Ryan's Doorman--Tucker
There were a few times in my life when I was genuinely concerned that I had lost the love of my best friend. For example, when his sister sent me nudes. Or that one time I thought he liked Ryan better than he liked me, and I left some frat party crying. One of the most recent of these times, was two months ago.
It was Friday, and I had just gotten home from work. The night before, Axel and I had a bit of a passive-aggressive tussle about my marriage to Maggie. He told me he didn't want me to marry her, and then the next morning, he plastered on his fake smile and told me he was excited to be my brother. I called him out on bullshit, and he left for work a pissed off, door-slamming mess.
I hadn't bothered to talk to him all day. I figured we would sort everything out when he got home. But when six rolled around (I get home at 5:30, he gets home at 6) and Axel hadn't showed, I grew antsy. When seven o'clock came, he still wasn't answering my calls. So, by 7:45, I had called his office. His assistant (yes, that cocksucker has an assistant AND gets paid double my salary) told me he took a sick day.
I breathed a sigh of relief and headed for his bedroom. I hadn't bothered to check his room at all. But his door was open, and he wasn't inside. That's when I started internally freaking out. I put on my shoes and coat and headed for Maggie's.
I knocked three times, hard. She pulled open the door in her pajamas. "Tuck? I thought we weren't doing anything tonight?"
"We're not." I was short with her. "Is Ax here?"
She shook her head, confused. "No, of course not. What's happened?"
I didn't bother answering. I just turned around and headed for the stairs. After a painfully sweaty jog down Pennsylvania Avenue, I ended up at Ryan's apartment. The doorman was not happy to see me. His hand flew into my chest as soon as I made a move to fly past him.
"Sir, slow down. Whom are you coming for at this hour?" I didn't bother to tell him that 8:30 was a completely reasonable hour to visit someone. Instead, I took a deep breath and attempted to act professional.
"Ryan Alter. 3B."
The doorman gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm afraid Mr. Alter isn't accepting visitors right now, sir."
I cursed. Axel was up there. I took a step away from the man in order to keep myself from hitting him, and then I dialed Ryan. It went to voicemail. I dialed Axel. That went to voicemail. I cursed again. I called Axel one more time, and decided to actually leave him a message this time.
"Ax, it's me. Again. Or, more like the 17th time, I guess," I paused and sighed. "Come home, Octavius. I'm so worried. I'm freaking out. I don't know what to do. I need you, shit I need you. FUCK—sorry, sir!" The doorman had given me a look. I brought my voice to a whisper. "Ryan's doorman is a cock." I gave him another look. "Never mind that. Please, Axel, just come home. We need to have a serious discussion. I need to understand what's going on in your mind because I can't keep playing these games. Call me when you get this. I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning, or Sunday morning, or whenever you feel like seeing me. Just," I paused, and turned away from the doorman. "Just don't do anything with Ryan, please, for me. I love you."