Tea or Consequences

by KC Burn

  Yet aside from a few glaring errors in the event folders—the one from Friday night and a few more he’d unearthed that hadn’t been caught—he hadn’t seen anything to indicate that Aaron was a bad assistant. Not as good as Riley, of course, but not horrible. Even if he had been horrible at his job, Riley would have expected to hear that too.

  He’d come all this way, and he definitely needed something to distract himself from the fact that he had no reason to call Tad, so he might as well finish his self-assigned mission.

  He rang the doorbell and waited. Hell, Aaron might not be home, or he might not open the door if he wasn’t expecting anyone. But Riley had to try. Once more, he rang the bell. Maybe Aaron was recovering from surgery or a broken leg. If so, he might need more time to get to the door.

  Finally a faint creak that might be a footstep sounded from the other side of the door.

  When the door swung open, Riley nearly took a step back but recovered in time. “Aaron Brown?”

  “Yes?”

  Aaron Brown bore a startling resemblance to Cody Rosenberg. Not like twins or anything. More like the before-and-after-the-makeup-chair pictures for celebrities. They were both blond-haired, golden-skinned, and brown-eyed. Aaron was the adorable boy next door—grown up into an adorable man—whereas Cody’s genetics had taken a similar baseline and fabricated looks that were runway ready. Which would totally suck when Aaron’s medical leave was up and he possibly had to go back to work for Cody.

  “Uh. Hello. I’m sorry to stop by unannounced. I’m Riley Parker. I’m actually temping for you at Gautier Cosmetics.”

  Aaron frowned, clearly confused. As well he should be. This was highly unprecedented. “What brings you by?”

  “Have you… been watching the news at all? Since Friday?”

  “What, the launch for Invigorate? I’m sure the launch went fine, but no, I haven’t been paying attention. I’ve found watching movies or streaming television shows better for my recovery.”

  “Yeah. I’m not a big fan of the news either.” Riley sighed. “But there’s been some bad news, and I wasn’t sure if anyone had been by to break it to you.”

  Aaron paled. “I’m not getting fired, am I?”

  “Oh, no. I’m so sorry. Can I come in?” Riley had always thought it odd when people invited complete strangers into their homes and offered them tea or coffee, and here he was, a complete stranger asking to be invited in.

  With some reluctance, Aaron opened the door wider. “I just put on a pot of tea. Would you like some?”

  Riley smiled sadly. “Did Gabrielle get you hooked?”

  Aaron let out a chuckle. “Yes. But I can’t stand that lapsang tea she likes.” He led the way through a neat and orderly apartment.

  Riley caught a whiff of what he thought was a woman’s perfume, but then it was gone and he couldn’t be sure. “I know. Awful.” And just like that, the supreme awkwardness of his clumsy arrival disappeared. “I never drank tea very often, but it’s definitely growing on me. I do like the Earl Grey.”

  “That’s decent. I prefer some of the green teas, but I have a pot of english breakfast on.”

  English breakfast was good in his book.

  Near the back of the house a faint chuff like a wooden door closing caught Riley’s attention, but perhaps it was a neighbor.

  In the kitchen, Aaron took another mug out of a cupboard and poured a second cup from a squat brown teapot that looked quite similar to Gabrielle’s.

  Riley took a seat at the table across from Aaron.

  “So what’s this bad news?”

  “I’m really sorry to tell you this, but Gabrielle died Friday night. I was… I was the one to find her. In her office.”

  Aaron put a trembling hand in front of his mouth. “I… she’s dead? I can’t… I can’t believe it.”

  “I know, I know.” Riley had recently learned the power hugs could have, but he wasn’t ready to start doling them out to strangers. “It was such a shock.”

  Aaron got up out of his chair and paced a bit. Riley took a moment to assess. No broken leg, and probably not surgery, given how easily Aaron appeared to be moving, but there was still a laundry list of ailments that wouldn’t have any obvious physical symptoms.

  “She was… still so young.”

