[1] - Anything Could Happen

Sometimes, we see people in our thoughts and dreams, people we are adamant that we’ve never encountered before. But the brain cannot conjure up new people, images or things from scratch. Whatever or whoever you see in your mind’s eye, be it a dream or a fast flash, you have seen before.

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Headphones in his ears prevented Rory from hearing the birds chirping outside, the cars constantly speeding down the street either herding people to work or kids to school or his ratty sixteen year old brother waking up and blasting his loud annoying music all over the house. The song of the day was Ellie Goulding’s “Anything Could Happen,” and that was what filled his head, his eyes hypnotized by the brush in front of him, swiping almost automatically over a large piece of canvas. All over the room were scattered paintings of different sizes, a few sculptures which he considered an epic failure and some other art-related stuff.

He was dressed in a paint-stained white shirt and dark grey capris of equal appearance, lost in the world that was his own. As usual, his breathing was a bit faster than normal and his heart was beating erratically as he painted the same face he’d been painting for nearly half of his life.

The thought alone made his heart stutter in his chest and his breath hitch. He licked his lips, dipping the brush into the yellow paint and mixing it with the brown, trying to get the perfect hue of his hair.

“I know it’s gonna be, I know it’s gonna be, I know it’s gonna be, I know it’s gonna be! Whoa-oh!” he sang loudly, his blood flowing with passion.

The music, plus the piece he was working on filled him to the brim with energy and happiness. He started swinging his hips to the music, his hands forever steady with the brush as he swiped effortlessly over the page. He’d painted this face so many times that it came as second nature to him. He was certain he could paint him with his eyes closed.

Who are you? He asked silently to the half-finished painting, staring in awe at it. When he was a child, his mother would tell him that these things happen; she also had weird dreams where she was sure she’d never met any of the characters in it before. But Rory had been insistent – was it supposed to happen almost every night? His dreams, his day-dreams and even some random déjà vu moments – a smell, the sight of a colour, a shiver down his spine and that face was flashing in his head, teasing the hell out of him.

It wasn’t exactly a memory or a dream, it was more like just that face in his sub-conscious, barely there, sometimes smiling, sometimes sad, sometimes looking at him with an unbelievable amount of lust –

“Oh my God, are you even alive in there? Jesus Christ, I thought you had an interview?”

Rory jumped out of his stupor, realising that his music had ended and was about to replay, which was why he had been able to hear Andrew’s voice yelling at him through the locked door.

“Fudge, I’ll be right out!” Rory yelled back, removing the plugs from his ears and shoving them into his pockets. He could still lightly hear the sound of the music coming out of his pocket because he hadn’t paused it but couldn’t be bothered about that right now. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and made a sound that wasn’t human.

Eight thirty. Andrew was supposed to be in school in fifteen minutes and he had a job interview in thirty.

“Fudge cupcakes,” he growled, dropping his brushes into the bowl of water sitting beside his new painting because he knew that if he didn’t do that, the acrylic paint would dry on them and the brushes would forever be ruined. After giving them a quick rinse, he left them to dry on the stool he’d previously occupied before he was running out of the room.

Rory was extremely sensitive about his paintings, especially the paintings of him. Andrew didn’t understand. The first time he’d seen the paintings, he’d bluntly asked why Rory was so obsessed with the blonde stranger and Rory couldn’t even begin to explain how he’d never even met him, just saw flashes of his face in his head from time to time. Andrew teased him about it and he got tired of the teasing and started locking the door that led to his ‘art study’ – originally meant to be the guest bedroom but they had to improvise because Rory painting in his room didn’t end too well.

“Whoa, easy tiger!” Andrew gasped, jumping out of the way because Rory had very nearly run into him as he exited the art study.

Ignoring him, Rory locked the door and rushed upstairs, fumbling in the pants in his wardrobe for his wallet. He finally found it and counted enough money for Andrew’s transport and lunch and then ran back down the stairs.

