Halloween Bets

Chapter 2



I got back to the apartment later in the evening and took the bags of clothes to my room immediately. The last thing I needed was Duo to see them and assume I was a queen, and that I’d been hiding that from him too. I peeked out of my room. The door to Duo’s room was closed, meaning he was home and knew that I was home and did not want to be disturbed. Normally his door was never closed, but for the past week it always was. The only time we interacted was first thing in the morning when we were both getting ready for work. The only things he’d said to me were mumbled “Sorry” and “excuse me” and he perpetually appeared red-faced.

I had difficulty believing that he was that angry at me. After all, he never told me that he was gay either.

The party was tomorrow night, and I was supposed to give him a ride. I couldn’t stand the thought of being in the same room, never mind a small vehicle, with him when we were both acting as we had been, but I was at a loss as to what to say to him to break the tension. Come on, what did he expect, an apology? And if he expected one, then I damn well better get one as well – something along the lines of “I’m sorry I never told you and I’m sorry I’ve been an ass about everything this past week.”

This behavior was getting ridiculous. I had tried to talk to him, but every time I opened my mouth he suddenly had paperwork that he needed to do, or he forgot something at the office, or he had to be somewhere else, with someone else, or something that did not include sitting there and talking to me. I even would have accepted him pacing there and talking to me. I just wanted him to talk to me – but I couldn’t think of anything to say to him that wouldn’t completely come out wrong or that didn’t result in me getting pissed.

I missed my best friend.

I left my room and walked down the hall to the living room and into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, I discovered that Duo hadn’t eaten in; the cartons from the Chinese take-out place a few blocks away were sitting on the middle shelf directly in front of one of the wine coolers (Duo and I were never big on beer or hard alcohol, not that we didn’t occasionally knock a few back). I grabbed one of the coolers and snagged a carton of lemon zest chicken and chow mien and took my dinner to the couch, turning on the television in the process. Even with the TV on, the house seemed too quiet. I looked longingly toward the hallway, down which I knew that Duo’s door would still be closed.

I finished my dinner in relative silence. As I was tossing the carton away in the trash, I heard a door open and Duo wandered out of his room heading toward the front door.

He looked . . . like a mess. I wondered at my previous thoughts that he was angry with me. Maybe he was just as lost in this whole stupid situation as I was. I continued to stare at him as he walked with his head down toward the door. He reached for the handle and opened the door, and finally looked up and met my eyes. He continued to look confused for a moment, then shook his head and sighed, walking out the door.

I stood there, not knowing what to think or do. His eyes, they broke my heart. More than did my previous belief that he was straight.

Feeling bereft, I finished tidying the kitchen, turned off the lights and headed for bed.

As I lay there staring at the ceiling, with music and one of those water fountains running on the shelf, I thought about how much I missed . . . and was still in love with . . . my best friend.