  Aaron was probably Riley’s age, and therefore twenty or twenty-five years younger than Gabrielle, but Riley understood. She was still too young to have gone so quickly, and there was something about her vivacity that had made her seem much younger.

  Riley took a sip of tea, not sure how to go about comforting Aaron. “I am very sorry for your loss.”

  Aaron turned back, almost surprised by Riley’s presence. He sat back down and picked up his mug. “How… how did she die?”

  Aaron sounded so lost. Riley knew from personal experience that being an admin for the big boss was kind of a weird position. People were sometimes afraid because of the close relationship with the person who ostensibly signed their paychecks, and yet many considered admin assistants glorified secretaries hardly worthy of their time. Certainly no one but Alisha had reached out to him, and she’d have said if she was friends with Aaron.

  Then again, Aaron appeared to be single and straight. Alisha had already told him a number of horror stories about her attempts to be friends with men who were attracted to her. He didn’t blame her one bit for not making or accepting any overtures from Aaron.

  “I… honestly, I don’t know. The police were there, they said they were treating it as a suspicious death. Mostly it looked like she fell asleep at her desk.”

  Aaron waved a hand. “I think they have to call it suspicious even if it’s natural causes but unexpected.”

  Riley shrugged. “Maybe.” He didn’t think it necessary to mention the police trying to gain access to company records and returning multiple times. If it turned out Gabrielle was murdered, Aaron would find out eventually.

  “What about the funeral? When is that?”

  “Not sure. It depends on when the police release her body. If you give me your email address, I’ll send you the information when I get it.”

  “Thanks.” Aaron grabbed a nearby pen and wrote his email address on a receipt lying on the table. Riley tucked it into his pocket.

  “I don’t know how close you were. I don’t even know how long you have worked at Gautier.”

  “Just a couple of years, but I loved working with her.” A couple of years, and he didn’t know one coworker well enough for them to at least text Aaron the news? Horrifying, but Riley didn’t know if that spoke ill of the corporate culture at Gautier or of Aaron’s social skills.

  “She’s very exacting, but that’s a lot better than someone who doesn’t know what they want.”

  Aaron huffed out a laugh intermixed with a sob. “Oh, I’ve been there.”

  Riley nodded in commiseration. Yes, any admin who’d been assisting for any length of time had worked for that one hurricane, that Tasmanian devil who tore around so fast you could never anticipate, never keep up, never relax.

  Aaron told a few more stories about Gabrielle while they drank their tea. Riley’s was almost gone, and he realized he should have remembered his mother’s adage and gone to the bathroom before he left.

  “Sorry to be a bother, but can I use your bathroom?”

  “Oh, sure.” Aaron pointed. “Down the hall, first door on the right.”

  Once Riley had done his business, he turned on the faucet and opened the medicine cabinet. It contained zero clues as to why Aaron had taken medical leave. Not that Riley knew much about medication, but he had the internet and a smartphone and Google-fu that was pretty decent, if he did say so himself.

  He recalled reading somewhere that it wasn’t good to store medications in the bathroom because the heat from the shower could… affect them somehow. But it wasn’t like he could go poking about Aaron’s bedroom or kitchen cupboards, which were the only other places Riley thought someone might leave medications.
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  There weren’t any obvious feminine products, although there was a Gautier face wash and moisturizer. But that skin-care line was designed to be unisex, so Aaron could merely be supporting the company. One green toothbrush sat in the toothbrush holder. The remainder of the items in the cabinet were standard and gave him no information.

  A quick wash of his hands and Riley was out of there, sadly none the wiser.

  “Thanks for the tea, Aaron. I should probably be on my way.”

  “Thank you, Riley. I appreciate you coming over here and letting me know. Please don’t forget to email me the funeral information, and if something else comes up, you’re welcome to contact me.”

  Riley patted him on the shoulder, then took his leave.

  Throughout the entire commute home, Riley couldn’t stop thinking about Aaron and how isolated he’d seemed at Gautier.

  Shit. He’d completely forgotten to mention Cody coming on board and the chaos. Too bad he hadn’t remembered until he was getting off the streetcar at his stop.

