Damaged (Gay Furry Story)

Untitled Part 43

(Sean's POV)

About midway through my shift at the restaurant, I got a call from someone I'd never thought I'd ever get a call from again. There was a dull in orders, so I stepped out into the back alley and took the call.

I was greeted with, "what the fuck did you do to Ivann?!" from none other than my old boss.

"What?" I barely understood what he said because he was growling.

"I got a strange call from him this morning, telling me he doesn't know if he'll be coming back to work," he explained, the rumble in his throat still present. "Now, tell me what you did to make one of my best employees quit?"

"I-I didn't - we went out to dinner. He asked me if I was cheating on him - which, I'm not, by the way - and then he stormed out, telling me not to come back to his apartment. I don't know what's up with him."

"So, you're not cheating on him," he repeated. Something in the way he said it made me feel like him and Ivann already talked about this subject.

"No," I growled. "I would never cheat on him. I love him. I want to marry him." I don't know why I told him that last part, but a tremendous weight was lifted from my shoulders when it came out.

"Oh," he breathed, sounding a bit taken aback. "Did you already get the rings?"

"I've had them for a while, now," I answered, my hand slipping into the right pocket of my pants, where I always put them, and I fisted the rings in my palm.

"Why haven't you asked him yet?"

"The timing just hasn't felt right and when it does, something always goes wrong, like last night." I let the rings fall out of my hand, back to the bottom of my pocket.

I slouched against the cold brick facade of the back of the restaurant. I was fully prepared to ask him the big question, but then he was acting weird. In some strange way, I thought he was going to ask me the big question, with how he was acting. But it didn't go that way. Instead, it all spiraled out of control and I was left there alone with the bill.

"Have you talked to him today?"

"No." Not that I didn't want to talk to him. "I thought I would give him some time to get over whatever's bothering him."

I look up. Clouds hid the crystal-blue sky in a sea of mottled grays, with no silver linings. Somehow, the sight was a perfect representation of how I was feeling.

"He doesn't need time!" he roared, the anger finding its way back into his tone. "He needs you," he said, adding, "and I need him. So do whatever you have to do - say you're sorry, fuck him good, propose to him, I don't care. Just get him back to his usual self and back to work," he growled, and then hung up, before I could say anything more.

I know why Ivann is mad at me, it's because of the secret I'm keeping from him, about his ex being out of prison and in the city, but I don't think he would forgive me if I just said, "I'm sorry for keeping it from you." Fuck! The thought hit me hard, like a wrecking ball. Is the reason for him acting like this because he saw his ex?

I practically leaped off the brick wall and ripped the back door open. "I have to go," I told chef as I rushed through the kitchen, yanking off my apron.

"Sean, is everything okay?" he asked as he followed me, but didn't try to stop me.

"It's him." I couldn't hide the worried look on my face.

By now, he had been clued into what was going on - Felis set it up so that me and all of our friends could meet up here at the restaurant, to get a plan started. Chef was there, and he overheard us planning. He pulled me away and told me that if anything happened, while I was in the kitchen, and I needed to go, that I could, it didn't matter if we were in the middle of a rush or not.