Chapter Three: Breaking the Mystery

Chapter Three: Breaking the Mystery

            Michael tossed his bags into his fridge and ran back out the door.  He caught the subway downtown then walked several blocks to a small coffee shop.  He went in but the person he was meeting wasn’t here yet.  He looked at his watch and saw that he was almost twenty minutes early.  He ordered a hot chocolate and sat at a round table by the front window, so his friend wouldn’t miss him.  His watched the people walk by, mostly in a hurry to be somewhere, such is New York City, but he didn’t really see anyone.  He was caught in a whirlwind of emotion and panic.

            “We’ll take it slow,” he had said.  Take what slow? And he never agreed to anything with him.  But he remembered his warmth and it was better than any hot chocolate.  He laid his head in his hands and held in an exasperated sound.  He heard the small bell on the door and then felt a cold hand on the back of his neck.  He sat up quickly and heard Ellie laugh.

            “If you wore your hair down, I wouldn’t have such easy access to your bare skin.”  She laughed as she sat her bag down in the chair opposite him.

            “If I wore it down I’d attract far too much attention.  You know the girls love the long hair.”

            “Haha that is true,” she said, digging out her wallet, “I’m going to order a latte then we’re going to talk.”  She gave him a serious look before she walked up to the counter.  He took a deep breath then a drink of his cocoa.  This was a bad idea, he thought.

            She was back before he had time to run away and said, “So, tell me everything.”  He hesitated, hiding behind his drink.  “Come on,” she said, tapping his arm, “Let’s hear it.”

            “Okay,” he took a deep breath and sat down his cup.  “Please let me get through all of it before you say or ask anything.”

            “Okay, deal.”

            He started slow, a little embarrassed about what had transpired but when he started going, a flood happened, he was almost tripping over himself trying to tell the story.  He spilled all of what had occured, including all the touches and emotions.  He was out of breath by the time the story was over.  “I don’t even know this man, but I feel like he’s part of me, how can that even be possible?”  He was flush and excited.

            “Wow,” she said and paused for a second, thinking.  “Firstly, you did like it, didn’t you?”

            “I suppose so,” he said, blushing.

            “Alright, secondly, it seems to me that Lukas also enjoyed it, he practically sought you out, or at the least he didn’t ignore you when he saw you.  So, that’s a good sign.”
            “Sign of what?” Michael asked.

            “That he is feeling the same way you are.  At least he’s not doing this to bully you or make you uncomfortable.”
            “I never even thought of that,” Michael said.

            “Well, good, now keep it out of your mind.  I think the first thing we need to do is learn a little more about him.  We’ll filter through your emotions as we go, but what are you feeling now?”
            “I feel great and very confused at the same time,” he answered.  “If he were a girl I’d be delighted but he’s obviously not and that’s where I’m stuck.”

            “I think that if it were a girl you could just ask her about herself.  Have you thought about that?” she asked him.  “He did say he wanted to know you and gave you his number,” she pointed out.

            “I don’t think I like men in the same way I like women.  I’d have a whole different plan if it was a woman and I…”

            “Were trying to score?” she said, finishing his sentence.

            “Yeah.” He said weakly.

            “I think this is a good thing, it has you so cunfuzzled that you are actually taking time to analyze and understand.  And I think that will make the relationship, whatever it ends up as, stronger.”  She smiled and pulled out her phone.  “But!  First things first, let me call my friend, he’s in criminology and he may have a way to help us get some background information.”  She dialed a number and waited.

            “Hey! Justin!” pause, “I’m doing great and you?” pause, “awesome!” pause, “Hey, I have a favor to ask.” Pause, “Oh haha, I’m not that needy!  But really, its important.” Pause, “I need you to look up someone for me all I have is his first name but I’ll text you his last in a few.  He’s a play-write, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find him.  Its Lukas and I’ll text you the spelling as well.”  Pause “Alright! I owe you one, thanks!”  she hung up smiling.

