On Wednesday, I had been working on my newsletter for the following week.  Mr. Watson had approved the one last week about Mr. Beck getting more song requests from audience listeners, and I had submitted the grant application to him as well by Friday.  Now, I was rereading some of the edits he had made on the grant application, and trying to add any ideas he may have had.  Around one-thirty, there was a knock on my door.  I was a little confused, knowing that Harry had left a few hours ago, but I called for the person to come in anyway.

"Hey," Mr. Beck stated.

"Hi," I said back.

"I just wanted to thank you for the shoutout in the newsletter this week.  It has really helped with viewers and the audience is pleased."

"That's great to hear," I nodded. 

He took it upon himself to sit down in one of the chairs in my office.  I was confused, especially since I didn't know him well at all.  Of course, when I had first met Harry, I didn't know him well then either, but he didn't give me a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.  I didn't know what it was, but there was something about Mr. Beck that just didn't sit well with me.

"So, you'll be at the party this weekend, won't you?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," I told him.  "I'm going with a friend of Harry's."

"Is that so?" Mr. Beck questioned.

"Yeah.  He's super nice."

I was just going off of what Harry had told me about Zayn.  I had no clue if he really was nice or not, but I was hoping that the fact I had someone going with me would be enough.  It was weird that he was even asking if I was going to the party in the first place.  Then again, maybe I was just taking it the wrong way.  That, or maybe I wasn't reading into it after all.

"That's too bad."

"Why?"

"I was thinking I could maybe take you," he told me.  "Nice little evening together at the station party wouldn't be too terrible."

I stared up at him. I wanted to understand what he was thinking. If I had just told him that I had another date, why did he think I would be interested in going with him? Plus, he had been a complete and total creep since I first met him, so sure, maybe he would have a great time but I certainly would not. Not to mention the fact that, as I had already said, I had a date so why would he proceed to make any mention of him taking me to the affair when I clearly didn't want to attend with him and had an entire date already.

"Aren't you married?" I asked.  "I'm very religious, I don't do the whole other woman thing."

"I'm divorced," he shrugged.  "We just finalized it a few weeks ago."

Once he said it, I recalled the words. It had come right after he mentioned that I looked like all of the victims the last time. It made me irrevocably uncomfortable to think about, but I think what was even worse was the fact that he was so adamant that he was divorced. Who cared? I certainly didn't, and just because he was divorced did not mean he was suddenly a hot commodity now. Maybe for someone, but that someone certainly was not me.

"Divorced, yeah?" I asked, glancing at his hands to make sure he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.  "Well, like I mentioned, I already have someone to go with so maybe next time."

I could tell he didn't like the answer that I had given him.  It was very clear by his body language, the way his posture straightened, his hands gripping the arm rests a little harder than before.  I did my best to act like I didn't notice the shift in his mood, but I found myself being very aware of it as I stared down at my paperwork. 

"Well, you could always cancel."

"I won't be," I nodded, looking up at him.  "Is that all? You can leave now."

I wanted to stand my ground. The fact that he was even making himself comfortable in my space was far more than I was already willing to put up with. And yet I continued to do my work, hoping that he would catch a hint. Although, sometimes certain men were not smart. They wouldn't understand a hint if I wrote it on a sheet of paper and passed it to them. And in this case, I was pretty sure Mr. Beck could not catch a hint. Plus, he had even more uncomfortable comments to make.

"So tough," he chuckled.  "You know, I've been told the victims all have striking similarities to you."

It made me uncomfortable.  More uncomfortable than I had been.  Especially since he had said it to me before.  It was one thing for Harry to say it to me since he did the whole segment on true crime, but this was just plain weird.  I felt like I was in a really bad situation, and I was trying to think of all the different ways that this could possibly play out.  If he did something to me, I wasn't sure how I could try and keep it moving so that I wouldn't be bothered any longer.  He stood up from his chair, walking around my desk.  I was trying to shift so that I was moving away, but it only left me cornered.

"Come on," he tried.  "I'm not going to do anything."

"You're being a weirdo," I told him honestly.  "I don't know why you're acting like this around me. I also think the fact that you're saying you won't do anything is very telling that you would probably very well try something and so that makes me even less interested."

"I just think you'd have more fun with me at that party," he stated, as if to ignore what I had just finished telling him.  "A girl with pretty brown eyes like those wouldn't have to ask twice for anything she wanted."

It made no sense.  If he was so interested in what I desired, why was he still asking me questions? Why did he still want to go to the party when I clearly told him that I was already going with someone else? Of course, I would understand him trying to continue to persuade me if I was going alone, but that certainly wasn't the case.  Not even in the slightest.

