************* Simple Things 5 *************
*********** Ryan's POV ***********
"Hey, have you heard any word I've said?" Sarah asked me as I just stared behind her. I was looking at Jason and Alecx and couldn't help but feel a little jealous. They seem to be really cozy together.
"Umm, what did you say?" I looked at Sarah and gave her a sheepish smile.
"She's not his girlfriend you know," Sarah smiled at me mysteriously.
"I..I wasn't thinking about that," I blushed deeply as she giggled and winked at me.
"He'd tell me if he's even interested in her so I'm pretty sure she's not his girlfriend," Sarah whispered to me in an almost conspiratorial tone. "She's not his type."
"What...is his type then?" I said in a cracking voice. I probably shouldn't have asked her that but I just have to know if I have a chance with Jason or if I'm just setting myself up for a fall.
"He doesn't talk about that much," Sarah said after a pause. She grinned at me goofily and said, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"We..we'd better go or we'll miss the movie," I stammered out at what she was implying. I knew I should have kept my big mouth shut. I have to remember that Sarah's Jason's twin sister. She'd probably be disgusted with me if she knows that I'm lusting after her brother.
I was buying some oranges from a fruit stand along the sidewalk when I saw Alecx walking towards me. I smiled at her and she stopped besides me started to pick some oranges herself.
"Your Jason's sister's boyfriend, aren't you?" Alecx smiled at me.
"I'm not her boyfriend," I shook my head at her. "I told you that last night, didn't I?"
"Jason's pretty sure you're her boyfriend," Alecx shrugged her shoulders at him. We fell silent for a while as we bought some fruits.
"You work with Jason?" I asked her as we were paying our purchases.
"You could say that," Alecx nodded her head. "We're both volunteers at the children's museum."
"What?" I looked at her in surprise. "I didn't know Jason's does something like that."
"I'm on my way there because we have some more stuff to do there," Alecx said to him. "Maybe you'd like to come and help us. We definitely need more help."
"I might just get in the way," I said to her hesitantly. I almost said yes but I'm not exactly Jason's most favorite person in the world.
"You'll do fine," Alecx said to me. She grabbed my arm and we started to walk towards the children's museum. She told me just what they do at the museum. I didn't know Jason was that kind of guy. I was starting to think he's just a complete asshole without any redeeming value but Alecx talks about him like he's a saint.
*********** Jason's POV ***********
It was turning out to be such a wonderful day. I had a nice breakfast and the park seemed to be extra beautiful this Saturday morning. I decided to just eat at Oliver's, a sandwich place near the park. I was going to the museum to do some work when I bumped into the last person I wanted to see that day.
"Jason?" Mark Spencer reached out and held me steady as I just stared at him in total shock. "Is that you?" I didn't greet him back. I couldn't say anything to my best friend. I just stared at his deep, blue eyes, that sweet smile on his face, that perfect white teeth. I felt his strong arms around me, holding me close to him.
"Hey," I stammered out as I pulled away from him when I realized how dumb I must look to him. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"I---" Mark lost his smile as he lowered his gaze to the floor. "Things aren't really going great between me and Amy. I---left her last weekend."
"What?" I didn't quite believe him. "But---I thought Amy's pregnant."
"She is," Mark looked up again and I could see the pain in his eyes. "But...I just couldn't wake up every morning and wish that...it's someone else sleeping next to me. I don't really love her."
"Mark..." I trailed off because I didn't really know what to say to him. "Why did you marry her if you don't love her?"
"It was just the right thing to do," Mark looked like he was on the verge of crying. "Everyone was expecting us to get married."
"Would you like some cup of coffee or something?" I reached out and squeezed his shoulders. He nodded so we went to a nearby café and ordered some cappuccino. We just sipped our coffee and stared at each other for a while.
"It's great to see you again," Mark whispered to me. "I..I was going to call you up later."
"I'm sorry if I wasn't able to come at your wedding," I forced a smile at him as I tried to forget how painful it was for me when he told me he was marrying Amy. "I had a lot of stuff to do at the office."
"It's alright," Mark laughed out bitterly. "The marriage didn't last that long anyway."
"It's not like you're already divorced," I tried to sound positive. "Maybe you'll work things out with Amy."
"I don't think so," Mark shook his head at me. We became silent again for a while. As I was staring outside the window, he gently whispered to me. "Why did we drift apart Jason?"
"Huh?" I looked back at him, not sure what he meant.
"We used to be inseparable but we haven't even seen each other for the last year or so," Mark voice was a little hoarse.
"We went to different universities so it was inevitable that we would grow apart," I shrugged my shoulders at him.
"Olivia told me you went to Dayton to see her on her birthday a few months ago," Mark replied to me softly. "You...didn't even call me on my birthday."
"It..just slipped my mind, that's all," I lied to him again.
"Did I do anything that upset you?" Mark asked me slowly.
Yeah, you married that bitch and not me. I just forced a smile at him and shook my head no. "No, of course not. Maybe you are right. We've drifted apart already. Anyway, what are your plans now? Where are you going to stay?"
"I'm staying with a friend right now," Mark answered me. He paused for a few seconds and then added, "Would..you like to have dinner later? We have a lot of things to talk about." I felt my heart stop beating for a while. God! How I wanted to hear those words for a long time now. But the funny thing is that I'm not as ecstatic as I thought I would be.
"I have some stuff to do later," I shook my head at him. "Maybe some other time."
"Yeah, okay," Mark nodded his head.
"I have to go," I stood up and looked at my watch. "I have a friend to met in ten minutes. It's really nice to see you again Mark."
"I'll just call you, if it's okay," Mark said to me as I took out some money and put it down on the table.
"Yeah, sure," I tried to sound aloof but I kinda like hearing him telling me he'd call me. I almost forgot just how sweet Mark was to me while we were growing up. No wonder I spent how many years of my life pining for that guy. He just had to ruin it by marrying Amy.
As I entered the small library in the museum, I heard Ryan's already familiar laugh filling the room. I saw Alecx and Ryan acting so chummy towards each other. Alecx saw me and waved me over to the table.
"Hey," Alecx grinned at me as I walked up to them. "Look what followed me here." She nodded towards Ryan as Ryan was giving me a really goofy smile.
"What are you doing here?" I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Alecx. I looked at Ryan and gave him a curious look.
"I bumped into Alecx and she invited me over to help out," Ryan was sort of blushing at me. "I hope that's okay with you."
"The more the merrier," I grinned at him as I started helping me cataloguing the books.
"What the smile for?" Alecx asked me as we started to work.
"What smile?" I looked at her quizzically.
"That smile on your face," Alecx replied to me. "Why are you so damn happy Mr. Brooks?"
"Nothing," I couldn't help but grinned at her stupidly.
"I like you more with a smile on your face," Ryan blurted out to me. I looked at him in surprise as he turned beet-red as Alecx giggled out at what he said.
"You like Jason?" Alecx said teasingly.
"I...um...I--" Ryan stammered out as he looked like he was about to burst from embarrassment.
"You and my sister has no plans tonight?" I decided to just change the topic because I know how Alecx could get sometimes. "She didn't say anything to me about any plans earlier."
"No," Ryan wasn't looking at Alecx or me as he just concentrated on his work. I just engaged Alecx in conversation about some of the other volunteers in the museum so Ryan won't feel too embarrassed.
But a part of me was wondering just what Ryan meant when he said that. I finally decided that he just meant it as a figure of speech. There is no way he could be gay and that he likes me that way.
************* To be continued *************
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