Kurt hurried up the stairs. He was already ten minutes late. He cursed under his breath as he climbed the last steps to the third floor where Marc’s office was. He had run out of luck when he arrived at the building and noticed that the elevators were all out of service…

As he finally reached the corridor, he nearly bumped into someone else. He had no time to even apologize to whoever it was, before the other man spoke.

“Look where you’re going Kurt,” the man said in reproaching tone. “Also, you’re nearly fifteen minutes late.”

Kurt groaned internally as he looked up. It was Richard, Marc’s best friend and also the man who never failed to remind Kurt how much he despised him. Of course, Richard never said anything when in Marc’s presence. He knew that his best friend still held Kurt in high esteem and that Marc would not take kindly any of the insults that Richard always made toward the other man. Kurt, of course, was perfectly aware of how Richard felt about him and the feeling was mutual.

“I’m sorry, the boys gave me some trouble last night and…” Kurt started, a bit out of breath from running up all those stairs.

“No need to pretend with me Kurt,” Richard sneered at him. “I know perfectly well that this is not the reason you’re late. Also, if I were you, I wouldn’t remain chatting in the corridors with me. It’s not that I don’t like your company,” he smiled, his eyes filled with contempt, “but the clock is ticking.”

Kurt did not reply. He stayed there for another minute watching Richard walk away. Not for the first time, the young man felt a bit paranoid. He had suspected for a long time that Marc asked Richard to spy on him. Of course, his ex-husband had denied doing anything of the sort but Kurt could not let go of his suspicions.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and walked to the door to Marc’s office. He knocked three times and then pushed the door open.

“Hello Kurt,” Marc said in greeting, his tone a bit too overjoyed. “It’s good to see you gracing us with your presence.” His eyes were cold and his smile frozen on his face.

Kurt did not let this faze him.

“I’m really sorry for being so late. I had some trouble of a personal nature this morning,” he explained in a confident tone.

“Of course,” Marc answered. “Please take a seat.”

Kurt walked over to the chair next to his colleague Erica, purposefully avoiding the empty seat next to his ex-husband.

The meeting resumed as if there had been no interruption. Marc proceeded to show a short clip for an advertisement for a new brand of yogurt.

Kurt tried not to yawn. He was exhausted. The previous night had been wonderful but he did not sleep much and paying attention was proving to be a bit difficult. He also was a bit confused as to why his and Erica’s presence had been requested for this meeting. His friend seemed to share this thought.

“We have henceforth agreed to use the piece that Mr. Anderson has written for the advertisement,” Marc concluded.

“Yes, I find the piece has a good rhythm and a playful theme to it. It will be perfect for the segment of consumers that we’re aiming at,” Melle Weber said in an enthusiastic tone, her English a bit rough. “J’adore le c�t� enfantin du morceau, le rythme ainsi que les paroles qui sont tr�s simples � retenir. J’entends d�j� les enfants le chanter � tue-t�te dans la cour de r�cr�ation. ” She turned to expound her points to her associate who did not understand English very well.

This concluded their meeting. Marc walked Melle Weber and Mr. G�rard to the door, thanking them for their trust in this project. Kurt and Erica remained seated waiting to see if their superior had something else to add for them.

Marc returned to his seat and opened a file. He handed a sheet of paper to Erica who took it and started to read what it was. Kurt tried to look over her shoulder but her hand was covering half of the text on the page.

“This is Mr. Anderson’s details. He has not been working with us for very long. He’s started with an internship in Mr. Clarck’s service. The latter recently found out that Mr. Anderson is a musician and so he involved him in some of our new projects, starting with the ad that you’ve just watched.”

Kurt was a bit confused as to why Marc was saying this to Erica and himself. He hardly saw the point of their presence had been requested for this meeting. He sighed and waited to see where his ex was going with this.

“You’re probably wondering why I’m even telling you this,” Marc looked at them, both nodding in unison. “Kurt, you’re always looking for new talent to promote and Erica, you’re a pearl when it comes to finding contacts in the business. So, this young man,” he pointed at the sheet that was still in Erica’s grasp, “is really talented from what Thad has told me. Of course, I did not want to be too kind to Mr. Anderson when he presented his first draft for the piece in the ad. I hate when artists get arrogant or overconfident.”