            “So… who’s Justin?” Michael said, jokingly.

            “An old friend,” she said, with fake offence.  “I’ve known him since we were toddlers, our mothers were best friends so we spent a lot of time together as kids.”

            “mhmmm.” He said with a smile.

            “Hey, right now we are worried about your love life not mine!” she laughed.  They finished up their drinks, “We are first going to the library, if he’s as good a writer as you say, they will have printed copies of his work.”  They gathered their stuff and left the coffee shop.  There was a library only a few blocks from where they were.  It took them very little time to find one of his first works.

            “Oh look here!” Ellie said with excitement.  After that they found several more and took to one of the tables to read.  Ellie texted her friend with is name: Lukas Sanders.  She assumed that even if that was a pen name, Justin could use it to get them some information.  They each took half the plays and sat in silence while they read.

            After a few hours of reading, Michael broke the silence, “What do we hope to learn from reading these?”

            Ellie looked at him in disbelief, “You should know the answer to that, being a writer yourself.”

            “You assume way too much about Lukas, just because most authors put part of themselves, even a character shaped like themselves, does not mean that Lukas does the same.”
            “No, even if he does not intend to do so, he does.  I’ve noticed a pattern in all of these stories.”

            “Yeah?” he asked, surprised, clearly having missed it.

            “Yes.  In every one there is always a pair, even if they are a background set of characters, that end up happily in love.  They always fit each other perfectly and fill in each other’s faults.  It shows that he either had that or is searching for that.  Maybe he has found that in you but doesn’t realize it.”

            “Hm… Now that you mention it, in all of the ones I read had a couple that fit the same description.  But that is just a sign of a well-rounded, talented author.  No matter the content he always fills every niche in each play.” Michael said.  “And I don’t believe we have spent enough time together for him to have found me his matching pair.”

            “I’ve never read another writer that has every ‘niche,’ as you say, filled in every work, even you, with your amazing talent, leave some out sometimes.”

            “Are you saying that what he writes is what he wants?  He wants a fulfilled life, like each of his works are complete and his life isn’t?”

            “Exactly!”  Ellie said.

            “When did you become a psychologist?” Michael asked, surprised by her insight.

            She laughed, “I took some psychology classes during my undergraduate time.  I loved it almost as much as I do bio, so I got a minor in it.”

            “Oh wow, you really are smart, aren’t you?” Michael asked, complimenting her.

            “I try very hard.” She joked.

            “Well, it shows.”  They gathered up the plays, “What next?”

            “We’re going to look up show times!” she said, clearly having a lot of fun play detective.  “Call Yuuki, We’ll make it a date!”

            “Yuuki will never let me live it down if I ask him to come to a play with me.”  He said as they left the library.

            “That’s why I said, we’ll make it a date.  He and Sarah have been hanging out a lot lately, I think we should encourage them.” She said with a smile.

            “Oh really?  He did tell me he had plans this week but didn’t tell me what they were, that little snake.”

She pulled out her phone and looked up show times.  “Oh! Look at that!  There is a showing at seven tomorrow, with several tickets still available.  I can stop by the theatre and get the tickets on my way home.”

“Alright, I’ll call Yuuki.” He pulled out his phone and called.  “Hey, what’s up man?”

“Nothing much, eating some grub, you?” Yuuki said, his voiced mumbled.

“Nothing much here, just hanging out with Ellie,”

“Oooooohhh, Ellie, huh?”

“Yeah yeah, get it out of your system.”

“I have a good eye, don’t I?”

“You know it was nothing but luck.  You saw someone you liked and you needed her friend out of the way,” Michael said, winking at Ellie.

“Oh, that makes me sound cold!”

“Anyway, are you and Sarah free tomorrow after sixish?”

“Sarah and I?”

“Yes, I know, don’t play dumb, Ellie told me you’ve been hanging out.” Michael said.

“Oh! I was going to tell you, but I didn’t want to distract you from your work.  Apparently, I was mistaken in thinking you were working.”  Yuuki said, laughing.

