"So I'm thinking of making the dress a really deep black- and having the sash here be a nice shade of light blue. Not really sky, but not leading to turquoise either. More like a color in between those two. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah." Alessandro nodded. "What type of fabric are you thinking of using?"

"Felt for the dress itself since it's a winter piece. I'm not too sure about the sash though. I don't really want to do the same fabric for that if I'm being honest."

"...Maybe you could do a silk or satin sash? It'll really make the blue pop because of the sheen. Since it's going to be around the waist, I think it'd be an eye catching piece that'd accentuate the outfit as a whole."

"Hm..." The female employee rubbed at her chin. "How would you feel about a matching layer underneath? Like, if I added in a leg slit to reveal the bright blue that's hiding beneath the black?"

"That sounds nice. Sure, why not. If you want, maybe make the skirt of the dress interchangeable. It'd save us money on fabric while also giving the buyer a chance to do a lot with the outfit."

"It'd also give us an opportunity to make a skirt collection for it too." She beamed in excitement. "I like the way you think, Mr. Bale."

"That's what I'm here for." He offered a warm grin. "Let me know what the product looks like when it gets on the mannequin. I'll talk to Stephan about extra shipments after that. If that's all though, I'm going to head back up to my office."

"It is. Thanks for coming down, sir."

"Always a pleasure to help."

Alessandro offered one more nod before tapping the woman's desk. He exited the room with a confident stature.

Thick carpet muffled the sound of soft footfalls. Ringing telephones, sketching utensils, and employees talking filled up the space of a lively clothing department. Some newer people stiffened at the sight of the big boss, but he offered quick winks for reassurance. Other more senior members of the faculty greeted him with excited waves. They were reciprocated with equally cheerful ones.

A friendly greeting was given to a janitor when both men walked into the elevator. After finding out they were going to the same floor, Alessandro moved back to give the other man some space.

A bright yellow cart was used to house all of the cleaning equipment. It smelled of pleasant lavender—most likely a fragrance choice for an air freshener or floor cleaner. Brooms of differing sizes stood tall in their slots. The lone mop dripped slightly against its handle. Alessandro offered a clean napkin to the janitor, so his hands wouldn't get wet when it was time to use the tool.

The man pushed the cart out of the elevator as they got to their designated floor. They shook hands before parting ways. The janitor moved to the right with Alessandro continuing forward. 

Now that carpet had switched to hard tile, his footfalls gave away his incoming presence. Stephan was alerted, the man typing away at his computer.

It was nice to see him in a more relaxed type of outfit.

With it being casual Friday, a lot of people were wearing more comfortable clothing. Alessandro was no stranger to the event since he normally wore less formal attire as well. He still wore his Oxfords; but instead of dress pants and a button-up to match, he was wearing black slacks with a dark green crewneck sweater.

Stephan, albeit unplanned, mirrored the look to an extent. He was wearing a blue crewneck; and since he was standing at his desk, it revealed a pair of dark blue jeans.

The choice of outfit really shed light on just how young Stephan actually was. Without his tie, dress shirt, and matching pants, he seemed a lot less mature. Not in the way that he worked, but in the way that he carried himself. A change in wardrobe painted the man in a different light.

Alessandro hoped the same couldn't be said about him. He still wanted to uphold the facade of Mr. Bale after all.

"Evening, Steph."

"Good evening, Mr. Bale," he replied with a grin.

Alessandro meant to continue toward his office. For some reason unknown to him, he felt compelled to stop and talk. He leaned against Stephan's desk to get his attention.

The action genuinely surprised the young secretary. "Yes, sir? Can I help you with something?"

"I was just wondering how you've been. I feel like I haven't asked you that in awhile."

"Oh." Stephan visibly deflated with a chuckle. "I'm doing good. Tiffany's spending the weekend with her parents, so it'll just be me at home. I don't really mind. It gives her the chance to see her folks, and it gives me the chance to laze around with a beer and crappy movies."

Both men shared a laugh.

"Are you going out again tonight?" Alessandro asked.

"We're actually doing so tomorrow. There were some planning issues for the week, outside of work, so we pushed our meetup to tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"Do you..." He paused before speaking again. "Do you think maybe I could tag along? It's not a Friday, so I won't be busy."

"Oh, we'd be more than happy to have you." Stephan's face lit up. "Do you know Heatwave? The club that's twenty minutes from here?"