Kurt was still a bit confused but Erica started to show interested in what Marc was saying, so he kept his mouth shut and waited to hear more.

“You don’t know this yet Kurt, but I’ve assigned Erica to contacts with film companies. We have a great opportunity to take part in the French independent film festival in November. It is not official yet and I haven’t given them an answer so far, but they are proposing ten short films for which they are looking for new talents to compose the soundtrack. Thad has suggested that Mr. Anderson should be one of them and represent our company. Of course, we haven’t seen much of what he can do so far, so I was thinking of organizing an event to introduce him to the public. We are going to assign another project to Mr. Anderson and see how he’ll manage. In the meantime, Erica, I want you to get familiar with his file and maybe see if you can find out anything about him and other projects he’s been part of outside of the company.”

“Very well,” Erica replied, filing the information sheet in her attach�-case.

“What am I supposed to do?” Kurt asked Marc, pressing for more details.

“For now, nothing. I’ll let you know if this musician fits our needs for this project. As soon as we know, I’ll have you organize the event. I’ll leave you the choice as to how you want to do it, but my idea would be to organize a private concert and invite some of our partners and clients.”

Kurt nodded in acknowledgment. For now, he had no need to worry about it. After all, there was no guarantee yet that he’ll have to do anything. Still, he was a bit excited at the prospect of working with a new talent. And if the musician had even caught Marc’s attention, then he must be quite good. His ex-husband was really difficult to impress.

Erica gathered her things and walked out the office. Kurt meant to follow her but Marc called him back.

“Is everything alright Kurt?” the other man asked, concern in his voice.

“Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit tired,” Kurt answered with a weak smile.

“I saw you leaving early last night. Was there something wrong with the boys?”

“No, they’re both fine. Carole looked after them and Clara last night. I was just feeling a bit under the weather, but I’m fine now.”

“OK,” Marc nodded with a smile. “You do know that you can tell me if you’re seeing someone Kurt, right?”

Kurt sighed. He did not like it when Marc asked about his love life. It always felt like his ex-husband was intruding. Kurt never asked about Marc’s lovers or boyfriends.

“I’m not. I have to go now,” Kurt answered, his tone indicating that this conversation was over.

Marc remained silent as he watched the other man leave his office. He did not believe Kurt and would make sure to ask Richard if he knew anything.

**************************************

�“Mum,” Blaine groaned, as he noticed that she was still in his loft, “Don’t you have anywhere else to be?”

Charlotte looked up from the magazine that she was reading. She smiled innocently, mumbling something about boring Wednesdays and having nothing to do.

“Well, I have things to work on and I’d prefer it if you left so I could concentrate.”

“That’s not true, honey. I know from Thad himself that you’ve completed your work already. He was very happy with the piece by the way,” she grinned up at him and flicked another page in her magazine.

Blaine hated that Thad and his mother got on so well. He could never use work as an excuse to make her leave. Thad told her everything about what Blaine did. On the other hand, it was also a good thing because he could find out beforehand if Thad was satisfied with his work. That way he could anticipate those unpleasant meetings in Thad’s office.

“Fine, you can stay, whatever,” he said and climbed up to his room. He was still tired and if he could catch a few hours of sleep before his meeting with Thad that afternoon then he would do just that.

His mother followed him upstairs and sat next to him on the bed.

Looks like Blaine was not getting any sleep then.

“Mum,” he whined.

“Oh, don’t ‘Mum’ me, Blaine. You don’t need to nap, it’s nearly noon and if you fall asleep now then you’ll skip your meal and then you’ll feel all dizzy at your meeting.” She started to play with his curls as he lay on his stomach, his face buried in the pillows.

He tried to protest but his mother ignored him.

“You know, I haven’t seen you look at another man the way you did Kurt in a long time. I think the last time was with Gregory and even then I knew that it wouldn’t last with you two. Not that I hoped I was right. After all he did make you make you happy for a long time. It’s sad that you gave up on him.”

