ODDS OF LOVE : SEASON TEN

Episode 15

Alfred was beginning to regret coming to see his employer. Not because he didn't want to check on the man. He had. Gerald seemed like a good man and one devoted to the school. Yesterday had to have hit him hard. The bomb. A student being injured with a concussion and hearing loss. And the revelation about his wife and her cousin. It was all impossible for him , a stranger, to believe so he knew it had to be difficult for the headmaster.

No. He regretted it because the trip over in the Uber had actually made him so tired it was ridiculous. He hated being like this. The past few months he had been having so many falls and been more tired than ever. He felt old and useless really. Falling at the school had been so embarrassing to him he had actually considered quitting and applying for disability but he would have hated that as well. He was a worker by nature and he loved teaching. He thought he was good at it just like the crossword puzzles he designed for various newspapers. It made him feel useful even if his body was failing and would continue to fail him.

Gerald's face was kindly as he smiled at him and said," I know you have to be hungry. Or maybe that's just me. " He laughed self consciously and patted his big belly. " I asked the cook to prepare tea and refreshments. Hopefully scones. Cook makes the most marvelous scones. I'm sure you will enjoy them. "

Alfred smiled slightly. There was something about this man that made him want to smile. He was like a big eager puppy dog bouncing all around and wanting affection. That just made him feel even sadder over how he was recently treated. He was such a gentle man. Like how he had helped him up after falling. Yes , it had embarrassed him but when the man had laid hands on him it had also sent a sort of spark through him. An electric current. His smile slipped away gradually. These thoughts were really inappropriate. This man was his boss for heaven sake. He had just lost his wife in the worst possible way. And he was most definitely not gay or even bi. Besides a man like Gerald , so big and gentle and almost cuddly looking , would never be interested in someone like himself. A man with a deformed body who couldn't even lace shoes , he wanted to laugh. Nobody wanted him except for Scott and they all knew how that had ended up being. Before Scott he had had zero choices and would have the same choice after him. Even his own father had looked down on him his whole life. If the family hadn't been devout Catholic he was pretty sure Franco would have had his mother abort him. No Giadello man had ever been like him and that was a disappointment to his father. If it hadn't been for his mother's basic stubborn nature he knew Franco would have had him trapped away in some institution or something probably for his entire life.

Yes , he thought as the really ancient butler came into the elegant room slowly carrying a silver tray with an actual pot of tea , two China tea cups and a plate of the most delicious looking scones he had ever seen in his life next to what looking like a jar of strawberry jam. He definitely needed to keep this on a purely professional level from now on.  The last thing he needed right now was a meaningless crush on a straight man that was his boss. " I usually don't eat much but this does look very good. You're a lucky man, Dr. HighTower ," he said casually and then his olive toned skin flushed gradually once he realized exactly what he had just said. He was pretty sure this man didn't consider himself lucky at the moment.

Gerald laughed though. " In a way I am lucky. I'm starting to see that. I'm lucky to be associated with Barrington Academy. Now let's have a little snack shall we? I'll pour the tea or be Mother as we say in England. And since we are not at work right now you don't have to call me Dr. HighTower. Do call me Gerald please. "

Alfred watched the big man leaning forward to pour the steaming tea into the cups with such elegant grace for a man of his girth. He was hoping he didn't drop the probably expensive and valuable tea cup from his occasionally shaky hands. " I will. And please call me Alfred. "

But not Freddie, he thought bitterly. He had always hated when Scott called him that ridiculous nickname.