The Only Exception // (GOT7 Markson)

6

I had a few very important documents I needed to revise for my board meeting next week, so when I called Tyler like I promised him I would, it was out of actual necessity. My place was a pig sty. I gave Mandy some paid vacation days for her to visit her family for the holidays. It was already December, so I figured I could give her the time off and let Tyler make himself useful.

There was a very timid knock at my door, and I almost didn't hear it over the sound of classical music coming from my surround sound. I abandoned my messy workspace and headed to the door. When I opened it, Tyler stood in front of me carrying a coffee in one hand and a smile on his face. "I know you're getting stressed over work, so I figured I'd bring you some coffee. My brother is a barista, so I get hooked up with free drinks a lot." he smiled, offering me the brown cup. I took it and nodded, wanting to ignore the fact that he was talking about Mark and the fact that I already drank Mark's coffee nearly every other day. Instead I just thanked him and let him get settled. He was just hanging up his jacket when I started to get nervous. I interrupted him, unsure of what exactly I would have to do in order to get him ready to take my cleaning work seriously. "Um, so... Have you like... Cleaned a house before?" I said awkwardly. Not sure of how to best handle the situation. Tyler shot me an unimpressed glance. He huffed and walked over to me, placing his hand on my bare shoulder. "I know you think I'm some young, dumb, slut or something but I assure you, I'm not an idiot. I can clean a house, yes." he stated firmly. "Okay. Good. I was just checking. You can start at 25$ an hour. That's half of what I pay Mandy. Start with the big stuff and work your way down. I don't care how long or how short it takes as long as it's done right." I instructed. "And try to stay out of my hair unless it's totally necessary, I'm super swamped right now and need to focus.""Got it. No noise, clean good, leave you alone." he repeated obediently. "Good. Get to it, cleaner!" I joked, ruffling his hair. By now Tyler was taking on the role of pesky little friend to me, almost like a special project. I had almost completely forgotten that I ever slept with him. Little did I know, I was about to become Tyler's project as well.* Three hours later and not a peep out of Tyler. I finished up my revisions and was curious as to where the kid went. I walked around the silent house to find Tyler on all fours, scrubbing the bathtub of the second guest bathroom. I laughed to myself, wondering if it was appropriate to make a "you're on your knees for a better reason now" kind of joke, but I stopped myself. Tyler shot me a look that said Don't you dare say anything. And so I didn't. Instead I just watched as he combatted a small stain on the tub's interior, scrubbing madly. He actually knew what he was doing. "Good work, so far." I encourage him. "I think after this you'll be done for the day.""Cool. I'm getting sleepy." he responded. "Oh, hey Jackson... Since you're being so nice to me and helping me out and all, I decided that I would do you a favour as well."I sighed, knowing that this would probably come up regardless of how hard I tried to prevent it, "Tyler, I already told you. No sexual anything between us, remember. Completely harmless relationship." "No, not that. Besides I probably wouldn't sleep with you anyway. Now that I'm seeing just how dirty this place can get in such a small amount of time." he shot back. "Alright, so what exactly are you going to help me with?" I wondered. "That boy you like. The one who you won't really tell me about? I decided that I would help you win him over." Tyler said smugly. "Really now? How exactly are you - a single and inexperienced young man - going to help me win over my potential soulmate, hm?" I asked him, expecting to put him at a loss for words. Instead Tyler just stood up and tossed his cleaning gloves into his bucket and smiled. "It's quite simple actually. I may not seem like it, but I'm actually a very good people reader. It's a skill I picked up meeting all those strangers. You learn to size people up and make judgements about what they would like. My plan is to help you figure out exactly how to win this guy's heart. Judging by the way you talk about him, he's extremely special to you. But I also know by the way you talk about him that he doesn't really see you as anything more than a friend - and maybe not even that."So far Tyler was right; I wasn't making very much headway right now with Mark. I was more or less at a standstill. On the one hand Mark knew me and recognized me. He seemed to appreciate the monetary gifts I give him, but outside of that I don't think he thinks too much about me. I wouldn't even consider us friends. At this point, I was more like a crazed stalker the way I constantly went to the