Which Way the Wind Blows
folder
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
35
Views:
1,900
Reviews:
9
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
35
Views:
1,900
Reviews:
9
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Warren went to work the next day in a foul mood. He kicked the books piled around his desk as he walked in and slammed the door. Deciding he should immerse himself in his work, he set about rewriting the code for a program that wasn’t due to be finished until the following week. He was able to keep his mind on it for the most part, but his thoughts would drift every so often back to what had happened on Saturday night. Mindy was still giving him the silent treatment, and that bugged him. But he acknowledged that she had a point. Taking Chris home when he was drunk was quite possibly the worst idea he’d executed. He should have just walked away.
Warren knew that what he did smacked in the face of everything he’d stood for in the past. While he would characterize himself as overly meek for most of his life, he admitted that it was better than the alternative, which he’d always assumed was the kind of guy Chris was: overly confident, arrogant, actually. That wasn’t the kind of person Warren had ever wanted to be. And yet, here he was. But Mindy was wrong to blame Jake’s influence completely, he thought. While he’d encouraged Warren to be confident and have more fun in life, he hadn’t shown Warren to be cold and calculating like that. True, Jake could assess a situation and use it to his advantage when he wanted to sleep with someone. But Warren had never seen him coerce a guy who was completely drunk beyond coherence into going home with him.
Although he’d never intended to sleep with Chris that night, he knew the blonde wasn’t in any condition to make a conscience decision about having sex. And, since he was the sober one, he should have kept it from happening at all. Instead, he’d used everything he knew about Chris, from his erogenous zones to his emotional vulnerabilities, to manipulate him into not only having sex, but revealing something he’d been afraid of for six years.
While he still felt he had every right to be angry at the blonde for the six years they’d spent together in a hidden relationship, as well as the bitch who knew about it the whole time but slept with Chris anyway, he also admitted that Mindy was right to be disappointed in him. He had allowed his rage to control him and make him do things he wouldn’t have done ordinarily. And that made him sick. It wasn’t what he did. He saw Jake’s point about it not really being that big a deal if you took his and Chris’ past into account. It was that he would stoop low enough to become like Chris enough to use his own tactics against him. Minus the sex while his partner was drunk, everything else that transpired that night was more of Chris’ personality than Warren’s. And that was where Mindy was right. He wasn’t changing for the better.
Finally, he lost patience with himself and pulled his cell phone out, plopping back into his chair and dialing his friend Chloe’s number back in Seattle. She always knew what to say to make him feel better.
-----------------------------------------
Chris worked his way glumly through his Monday. He really, really didn’t want to be there. But this was his job and he knew that if he could get into a creative zone, he could escape his problems for the moment. Monique had mentioned that he looked down a couple of times, but she gave him his space, for which he was grateful. It was bad enough that his friends were treating him like a basket case. He didn’t need his ad partner getting in on it too.
Joe had insisted he come with him to meet Kee for lunch. Afraid that the impulsive man would show up in the office if Chris didn’t come, he complied. But he merely picked at his food when they sat down to eat. Kee watched him carefully but tried not to comment on it too much. Joe distracted them with talk of the new ad campaign they were working on, and the blonde used the rest of their lunch hour to go over technical design details.
When they got back to the office, he was surprised to see he had a voicemail from his landlord. Tony said he was just making sure Chris would be available the following Saturday to help him put another engine in one of the cars. He was surprised to find that he was looking forward to it and called back to tell Tony’s wife he would be there. He decided there were other things he could do to keep himself occupied. And what was more fun than learning how to fix an old car? The thought actually made him smile a bit.
-----------------------------------------
“Well, I can’t say I expected to hear that from you,” Chloe said when Warren finished telling her about what happened over the weekend. “Actually, the whole damn story sounds like it should be on the soaps!”
“Tell me about it,” he grunted.
“Warren, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he said warily.
“Do you still want to be with Chris?”
The question had been rolling around his own mind so he wasn’t entirely blindsided by it. But it still gave him pause. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
“As he used to be? Absolutely not,” he finally said. “But this new side he’s showing is confusing.”
“Let’s remember what a manipulator he is,” she replied. “He used to play on your feelings like a violin when he wanted you to do something.”
“I remember. That’s why I was so pissed when I saw him here.”
“So, why feel guilty about giving him a taste of his own bullshit?” she asked coolly. “It’s nothing more than he deserved.”
