Collin burst out of his apartment building in a cloud of frantic energy. His usually sleek, black hair was unbearably tousled and he’d been forced to wear the same grey suit as yesterday. He balanced whatever papers he could grab off his desk and his notebook precariously is his arms.

He’d never been late before. Ever since high school he’d made a point of arriving early for everything. His sister said he was obsessive compulsive. He supposed she was right. If he didn’t follow his routines, bad things happened.

Today was a perfect example. He’d stayed up late working on his secret project and had fallen asleep at his desk. Every one of his alarms had gone of, but since he wasn’t in his room, they’d had no effect. Now he had three minutes to get to his office, which was a fifteen minute walk away, and he had no time to wait for a cab.

He hadn’t even remembered to put his glasses back on, which was probably the stupidest thing he’d ever done. He cursed himself. Who forgets to put on his glasses? He couldn’t see more than a foot in front of him. Still, he didn’t have time to back.

So he hustled bedraggled, blind, and miserable down the blocks to his apartment building. He could already imagine the heckling of the front desk girls, who teased him about being early every morning.

***

Jack moved down the street like a languid tiger. In no hurry to get to a destination, perfectly confident of his ability to handle whatever he came across. Also like a tiger, he was fairly brawny. Years of working in construction in addition to working out had given him a body to envy, despite his diet.

He twirled a donut in one hand. Already today he’d had three fried eggs, sausages, bacon, a bowl of cereal, a stack of pancakes, three muffins, and some toast, He’d been feeling hungry again when his friend Rachael called to ask him to try out her new wares.

He really didn’t have anywhere better to be. He’d just finished a major renovation and he hadn’t really lined up anything else yet. This was both the best and the worst time for him. On one hand, he was completely free to do what he chose. No obligations looking over him, or employers angry he hadn’t finished the job yet. On the other hand, he liked having an ongoing project. It kept him grounded to have something to go back to.

He sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair. Being aimless was getting old. He really needed to find a new project, soon.

He was distracted by the sight of a black haired man rushing down the street. He watched appreciatively. The other man was smaller than him, but had a languid grace about him even in an obvious rush.

Jack was so appreciative of the guy’s cuteness that it didn’t immediately dawn on him that he wasn’t going to stop. He two collided, causing Jack to take a step back and the other man to drop his papers.

“Whoa,” Jack said. “Sorry about that, you should watch where you’re going more. You okay?”

“Yes I’m fine,” the other man sighed miserably. “Now I have to go.”

“What’s your rush? Is there a baby that need’s delivering or something?”

The man let out a frustrated moan. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m late for work. Now, please, just leave me alone.”

Jack shook his head. This guy was cute, and rather sweet in his desperation. Still, he seemed very stressed out. Jack was drawn to help the poor man out.

“Are you sure you’re alright? You don’t need any help?”

The man was already busy stooping to retrieve his things. “Yes, and no. Please go back to whatever you were doing.”

Jack smiled and stepped back even further. He didn’t keep walking, however. Instead, he gazed around the downtown street.

“You know there’s a bus coming, right?”

The man’s eyes’ brightened and he leaped up.

“What? Where?”

Jack pointed down the street. The other man took of running in a very undignified manner. Jack decided he was still cute, and more than a little adorable when he was flustered.

The man reached the bus in time, but unfortunately he had left some of his things behind in his haste. It was already too late to call him back, so Jack picked up the papers himself. The most significant item was a leather-bound book.

Jack felt a little guilty, but he opened it anyway. It appeared to be some kind of note pad. Sure enough, a name and phone number was inscribed on the front cover in neat black handwriting. Collin MacDonnell.

He dialled the number. A women’s voice answered.

“Hello, this is Tammy speaking,” Jack was disappointed, but she continued. “You’ve reached Laurel Leaf Enterprises, Collin MacDonnell’s desk. May I help you?”

Jack hung up the phone. He wanted to surprise Collin. The girl would probably give him away, and he knew where the building was anyway. Suddenly blessed with a new goal, he set of in the direction Collin had been traveling only moments ago.

