Page 24 of How to Bare Your Neck and Save a Wreck
Shane
Nine out of ten, easy. It was comedic, but no one’s outfit or technology was ruined, and it made me a friend.
Fuck, he was adorable.
Andres
And the star you took off?
Shane
Do you think I’d just hand out the secret to a perfect drink spill? Not a chance.
You’ll just have to test other variations on me someday ;)
That was asecondwinking face. A second winking face, right after an explicit description of their relationship as friends. Andres pressed the phone to his forehead with a groan. He had to stop overthinking this. This version of himself could never accept anything more real from Shane than texts as long as he wanted to keep what they’d started in the alley. It was better to just enjoy whatever they did have.
Shane
So, what’s this work that’s getting in the way of your normal drink-sloshing activities?
Andres
I’m in project management and acquisitions. Our supply chain is fickle right now and an upshoot has been closing in on our customers. My boss is so stressed, I think one of these days he’s going to tear my throat out. I feel worse for his less-important employees though; at least I have job security.
And you’re a journalist, right?
Shane
Damn, that sounds rough.
A journalist of a kind, anyway. I’m trying to move out of the content mill and into something that gives me space to writewhat I care about. There’s so much I want to say, so much thatdeservesto be said and revealed and acknowledged, you know?
Andres
I’m sure you will impart some very great exposés upon the world someday :)
Have you considered attaching ratings to the secrets you expose? I think there’s an untapped market for that.
(I am the untapped market. The untapped market is me.)
Shane
Watergate would normally get a 6 out of 10, but the fact that his administration was already wiretapping each other and themselves gives it an extra star.
But then, I’m biased in that I don’t really like political journalism on its own. I care more about uncovering the effect that the government is having on its people than any individual scumbags.
Andres
Oh thank god, I guess I can keep my own wiretaps in place then.
You know, the ones that tell me when there’s a renowned stuff-rater filming at a bar where I can accidentally run into him ;)
Shane
If that was a setup, then I applaud your commitment to the bit.
Andres
