The Thing About Three

chapter fourteen | cake

JOVAN BROWN USED to work at Whitlock's a few months before Dallas offered me a job. He'd left because he finished getting his degree online and found a job a few hours away, but he often like to drop by and visit when he was in town, usually bringing by something for us to snack on.

On this particular visit, he'd brought a store-bought chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, walking in like he owned the place with his broad shoulders and good looks.

Under normal circumstances, I might've crushed on him. He was handsome, with his flawless, caramel-colored skin and dark hair and eyes, but my plate was already full with two boys, so I didn't let myself go down that route.

"Jovan!" I'd called out when I saw him.

"Hey, Claire," he greeted, coming up to my desk and setting the cake down in front of me. "There's supposed to be enough for everyone to have a slice, but if you take two slices I won't say anything." He winked at me.

Yeah, Jovan was pretty awesome.

"Jovan, good to see you," Dallas said as he exited his office, smiling as Jovan pulled him in for a quick hug. "How've you been?"

"Good, man. What about you?"

"Good," Dallas replied. "Though, I miss you being here. Things seemed a lot better back in those days."

"Yeah, I really was a great employee, wasn't I?" Jovan joked.

Dallas laughed, going into a story about how Jovan had crashed a customer's car into a dumpster by accident. Luckily, the customer was a friend and the damage was minimal, but the two old friends seemed to find the story hilarious.

I sat back with a smile as Dallas laughed at Jovan's reenactment of his reaction to crashing the car, watching as Dallas leaned over clutching his stomach in laughter.

Seeing Dallas so happy was like a catharsis for me, filling me up with secondhand happiness and making me feel at ease. That was how I knew that I loved him, because just seeing him in good spirits lifted mine as well, like his mood, whatever it may be, always funneled into me.

"Alright man," Dallas said once he had straightened and gotten rid of most of his laughter. He hitched a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at his office. "Let me send out this email real quick and then I'll tell you about the things I did to my new Camaro."

I snickered. "Dal, that Camaro isn't new in the slightest," I joked.

He narrowed his eyes, smiling. "I just got it a few months ago. It's still pretty new to me. Keep talking bad about my Camaro and I'll dock your pay."

"Sure," I drew out, grabbing the cake and standing up. "I'm taking my fifteen minutes—docked pay or not." I looked to Jovan. "I'm gonna get my two slices now, if you'd like to join me."

He nodded and followed me into the break room, where I set the cake on the counter and worked at removing it from its plastic encasement.

Jovan leaned against the counter next to me, watching me as I fiddled with the tape on the sides. "So, are you two together?"

I ripped the last piece of tape off a little too forcibly, meeting his eyes. "What? Me and Dallas? No. We're just friends." Do I need to make a shirt that says that? "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "It was just the way you looked at each other, I guess."

"Well there's nothing going on between us," I told him, finally removing the plastic covering. I grabbed a plastic knife from the caddy on the counter and began cutting slices. "There's some plates in the cabinet by your head."