Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
He’d thought Bram would be proud of him. When he’d gotten the call, Fisk had said, “Congratulations, Glass. You’re going to do wonderfully,” and Zachary had looked in the mirror and felt pure pride. He was the youngest-ever junior partner in Moray and Fisk history. He had won. By every metric, he’d won.
Now when he looked in the mirror, he just felt confused and sad. So shockingly, distractingly sad. He couldn’t do anything like this. Couldn’t stand to feel like this when he didn’t understand why.
Up until a few months ago, Zachary’s best friend Wes had conducted their whole relationship over the phone or via video chats because he didn’t like to leave the house or have people in his space. All of which had suited Zachary just fine.
Recently, though, after falling in love with Adam and coparenting his daughter, Gus, Wes consented to the occasional outing and didn’t mind visitors.
So when Zachary knocked on his door and no one answered, he went to Adam’s house right across the street.
Huh. Just like Bram and me, he thought.
But of course, it wasn’t just like him and Bram because Wes and Adam were in love and raising a kid together and Zachary and Bram were just...
Anyway.
Adam answered the door and smiled. “Hey, Zachary! Wes, Zachary’s here,” he called, waving Zachary inside.
Wes and Gus came into the room, hands covered in something brightly colored and unidentifiable.
“Hey, Zachary,” Wes said. “We were working on Gus’ science project.”
Zachary nodded. “Got a minute, Wes?”
“Sure. You can do the next part on your own, right, Gus?”
“I don’t want to,” she said.
“Honey,” Adam said, “remember we talked about how sometimes things come up and we need to be flexible?”
Gus nodded.
“Well, Zachary needs Wes right now.”
“But I don’t feel like being flexible right now,” Gus said.
Zachary really related.
Adam laughed. “Go do your work, Bug.”
“Fine,” Gus sighed. “I hope this is important, Zachary.”
She said it sincerely and he responded in kind.
“It is.”
They nodded at one another and Gus trudged out of the room.
“What’s up?” Wes asked.
Wes sat him down at the kitchen table, and Adam offered him some pie.
“I just made it. I’m learning to bake,” Adam said, turning to the pie.
Wes caught his eye and gave a subtle shake of his head, but Zachary did want some pie.
“Thanks,” he said when Adam set the plate in front of him.
He took a bite. It was cherry. At least, it looked like cherry. But it tasted like...
“Hmm. Something has gone very wrong with the chemistry of your baking,” Zachary explained, and pushed the plate away.
“Oh. Shoot,” Adam said, frowning. He took a small bite of the pie from Zachary’s plate. And screwed up his face.
“Gah, what did I do? I swear, I follow the instructions, but that’s... Sorry, Zachary.”
“That’s okay.”
“You look like hell,” Wes said. “What’s up?”
“I got the promotion.”
“Oh, wow. Congrats,” Wes said.
“Congratulations!” Adam said.
“Thanks. It means I’m the youngest-ever junior partner in the company,” Zachary said, waiting for them to be impressed.
“Great,” Wes said anemically.
“That sounds very prestigious,” Adam said.
“Yes,” Zachary confirmed.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Wes and Adam were supposed to be impressed. They were supposed to realize that he was talented and impressive.
But they were just nodding mildly.
“Anyway, it’s an accomplishment, but when I told Bram about it he was really mad at me for leaving.”
“Leaving?” Adam said.
“Yes, well, of course, the company is headquartered in Denver, so that’s where a junior partner needs to be.”
What about this were people not getting?
“Oh, damn,” Wes said, looking shocked. “I didn’t know you’d be leaving. That’s so...wow.”
Zachary wasn’t sure why it would matter to Wes, given that the entirety of their relationship before six months ago had taken place remotely anyway, but he looked genuinely disappointed.
“Yes, of course.”
Adam looked at him kindly. “I think since you work from home, no one knew that a promotion would change that.”
Wes nodded.
“Well, be that as it may, Bram is mad at me and...”
Sad. He’d said sad.
“And sad, and he told me to go away, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
“What exactly did he say?” Wes asked.
“He said he didn’t want to move to a dirty city. Then that he was mad and sad and he needed to cry privately so could I please leave.”
Adam bit his lip. “You asked him to move with you?”
“Yeah. I assumed we’d be over by now since people always lose interest in me, but somehow he hasn’t yet, so.”
Zachary heard his voice go gritty and thin. The scene before him blurred.
“I wanted him to be proud of me. I wanted him to be impressed,” Zachary said. “But he was just mad.”
And sad. Don’t forget sad. Don’t forget you dimmed the sun.
“Hard to care about career success when your boyfriend is leaving you, Z,” Wes said.
“Did I screw up?” Zachary heard himself ask. The scene was blurring more, and Adam reached over and brushed something off his cheek.