Snow on the Roof

by Sean Ashcroft

“I’ll go put a shirt on,” he said, automatically holding the other one out for Sunny. To his horror, Sunny took it before he could move it away from him again.

  This wasn’t going well. Grant had rarely felt like so much of an idiot in his life.

  Rather than compound his mistakes, he turned to head for the bedroom, shouting, “make yourself at home,” over his shoulder as he went.

  A wave of nausea turned his stomach as he closed the bedroom door behind him. He didn’t usually have ridiculously awkward social interactions, but he was under a lot of stress right now, and that couldn’t have gone worse if he’d intended it to.

  Sunny probably thought he was an idiot. He was probably looking for an excuse to leave.

  Maybe he’d be gone by the time Grant got a shirt on. That would save him having to explain himself, so it wasn’t the worst outcome he could imagine.

  This time, Grant picked out a safely-white shirt and threw it over his shoulders, buttoning it as quickly as he could and tucking it into his pants as he left the bedroom.

  Sunny was still there, sitting at the kitchen counter. He was…

  Sewing? Sewing the shirt Grant had handed to him.

  Grant stood and watched as he cut the thread, holding the shirt up to inspect it.

  “There,” Sunny said, smoothing it out on the counter. “Button replaced.”

  Grant stared at him. He hadn’t even realized the shirt was missing a button.

  And Sunny had just replaced it, without even needing to be asked. Before Grant had even noticed.

  That was… unexpected.

  “Wow. I, uh… I’m sorry for answering the door like that, I just… okay, so, I might as well tell you that I’m colorblind and I couldn’t tell if that shirt was blue or purple, and then I was afraid that maybe I’d accidentally washed it with something red and somehow dyed it purple, because I lost a whole bunch of white t-shirts that way, and… I’m… rambling,” he said, shutting up as he realized.

  Sunny tucked a tiny sewing kit into the inside pocket of his jacket, nodding. “Okay. Well, this is a purple shirt, but I think it’s always been purple. The color’s very even.”

  “Right,” Grant said, straightening up. “Thanks for sewing the button back on, by the way. You didn’t have to do that.”

  Sunny shrugged. “It took two minutes, and I’m guessing it’s kind of in my potential job description,” he said. “You know, you could get those iron-on nametags for your shirts and have someone write the colors on them, so you’d be sure.”

  Grant’s mouth fell open. That was such a simple solution.

  Sunny was pretty, but he was also clearly smart.

  “I never thought of that,” Grant said. “Wow. I mean, I never tell anyone. It’s not a secret, exactly but…”

  “But you don’t advertise it either.” Sunny nodded. “Understood, I won’t tell a soul.”

  “I’m not totally colorblind, I just have trouble with green light. It’s really common and it’s not a big deal,” Grant said, aware that he was telling a half-truth. He was used to it, but every now and again, it caused him a problem. It wasn’t life-ruining, but it didn’t make anything easier.

  “Of course not,” Sunny agreed diplomatically. “But it’s still private. I understand.”

  “I didn’t even know I owned a purple shirt,” Grant said. He never bought shirts himself. Julia had always done that for him, and now…

  Well, now she was too far away.

  “Well, it’d be a nice color on you. You have stunningly blue eyes, and it’d really bring them out.”

  “I do?” Grant asked.

  Sunny smiled a small, but clearly sincere smile. “You do. And I’m not flattering you in the hopes of getting a job, either.”

  Grant snorted. “I doubt you still want to work for me after all that, but thank you for coming anyway. And staying. And fixing my shirt.”

  “Actually…” Sunny wet his lips.

  Grant definitely didn’t stare at them as he did it. Even if they did look really soft.

  “If you’re still willing to consider me, I’m more confident that I can do this job now than I was when I knocked on your door,” Sunny finished.

  That was also a surprise.

  Sunny was apparently full of surprises, and Grant didn’t hate that at all. So far he’d been competent, and understanding, and hadn’t judged Grant for the complete mess his life was right now. He’d even come up with a great solution to a long-term problem.

