It was always raining when I met him. But he always went on time, despite the traffic and the heavy rain. I waved at him and started ordering food.
He was a man with a tall and slender figure. His eyelashes were so thick and pretty that made his beauty too stand out. I laughed at myself at first when I realized that I was attracted by someone’s eye like this, a man’s eye.
He smiled and I could perfectly saw that his face was flawless, like a pretty girl. But he was not girly, he moved and acted like a normal guy, I doubted that he was a gay in person.
But since I saw a man who was sitting beside him, I more doubted that he was not really that straight.
It was already our third time of hanging out. I had no many friends to ask for a coffee in a Saturday afternoon, so I found him as a gem that I had to value. It was also very nice to spend time by talking to him, and also staring at such a beauty like him.
“Hi Keane,” I sat next to him and the man that was already beside him.
“Hi, Ty, this is Bryan, I just had some talks with him,”
I glanced at his coffee that was already less than half empty. “Oh? Sorry, did you finish already or should I go somewhere else?” I could see that the man beside Keane was staring at me differently.
“No, we’re just finished but I still have quite a time until my next appointment so I may join you both,” the man answered me instead. “By the way, I’m Bryan Burdough,”
I shook his hand, “Rusty, I am Keane’s desk-mate since middle school,” I introduced myself to him.
Bryan was only nodding and our hands were still shaking. “Nice, so you frequently hangout with Keane here?”
“No, since we both are coffee enthusiasts, we often seek for a new place to try. This place is the only one that we both approved as the top list in the city. So, since when have you known Keane?”
“Coffee? I also love coffee very much! You can also ask me,” I could sense that this guy was not smiling honestly. He just tried to be friendly to me, or in front of Keane. But I didn’t really like this guy at the first impression.
Still, I tried to be nice since he’s Keane’s acquaintance.
“Sure! So when did you know Keane?” I eagerly wanted to know his answer.
“Same club in universities,” Keane answered instead of him.
“Oh? I see,” I tried to ask at first about their relationship, but I held back. I wondered at how they looked at each other, whether something was between them or I was just hallucinating.
Keane was a beauty but he rarely acted elegantly unlike now. He was responding to the man next to him with a caring eye and I just silently observed their interaction.
This was the first moment that I sensed Keane might not be a straight person. But I also sensed that the guy beside him had a feeling to him also. Or maybe I sensed they both had something between them.
“I just remembered something,” I tried to remind them that I was also here. “Did you happen to know someone who was breaking his heart previously?”
I saw that Keane looked at me furiously when Bryan looked intrigued.
“Breaking his heart… When was it?” Bryan responded me.
“I thought it was 2 or 3 years ago, he suddenly contacted me and his other old friends to hangout with him. I was his desk-mate before so I knew what was he like. He rarely contacted me unless something was up. He spent his time mostly drinking at a bar and getting drunk. Then one day when I sent him home, he cried and talked a lot of things. He told me that he liked someone so much and got rejected. I didn’t understand the rest since he was so wasted,”
Bryan paid attention to each of my talking.
“Well, I didn’t know about this before, and I have no clue who would be also,”
I wanted to assume that Bryan was the one. Then I could see he was wearing a wedding ring on his finger. I actually startled knowing that fact.
“Are you married?” I pointed at the ring.
“Oh? Yes,” but when the ring was the focus, he chose to hide it instead. Something must be bothering him to explain more about his wedding.
Bryan wore a polo shirt and it was unbuttoned around his neck. I saw a necklace he was wearing. I thought I ever saw it before, but I forgot where.
He seemed to have a loving marriage life, I assumed.
“Kids?” I asked again, and he nodded also.
Well, now I doubted something was between them. Bryan looked like a good husband. Maybe Keane was indeed liking him and the heartbreak was related to his marriage.
But then, Bryan must be lying to have no clue about the confession and rejection. Maybe he just wanted our conversation not to go awkwardly so he lied.
Still, I despised him to reject such a lovely person as Keane.
Time had passed and suddenly Bryan told us that he’s leaving. It was just me and Keane then. We were talking and sharing thought as usual. But something was bothering Keane.
“I didn’t remember you bringing me home,”
“Ah? I left you right in front of the door,” What a liar. I spent most of the night staring at him, hoping that I could bear the pain from him.
I still remembered he was crying in his sleep. He bent over and wrapped himself in his blanket. I lied in his bed beside him until the sunrise. I managed to sneak out before he woke up.
He felt embarrassed, his cheeks were red. “Did I say something?”
“You talked a lot,” I laughed at him. “You wailed at your beloved like a puppy but don’t worry, you were always silent at bar,”
I bet he was a little bit of relieved to know that. Since I was the closest to him, maybe that was the reason he was taking it all out once we’re alone.
“God, that’s embarrassing,”
I was hesitated to ask him, “So, is that him? The one who rejected you?”
He was shocked to hear my question. “Sort of,” what a vague answer.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know, it’s complicated to say that,”
“I don’t get it,”
“You don’t have to,” he sipped his last coffee.
“Well, can I ask what is your relationship with him?”
He stared at me, maybe he was wondering about how to tell me at first. “That’s the most complicated part,”
I couldn’t help but started to judge him by the eyes. “You HAVE a relationship with him? With a married man, I mean, someone's father?”
He tried to calm me, but I wished I could too. “Hey, want to come to my place? I can make better coffee,”
“Why? You can’t talk about that in an open space like here?”
He nodded and just dragged me to walk along with him. I couldn’t help but to agree. The way we walked was different than the last time I took him home.
Oh, wow. He moved to a better place. I didn’t know he had more money now.
“It’s his place,” he opened the door and said that when I looked around in awe.
“That guy place? Then why are you living here?”
“Hey, don’t judge me, this place is near to everywhere, it has a great view, great space, it’s nice,”
“So you’re sort of his mistress, huh?” I couldn’t wait to google the man. Was he an influential person or how rich was he actually?
“Kind of,” he drank a glass of water then straight to the kitchen. “Still want a coffee?”
“Well, you claimed you make better coffee, so I need to approve it first,”
I sat at the bar stool in front of him but chose to wander around. There was no single photo displayed. The place was neat and full of citrus smell. It’s fresh yet calming, I liked citrus.
“So he usually came here?”
“Yeah,”
“This whole place is still under him or he deliberately gave all to you?”
I could see from afar his smirk. “Officially mine,”
Wow, what a rich-y dick.
“Since when did you two…” Had an affair? But I couldn’t say it loudly.
“Oh, it’s long ago before he was married,”
“You knew it yet you still with him?”
He nodded and smiled bitterly, “He would file for divorce soon,”
