Kitten

by Jack Harbon

  “I hope you didn’t eat anything before you came here,” Roman said, rubbing Kit’s lower back.

  “Why?”

  “We’re sending you off with a feast of sorts. It’s corny, but it was Barbie’s idea,” he said, rolling his eyes. Kit shoved his shoulder lightly.

  “Be nice,” he warned.

  “I’m just teasing. Logan’s wife is coming up and she’s bringing the baby. He wanted you to meet them before you left.”

  Kit’s smile grew. He couldn’t wait to meet them. Most of the time, all Logan talked about was either work or his baby girl. There was something incredibly sweet about the way most men turned to complete mush talking about their kids.

  Just like Roman said, Kit was treated like royalty. Barbie finished up with her work for the day as quickly as possible, and by three o’clock, she was free to spend the rest of her time with Kit, lamenting about all the good times they’d had together.

  “I promised myself I wasn’t gonna cry, but just…” Barbie dabbed her eyes and shook her head, laughing in embarrassment. “You’re just like my baby here at work, you know that? And you’re growing up and moving on.”

  “I know,” Kit smiled softly, hugging her.

  “You really helped me get through my situation with Kevin. I can’t thank you enough, Kit. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you, honey.”

  Now it was Kit’s turn to get emotional. Never in a million years would he have predicted that he’d end up crying over some assistant job with a single mother that had a kid nearly his age. It was so left-field, but it felt so right at the same time.

  Behind them, Yolanda cleared her throat. “When you two crybabies are done, Ari wants to talk to Kit,” she said. She paused, giving the two of them a small smile before she walked away.

  Kit wiped his eyes. “Guess I’d better go talk to him one last time.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” she smiled.

  Kit straightened up, took a deep breath, and headed over to the meeting room where Ari and his other coworkers sat at the table. Ari rose when he entered the room. At the same time, there was a round of applause. Kit crinkled his face and laughed, confused.

  “What’s all of this for?” he asked.

  “It’s for you. For all the help you’ve been since you started working here,” Ari said. “For not holding it against me when I thought you were the one stealing from the company. And for coming back despite it all. Roman can’t pick assistants for shit, but he picked a pretty good one this time.”

  The people at the table laughed, and even Roman cracked a smile. Ari continued.

  “Normally, this is how we send off our employees that don’t quit or get fired. I say normally because I’m not quite ready to see you go just yet.”

  Kit made a face. “What do you mean?”

  “I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know you as well as I’d have liked, but from what I’ve heard from someone close to you, you’re quite the social guy. You know what’s hot, what people are talking about, and what people your age are interested in. At the moment, I’m looking for someone to manage our social media accounts, and I’d like to offer you the position before anyone else.”

  Barbie gasped, then smiled wide. Kit’s coworkers all seemed to be just as shocked as he was.

  “Uh—I…” Kit looked to Roman, unsure what to say.

  Ari looked his way as well. “Rest assured, Roman won’t be your boss anymore. I know that you two are together, and I agree that working in the same department with your significant other can be a recipe for disaster. But if you accept this position, I’ll be your boss.”

  Kit shook his head in disbelief. He’d wanted to leave the company to keep his relationship with Roman safe, but here he was, able to stay with the people he cared about and not have to worry about how he and Roman’s closeness would affect their work.

  “I… I would love to,” he finally said. “Absolutely. I would love to stay here.”

  There was a second round of applause. Kit couldn’t stop his wide grin from spreading, and he didn’t want to. He’d been so upset about having to leave, but that was no longer an issue. Their meeting didn’t last much longer. On his way out of the door, Ari quietly told him that they’d get the paperwork started next week.

  Roman pulled Kit into his arms and held him by the waist, looking down at him. Kit hadn’t seen him this happy since they’d played the Simpsons arcade game on his birthday. “I thought I was going to lose your presence here at work.”

  “Is that why you talked to Ari?” Kit asked.

  “What do you mean? I didn’t say anything to him.”

  Kit’s eyebrows knitted together. If Roman hadn’t put in a good word for him, who had? Kit caught Yolanda looking at the two of them, standing still as everyone else returned to their desks. He couldn’t explain the feeling, but something in his chest swelled. Yolanda gave a knowing smile, and returned to her work.