  He was exactly the kind of person Grant needed in his corner.

  “Can you start now?” he asked.

  There wasn’t going to be a better candidate. He could feel himself clicking with Sunny already, and he knew in his heart that he could interview a hundred people and he’d still pick this one.

  Besides, he needed help as soon as possible, and he didn’t even have any other interviews scheduled yet.

  “I can,” Sunny said.

  Grant breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Awesome. I’ll start on the paperwork,” he said. “You got a real name for that?”

  Sunny raised an eyebrow. “Sunny is my real name.”

  “Oh.” Grant blinked at him.

  “It’s short for Sunshine,” Sunny explained. “My parents wanted something as unique and special as I was,” he said, sarcasm rolling off him.

  Grant chuckled. “My daughter’s called Hope, so I can’t exactly throw stones,” he said. “I’ll grab my laptop and we can make this official. And then I need you to go buy iron-on nametags, because that’s an awesome idea.”

  Sunny’s whole face lit up with a grin. He obviously took positive feedback well.

  They’d get along just fine.

  4

  Sunny didn’t often call Clare, but this morning’s events seemed like they warranted more than a text message. His head was still spinning from everything that had happened, but as he ironed labels into the collar of Grant’s shirts and wrote the colors on in his neatest handwriting, he was starting to think everything would turn out okay.

  Grant had already gone to his office and left Sunny in his apartment alone. That level of trust felt good, even if it was a little weird.

  Not that Sunny intended to abuse it.

  Well, not much, anyway. Curiosity had driven him to poke around a little, but he’d stopped when he discovered a small vibrator and a tube of lubricant in Grant’s nightstand drawer.

  He wasn’t sure he’d stopped blushing yet. It was one thing to know, generally, that other people enjoyed sex, but it was a little different to know specifically what toys his boss used.

  Even if he was really hot.

  “Sunny?” Clare answered the phone. “Is everything okay?”

  “I got the job,” Sunny explained, grinning to himself. He was glad he didn’t have to worry anymore, especially with Christmas coming up. He wanted to get his parents something nice for once, and a full-time wage would let him do that.

  He set the phone down and put it on speaker so he could get back to ironing, which he was actually starting to enjoy. It was soothingly repetitive, and getting the labels on flat and straight was rewarding.

  He’d definitely worked worse jobs.

  “Oh, awesome! So the guy doesn’t seem like a creep to you? I’ve only seen him around the office a few times.”

  “He seems fine,” Sunny said, deciding not to mention that he had answered the door without a shirt on. Sunny believed that he was just flustered and running late.

  He seemed like the kind of person who really did just need an extra pair of hands around.

  “He’s also really hot. In a hot older man kind of way,” Sunny added.

  Clare snorted on the other end of the phone. “I forget that you’re into that. You’ve got, like, a grey hair fetish.”

  “It’s not a fetish. I just… I dunno. I’ve been with enough guys my age to be tired of them, I guess. And he seems sweet.”

  “Sweet?” Clare asked. Sunny didn’t have to be able
to see her to know that she’d raised an eyebrow at that.

  “Yeah, sweet. Mostly like he could use a hug, honestly.”

  “So what does he have you doing?” Clare asked.

  Sunny opened his mouth to respond, but realized before he spoke that if he told Clare what he was doing, he’d have to explain why, and that would mean telling her Grant was colorblind, which he seemed to be a little embarrassed about.

  It really wasn’t anything to be ashamed of, but that didn’t mean it was Sunny’s place to tell someone else.

  “I’m organizing his wardrobe,” Sunny said, figuring that was neutral enough. “So it’s basically my dream job.”

  Clare laughed at that. “Maybe it’ll keep you out of mine.”

  “Maybe,” Sunny said. “We did yours a few months ago, it’s probably good until winter really sets in.”

  “I don’t need you to take care of me, you know,” Clare said.

  “I know. But I need to take care of someone, and we’re not allowed a dog,” Sunny said. “I can probably channel some of that into this job.”

