“Today would work best, sir.”
I see.I preferred to drive myself to the station, but it wouldn’t be wise in my state. “I’ll ride with you if that’s okay.”
“Sure thing.”
I took a breath and rose to my feet. Despite trying to keep my face expressionless, the pain made me grimace. By the suspicion on the officer’s face, he noticed.
Hayden, what the hell did you get me into?
*
The forty-minute drive passed in silence. The station’s sign read, “Hollywood Station,” but the plain two-story building didn’t possess any star quality that I could see.
We parked close to the entrance, and I followed the officer inside. He led me to the stairs, but before he could start climbing, I said, “I hurt my back recently.”
“No problem.” We walked to the elevator and got out on the second floor. We continued through two gray hallways before stopping at a room labeledInvestigation Room #3. It had a table with chairs on each side and a recording device in the middle of the table. A barred window allowed some breeze, but the place was still stuffy. Unlike in the movies, there was no one-way mirror.
“You can sit. I’ll tell the detective you’re here.”
Once alone, I slumped on a chair with a sigh, feeling dormant bruises. Six months had passed since I last saw or spoke with Hayden. Given the bleak way we’d left things, I didn’t expect to see him ever again. I had spent months trying to push him out of my thoughts, but being moments from seeing him again allowed buried memories to resurface.
The first time we met was during a lecture on gay life in ancient Greece, which I attended to experience gay culture after years of staying away from such things. It had reached a point where my loneliness began to affect my mood and my work, catching Jenny’s attention. She pressured me into going out to meet new people, and a history lecture felt like a safe first step.
During the lecture, I absently scanned the room until my eyes landed on a man sitting a few seats from me. He also seemed to be there alone, and even sitting, I could tell how tall he was. He was handsome with his strong, stubble-covered jaw, elegant nose, and tan skin. His brown leather jacket sat nicely on his broad shoulders.
Not wanting him to notice my gaze, I shifted my eyes to the front.
When the lecture finished an hour later, I made my way to grab a sandwich for the ride back home. Having survived an evening surrounded by strangers, I didn’t feel obligated to stick around for small talk. I reached for the last tofu sandwich, but someone moved swiftly and grabbed it before I could. Annoyed, I turned to see the tall man I’d noticed earlier.
“Did you want that?” It sounded more like a statement, which annoyed me further since every other sandwich had meat in it.
“It’s fine.”
“Here.” He held it for me to take.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“But I took it for you.”
That made me pause. “I doubt it.”
“Do you have evidence to prove otherwise?” His matter-of-fact tone made it difficult to tell if he was joking.
“I don’t have evidence at the moment.”
“Innocent till proven guilty, then.” He winked and handed me the sandwich, and this time I took it.
“Thanks. Hmm, why did you take it for me?”
“It seemed like you were about to grab it and leave. I needed to make you wait.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer; instead, he grabbed another sandwich and gestured for me to follow him outside. I hesitated, but I was also curious. We reached a sitting area with a view of a nearby park and sat facing each other, far enough from other attendees.
“Did you enjoy the lecture?” he asked.
“It was fine, but the speaker was a bit dull.”