“Hey now, I have been working.  But back to the point, can you guys come tomorrow?”

“I’ll have to ask Sarah, but I’m up for it.

“Okay, Ellie is going to stop by and get the tickets tonight so let me know.”

“I’ll call her right now and send you a text.”

“Alright, sounds good, I’ll talk to you later.”

“See ya!”

Michael hung up and told Ellie that they were in.  “Great!  Come to my place before the show and we’ll do some more digging, maybe find his facebook or other stuff.  I’m sure there’s an interview or two out there with him.  And by then my friend may have some juicy details to share with us.”

“Okay, I’ll be there by two?” Michael agreed.  They rode the subway together until he got off, she had a little further to go.  “I’ll see you tomorrow and thanks a lot, Ellie.”

“You’re welcome,” she said smiling and waving as he got off the train.

He went home for the evening and turned in early.  He couldn’t sleep but he felt a lot better after talking to Ellie.  He was even excited for the play tomorrow.  He couldn’t remember when he had had this much excitement in his life.  He tossed and turned and just gave up and stared at the dark ceiling.  What was he going to learn about Lukas and why was he even taking it this far?  Did he actually intend to meet up with him again and did he plan on forming some sort of relationship?  He didn’t know the answers to those questions and he was up a lot time mulling them over.

His alarm rang at ten.  He didn’t even remember falling asleep but when he tried to go back to sleep his stomach protested so he got up.  He made his way to the kitchen and fried up some eggs and loaded them with ham and cheese.  He sat down on his couch and turned on the TV.  As he ate he watched the news.  Nothing good was happening and it seemed the snow was going to increase today.  He watched the rest of the news and the program that came on after it.  Talk shows were not his favorite but he did get a kick out of some of the hosts and it lightened his day a little after the regular news.

He got in the shower at about half past noon.  He enjoyed heat of the water and the shampoo in his hair.  He stood under the shower head for several minutes.  “Today is going to be a good day,” he said to himself as he got out and for once he believed it.  He brushed his hair and got dressed, he picked out something he thought was a nice outfit, rather than his normal jeans and t-shirt.  He wore his newest pair of jeans and pulled on a black polo shirt.  He stood before the mirror tussling his hair.  He normally wore it up because it was to his shoulders and he didn’t really know what to do with it otherwise.  He looked through his stuff and found an old bottle of serum a girl had left a while ago.  He ran it through his hair, which was soft already and it left it shiny and calm.  He decided to wear it down and as soon as he did he heard Ellie’s voice making a smart comment, “working on a look to impress Luka? Woohoo!”  He palmed his forehead and made sure he grabbed a hair tie just in case.

He slid on a pair of boots and his winter coat and headed out towards the subway.  “I wonder if she needs me to bring anything.”  He thought out loud and got out his phone, sending her a text.  She responded quickly telling him to just bring himself.  He made his way to where Yuuki’s house was then to the club they had visited.  He remembered that her apartment was only a few blocks from Denny’s but, he couldn’t remember which one.

He called her. “Hello?” she answered.

“I think I’m on the correct block, but I can’t remember which building it is.”

“Okay, give me a second.” He heard rustling then the sliding of what he thought was a door, then, “Hey!”  he heard her voice coming from the phone and from somewhere above him.  He looked up and saw her standing on the balcony of the fourth floor.  “Look at that, you did have the right building!”  she said and then into the phone said, “I’ll buzz you in.”  She left the balcony and shut the door.  He walked up to the main entrance and heard a weak buzz come from the box next to it and he pulled it open.  He walked the stairs to the fourth floor and saw her standing in her door way when he came out into the hallway.  “Welcome back,” she said as he made his way to her.  She let him in and he was hit with the smell of baked apples.

“What smells so good?” he asked.

“I’m attempting to make apple crisps,” she said.  “Attempt being the key word.  When they are done, you’re welcome to try one and tell me how it tastes, honesty is required.”