“Sorry I couldn’t make breakfast,” he apologised and Andrew shrugged him off, grabbing the bills from his hand and shoving them in his pocket before he was out the door, just as a car’s horn blared from outside.

Rory ran to the window, watching his sibling enter a bright pink convertible. He shuddered as Andrew kissed his ‘Barbie-doll’ girlfriend sloppily on the lips before the car was shooting out of the driveway; tires screeching as it sped down the street. Rory sighed a bit, staring into space before nearly jumping out of his skin as he remembered his job interview that he had in – he glanced at the clock – twenty minutes.

“Oh hell!” he cried as he practically rushed upstairs to take a quick shower and brush his teeth. He’d been painting for the past two hours, since the image of him woke him up and he had the strong urge to paint the extremely happy expression of the man that haunted his dreams.

He managed to eat a bowl of cereal and have a glass of water before he was hopping into a cab and heading over to Walker Design Studios.

It wasn’t until he was about five minutes away from his destination that he was hit by nerves. His stomach got gassy and his palms began to sweat. His mother had told him to get off his butt and do something about his talent but he wasn’t very proud of it so stuck to posting and selling his art anonymously online. Of course, soon enough, it had caught up with him and he was slacking on bills and barely keeping himself and Andrew alive as it was.

So when he’d seen the amazing reviews on Walker Design Studios, he’d immediately leaped at the chance for the job. But at the last minute, he’d gotten insecure and chickened out, applying for the place of an assistant instead of one of the main art majors.

He regretted that decision now but he thought it might be okay – being surrounded by art that wasn’t his own was going to be refreshing to his mind and he could learn a thing or two from the side-lines, in other words improving his own art in the process; so it was sort of a win-win situation.

The cab pulled to a stop in front of the impressive building, made solely of concrete that looked like it was sculpted by Zeus. Rory swallowed the tense apprehension rising in his gut, paid the taxi man and then squared his shoulders.

This was it.

*~*~*

“No, take that down.”

“But Sir – ”

“That painting is hideous and I don’t want it during the exhibition. Take. It. Down.”

Laura huffed as she crossed a line in the paper mounted on top of her purple clip board, motioning her hands to the people in blue overalls to take the so-called painting down and mumbled under her breath, “I do think it’s one of your best pieces but okay.”

“What was that?” Jeremy asked.

“Nothing Mr Walker,” Laura replied, her voice sickeningly sweet and dripping like poisoned honey.

Jeremy narrowed his eyes at her but said nothing further, striding into the room with purpose, his eyes scanning every single piece of work in the exhibition space.

Today was going to be a big day in the history of Walker Design Studios. They sounded like some architectural firm but in reality they held most of the most well-known artists in the United Kingdom. How a mere twenty-eight year old had managed to snatch this place up and be successful in such a short space of time was a wonder to everyone. His exhibitions were the best places for new, fresh talent if someone wanted to get noticed and at the same time, the reappearance of an old piece sent the crowd aflame with nostalgia.

It was a brilliant tactic that worked every time.

By the time Jeremy was done walking around the room, half of the exhibitions were being taken down and he was nearly pulling his hair out of its roots.

“Uh, wait, put that back up,” he called to the men currently about to put a sculpture back in its plastic casing.

“Sir, I think you should go behind your desk and begin the final arrangements. I can handle the rest of this. You look absolutely stressed out,” Laura pointed out kindly, one hand holding her ridiculously purple clipboard and the other smoothing an invisible wrinkle on her colour-matching skirt.

“You’ve done enough, Miss Skins,” he replied sincerely and politely, “I’m not letting the work load fall on you.”

“This leads me to reminding you that the newbie is due to arrive in,” she glanced at the clock, “exactly five minutes if he wants a job. I will have help.”

“But he’s not even done an interview – ”

“Trust me; I went through his background info like a finger digging for gold.”

“Jesus, you’re disgusting. Fine, send the newbie to me when he arrives so I can at least access him and please, make sure everything is in order?”

