Bed Sheets

24. Near Enough Hatred

Eric woke from the couch, with a bucket of vomit beside him. He felt drowsy, and shuffled on the couch before feeling another rave of puke as he turned to the bucket. It had been a splendid night, danced with many people and continued to take shots. As he sat up from the couch, he realized that Jason and Rebecca both were awake in the kitchen, appearing as awful as ever.

However, Rebecca was crying quietly, and Jason was muttering something in her ear, attempting to calm her down. She whimpered quietly, mumbling some stuff as well that he could not hear.

Immediately, it caused Eric to frown and raise his head, "What's going on?"

They both looked up, suddenly appearing uneasy, and Rebecca started crying even harder, storming from the kitchen and entering the bedroom. Jason sighed, twirling his spoon inside his coffee before reaching the living room, sitting across from Eric who had the most confused expression ever.

They had had pleasant fun about hours ago, and now everyone was in such a gloom when they woke up. He assumed it was because they were hungover, but Rebecca was sobbing as if her life was over, her face completely red when she sprinted away.

There was something on the tip of Jason's tongue that needed to be said, and he bit his bottom lip, not wanting to ruin Eric's day.

However, he was growing impatient, "Jason, tell me what's going on?"

Finally, he sighed, took a sip of his coffee and decided to rip it off as if it was a bandage. In one long exhale, he said, "We've been fired."

Eric's eyes widened, and he instantly jumped to his feet, "What do you mean fired?"

"Draven fired us; he sent us an email to never come back and that he already found new editors," he scratched the side of his head, "it's probably the same for you."

"What?" This was outrageous, "Why?"

Jason shook his head, grabbed the remote and turned on the television. Instantly, when the picture on the screen appeared, Eric's eyes widened with horror, as he breathed a short, "Oh my..."

"The new relationship already spoiled? Eric Valence was spotted last night at a local bar named Bonn's and Beers, where he was caught on picture kissing another man, named Jason Dementris who is also an editor for Draven H. Malcom. The kissing lead to different actions, such as reaching for Jason's pants, and it lead from there. We were not yet able to receive a statement from Draven H. Malcom this morning, but stay tuned for more information."

Eric's was in complete shock.

Jason switched the channel; the picture was there again. He switched to different news stations, and it did not disappear.

"It's on every single news station."

He shook his head, "It can't be, it was just a joke of a kiss."

"I know that, you know that," Jason bit his bottom lip, "Draven doesn't know that."

"I need to go talk to him."

"How? Your badge probably doesn't work anymore. We've been fired."

Eric sighed stressfully, suddenly feeling like vomiting twice much. He leaned by the bucket as Jason plugged his nose. When he finished, he stood from his seat and wiped his mouth, immediately placing his shoes on. His clothes were filthy, he had puke stains on his shirt, but he didn't care; he needed to meet with Draven.

He grabbed his coat, "I need to go see him." He exited the appartement against Jason's protest, and headed for the agency.

When he arrived to the building, he was ambushed by journalists and news reporters, all bombarding him with questions. They commented, making up statements that made no a single sense in hopes that it would get under his skin, but Eric was not focused on them at the moment. He shoved past them, and when he placed his badge, the doors did not open.

After letting a curse under his breath, he began knocking on the door, but none came to open. That was when he heard his name being called from within the throng, and when he raised his head, he found Justin shoving through as well.

Justin places his own badge, and the door opened. He grabbed Eric by the collar and yanked him inside from the pressuring news reporters, and when the door close, they were finally able to get some peace.

Justin sighed, taking a deep breath as he patted his shit to make sure it was not wrinkled, "They've been here all morning."

Eric nodded his head, "I bet."

"Are you alright?" Justin asked quietly; he had seen the news.

He shook his head truthfully, "I need to see Draven."

Justin agreed, "I'll bring you to the elevator, say you're with me. We've all been notified that the three of you had been fired, so you shouldn't be seen here."

Eric's eyes widened; this was serious. He definitely needed to have a chat with Draven now.

He entered the elevator with Justin in front of him, and once  the doors open, all the eyes that turned to him let him know he was not supposed to be there. They marched forward uneasily, the eyeballs continuing to follow their every movement as Eric passed the desks, seeing Jason and Rebecca's empty desks, as well as his own. He inhaled a sharp breath; all he wanted was to see Draven and explain to him what happened, he would understand. There was no way it was out of maliciousness, they were just having fun and it happened.

The secretary stopped them, "Draven's busy."

"Please," Eric breathed desperately, and the secretary paused for a moment, before knocking on Draven's door for him.

He heard Draven's voice; it was gloomy, a bit dark, but he was there. "What?" he sounded annoyed.

The secretary cleared her throat, "Visitors."

"Can you deal with them?"

"I'm sorry sir, they're desperate."

They heard him grumble something under his breath, and then he said, "Fine, let them in."

She turned to Eric, and tilted her head towards the door. It was open, and he could make his entrance now. However, Eric froze on the spot for a moment; what if Draven did not take him back? He suddenly became afraid, and when he felt Justin's palm squeeze his shoulder as comfort, it only caused his stomach to do a flip.

The secretary rolled her eyes and opened the door, shoved him inside. He turned around to scream at her, but she closed the door faster than he could, and he grumbled a curse word under his breath.

Then, he slowly turned around, and met the bright blue gaze of Draven.

He appeared the same as always, but it was evident he had not slept last night, neither had he cared about his attire this morning. He was wearing a black sweater as always, a hood that covered his hair, and had been drawing a new chapter for one of his comic books.

Seeing him in his environment was admiring, and Eric bit his bottom lip when he noticed that there was no longer any love, or desperation behind the gaze of Draven. Rather when he saw him, his gaze filled with pain, agony, near enough hatred. Even his teeth gritted, and he forced himself not to begin shouting or else the entire floor would hear him.

He never expected such reaction from Draven.