  Riley considered his options. It probably wasn’t his place to tell Aaron anything. If HR wanted him to make a permanent shift to be Cody’s assistant, they’d be the one to tell Aaron, not Riley. The rest of it would just be gossip, and for all Riley knew, everything could change by the time Aaron returned to work.

  Chapter SEVEN

  AFTER WORK Thursday evening, Riley paused a block away from the restaurant and pulled out his phone. Nothing from Tad since his text earlier, which had been terse in the extreme.

  Dinner tonight? Bier Markt at 6?

  The request had unnerved him all over again, and it had taken him almost an hour to send an affirmative response. After, he’d spent most of the morning wondering if he should change his mind, or if Tad was going to take him up on his offer or not, and what Riley would do in the many scenarios he dreamed up.

  Without much to do in the way of actual work, he’d had far too much time to brood about dinner.

  He liked the Bier Markt, but it wasn’t nearly as close to Riley’s condo as Alberto’s. Did that mean something? If so, what? He hadn’t heard from Tad since they’d kissed on Monday. Did it mean something that he’d waited until Thursday to contact him? If Tad wanted to date while having no-strings sex, wouldn’t Friday be a more appropriate date night?

  Riley growled under his breath. Bad enough that a high school infatuation held such sway, but he was now resorting to teenaged angst and spending far more brainpower than he should teasing out possible hidden meanings and motivations.

  He ran his hands through his hair and strode the last block with false bravado. Might as well face Tad head-on and find out his fate.

  Tad waved him over as soon as he walked in. The place was full of people who’d obviously just left work. This didn’t feel at all like a date atmosphere, more like colleagues meeting up for happy hour.

  Disappointment swamped him. Tad most likely wanted to discuss the investigation or find out if Riley had any more information. Nevertheless, he smiled and wove through the crowded tables.

  “What can I get you to drink?” The server appeared magically as Riley shuffled into a chair.

  As tempting as it would be to get sloppy drunk and throw his dignity away while throwing himself at Tad, he did have to work in the morning. He was a long way from the days when he could party all night and roll into work without any sleep.

  “Stiegl Grapefruit, please.”

  The server dropped a menu and disappeared. Tad raised a brow at him. “Grapefruit beer?”

  Riley shrugged. “It’s light and summery. Suits the warmer weather.” It might still be spring, but his sinuses were convinced it was later in the year.

  Tad’s beer was dark but almost full, so he likely hadn’t gotten here much before Riley.

  By the time the server returned with his beer, they’d both decided on what to order for dinner, but Riley was still no wiser about the purpose of this evening.

  “How are you doing?”

  Riley smothered a sigh. He was going to tie himself into a pretzel if he didn’t stop wondering if Tad’s words had underlying meanings. Fuck it. He was treating this like a date with no prospect of sex until Tad gave him a reason to think otherwise.

  “Fine. Things at the office are obviously strained. I’d heard the expression about walking on eggshells, but in this case, I think it’s more that we’re all tiptoeing over unexploded ordnance.”

  Tad let out a chuckle at Riley’s wry tone. “I have no doubt. Gabrielle’s kids are under a lot of pressure, and I get the impression they aren’t exactly sunshine and rainbows at the best of times.”

  “That’s my impression as well, although I’ve only had a few weeks with them.”

  “I guess that’s a good thing about temping. If the people suck, you know it’s only temporary.”

  “That can be a benefit, to be sure. On the other hand, it sucks leaving a good situation.”

  They talked a bit more about Riley’s career path and some of Tad’s work stories. By the time their dinner arrived, Riley was on his second grapefruit beer. Tad’s knees had come to rest against his own almost immediately, and he relaxed a bit.

  “You like where you’re living now?” Tad asked.

  “Yeah, it’s a great location, and I like my condo.” It could be a little lonely at times, but it was his sanctuary.

  “You own or rent?”

  “Own. I got an inheritance from my parents’ estate when I turned twenty-one. It was an easy decision to use it to buy a place to live, although it took me a while to find a location I liked.”