“You know you can trust me,” Laura winked at him.

Jeremy sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face, “that’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”

Laura giggled and then like flipping a switch, the smile was gone and she was suddenly all serious, snapping her fingers at the men, telling them what goes where. Jeremy forced his limbs to the stairs and jogged up to his office on the first floor. He got behind his desk and began sending reminder emails to all his customers and new comers and updating the information on his website.

In the middle of this, his phone began to ring. He brought the vibrating piece of metal out of his pocket and answered without looking at the caller ID, holding the phone to his left ear with his shoulder while his fingers flew across his keyboard.

“Walker Design Studio, you’re speaking to Jeremy Walker, how may I help you?”

“I knew it! You owe me ten pounds, cash please!” a female voice screeched into the phone and Jeremy winced and had to reach up to hold the phone slightly away from his head to save his ear drums.

“You know I don’t carry cash!” another female voice whined out of the phone.

“I’ll follow you to the ATM,” the first voice said triumphantly.

“Seriously Jeremy, can you not look at your caller ID when someone is calling?” the second voice said accusingly.

Jeremy sighed and stood up from his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, knowing that this was typical of his sisters, “so nice to hear from you guys. How’s it going?”

“Nuh-uh, that’s why we called. What are you doing today?”

“I – ”

“Apart from the exhibition, that is.”

Jeremy frowned in confusion, “If not the exhibition, which happens to be one of the most important stages in my career, then Amanda, I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He was suddenly filled with slight panic, “am I forgetting something? Is it mum and dad’s anniversary?”

Two sets of female laughter floated out of his phone in to his ear and he frowned, “Is Octavia not with you guys?”

“Oh you know her, stuffing her face with my delicious chocolate pudding,” Amanda replied teasingly.

“Hey!” the offended woman called out, sending the other three laughing politely.

“Do you seriously not know what today is?” Reina asked, her tone dripping with disbelief.

Jeremy licked his lips nervously, racking his brain and then it just suddenly clicked, “Valentine!” he gasped at the same time that there was a crash in front of his open office door, sending him spinning to look at the intrusion.

A slim young man that he had never seen before stood at the door, his hands held in front of him like he was holding some invisible tray – said invisible tray was now on the floor, two cups of coffee broken, staining the ground with the dark brown liquid, dots of white sugar scattered around the floor. The man was staring at him wide-eyed and lips parted, like he’d just seen a ghost.

“Uhm,” Jeremy began into his phone, as the weird stranger kept staring at him and made no move to indicate that he’d even made a mess, “Can I call you guys back?”

“Five minutes!”

“Ten,” Jeremy hissed back and cut the call before the triplets could scream protests into the phone, “I’m sorry, you are?” he asked with a slight raise of his right eyebrow.

The stranger suddenly snapped out of his stupor and his cheeks flushed an attractive pink.

“Oh fudge,” he gasped lightly before he was suddenly on his knees and trying to get rid of the mess.

Fudge?

“Hey, hey, don’t do that!” Jeremy called and rushed forward to prevent him from touching the broken glass before he cut himself. He’d barely touched the man and the guy was leaping away from him like he was live wire and Jeremy only noticed then that the man was shaking terribly and looked awfully pale. Jeremy dropped his hands, “Okay,” he stressed.

“I’m sorry,” the stranger said, “biscuits, I’m ruining this. Uhm, I’m Rory Lewis, I applied as an assistant?”

“Biscuits?” Jeremy asked with a raised eyebrow, his lips quirking into an amused smile.

The stranger’s skin flushed again and Jeremy couldn’t help thinking that he was quite attractive. He had a slim face and intense dark eyes, his hair a striking silvery blonde – in fact, why was he trying to kid himself? His hair was practically white. Did he bleach or dye his hair? Surely, it couldn’t be that colour naturally, Jeremy thought to himself.