Blaine groaned in the pillows. Not again, he thought to himself. He was not in the mood for an emotional talk about love and lost opportunities. He hated how his mother’s timing was always so bad for that kind of conversation. He was nowhere near ready to even consider what he had with Kurt as a possible relationship. They were just having fun for now. Besides, he could not forget about the three children. Of course, he could never tell Charlotte about them. He would never hear the end of it. His mother always managed to remind Cooper and him how she wanted to become a grandma. If he mentioned that Kurt had children, she would be unstoppable in trying to get them together, be boyfriends and then quickly married. No, he really could not tell her. So he settled with letting her talk about all the things that crossed her mind and made a few noise of acknowledgment, pretending that he was listening.�

**************************************

It was still early when Kurt came home from work. The boys and Clara were still at Carole’s; she would bring them home in a couple of hours allowing Kurt to enjoy a moment of calm. He decided to call his best friend Noah. The two had not talk in over a week and now was as good a moment as any to chat with his friend.

Kurt speed-dialed Noah and waited for him to pick up.

“Hey Kurt, how’s it going?” the warm tone of his friend greeted him.

“Hi Noah, are you busy?” Kurt asked, wanting to make sure that they’d have time to really talk.

“Nah, I’m fine for now. Quinn’s gone with Beth to do some shopping for school. They should be back in a couple of hours. I’m a free man ‘til then.”

Kurt chuckled softly.

“That’s good because there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Is everything alright?” Noah immediately asked, feeling a surge of concern at Kurt’s hesitant tone.

“Yeah, I’m good, don’t worry. It’s just,” he took a deep breath and then continued, “I met this guy the other day, his name’s Blaine. We really hit it off and we’ve seen each other twice now but there’s something that is clearly bothering him.”

“When you say ‘seeing each other,’ I don’t suppose you went on dates, am I wrong?” Noah’s smirk was audible in Kurt’s ear.

“You know me too well Noah,” Kurt sighed, with a small smile tugging at his lips. “But you wouldn’t blame me if you saw the guy or got to fuck him.”

“Sure, whatever,” Noah said not even fazed with the images of his best friend having sex with some kind of hot stud invading his mind. “So, what’s his deal then?” he asked after a few seconds of silence on Kurt’s end.

“I don’t think he likes children,” Kurt sighed. “I mean, I know from what I’ve seen, that he seems to be scared of them.”

“Scared?” Noah asked, stopping himself from laughing. It was clear that this was important to Kurt and mocking a potential boyfriend was not the thing to do right now.

“I don’t know, he’s just weird with them,” Kurt said frustrated. “The other night, Sammy walked in on us. I may not have had the best reaction either while I threw him out of the bed but, well, what was I supposed to do?” Kurt did not give Noah anytime to respond. “But, the look on his face when I tugged him from under the bed. He looked so terrified; it was ridiculous. The more I think about it, the less I can understand how you can have such a reaction to a child.” Kurt breathed deeply then continued, “Then, I took him to the boy’s room to show him Simon, and then to Clara’s. He then left, literally running out of the apartment.”

“Kurt, can you blame him?” Noah asked, his tone gentle. He did not want to sound like he was judging his friend but he could also understand the guy’s reaction. “Was that the first time you two hooked up?”

“Yeah. We had met that morning.” Kurt remained silent after that, waiting to hear what his friend would say.

“Look, Kurt, I don’t want to say that the dude was right to leave like that, but this was your first time together. You barely knew each other. Do you honestly believe that any guy would have reacted differently if you had introduced them to your three kids after having mind-blowing sex?”

Noah had a point. It had been ridiculous of Kurt to hope that telling Blaine about his children would go any different than it had.

“You’re right,” he sighed in the phone.

“Do you remember that time I left the country for an entire weekend after Quinn told me she was pregnant? And I had been with her for almost two years back then. But the idea of having a kid with her really scared me and I had to run. I can’t really say that the situation is the same for you and Blaine, but I think that you should talk with him about this if you really want to try having a relationship with him. You don’t even know the guy, Kurt.”

“Listen to you, Noah,“ Kurt laughed, “If your younger self heard you right now, he would cry with laughter.”

“Shut up, smartass,” Noah said, also chuckling. “You know I’m right though.”

“Of course you are,” Kurt tried to stop laughing. He took a deep breath and composed himself. “I’ll ask him out on a date. Fucking is great but, you’re right, if I want to try a relationship with Blaine, I’d better try to get to know him first.”

“You’ll totally have to tell Quinn that I gave some wise piece of advice for once,” Noah said, his tone smug.