***

Collin was despondent. Not only had the secretaries taunted him, as he knew they would, but he’d just realized that his notebook was missing. He must have left it behind when he’d crashed into that man.

He needed that book, it was his life. It was his journal, his planner, and almost all the notes he’d made on his secret project. It disturbed him greatly to think of it sitting alone on the sidewalk, or worse, being read by someone else. Maybe it had already been ruined by people walking on it and kicking it around.

At least he could see now. He located his extra set of glasses, so al least now he could putter miserably around his office with some visibility. A co worker had commented on his lack of glasses, but he didn’t consider this flattering. It wasn’t really a compliment to say he looked good without glasses. Besides, that was the only thing they commented on.

He was appalled by how little attention was paid to his lateness. He knew his coworkers where a little more relaxed about what time they arrived, but he’d assumed his broken record would be noticed by someone other than the front desk girls. He eventually surmised that no one else saw him come in, so how would they know how early he got there?

Sighing, he poured over the projects brought to him for review. As head of engineering, he needed to stay vigilant, even if he felt like crying.

***

“Are you Tammy?” Jack accosted the woman in the lobby.

“No,” she said frostily. “She works upstairs.”

“Where exactly? I need to see Collin McDonnell.”

The woman’s eyes brightened with interest, and she reluctantly told him where he needed to go. Jack could see there was an interesting dynamic surrounding the man he was going to see.

His suspicions increased when he actually met Tammy. She was a blond, with sparkling white teeth and cloths that only just counted as work appropriate. The girl immediately questioned his motives. When he told her about the book, she instantly demanded she take it to him herself.

Jack wasn’t really willing to relinquish his find. For one thing, he didn’t trust Tammy not to snoop. Not to mention the fact that he wanted an official meeting with the books owner.

Eventually he convinced Tammy to let him return the thing himself. This process involved a long conversation regarding his inability to take no for an answer. She flounced huffily to the door behind her, and became the picture of poise and contentment when she opened it.

Collin’s office was clean and elegant, with think blue carpeting and chestnut furniture. Various pieces of art decorated the walls and stood on tables. Jack noted that there wasn’t a single photograph, or anything else particularly personal.

Collin himself was looking slightly less disheveled. In fact, his entire demeanour had changed. Jack thought it might be the glasses. This morning he had looked cute and sweet. Now he looked dangerous, in control, and terribly sexy. Tammy obviously thought so as well.

Her changed demeanor around the man in the office explained a lot. Her low cut blouse and high blouse made perfect sense now. Even the reaction of the girl downstairs tied into Jack’s theory. Supposedly some of the girls in the office had a small crush on Colin. Either he had chosen to ignore them, or he really didn’t know they liked him. Either way they weren’t having much luck by the look of things.

He grinned as he steeped into the office, ready to make the best second impression he was able.

***

Collin usually ignored Tammy, but when she told him a man was here to see him, he was intrigued. His heart leapt when she told him the reason for the stranger’s visit. Could he really have rescued his book? He glanced up.

He assumed the man in the doorway was the person he bumped into earlier, but he couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t got a good look at him, since he hadn’t had his glasses.

“Thank you Tammy, you can go back to work now.”

He thought he saw the girl glare at his guest before she left, but that wasn’t like her. He finally got a good look at the man who had most likely brought him his most important possession.

The man was imposing. That was the first thing Collin noticed. He wasn’t particularly tall, just broad shouldered and muscular, and he dominated the little office like he’d always been there. Collin had always had a wiry frame, so he was a little jealous.

The man’s casual attire of jeans and a tee shirt and loose hairstyle did nothing to make him less striking. He had kind brown eyes though.

“Hi, I’m Jack King,” He introduced himself.

“Collin McDonnell. Tammy said you had something for me?”

Jack grinned even broader and pulled out a book bound in leather. Collin stepped from his desk and accepted his returned prize. He clasped it to his chest gratefully. He felt embarrassingly teary-eyed. Again he was thankful or his glasses. He glanced at Jack.

