When the Situation Presents Itself

"Can't you speak?" Eden asked the man in front of him who merely rolled his eyes at him without so much as saying a word.

"Perhaps I can't." The automated voice from the phone said in an almost teasing way. "But what does that have to do with you?"

"You sure are pleasant to have conversations with," Eden complained as the man got to his feet, the cloth around his lower half dropping to the ground. Eden quickly threw his hands in front of his eyes, blocking them. "And do you have no sense of decency?"

"What's the matter?" He asked with the help of the phone. "Can't bear seeing another naked man?"

"No, in fact, I love seeing them," Eden said defensively. "But I have the common human courtesy to not look unless the person in front of me exclusively strips for me."

"A gentleman, I see. How applaudable." The voice mocked as the man began to get dressed again, picking up the shirt and pants on the ground. "Would you like a medal for that?"

"Why are you so mean?" Eden asked, walking to the man as he buckled his pants, stopping right in front of him. "Or is it that you are shy. I can understand your sentiments. To be in my presence is something many cannot seem to comprehend."

"I didn't realise there were this many people that don't like you for them to feel as incomprehensible as I do." He typed into his phone, still not a speck of emotion on his face.

"You're a smart mouth aren't you? Doesn't matter how pretty you are, you are just annoying." Eden gritted his teeth at the other man. "Well, whatever. What are you doing here anyway? This is the VIP lounge, specifically reserved for people from my organization."

Could he be from my organization? Eden thought, racking his brain for answers. There have been too many people that I can hardly keep track of. Maybe he is someone from my organization. But then again, I brought only twenty people with me today and besides …

He turned to the man, cigarette from earlier still hanging from his lips while he fastened the buckles on a pair of black cargo pants. The raven black hair falling over his face as he bent down, revealing his slender neck.

I definitely, definitely, for sure would have noticed someone like that in my organization. Without a doubt.

"The person over there told me he would show me a good time and then passed out after five minutes." The voice on the phone said as the man pointed to the bed.

It was only then that Eden noticed the other man lying on the bed, sound asleep and it took only a closer look to recognise the man.

"Bruce?!?" He asked out loud by mistake, looking at the man with jealousy while commending him on his taste internally.

"So you know him?" The computer-generated voice asked, making Eden look at him, annoyance written all over his face.

"Yeah. He is under me." He said bitterly. How did Bruce get someone like him to sleep with him??

"Good. Then I demand compensation."

"Huh?! Compensation for what?" Eden paused when the man held up a torn piece of fabric and pointed to a pile of clothes at the corner of the bed.

"My shirt, and he threw up all over my clothes, I am currently wearing his pants. I don't know where his shirt is." The man typed out, raising an eyebrow at him. "What did you feed that man?"

"Look, I don't know either," Eden said defensively. "But why do I have to compensate? I was not the one that tore your shirt or puke all over your clothes."

"Right, but you are his boss." He typed out, pointing to the man on the bed before putting his smoke out on the ashtray on the table in the middle of the room. "And he is too knocked out to get me a new shirt or clothes for that matter. You can just get the money from him later, right?

"Besides the clothes, it is his fault I missed the last bus to my house, I am in a bit of a hurry you know. Forget the shirt, do you want me to walk home, shirtless and in the dark?"

"Man you sure type fast," Eden complained before sighing in defeat. "And, fine. I will take you home but are you going to be able to walk out of the room shirtless?"

"No. Don't you have anything on you- never mind." He walked to the door, typing all the while. "I suppose I will have to walk out like this."

Walking to the man, Eden stared at his blue eyes darting away from him before asking, "Are you sure? You look slightly uncomfortable."

He had to wait in silence for the man to finish typing on his phone before the conversation could continue.

Impatient, he asked, "Is it that you can't speak or you don't want to?"

The man looked at him, annoyed before going back to his phone. "I am not comfortable walking around like this but I don't have a choice, do I? And that is none of your business."

"Alright. Alright." Eden said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I will step back. Come on."

The two walked out of the room in silence towards the direction of the booming sound, Eden casting quick glances at the man beside him.

There was this hint of nervousness in his face but he is still attempting to put on a brave face and Eden couldn't help applaud his stubbornness, amusement dancing all over his face.

Should I show him some mercy? He thought, looking at his uneasy expression as his eyes trailed down his collarbone to-. No! He didn't give you his consent to look at him! But he does look uncomfortable. I am just too nice for my own good.

Reaching for his phone, Eden made a call, "Hey. Yeah. Where are you? The bar? Ok. I am coming to you. I need your help with something. A shirt. No, it's not for me-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Eden felt a hand on his shirt and turned to see the man holding onto his sleeve while looking at the ground, his bangs falling over his eyes in a pathetic attempt to hide.

The voice on the other line said something but Eden couldn't hear them anymore, as he stared at the cocky man from earlier having this expression like he wanted to disappear completely.

"Yeah ok," Eden said carelessly into the phone, keeping the call as he pulled the man past all the people into a storage room.

Once he closes the door behind him, all he could hear was the heavy breathing of the man as he tried to calm down while sitting on top of a pile of boxes, hand on his chest.

The storage room was quite small with several cleaning supplies scattered all around the room and the heavy smell of medicine mixed with liquor and smoke filled the room.

"Are you ok?" Eden asked but the man wasn't even looking at him as he continued to breathe in and out.

Can't he hear me or something?

"Hey." Eden bent down in front of the man and looked up at him, brushing his hair to the side, hand on his cheek. "Are you ok?"

Eden gulped staring at his icy blue eyes as they turned soft, his eyes falling on the mole just beside his lips while he licked his own ones, suddenly feeling very thirsty, for some reason.

Shaking his head, Eden turned from him as quickly as possible and asked, "A-are you ok? We can stay here for a while, until you feel a little better."

Hands came in front of Eden's face, slender fingers decorated with silver rings of all sizes, there was even a chain hanging from one of them, as the fingers rested on his chin, turning him to face the man in front of him.

The two stared at each other intently, music disappearing as the smoke-filled air surrounded the two, their lips finally touching as Eden could have sworn he tasted blueberries and heard fireworks in that moment, the world fading away completely.