CHAPTER EIGHT

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17

BLAINE

I made a point to get to the office extra early today. Well, early for me - at 8:00. Equipped with my coffee in hand and a pep in my step, I settled into my desk, took a deep breath, and booted up my computer. Today was the day that we were meeting with Atticus Finch to sign on the dotted line and I couldn't be more thrilled for the new band and my old friend.

I loved everything about my job, but the excitement and exhilaration that happened during this initial stage made me get excited every time. It was the same kind of excitement that one feels on the first day of school, on a first date, on New Year's Day - it's the excitement that this one thing could change the rest of your life. And maybe it would... for me too.

As I waited patiently for my computer to start up, I looked to the photos I had tacked onto my cube's wall. We were encouraged to make our office spaces look homey since we did spend a lot of time there, and the first thing I added were photos of my friends and family. There were photos of me, Wes and David from high school surrounded by our fellow Warblers. There was a picture of me and Santana from the NKOTBSB concert from a few years ago - that night was the night she and I both realized we had a penchant for boy bands and 90s nostalgia. It had solidified our friendship even more than I had originally expected. In the center was the Anderson family photo that we took each year at Christmas. My mom, dad, Cooper and I making goofy faces in front of our family's fireplace. We have a photo like that every year and I love replacing it each new year when my mom sends me the "official" copy in the mail.

There's one thing that's missing from the wall; and that's a picture of me with my arms wrapped lovingly around a guy's shoulders; looking longingly into his eyes as he smiles at the camera with an equally elated grin on his face.

I sighed. Someday, it will happen.

I mean, itwill, right?

I was taken out of my stupor when the start up noise resounded from my computer's speakers. I quickly turned the speakers down - the night before I had stayed late at the office finalizing everything for today's meeting and Imayhave been blasting some Third Eye Blind in the process - but not before I heard a muffled voice coming from down the hall

"Blaine?" the voice asked.

"Yeah?" I shouted, not sure where the voice was coming from.

I looked up and saw Santana walking toward me; dressed to the nines as always in a red pencil skirt, structured white button up and black stilettos. Her black glasses on her nose and the bun on her head screamed librarian, but her demeanor would suggest otherwise.

"What brings you in this early, B?" she asked as she grabbed the coffee cup on my desk and took a swig.

"That's mine, San," I replied, hastily grabbing the cup from her hands. "And you know I like to be here early on signing day. It's a big deal for me and it hasn't happened too often. Plus I want to be sure everything is in place for when David and the guys get here."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Like you weren't already beyond prepared yesterday when you stayed late to finish paperwork and turned down an invitation to join Britt and I for dinner," she said with a chuckle.

I grinned. "You know me, Mr. Prepared. Besides, I'm sure my presence wasn't missed, I know you enjoy your time with Britt more than you'd care to admit sometimes."

She beamed. Santana had been dating Brittany for upwards of five years and God, she really loved the adorable blonde. "Speaking of, Brittany and I will be celebrating our five year anniversary soon. I can't believe it."

"Oh please, the way you guys look at each other - you had to know you were going to end up together and staying together."

She sighed. "Well, you know I'm not always the easiest person to get along with, but she brings out the best in me and with her I'm like a different person. Not in a bad way or anything," she corrected quickly.

I nodded. I had seen how she transformed when she was around her girlfriend - it was really a wonderful thing to witness. Where Santana would be snarky and short with people, around Brittany she was sweet and patient and showered her with compliments, light touches and affirmations. And now that I knew that they had met in an online dating site, I had to hope that my dream of adding a boyfriend to my cubicle wall couldn't be too far behind - I just had to have faith and believe in love.

"Don't worry, San. Your secret is safe with me," I said with a wink.

She groaned. "You're nuts."

"They're the only nuts in your life anyway," I retorted.

"Well, you and yournutsshould join me for lunch today. Maybe bring David? He seemed really cool the other night and I'm sure we could bill it to Rialto if we talked a little shop while we ate. Besides, I'm sure he's ready to get the ball rolling - he seems like an eager guy."

"That he is," I said as I focused on my email that had just pulled up. "12:30 work for you?"

"Perfect," she said as she sashayed away.

...

"This place is amazing," David said as gaped at his surroundings. I knew David to be a strictly pizza and Chinese guy, so even something as simple as Cosi was lost on him. It's not like Cosi was a fancy place - it was near TImes Square so inexpensive and it being a chain restaurant was sort of implied - but though its proximity was nearest to the tourist epicenter of the city, it still managed to maintain a limited amount of class. And the food was pretty good.