"I've heard of it, but I don't know it exclusively."

"That's fine, I'll text you the address." A black touchscreen phone was pulled out to do just that.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm."

"I mean- it's not every day that you agree to go out with us, Mr. Bale."

Alessandro hummed in response. "Figured I could use a change of pace. Who knows, maybe it'll start happening more."

He looked over the short text message after it was sent to his phone. An unfamiliar address was searched up in the GPS app to be saved for later. Both men gave each other quick handshakes and parted ways. A kindhearted, "Have a good night!" was thrown over Alessandro's shoulder as he walked into his office.

He was greeted by light crackling that came from the electric fireplace. Purple tinted flames bathed the office in a similar hue. Against the bright lights from above and the ones that came in through the windows, the shade of purple was faint. Even so, it was still pretty to look at.

Alessandro sat down at his desk. He picked up a thick folder that housed pictures from a recent shoot.

The theme for that day was athleticism, so the models were clad in workout gear. Women and those who identified as such were wearing sports bras, T-shirts, leggings, and shorts. Men and those who identified as such wore similar outfits; but they were also shirtless in a few of the pictures. Some non-binary models had on clothes from both catalog sets.

While looking through the photos, Alessandro found himself pausing on one of Lance.

He was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt with black stripes on the side, along with black leggings. Gray arrows ran up and down the outer lengths of the pants. The outfit itself was simple, but it was brought to life by Lance's choice of pose.

He was facing the camera straight on. His hair, which remained loose for the shoot, pooled around his face. With the passage of a few months since their initial meeting, black waves now reached his lower shoulder blades. The strands seemed shorter since his hands were buried in them.

The sleeveless shirt revealed a plethora of tattoos that lined his forearms. They were mostly geometric designs with the occasional floral pattern sprinkled in. Additional colors gave a little more life to an already stunning picture.

It was what Alessandro was looking at when a quiet knock got his attention. He glanced up. 

Leaning against the door with his signature jeans and leather jacket was the model of the hour. "Mind if I come in?"

"Please do."

Lance walked inside with his hands in his pockets, sitting down in one of the free seats across from Alessandro.

He continued looking over the shoot pictures in silence. Crackling flames and a nearby water cooler were the only forms of noise in the immediate vicinity. Only when he realized an overall lacking presence of other employees did he look back up.

"What time is it?" he asked, moving again to complete the task at hand.

"A little before seven. I'm guessing everyone else left already. I was on my way out too, but I saw you in here. Figured I'd keep you some company."

"Hm." Alessandro's smile lessened, but only because it became more genuine. "I appreciate it."

With that, another bout of peaceful silence resumed.

At one point, Lance scooted a little closer to get a better glance at the photographs. Alessandro made them more accessible without being asked to do so.

"Professionals really do make things look different."

"That is their job, y'know."

"I suppose, but it's cool to see their handiwork. I'm still not used to my pictures coming out so nice." Lance sat back. "On the topic of pictures though- I think you can take those home with you. Or leave them for Monday. It's Friday night, and you should be doing something. Stephan told me you're usually busy."

"I didn't know you two were that exclusive." Alessandro continued looking at a few more pictures before closing the folder and writing on it. "That's not actually true. I'm not busy Friday nights. I just say that to keep people from trying to make plans with me. Well, usually."

"But you made plans for tomorrow?"

"I just... figured I could use a day. To unwind. Hang out in public. It's not my cup of tea, but it isn't something I actually hate either. I think it'd do me some good to hang out with other people for a change. It'll fill up my social battery until the next group outing I go to. And who knows when that'll happen."

"...What happened to you?" Lance asked.

Alessandro put the folder in his briefcase and closed it. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't... such a hermit before."

He shrugged. "I got older, I guess. Work became my life. It's probably something I should fix though."

"Yeah, probably."

Alessandro leaned against his desk. He felt no form of discomfort when looking into those familiar pools of bluish gray. "You know what still hasn't changed about me?"

"What?"

"My obsession for black coffee- which I'd love right now." He rose to his feet to grab his coat. "Would you want to come with me? You don't have to. I'm just putting it out there."

"Uh- yeah, sure. Some hot chocolate sounds nice right now."

Lance passed over the briefcase as soon as Alessandro was done putting on his coat. He turned off the light, locked the set of glass doors, and they made their way over to the elevator together. It approached the floor with a high pitched 'ding'.