Chloe and Sam had been two of the most vocal opponents Chris had when they lived back in Washington, and not without reason. They’d been there literally from the start of the whole saga. Sam had been Warren’s roommate freshman year and Chloe met him in their intro to world history class, first semester. They’d seen what happened when he met Chris in sophomore year and they knew he was working some kind of plan. Sam had offered to switch rooms with Chris, as his new roommate was one of Chris’ friends. But the blonde had refused, already having an interest in Warren. As the years went by and the relationship progressed, Chloe and Sam took turns comforting Warren when Chris was a prick … which was more often than Warren could count. They were, understandably, not Chris’ biggest fans. And now that Chloe knew Victoria was aware of Chris and Warren’s relationship and slept with the blonde anyway, Chloe was absolutely livid.
“But he was really plastered,” Warren groaned. “Even my sister thinks I’m an asshole. And she hates Chris as much as you do.”
“Look, no offense to your sister. But she wasn’t there to see what he was like. I highly doubt she hates him as much as I do,” Chloe said matter-of-factly. “Especially since I know you didn’t tell her about every time he dicked you over.”
“I didn’t always tell you.”
“But I lived right on campus with you, sweets,” she snorted. “I knew.”
“Still,” he sighed. “It wasn’t like me to do that.”
“Fine, maybe it wasn’t. But it’s not like you have anything to apologize for,” she reasoned. “Unless you’re thinking of taking him back.”
Was he?
“No,” he said softly, not sure if he believed what he himself was saying. “I’m not.”
“Then just let it go and move on. Maybe now he’ll know better than to screw with you.”
“I guess.”
-----------------------------------------
Victoria cursed softly as the copy machine jammed. She looked at the digital control panel and followed its directions, but when she opened the paper feeder, the jam wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Muttering another oath, she closed it and opened the side panel to see a paper accordion grinning out at her. She sighed as she grasped the still-hot paper and tugged on it. Half of it came out, but the rest remained embedded in the gears.
“Not that again,” Elaine grimaced as she walked up behind her.
At first, Victoria cringed, harkening back to her first week on the job, when Elaine tried to make her life hell. But then she relaxed. They’d actually found an easier rapport after the charity event, when Elaine got rid of Mindy for her. And the other woman was now very civil to her at work, friendly even.
“I can’t seem to do anything right today,” Victoria sighed.
Elaine cleared the jam easily, probably having to deal with it often enough herself these days, and closed the panel.
“Tough weekend?” she asked casually.
“More for my roommate than me,” Victoria shrugged pressing the button again and watching the copies churn out. “Let’s just say his ex has a vengeful streak and he took it out on Chris at an in opportune time.”
“Is there ever a good time for that?” Elaine smiled sympathetically.
“I guess not,” Victoria chuckled. “But this just seems particularly cruel to me.”
Elaine nodded and leaned against the wall while they spoke. “Well, I hope things aren’t too bad for her.”
“Her?”
“Your roommate.”
“Oh,” Victoria laughed. “She’s a he, actually. And he’s determined to move past it.”
“Huh,” Elaine quirked a brunette eyebrow. “You live with a gay guy then?”
“Bi, but yeah.” She gave the other woman an uncertain look. “Does that bother you?”
Elaine shook her head. “Alternative lifestyles are as New York as the Empire State building.”
“Well, then this will probably amuse you,” Victoria snorted. “He’s also my ex boyfriend.”
Elaine’s eyes widened at that. “Sounds complicated.”
“Oh, it’s an interesting saga.”
“Care to talk about it?”
“How long do you have?” Victoria smiled as she pulled the copies out of the machine. She decided when she moved here not to hide her past or her sexuality anymore. If it bothered Elaine, so be it. She wouldn’t make apologies for who she was.
“Want to start with lunch?”
-----------------------------------------
Warren felt a little better after he got off the phone with Chloe. She always did have a knack for straightening his life out. One day soon he was going to fly out there for a long weekend and visit her and Sam. Now that Chris was here, he guessed he had no reason to avoid going back to Seattle now and then. He was about to pick his keys up and go to lunch when his phone buzzed and the receptionist’s voice came through the speaker.
“Mr. Gaits?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s a Ms. Hunter here to see you.”
Ms. Hunter? Who the hell is that? Thinking it might be a new HR rep, he okayed the receptionist to send her on in, standing at his desk to greet her. To his surprise, when the door opened, a familiar, though unenthused face greeted him.
