A few hours after I had gone home, Cedric sent the first text message. He kept it casual at first, only asking questions about my experience at the warehouse. I kept the answers vague enough to not be considered snitching. I truly wanted to help him with his investigation, but when it seemed that he got what he needed, he switched up the conversation and turned it more personal, asking me where I moved from and if I liked it here so far.

The texting didn't stop until we went to sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I had a new message waiting for me. And with no job or responsibilities, I had nothing to do. That led to me spending most of the morning in bed with my phone in my face, reading and replying until my eyes felt like they were going to fall out of their sockets.

We had spent the night before getting to know each other. The questions weren't all that special—an elementary kid would laugh at our embarrassing attempts. We mostly asked stupid things about jobs and schools, but it felt like we were both too nervous to push it further. No serious topics were ever discussed, until today.

He explained that the people who owned the warehouse were in the same gang that attacked the bar. Was I surprised it was the work of gangs? Nope. Didn't even bat an eye. What I was surprised about were all of the coincidences. Anything was possible, sure, but I never thought in a million years I'd run into Cedric again, let alone work for the people who attacked that bar. I was lucky to have left that job before getting involved in something troubling. Thanks to Elijah, I'd never have to worry about a thing.

When it was breakfast time, our conversation evolved to sending pictures. It started with me snapping and sending him a picture of another delicious Indian meal that I'd never be able to pronounce. Sonam threw a fit when I took out a hot pocket to shove in the microwave. She refused to accept it was my breakfast, so she made it her priority to feed me.

Cedric sent back a picture of an empty fridge, saying he forgot to buy groceries. In the picture, there was a cat laying on the counter next to the fridge, so I asked about it.

It's not my cat, he said. Sometimes I open my window and he comes in. I just let him.

I died laughing. For some reason that was hilarious to me. I could imagine him frowning as the cat invited itself into his home like it owned the place. It was cute that he let the cat just be there and didn't kick him out like every normal person would.

Since I didn't have any cats, I sent back a picture I took of a bird outside on the balcony. No clue what bird it was, but it was pretty and tiny.

A few seconds later he sent another picture of the cat, but this time it was sitting on an open window, staring out dramatically.

That's a good boy. That's a handsome boy. Give him a rub, I texted back.

Then he did something I didn't think he would.

Cedric sent back a picture of himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, with the caption, "Am I not handsome?"

I couldn't see much in the picture since it was mostly focused on his face, but he was wearing a hoodie with the zipper undone and nothing else. The top of his chest was visible and begging for my attention. I even went in and zoomed in. He had a normal amount of chest hair and it looked kinda hot. It left me wanting to see the rest.

He totally did that on purpose. He knew I was gay and fully aware of his good looks. His face was so fucking pretty and perfect that if he ever became a celebrity, he'd have an ocean of women worshiping him.

I realized I was taking an awkward amount of time without responding and quickly texted back, "You're not a cat."

He didn't reply back in the usual time. Maybe I took too long to respond and thought he scared me off with the selfie. Could he be regretting it?

I sent a picture of Dorian sleeping and he still didn't respond. I went back through the messages to see if I said something wrong. The only thing I could think of was me not saying he was handsome. There was no way that was it. Cedric was the kind of person that didn't give a shit about anything. I could call him ugly and he'd still talk to me.

You're pretty cute btw, I texted.

I cringed at my message. Complimenting or flirting made me feel so awkward. I could do it, and way better than that, but usually I kept it to thoughts only. I wasn't good at it.

He still didn't reply, so I assumed something came up and he was busy.

I put my phone in my pocket and went to the kitchen when I heard a bunch of noise.

"Need help?" I asked Sonam as she did the dishes.

She smiled back gratefully. "Yes, please. We're the only ones who do dishes here."

"That's because you're the only one who cooks," Eric said as he walked past the kitchen to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked, leaving her spot so I could take her place and start doing the dishes.

"To get more coke," he said.

"We already have some in the closet."

"Not that kind."

"Oh."

Eric left the apartment, slamming the door behind him loud enough to wake up Dorian. My sleepy pal groaned angrily and got up to close the door, then realized there was no door, and groaned again.

"So . . . Lucian." Sonam was back next to me, hovering while I wiped a plate. "How are things going for you? I heard you got fired."

"Yeah, don't worry about that. I wanted to get fired."

"Were people being mean to you?" Sonam was incredibly adorable and made me chuckle.

"Mean?"

"Like, did they find out you're gay or something?"

