“Long distance,” he says.
“For now. I think we’d both like an assurance of the future we were manifesting the day we met, but I also think we both understand that’s not going to happen. What I know is that I love being with you. I love the way you smile and laugh. Your thoughts and ideas. I love the way you make me feel. Iwantto keep seeing you.”
“Me too,” Ruby says with a sigh. “I want that too.”
“So… back to my question.”
Ruby peeks beyond Alka’s head, blocking half his vision, and looks at me with one eye. “I understand why you thought I wasupset when I saw Oscar watching us kiss, but I wasn’t upset. I was startled, and yeah… Idon’twant to feel like the other guy. So we’re clear, you haven’t made me feel that way. It was a suddenwhooshof feeling when I met his eyes while we were kissing, and it felt very much like we were caught doing something wrong.”
“Again, sorry,” I say.
Ruby smiles.
“I’m not upset about spending time with Oscar. I’m not even upset about sitting close together like this. I promise I was just startled. I wasn’t expecting it.”
Alka relaxes. “Good. One more thing that’s very relevant. Is Oz creating adult content going to bother you?”
Ruby’s face contorts into confusion. “What?”
“Believe it or not, that’s been a big point of contention a few times.”
“I question your taste in men,” Ruby says, and I laugh. I have to bury my face in Alka’s hair to muffle it. Ruby squirms, laughing too.
“You think it doesn’t affect you, but in a way, it does. Not in a way that’s going to make sense right now, I think, but it will,” Alka says.
Ruby’s still looking dubious. “I think it’s really cool of you to be okay with it. That’s what really matters.”
“Ruby.”
Ruby grins. I appreciate that he doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he continues to watch me with one eye over Alka’s shoulder.
“I don’t know that I can give you an honest opinion right now as to whether I think it’ll bother me. I guess…” Ruby chews his lip for a minute as he stares, though I’m not sure he’s actually looking at me anymore. “I anticipate this is going to be awkward, but maybe if I saw some of his, uh, work… I might be able to tell you how I felt about it.”
“I can give you a free subscription to my ReachMe account,” I offer.
Ruby’s cheeks redden. It’s adorable. “Uh. Thanks?”
Alka chuckles. “I understand.”
“Can I ask you a couple questions?” Ruby asks.
“Yes,” Alka answers.
“Both of you?”
I nod. “Of course.”
“You said you don’t make videos together, right?”
“Rarely,” I answer. “I wouldn’t risk my husband’s job, but there are a handful with him faceless.”
Ruby nods, his eyes moving to Alka’s. “Do you watch?”
“Sometimes,” Alka says, shrugging. “Depends on what I’m doing, how I feel about the other guy, and what they’re up to.” He shrugs again.
“Are there guys you don’t like?”
“Oh,” Alka says, picking up his head. “No. Not what I meant. I don’t often meet his colleagues. There’s one who lives in the same area as we do that Oscar’s friends with, and I’ll hang out with them sometimes. Serendipitously, that same colleague is connected to us by another group of friends, so we see each other under other circumstances too. I meant whether I find the other guy attractive.”
