Before Toby reached the kitchen, Richie said, “I hate to be a bother. I could just take my chances and go.” Toby filled his coffee cup and smiled. Then he sighed and said, “I’m sure we’ll figure out something to get us through the long night.”
“I’d just like to make one thing very clear,” Richie said.
His tone grew serious and his eyebrows furrowed. “What’s that?”
“Just because I’m spending the night here doesn’t mean I’m going todoanything with you. So if you have any plans in that department, I’ll leave right now. I’m completely devoted to Brad and I don’t play around behind his back. We’re in love.”
Toby rolled his eyes and turned to face him. He almost choked on his coffee. Evidently Richie didn’t seem to mind the fact that good old Brad was cheating on his wife. “You don’t have to worry aboutthat,” Toby said. “Trust me; I have nointention of doinganythingwith you either.”
When he said this, Richie’s face fell and he flung him look. “What’s wrong with me? I’m not good enough for you because I work in maintenance?”
“Oh brother,” Toby said. “I didn’t mean it like that. Calm down, big boy. I just meant that I’m not interested in sleeping with anyone tonight. So you don’t have to worry.” He hadn’t expected Richie to react this way, and with such an insecure, defeated expression. He’d pictured Richie to be the clueless, insensitive type…the type who knew he was young, drop-dead gorgeous, and took advantage of it as much as he could. He looked like one of those guys who spit on the sidewalk, smoked cigarettes, and opened beer bottles with his teeth, while everyone drooled and waited for him to look in their direction.
Richie removed his gloves and scarf and shoved them back into his pockets. “Well, I just wanted to make that clear in case you were thinking of trying anything. Brad and I have something special. We’re completely devoted to each other and I wouldn’t do anything to ruin it.”
When Toby realized that Richie had no idea Brad Lindsay was fooling around with other men behind his back, he felt a tug in his chest. Then he wondered if all the other guys Brad was playing around with thought Brad was just as devoted to them. Toby could see by the expression on Richie’s face that Richie truly believed he had something special with Brad. He honestly thought he had a future with the bastard. And Toby didn’t want to be the one to crush Richie’s dream. So he smiled and said, “Why don’t you take off your coat and we’ll watch some TV. Maybe there’s an old movie on.”
They watched a western with John Wayne for the first two hours, and then they watched and old Bette Davis movie that almost put Toby to sleep. Toby had stretched out on the sofa at some point; Richie sat on an orange Danish modern side chair with his stocking feet resting on the coffee table. They didn’t speak much; Toby wasn’t sure what to say. And Richie seemed a little nervous. He didn’t know where to put his hands. His feet were crossed and he kept jiggling them.
At the end of the second movie, Toby sat up and rubbed his eyes. He caught a whiff of Richie’s subtle spicy cologne and pressed his palm to his chest. He yawned and stretched. If he’d been alone he would have taken a long nap and slept most of the afternoon. He glanced at a small clock on top of the TV and saw that it was after six o’clock.
He hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “I guess we should start thinking about dinner.”
Richie removed his feet from the coffee table and leaned forward. He reached for the small vase and started to rearrange the flowers. “We’d better see if we can order something up. The refrigerator is empty.” When he realized he said this, he gaped at Toby and said, “I don’t go snooping around in there. I just wanted to see if there was anything to drink this morning.”
Toby laughed. “Calm down. I don’t care. And I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m not the most domestic person in the world. I hardly ever eat at home. And when I do it’s always take out.”
Richie pushed the vase to the left and stood up. “I’ll get the menu to the Chinese take out around the corner. I hear they never close, not even in the worst weather.” Toby thought it was interesting that Richie knew where Toby kept the take out menus. But he didn’t want to embarrass him so he didn’t say anything. He figured that Richie probably ordered take out with Brad sometimes. Toby had come home some nights and he’d smelled Chinese take out, but he hadn’t seen any cartons or dirty dishes.
They ordered more food than they should have and there were tons of leftovers. Toby insisted on paying and Richie insisted on setting the table and washing clearing the plates when they were finished. During dinner they talked about people they knew from the office and laughed about the night Richie knocked on the doors and Toby couldn’t figure out how to let him into the office. Richie admitted he’d thought Toby was a little dumb that first night.
Toby threw a fortune cookie at him and said he wasn’t dumb he was just tired. After dinner, they went back to the living room and turned on the TV again.
While they were watching Ed Sullivan, Richie asked, “Does it bother you that Brad and I are together as a couple now?”
Toby almost fell sideways. The poor guy didn’t have a clue that Brad was screwing around on him, too. “Why should it botherme?”
“Well, I know you and Brad were doing something the night I knocked on the doors. It was kind of obvious, if you know what I mean. You’re lips were a little swollen.” Toby cleared his throat and said, “You have nothing to worry about, trust me. I have no interest in Brad Lindsay and I never did. Whether or not we ever did anything together doesn’t matter. If we did do something, it happened once and it was fast. It meant nothing to either of us, and it was over before it even started. Brad and I aren’t even good friends. I only see him at the office.”
“I thought you were good friends,” Richie said. “You’re letting him use your apartment.”
“It was an arrangement that I agreed to,” Toby said. “But we’re not close and we never socialize outside the office.”
He wanted this to be clear, without being too obvious about his feelings about Brad. He wasn’t sure he could trust Richie yet and he didn’t want to bad mouth his boss. “I’m glad to hear that,” Richie said. “I’d hate to think you had feelings for Brad and here he is in love with me and planning a future with me.”