Hope for the Hopeless

Chapter 10

Hale was in the shower when Hope heard her phone start to play "Milkshake," Jake's ringtone. Hope answered. "One, can you please stop changing your ringtone to 'Milkshake.' Two, how do you keep figuring out my password?"

Jake laughed maniacally. "Firstly, my Milkshake does bring all the boys to the yard. Secondly, I will never tell you my secrets."

"I guess that's fair. You are very popular with the young men." She filled up the kettle for tea.

"So, I hear Hale didn't come home last night."

"Oh, yeah? Where'd you hear that?"

"Around."

"Around?"

"Yeah. Around."

She turned on the stove. It clicked a few times before the flame ignited. "That's why you're calling?"

"You know that's why I'm calling. And the fact that you're making tea when we all know that you exclusively mainline coffee in the morning proves that I am right!"

"Calm down, Carmen Sandiego. How do you even know that I'm making tea?" Hope grabbed her favourite mug down from the cupboard. It was one with Prince William and Kate's faces on it from their royal marriage. She thought Hale would get a kick out of it.

"I feel like I'm more of a Kathy Reichs considering that I knew you were making tea from the clicking of the stove in the background. I've got this shit down to a forensic level of investigation."

"Yes, you're very, very smart, Jacob. Well done." Hope didn't know what kind of tea Hale liked, so she went with English Breakfast.

"Thank you. So did you bone?"

Hope had been taking her first sip of coffee at that exact moment. She choked on it. "What? Why would I divulge that kind information to you?"

"Jesus, Hope! You always divulge this information to me! I'm your gay best friend. This is my whole purpose in life! Since we were tiny human children! I'm your Stanford Blatch!"

Hope groaned. Jake was right. She did always tell him these things. For some reason Hale was different. Jake never judged her choices harshly, but he had been very judgy about Hale. She sighed. "I know, but this is different. You don't seem to like Hale."

"He's not my favourite person. It's not just me, you know. He's not exactly a crowd favourite."

"But why?" The kettle was screaming. She moved to take it off the stove.

"He's just... not."

Hope paused for a moment as she poured hot water into Hale's mug. "Is that where we're leaving it then?"

"I'd prefer it that way, yes."

She set the timer on the stove for a perfect four minute steep and leaned back against the counter. The silence that fell between them felt like it lasted forever. Jake finally chimed back in. "Disneyland or meh?"

Hope smiled. She couldn't help herself. "Do you remember when we were kids and my Mom and Dad would take us to Crescent Beach to watch the Fourth of July fireworks at Point Roberts?"

Jake chuckled. "Yeah and they looked really tiny from far away."

"They were pretty and special, but we couldn't actually hear the explosions which took away some of their specialness."

"I remember."

Hope started to fix Hale's tea with milk and sugar, not knowing what he actually preferred. "It was like that."

"So, it was really tiny?"

"Jacob! No. I'm not talking about perspective here. Size is not the issue," she paused, "not in the least."

He felt bad for making a joke at the expense of Hale's manhood. "Hm. Well, from what I remember those fireworks may have been tiny, but they sure were memorable."

Hope stirred Hale's tea. "Yeah, they were." What she meant was that they were spectacular, but out of reach. Hale felt so out of reach. But how could she explain that to Jake? She heard the bathroom door open. "I have to go now, Jacob."

"Okay, Hope."

Hope pushed Hale's cup of tea over to him as he sat down at the kitchen island. He stared at it like it was a bomb. She had used one of those stupid Royal Family commemorative mugs. "You have one of these too?"

Hope was popping some bread into the toaster. "What do you mean? Who else has one?"

Hale rolled his eyes. "Humphrey. He has this exact same one. He has to drink his tea out of it on April 29th, every year. Can you imagine?" He laughed at the thought like it was the most absurd thing in the world.

Hope stared at him. She did the exact same thing on April 29th of every year. Hale took a sip of his tea and made a face. She furrowed her brow at him. "What's wrong?"

"What is this?" He ran his tongue over his teeth like he was trying to scrape away the taste.

"English Breakfast with milk and sugar?"

"Jesus! You drink that shit too? I only drink green tea, Hope. It's better for you."

The toaster beeped. She turned around to tend to it. "Oh. I guess Humphrey is also an English Breakfast fan?"

Hale pushed the tea away from him. "Yes. It's disgusting."

Humphrey was sitting at the kitchen table when Hale got home. He was in his scrubs; Hale didn't know whether he just got home or was about to leave. Truthfully, he didn't really care either way.

"Did you just get home?" Humphrey asked, not even looking up from his phone.

"You know I did." Hale turned the kettle on and started searching through the cupboards for green tea. He worked in silence, pouring himself a bowl of Muesli while his tea steeped.

Humphrey eyed him carefully. "Didn't get the breakfast you prefer?"

Hale scoffed. "She only had English Breakfast."

Smiling smugly, Humphrey finally looked at Hale for the first time in weeks. "Did she now?" He sipped from his own mug of English Breakfast. Prince William and Kate were staring back at Hale.

Hale leaned against the counter, taking a bite of his cereal. "I wouldn't read too much into it if I were you" He tipped his chin up at Humphrey. "I'm not complaining about the pre-breakfast though."

Humphrey calmly stood up. He made his way over to Hale. He was so close that Hale could practically hear his heart beating. "Maybe you shouldn't have come back, Hale." He grabbed Hale's fresh mug of tea and poured it into the sink. "There's nothing left for you here."

With that Humphrey grabbed his backpack and walked out the door. Hale stood there, mid-bite, trying to figure out what just happened. He never thought Humphrey a violent man, but the anger emanating from him was palpable. He put his cereal bowl down and went to his room.

After packing two duffle bags full of stuff, Hale texted Hope.

Hale: Do you think I could maybe crash at your place for a bit?

He stared at his phone while he waited for her to answer. Those little message bubbles kept appearing and then disappearing. After last night and that morning, he thought she would be keen to have him back in her bed.

It took Hope a solid five minutes to respond.

Hope: Sure.