’ll be in the security office.”
Watching Greg’s wide back disappearing behind the door, Yugo didn’t know what to say.
CHAPTER 8