"Why are you suddenly so obsessed with me?" I asked him, ignoring what he said.  "I am not even interested in the slightest.  Plus, you're like forty.  You could be my dad."

He thought my words were funny, and it made me even more uncomfortable.  I went to stand up, but was trapped, grunting at how impossible he was making this for me.  This wasn't funny, or some guy that I had known that was making my life difficult.  I had spoken to Mr. Beck a total of three times now, and he was being a total creep.  But, by some gracious moment, there was a knock at my door, followed by two people walking in.  One, who I didn't recognize, and another who I most certainly did.

"Uh..." the one who I didn't know started.  "Are we interrupting something?"

Mr. Beck said yes at the same time that I said absolutely not.  It reminded me of when Harry had walked in on me giving a guy head, and we had been fighting in front of the guy.  This time, though, I was very thankful that he had walked in on this moment.  I was not only extremely uncomfortable, but I was almost starting to question my safety.  After a moment of assessing the situation, Harry cleared his throat.

"Dylan," Harry started.  "What are you doing, boss?"

"She said she had a date for the party already, so I was just seeing if it was true."

"Ew, you look like you're forty, dude," the guy I still didn't know said.  "I'm taking her."

"Yeah," Harry continued, appearing somewhat agitated.  "Zayn is taking her.  I brought her lunch, also, so if you don't mind."

"You're going to let him kick me out?" Mr. Beck asked me.

"Yeah, kind of," I nodded.  "They said they were bringing me lunch anyway."

Harry raised his eyebrows when I said it.  It was a lie, and I knew I would have to pray for my sins later today since I was definitely fibbing.  However, there was absolutely no way that I was going to let Mr. Beck continue to try and stay in my office any longer.  He had overstayed his welcome, if I was being honest.

"Why would they want to bring you lunch?" Mr. Beck asked.

"Dylan, holy shit, mate.  Take a no and move on," Harry stated, glaring at the guy now.

Mr. Beck looked pissed, grunting before he left the room and slammed the door shut.  I watched as Harry approached, setting a paper bag on the desk before taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of me.  I actually got the chance to really look at who I now knew was Zayn.  He had shaggy black hair, a nose ring, and a lot of tattoos.  If I thought Harry had a lot, this was even more than that.  Both arms were covered, Zayn moving to sit in the other seat in front of me.

"I think I've met you once," Zayn started.  "I mean, I met your ass because Styles was carrying you out of the bar.  I think you flicked me off, too."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry laughed.  "He's a funny guy, doll.  You lot will get on well."

"I hope we get along very well," I stated.

The words had left my lips before I knew what to do. But, I could tell by the look on Harry's face he was not pleased in the slightest. If anything, he looked irritable, my eyes widening slightly as I stared at him.

"Watch it," Harry muttered lowly.  "Keep misbehaving and I'll tell Dylan you're begging on your knees for him."

"Harry, no!" I complained.

Zayn chuckled, appearing amused by our interaction even though I was sure he didn't entirely understand what I meant really.  I was glad that I actually got to meet him, though, knowing that I probably definitely would not have answered the door if he had just shown up at my house to pick me up one day.

"Anyway, I was hanging out with him and figured it would be a good day to stop by," Harry stated.  "Though, I caught your little lie."

"And I'll pray for my sins later," I shrugged.  "Sometimes you have to lie."

"Is that so?" Harry asked.  "So, I can sometimes break a commandment and it would be considered okay?"

"I think it depends on which commandment," I continued, trying to think of an example before I went on.  "Like, if you cheat on your girlfriend, I don't think you can really be forgiven for that.  Lying so that a creepy man will leave is fine, I'm sure.  I bet the big guy understands."

It made Harry chuckle, Zayn appearing confused as to what we were even talking about.  Or, he was until Harry filled him in that I was Catholic and tried my best to follow all the rules necessary.  Of course, I didn't go to church every Sunday like I should have, but it was probably something that I was going to get back into the swing of doing soon.

Zayn cleared his throat, my eyes focusing on him before he began to speak.  "I'll probably pick you up around seven-thirty on Saturday since it starts at eight if that works for you?."

"That sounds good," I agreed.  "I'm sure Harry can give you my address."

"Yeah, I can do that," Harry assured.  "Also, I got you a grilled cheese.  It will probably be fine if you eat it later but I know it is still fresh if you want to eat it now."

"You just want to make sure I eat," I told him.

