by Jack Harbon
He pushed him back against the counter, and surprisingly, Roman didn’t complain. He complied.
They worked their mouths together hungrily, like there was no tomorrow or yesterday, only this frozen, present moment, and only retreated when they needed air. Roman’s breath was hot on Kit’s lips, and it came out ragged, in uneven tremors. Kit remained still, eyes closed, waiting for the sound of his alarm or Trish’s voice to wake him from the fantasy. This had to be some kind of elaborate wet dream Kit was having. When he finally peeled his eyes open and looked up at Roman, he saw that it was real. This was really happening.
“Was that ‘doing something you want?’” Kit asked, his voice barely loud enough to hear it himself.
Roman nodded, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a lazy, satisfied grin. He looked completely content with his decision. Roman lowered his head and kissed Kit once more.
It was almost cruel when Roman retreated from the kiss. He left Kit with an emptiness in his chest, a deflated balloon where his heart was. When he turned to his reflection, Roman straightened out his clothes and wiped at the corner of his mouth. He sniffed, then glanced at Kit’s reflection.
“This didn’t happen,” he warned. He held that eye contact until Kit nodded in agreement. Then he left the bathroom in only a few smooth, languid strides.
Kit brought his fingertips to his lips, brushing them over both. There was a tingle, a current of electricity that Roman had left in his wake, and when Kit’s breathing finally returned to normal, he comprehended the weight of this situation. All of his suspicions—and hopes—had just been confirmed.
A little uneasy and off-kilter, Kit returned to the rest of the table, careful not to stare too long at Roman. He was afraid that if he did, his face would grow as hot as his entire body had felt only moments before.
8
Personal Use
Kit couldn’t stop thinking about what happened at Eleven Madison Park with Roman two days ago. He’d gone to bed after dinner with the man on his mind, and when he woke up, there Roman still was. The kiss was the last thing he would’ve expected from him. He was all about how something made him look, but that night, this didn’t seem to be the case.
Just as Kit had encouraged him to do, he did what he wanted without thinking things through. While that was great and Kit was glad he finally let his walls down—even just for a moment—he couldn’t help but wonder what this meant.
Would they go right back to just working together, or was this the beginning of something else entirely? The thought scared Kit as much as it excited him. This was uncharted territory, and for Kit, the opportunity for something new always brought up a mixture of feelings.
The worst thing about this whole situation was that he had nobody to turn to. He’d considered talking to Bria about it, but he knew, without a doubt, that she would talk his ear off about how irresponsible he was being. He finally had a job that he could make a good living from and he’d gone and kissed the boss. He’d crossed a line that he never should have crossed because of what—horniness?
Chad was also off the table. Kit loved his best friend to death, but he knew the second he told Chad about what happened, the guy would continue to push him towards that direction. Sure, it wasn’t the worst reaction he could get from somebody, but he wanted to take things slow. He wanted to think this over and not get ahead of himself by going towards Roman based on pure emotion. Chad was usually nothing but pure emotion.
And then Trish. Fat fucking chance she’d talk to him about this. She’d only just begun to come around to the idea that he worked at Yellow Fall in the first place. If she knew his boss had kissed him, Kit knew exactly how that look. But this wasn’t Roman taking advantage of him. Kit was more than familiar with that kind of relationship—and he’d never let something like that happen. He had a mouth on him, one that could cut deep just as well as it could kiss softly.
These thoughts clouded his mind all morning on the subway. He tried distracting himself by looking through news articles, but all he could think about was Roman and the way his lips felt and the way Kit had wanted him to do more than just kiss him. The doors opened and Kit hurried out of the car, heading towards the coffee shop.
Since starting his job, this had become a second nature to Kit. He rattled off the orders to Michelle and watched as she got to work on preparing his drinks. While she worked, they made their usual small talk. She’d just gotten a little tabby cat over the weekend and she was nervous about leaving him alone for so many hours.
Before he could go, Michelle stopped him. “Hey, Kit, I have a question for you. How do you feel about parties?”
The question caught him off guard, mostly because all they normally talked about was weather and stupid reality TV shows they watched the night before. Kit shrugged and said, “I like them. Why?”
“Well, I was kind of tasked to invite a bunch of people to this party my friends are throwing and I figured I’d invite you. You’d probably like my friends, they’re interested in all the same stuff I am, but they’re a lot funnier.” She turned and called out for a Daniel to come pick up his latte. “So, what do you say?”
He had to admit a party sounded nice. All the stress from work had slowly been building, and he needed to decompress and clear his head. On top of that, Chad had been bugging him constantly that they needed to go out again, whether it be a house party or a club. He would have jumped at the opportunity.
“I’ll have to see what my schedule looks like, but I’ll try to make it,” Kit said. He put the cupholders down on a table and pulled a pen from his pocket. He scribbled his number on a napkin and handed it over. “That’s my number if you wanna text me more of the details, okay?”
Michelle smiled and folded the paper up, slipping it in her pocket. “I’ll text you later today. Have a good day!”
“You too!” Kit gave a wave and headed out. In the past few weeks, Kit had grown guilty over constantly bailing on Chad when it came to party invites. This would be perfect for the both of them.