"I see you still haven't come around to coffee." Alessandro pushed the button for the ground floor.

"Hell no. You can keep your bitter bean water. I'll enjoy my sweet cup of happiness, thank you."

He shook his head in mock disbelief. There was an attempt to fight off laughter, but a few snickers still escaped him.

It was kind of weird—being close to Lance again. Being able to make jokes and comments without them being met with scoffs or hostile rebuttals. It was a good change of pace, of course. But just like a lot of other things, an unanticipated altering of daily life was something that would take time to get used to.

When the elevator doors opened, the guys were greeted by a calm breeze. It couldn't be considered refreshing though, because a rather frigid temperature lingered in the air. Each exhale brought about a cloud of condensation. Their cheeks, ears, and noses became red within a matter of seconds.

Alessandro shuddered in response to the cold. Lance seemed to revel in it.

Both males walked out onto the sidewalk. Rustic lighting illuminated a brick faced coffee shop across the street. Thanks to rush hour having passed, the shop didn't appear crowded. Neither did the street.

"Finally- there you are!"

Alessandro turned around. He found himself watching a man who came jogging toward them. He had platinum blond hair and dark brown eyes. A septum piercing hung from the underside of his nose. He was wearing a pair of stained gray sweats along with a wrinkled black pullover hoodie. His harsh breaths formed small clouds near his mouth as well.

The sight of the stranger made Alessandro confused. He couldn't help but freeze though, when the man grabbed Lance by the face without warning and pulled him in for a harsh kiss.

The gesture only lasted for a moment. And it was met with clear anger on Lance's part. 

Alessandro just didn't know what to do with himself when his ex started arguing with the stranger. It made the whole situation more awkward.

A well placed clearing of the throat got their collective attention.

"And who the fuck is this guy-"

"My boss." Lance clenched his jaw.

The stranger blanched. "Oh- shit-"

"Yeah, shit. Get the fuck out of here, dumbass. Go sit in the car. I told you to wait for me to text you, so you wouldn't embarrass me like this."

"Lance-"

"Just get the fuck out of here, Donovan."

Brown eyes glared at Alessandro before the stranger left. He walked over to an old Sedan and climbed inside.

"Fucking shit." Lance raked a hand through his hair. "Alessandro, I'm sor-"

"No need to apologize. That wasn't really in your control. And don't worry about this reflecting badly on you. I'm your boss- not your babysitter. Even then, we're not on the clock. You can do whatever and talk to whoever you want." He cleared his throat, shifting his briefcase between hands. "But I have to say, I didn't appreciate him just coming up to you so aggressively."

"You're telling me."

"Is he..."

"My boyfriend? No. He's a roommate and an occasional fuck buddy at best."

"And at worst?"

"A complete fucking asshole with no regard for anything but himself." Lance sighed. "But he's the one housing me since my folks aren't around anymore. I'm staying at his place until I can find one for myself. So that's just what I have to deal with until then."

Alessandro frowned. "Are you- I mean, are you safe with him?"

"Donovan's harmless. Aside from being a whiny bitch sometimes, he doesn't do anything. Still- I'd like to get away from him sooner or later."

"Preferably sooner?"

"Preferably sooner."

A loud honk interrupted the conversation. Both guys looked over at Donovan, who was motioning for Lance to hurry up.

"Guess we'll have to reschedule for drinks."

"I owe you one then."

He shook his head. While giving a halfhearted wave, he turned to walk away.

Alessandro's body acted before his mind did, and he grabbed Lance's wrist. Said male turned to look over his shoulder.

"Hey... if you ever need anything, you know you can call me, right? And I don't mean just for work."

Narrowed eyes softened. A frown pulled into a small grin. For the first time in a long time, the delicate expression was pointed at Alessandro.

It made him feel something he didn't want to acknowledge.

"I know." Lance was gentle in taking his arm back. "...I'll see you next week, yeah?"

"Of course."

They watched each other for a second. Another honk rang through the air.

Lance's smile widened. "You get home safe, Mr. Boss Man."

"You too, Lance."

Alessandro stood rooted in his spot. Even after being left alone, he didn't move. Even after the Sedan pulled off, he didn't move. He couldn't. Because a cold pang in the chest rendered his entire body immobile. His mind kept replaying the scene of Donovan kissing Lance.

A memory that made Alessandro feel even colder.

Fuck.