Three hours later, Ollie’s cell phone rang just as he sat at his computer again to input data of absorbance readings from an assay he’d just run. He pulled the phone from his pocket and grinned as he saw his boyfriend’s name light up on the screen. He quickly swiped up to answer the call and lifted the phone to his ear.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” Ollie greeted, and he heard Sam groan in response.
“You’re not gonna believe me if I tell you I actuallyjustwoke up, are you?”
“Oh, I believe it,” Ollie said, laughing. “I almost woke you up before I left this morning, but you were too adorable, and I just had to let you sleep.”
“Adorable? You mean, my hair was a mess and I was probably hanging halfway off the bed,” Sam said with a yawn.
Ollie grinned again. “That’s my definition of adorable.” He balanced the phone between his shoulder and ear as he clicked a few buttons on his computer to open up the data file for the project he was working on. “So, you’ll be home tonight around eleven?”
“Yeah, that’s why I called. Um . . .”
Ollie paused what he was doing as Sam’s voice trailed off. He straightened up and took the phone back into his hand. “What is it? Everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, sorry. I just... um, any chance you’d be up to... meeting me for dinner tonight? My break is at six. Unless... ah, you’re probably working late tonight, huh?”
Ollie’s heart flipped in his chest as he heard the words Sam hadn’t said.I need to see you. I miss you already. I wish you were here right now.He felt a surge of love, and he smiled into the phone.
“I should be able to make that happen. I can always come back afterward. I’ll... let you know as soon as I meet with John this afternoon.”
He could almost hear the relief in Sam’s voice as his boyfriend sighed.
“Wonderful. Thank you, love.”
“I can’t wait to see you,” Ollie admitted.
“I’ll be counting the minutes,” Sam said.
Ollie smiled again and closed his eyes. All the love bubbled up inside of him, and he let out a long breath. “Six o’clock. Four hundred... twenty-two minutes.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll have an hour, so... we can eat at Old Stove again if I can get a reservation. Or we can just order delivery to my apartment. Whatever you want.”
“Let’s . . . order in, that way—”
A knock on his office door cut Ollie off, and he looked up sharply. His colleague Susan stood in the doorway, a knowinggrin on her face and her lab notebook in her hand. Ollie held up a hand to indicate he’d be one more minute, and she nodded and stepped back out of Ollie’s office.
“That way . . . ?”
“Ah, sorry, Susan needs to talk. Probably about those assays she ran for me last week. I gotta go. But let’s plan for six at your place. I’ll text you when I can,” Ollie said quickly, standing up and heading toward the door.
“Of course, yeah. I love you. Can’t wait to see you.”
Ollie heard a slight catch in Sam’s voice, and he paused and closed his eyes again. “I can’t wait to see you too. Soon. Soon.”
“Four hundred nineteen minutes, love,” Sam said, laughing lightly now.
Ollie laughed along with him. “Okay, I’d better...”
“Yeah, yeah. Love you. See you later.”
Reluctantly, Ollie hung up the phone and then continued out of his office. Susan stood next to the nearest lab bench, several racks filled with neatly labeled microfuge tubes sitting in front of her.
“Hey, Susan, sorry about that. What’s up?” Ollie said as he approached the lab bench.
Susan looked up from her lab notebook and smiled. “I just wanted to go over the results from those assays I ran for you on Friday, if you have a few minutes?”
“Yeah, of course. Let me grab my notebook.”
