I held up my phone. “Will’s home,” I told Carter. We were both sitting on opposite sofas with our feet almost touching on the coffee table.
“Alone?”
“Yeah, apparently plaid-boy wasn’t interested,” I said flatly. “Little fucker. How could he not be interested in Will?”
“He’s a real nice guy,” Carter said, peeling at the label of his beer.
“He is,” I said. “He’s great.”
“What’s his story?”
I sighed. “He came back to Hartford to please his mother who will never be pleased. He’s been back here for over a year, but he’s not really happy.”
“So you’re trying to find him a guy so he’ll be happy?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
Carter was quiet for a moment, as though he was trying to sort his words out in his head first.
“Just spit it out, Carter.”
He grinned. “Well, what about you?”
“What about me?”
“With Will.”
I took a pull of my beer. “He needs someone better than me,” I told him honestly. “Someone who does the whole relationship thing and can make him happy. That’s not me.”
Carter nodded slowly, scratching his fingernail at the label on his beer bottle. “Still lovin’ and leaving ’em?”
I grinned. “Absolutely.”
“How’s the scene at Kings?” he asked. “Still the same?”
“It’s always the same,” I said. “New faces every college term.”
Carter shook his head, but he laughed. “You’re terrible.”
“I seem to remember you being with me for a lot of those nights.”
“That was a long time ago,” he said quietly. “God, I couldn’t even imagine going through the whole pick-up scene again.”
It was my turn to be quiet then. “You’re really getting married?”
He looked at me, long and serious, then he nodded. “Yes, I am.”
“How’s Isaac been?” I asked. “He seems so much happier.”
Carter smiled, and there was a softness in his eyes. “He is,” he said, still smiling. “He’s really working hard at it, you know. He’s trying, and I’ll admit some days aren’t perfect, but Mark, it’s different now.”
I smiled. “I can see that.”
Carter turned his beer around in his hands. “Since that whole mess with Joshua, he’s more affectionate, more open. He talks about things that are bothering him. He includes me in everything, and we talk a lot more.”
“Dear God, you sound like an ad on the infomercial channel.”
Carter laughed. “I know, right? It’s crazy.”
“It’s nauseating.”
Carter laughed, then he shook his head. “I’m really getting married!”
I snorted. “Did you just get the memo?”
Carter still smiled, no matter how much I paid out on him. “I can’t believe it, you know. I never thought this day would come, that I’d find him.”
“Him?”
“Yeah, him. The one person I would want to spend forever with.” He shook his head, like he could hear how utterly ridiculous he sounded but still couldn’t stop the rainbows and butterflies shit. “I know Isaac’s had his issues, and he still has them. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not some miraculously perfect man. Some days he’s still the arrogant brat I fell in love with,” Carter said. “But he’s different now. I don’t know… lighter, somehow. Happier. He still has his therapy, and he’s really come so far.”
“I can see that,” I told him. “You both look so happy I could puke.”
“Oh, nice,” Carter deadpanned.
I smiled for him. “I get it. I do,” I told him honestly. “Isaac’s more at peace with himself.”
“Oh,” Carter said, tilting his head. “You do watch the infomercial channel.”
“Only when I get home at two in the morning and I’m drunk, fumbling around with some random lucky one-nighter.”
Carter shook his head. “One day, Mark, someone’s gonna knock you off your feet.”
“Hit me?”
He laughed. “No, idiot. I mean, you’re going to fall so hard for someone you won’t know what hit you.”
I laughed at him, waking Brady up. “Not likely, Car. Never gonna happen.”
“You’ll see,” Carter said, smiling as he finished his beer. “And when it does, you won’t know which way’s up.”
On Monday morning, I saw him walk around the corner and walked out to meet him. “Hey,” I said. “Will, you okay?”
He looked around sidewalk. “Are you waiting for me?”
“Of course I am, asshole,” I said, glaring at him. “I got here early to see you because you told me not come around last night.”
“You had visitors,” he said, still walking.
I raced to keep up. “Carter and Isaac left midafternoon,” I told him. “You knew they were only staying until Sunday afternoon. I told you I could come around last night and cheer you up.”
He shook his head and let out a bit of laugh as we walked into the lobby of our work. “Mark, I said I was fine. Really, it was nothing. So the guy said he wasn’t interested. Who cares?”
“I do,” I told him, as we stepped into the elevator. “I fucking do.”
“Why?”
“Because, Will, I do care what happens to you,” I said. “If some guy says he’s not interested, then I want to know what’s wrong with him.”
Will laughed as the elevator doors opened and we headed toward our cubicles. “There wasn’t anything wrong with him, Mark. We just didn’t have that much in common.”
I didn’t exactly believe him, but figured he didn’t want to talk about it. Which, with most people, meant I’d have to pick, pick, pick until they told me what it was just to shut me up.
But with Will, the key was to say absolutely no more about it and he’d eventually spill the beans because the silence drove him insane.
Which is what I did.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said from his side of the cubicle wall that divided us.
I smiled. “What’s that?”
“You’re waiting for your lack of questions to infuriate me until I tell you everything.”
I laughed, earning a death stare from my manager. I gave him a wave and stood up so I could see over the cubicle. “I would never!”
He ducked his head and stifled a laugh. “You’ll get us into trouble.”
I sat back in my chair and snorted. “Believe me, getting fired from here wouldn’t exactly be a travesty.”
He sighed loudly. “Yeah, tell me about it.”