The man – Rory – shifted uncomfortably, “I’m sorry about the coffee. It’s just…you look like…you remind me…nah, that’s crazy. Never mind. Uhm, yes, Rory Lewis. Uhm, the woman in purple downstairs sent me up to you with the coffee and – ”

“Ah, relax,” Jeremy said, amused at the way Rory kept wringing his hands nervously together. It was obvious that he thought he’d lost the opportunity for the job, “you came just at the right time!” Jeremy grinned, walking over to his desk and then shutting down his laptop.

“I’ll show you around and get you acquainted to everyone and we can begin. As you must have heard, today is one of our famous exhibitions which is why this was the perfect timing for your arrival or application or whatever you want to call it.”

“You picked a fine day too,” Rory beamed and Jeremy was rendered speechless for a second as he was hit by a random déjà vu moment. The sight of Rory’s flushed cheeks and bright smile made him feel like he’d met him somewhere before, even though he was sure he’d never seen him in his life.

He shook his head lightly to clear it.

“Oh yes, it is a fine day indeed. Everyone is going to be in high spirits and a massive number is guaranteed,” Jeremy said as he walked out of the room, hearing Rory walking close behind him.

He frowned as they moved down the stairs because he could hear music but wasn’t sure where it was coming from. It took a second and then he spun to look at Rory, who was looking around with this awe-struck look on his face, like a kid who just visited Disney land for the first time. Again, he was hit with that serious déjà vu, making his heart skip a beat.

His frown intensified as he asked, “Is that coming from you?”

Rory’s dark gaze snapped to meet his and his cheeks flushed again, like he was caught stealing a cookie red handed. God, he blushed a lot – must be because he was so beautifully pale.

“Pardon?” he asked in confusion, snapping Jeremy out of his unconscious admiration of the young man.

Jeremy nodded towards Rory’s pocket. It took a second to click and then Rory was gasping ‘doughnuts’ before hurriedly bringing his phone out of his pocket. The music was coming from the white earphones currently plugged into the device. He punched in a few buttons and the music stopped; by the time he was done, his cheeks were bright red along with the tips of his ears and Jeremy stared at him, awestruck, with his jaw lightly hanging open before he snapped it closed and turned around quickly, nearly missing his step on the floor and then silently cursing himself.

This is your new employee; he berated himself, no mixing business with pleasure – no matter how astonishingly beautiful said employee is.

When they finally got downstairs, the entire place was already set up, the pictures and sculptures hanging peacefully from their respective places making the once white exhibition hall once again bright with life and colour.

Jeremy grinned and walked up to Laura to give her a friendly pat on the back, “Awesome work, Miss Skins, I underestimated you!”

Laura had the grace to blush, “I told you I could handle it.”

Normally, Jeremy would let Laura show any newbie around because that was the way of the business, but for some reason, he found that he couldn’t detach himself from the almost-white-haired man’s side and in the end, spent the entire day with Rory, showing him around and telling him how things worked in the place. Most of the staff, unbeknownst to them, noticed the two men during the ceremony and had to admit that they made a picture perfect couple.

The day ended up being very successful. The amount of people that came was surprising because they weren’t expecting so many people to turn up. It was another successful day in the Walker Studio and Rory was glad to be part of it, but soon enough, his first day was over and he had to head home.

 “Why don’t you stay for the after party celebrations?” Jeremy asked. Even though he wouldn’t say it out loud, he didn’t want to leave the young man’s company just yet. There was just something about Rory that attracted him like a moth to a flame.

Rory, unknown to the other man, also felt the same but he shook his head lightly, “I have someone at home. This was amazing and I look forward to working here. Thank you for having me.”

He has someone? Jeremy felt a pang but didn’t let it show, instead sporting a bright smile, “Right, have a good night then and enjoy the valentine.”

Rory snorted under his breath and muttered but not low enough because Jeremy heard him; “enjoy it? Yeah, right,” before he looked up with a small smile, “You have fun too, Sir. Goodnight.”