  “You sound happy,” Clare pointed out, her voice warm. Sunny smiled at that. She was clearly happy for him, and she was right. He was happy. Getting this job had taken a load off his mind, and despite a bumpy start, he felt like Grant was going to be a good fit.

  Not just because he was hot, but that helped. Sunny didn’t mind working for someone who wasn’t hard to look at.

  “I am. I owe you for this.”

  “Buy me dinner,” Clare said. “I’m just glad you’ve got something to do.”

  “And that I’m not gonna flake out on the rent.” Sunny set the iron down, smoothing the last label with his thumb.

  Grant had great taste in shirts. The colors might not have been entirely his choice, but the quality was, and judging by the way he’d been dressed this morning, he wasn’t afraid to buy his shirts in the right size. A lot of men his age bought them a size too big to hide a little softness around the middle.

  Grant didn’t seem to have a whole lot of that, and if he did, he obviously wasn’t too worried about it. That by itself was attractive.

  “I said I’d cover you, and I meant it. I’ve always got your back,” Clare responded.

  “I know.” Sunny smiled to himself, flicking the iron off and pulling the plug out of the wall socket. “I’ve always got your back, too. I just wanted to tell you the good news. I’ll let you get back to your life now.”

  “I always have time for you,” Clare said. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  “I don’t know when I’ll be home, but I do promise to buy you dinner,” Sunny said. He definitely owed Clare at least that much.

  “Okay. Love you,” Clare said.

  Sunny smiled again. “Love you, too.”

  He shoved his phone back in his pocket once Clare hung up, grabbing the hangers he’d pulled out of Grant’s closet earlier so he could hang the shirts back up.

  If this was what being a PA was like, he could definitely get used to it.

  5

  “Hey,” Grant looked up as Sunny came into his office, smiling at the other man. It was easy to smile at Sunny.

  For the first time in a long time, he felt as though he had his life under control. He’d only had Sunny around for three days, and he’d already changed Grant’s life. The fact that everyone at his level had a PA made a whole lot more sense now.

  If nothing else, talking to Sunny made a welcome break from worrying about whether or not they were going to be short staffed over the holiday period. COO had sounded like a great job when he’d been offered it, but he hadn’t realized how many spreadsheets it would involve.

  If he had, he might have thought twice.

  He’d been promised a challenge, and he’d definitely gotten one. Which was nice. He’d been comfortable in his old job, but it had never pushed him.

  This one pushed him a little too much, but he had Sunny now. Sunny made everything feel possible.

  “I was just coming to ask if you needed anything before I go to lunch,” Sunny asked.

  “Uh, no, but… you wanna sit down for a moment?” Grant asked, nodding at the chair in front of his desk.

  Sunny paused, looking at Grant nervously.

  “You’re not in trouble,” Grant said, recognizing the look. “I just wanna talk to you for a second.”

  Sunny wet his lips, but crossed the room and sat down in the chair across from Grant, smoothing down his tie nervously. Grant wasn’t exactly sure, but he got the impression that Sunny took the way he dressed very seriously. Everything was always neatly ironed, he never had so much as a crease in his tie, and Grant would have put money on his socks matching his shirts.

  He couldn’t see, but he could tell. Sunny was the most organized person he’d ever met. He was only twenty-seven, but he seemed to have his life all figured out.

  “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” Grant said. He wasn’t sure how personal he should get with someone he’d only known three days, but Sunny made him feel comfortable. Like he could talk to him.

  There weren’t many people like that in Grant’s life.

  “You’re welcome,” Sunny said. “It’s my job.”

  “I know, but… it wasn’t your job to sew the button back to my shirt, and you did it. And it wasn’t your job to figure out that you could just label my shirts, which is really handy, by the way. And you’re always one step ahead of me. I barely have to ask you to do things. You’re usually already doing them.”

  Sunny smiled at that. “I like this job,” he said.

  “Good, because I’d like to keep you around.” Grant wet his lips.

