Action (DNF)

Chapter 83: Alleyway

About a week's worth of chapters left. Do you guys think that's long enough for George to forgive Clay for 'abandoning him'? Or will there be miscommunication which results in them breaking up?
_________________________________________
Wilbur POV.

The evening was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night. I was working with two other employees for the evening and most of us were doing nothing. For the past hour I’d been dragging out cleaning the staff room, which in reality only takes thirty minutes. I just wanted some way to occupy my evening since there weren’t many customers to serve.

Suddenly my phone began ringing, catching my attention and I almost immediately pulled it out, seeing George’s name and knowing that I had to answer it. “George…” I couldn’t help but sigh down the phone at my friend. Expecting this to be another fashion emergency like the one he called me for earlier. “Is this important? I have work and I can’t just-”

“Clay abandoned me!” He cried down the line as he cut me off. My eyes widened as I heard what he was saying, not believing it because I have seen how close the two of them are over the past few months they’ve been dating.
“Wait… what do you mean Clay abandoned you?” I asked him.

“We made plans for dinner and he didn’t show up.” George explained, barely being able to let out the words properly between sobs, sounding utterly broken as he said it.
“Oh.” Was all I could say, trying to think about what I should say or do to comfort him. First things first I have to find him. “Okay I’ll pick you up. Where are you right now?”

George muttered out the name of a restaurant, one which I roughly knew the area of. “Alright. I’ll be there in a few minutes, alright? Just give me a minute to grab my stuff and then I’ll be on my way, alright George?” As I spoke I began grabbing my stuff.

“I’ll stay on the phone.” I told him as I headed out into the main room of the bar. The two coworkers were both boredly doing their jobs, one was walking down the counters while the other was serving a customer.

“I need to leave for a few minutes.” I told her. “I’ve got a migraine and need to go to the store and pick up some pills.” My lie was natural enough to seem convincing, and sure enough, she fell for it.
“Oh, okay.” She said with a nod. “How long will you be gone?”

“Depends how long it takes for me to find a store where I can get pills.” I responded with a shrug. Another simple lie. “Hopefully not too long though. Will you both be fine?”
“Yeah, we’ll both manage.” She said, falling for my sympathy. “You go and take care of yourself then come back.”

“Thank you so much.” I said before rushing out of the room without letting her respond. I hurried back through the staff room and out of the door leading to the employee car park where my car was. When I was sitting in my car I put my phone on speaker and addressed the still sobbing brunette. “Are you still alright George?” I questioned.

He let out a sound which I couldn’t really make out, it could have honestly been anything from an ‘mhm’ or a ‘mngh’, and could have had a variety of meanings. As I drove I could hear his cries clearly, making me feel more and more pity towards my heartbroken best friend on the other end of the call. “Can you tell me what happened?” I asked softly.

For a few moments there was silence as George composed himself, then the brunette started speaking slowly with shaky breaths. “Well I-I woke up this morning and Clay was… he wasn’t there.” He explained. “He… told me to book dinner and he’d meet me there when he got back.. at-at 7:30-ish. It was half an hour and… and he didn’t show up.”

He fell into another round of sobs and I waited until he quieted down to sniffling again before I asked him another question. “Did something happen?” I questioned. “Like a car crash, or family emergency?”

“Well he didn’t answer my calls… or my texts,” George explained. “And none of Clay’s friends had heard anything either.” I got the brunette to continue talking as I drove the rest of the way until I was outside the restaurant that George said he had been at. When I knew I’d found the place my car slowed to a crawl, looking for any sign of the brunette.

It was difficult. Not many people were around at this time in the evening, but at this point in time anyone who was around was in a full group of coworkers or friends. But then I caught sight of him. In the moonlight I barely saw a figure curled up in an alleyway. “I think I see you George,” I spoke into the phone, cutting off what he was saying. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

The next spot I saw that was available I pulled into, not caring that it was on yellow lines as I ran over to George while clutching my phone in my hands. Not bothering to warn him I pulled the brunette into a hug when I reached him, causing him to let out a gasp of surprise before melting into my arms.

“It’s okay.” I spoke to him softly. “I’m here now.” I said, wanting to calm him.
“But Clay’s abandoned me.” He cried, curling closer into me. “I-I don’t know why…”
“We;ll figure that out later, alright?” My voice remained calm as I held him. “Now how about we get you out of this alleyway and change you into some comfortable clothes.”

With a quiet sniffle George nodded and stood up as I began leading him to where my car was parked. After I got him into the passenger seat I hurried around to the driver’s, not wanting to stick around for too long in case there was a police officer to arrest me for parking on a yellow line. When we were on the road and driving I turned to him.

“So would you like me to take you back to the hotel?” I asked, glancing over at George as he curled himself up on the seat.
“But what if Clay’s there?” The brunette fumbled with his fingers awkwardly as he asked the question. “Af…” He paused to take a breath. “After he left me there.”

“If he’s there then I can punch him in the face on your behalf.” I explained. “Or we can make a mess in his room and spend all of his money on room service that we won’t even eat.” The brunette giggled at that before nodding at me. I couldn’t help but smile back at him, feeling glad that I cheered him up slightly.

Neither of us said much for the rest of the drive, but I just hoped that I could continue to make him feel better.
_________________________________________
1202 words