Jeremy watched him go curiously, confused about his response. He was brought out of his thoughts abruptly when Laura popped a bottle of champagne right beside his ear, making him nearly fly into the roof.

“Woman, you are fired!” he yelled as Laura squealed and ran away from him, sending most of the staff in the room into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

And as the night wore on, Jeremy couldn’t get Rory out of his head.

*~*~*

He’s not the same person.

It’s impossible.

Rory rushed into the nearest alley and doubled over, clutching his stomach and heaving violently like he wanted to throw up but nothing came forth, so he stood there, heaving like a retard and feeling out of breath and flushed.

He closed his eyes lightly and there he was, Jeremy, in a club, talking to somebody. The memory was fuzzy around the edges, like a blurred picture, but Rory could lightly make out what was going on, he was sure it was a club – even though he’d never been to one in his entire life – and that was definitely his boss behind the counter wiping down glasses.

Confused and overwhelmed at the sudden sight of the blonde that filled nearly all the paintings in his house, he quickly hailed a cab and headed home. When he rushed into his art study, locking the door safely behind him, he couldn’t help but feel like he was a stalker.

The faces in these pictures were indeed of Jeremy Walker. He was sure anyone who’d met Jeremy Walker could look at Rory’s paintings and say it was definitely his new boss.

The short, lightly tousled blonde hair, those beautiful blue eyes – he was like the human version of the Ken Barbie doll. Rory had gotten his details down to perfection.

“What the hell’s happening to me?” Rory asked in confusion, staring wildly at the pictures.

Could it be a weird coincidence that the face in his dreams and his new boss just happened to have the exact same features? He really hoped to God that was the case because the more he stared at his paintings, the more terrified he became.

There was the sound of a door opening and Rory shivered a little, rushing out of his art study. He froze in his tracks when he saw Andrew walk in, followed closely by his girlfriend. The girl was carrying a huge white teddy bear and a bright red valentine’s day bag in one hand, her other hand rapidly pushing buttons on her pink blackberry.

“Uhm, Valerie, could you head on upstairs? I’ll meet you.”

“Sure thing,” she replied in her high pitched voice, not even looking up once from her phone as she made her way up the stairs.

Rory sighed, already knowing what was coming.

Hearing his sigh, Andrew gave Rory a pleading look and the best pout he could muster. Rory sighed again.

“It is valentine,” Andrew pleaded, tilting his head low and batting his eyelashes.

Rory squinted his eyes, “I’m leaving on the grounds that you never ever, in your life, do that face again.”

“Never again,” Andrew agreed.

Rory growled in frustration but he was already making his way out of the house.

“I owe you one!” his younger brother yelled as he locked the door behind him.

“Oh you owe me lots,” Rory replied to no one in particular, shoving his hands in his pockets to retrieve his wallet. He counted the money within and realized he had enough for a nice dinner at La Cuisine Specialle but not enough for transport back home.

He sighed for the umpteenth time and told himself he was doing this for a good cause. The things I do for love. Or siblings.

*~*~*

“Have a good night!” Jeremy yelled and the employees replied a response he didn’t hear because he was back to listening to his sisters’ rambling on the phone, “Yes, I did say ten minutes but my excuse is that today was really important and there was a newbie – ”

“Oh my God, someone new?” Reina squealed in the background, “is he hot?”

“Or she?”

Jeremy rolled his eyes, but knowing his sisters, he knew he had to give them a response or they would be nagging him for the rest of his life.

“Well…he’s…cute?” he replied, unlocking the door to his car and sliding into it.

“Why are you saying that like it’s a question? Is he cute or not?” Amanda demanded.

“Hold your panties lady, you’re married!” Octavia accused.

“Not right now I’m not,” Amanda replied, sending the three girls into a giggling fit.

“Is there a point to this call?” Jeremy finally asked, pulling out of the driveway and making his way down the street, his phone pressed to his ear with one hand while the other steered the vehicle on the road.