  He could be honest with Sunny. Let him know how much this really meant to him. “Listen, I haven’t felt as though I had my life under control since I moved up here, and you’ve made me feel like I can breathe again. You’re awesome. I don’t want you to doubt that for a second.”

  A blush crept up Sunny’s cheeks, his pretty brown eyes shining.

  Grant liked that he had brown eyes. He could see brown.

  “Thank you,” Sunny said. “When did you move here?”

  “A year ago in June. So almost eighteen months, now.”

  “You mentioned a daughter,” Sunny said. “Did she move with you, or…?”

  Grant glanced down at the desk, guilt over missing Thanksgiving welling up again.

  “I’m sorry, that was too personal a question. Forget I asked.”

  “No,” Grant said. “No, it’s fine, I was just… she stayed with her mom and her stepdad. Back in California. I’m actually from Arizona.”

  “Your accent gives you away a little,” Sunny said, but not in a judgmental way. He said it like it was cute.

  Grant wasn’t sure he was reading that right, exactly, but it felt nice all the same.

  Sunny had a way of making him feel good about himself.

  “That’s the first time I’ve heard that,” Grant said. “I miss her. Hope, I mean.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sunny said. “Divorce must be hard.”

  Grant chuckled. “Pretty easy, actually. But it was never exactly a traditional marriage.”

  He could tell Sunny this. Sunny would understand.

  “I came out to my wife when Hope was just a few weeks old. We’d been together for years—since college, actually—waiting for the right time to have a baby. She’s still my best friend. And you know what she said when I told her I was gay?”

  Sunny shook his head.

  “She kissed the top of my head and told me she knew. She’d always known. And I’d still given her everything she wanted, and she’d always love me for that. I love her, too, but not…”

  “Romantically,” Sunny finished for him. “I get it. I, uh. I’m gay, too.”

  “I got the impression,” Grant said, smiling to himself. He was glad Sunny was comfortable enough to tell him that, even if it didn’t seem like something he tried to hide.

  “That must h
ave been so hard,” Sunny said, his eyes soft and sympathetic.

  Grant shrugged. “I’m not the first gay man to marry a woman,” he said. “I did genuinely love Julia, just not… not the way I was meant to. I knew before we got married, it’s not like I figured it out later or anything. It was a bad time to be gay, and I wanted kids, and… that was that. It worked for us for a long time.”

  “You deserve to be loved,” Sunny responded. “I mean, I’m sure you are loved, but… you know what I mean.”

  Grant’s heart clenched in his chest. He appreciated what Sunny was saying. Not many people had told him that in his life.

  “I do know what you mean. And thank you. Anyway, we didn’t actually get divorced until a couple of years ago. She’s a lawyer and she works for the UN, and she met this great guy, Joon.”

  “June?” Sunny raised an eyebrow.

  “J-O-O-N,” Grant said. “He’s Korean. Or, I mean, his parents are Korean, he’s from Chicago. And between you and me, super hot. And he’s a sweetheart, and Julia loves him so much and he loves her back the way she deserves. He’s a great guy. But…”

  “But you miss your daughter,” Sunny said.

  “Yeah.” Grant rocked back in his chair. “Yeah, I do. And I missed out on getting to see them all at Thanksgiving, because I forgot to book a flight, and then it was suddenly the day before and I just… couldn’t get there in time. I thought about getting in the car and driving down, but then I did the math on how long it’d take and realized I couldn’t.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sunny said again.

  Grant knew he was probably being depressing, but he could tell Sunny was listening to him. Really listening. And that was too much to ask of a guy who was supposed to keep his appointments in order and make sure he ate lunch, but Sunny wasn’t complaining.

  Grant didn’t want to take advantage, but he did need someone to talk to.

  “Don’t be. I have you now, so that won’t happen again. Shame I went grey from stress before I caved in and asked for help, though. I look so damn old.”

  “Distinguished,” Sunny said. “Not old.”

  A tiny spark of joy bounced around Grant’s chest at the compliment. Sunny obviously handed out compliments like they were Halloween candy, but it still felt good every time.