To Skin A Lamb

8

CHARITY

We all got together for a late breakfast at 10AM since this was one of the only days we could all sleep in.

I was out before Terrance because I didn't really know how to act around him. Thankfully, I didn't wake him up because I was really good at sneaking out without waking anyone.

When he came to the picnic table, he sat down directly across from me and I cursed the universe because it made it difficult for me to avoid him. I would learn that there was no such thing as avoiding him.

I only looked up at him for a moment and then I gave him a short smile. Then, I looked down at my plate and didn't say anything else.

Henry came next and I had to take a double take at him. He had a nasty black eye accompanied with a frown.

It looked purple, brown, and black. It looked horrendous.

I was gonna comment on it, but instead I just stifled a laugh because finally the universe had corrected his behavior.

"Don't say a single word, Garcia, not a single word." He pointed at me with seriousness he hasn't had before.

I looked at him with a smile. "I didn't say one thing." I immediately closed my mouth afterwards before I was gonna holler in laughter.

Terrance cleared his throat and looked at Henry with an icy expression.

Henry paused and then apologized, "Sorry. I guess I'm just a little irritated."

Henry? Apologizing? I wanted to laugh harder, but instead I bit the inside of my cheeks.

"Do I want to know what happened?" Alex, the intern, asked with a bored face.

"Not at all." Henry nodded his head no and then glanced over at Terrance for a second. "It was an accident." He bit out those last words like it hurt.

"Make sure it stays an accident." Alex nodded his head with exhaustion.

Brett, who was sitting beside me, gave me a pointed look before eating his food again.

Terrance happily ate his food like a little boy who just received a new toy. The rest of the world didn't matter and he seemed... pleased. A gentle smile rested on his lips and a lightness that spread for miles.

While he bit into his sandwich, I saw some bruises on his knuckles that I didn't notice last night.

It was never said, and we never discussed it out loud, but I had a feeling that Terrance visited Henry last night. And the contents of their conversation was never discussed to a single soul, but one thing was clear. Henry did not fuck around any more after that day.