Well, he supposed he had plenty to share with her as well… once his brain was back to running at normal capacity.
Meet tomorrow?
Great!I finish at six thirty
Baz couldn’t remember the last time he had left the office before nine.But since whatever she wanted to talk about was urgent enough to follow up twice… What was another appointment?
I’ll be there.
At the beach?
They used to love hanging out at the beach by Jackson Park when Baz was in law school and Eevee worked at Student Services next door.But with his workload right now, the last thing he needed was to drive all the way to the South Side in rush hour traffic and back.
Can we do the Catfé?
Sure thing!
Great.He let his phone slip out of his grip.It landed on the nightstand with a softthud.
A wide yawn overpowered his face as he tossed himself onto his other side and sank into the cool pillow.
The last remains of golden sunlight poked through dark-gray clouds when Baz arrived.
The Catfé was on the first floor of a residential building, nestled between a steakhouse and a CVS in the South Loop.It had started out as a regular coffee shop, but then Eevee got desperate for some feline company, and their landlord didn’t allow pets, and, well… Unlike Baz, Joel had never learned to say no to her.
Baz had dealt with the paperwork and applications for all their licenses.As a thank you, Eevee dragged him to the shelter to pick one of the new residents; he’d chosen a black kitten with white paws, the runt of the litter showing an admirable will to survive, and the only one out of the seven kittens who hadn’t found a home yet.Lucipurr.
He had picked the name as a joke.Lucipurr had missed that memo, however, and proved herself as the biggest troublemaker around almost immediately.Stealing food, taking a strange joy in hunting people and attacking their ankles, and, of course, her favorite hobby of all time: hissing at Baz when he walked in, yet following him around like a second shadow.Today was no exception.Eevee still blamed him for having jinxed it.
The usually packed café was mostly empty as they approached closing time.Only a pair of older ladies was left to chuckle at Lucipurr’s antics.
“You made it!”Joel stepped out from behind the counter.Someone just got back from the barber; the fade up to the short, tight curls of his afro looked fresh.“Long time, no see.”
And the guilt continued.“Good to see you too.”
He accepted the brief hug Joel pulled him into.The allspice scent of his aftershave mixed with the smell of freshly baked bread tickled Baz’s nose.
“Eevee is running a little late, but go ahead and—”
The door swung open.
“I’m here!I made it,” Eevee panted.A black turtleneck and red plaid skirt peeked out from under her green coat.Her hair was pulled into a messy bun.A rim of smudged mascara darkened her eyes.
“Hi.”She, too, hugged Baz before she turned to Joel, who put one hand on her waist as he leaned in.
“Hello, my queen,” he whispered before their lips met.Eevee blushed and smiled into the kiss.Seeing them so in love still warmed Baz’s heart.Not many couples could pull that off after fifteen years.
Back then, everyone but Baz had shoved them into the box of ‘high school sweethearts who wouldn’t last a day in the real world.’Little did they know that thereal worldhad sunken its cruel claws into Eevee long before she reached adulthood, growing up trans in a conservative household.
Fortunately, herI-think-I’m-a-girlcrisis had set in right around Baz’sI-think-I’m-gaycrisis—courtesy of Sharif Khan, the captain of the varsity football team who had been in no rush to get dressed after showering—so they had each other to freak out with.And Joel, the boy next door who had persevered through it all.
Every night spent crying, every impossible situation they shouldn’t have had to handle at their age, they got through, together.How was Baz ever to compete with such a perfect relationship?
Easy, he wasn’t.The odds of finding a relationship that would measure up to their fairytale were next to nothing.Which was fine by him.The realization had been liberating, in fact, freed him from wasting his time on silly love stories.
Sure, sometimes, it was hard not to get swept up in the fantasy.When Eevee and Joel were laughing and falling into each other’s arms, surrounded by a fluffy cloud made of trust and love, a part of him yearned for a connection as easy and familiar as theirs.But those moments of weakness dissipated whenever he left their infectious bubble of affection, and his common sense took over again.Most people never found that kind of love.He wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could be one of the chosen ones.
No, Eevee had gotten all the relationship luck, and he had his career, and that was enough.He had never been good with people, anyway.