“Okay.” He said with a smile.  He took off his coat and boots and took a step into the living room.

“Woah!” she said, stopping him, “What’s going on here?  You’re looking dasher today.  Who are you trying to impress?”

“I knew this was a mistake,” he said, running his fingers through his hair, embarrassed.

“Oh no, it wasn’t,” she said, taking him in.  “If we weren’t on a mission to find information on a guy, for you, I’d have to reconsider out relationship.”  She winked at him and lightly slapped him on the butt.  “Come on, handsome, I have some stuff to show you.”  She had her tablet connected to the television so when she swiped it, an image came on the screen.  It was of a blue tick coon hound being playful on her fluffy bed.  She caught him looking at it and said, “That’s the love of my life, Sasha, I have to leave her with my parents when I’m at school.”

She sounded a little sad, so he asked, “How often do you get to see her?”

“Just about every weekend and I bring her here when I’m on break, but it’s not the same.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, sincerely.

“It’s alright,” she responded.  “But now, down to business.” She sat on the couch with her tablet in her hand and he joined her.  “My friend really came through, and in such a short time, but I’ll go over what I found first.”  She brought up the web browser that had several tabs open.  The first was a listing of all his plays that had been performed on any stage.  “As we already know, he’s a very accomplished writer, but I was looking for interviews,” she scrolled down and clicked on a link that said “Author Bio.”  “He doesn’t say much about anything, really.  He goes on about the play and how glad he is for its success and hopes that any one that can will come see it.  But he avoids or flat-out refuses to answer any personal questions.  He says that it should be all about his work and it should stand on its own and his personal life was just that personal.”

“I heard that he was a private man, but I didn’t expect him to say nothing.” Michael was filtering through the rumors that he had heard about Lukas but nothing seemed substantial, all just hear-say and shallow.

“Neither did I, everyone says something by accident, but I literally found nothing.  So, I moved on.”  She clicked on the next tab.  “But alas, he has no social media accounts anywhere,” she shook her head sadly, “his poor poor fans.”  Michael had a feeling that they wouldn’t find anything like that if he didn’t even comment anything personal, he was trying to keep his life a secret for some reason.  “So that was the end of my search, not that I didn’t try my best, and I have mad skills when it comes to internet stalking people.”  She laughed when he looked at her in surprise.  “Oh don’t worry, you’re next, as soon as the mystery that is Lukas is solved, I’m going to find what you are hiding.”  She rubbed her hands together in an evil gesture.

“Or you could, you know, just ask me?” he said, motioning with his hand in a way that made the option seem obvious.

“I could, but what fun is that?” she laughed again before clicking onto the next tab.

“I thought you said he didn’t have a facebook?  What is this?” Michael was taking in what was clearly a home page of some one’s facebook.

“Ah, yes, Lukas doesn’t, but his brother does.”

“His brother?” Michael asked.

“Yes,” she pulled up a document on her tablet with a complete outline about Lukas.  “He grew up in central Pennsylvania, in a small city named Altoona.  His parents are Margaret and James Rhodes.  He has two siblings, of which he is the youngest.  He has an older brother, Edward, and an older sister, Ivy.  They are each one quarter Native American on their mother’s side, which explains the complexion.  He graduated from Altoona Area High school and then joined the marines.  He served three tours over-seas before he was medically and honorably discharged with metals of honor in 2011.  Unfortunately, the reason for his discharge is sealed and not viewable to the public.  He did not return to his home in Pennsylvania but instead moved to New York City after the discharge.  His first published work came in early 2012 and he’s been a success since then.  My friend didn’t find anything about him having a wife or children or even where he lives.  All he found after 2012 was who his editor and publicist is.”

“Wow, even with all the information, I still feel like I know nothing about him.”  Michael sat back on the couch.

“There is very little to go on, his siblings only mention him on holidays, as far as I can tell, and he doesn’t return home for those events.  They miss him and love him is all they say.”  She put her tablet on the coffee table and sat back too.  “I’m afraid you’ll just have to talk to him and get to know him the old fashion way.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Michael sighed.

