Alex

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed, and a note by my pillow.

It said:

Good Morning Baby. I got up early because, like always, I got some shit to take care of. You didn't have anything in the fridge, or at least anything I knew how to make... so I had something ordered to the office. Let me know when you make it in. Don't worry about a suit and tie today, and don't work too hard.

That brought a smile to my lips... especially when I glanced at my bedside alarm clock and realized I was running very fucking late. After a very brief shower and a questionable choice of clothing, I was out.

The greatest part about working on the weekend, was the lack of traffic on the road. I was able to zoom down the interstate without any exit back ups, or random ass accidents created by people who wanted to go nowhere fast because we were all bumper to bumper anyways. By the time I made it, I was sure I beat my personal best.

Once I made it into the building, I was quickly alarmed by the amount of people that had come into work today. Here I was, fully prepared to sit in an empty office for the next few hours listening to some podcasts and getting some work done... but instead, I was welcomed by an entire team of workaholics running around the building like it was on fire.

After punching in on the third floor, I made it back to the first floor. The floor I was hoping I could still relate to as the sane floor.

Once I got out of the elevator, I was instantly at peace. All the veterans were relaxed back in their chairs and completely ignoring their phones, while they made the new hires take the calls. Griffin, who was one of the veteran customer service reps down here, welcomed me as soon as we made eye contact.

"Jesus, you still work here?" He gasped, as I walked on over to his desk.

I flipped him off immediately.

"Oh kill the dramatics. I know I haven't been here a while-" I started.

"A while?" Jillian, another service rep chimed in. I hadn't even known she was in today until she popped her head up from underneath her desk, scaring Griffin and I shitless.

"Hey there Jillian, nice to see ya." I gave her a small wave. "Most of my things were moved upstairs when I took the new position so, unfortunately, I don't have a reason to come down here anymore." I explained.

Griffin clutched his chest. "Is coming down here to visit your favorite reps, not a good enough reason?"

Okay touché, I thought to myself. The honest to god truth was that, besides Derek and Joan's presence, this floor made working here far more bearable. The lack of fucks our customer department team gave, was truly an inspiration. There were days I questioned how some people still had their jobs.

"I'll make it my mission to come say hello to all you unfortunate souls more often." I told both of them sincerely. Griffin and Jillian cracked up.

"It might be bearable up there during the week, but you'll be begging to come down here today." Griffin said in all seriousness.

My eyebrows furrowed at his comment. "How come?"

"Down here, we're required to work Saturday hours." Jillian explained. "But up there? Those are all the workaholics who chose to come in today. The difference? The big ass gap in work ethic between us and them. The people upstairs are the high strung overtime regulars who rather complete extra work, then enjoy their weekend."

"Essentially," Griffin added, "you're going to be eaten alive."

I glanced back and forth between the two of them. They must have been joking... right?

-

When I made it up to the fifth floor, I realized almost instantly that Jillian and Griffin weren't joking.

"Alex!" Two coworkers, who I have never seen in my life, bombarded me before I could even make it out of the elevator.

"We heard you were coming in this weekend which makes so much sense because the launch is literally this Tuesday but I've got files I need you to look over and approve before marketing can run them into production and-"

That about as much as I could follow from the first coworker. She had zipped through that sentence faster than Christian could zip through traffic. By the time I made it to my office, this woman had rambled off stats I couldn't keep up with, and programs I had never heard of.

"You can get that done for us today, right?" The second employee chimed in. He looked just as eager as his female companion was, to offload all this work on me.

"Just... run me an email?" I settled on finally. They shared a glance with each other, but I assume that must have been sufficient enough because they each gave me a nod, and saw themselves out.

I had barely made it into the office, and I was already fucking done with today.

Christian

Brad and I drove in silence. Every so often, I would steal glances his way. I knew he saw me see him, but he said nothing as he stared out the window aimlessly.

It was times like these where I wish I could take a peek into his mind.

Hear his thoughts.

Feel his emotions.

All the lovey dovey brotherly shit, ya know?

Brad always grew silent when he was sorting things out. It was a silence I had grown to understand and respect, but it was also a silence that aggravated me in ways I couldn't explain.

"Not too much longer." I spoke to him. He nodded, but said nothing.

As the silence fell between the two of us again, it gave me yet another opportunity to let my mind race.

I thought back to the night I had spent with Alex, and that managed to immediately put a smile on my face. The way he felt... the way he tasted. It seriously sucked not being able to wake up next to him this morning. I wanted to take a shower with him... and watch him get ready for work.

Instead, I woke up to a call from Brad.

He had sounded different. Distraught even, dare I say. He asked me to come over, and said he needed my help with something.

When it came to Brad, my ability to say no didn't exist.

It was because Brad rarely ever asked me for help, and when he did, it was never a small feat.

I had scrawled out a note for Alex, and set it on his pillow. I hated leaving him like that after such an intimate moment, but the most generous thing about Alex, was that he seemed to always understand. I made a promise to myself that I would still make it up to him later.

I also felt pretty shitty about the fact that I had zero clue how to make breakfast with what he had in his fridge. He had bought some complicated shit like salmon and biscuit mix. All I knew how to make, was eggs.

I settled on ordering him a meal instead. One I hope he was enjoying right about now. I never received a text from him letting me know he made it, but one of my aides confirmed that for me. She also confirmed he was drowning in work, so I cut him some slack with the delayed update.

The sound of Brad clearing his throat, brought me back out from my thoughts.

"This is the place, yeah?"

I gave him a nod. "I don't even want to know how you acquired this information."

Brad chuckled at my words, as he pulled his briefcase out from underneath the car seat.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked him. He hesitated a moment, with his eyes finally finding mine for the first time since we got into this damn vehicle.

"I'm sure." He nodded. We both looked away from each other, to stare at the large building located directly in front of us.

In big capital letters, the words Sun County Correctional Facility was impossible to miss.

••

Sorry for the late upload! I've got some updates coming up with the next chapter I'll be releasing here (chapter twenty).
It might be a few days until that chapter is out, but bear with me and I promise you'll understand why soon!
It will also be one long ass intense ass chapter as compensation.
As always, thank you so much for reading!
Xoxo