“I’m not sure she would believe me,” Kurt teased him.

“Yeah, whatever,” Noah smiled softly. “By the way, I’m coming down by the end of next week. I promised Beth that we would get to see the Eiffel tower now that she’s old enough to climb all the stairs. I’m telling you, her obsession with that stupid tower is unbelievable,” he added fondly. “You could come with us, you, the kids and Blaine maybe, what do you think?”

“Sure, I bet the boys would love that, but I’m not sure if Clara will be there. Paolo is supposed take her with him to visit his parents this month. He’ll tell me tomorrow when exactly. As for Blaine…” Kurt left the rest unsaid. He had no idea if there were any chance of the musician being willing to go with them and the children.

“You’ll let me know, alright?” Noah said, breaking the silence.

“Sure. I’d better go now. I still have to cook some dinner.”

“Okay, well, you know you can call me anytime if you need to talk, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know this guy yet but I feel that you already like him so ‘Be careful…’”

“’…This sad world is filled with jerks.’� I know, Honey, no need to remind me,” Kurt sighed.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know Noah, don’t worry.”

“Okay then, I’ll leave you to your cooking. Love you!”

“Bye, I love you too!”

Kurt laid the phone on the table and leaned down on the sofa for a few minutes. He already felt a bit better now that he had talked with Noah about Blaine. He knew that no matter what happened, Kurt still had people who loved him and cared for him. If Blaine turned out to be a jerk, then Kurt would move on, as he always had.

**************************************

� � � � �Later that night, with the children already in bed, Kurt was watching some nonsensical reality show that he was barely paying attention to when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the messagealert. It was a text from Blaine.

From Blaine 22h56

I just wanted to say that I had a wonderful time last night. I wanted to apologize for the abrupt way we had to part this morning and also, I’m really sorry you were woken up by my mom’s singing. I would totally understand if you’d never want to come over on Tuesday nights again (she’s coming every Wednesday mornings; it had completely slipped out my mind…).

�

Kurt laughed softly as he read the text a few times. After a few seconds, his phone vibrated again signaling another text.

From Blaine: 22h59

I’m also sorry I did not contact you today. I wanted to, but my mother stayed the whole morning, then I had a meeting at work and then some stuff to deal with for a project from a friend. It’s just been a really busy day. I know that I had been ignoring you before last night and I’m sorry for that too.

�

Kurt wanted to call him but he was not sure if it was a good idea. He did not have time to decide before he received another text.

From Blaine 23h02

I also would love to see you again. I don’t know when you’re available so let me know.

B.

That was it. Kurt would call him and they would talk and hopefully things would be a bit clearer afterwards.

He dialed the number and waited a few seconds for the other man to pick up.

“Kurt?” Blaine said, in a confused tone.

“Hi, I got your texts,” Kurt said simply. “I would love to see you again, too.”

“Oh,” Blaine said, a small smile tugging at his lips. He was not sure what he had expected but this was definitely better.

“I mean, if you still want to,” Kurt added, his tone growing a bit hesitant.

“I want to,” Blaine breathed in the phone. “I really do,” he added more confidently.

“Good. Then I’ll let you know.”

“Okay.”

“Would going on a date be too much for you?” Kurt needed to make sure first. He was not sure if he could bear a rejection. Noah had been right, he already liked Blaine more than he should at this point in their not-yet-relationship.

“Erm,” Blaine hesitated. His mother’s words from that morning came back to him: ‘you should ask him on a date.’ He swallowed and hoped that Kurt was still on the other end and had not hung up on him during his silence. “Erm, sure, why not?” He hoped that his slight fear was not transparent in his tone.

�“Great,” Kurt sighed in relief then he scolded himself for getting too excited already. It was just a date, nothing more. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning so we can decide of a time to meet up. Is that alright with you?”

“Perfect,” Blaine smiled.

“Okay then, I have to go now,” Kurt said a bit regretfully. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yeah, bye Kurt. Have a good night.”

“Thank you and you too. Bye.”

Kurt hung up and held the phone close to his heart. He could not help it. He was excited for what this could become between the two of them and he indulged himself a minute just reveling in the feeling.

� � � � �On his bed, Blaine was in a similar position, his phone held tight to his chest. He closed his eyes and a soft smile remained on his face as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

**************************************