"That.  Maybe I want a bite.  Who knows?"

Rolling my eyes, I opened up the paper bag, seeing that there was a sandwich wrapped up in paper, along with french fries at the bottom of the bag.  Opening up the sandwich, I took a bite, Harry asking Zayn a question about his work.  I guess he was a car salesman, and I thought it was a little convenient, knowing that if I did ever want a car I could maybe get a discount because I knew him.  While they were in the middle of talking, though, Harry got up, walked around my desk and sat right on it.

"How much does a GT run?" Harry asked, glancing down at me.  "I want some."

I handed the sandwich to him.

"Probably eighteen grand after dealer fees and stuff," Zayn explained.  "I could get it for probably fourteen though for you."

"I'm not getting one, my car is way nicer than that thing," he said with a mouthful, handing the sandwich back to me and swallowing.  "I just know that thing has over two hundred horsepower."

"Two-twenty-five," Zayn nodded.  "I drove one the other day on a test track.  Shit goes fast as fuck."

"You'll have to take me," Harry nodded, looking down at me for a moment.  "You want a car? I have a really good hookup."

"You guys kissed?" I asked.

"Once, yeah," Zayn nodded.

"Mate, fuck off," Harry complained.  "We just did a bump of coke, it wasn't on purpose."

"Coke?" I asked, surprised.

"There was tongue," Zayn continued, ignoring my question but I didn't think it was on purpose.  "He liked it more than I did."

"See, and this is why you and I have physically fought also because you can't shut the fuck up when nobody asked," Harry scoffed, glancing down at me.  "You don't believe this guy, do you?"

"I mean, with the way you reacted, I kinda do," I shrugged.

The thought of the two men kissing had not been something I had anticipated hearing in the slightest.  Of course, with the way I had grown up gay people were very much frowned upon, but they had never bothered me.  That wasn't to say that just because Zayn and Harry had kissed either of them were gay, but I wouldn't have cared if either of them were.  It was their business, and if that was how they felt, it was how they felt.  Even if I had grown up Catholic, it wasn't my choice to pick how others wanted to live their life and judge them based off of their own choices. 

"Already getting me in trouble with her and you've known her for less than fifteen minutes," Harry stated.

"I like him," I told Harry.  "He's funny."

"Yeah, yeah.  Are you going to eat the rest of your sandwich or what?"

"Let me eat a little bit more."

"No, doll, you eat the rest if you want."

I smiled up at Harry, Zayn beginning to tell me a story from when the two of them went to college together and they got so drunk they wanted to make a slip and slide with a tarp outside of their frat house at two in the morning.  It was pretty funny, but the idea that the two of them had gone to college together was also pretty amusing to me.  I went on to finish almost all of the grilled cheese, giving Harry the rest.  He was very appreciative, thanking me before getting up off the desk.

"I have to pee, I'll be right back," Harry told us.

He left the room, Zayn watching as I continued to look at my notes.  I offered him fries from the paper bag, but he turned them down, claiming that he ate plenty at lunch.  He seemed to be thinking about something, though, glancing over his shoulder to see if the door was shut before he began talking.

"You know, Harry's told me some of the stuff he's caught you doing and I know you insinuated doing something like that with me before when I first walked in, but ... well, he would probably beat the shit out of me if he found out we did anything together.  I think you're very pretty, but I like the way my face looks right now."

I didn't know why he was telling me this all of a sudden.  Of course, he wasn't wrong though.  Even over the course of him sitting in front of me, I had a few sinful thoughts running through my mind.  Zayn was attractive in a way that Harry wasn't.  Of course, both men were.  Harry had that timeless way of looking whereas Zayn was hot.  There was no other way to put it.  He was just a hot, sexy man.

"That kind of sucks," I told him.  "I enjoy making him angry, it's funny."

"I like you.  You're not all up tight like some girls are these days," Zayn laughed.  "Oh! What color dress are you wearing? I want to match my tie."

"Probably black.  I like dressing in cute patterns and stuff for work, but when I go to formal events I wear black because I feel like the bright colors that are in right now are a little tacky."

"No, that's perfect.  I'll make it work."

Nodding, I heard the door open a few moments later, Harry walking back in the room and sitting in the empty chair in front of my desk.  The two men stayed to hang out with me for a little while longer before Zayn said he still had some errands to run, and Harry said he had some things to get done as well.  Standing up, I walked them both to the door, Zayn shaking my hand and telling me it was lovely to meet me while Harry lingered, saying he would catch up to Zayn.

"See, he's cool, right?" Harry asked.

