Cheer Up, Daddy!

Clubbing In NYC

-Chapter Eleven-

(Clubbing in NYC)

"How did you cope with this?" Andy yawned, rubbing the sore spot behind his neck, "there should be a law against slave driver."

The worst kind of pain to have is the kind that ties in with the state of your mental exhaustion from your life and not alcohol. That was why Andy spent a good minutes struggling to drag himself out of the unorthodox of a nightmare where hundreds of arms were viciously ripping him apart to play with them. When he finally gained a fair amount of lucidity, he realized the pain had been physically realistic too because his bruises from the week before were throbbing and aching in a way that suggested he get up and take some painkillers. However the only problem right now seemed to be the uninvited woman in Andy's kitchen, followed by the noise of clanging pans and pots that didn't help with the ringing in his ears.

Andy tossed the empty box of Chinese off his chest, hearing it hit the trash can with a satisfying thud before sighing in relief. The celebration dance had to wait for now, he wasn't going to risk the chance of him breaking the only working bones in his wrists. Andrea glanced up from the microwave to peer indifferently over to the couch, watching Andy for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"They do, but they only apply to employees who do not whine at every small tasks."

"I never whine!" Andy sat up, throwing the cushion at Andrea and frowning when Andrea smirked as it dropped mid-way even before reaching to the kitchen counter. "Besides, there are too many distractions lately."

Andrea's face broke into a grin. "Finally see someone you interested in? I told you this job is everything you need, is it Ryan? You have been getting close to him lately, I thought you said he's straight."

"He is," Andy disapproved at his sister's prying into his personal life. Sure Andy had been spending a lot of quality times with Ryan whenever he was working in the center, purely Ryan was the only father that had a free schedule to take care of the children with him. The only time all the fathers actually gathered around would be on Friday, which was a total disaster last week. To say Andy had misjudged how badly Jackson Ford's relationship with Finn Trevon would be an understatement. He had heard rumors bouncing around the office walls but it was still a bombshell news to see the infamous Finn punched his boss straight at the face with hold any reason, and also the fact Andrea refused to share with him.

Speaking of Jackson Ford, Andy couldn't help but groan irksomely. The entire week had been dragged by a deadened ache sitting heavy in his chest, making Andy question his position back in the company. He might not be an important asset as he thought himself to be, at least he never slacked off or had been late to work. Okay maybe that was what all employees supposed to do but Andy poured coffee onto his crotch! There should be a hint of recognition yet every time he came to pick the boys up, Andy was left puzzled to his own existence. Although this short encounter allowed him to dodge the lawsuit bullet, the downside was he would be fearing the day Jackson decided to flip through his files and reminded himself of the guy who dumped hot coffee down his pants.

Andy was so screwed in every possible way.

"You're sure?" Andrea finally retreated from his kitchen once she'd done heating up whatever in the microwave, "gosh, my gaydar is way off."

It appeared Andrea had made a batch of chocolate chips, the smell of fresh baked cookies was wafting through the apartment and Andy couldn't help but leaned off the couch, hand wiggling as he reached for the tray until Andrea handed one over. "I thought you are cooking something."

"I did," Andrea set down the hot tray on top of a homemade trivet, tossing the mitts at Andy's head and rolling her eyes when Andy plucked them out of the air without missing a bite on the cookie. He knew throwing hackey sack back and forth during Drama practices would come in handy one day, he regretted not joining his high school baseball team.