Bishop: A True Lover's Story

“Thanks,” Bishop said. He waited until the guy walked away and he noticed a spicy, woodsy scent vanished with him. He smelled great, but not as amazing as his executive.

“What’s the specials?” Bishop asked after he reached over and took one of the paper table tents advertising a new dish.

“Some new organic meatballs. Vegetable, meatless, tofu beef, yada, yada, yada, bullshit.”

“Right. Moving on.” Bishop pushed that to the side. Edison liked meat, not that vegan stuff.

Trent began to point to some of the more popular dishes under what he said was the Italian word for fish and read the small descriptions for each one. Bishop paid close attention, making sure he’d be able to remember everything. “You’ll probably like this… it’s lobster ravioli.”

“That sounds good. What’s the other two options?” Bishop asked.

“Grilled salmon or shrimp scampi made with capellini pasta.” Trent eyed him warily. “I don’t even know what the fuck kind of noodle that is.”

“It’s just a slightly thinner spaghetti,” Graham chimed in from where he’d obviously been watching and listening.

“Damn,” Trent grumbled close to Bishop’s ear. “That guy’s hanging onto your every fucking word, B.”

Bishop chuckled. “Actually, I think he’s hanging on to yours.”

“What!” Trent hollered.

Graham looked down the bar but turned his head when Trent shot daggers at him. “Come on, let’s go. It’s been a half hour. I think you got it from here.”

“Yep. I’m all straight.” He waved to Graham, since Trent was already heading towards the door, and dropped several bills for their tab and a decent tip. Bishop walked the short distance back to their worksite feeling a lot more confident about his date. He didn’t think what he was doing was another way to keep the wool pulled over Edison’s eyes. He only wanted tonight to be special. His date would have a higher success rate the more prepared he was. Besides, tonight he was going to tell Edison that he’d be unavailable for a couple of nights out of the week while he did his classes. After listening to Edison read so flawlessly to him for weeks, he contended that he was going to work his ass off and not miss one single lesson. He was going to learn how to read, and not because of his new relationship but for himself. Because it was time and he deserved it.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Edison

“Anything need my attention before I go?” Edison said happily to his secretary. He had his messenger bag on his shoulder and all lights were turned off in his office.

She looked at him as if he had a boob stuck to his forehead.

“What?” He smiled.

She shook her head and pointed one of her sharp, tiger-striped nails in his direction, “Okay, that’s it. You’ve been Mr. Smiley Face all week long, and today you’re ready to leave before I am. Now, spill it. What’s got you so delighted?” she asked while putting her purse on her shoulder.

Edison couldn’t hold it in any longer. He did need to tell somebody, and he and Mila used to be closer before his father passed and Edison had retreated even further into his shell. “Fine. Okay. I have a date.”

Her eyes bugged out so far Edison feared she’d lose her eyesight if she didn’t put them back in her head. “Geez, Mila. You don’t have to look that surprised. I’ve been seeing him about four weeks, and I think it’s starting to get serious.”

“Oh my gosh, this is the best news,” Mila gushed, walking with him to the elevators, practically bouncing on her tall heels. While he stood waiting for the car to get to his floor Mila kept fawning. “What’s his name? What’s he look like? Is he a twink? Is he a muscle-daddy? Oh man, I just realized I don’t even know your type.”

Edison laughed. His heart beat madly whenever he tried to think of a description for Bishop. “He’s a big guy and his name is Bishop. He’s older than me… but not old, old.”

“Oh, that’s a strong name.” Mila fanned herself.

“You’re unbelievable.”

He and Mila both spun around to find Skylar standing behind them with a repulsed expression.

“Excuse me?” Mila scowled back, “Are you speaking to me?”

“He knows who I’m speaking to,” Skylar said, not taking his eyes off Edison.

Okay, he didn’t know why Skylar was flipping back and forth on him but he was getting whiplash. Skylar had been more courteous after Edison had set him straight in the elevator. While he’d resigned himself to the fact that he and Skylar would never be hangout buddies, he’d done better over the past couple of weeks with his work ethics so they could perhaps be on better terms as coworkers. Skylar had come by Edison’s office once and offered to walk with him to their meeting. And on Tuesday, he’d floored Edison when he’d asked him to go to lunch. He’d politely declined and blamed it on his massive workload, but he remembered that all his employees caught the nice bug the week before Boss Appreciation Day.