“Sit down, Warren,” Lauren hissed at him. “We have to talk.”
Warren went to work the next day in a foul mood. He kicked the books piled around his desk as he walked in and slammed the door. Deciding he should immerse himself in his work, he set about rewriting the code for a program that wasn’t due to be finished until the following week. He was able to keep his mind on it for the most part, but his thoughts would drift every so often back to what had happened on Saturday night. Mindy was still giving him the silent treatment, and that bugged him. But he acknowledged that she had a point. Taking Chris home when he was drunk was quite possibly the worst idea he’d executed. He should have just walked away.
Warren knew that what he did smacked in the face of everything he’d stood for in the past. While he would characterize himself as overly meek for most of his life, he admitted that it was better than the alternative, which he’d always assumed was the kind of guy Chris was: overly confident, arrogant, actually. That wasn’t the kind of person Warren had ever wanted to be. And yet, here he was. But Mindy was wrong to blame Jake’s influence completely, he thought. While he’d encouraged Warren to be confident and have more fun in life, he hadn’t shown Warren to be cold and calculating like that. True, Jake could assess a situation and use it to his advantage when he wanted to sleep with someone. But Warren had never seen him coerce a guy who was completely drunk beyond coherence into going home with him.
Although he’d never intended to sleep with Chris that night, he knew the blonde wasn’t in any condition to make a conscience decision about having sex. And, since he was the sober one, he should have kept it from happening at all. Instead, he’d used everything he knew about Chris, from his erogenous zones to his emotional vulnerabilities, to manipulate him into not only having sex, but revealing something he’d been afraid of for six years.
While he still felt he had every right to be angry at the blonde for the six years they’d spent together in a hidden relationship, as well as the bitch who knew about it the whole time but slept with Chris anyway, he also admitted that Mindy was right to be disappointed in him. He had allowed his rage to control him and make him do things he wouldn’t have done ordinarily. And that made him sick. It wasn’t what he did. He saw Jake’s point about it not really being that big a deal if you took his and Chris’ past into account. It was that he would stoop low enough to become like Chris enough to use his own tactics against him. Minus the sex while his partner was drunk, everything else that transpired that night was more of Chris’ personality than Warren’s. And that was where Mindy was right. He wasn’t changing for the better.
Finally, he lost patience with himself and pulled his cell phone out, plopping back into his chair and dialing his friend Chloe’s number back in Seattle. She always knew what to say to make him feel better.
-----------------------------------------
Chris worked his way glumly through his Monday. He really, really didn’t want to be there. But this was his job and he knew that if he could get into a creative zone, he could escape his problems for the moment. Monique had mentioned that he looked down a couple of times, but she gave him his space, for which he was grateful. It was bad enough that his friends were treating him like a basket case. He didn’t need his ad partner getting in on it too.
Joe had insisted he come with him to meet Kee for lunch. Afraid that the impulsive man would show up in the office if Chris didn’t come, he complied. But he merely picked at his food when they sat down to eat. Kee watched him carefully but tried not to comment on it too much. Joe distracted them with talk of the new ad campaign they were working on, and the blonde used the rest of their lunch hour to go over technical design details.
When they got back to the office, he was surprised to see he had a voicemail from his landlord. Tony said he was just making sure Chris would be available the following Saturday to help him put another engine in one of the cars. He was surprised to find that he was looking forward to it and called back to tell Tony’s wife he would be there. He decided there were other things he could do to keep himself occupied. And what was more fun than learning how to fix an old car? The thought actually made him smile a bit.
-----------------------------------------
“Well, I can’t say I expected to hear that from you,” Chloe said when Warren finished telling her about what happened over the weekend. “Actually, the whole damn story sounds like it should be on the soaps!”
“Tell me about it,” he grunted.
“Warren, can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he said warily.
“Do you still want to be with Chris?”
The question had been rolling around his own mind so he wasn’t entirely blindsided by it. But it still gave him pause. He wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
“As he used to be? Absolutely not,” he finally said. “But this new side he’s showing is confusing.”
“Let’s remember what a manipulator he is,” she replied. “He used to play on your feelings like a violin when he wanted you to do something.”
“I remember. That’s why I was so pissed when I saw him here.”
“So, why feel guilty about giving him a taste of his own bullshit?” she asked coolly. “It’s nothing more than he deserved.”