Santana rolled her eyes as she settled into the booth and I squeezed in next to her, leaving David to his own side of the table. I perused the menu for a moment and decided on the lobster sandwich before taking a minute to look around. People watching was one of my favorite things about life. I liked to imagine what the people around me were thinking, what kinds of lives they led, their passions - it was a little game I liked to play in my head.

One person in the restaurant peaked my interest. There was a man sitting by the window facing the street who was so incredibly striking. The first thing that caught my eye was the way the man held himself - he looked poised and polished even though I could only really see him from the chest up. His posture was perfect with his back still straight as he leaned over the table to reach for his leather bag that was perched on the table. He was wearing a crisp white button up with a navy vest and a green scarf looped casually around his neck. The view from his neck to the top of his head only got better - his skin was a luminescent pale shade with slight color at the cheeks. His angular jaw was settled into a comfortable smile as he read whatever papers he had sprawled across the table and his nose was hidden slightly by the coffee mug at his lips. His hair was a chestnut brown - lighter than my own hair - and swept into a seemingly careful shape atop his head. As he lowered his coffee cup, I got a peek at his lips - slightly thin, but rosy and flushed, probably due to the heat of the coffee he probably drank. Just as I was about to give him another once-over, I was met with his steely gaze.

Oh shit, he saw me looking at him. Looking wasn't even the right word - gazing, admiring... none of which were good since this guy was a total stranger.

I gave a slight smile - I couldn't hide the fact that I'd been looking at him - and looked back to David and Santana, who had already started discussing their initial plans for their band to announce that they had signed with us.

"I definitely think we need to coordinate efforts with your social media platforms along with our own to announce the signing. From there, I'll see if we can get the local press to pick something up before moving to some of the more indie publications. Do you have any magazines that you've worked with before that might be interested in your boys?" Santana asked as she sipped on her water.

David shook his head. "Our band has been so small and localized, we haven't had much buzz outside of Manhattan as far as I know."

Santana scoffed. "Well, consider me your fairy godmother."

I laughed. "You're one bad ass bitch of a fairy godmother," I said as I poked her side, playfully. This caused Santana to shift in her seat before slapping me upside the head then immediately giving me a hug as if to apologize for the gesture.

David laughed. He had only seen Santana and I interact the other night at the bar and since he wasn't our typical client, we weren't afraid to be more like we really act around each other rather than the more professional sides to ourselves when we were on true client lunches. "You guys are like a weird married couple," he said as he slowly drained the Coke in front of him.

Santana laughed loudly this time, practically holding her side to contain herself. "Yeah, us... married... although we certainly have been told that we would make an appealing couple, it obviously would never happen."

I nodded. "Oh honey, now don't say that. We could be really happy!" I suggested playfully as I kissed her cheek lightly before she pushed my face away.

"Gross, B. Get your man-loving lips off of me."

"Santana,youstarted it. Besides, let's keep this about mostly business while we're here, okay?" I said, attempting to bring the conversation back to their announcement plans. While Santana and I might have been playful in front of David, I still wanted to attempt to maintain some level of professional decorum. Besides, I didn't really have any interest in what they were saying, I just wanted to get a better look at the guy at the window and the only way to do that without bringing attention to my actions would be to distract them.

I looked over at Mystery Man again. Thankfully he wasn't looking back this time, but I was met with an unfortunate sight. The guy had a human-sized Ken Doll standing at his table, a really well-dressed Ken Doll. The man scooted into the chair across from him and reached for the hand that Mystery Man had on the table.

I grunted and forced myself back to the conversation between Santana and David.Of course this guy has someone like that as his boyfriend, I thought to myself.He's so incredibly attractive.

KURT

I wanted to get into the theater early today so I planned to eat lunch at Cosi, a casual restaurant near the theater, and go over our costume inventory before going to work. Since the show had been on Broadway for a few months, Roselyn wanted to go through our inventory and notate any costumes that should be cycled out, updated, repaired or removed. In order to distract myself from thinking about my date with James, I spent most of Tuesday night after the show carefully cataloging our costumes - complete with photos - before making my final decisions and presenting them to Roselyn.

I had arrived at the restaurant before noon and before long, I looked at my watch and realized it was already 12:45 and my head and been buried in my work for over an hour. The waitstaff here kept refilling my coffee cup as it emptied and since I had finished my food about an hour ago, my table was completely dominated with photos and papers with costume descriptions scribbled on them.

I took a moment to sip from the fresh cup of coffee that had been placed in front of me before finally peeling my eyes away from my work and met almost immediately with a man from across the restaurant who was looking at me.