“Did you read it?”

The other man laughed and shook his head. “Suspicious? I just glanced at the first page. I needed to find you’re name somehow.”

Collin breathed I sigh of relief, but immediately felt guilty after. This man had come looking for him when he had every reason to abandon the mission. Collin had been so rude to him earlier.

“I’m sorry. I truly am very grateful.”

“It’s okay. Just what is it about that book that’s so special to you?”

Collin fidgeted at the question while Jack helped himself to a chair. He couldn’t really answer something so personal, so he dodged.

“Would you like some coffee or something?”

“No, I’m fine for now. I nearly forgot to give you these though.”

He pulled a few folded papers out of his pocket and handed them to Collin. They were a few more of the documents he’d nearly lost, but they where slightly dusted with powdered sugar. Collin wrinkled is nose and went to put them in his desk.

“So what do you do here?” Jack asked. Collin used he was being asked about his job.

“I’m the head of the engineering division.” He told the man, proudly. It had taken him years to get this position, and still he wasn’t considered one of the youngest managers in the company. He was only in his thirties.

“That sounds like a barrel of laughs.” Collin frowned at him a little. “Don’t get me wrong. It must be a very important, fulfilling career, but it’s not really something I would be interested in.

“And what do you do?” Collin inquired.

“I’m in construction. Carpentry, utilities, you name it. I do renovations and stuff like that. It keeps me busy.”

That would explain his physic then. Collin himself worked out often enough, but he really didn’t have the body type to be built like Jack. Not without a lot of work anyway, and he was more interested in intellectual pursuits.

The silence stretched between them for a moment. Collin still felt like he owed the man something. He’d brought his book back to him, and he’d had been helpful earlier.

“Are you busy now?”

“I’m between projects right now, so no.”

“I need some work done. I mean, if it’s something you have time for, my apartment could use some work.”

Jack smiled. “I’m available if you like to hire me. We can exchange numbers if you like.”

Collin didn’t know what he was getting into, but he shook hands on it anyway. His apartment did need some work, and he wanted to learn more about this man who looked at odds, but who carried actual business cars with him.

***

For Jack, the afternoon passed at a crawl. He passes the time by having a couple large lunches, and a big supper. Finally he considered it late enough, and debated calling.

He decided not to. So far catching Collin of guard had so far worked out quite well. He looked up the apartment address in the phonebook, and headed directly over.

***

Collin was more than surprised when Jack showed up at his house, he was a little disturbed. He really hoped he hadn’t picked up some kind of stalker. Jack seemed to sense his apprehension.

“I hope this is okay. I said I was between jobs right now. I see no reason to delay.” Collin just nodded. “Why don’t you show me what needs work?”

“Oh, of course. Well, first there’s the kitchen…”

The apartment certainly did need a lot of attention, but it always had. Before now, Collin hadn’t paid much attention to the rooms outside his study. It hadn’t seemed necessary. He wasn’t really sure why he suddenly felt it was.

Jack followed him through the various rooms, and then walked around on his own to take notes. Collin felt slightly self-conscious having someone wander around his personal space. It’s not like he had very much to be worried about, he didn’t have anything intimate anywhere outside his bedroom, but it was still weird.

The apartment suddenly looked very uninteresting. It was filled with functional, boring furniture, and lots of grays and beiges. He’d never felt the need to brighten up the space before. It was just where he ate, slept and worked.

“You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?” asked Jack, interrupting his reverie.

“How did you know?”

“In my business, you get to know spaces. This is a space that doesn’t have frequent female visitors.”

Jack was still scribbling in a notepad, making estimates on measurements and lists of tools he would need and jobs to be completed. It was odd to Collin to see someone so absorbed in their work who was still able to make conversation.

“That’s true. What about you?”

“Do I have a girlfriend? I’m afraid that’s not very likely.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

Jack finally stopped writing and turned to look at him.

“That’s very flattering, but I’m not really interested in having a girlfriend.” He smiled again. “I’m gay.”