When I finally get back to the condo, I find Eric in his office, a solemn expression on hisface.
Act cool, I tellmyself.
As I approach him, there are so many questions I want to ask him, but I hold back the floodgates until he approaches and hugs me, holds me close to his firmbody.
“Thank you,” hewhispers.
“Thankyou?”
“For being here. For all your support. I wouldn’t have done that today if it hadn’t been foryou.”
He pulls away, his mouth opening as if he’s about to say something, but he stops himselfagain.
It’smaddening.
“Connie was good. Better than good. She listened, and she opened up the door to let me know that she had sort of put the pieces together on her own, especially recently. I pretty much confirmed what was already running through her head, which was the best-case scenario, in some ways. Worst case, inothers.”
“I’msorry.”
“No, it’s incredible. What I thought would be one of the worst lunches for what it dredged up was one of the best. All that horrible stuff came up, but once again, I wasn’t on my own. I’m aware I’m not on my own anymore, Jesse, and every ally, whether it’s you, Troy, Carolyn, or Connie…helps.”
“I’m glad you’re accepting the help. You spent too long harboring this on yourown.”
We’ve continued our work, both inside and outside the bedroom, making steady progress, Eric facing those aspects of his past one step at a time as we do our best to navigatethis.
He nods subtly before asking, “I’ve been busy with this all day. You want to make some dinner and watch amovie?”
“I’d likethat.”
“Not one of those creepy-ass things you’re into, though. Not sure I can handle anotherMartyrstonight.”
I laugh, enjoying his use of humor to defuse what tensionremains.
We head into the kitchen, and after much deliberation, settle on chickenAlfredo.
“Now, what is happening here?” Eric asks as I take charge of the meal, grabbing the pans Eric is typically the first to goafter.
“I figured I could go ahead and take care of the chicken, since you always do. I’m kind of a pro withthat.”
His eyes narrow, his look suspicious as ever. “I know why you’re really doingthis.”
“If you want to handle it,then…”
“Any other night, I’d snatch that pan from you and do it myself, but now I get to supervise and tell you when you fuckup.”
“I enjoy when you supervise,” I say with awink.
Eric doesn’t hold back his laughter, and it’s the sort of laugh that’s so full of life and joy. It’s as though I broke through some barrier he’s been carrying around since I gothome.
“I do enjoy supervising you,” he adds, moving closer, his hand resting on the small of my back as he pulls me close to him, the tip of his nose teasing at mine. “…in the kitchen, in thebedroom…”
“…in my office…in your storage unit…in the planelavatories.”
“Oh God. We’ve had some adventures, haven’twe?”
“Not enough, if you askme.”
He keeps his distance, only watchingme.
