Love and War

"Well, I think both of us like him as more than a person." Marie said playfully.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't."

"Don't give me that," she said, teasing me. "You would get with him in a heartbeat."

"Would not."

"Would to."

"Would not."

"Would to," said a voice behind me. "I think we all would, but only you and Christian have a chance." I turned around to see Penelope standing there, her arms folded and a lipstick plastered smile on her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"This is what Penelope and I were talking about the other day," Marie said. "I told her to try and find out if David was gay by trying to seduce him."

"And boy, did I try," Penelope said. "Trust me, sweetie, he's straight as a circle."

"That's what I said!" Marie said.

"But he can't be," I said. "How do you know he isn't just married and doesn't want to cheat on his wife?"

"I checked this time," Penelope said proudly. "No wedding ring."

"Well, even if he is gay, Christian can have him," I said. "I don't want anybody who's as arrogant as he is."

"Fine," Penelope scoffed. "I only had to find out, anyways. I'll go tell Christian that David is open territory for him." She turned and walked away, leaving me and Marie there.

"You see?" Marie said. "David is gay."

"No, he isn't."

"Yes, he is."

"No, he isn't."

"Yes, he is."

We continued like that for several minutes before we realized that we were grown adults. We promptly got to work, but the subject of David kept cropping up.

***

That night, I was one of the last ones there. I had stayed late to finish some work, and so had Amy. The two of us walked out together, and once we were in the parking garage for our building, we said goodbye to each other. She got in her car and drove away. I walked over to my car, which was up against a window, and I saw that it was pouring rain outside. Thinking that it was going to be hard to see, I quickly got into my car and started making plans to get home as fast as possible. I stuck the key into the ignition and--

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. I started to panic, turning the key over and over again. The result was always the same: the engine would not turn over. I sighed as I realized that I would have to walk home.

I got out of my car and briefly considered calling a taxi or a tow service, but realized that it was too late at night to do that. So I simply pulled my jacket over my head and headed for the parking garage entrance. As I did, though, a car suddenly appeared at the entrance and pulled in. I stepped to the side and saw that the person driving the car was none other that David.

He rolled down the window and said, "What are you still doing here?"

"I had to finish some stuff," I replied. "What are you doing back here?"

"I forgot my phone in my office," he said. Then he noticed that I was walking out of the garage and asked, "Why are you walking out into the rain? What happened to your car?"

"It won't start."

Daivd sighed. "Oh. That's terrible." I prayed that he wasn't going to get the idea, but he did. His eyes widened and a smile appeared on his face. "Hey! Why don't I drive you home?"

I put on a fake smile. "That's okay, I can just--"

He held up a hand, cutting me off. "You'll have to do better than that to get rid of me. I'm driving you home, and that's that." He got out of his car, put his hand on my shoulder, and said, "Get in the car. I'll be back down when I've got my phone."

I sighed as he jogged away. It looked like I was going to have to do this, whether I liked it or not.

Ten minutes later, we were on the road, and I was directing him back to my house. I lived in a little two-story apartment, and as David drove up to the entrance, he marveled at it. "That looks really nice! It's certainly better than the one I have. Can I see the inside?"

"No," I said curtly. "You can't. I really need to go now."

As I made to get out of the car, he grabbed my arm and said, "Alex, you need to stop making assumptions. Seriously. It's only going to hurt you."

"What does that even mean?" I asked him.

He looked at me for a few seconds. Then he sighed and said, "Nothing. Can I see the inside of your apartment or not?"

Now it was my turn to sigh. There was nothing I could do, and I knew that. "Sure," I said. "Go wild." He practically squealed with excitement, and the two of us got out of the car and rushed inside.

He marveled at the layout of my apartment, constantly saying that my place was so much better than his, and constantly telling me how lucky I was that I'd gotten such a good place.

Eventually, he'd seen everything, and we stopped in the living room. Extending out of the living room was a hallway that led to the door, and I gestured into the hallway. I must not have seemed polite about it, because his brow furrowed.

"Why don't you like me, Alex?" he asked. "Seriously. I've been nothing but nice to you, and yet you still act like you can't stand me."

That was it. It was time for me to tell him how I really felt. "Yeah, okay, fine. You're right. I can't stand you. You want to know why? It's because you're arrogant, and I can't STAND arrogant people. They think that they're so mighty and important, but in reality, nobody really likes them." I knew that my words hurt him, but honestly, I didn't care; he needed to hear the truth.

His eyes, those gorgeous eyes that I loved but hated, looked at me with confusion. "How did I come off as arrogant?"

"The night we took you out to dinner. You kept talking about how great you were, how good-looking you were, how wonderfully amazing you were. It was pretty pathetic, actually."

Anger began to seep into his voice. "Pathetic?! PATHETIC?! I was not trying to be pathetic, or arrogant, or egotistical, or anything like that! I was trying to play myself up in your eyes!"

That threw me. "What?"

"I was trying to seem like a great guy to you," David said softly, all the anger gone. "I really wanted you to like me."

"Why, though?" I asked him. "Why do you want me to like you so much?"

"Because," David said, "ever since I met you, I've been trying to work up the nerve to do this." He suddenly leaned forward, grabbed my head, and pulled it in for the most incredible kiss I'd ever had. It was forceful, yet oddly gentle, and his tongue shoved its way into my mouth and probed around for a bit before he pulled away.

I took a few steps back involuntarily, out of breath. "Wait...you're gay?"

He nodded. "As a circle."

"Why does everybody make that analogy?" I wondered aloud.

He cocked his head. "What?"

I waved my head, dismissing the topic. "Not important. The thing is, though, I could have sworn you were straight."

David smiled. "I told you not to make assumptions."

I smiled back at him. "I guess you were right."

"Damn right I was." With that, he pulled me in for another kiss, every bit as passionate as the first one. As our tongues explored each other's mouths, and as he rubbed his hands sensually all over my back, and as I ran my fingers through his amazing hair, I made a personal vow to never make assumptions again.

To be continued....