The Way of Fate (Book 1)

7. Not Such An Absurd Notion

Or maybe I found someone to fill the hole that she had torn out of my heart. Sam meant everything to me, maybe even more than Sarah ever meant because he was my responsibility. No one else was his father. No one else would be there for him the way I needed to be. The way I wanted to be.

But was Sam the only reason I wasn't missing Sarah as much anymore? Could Mika actually have something to do with it? I wasn't saying I was in love with him or anything of the like, but maybe there was something about him that makes things seem alright.

Looking at the time at the bottom of my computer screen, I thought about the work I still needed to do today. I only had about an hour left before I was going to leave, and I already knew, based on my concentration levels from the day, not much would get done in that hour.

Just as I decided to give up, placing the picture back on my desk, Melissa walked into my office, saying something about a file or something.

"I don't want to know," I said over her words, not caring how rude I sounded.

She stopped in her tracks, looking up from the paper she was reading from. "Are you alright, Allen?"

I grabbed my jacket off the back of the chair. "Fine. But I'm going home. I'll deal with that shit tomorrow."

"Are you sure you're okay, Allen? Is Sam alright?"

I shook my head, gathering the rest of my things to take home with me. "Everyone is fine. I just need a break." I walked by her, heading for the door of my office. "I'll see you tomorrow."

There was, thankfully, a hell of a lot less traffic than this morning, probably because I was leaving work before rush hour started. I made it home in just over half an hour, but those thirty-someodd minutes were spent with my mind creeping into territories I was hoping to avoid by leaving work.

The worst part was that the absurd thought that Melissa had stuck in my head was becoming less and less absurd, which was getting me more and more angry, mostly at myself. I had no problem with people liking other people of the same sex, but I had never once considered myself to be one of those people. But he also told me that he had no interest in me. He did not like me like that, he told me so directly.

When I entered the house through the side door in the kitchen, I found Mika sitting at the table giving Sam his bottle, which was just about empty now. He looked up, slightly startled by my presence, but tried to hide it.

"You're home early," he said, nonchalantly. "Everything okay?"

I didn't need him to pretend to care about me. I was going to say something like 'I had a bad day' or something like that, but then my eyes landed on that spot on his neck.

"What?" Mika asked with a smirk when he realized what I was looking at. "A little jealous?"

I shook my head, trying to clear it of Melissa's echoing words. "No. Although I'm kinda upset that that's the reason you were late this morning."

Mika's smirk fell right off his face. "Hold on a minute, Allen. I'm going to put Sam down for his nap, and then we'll talk about it. I know I have to explain."

I didn't say anything as I watched him leave the kitchen with my son. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to explain. What happened happened. That's it.

A few minutes later, Mika returned to the kitchen. I had taken a seat at the table while he was gone, so he sat down across from me.

"I'm really sorry I was late," he began. "I made a stupid decision of going out last night when I knew I had to be here early. I drank too much to remember where I was in the morning and, to make matters worse, my phone had died, which meant my alarm failed to go off. Thankfully his went off about ten minutes later than mine would have, and not a couple hours, but I still needed to figure out where I was. I was irresponsible. You don't even need to say it. I know."

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and my index finger. I understood that things like that happen. I wasn't mad at him. I don't think I ever really was.

Standing up, I walked across the kitchen to get myself a glass of water. My mouth had suddenly felt too dry, and I needed the distraction to figure out how I was going to respond.

He chose the moment I brought the glass up to my lips to break the silence between us. "I get it if you want to fire me. Wouldn't be the first time I've been fired, definitely not the last."

My back was to him, but I heard him move the chair back an inch as he stood up from the table. Swallowing the water in my mouth, I placed the glass on the counter and turned to face him to see him setting my house key on the table.

I don't know what propelled me to do it, probably some unconscious force. But I took the two steps to close the distance between us, lifted his chin up so that he was looking up at me, and kissed him.

A/N: Happy New Year! Last update from me for 2016, so I decided to end it with a kiss. Please vote and comment! Thanks!