"Oh, it's not like that. I just didn't like working there."

As soon as I heard the text message alert, I dropped the plate I was rinsing and almost broke it.

"He must be really cute or you really don't like plates." She was glaring at me.

I laughed awkwardly. "Sorry."

I dried my hands on the towel hanging from the oven handle and took out my phone. Cedric replied.

I'd rather see you.

My dumbass got confused and had to scroll up again to know what he meant. He was talking about the picture of Dorian. He wanted to see me. But I hated taking selfies. It added to the amount of awkward things that made me cringe.

"What's wrong?" Sonam asked, noticing the pained expression on my face as I opened the camera.

"My friend wants me to send him a selfie."

"Don't like taking selfies?" Her eyebrows raised.

"No, I don't."

"If I were a boy and I looked like you, I wouldn't know how to stop." She walked to me and took the phone from my hands. She squeezed next to me and lifted my phone in the air, smiling wide. When I smiled, she took the picture. "Is that better?"

"Yeah, thanks." I took my phone back and inspected the picture before sending it.

"Is he cute?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's cute."

"What's his name?"

"Cedric."

"Are you guys . . . like . . ."

"No," I answered immediately. "We just met, kind of."

"If you need dating advice . . ." She paused like she was thinking, but then finished with, "Don't come to anyone in this apartment. We all suck with relationships."

I laughed with her. "Nah, we're just friends."

"Yeaaah," she said slowly. "That's how it usually starts. You're friends, then you accidentally have sex, then you don't talk because you were both drunk and lonely, then you pretend like it didn't happen for a whole month, then randomly one evening you catch the other one naked as they're coming out of the shower and you accidentally fall on their dick like it's some kind of magnet pole and you still can't talk about it because it's weird like having sex with your brother's best friend who turns out to be some fucking psycho that can't stop doing crack."

I blinked and opened my mouth, but nothing would come out.

Thankfully, Cedric replied and saved me from what just happened.

Who is that? And why can't it just be you?

"Fuck," I breathed out.

"What's wrong?"

"I think he wants another one of just me."

"Use the mirror in my room," she suggested.

"The full body mirror?" I asked, my voice going high at the thought of taking that kind of picture of myself.

She took my hand and pulled me across the apartment. "If he wants to see you, just you, then give him everything."

"But look at what I'm wearing," I said as we entered her room.

"WHAT? NOPE!" she screamed and slammed her back against the wall, using her entire body to cover a poster of a K-Pop group. "You look fine. It's casual. It's cute. You look super cute. Haha."

The mirror was in the corner of her bedroom next to a window. The sunlight sneaking through the blinds was great for natural lighting. On top of how tall and wide it was, the mirror was perfect for selfies.

In front of it, I checked myself out. My hair was the usual mess that people seemed to respond positively to. I was wearing a blue hoodie with no zipper, complete opposite of Cedric's grey hoodie that exposed his sexually appealing chest.

"I don't know if he's gay, by the way," I told her as I tested how I looked on the mirror through the camera. "And he's older than me. I don't know by how much."

"He's gay," she stated firmly. "A straight guy doesn't ask another guy for selfies."

"Maybe they do."

"How old does he look?" I showed her the picture he sent me and she gasped. "Holy! That's a whole bucket of daddy!"

I snorted at her reaction. "Yeah, I guess."

"He looks thirty. Attractive thirty. A hot man."

"And I just recently turned twenty one."

"So? If you're two consenting adults, do whatever you want."

"Still don't know if he's gay."

She rolled her eyes and pushed me back in front of the mirror. "Take the picture. I guarantee you'll be getting the sausage in no time."

She watched me struggle to find a good pose. She had a front row seat to what it was like taking pictures for me. A whole disaster of a show.

I pulled my hoodie up to look cooler, if that was even possible for me. My pose was relaxed and slightly tough looking. I wanted to avoid looking like a poser and Cedric didn't know me that well yet, so giving him the wrong impression of me was not what I wanted to do, because there was nothing tough about me.

"You should get closer to the mirror and kneel," Sonam instructed. "Like from your waist up, but close so he can see your face."

I took a total of three pictures in different poses. One was a full body picture, the other one was Sonam's idea, and lastly one of just me smiling. If Cedric complained about any of them, he was going to be blocked.

"Sent them," I told her.

"I admire your bravery."

"What do you mean?"

"No retouches? No filters? You are brave."

"They aren't going to Instagram or Snapchat."

