Bagatelle

6.

It's a cold afternoon at the store.

Brett still got many packages to get enveloped, and all of them needs to get done before leaving.

So he sits there for  couple of minutes, staring at the ceiling. Regretting all the decisions in his life, and wondering if its worth keep living.

“I’m so tired...”, he mumbles. Everyone has already leave. The store is half open, only for a couple of clients who still got to pick up a few gifts.
It's almost 8pm.

The bell at the entrance, rings softly.

Brett gets up from the chair, puts on his glasses and walks to the front.

“Welcome, what can I do for you?”, he asks scratching his head as he walks towards the shop counter. He's wearing his green apron and a pink cotton sweater.

“Brett?”, a familiar voice asks from the entrance. And Brett recognises it immediately.
Why god?

His eyes goes up to see the smiling face of Eddy, who's hair is even wilder than that Sunday afternoon at his house. He's wearing a long black coat who seems to be wet. It's raining outside.

“What are you doing here?”, Brett asks losing his posture. This is no client, this is just Eddy, being as problematic as always. He looks at him with fury in his eyes.

His smile widens when he sees his reaction.

“Oh my god. I didn't know you treated clients like this”, he says faking a face of displeasure. “I just came here to pick up this”, he adds extending a paper to Brett's hands. What? The paper turns out to be a note from the store. One of the packages Brett is supposed to deliver today...
He feels a wave of heat going up to his face. Fuck.

“I-I'm so sorry!”, he says running to the back of the store.
"I’ll bring it in a second”.
As he kneels down on the floor, trying to recover, he can hear Eddy laughing.
I thought he was here to see me. How humiliating!
“I hate my life”, he whispers. And starts looking for the package on the table. The one that belongs to Eddy, it's a small golden box with a blue ribbon. Brett remembers this package. The ribbon is peculiarly fluffy because he loved the colour the client picked up, and he unconsciously made an extra effort to make it pretty.

“Such a waste”, he mumbles as he caresses the paper with his finger tips.
“Why? I thinks it's beautiful”, Eddy whispers on his ear, making Brett jump scared.
“Shit!”, he screams annoyed. “You can't be here! This is not an area for clients!”, he turns to see him, but finds his smiling face. Does he never get annoyed? How rude must I supposed to get you so you can go away?

“I’m glad to see you too, Brett”, he says taking him by the shoulders to hug him.
Brett can feel the coldness of the wet coat on his chin. And the usual mix of coffee and cologne that Eddy emanates.

“I am not”, Brett says pushing him away. “I still have work to do, and clearly, you have nothing else to do here. So, please leave”. He takes the package from the table, the note and handles it to Eddy. “Thank you for your preference. Please come back soon”, he bows.

“But...aren't you almost finished, Brett?”, Eddy whims, and Brett stiffens. “We can walk home together, or go and take a coffee!”. Brett stays still with the package on his hands.

“I’m sorry”, Eddy says scratching his head. Brett hears a crack on his voice as he talks. “I didn't wanted to disturb you, but you've been avoiding me everyday at school. I always look for you on recess and after classes, but you are not even using the piano anymore!”, Brett looks at the tall guy shrinking, he looks as an abandoned puppy, all wet and sad. Oh no. “I missed you...”, Eddy confesses. “I missed you a lot”, he repeats, louder, and this time looking in to Brett's eyes with intensity.

Brett doubts. What should I do? I shouldn't. If I give him this, he will want more...
He turns to glance him with an eye. He looks hopeless. And it's raining...

“Ok”, he finally says, before letting out a big sigh. “You can stay, but I'm not leaving anytime soon. I have a lot of work to be done still. If you want to be with me, you'll have to stay in here, is that good or not?”. He wont stay, this boy doesn't even know what work really means...

“Really?”, Eddy screams taking his coat off and siting on the table where Brett was working.
“Ok, whatever”, Brett mumbles sitting on the other side of the table, ready to get back to work.

He takes one of the bigger boxes and places it in front of him. The paper is navy blue with a small green ribbon. Must be a present for a men. Maybe a father or a boyfriend.

“You are skilled on this”, Eddy says after a couple of minutes, resting his head on his wrists to get a better look at Brett.
“Anyone can do it”, Brett mumbles as he cuts the paper. “No skills need”, he cuts a piece of tape and turns the package. Brett likes this work, is monotonous enough to space out, and free enough not to get bored so easily. But this, is the 30 package of today. It's getting really hard.

“Do you need help?”, Eddy asks taking the sit next to Brett, who tries to run away, pushing his chair further from him.
"If everyone can do it...I'll be glad to help you”, he reaches the tape for him.

“No”, he answers cutting another piece of paper and putting down the tape. “If you don't want to be here, just leave”, Brett answers folding the paper on top of the package in the shape of a fan.

“I didn't meant that”, Eddy whims pouting his mouth. Brett sighs. “You know? The gift you make is for my sister. It's her birthday next week, and she's coming to visit us”. On Brett's mind, the face of the beautiful lady he saw on Eddy's house appears. He cuts the ribbon and places it on top of the package.

“Mmh”, he just answers, putting aside the package, and taking another one from the pile.

“I bought her gloves for the winter”, Eddy adds. He doesn't mind Brett not talking. He loves speaking, and for him Brett is a gentle listener. “We both took piano classes, you know? She is a amazing pianist! I love his playing!  Same as I love yours of course...But whatever, I wasn't a good player, so my father bought a violin for me and everything suddenly felt right”, Brett raises his eyebrow. His live is very different from Eddy. “Until that day I couldn't play anymore. ‘What's the point?’ I screamed to my parents. And they got really mad at me. Everyone got really crazy. They all wanted to tell me what to do. But I didn't wanted to listen, you know? I wanted to hear an inner voice calling me, not just everyone around me”, Brett passes him the tape.