He could hear whispering at the door.
"He needs to sleep. When was the last time he took a break?"
"Uh, the train. Two weeks ago. Did he eat dinner?"
"I brought him some soup, but I don't know if he ate it. He hasn't left the office yet."
"I checked on him last time; you go now. See if you can convince him to go to bed."
"Yeah, I'll try."
The whispers stopped, probably for a hug before Esther left, Scott reasoned. He blinked down at the folders spread out in front of him.
A knock sounded at the door and it creaked open. Scott didn't look up.
"How you doing, buddy?" Avi's rumble echoed in the silent room.
"Fine. I'm actually kind of busy—"
"Did you eat your soup?" Avi cut him off.
Scott sighed. There was no point in lying. "No."
"Scott, you need to take care of yourself."
"I am. I'm fine, I promise. I just wasn't hungry." Scott glanced up at Avi's sad face.
"You know he would want—"
"No." Avi sighed at Scott's sharp voice. "You don't get to do that."
Avi walked over to the desk. "Please, go to bed."
Scott nodded reluctantly. "I will, I promise. I just have to finish rewriting this proposal. They already shot it down twice—"
"I know, Scott. It's just been a slow couple of months—"
"But I can't give up on it. I keep getting calls and requests to meet about the budget but they know I can't even do anything unless they vote to open the documents—"
"Scott, I know." Avi walked around the desk and pulled Scott back from where he was hunched over his papers and into a tight hug. "You can't do everything, though. You could always call one of your sisters—"
"No. They're staying off the grid until it's safe."
Avi sighed. "I'm not gonna fight you on this right now. Just... please be careful with yourself."
Scott nodded. "I promise I'll go to bed when I'm done with the proposal."
Avi paused at the door. "Good night, Scott."
"Night, Avi."
The door clicked shut and the room was silent again.
Scott turned back to his cursor blinking on a blank page and picked up a paper to read it again.
YOU ARE READING
A Reunion of Lips
Fiksi PenggemarSequel to Seven Levels Below--if you don't read that first, this isn't gonna make much sense! There were fingers digging into his shoulders, trailing down his spine, smoothing over his warm skin. He sighed and relaxed into the touch for a few minute...