  “Smart.” Tad took another bite of his burger.

  “Are you renting? Thinking about buying?”

  “Dunno.” Inexplicably, Tad blushed.

  This could be good. “What? Where are you living now?”

  “I’m renting my parents’ basement.”

  “Oh?” That could be sweet, pathetic, or weird. Riley held his tongue, waiting to find out which.

  Tad lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “My two older brothers got married and moved out a long time ago. Remember those storms a couple years ago with all the flooding?”

  Riley nodded. “Sure, I know a lot of people with basements had issues.”

  “Yeah, so they needed some work done. My lease was up around the same time, so I moved back home and helped fix up the basement. Then my sister got engaged, and I moved into the newly renovated basement to give my parents a bit of financial assistance for the wedding.”

  How the fuck was Riley going to protect himself from heartbreak when the overwhelming sweetness melted any protective barriers he’d cobbled together?

  “That was a great thing for you to do.” Riley had only a sliver of envy that Tad still had his parents. “Is your sister married now?”

  “No, not until the fall. But my mom’s making noises about the stairs getting to be too much for her. I’m thinking after the wedding, they’re going to put the house up for sale, so I’ll have to make a decision then.”

  Riley ruthlessly quashed the sudden vision of living with Tad in his cozy little condo. This might not even get to the point of sex with no strings. Dreaming of commitments and relationships was going to have to wait until he met another man.

  The conversation moved on to the price of real estate and desirable neighborhoods. Much less fraught with emotion.

  After Tad paid for dinner—again—they walked out of the restaurant together. Riley hadn’t had the balls to ask Tad about whether or not he was going to take Riley up on his offer, and Tad hadn’t mentioned it.

  “Look, Riley, I—”

  An obnoxious chirping emanated from Tad’s pocket. He frowned and pulled out his phone. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Riley. I have to go. Work.”

  “Sure. I’ll talk to you later.”

  What the fuck had Tad been going to say? Didn’t he know how agonizing this was? Every moment Riley spent with Tad left him wanting more.

  But the anguished, almos
t yearning look Tad gave him before he turned and walked away kept Riley’s foolish hopes alive. He’d just have to be patient.

  He watched until Tad disappeared down a side street, and then headed for the nearest streetcar stop.

  SATURDAY MORNING dawned bright, and Riley woke feeling far more congested than he had the previous week. He hadn’t heard from Tad since their “date” and hadn’t been able to come up with a reason to call him. Annoying, because he wanted more. He threw a bunch of clothes in the washing machine before running out to drop stuff at the dry cleaner’s. He was almost out of clean everything, because his last weekend had been a total write-off. It was a long time until he’d be meeting up with Shaun and Alisha at ten, and he was supposed to meet the guys at Coffee and Conquer for gaming on Sunday.

  Might be nice to get laid. Unfortunately, he didn’t think just anyone would do now that Tad had dangled temptation in front of him. Hell, he’d be happier if he’d just seen Tad since their dinner on Thursday.

  The lack of contact made it seem likelier that Tad had been using him. Trying to get some information that Riley gave up without knowing it. A sudden, unwelcome thought struck him, and he frowned. What if Tad was simply busy dotting his i’s in order to come and arrest Riley? He’d let himself forget that he might just be a suspect in the eyes of the police.

  He didn’t think Tad was the sort to manufacture evidence, but if Gabrielle had been poisoned, Riley was in an excellent position to have administered it. The fact that she’d died at work would also indicate it was someone she worked with, rather than someone she shared a home or private time with.

  But his capacity for dwelling was only so big, and if he didn’t think of something else, he’d be miserable all weekend, dammit. He’d already had to add a decongestant to his antihistamines in the hopes of heading off an allergy-induced migraine.

  In between recorded episodes of Criminal Minds, Riley got his laundry washed and dried, did the dishes, and vacuumed. If he cleaned out the toilet in the bathroom, he could spend all day tomorrow nursing a hangover and whatever regrets he was going to find tonight.