"I just, I'm tired. I think the veggie burger I ate some of didn't agree with me."
"Do you want to pack it up and go home? I'll stay and keep watch."
I wave. "No, it's fine. I stopped eating it the second my stomach acted up."
"I can go have a word with management. Let them know that they're selling food that's no good."
"No, no, that's okay, Buddy. It could have just been one bad burger is all."
He seems frustrated. And I don't know how I'm going to make it through the rest of the day without exploding. But I manage to pull myself together, and I make a sale in the latter part of the day. It's a big sale, too. Enough to make up for the fact that I'm not in the store today. The sign on the door says where we are, but still. All my inventory is at the store, so I'm very impressed. But not happy enough to make up for what I witnessed earlier. "You mind if I go grab a bite to eat now, Lennie?" Buddy asks.
"Sure. Go ahead."
That's when he walks by. I try to avert my gaze, but he catches the fleeting look on my face, which I try to replace by pasting a smile on. "What's going on?" He asks, concern registered all over his face.
I have to lie. "Nothing. It's just been a long day."
He stands there, looking at me, and he swallows. "Not buying it. I've seen you after a long day and that's not what it looks like."
There are no words.
"Something's wrong, Lennie. I know it." He says, coming closer to me. There isn't anyone in the tent. It's just us. "Tell me who hurt you."
"Nobody hurt me. And I can't talk about it right now."
"Do you need me to stick around?" He asks, voice low, as if he's ready to kill if necessary.
"No. No, it's nothing like that."
He searches my eyes. I can't look at him. Not now. Not with knowing how much that I'm going to have to hurt him by telling him what I know. "Fine. I'll stop by at closing time and give you a hand with all this stuff."
"You don't have to do that. We can grab one of the hands at management."
It's like he doesn't hear me. "Lennie, it's killing me that something's bothering you. To see that look on your face, knowing that something's wrong, it's killing me."
Someone walks into the tent, breaking the tension. "Not now, Levi. I'll see you later."
He breaks the intense look on his face as the patrons walk past him. A smile is pasted on as he tips his hat to them and to me and walks out.
"I have a question." The lady with the floral hat says.
Yeah, so do I. How do I tell the only man on earth that I've ever loved that he's been had, without breaking his heart?
The last of our gear goes into the trailer. Buddy gets into his truck and takes off, leaving me with Levi. He takes the hint that I've got business to tend to before we can talk, and he follows me to the store, where he proceeds to help me and Buddy unload. "You sure Billy doesn't need you?" Buddy checks.
"Naw, everyone's pitching in. They know that you two haven't got anyone else to lend a hand."
As the last of the stuff gets put away, Levi stands outside of the store, pacing. "I'm heading on home, Lennie. I'll see you tomorrow." Buddy states.
"Yeah, I'll see you. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
I watch Buddy salute Levi before hopping into his truck, confused as to why he doesn't have more words for him, seeing as Levi hasn't left yet and I'm still here. And I'm wondering if Levi has told him that there's something amiss with me. After I lock up the store and arm the security system, I walk out of the store. Levi is chewing on the pad of his thumb, still pacing. He looks at me and we both know that words need to be said. But I don't want to say them here. And not in my store, either. "Why don't you follow me to my place, Levi? That way we can do this in private."
"I'll follow you."
As we drive to my place, I get a whole ten minutes to decide how to tell him. But as soon as we pull up to my house, I can't remember a single damn thing that I came up with. "Your place is sweet." He comments, looking around.