“Why? Because you two can’t seem to keep your hands off each other long enough to talk?”

“No! I—“

“Maybe you should just do the dirty then have a nice long pillow conversation.”

“EL!”  he said, flushing.

She was laughing so hard she could barely breath, “You’re face… haha…. So red!”

“That’s not funny!” he said, covering his face.

“Oh yes, it is.” A timer went off in the kitchen and she went to rescue her crisps from the oven.  “Oh, just right!” he heard her exclaim from the kitchen.

“Mind if I use your tablet?” he called out to her.

“Nope, go ahead, just don’t be looking at porn!”

“Ellie! Jesus, I think you’re the one that needs laid,”  he picked up her tablet and clicked  on Lukas’s brothers page.

“You don’t say?!” she said sarcastically, and he remembered how they met and he started blushing again.  He scrolled down through the feed and found that Ellie was right, Lukas was tagged only on special occasions and none of those contained a picture of him.  He looked through his photos and found only a few pictures with Lukas.  His brother stood next to and taller than him in them, he was a lot younger than he was now, maybe from high school?  His brother had the same dark skin, but had dark hair and almost black eyes, where Lukas had copper brown hair and milk chocolate eyes.  He looked happy in those photos.

“Why are you hurting now?” he asked the picture.  “What happened?”  He was tempted to send his brother a message asking him about Lukas but decided it would be better if he just asked him himself.  He might find that a betrayal going to his family.

“Hey, I asked Sarah and Yuuki to join us for some dinner before the show, I hope that’s okay?”  Ellie said as she came back out of the kitchen.

“Hm?” Michael responded, still looking at Lukas and Edward’s picture.  “Oh.  Yeah, that’s good.  What time?”

“Four, so we have time to get across town.”  She looked down at the tablet, “he was so adorable and happy.”

“Yeah, he does look that way.  He’s not like this now.”

“What happened?” she echoed his own question.

“That’s what I’d like to know.”  He sat the tablet back on the table.

“Are you okay?” she asked, feeling his sorrow.

“Yes, I’m fine, just lost in thought,” he looked up at her and smiled.

“You don’t have to pretend with me,” she said, placing a hand on his folded knee.

“I know,” he said, hesitating, “It’s just hard to open up to people.”

“I understand.  Maybe someday you’ll explain yourself.” She said with a smile.  “Ah!” she said as a phone started ringing.

Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.  “Hello?” he answered, “oh hold on,” he pulled the phone away from his ear and pushed the “Speaker” button.  “Okay,”

“Hello! Ellie!” Yuuki’s voice came from the speaker, which was quickly followed by a hello from Sarah.

“Hey guys! What’s up?” Ellie answered.

“We’re heading to the restaurant and were just calling to see if you want us to swing by and pick you guys up since your place is on the way.”  Sarah said.

“Oh! Is it that time already?” Ellie looked at the clock on the wall.  “Yeah, sure, come on up, I’ll be ready shortly.”  She hopped off the couch and headed towards the hallway before the even answered.

“Okay, we’ll be there in about five,” Sarah said, “See you then!”

“Okay, bye,” Michael said and hung up.  Ellie re-emerged from the hallway just after the asked to be let in.  She made it to the door just before they knocked.  She had changed from jeans and a t-shirt to a sleeveless red dress with a slightly puffy shirt and a sheer shall.  She slipped on black ankle-high boots, good for walking in snow.

When Michael gave her a look of surprise she said, “What? I’d rather only match a little and not fall on my face, thanks!”  She opened the door and Sarah and Yuuki came in, both dressed nicely, but not overly done.  “You guys look great!” Ellie said and hugged them both.

Michael stood and greeted them too and then started putting on his own boots and coat.  “You guys ready?” asked Yuuki.

