Oblivious Hearts (Phan)

Chapter Twenty Eight

Word count: 735

A FEW HOURS EARLIER

Looking around Dan realised there was no one else on the floor. He checked his watch and saw that it was almost 8:45pm so he could probably get away with packing up the computers and printer, it was unlikely that anyone would come in for the last ten minutes. He closed the book he was reading and placed it on the desk with his reading glasses balanced on top. Dan had been working in the library on the third floor all day, and his back was getting stiff from sitting hunched over for hours. He sat up straighter and felt his back click. Sighing he got up and, leaving his shoes behind, padded over to the row of computers that were still whirring. One by one he switched them off and unplugged them from the walls, straitening the mouse mats and keyboards, and tucking the chairs neatly under the desks.

He walked around the room, with its big floor to ceiling windows and shut the blinds. He stopped for a moment before shutting the last set of blinds and flopped down into the chair facing out the window. He sighed, remembering the first time he properly met Phil and how they had sat here and talked, drinking coffee and getting to know each other. Dan remembered the niggling sensation at the back of his mind that something about Phil was wrong, that he shouldn't be trusted.

Well, Dan thought bitterly, I was right about one thing.

It was dark outside, the only light coming from the dim street lamps, the headlights of cars zooming about along the winding roads below and the people with an unearthly glow illuminating their faces from their phone screens. The stars were few and far between here, which gave Dan no comfort, he'd shut the moon out with the blinds on the other side of the room.

"Oh Phil... Why did you have to be this way?" Dan whispered to no one. He rubbed his tired eyes with his fingers. He stood up and finally pulled the blind closed, then went for a look around the Business section to stretch his legs. He had received an email from the local night school with another assignment but hadn't felt up to attempting it yet, his head just wasn't in the right place for that kind of work. How was he supposed to give a level headed opinion on someone else's problems when he didn't even know how to take care of his own?

Dan had just walked over to the Biography's when his ears pricked, and he thought he had heard a sound coming from the bathrooms. He turned to look in their direction and listened harder, staring intently at the door, but after a few moments he decided he must have imagined it. That, or it was the pipes; it was a very old building after all.

He hadn't eaten much over the last few days, his appetite disappearing every time he thought of Phil hurting someone, or even worse someone hurting Phil. He felt his stomach grumble in protest at the lack of food but ignored it, he still had work to do before he could go home and force something down. He walked along next to the bookshelf, his fingers gliding across the spines, not really paying attention to the titles, just letting his mind wander. He remembered waking up next to someone who looked so similar to Phil, but also nothing like him. He didn't have the same smell, the same taste, the same feel. It just wasn't his Phil.

Could I ever forgive him?

His mouth went dry when he let his mind entertain the thought of Phil having moved on. He felt sick thinking of someone else wrapped in Phil's arms, kissing his lips, hearing his secrets. It had only been a few days but Dan had been with someone else, not that he enjoyed it, but what's to stop Phil having found someone too? He picked up his Hello Kitty mug and trudged to the water cooler only to find it was empty. He sighed again and pushed open the door to the bathrooms, intending to fill his mug up from the tap. He didn't manage to get as far as the sink before realising something was wrong.

A chill trickled down his spine.

Oooooh, what's happened in the bathroom?

T x