Faded Embers

11

Sean's POV:

"Hello, you've reach Miles. I'm currently unable to come to the phone, so please state your name, number, and reason for calling and I will get back to you as soon as possible!"

I groan and hang up my phone, irritated that Miles isn't answering when I'm having a crisis. Shouldn't he be able to sense when I'm having an internal crisis and need his help?!

"Are you alright, Sean?" the general manager of the Midtown Garden, Rita, asks me as I leave the office.

She works as a hostess most days and does office work on the others just to focus on scheduling and making sure everything is in line. She can do orders on her own, but I know she's grateful to have Atlas around to do it for her so she can focus more on the customer interaction aspect.

"Yeah, I'm good," I say, brushing past her and trying to see if I can catch up with Atlas, but he's gone.

I definitely was caught off guard by Atlas kissing me, so my running after him was delayed. I'm pretty sure the poor guy is struggling with his sexuality and he's probably upset, but I need some fucking help right now! I'm really attracted to Atlas and holy fuck he's a good kisser, and now I'm even more confused and I need some help!

Neither Miles or Calin are answering and my heart is racing with anxiety. Will is leaving later tonight with Annie on their trip, so the last thing I want to do is bother him. So, I dial the number of my cool, adoptive lesbian aunt.

"Jennifer!" I shout into the phone before she has a chance to greet me. "I'm having a crisis!"

"Sasha and I are at home, sweetheart," she says in a groggy voice. She sounds like she just woke up, which isn't strange for the afternoon because she usually gets home around four in the morning.

Thankfully, Sasha also works a night shift job so they're at work at the same time and spend all of their awake time together. They're really a great pair and they let me stay with them when I was younger and Miles wasn't around since I hated being home alone. Plus, Miles didn't fully trust me because I definitely made some mistakes.

"Okay, I need advice. And maybe a place to cry."

"We have ice cream and hot fudge!" I hear Sasha chime in. "Don't worry, Sean! Your lesbian aunties will take care of you!"

My heart warms at their kind assurance and I bid a quick goodbye before getting on the train and heading back toward Brooklyn.

The two live in a penthouse because Sasha works for a high end company that sells electronics and she does a lot of the heavy lifting as a night shift worker. So, not only is she pretty wealthy, but she also gives off the scary-cliche-butch-lesbian look despite being one of the kindest people in the world. She cries during animal documentaries and donates some of her hard earned money to St. Judes because cancer took her niece from her.

"Lesbian aunties!" I call once Sasha opens the door. "Help me!"

Jennifer looks me up and down. "You look like shit."

"Good afternoon to you, too," I say bitterly, sitting down on their couch. "Sasha, you're my favorite lesbian aunt now."

Jennifer childishly sticks her tongue out at Sasha. "What's going on, Sean?"

I hesitate for a second while Sasha hands me a much needed glass of iced coffee before I spill my guts to them about my growing attraction to Atlas and how he suddenly kissed me. Then I go onto tell them of my guilt and how I'm scared he's disgusted by me. My biggest fear is that I led him on and now he's grossed out by me because it was spur of the moment action and he's decided that he doesn't like men and I'm the disgusting perv who let him kiss me and kissed back.