shop to see him without him knowing. "Alright, I'm listening." I said hesitantly. I knew the dangers of this, and the possibility that Tyler may find out the identity of the boy I was pining after, but I figured that it was just harmless advice. And I could use all the help I could get at this point. "Step one: you need to become a person that even you would like to date." he said, sounding like he had already thought long and hard about his advice. I leaned against the door and crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly. "What are you saying, I am not boyfriend material just yet?""To be honest, you're not." he admitted, giving me a shrug. Ouch."Okay, I'll bite. What should I change about myself? I already eat completely organic, work out four times a week, have enough money to never work another day in my life, and even still I sit as the vice president of a company worth millions." I grinned. "Yeah yeah you're rich and hot. Whatever buddy, you failed to mention anything about your personality. And if this guy's even worth it to pursue, he's going to be a lot more focused on the things you have to offer that aren't material." Tyler explained, "Things like honesty, integrity, humility, respect, good listening skills, etc.""I have all of those and more!" I pouted, knowing damn well I was lacking a bit in the honesty department. And the integrity part. And maybe the humility part, too. Shit. I sighed. "Okay, so I could work on those traits a bit more. But who couldn't?""That's not the point, dummy." Tyler quickly said back. "You have to be a walking and breathing example of the perfect boyfriend. Something tells me that you have already asked him out... The Jackson I know is too self confident and self righteous to not approach any cute boy without thinking that they're easy."I looked down sharply and tried to mask my slight pain."And judging by that expression I can tell you that he said no. Which means you actually do need my help." Tyler said, satisfied with his deductive reasoning skills. "Alright fine. I'm man enough to admit you're right. I messed things up a bit at the start, but I will do anything to make this boy mine. You don't understand, he is a once in a lifetime kind of boy. When I see him, I immediately want to step my game up and do anything and everything I can to hand him the world on a silver platter. He deserves the best and only the best. If what you're saying is true, then I'm not the man that M-uhm, I mean, this boy needs. And I want to be, so I'll take your advice."Tyler was sitting on the toilet seat, resting his chin in his palm, staring at me with glistening eyes. "What?" I asked."Nothing. Just never saw you talk like this ever. Your mood changes, so does your tone of voice and your mannerisms when you talk about... What's his face. It's nice to see. You do have a soul." he joked. "Oh by the way that's another thing. What is this guy's name?""Ugh, as if I'm telling you that so you can hunt him down and ruin everything. You can call him 'Henry' for all I care." I snapped. "Fine. Look, I'm taking off. You can pay me at the end of every second week. I don't mind. Just take my advice, alright? Let me know how it goes with 'Henry.'" he said to me, walking out of the bathroom and patting my shoulder lightly before heading out of my apartment. *The next day I was nearly shaking with how eager I was to see Mark. I stood impatiently in line, cracking my knuckles in nervousness. I remembered what Tyler said about being respectful and modest and I came up with a few ways on how to display that to Mark. "Hi Mark, how is your day going?" I asked cheerfully. "Pretty good, Jackson." he replied happily. As short and pathetic as the two phrase interaction was, I couldn't help but feel like I was already growing closer to the boy. "I'll have the usual." I said, smiling. "Is it a busy morning for you?"Mark punched some things in without looking and began fixing the drink for me. "When is it not a busy morning?" he chuckled. "True true. You've come a long way, and I'm proud of you for catching on quickly. It's not easy serving all of us crazy customers." I said, trying to tie in all of the good traits I could into the compliment. "Thanks. Oh hey, I have to talk to you about something. Can you please come by the cafe at around 3pm? I'll be off then. I wanna talk in private." he said hesitantly. My hands began to sweat instantly. I didn't like the look on his face, it told me that this wasn't a good private talk. I began worrying that Mark knew about Tyler and I, but I didn't know how he would've figured it out. "Sure thing. 3PM, I'll be there." I said quickly before waving and taking my drink. The walk home was nerve wracking as I came up with a million excuses as to why I didn't tell Mark about Tyler and I, desperately trying to save myself and his budding relationship. I checked my watch: 9AM. 3PM couldn't come quicker.