At first, the man seemed startled and had a deer in the headlights look in his eyes before offering me a small smile and turning back to his company. As he turned away, I snuck a better look at the stranger who was honestly rather incredible looking. Well, he was incredible looking based on his profile at the very least - I couldn't really make out his whole face from the angle I was sitting at. The first thing I noticed was his hair - it was a dark brown with a slight curl; somewhat unusual to see on a guy. It was cropped close to his head, but was neatly styled with minimal product which flaunted his natural waves gracefully. He was dressed in a simple black suit with a thin lapel accompanied with a bright pink tie. I was surprised by the pink - that's a rather bold statement to make, even with something as simple as a black suit - but it seemed to work for him. He turned back in my direction to flag down the waitress; giving me an open view of his face his face. He had a classic, Cary Grant look about him, his jawline was strong and defined and his lips somewhat full. His nose was equally masculine placed perfectly between two wide eyes and dark eyebrows. Soon he was laughing and his lips revealed a glowing, toothy smile and a crinkle in his eyes and I was taken aback by the way his face looked when he laughed.

But soon I was pulled out of my fascination when I him turn back toward his table and lean in to the person sitting next to him as a woman's arm and perfectly manicured hand snaked around his waist and pulled him in tight. From what I could tell, it looked like he had given her a kiss. Ugh. Of course.

Naturally, this guy is straight,I thought to myself.It's just my luck. All the guys I find attractive end up...

"Kurt?" A voice pulled me from my train of thoughts. I looked up to find James, who was looking at me expectantly.

"Oh - uh - hi!" I said flushed, slightly embarrassed that I had been on a date with the guy at my table and was thinking about an attractive stranger instead. "Please have a seat," I said, gesturing to the empty chair across from me.

"Thanks," he said as he sat down. He immediately reached for my hand that laid on the table and I couldn't help but smile. Him initiating the contact felt really nice, especially since I wasn't sure what to do with physical contact during our date the other night.

"I'm surprised to see you here," he said as he rubbed lightly over my knuckles.

"Yeah, same here. What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm meeting our clients here. The ones that are going to the show tonight? They actually wanted to come here. Well, it's because they own Cosi - you know, the chain - so they can eat for free and it's not too far from our office or the theater. It seemed like a good place to meet up," he replied.

I nodded. "Sounds like you'll be with these guys for awhile," I said as I clasped my coffee cup in my spare hand and brought it to my lips.

He shrugged. "Yeah, but it's part of the territory. At least I'll get to see you afterward, right?"

I grinned. He was being really sweet, which I loved. Maybe I was wrong about the other night. Maybe I was expecting too much from a first date which is why it felt weird.

"Of course," I replied. "Did you want to-"

I stopped when I heard a gasp escape his lips. He looked out the window to my left and visibly stiffened. He removed his hand from mine and straightened his posture from the more relaxed one that was evident before. He coughed and brushed an invisible crumb from his jacket before standing up from the table.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Uh - yes. It's fine," he hastily replied and offered his hand for a handshake. "Thank you Kurt. I look forward to seeing you this evening," he said curtly before turning on his heel and heading toward the door.

I sat, puzzled.What the hell just happened?

I saw him meet some men at the door who had just come in, smile plastered on his face as he shook their hands. One of the men, an older gentleman who practically oozed money, clasped his hand on James' shoulder before what seemed like introducing him to the people from the group. The men laughed at something that the older man said as James continued to smile and laugh lightly at the man's joke. The waitress grabbed menus for the men before ushering them toward their seats across the restaurant. In a single moment, I saw James' eyes flicker back to mine and he had an apologetic look on his face before it was quickly removed by what I now knew to be a fake smile directed at the man across from him.

I broke eye contact to look for the waitress before gesturing for my check. She nodded and quickly brought it to my table. I rooted around in my bag to find my wallet before pulling out enough cash to cover my bill and started packing up my belongings.

As I shoved the papers into my bag, I couldn't help but be confused at everything that had happened. What was the deal with James? Why was he acting so weird? I put the last of the papers into my bag before buckling the bag closed and draping it on my shoulder.

Before leaving, I took one last glance at James who was completely enthralled with the conversation at his own table. His fake smile was still set on his face and if I was being honest, I started to wonder if any of the smiles he had shared with me were real.

But then looked one last time at the curly headed man who caught my attention before. The woman who had been sitting next to him must have left, and I could see his face head-on again before having it obscured by the back of the head of the guy he was sitting with. He looked like he was equally involved with his conversation at his table, but unlike the smile on James' face, his seemed genuine. Genuine and gorgeous.

Ugh, get ahold of yourself, I thought to myself as I made my way out the door and onto the theater. I hoped that work would, once again, provide a welcome distraction from whatever it was that was going on with James... and keep me from thinking about the hot guy from the restaurant.