It was the wrong question because his sisters simultaneously gasped and started cursing him over the phone.

“You know we’re only looking out for you!”

“It’s so sad to be alone on Valentine’s Day!”

“You should at least treat yourself to a romantic dinner.”

“By yourself.”

There was a brief pause and then they all gasped at the same time, “Oh my God, that’s so depressing!”

Jeremy laughed, “You’re all being dramatic.”

“But it’s better than eating take-away all alone at home,” Reina countered.

Jeremy blushed guiltily, “I do not eat take-out!”

“Yes you do!” the three girls yelled simultaneously.

“Fine, not all the time.”

“Go out, Jer! Treat yourself on this fine day.”

“Honestly, I don’t see the point – “ his voice cut off because right at that moment, he’d glanced into La Cuisine Specialle as he drove by and lost his breath because sitting at one of the candle lit tables by the window, enveloped in the orange glow like a bloody angel sent from heaven  was Rory Lewis.

A loud horn blasted him out of his torpor and he jumped, quickly swerving his car back into the right lane.

“ASSHOLE!” the other driver yelled, flipping him off but Jeremy was pre-occupied.

“Oh my God, are you driving while on the phone?”

“You know what, I’m going to try this dinner thing,” Jeremy said, finding the nearest opening and then quickly spinning his car around with a squeal of the rubber tires, heading back to the restaurant, “thanks for calling guys. I’ll talk to you later.”

“But wai – ”

But he had already cut the call. His heart was beating violently as he parked his car and gripped the steering wheel, giving himself a few seconds to ask himself what the hell he was doing before he was getting out of the car and locking the doors.

He strode into the restaurant with purpose, not even thinking about what he was doing because thinking led to analysing and analysing ruined the beauty of everything.

“Good evening and welcome to La Cuisine Specialle,” the usher at the door said to him, dressed immaculately in a velvet waist coat, white long sleeved shirt and tailored black pants, “do you have a reservation?”

“Uh, no, I’m with him,” Jeremy replied, jerking his head in the direction of Rory, who was currently staring with a bored look out the window, one hand playing with the toothpick holding the lime in his champagne glass.

“Oh, right this way please, Sir,” the man replied with a polite smile and then led Jeremy to Rory’s table.

With each step he took, it was like the pounding of his heart increased in volume until it was all he could hear. Why was he so nervous? It was just his bloody employee!

Rory looked up when he noticed a shadow in the corner of his eye and he immediately blinked in surprise and sat up when he saw his boss – of all people – striding towards him with purpose, the usher leading them right…right to him?

To confirm his suspicions, the usher bowed lightly and gestured at the empty seat opposite him, saying to Jeremy, “Just ring the bell when you are ready to order, Sir. In the meantime, would you like a drink?”

“Just water is fine,” Jeremy replied, smirking at the shocked look on Rory’s face as he took his seat. He felt something in his chest give as Rory’s face took on a sensual rosy blush in the candlelight of the restaurant. The usher bowed and disappeared, leaving the two men in a slightly uncomfortable silence.

“Uh…Mr Walker – ” Rory began awkwardly.

“Jeremy for now,” the other man replied kindly, “I thought you had someone at home?”

It took a second for that to click and then Rory was hurriedly gushing, “Oh dear, no! I was talking about my brother Andrew. It’s really too bad he decided to bring his Barbie doll girlfriend home, unintentionally kicking me out of the house, but what can I say, I’m a good brother. Not that I’m complaining or anything!” Rory quickly rushed to add in, the rosy colour in his cheeks darkening.

My God, Jeremy thought to himself, it was like his blush was a bloody flame, flaring up at the slightest hint of fuel. Jeremy managed a small grin, “I can relate. I was in a thirty minute call with my sisters a few minutes ago and trust me, when you’re single and have three married sisters hanging out together on Valentine’s Day – oh let’s not forget that they’re all hopeless romantics – the night is bound to be a bit tedious.”