He carried the coffee to the table in the lounge area and turned to wave everyone over. Barbie hopped up from her seat and crossed the room to greet him.
“Hey, cutie! You seem happy. What’s going on this morning?” she asked.
He smiled coyly. “Nothing, really. Just had a good morning and I’m optimistic that my afternoon will be just as good.” Kit nodded at each of the people thanking him for picking up their drinks.
“Thanks, Kit,” Yolanda said. Kit didn’t detect a hint of sarcasm or condescension in her voice. Both he and Barbie watched with shock as she walked back to her desk.
“Did she just…” Kit started.
Barbie nodded. “Yup. Today really must be a good day for you.”
Barbie excused herself and Kit flopped down on the large leather sectional that had been delivered earlier this morning. The couch marked the last piece of furniture that needed to be shipped before the redesign was complete. Though all of the pieces hadn’t technically arrived in under a month, Roman hadn’t punished him. Not that he would’ve minded that too much…
Kit played around on his phone for a bit until he noticed that Roman’s cup of coffee sat unattended on the table still. He made a face then stood to grab it. It was still warm, so he decided to give to Roman. Maybe he hadn’t heard him come in or didn’t look up through the two-way mirror. The fact that Roman had fought him on keeping at least part of that feature made Kit roll his eyes.
He knocked on the door lightly before entering Roman’s office. When he entered, Roman didn’t bother looking up from his papers. He continued examining the files while Kit stood in the doorway. Eventually the younger man cleared his throat, drawing his attention away.
“What do you need, Kit?”
There it was. Despite everything that had gone down at the restaurant, the tone of Roman’s voice hadn’t changed in the slightest. He still acted like he hadn’t had his tongue halfway down Kit’s throat against the counter i
n the bathroom.
“You didn’t come get your coffee. I thought I’d give it to you.” Kit stepped forward and handed the drink off. “So, are we going to talk about…?”
“Finish your sentence, Kit, I’m not a mind-reader,” Roman sighed. Kit rolled his eyes and considered snatching that drink right back from his hand.
“Are we going to talk about what happened at Eleven Madison Park? Y’know, the whole, my boss grabbing me and kissing me thing? You were there, you probably remember.”
Roman placed the paper in his hand down and took a slow sip of his coffee. While he drank, his eyes remained trained on Kit. Kit crossed his arms, an expectant look on his face. Roman swiped a drop of coffee from his lips before he finally said, “No.”
“No?”
“No, we’re not going to talk about it. Not here. This isn’t the time or the place for that kind of conversation,” Roman said.
“But a ‘Michelin three-star restaurant’ was?” Kit asked, still snarking at the rating Roman had reminded him about.
“We weren’t at work, Kit. We weren’t in a business setting. So yes, that was the time and place. But we’re not there, are we? We’re at work, being professionals. I don’t ask any of my employees or team members about their personal life when I’m here because I don’t care. Not when I’m at work, I don’t.” Roman turned the page in his file and went back to reading.
“Well, I just came in here to say that you probably shouldn’t ever do that again because your breath is actually really gross,” Kit said. Being a mature adult was boring, and his petty side needed some much needed time in the sun.
“No, it isn’t,” Roman replied. It took all Kit had not to stomp his foot and demand Roman’s attention.
“Whatever, Roman.” Kit turned to leave when Roman called out to stop and come back. Reluctantly, Kit dragged himself back to his office and closed the door. “What?”
“You shouldn’t be worrying about what happened at dinner, anyways. You’ve got bigger problems than that,” he said. He handed over one of the papers he’d been looking at. Kit took it and tried to make sense of what he was seeing.
“What is this?” he asked.
“That’s a list of everything you’ve purchased on the company card this past month. I’ve highlighted one very specific charge that I can’t make sense of. You went to a marketplace and spent a hundred dollars on groceries?”
“Huh? I don’t buy groceries…” Kit made a face and looked back at the paper to find the highlighted portion. That didn’t make sense to him, but looking at the date, suddenly it clicked. Last month when he’d gone to the store with Bria.
“Oh shit.”
“Oh shit indeed. I’m sure you know that the card is only used for the company. Coffee charges, supplies if we’re having a party, buying new furniture, paper, things like that. Not grocery shopping.”
Kit shook his head and pulled his wallet from his pocket. “This was a total accident. My sister didn’t have her card and I used mine. I must have swiped the wrong card. Here, I have a hundred that I can pay you back with right now.” He pulled the bill from his pocket and placed it down on Roman’s desk.
“I totally didn’t mean to do that, and I can guarantee that it won’t happen again.”
Roman looked at him intently for a moment, probably deciding whether or not he believed Kit. Finally, he said, “You’re fine. I’m sure you wouldn’t have been dumb enough to actually use the card for personal use. Still, I want you to go through these statements and make sure you don’t see any kind of suspicious activity.”
Kit looked down at the stack of papers and tilted his head. “That’s just the stuff that I’ve used the card for?”
A smirk pulled on Roman’s lips. “No, this is for all of the cards in this department. But consider this your warning. Go through all of these, look for any weird amount, over one hundred, and make a note of it.”
