I did.
Cody Barratt:
You should’ve come home with me.
I mean, Dad’s your bestie.
He’s gonna be pissed when I tell him you worked the whole time.
Me:
I’m a grown man. I can work over Christmas and New Year’s if I want to. Which I did.
Iset my phone down on my desk with a sigh. The truth is, where I usually would have found the solitude and quiet of having the office to myself peaceful, this past holiday…I did not. I was productive, but not enough to justify shutting myself off from the world.
I was lonely.
The feeling has become more and more pronounced since I’ve started hanging out with Cody on Friday nights to watchEldertide. I live for my Friday nights now. And these weeks spent waiting for the show’s hiatus to end are killing me, especially when every marketing campaign I’ve signed off on lately has been focused on happy couples of every race and gender combination imaginable.
Kill. Me. Now.
No, seriously. If I have to hear one more Valentine’s Day pitch, I’m jumping out of my office window.
This has to be some kind of midlife crisis. I was perfectly happy with nearly anonymous Grindr hookups until just recently. And now…now I’d rather spend my Friday nights watching a nerdy TV show instead of being balls deep inside some young, pretty thing.
You could have both,a tempting voice inside my head tells me as I attempt to scroll through the emails on my laptop.Cody thinks you’re a silver fox.
Andgreat. Now I’m talking to myself.
Maybe thisissome kind of midlife crisis.
My phone vibrates on the desk, the screen lighting up with the notification of a new message. Despite willing myself to have some semblance of self-control, I reach for it within seconds.
Cody Barratt:
You’re no fun. *pouts*
I snort and begin typing my rebuttal, but another message comes through.
Cody Barratt:
It sucks that Eldertide isn’t on for another two weeks.
Deleting everything I’d half-typed, I reply,‘Yeah. But we can still hang out this Friday if you want to.’
I watch the animated ellipsis as Cody types his response. It starts. It disappears. It starts again. The three little circles keep appearing and disappearing from my screen.
Finally, a reply comes through.
Cody Barratt:
I’d like that.
I blink at the screen, then frown. It took him all that time to writethat? Then again, he is at work. It’s possible he actually stopped chatting to do his job. Like I should be right now.
Me:
Cool. My place? Usual time?