Rory let out a soft laugh and Jeremy thought, did he actually previously think Rory was quite attractive because the man in front of him was nothing short of breath-taking. His face, illuminated by the candle light, coupled with the way all his features brightened when he laughed was…was…what word could describe it? Magical?

Magical. That was it.

“How about the after party?” Rory asked and Jeremy blinked guiltily, nearly caught staring.

“I left early,” he replied and just then a waitress appeared at their table with Jeremy’s water.

“Can I take your orders?” she asked when she was done serving the water, a notepad and pen ready in her hands.

Rory blushed and looked at Jeremy and Jeremy felt his stomach tighten when he realized Rory wanted him to order first. Talk about a beautiful man with manners.

“Oh, I’m not ready, you go first,” Jeremy replied and Rory’s blush darkened as he picked up the menu and told the waitress what he wanted.

The waitress nodded and then left to get Rory’s food. Jeremy wasn’t even all that hungry. He’d wanted to order a pizza online when he got home but now, as cheesy as it sounded, staring at Rory suddenly made him feel full.

Rory was still blushing, the corners of his plump, and pale pink lips lightly turned up in a helpless smile as he squirmed under Jeremy’s close scrutiny. He nervously reached a hand up to comb strands of his hair out of his face and for the millionth time that day, Jeremy was hit with déjà vu.

He heaved in a sharp breath, “I’m sorry but all day I’ve been wondering…have we…have we by any chance met before?”

He was a little confused at Rory’s shocked reaction before the bleached blonde was shaking his head and blinking rapidly.

“Uhm, not that I know of, no,” he replied and suddenly, he couldn’t meet his eyes.

That changed when the food arrived though and Rory felt guilty that he was eating and Jeremy wasn’t. When Jeremy replied that he wasn’t hungry, Rory said he felt uncomfortable that Jeremy was just going to watch him eat and Jeremy had laughed and ordered a small meal to make him more comfortable and now, he was eating with gusto, his eyes constantly drifting to the windows, watching the people outside walking by.

Jeremy couldn’t tear his eyes away from his new employee.

What is it about him? What the hell is this feeling?

Rory could feel his boss staring at him and although he felt slightly uncomfortable, he couldn’t help but admit that he felt pleased. His heart was thumping for different reasons though because sitting right in front of him was the man that haunted his every dream for nearly half of his life. Was that saying ‘if you dream of something more than once, it’s sure to come true’ right after all? But in this case, it was a someone, not a something.

And he definitely couldn’t just out and say, “Oh look, I’ve seen you in my dreams before we even met! Isn’t that just dandy?” He didn’t even know what this was – this dinner with his boss. Was it a date?

The word ‘date’ made his cheeks heat up in a furious blush and he immediately started wolfing down his food to distract himself from his thoughts.

Jeremy couldn’t help but wonder what Rory was thinking about that made him blush so heavily like that. It made him ridiculously jealous and he couldn’t help but want to know what made his cheeks flare up like that that he was asking before he could stop himself, “what are you thinking about?”

Rory started, his blush darkening and Jeremy could feel something akin to yearning taking root deep inside his soul. He wanted this man, he finally thought with blatant realization.

 God, he wanted him. Badly.

“Uhm…just, well…I haven’t been out in a long time and I was just thinking that this was nice,” Rory replied, a tiny smile on his face as he forked a piece of chicken around on his plate.

Jeremy smiled back, “I’ll have to agree. This is really nice.”

He couldn’t remember when last he’d gone out with someone else other than people from work – technically Rory was from work – but he didn’t consider him as part of the office yet because he’d only been there a day and it was only for information purposes.

Jeremy wasn’t a big fan of relationships – in fact; his sisters had nicknamed him ‘the runaway’ because that was what he did. Run when anything got serious.

But for the first time in his life, staring at the beautiful man in front of him, he thought it was time for a change of heart.