Kit glanced at the papers again. That sounded awful, but if he didn’t want to lose his job, it was what he had to do. He sighed and grabbed the papers from the file.
“I have a feeling this is supposed to be your job but you’re passing this off on me.”
“While you’re going through those files, look for any place where I asked about your feelings.”
Kit’s mouth fell open. Roman had never sassed him with such a quick, cutting response. That shock turned into a smile. “Wow.”
Roman shrugged with one shoulder, watching as Kit made his way to the door. He cleared his throat before he said, “The office looks nice, Kit. I didn’t think you could pull it off, but I’m pleasantly surprised.”
Kit looked over his shoulder. “You should trust me more often, Roman. You might be surprised at what I can do.”
9
You Need to Behave
The smell of coffee and fresh scones floated around the coffee shop, and it was nearly enough to distract Kit from his work. That wasn’t saying much, however, given the fact that he could have easily been distracted by watching the paint on the interior walls dry. If there was ever a small chance that accounting was the path his life would lead to, going over the credit card statements squashed that entirely. This wasn’t for him. This was so obviously not for him.
Kit shook his head and tried regaining his focus on the papers before him. He’d just made it to the middle of August’s statement, and he placed his finger on the paper so he wouldn’t lose track again. Three hundred dollars on the two coffee tables. Damn, he thought to himself. He couldn’t remember them being that expensive. Still, it was nothing out of the ordinary. The next few purchases were for the small kitchen in the corner of the office. A gunmetal refrigerator for two grand. Three new couches at seven hundred each.
“I overdid it,” he chuckled to himself.
“Overdid what?”
Kit looked up to see Michelle watching him expectantly. The morning bustle of uppity Suits had died down and now the store was quite peaceful. She leaned against the counter, a bright smile on her lips and strands of hair that had escaped her bun framing her round face.
“Oh, I’m just going over my expenses for work. I kind of got ahead of myself with the interior design.” He sighed and closed the folder. He didn’t have to be at work until noon—Roman had thankfully given him a few hours to himself today—and he figured he could read the rest of the file when he was feeling more up to it. If that every happened, that was.
“Ew, who works these days?” Michelle teased.
“I wish I could relate to that mindset,” he chuckled.
“Work is boring! Let’s talk about my party. Did you ever decide if you could make it or not? I was told to tell everyone I invited to invite other people. They want a huge group of people to show up,” she said. She wiped down drips of coffee from the counter and blew the hair from her face with one big puff of air.
“I actually did,” Kit said. He took a slow sip of his coffee before continuing. “I don’t have any work that Friday night, so I’ll definitely be there. Thank you for reminding me, though, I completely forgot to invite my friend. He loves all kinds of parties. That’s where he thrives best.”
“Invite him! He sounds like fun,” she giggled. A customer entered the store and stepped up to the counter, cutting off their conversation momentarily. With this lull in the conversation, Kit pulled out his phone and dialed Chad’s number. He picked up on the third ring.
“Heyo, Kit! What’s good, bruh?”
“Hey, you doing anything this Friday?” Kit spun his pen around his fingers, fidgeting as he waited for an answer. He really wanted the two of them to have some more time together considering he’d had to bail on a lot more kickbacks since he’d started working.
“Hell yeah I’m free this Friday! Why, what’s going on?”
“Well, I got invited to go to this party, and I want you to come with me. Consider it me making up for being hella flaky on you the past few weeks.”
Chad made a psh sound. “Please, dude, I know
you gotta work, it’s cool. We’re not in college anymore, we can’t just spend every day together eating Doritos and watching dumb shit on YouTube.”
Kit smiled fondly. Those nights had always been his favorite during school. No matter what problems they were having with their grades or their friends, Chad and Kit managed to always find time to hang out and take a load off from all the stress of the real world. Having this separation made Kit uncomfortable. It did help that Chad wasn’t holding it against him, though.
“We’re gonna make up for all this time we’ve lost, I promise,” Kit said.
“Good! Hit me up with the details and I’ll be there.”
“Perfect. Talk to you later.”
“Later!”
Kit hung up the phone and let out a breath of relief. Michelle stared at him, her chin in her hands. When he glanced at her, he blushed. She must have overheard his entire conversation. “He said he’d be there,” Kit grinned.
“Yay! I can’t wait!”
For the next hour, Kit made himself buckle down and finish reviewing all of his expenses. Outside of an occasional swipe at the vending machine in the lobby, Kit had no other personal expenses. He was relieved to know that he hadn’t accidentally used the card more than once. One time being scolded by Roman was enough.
At noon, Kit gathered his belongings and said goodbye to Michelle on his way out the door. He hurried to the building around the corner and made his way up to the sixth floor. The elevator doors opened to reveal Roman standing in front of them, his eyes trained on where Kit would be.
“Oh,” Kit said in surprise. “Hey?”
“Let’s go.” Roman stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the ninth floor.
“What’s the rush?” he asked, nervously shifting his messenger bag higher up on his shoulder. Roman slipped his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time before he said,
“I have a meeting at twelve-fifteen. New client.”