Bishop: A True Lover's Story

“I thought you vowed to yourself not to lie.”

Bishop narrowed his eyes and kept his tone in check. “I’m not lying. And, I’m not going to mix them. He has a property that needs maintenance. Why should I turn it down? That’s money.”

“You sure this is about money? I saw what happened over there. Y’all looked…”

“Smitten.” Manny smirked.

Bishop flipped them both off. “Can I use the truck or what? I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay, okay.” His dad and Manny both brought their laughs down. “I just want you to be careful. Besides, do you really wanna work all day and then do an evening job? How are we gonna get some fishing in? We got rained out this weekend, we need a makeup day”

“A lot of people work double shifts when they’re trying to get ahead. You know I got things on my plate. And also, depending on what he wants done, the evenings will only be long enough to complete it, then the upkeep won’t be that much. So there’s still fishing time, all right.”

“All right. I’ll trust you to make that judgment call,” Mike finally relented. “And use whatever equipment you need, just make sure they’re locked up after.”

Bishop nodded.

“And I’ll call Will over at Wholesale Gardens to let him know you can charge whatever you need to the account,” Manny added.

Damn, had Trent been right? He now had unlimited access to all the equipment he could possibly need and an open line of credit at one of the best nurseries in Hampton Roads. No one else on the crew was allowed that. If they had personal jobs then they used their personal equipment. Bishop took a deep breath. Now all he had to do was remain professional with Edison. He only wanted to help him, the same as he’d just done for him.

~

Edison

He’d been singing Pharrell’s song, Happy, in his head all day because literally that’s how he’d felt. The afternoon had gone smoothly, and everyone was up to task after his staff meeting. Then to top everything off, Skylar had avoided him most of the day. Not once did he pop his head in his door and make an annoying request, nor did he walk around trying to entertain the office. And even though he was taking home more work to complete, he didn’t care, it wasn’t even six o’clock and he was headed home. The weather was beautiful outside, the sun slowly easing behind the tall buildings as evening approached.

He’d just unlocked his car door when he heard his name called.

“Edison.”

Edison spun around, surprised but happy to see Bishop leaning against one of the trees bordering the parking lot. Was… was he waiting for me? “Hey, Bishop. How are you?” He didn’t know what else to say, having been caught off guard.

“Good.” Bishop strode towards him. Damn, his legs were long. He’d lost the coveralls, hat and bandana, now he wore jeans, and his company T-shirt. Bishop stood firm and erect, but Edison could see his fatigue from having worked out in the heat all day. Bishop stopped at the end of his car. “You always knock off around this time?”

“No. Yes. Well, sometimes. I can always choose to take work home, which is what I’m doing tonight.” Edison shut his mouth. Nice. Show him how social you are.

“I was wondering if you’d called Shane already?”

Edison tried to recall the name. He was sure he was looking confused when Bishop added. “The other crew I said you could call about your yard.”

“Oh,” Edison blurted a bit too loudly, then lowered his voice. He didn’t want to think of the company Bishop had pawned him off on. He ducked his head and pulled at his tie. “Not yet. I’ve been busy today.”

“Well, if you want, I can take a look at it. I thought I wouldn’t have time to get to any additional properties with this new contract.” Bishop motioned at the building’s lawn which was still a long way from being completed. “But, I can at least see what you have going on.”

Edison knew his smile was larger than ever because he could feel it stretching his face, but he couldn’t stop it. Bishop quirked one side of his mouth up and glanced away, squeezing the back of his neck. He was acting… nervous.

“You definitely wanna let B check out your shit. He’s the best!”

Edison chuckled as Bishop’s lively coworker—the same one who’d told Skylar he had undescended testicles this morning—came over and stood boldly beside his friend. Edison hadn’t even noticed him approaching, he’d been so focused on the man in front of him. The guy slapped Bishop so hard in the center of his back that Edison wondered how it didn’t hurt.

“Really? One of the best, huh?” Edison glanced up at Bishop.

“Hell, yeah. All this right here is his doing.” Trent moved around Bishop, pointed at the freshly mowed and trimmed landscape. “And up there, see how we’re curving the flower bed towards the stairs.”