Chloe and Sam had been two of the most vocal opponents Chris had when they lived back in Washington, and not without reason. They’d been there literally from the start of the whole saga. Sam had been Warren’s roommate freshman year and Chloe met him in their intro to world history class, first semester. They’d seen what happened when he met Chris in sophomore year and they knew he was working some kind of plan. Sam had offered to switch rooms with Chris, as his new roommate was one of Chris’ friends. But the blonde had refused, already having an interest in Warren. As the years went by and the relationship progressed, Chloe and Sam took turns comforting Warren when Chris was a prick … which was more often than Warren could count. They were, understandably, not Chris’ biggest fans. And now that Chloe knew Victoria was aware of Chris and Warren’s relationship and slept with the blonde anyway, Chloe was absolutely livid.
“But he was really plastered,” Warren groaned. “Even my sister thinks I’m an asshole. And she hates Chris as much as you do.”
“Look, no offense to your sister. But she wasn’t there to see what he was like. I highly doubt she hates him as much as I do,” Chloe said matter-of-factly. “Especially since I know you didn’t tell her about every time he dicked you over.”
“I didn’t always tell you.”
“But I lived right on campus with you, sweets,” she snorted. “I knew.”
“Still,” he sighed. “It wasn’t like me to do that.”
“Fine, maybe it wasn’t. But it’s not like you have anything to apologize for,” she reasoned. “Unless you’re thinking of taking him back.”
Was he?
“No,” he said softly, not sure if he believed what he himself was saying. “I’m not.”
“Then just let it go and move on. Maybe now he’ll know better than to screw with you.”
“I guess.”
-----------------------------------------
Victoria cursed softly as the copy machine jammed. She looked at the digital control panel and followed its directions, but when she opened the paper feeder, the jam wasn’t where it was supposed to be. Muttering another oath, she closed it and opened the side panel to see a paper accordion grinning out at her. She sighed as she grasped the still-hot paper and tugged on it. Half of it came out, but the rest remained embedded in the gears.
“Not that again,” Elaine grimaced as she walked up behind her.
At first, Victoria cringed, harkening back to her first week on the job, when Elaine tried to make her life hell. But then she relaxed. They’d actually found an easier rapport after the charity event, when Elaine got rid of Mindy for her. And the other woman was now very civil to her at work, friendly even.
“I can’t seem to do anything right today,” Victoria sighed.
Elaine cleared the jam easily, probably having to deal with it often enough herself these days, and closed the panel.
“Tough weekend?” she asked casually.
“More for my roommate than me,” Victoria shrugged pressing the button again and watching the copies churn out. “Let’s just say his ex has a vengeful streak and he took it out on Chris at an in opportune time.”
“Is there ever a good time for that?” Elaine smiled sympathetically.
“I guess not,” Victoria chuckled. “But this just seems particularly cruel to me.”
Elaine nodded and leaned against the wall while they spoke. “Well, I hope things aren’t too bad for her.”
“Her?”
“Your roommate.”
“Oh,” Victoria laughed. “She’s a he, actually. And he’s determined to move past it.”
“Huh,” Elaine quirked a brunette eyebrow. “You live with a gay guy then?”
“Bi, but yeah.” She gave the other woman an uncertain look. “Does that bother you?”
Elaine shook her head. “Alternative lifestyles are as New York as the Empire State building.”
“Well, then this will probably amuse you,” Victoria snorted. “He’s also my ex boyfriend.”
Elaine’s eyes widened at that. “Sounds complicated.”
“Oh, it’s an interesting saga.”
“Care to talk about it?”
“How long do you have?” Victoria smiled as she pulled the copies out of the machine. She decided when she moved here not to hide her past or her sexuality anymore. If it bothered Elaine, so be it. She wouldn’t make apologies for who she was.
“Want to start with lunch?”
-----------------------------------------
Warren felt a little better after he got off the phone with Chloe. She always did have a knack for straightening his life out. One day soon he was going to fly out there for a long weekend and visit her and Sam. Now that Chris was here, he guessed he had no reason to avoid going back to Seattle now and then. He was about to pick his keys up and go to lunch when his phone buzzed and the receptionist’s voice came through the speaker.
“Mr. Gaits?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s a Ms. Hunter here to see you.”
Ms. Hunter? Who the hell is that? Thinking it might be a new HR rep, he okayed the receptionist to send her on in, standing at his desk to greet her. To his surprise, when the door opened, a familiar, though unenthused face greeted him.
“Sit down, Warren,” Lauren hissed at him. “We have to talk.”