She sat on her bed and got comfortable while she rolled up the poster that she was trying to hide. It felt like she was going to hit me with it, but shoved it under her pillows instead.

"What happens if he's gay?" she asked.

"Then . . . he's gay."

"If he asks you out," she changed her question. "Would you say yes?"

"It depends."

"On?"

"I want to know him a little more. He could be different in person."

"If he's perfect, blah blah blah."

"If everything is cool, then I'd go out with him."

"Do you fall fast?"

I joined her on the bed and sat down. I needed to if I was going to go back and think about my time with Chance. He never made anything easy, especially loving him. But I couldn't remember a time where I fell for him. I kind of just . . . I don't know, actually. I cared about him and I loved him, but the love we shared often felt forced. I never had the butterflies people talked about. I never went through sleepless nights thinking about that special person. It was like a puppet master slammed our dolls together and called it a night.

"I don't know," I replied honestly. "I'm open to anything. If I fall for someone fast, if I love at first sight, then so be it."

"That's so fucking cute," she said, touching her chest where her heart was. "It makes me want to write a new love story on Wattpad."

My eyes went down to my lap when I heard the sound of a new message. I got nervous when I saw that it was a video. I grabbed my earbuds from my pocket and plugged it in just in case he said something that Sonam wasn't supposed to hear.

I played the video.

"I don't have a fancy mirror like you do," Cedric said, standing in front of his bathroom mirror, but there was something wrong with it. "I have this shitty fun house mirror instead. It doesn't work. I don't know who thought of it. But I can't even look at myself when I brush my teeth." He pressed his hand on the mirror and it went all trippy. That was the video. I was disappointed he didn't show himself.

"Are you okay being on video?" I asked Sonam as I pulled out the buds.

"Go ahead."

I switched the mode to video and started recording the mirror.

"It's not my mirror," I said out loud and then showed Sonam sitting on her bed, waving at me. "It's hers."

"YOU'RE HOT!" she screamed at my phone before I stopped recording. I wish I hadn't recorded that part, but I was a one take type of guy.

Why does your voice sound deep? Cedric responded after he watched the video.

That made me laugh. Why was that the only thing he took from the video? Didn't even wonder why the girl on the bed called him hot.

Are you jealous? I said back.

That's not nice. My voice has style. It's recognizable. It's unique.

Did you forget how I sound in person? I asked.

No, you just sound weird on video.

Wow. That's not nice.

Are you busy today?

No.

Want a new job?

It was probably weird, perhaps people of his age appreciated it, but I decided to call him for this conversation. I let Sonam know and excused myself. I went to the balcony and sat down on the comfy seats before calling.

"What?" Cedric said, sounding exactly how I thought he would.

"What job?" I asked.

"Not a warehouse job."

"I'm sensitive right now when it comes to jobs. The word alone triggers me."

"You said you were a bartender, so I found a guy who needs someone new with experience. He's a cool old man."

I groaned. "I don't know if I can do it again."

"The tips are really good. You'll get paid a lot more than you did."

"You don't know how much I got paid."

"Clearly not a lot."

"You sound nicer when you text."

He laughed loudly. "And you're not the first one to say that."

"Can I ask you something personal?"

"I'm not gonna answer anything weird."

"How old are you?"

"Thirty-three."

"You don't look it."

"Thanks. Do you want the job or not? I'll have to pick you up."

"When?"

"Today. Before he finds someone else. I'd have to leave now, so make up your mind."

Sure, I needed a job. I couldn't let Dorian have the privilege of taking care of me. He was my wife, not the other way around. And this was a good opportunity to finally hang out with Cedric. I might feel weird seeing him in person after how much we texted, but I wanted it.

"Okay. Fine."

"Good! Let me know your address and I'll be there."

"Do I need to bring anything? Do I need to prepare for a surprise interview?"

"No. Just you. I'll be there with you and get him to hire you on the spot. He just needs to meet you first."

"Alright. I'll see you soon then."

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[Author's Message]: Hell yeah another chapter! I can't wait for the next chapter to come out. You guys are going to meet the craziest character I've ever created. But yeah, I'm excited that the story is finally picking up and we're leaving that slowness of the beginning behind. AIGHGFIKDKKFGH. Also, please leave comments if you're reading, they motivate me more than you guys think. I love when people get into my stories and love the character, so spread the love, not just to me, but anyone's books you read. <3 <3 <3 next chapter soon. And follow my Twitter if you haven't!