“Just have to put on my coat,” Ellie said, as she did just that.  They left the apartment and made it to the restaurant just in time for their reservation.  They ate and talked, and even though Yuuki kept giving Michael the eye, knowing something wasn’t as it seemed, he never asked about it.

“Oh! Michael, my editor called, he wants to meet tomorrow about my story board,” Yuuki said.

“Oh?  That’s good, right?  It didn’t take him long.” Michael answered.

“I hope so, usually when I throw him a curve ball, he calls and talks to me over the phone about it, and takes him at least a week to make all the edits he wants.”  Yuuki said, a little nervious.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, you have never given him anything that he hasn’t like before and I think you’re adding just enough spice.”  Michael tried to comfort him but he knew how he was feeling as he himself was waiting for a response from his editor.

“Yeah, you’re probably right, I am a genius,” he said with a laugh.

“Speaking of which, do you mind if I tag along with you?  I’m going to nudge my editor a little, but what an excuse to be there.  I don’t want him to think I’m impatient,” Michael asked.

“Sure, but you know he’s going to see right through you.”  Yuuki laughed again and Michael joined him.  The real reason he wanted to go with Yuuki is that he wanted to see Lukas, and Yuuki was always saying that every time he’s there so is Lukas.  He had no idea what he planned to do, but he had asked before he thought.

Sarah and Yuuki started off on their own conversation so Ellie leaned over and nudged Michael.  “What?”  he said, but she gave him a look of exasperation so he said, “Lukas is always there when Yuuki is.”  She made an “oh” face.  “I don’t know what I’m going to do or say but I want to see him.”  She smiled at him.  “I’m glad you’re getting entertainment out of this,” he said back at her which only made her smile widen.

“Why not give him a message?  Make an actual effort to spend time with him?”  she said.

“You mean ask him on a date?” Michael said.

“Not necessarily,” she answered.

“And I have his number, I could just send him a text.” She gave him a disapproving look.  “Right, that’s not personal at all.  What am I to do, hand him a note?”

“Why not?” she asked, “Write him a letter specifying what you want.”

He sighed, it wasn’t a bad idea, but now he was going to be up all night trying to figure out what to say.

“What are you two whispering about?” Yuuki jumped in.

“You’re butt!” Ellie said and Michael facepalmed.  She and Sarah laughed.

They finished dinner and made it to the show early.  They talked about what they were expecting and when the show started they were all proven wrong.  It was much better than they expected, the girls were in tears and the men were trying to not join them.

“What a beautiful show,” Ellie said.  “I think I’m going to go to all his shows,” she wiped a tear from her eye as the left the theatre.

They went their separate ways after walking together to Ellie’s house.  Michael was lost in thought all the way home.  What was he going to say to Lukas and how could he convince himself that this was okay?  What if Lukas was just messing with him or he somehow read the signs wrong?  And what if he wasn’t interested in him that way, he didn’t want to hurt the guy?

He sat down at his desk and fiddled with his pen for almost half an hour before even starting the letter.  He was nervous when he started writing so he had to start over several times so his writing was legible. Then finally:

Lukas,

I’m not sure what is happening between us and I don’t know if you do either.  I can’t lie and say I’m not intrigued but I’ll also not lie about saying I’m on very uneven ground here.  I don’t considered myself to be closed-minded and I am willing to give whatever this is a chance.  I know a little about you, but I’d like to know more.  You are such a mystery to me that I can’t stop thinking about you.  You also said you wanted to know more about me and promised that we would take it slow.  As long as you keep your promise, I’m going to reach a hand out to you, so please don’t burn it.

If you weren’t lying and you are sincere meet me for dinner at Louise Tov’s at eight p.m. Thursday night.  If you can’t or no longer want to proceed, I understand, and I’ll leave it at that, as if nothing happened.  Here is my phone number, in case you can’t make it: (917) XXX-XXXX.

Michael.

He went to bed shortly after one a.m., but he couldn’t sleep, he just tossed around nervously before he got up and went to his living room.  He watched documentaries for a couple hours, then he finally fell asleep on the couch.

