What Happens in Vegas?

Chapter 4

The next morning repeated the pattern of the day before. Ed was convinced that Stede must be quietly rolling in at 1 in the morning and leaving before 7 in order to avoid him. It was not a good feeling.

Day two was the busiest day of the conference. Some delegates were only attending for the first half of the week, which meant nonstop panels and sessions. It was also a streamed day. So there was only one panel where Stede's project manager and his art director streams intersected - and that was in the large main auditorium.

Ed churned over what had happened with Travis in his head as he filled his mug during the afternoon coffee break. He couldn't imagine doing anything differently that would have helped. If he'd told Stede who he was meeting and why, and if Travis was right, then hurting his feelings was inevitable. And at the time, he had no reason to not accept the dancer's invitation.

But Ed couldn't help but wonder if there was something else going on - that maybe Travis was wrong. When Stede was pouring on the friendly charm, it was hard to tell what he was actually thinking and feeling.

Ed had actually been looking forward to the conference before everything happened with Stede. There was a lot to be learned from his colleagues and there were several new tools being debuted. But if someone asked him what he'd learned that day despite attending several sessions, he would come up empty.

All he could do was think of his broken relationship with Stede.

In the past few years, Ed had come to realize that he was someone prone to nihilism. While he felt in control and in his element, he was supremely confident and able to handle a wide range of challenges. But if he miscalculated or failed in a critical way, he would often spiral and lose the ability to think on his feet.

It was that tendency that nearly cost him his job. Before Stede came along and recognized intuitively what Ed needed, he would have breakdowns mid-project if something went wrong that he didn't anticipate.

The situation with Stede definitely fell under 'did not anticipate.' The longer Ed went without seeing Stede, the closer that dark feeling in the back of his head got. He started to wonder if he should be using the conference as a chance to network in case things got so bad that they could no longer work together.

He knew logically that those thoughts were extreme and an overreaction, but Ed still couldn't keep those thoughts at bay.

Just when he was about to skip out on the last session of the day, he heard a familiar voice from behind him and off to the side. Stede was cornered by one of the voice actors from their previous project.

Stede had just excused himself and peeled off when he spotted Ed. He froze and looked over his shoulder, but Ed was between him and the exit.

Ed approached him with a swagger he only really used when one of his team members had been caught fucking around or had made a stupid mistake. It was intimidating, and he knew it.

Stede backpedaled, but then found some courage and straightened up. "Ed," he said cooly when the distance between them had closed.

"Stede. Can we talk?"

"I uh, well, I should..." Stede pointed off in a vague direction.

Ed grabbed Stede's shoulder and pulled him around a corner and out of sight of the rest of the delegates. "Mate, what the fuck is going on?"

Stede had dark circles under his eyes, which wasn't surprising as he'd been spending as little time as possible in their shared room. He swallowed. "I thought we were friends, Ed," he said quietly.

"Fucking hell, we are. What makes you think we're not?'

Silence from Stede, who suddenly found his shoes very interesting.