It took a while—and some gastronomical incentives. I bribed him with coffee, gave him half my muffin at our morning break, and then even offered to buy lunch.
We sat at our usual table at the diner we often had lunch at, and after a little while, Will said, “Carter’s a great guy. I can see why you two get along so well.”
“He is one of the good ones.” I took a bite of my sandwich and after I’d chewed and swallowed, said, “He’s a lot like you.”
“Really?” he asked thoughtfully. “If you mean we both put up with you, then yes, I can see that.”
I smiled brightly at him. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
He ignored me. “Isaac’s a nice guy too, though I didn’t talk a great deal to him.”
“He is. Isaac’s a tough one. He’s had a pretty rough life, which he’s learning to deal with, but underneath the surface he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met.”
“I couldn’t imagine being blind,” Will said, “yet he makes it look so easy.”
“He does, yeah,” I agreed. “He’s a feisty one. He sure keeps Carter on his toes.”
“I bet he does,” Will said with a laugh. He ate as much of his lunch as he normally did and pushed his plate toward me. “What did you get up to yesterday with them? Take them anywhere exciting?”
“Not really,” I said, picking at what was left on his plate. “Carter wanted to show Isaac around, you know, where he used to live, where he went to college, where he worked, where we used to hang out.”
Will thought about that for a while. “Um, not to be rude, but how does he show him around, you know, being blind and all?”
I took a sip of my soda and shrugged. “He just describes it to him. Isaac’s really good with sounds and smells and stuff, so he just lets him experience it that way, I guess.” Then I said, “Carter’s never treated Isaac any differently, really. Just treats him normal.”
Will nodded slowly and smiled. “Well, come on. We better get back to work.”
I looked at my watch and realized we were almost late. And Will still hadn’t told me about what happened with plaid-boy, Jayden. I decided to let it go, figuring he really mustn’t want me to know.
But it was about ten to five, and without looking over the cubicle or coming around to see me, Will asked, “What did you mean when you said Carter and Isaac weren’t always so in love?”
I stood up and looked at him over the partition wall. “What do you mean?”
“On Saturday, you said they weren’t always so in love,” he repeated, though he didn’t look at me.
I walked around to his side and parked my ass on his desk, like he normally did to mine. “Well, they’ve always been in love,” I corrected. “But just not always that… happy or content. It’s taken them a while to get to where they are now. A lot of hard work.”
“They’re very happy now, though,” he said.
“They are, very much,” I agreed.
“They broke up, didn’t they?” he asked. “A while back? That’s why you went to Boston that time?”
That was almost a year ago and I hadn’t really known Will that well, so I never divulged much information. I nodded. “Yeah. Isaac had some issues with some guy he worked with feeding him bullshit and trying to get his money. Isaac was pretty horrible. I mean, he never cheated on Carter with that douchebag or anything like that, but Isaac can say some pretty mean things when he wants to. He doesn’t really mean them, but he just lashes out. Anyway, Isaac might have had his reasons, but he was a jerk, and yet Carter stood by him.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” Will asked.
“Why wouldn’t he what?”
“Stand by him. If you love someone that’s what you do. Isn’t it?”
“I’m not sure I would have,” I admitted. “I just don’t know if I’d ever compromise that much or go through that kind of heartache. Carter was devastated, yet he still fought for him.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
I shrugged. “If it’s real love, then it shouldn’t be that hard, should it?”
“Are you saying you don’t think what they have is real love?”
“No, I mean, yes, I do think it is,” I said. “I just don’t think it should take therapy and counseling for a couple to stay together.” Then I realized how harsh that sounded. “I don’t know… I mean, they’re so happy and in love it’s ridiculous, and truthfully, if going to therapy helps them, then that’s what it takes for them and I’m all for that. I’m just saying I don’t know if I would do that.”
Will nodded slowly, thinking about what I’d said. “What exactly would you do for love?” he asked quietly.
I thought about that for a long moment, and when I looked at Will, he was looking at his computer screen and I realized he’d asked it as a rhetorical question.
He didn’t want me to answer it, he wanted me to think about it. I frowned at that. After a long moment, I asked, “Will, what would you do for love?”
He looked at me then and it appeared he almost laughed, like it was a completely unbelievable question. “What wouldn’t I do for it?”
He went back to his computer, typing out an email or something, and I went back to my desk. I stared at my screen for a while, not really seeing anything on it.
Something had gotten under Will’s skin lately, and I was starting to think maybe I couldn’t fix it. I hadn’t noticed what was going on around me until Will leaned against my desk with his jacket on, and I realized I was late to leave.
“Shit,” I mumbled, rushing to save the files open on my screen and shut my computer down.
Will was quiet, and when I glanced up at him, he was staring out the window. “I thought that Jayden guy and I got on okay,” he said quietly. “I mean, we talked a bit and had some stuff in common.”
I didn’t say anything. I just listened.
“But when it was just us two, he asked me what was going on with me and you.”
My voice was quiet. “He what?”
Will cleared his throat. “He thought there was something between us and said he wouldn’t be someone’s second choice.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but was apparently too stunned to speak.
Will nodded and looked back out the window. “Anyway, I told him there wasn’t, but it didn’t matter.” He stood up. “That’s what happened. I gotta get going.” He looked at my still-not-shut-down computer. “You all right?”
“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” I told him. “You go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded and disappeared toward the elevators while I sat there trying to get my thoughts together. Well, that explained his reluctance to tell me.
And it also explained something else.
If Will was ever going to find happiness with someone, I needed to back off.