What if I ain't no violinist?

167. Twoset Gen α

The noise produced by the drilling was quite loud so Brett walked over to the equipment bench and grabbed two sets of noise-reducing ear protector ear muffs. He passed a pair to Eddy who was very grateful to receive them.  Brett then started looking up something on the computer while Eddy continued on with his given task.

After a while, the drilling finished, plunging the workshop into silence again. Eddy had his hands full removing samples from its box, taking measurements and putting them away, he decided to leave his ear muffs on till he finished inspecting the batch at hand.

"Brett"

Eddy was just able to hear the voice and looked up. It was the guy that made Eddy feel uneasy. He was probably around Eddy's parents' age, somewhere in his 50s. He was the one that Eddy thought had made an inappropriate gesture to him. Eddy bit his lip as he looked at both Brett who was seated and the other man who was towering over Brett.  The man raised his hand towards his face and...

Eddy's jaw dropped.

OMFD he did it to Brett as well!!!

Eddy couldn't see Brett's expression as his back was turned towards Eddy. Eddy saw Brett give him a quick nod and the man left the workshop with his colleague. Brett and Eddy were now the only two left in the large room.

Eddy furrowed his brows and shook his head in disbelief as he removed his earmuffs.

Brett turned around and noticed Eddy's facial expression of uneasiness.

"Eddy? Is everything alright?"

Brett's voice was loud, as he was still wearing the earmuffs. Eddy flinched and Brett quickly removed them.

"Sorry Eddy, I was hella loud, wasn't I. Are you okay?"

"Brett.. that guy who just came by.."

"Yeah, Darren?"

"Yeah.. you didn't mind what he just did to you..?"

Brett looked confused.

"What..? He prefers to let people know whenever he ducks out in case we need his help for something.  Was it Darren who bothered you before? What did he do?"

Eddy blushed.

Brett gave a confused look.

"Eddy, show me what you thought Darren did to me."

"M...me!?!?"

Eddy blushed even further.

Brett's eyebrows were so furrowed they almost looked like they were tangled up between his eyes.

"Eddy, I'm so confused. Please enlighten me, I can't help you otherwise."

"O..kay..."

And so, just like Darren had done to Brett...

Eddy raised his fingers to his lips...

...and blew Brett a kiss.

"Brett, dude, you right!?"

Brett was laughing so hard, another worker from across the hall had come in to check what was going on. Brett was in stitches. He noticed another young staff member who looked unfamiliar sitting with his head held in his hands.

"Yeah.. yeah.. we're good. We're fine, sorry..."

The colleague who came over from across the hall raised his eyebrow as he cast a glance towards Eddy.

"Alrighty. So long as you guys are.. hey you sure he's alright?"

Brett stammered between giggles.

"Y, yeah. ..He's fine.. I'll introduce him to you guys later, alright?"

"Alrightly. See ya guys later."

"Eddy. Look, I'm sorry I laughed so hard."

Eddy still had his head between his hands, facing away from Brett.

"Brett, it's my first day at work and I already wanna quit..."

Brett bit his lip. He had to muster up a lot of effort not to lapse into another fit of laughter.

"Oh c'mon Eddy don't joke about things like that."

"I'm serious. I've never been this embarrassed."

"Eddy, if this is the most embarrassed you've been, you've been doing pretty well. Look, all it means is that you and the people around you have been leading a.. very.. healthy.. lifestyle... You're ..definitely from the new era."

Brett was failing to suppress his giggles.

Eddy looked up towards Brett.

Brett raised his hands, showing both palms to Eddy.

"L, look, I'm.. s, sorry, okay? I really didn't mean to laugh so.. h, hard..."

"Brett..."

"I'm sorry. I promise I won't tell anyone. And now you are wiser. We're good?"

Eddy sighed.

"Yes.. we're good."

Just then Darren walked back into the workshop.

"Hey Brett. Hi Eddy."

Brett looked up and smiled.

"Hey Darren, hope you had a good cigarette break"