Missing Things

everything ends, but until then...

It was late Sunday morning when Carl got a text from Neil telling him he would be passing by.

Carl knew they had said they would hang out, but he didn't expect it would be this soon. He had been in the process of doing his laundry. There were dirty clothes on the floor and clean clothes stacked on his bed.

He texted back asking Neil when he planned on coming over, and was relieved to hear it wouldn't be until the afternoon.

Carl wrapped up the laundry, put away the clean clothes, washed up, ate a light lunch, and then got himself and his towels ready in case things with Neil got serious.

He had been sitting on the sofa pretending to be relaxed when Neil arrived.

"Hey Neil," he said as he opened the door, trying to sound casual. "I didn't expect you would pop by today."

"I hadn't planned it, to be honest," Neil said, carrying in a package covered in paper. "Krista asked me to drop this off for you. She would have brought it herself but there was another turpentine incident in the art space. I'm sure we're all going to be having a meeting about proper turpentine storage because of it soon. Anyways, she called me over this morning to bring it to you because Leandra is working and I already know where you live." He smiled. "That sounded like a threat. It wasn't."

Carl smiled. "I didn't take it as a threat, but now that you said that, I feel like I should have."

"Maybe I'm threatening to come over more often," Neil said, with a sly look.

Carl felt himself blush. "So what is it that Krista wanted me to have?"

Neil handed the package to Carl. "See for yourself."

Carl removed the paper to reveal the painting of the Milky Way he had admired at her house.

"I can't believe Krista gave me this painting," Carl said. "It seemed to mean a lot to her."

"She said it 'called to you from across the void'. She has this thing about paintings calling to people."

"She should have at least made me buy it for twenty-five dollars."

Neil laughed. "Where do you want to hang it up?"

"I guess next to the other two?"

They hung up the painting next to Faded Memory and The Crow, then they leaned against the wall and stared at the triptych they had created.

"Does it work next to the other two?" Carl asked.

Neil shrugged. "Does it have to? It's not decor. It's art."

"That's a good point. I still can't believe she gave it to me."

"She said you needed to have it because it connected the two of you somehow. I think she might have a crush on you."

"I don't think she does."

"I think she does. She invited you to her house, and she was compelled to give you this painting. I've wanted one of these for a long time and she never gave me one, so there must be something about you that made her want to give it to you."

"I think she gave it to me because when we first met, I told her my gender was like a star, where it looks like a fixed point in the sky, but really it's moving in four dimensions, so whatever you think my gender is, it's not that."

"I like that," Neil said, smiling. "It's clever and poetic. To me the painting always reminded me of when you meet someone and you click with them. You know how suddenly they just stand out against the background? Like a star shining in the night sky? That's what I think about when I look at this painting."

"I think your interpretation is closer to Krista's intent."

"Maybe. I know that right now I feel this way."

"Which way?"

"The way you feel when someone shines and stands out against the night sky."

Neil was looking at Carl with soft eyes and Carl was almost sure that he was about to lean in for a kiss.

"I'd like to take you on a date," Neil said.

"When?"

"Now."

"Now?"

"Yeah. Now."

"Where to?"

"Nowhere. I always found the concept of a date nebulous. You decide that someone stands out enough that you want to get to know them, then you contrive some reason to hang out with them. A movie. Dinner. A walk in the park. But all you're really doing is trying to find an excuse to be alone with them and talk. We've already done that a few times. So I think we should move past the first two 'getting to know you' dates and move on to date number three."

"Date number three?"

"Date number three. The date you see if you're physically compatible."

Carl caught his breath. His entire body woke up.

"I'm not asking for a relationship or a commitment," Neil said. "Just a date. One date. Date number three."

"OK," Carl said, letting himself give in. "Let's go on date number three."

"Fantastic," Neil said, leaning in for the kiss. "Thank you for agreeing to go on this date with me."