"Very cool.  If I suck his dick are you going to be mad?" I asked him.

He gave me a dirty look.  "Yeah.  Not even at you.  I'll be mad because I specifically told him not to mess with you like that."

"Come on, please," I grinned.  "Don't be like that, don't ruin my fun."

"You're not doing that with my friends," he told me.  "What if they all want to pass you around? Oh, I'm sick thinking about it."

"You try to protect me too much."

"I'm your friend and I care about you," he told me.  "What's so wrong with that?"

"You're cockblocking me."

He rolled his eyes.  "There's nothing for me to cockblock, you don't have sex."

I groaned, Harry chuckling.  He smiled at me, and I just gave him a dirty look, explaining that I didn't like how he was always so witty.  The curly-haired personality shrugged, telling me to have a good rest of the day, and to lock my door so that Mr. Beck couldn't try and be a weirdo again.  Agreeing with his advice, I waved goodbye to my friend, incredibly grateful that his friend Zayn was actually someone who I would get along with.

• • •

Donna and I wanted to go dress shopping, but we knew the kids would be impossible so she made a deal with Billy to watch them and, thankfully, was able to come with me.  I knew looking for dresses by myself wasn't insanely difficult, but if I could have my best friend tag along, I was going to have an even better time searching for a dress.  Plus, then I would also have someone there to give a second opinion.

"Okay, so you obviously want color, right?" she asked.

I looked at her.

"I'm just kidding.  You've been the same since high school.  You never wear pretty colors."

"Pretty colors are pale pink.  I don't want to look like a highlighter, Donna."

"Okay, fine!" she grimaced.  "I'll accept this."

It made me laugh.  Soon enough, we were heading into a Macy's trying to look through all of their formal wear.  Of course, I was not surprised to see all of the colorful dresses that I knew Donna so badly wanted me to try on.  So, I gave her the opportunity to pick one colorful one while I stuck with navy blue dresses and black ones as well.  I wasn't sure what style I wanted exactly, and I knew my dress previously had been a little revealing.  I wanted to stray away from that only because it was a formal work event and not simply a formal event that my friend was inviting me to.

"So, are you going with Harry?" Donna asked.

"No," I told her as I flicked through the dresses on the rack easily.  "He is pairing me up with his friend Zayn since he's taking Cherry."

"Oh boo!" Donna groaned.  "Is he sabotaging himself on purpose or what?"

"Donna," I laughed.  "He really does have a girlfriend.  I think the guy loves her, too, he just doesn't want to admit it to himself."

She glanced at me with a questioning expression.  I knew that she would want me to elaborate on how I knew this.  Of course, I was just going off of information Harry had given me, and it wasn't like he had given me any concrete information, but it was enough for me to connect the little dots.  He probably hadn't connected the dots for himself, but I certainly had.

"He was telling me that they have a lot of sex but he wants to take her on dates and she usually would prefer not to go on them with him.  He told me that it bothered him, also, you know? That she doesn't want to go on dates with him."

"Oh, the poor thing," my friend quickly said.  "He probably does love her and she doesn't feel the same at all."

"She told me she doesn't like him like that.  Cherry has a couple of different guys, I guess.  She said Harry knows, but Cherry sees him as a partner to have sex with and only calls herself his girlfriend because it is what he wanted."

"She's an evil little thing," Donna scoffed.  "Taking advantage of that sweet man.  He deserves more.  Someone like you, Maggie."

"I'm not doing this!" I laughed, pulling a dress off the rack.  "I know you think he's cute and all, but you know me.  I don't like men who have girlfriends."

"Okay? And what if he broke up with her?"

"I don't know!" I told her.  "They're still together.  Plus, if he's so used to having sex, why would he want anything to do with me? I'm saving myself for marriage."

Donna nodded, respecting my wishes.  However, she said if he liked me enough he wouldn't mind waiting until I was ready anyway.  It was true.  I knew this.  But, the thought was still stuck in my head nonetheless.  I mean, there were probably a lot of guys who wouldn't want to date me because I was saving myself for marriage.

"Anyway, I'll say a prayer that they break up," Donna giggled next to me.  "Ooh, I like this dress!"

Donna and I continued to glance at different dresses throughout the store.  Of course, I had various choices, but the one that I wanted was a black color considering I wasn't a very big fan of the highlighter colors that were very in right now.  Of course, it took us a while to find something that was really great, but I simply looked forward to finding one that was perfect for the event.  After all, it was the first formal Dawn FM event and I needed to be certain I wore something great.