He was awoken by the sound of his doorbell.  He moaned and grabbed his phone, seeing it was dead, he looked up at the clock and saw that it was past nine a.m.  “Oh crap!” he said and jumped up hitting the buzzer and unlock the door to let Yuuki in, and rushed to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and his hair at the same time then rushed to his room as he heard Yuuki come it.  He threw on a pair of jeans, and his usual graphic tee and overshirt.  He hopped out of his room, trying to put on socks.

“I’m so sorry, man, I over slept.” He said.

“I can see that,” Yuuki said, not in the least bit upset.  Michael got his socks on and threw on a coat.  He had placed the envelope with the letter to Lukas in his pocket so he didn’t forget it or Yuuki saw it.  They went out the door only minutes after Yuuki had arrived and were on their way to the office to see his editor.

“I’m glad you live so close to the office,” Yuuki said and they hurried down the street.

“Me too,” Michael said.  They got there in just a few minutes and Yuuki hurried away down the hall.  “Good luck!” Michael shouted after him.  Michael made his way to the elevator.  He was actually going to go see Tori, since he was here.  And he didn’t want to just stand around waiting to see if Lukas would show, plus him moving kept his nerves in check.  Even though his chest was already tight, he tried not to focus on it.  He got off on the fifth floor and saw that Tori’s office door was closed.  He must be in a meeting.  He waited outside for almost an hour when he got a text from Yuuki saying that he was done.  He went back to the elevator and waited for it to come down from higher in the building.  When the doors opened he couldn’t believe his eyes.  Inside the elevator stood just one person, Lukas.  Lukas didn’t seem to notice him at first, he was looking down at the floor and seemed deep in thought.  Michael stepped on and hit the “Door Close” button.  When the doors closed, Lukas finally looked up and Michael was staring at him.  He looked taken aback, even embarrassed for a second.

“What are the odds?” Michael said, trying to break the ice.

“Indeed,” Lukas responded, “it seems that you have no interest in being near me, what a cruel world this must be for you.”

“No interest--? No nevermind.” Michael said, If only you knew what you are putting me through.  “I have something for you.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope.  He held it out in front of Lukas with a shaking hand.  “Please take it.”  Lukas looked at the paper and slowly raised his hand to take it, but instead of just grabbing the envelope he grasped Michael’s hand.

“You’re shaking.” He said, “I’m sorry if I’m the cause.  I don’t take rejection well and this is a delicate matter.”

“It is,” Michael said, not pulling away.  “Do you mind, if I … touch you?”  What?!  Lukas looked surprised but nodded.  Michael pulled his hand away from Lukas’s and reached up, touching his cheek with just two fingers.  Then, as if he was shocked, he pulled them back but only for a second.  He stepped closer to him and put his full hand on his cheek then his other hand on the other cheek.  Before he could stop he leaned in and put his forehead against Lukas’s.  He closed his eyes and took in Lukas’s heat.  Then he leaned in and just laid his lips on his, just a timid kiss.  The whole time Lukas just stood still, allowing Michael to take his time and even now, he only lifted a hand and laid it on one of his elbows, trying to reassure him.  But before he could build up the courage, the elevator stopped and the door dinged opened.  He quickly stepped away from Lukas and off the elevator, leaving Lukas standing here, flush and surprised.

Lukas watched Michael run out the door.  He met his friend and they were soon out of his sight.  He walked the other direction of them to a café a few blocks away.  He sat and tried to warm up and draw himself out of the haze his was in with a coffee.  Once he felt his nerves settle he reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope Michael had given him.  He read it slowly and as he reached the end he felt a joy rise in him that he had never felt.  He reread the note several times.  And again when he got home later that evening.  He pulled out his phone and typed a simple message:

Yes, I’ll be there.

Michael read the message and immediately sent one of his own.

You have to help me shop! >.<;;;;

At which Ellie replied:

You’re lucky I’m on break.  Meet me at the mall at noon. J