  “I think I know who it was,” Kit said quietly. Roman lowered his head and pressed his lips to Kit’s, stealing away a work-appropriate kiss.

  “So, Mr. Social Media Manager,” Roman began, steering him towards his office. “I’m going to need you to tell me all about your plans for the future. Will you be weird like Denny’s, or savage like Wendy’s?”

  “I dunno yet. I’m thinking a little of both. Plus, I gotta throw a little sexy in there, for the fans.”

  Roman’s head fell back in laughter. “Of course, for the fans.”

  Kit didn’t know where this new path would take him, or what it would bring. He might go viral with a Facebook status just as easily as he might get into a Twitter war with another brand. If he were being honest, both of them sounded equally fun.

  Whichever way his new career went, he knew he’d figure it out. He always figured it out.

  Epilogue

  Five Months

  The sound of old school jazz music rang through the house like a trumpet, loud and immediate. Ever since Tonya had become a bigger part of Bria and Kit's life, he'd grown accustomed to the sound. Whether she was spending the night at his and Roman's place or Bria and Trish's, she brought two things: her white noise machine and her Charles Mingus CD.

  Today was no different. He'd invited his family over to the new place because of the space they'd have in the living room to plan the wedding. They needed a large table to spread out pictures of dresses Bria was considering, and Roman was more than happy to have them over. Kit still needed to hear that this was now his home just as much as it was Roman's every now and then. It had only been a month, after all.

  Kit followed the sound of horns through the house, stopping when he reached the kitchen. At the table, Trish, Tonya, and Bria sorted through pictures and pages torn from bridal magazines. Trish seemed satisfied with herself, and Bria seemed annoyed by something.

  He put on a pot of coffee, and while he waited, he bent down to grab the dog food from underneath the counter. “What'd you do this time, Trish?” he asked, looking at the group of ladies at the table.

  Trish gawked. “I didn't do shit!”

  “She's lying out her ass right now,” Bria said, shaking her head. “She keeps saying we should both just rock tuxes, even though we both already agreed on dresses.”

  “She does it cause you let it get to you,” Tonya said quietly, smiling at the two of them. Trish grinned wider.

  “You're such a troll,” Kit chuckled. She gave him a playful wink. When he finished dumping a scoop of food into the bowl, he sat it down beside the fridge and called out, “Bosco!” A moment later, a peppy miniature Schnauzer came tottering into the kitchen, sniffing around. When he found the source of the smell, he dug in.

  “What's on your schedule today, Kit?” Tonya asked, looking over her shoulder at him.

  “Well, I didn't have much planned. Chad's coming home from his trip sometime this week, and I wanna throw a welcome home party, so I should probably start planning that. I also have to do a little work. Oh, and I
was gonna have lunch with Roman today.”

  If he were being honest, taking on the social media manager role was the best choice Kit had ever made. Not only did a lot of the work not require him to be at the office during very specific, rigid hours, but it gave him plenty of flexibility for spending time with Roman without feeling like they were doing anything wrong. Sure, an office romance might not have been ideal to Ari or Kit's coworkers, but it wasn't against the rules. They behaved while they were at work.

  Most of the time.

  Really, there wasn't much space for the two of them to have private time at work. Roman's new assistant, Dillon, was a married man of two kids, and he was very thorough with his job. Kit couldn't get more than ten minutes of time alone with his boyfriend before the man came barging in, informing him that this client wanted to talk to him at this specific time. He was great at his job, and while Roman deserved that, Kit couldn't help but feel annoyed. Some days he just wanted to be thrown down on the desk and ravished.

  “Kit, come look at this for a second,” Bria said without looking up from her stack of pictures. He did as she said, stepping behind her to see what she wanted. On the table, he found two pictures of dresses.

  “What's up?”

  “Do you like this shade of white, or this shade of white?” She pointed at both of them, then laced her fingers together.

  Kit made a face. “Uh...these are the same color.”

  “No, they're not,” Bria said. “This one is a darker white than this one.”

  He squinted and tried to see the different between the two shades to no avail. “I literally can't tell the difference. They both look cute though. I'd say go with this one, I like the detailing on the front.” There were beads that had been placed around the sweetheart neckline.

  “That one is pretty cute... Thanks!”

  It had been this way for the past couple of months. Ever since Bria proposed to Trish, the girls had been obsessed over the wedding, spending what felt like every waking moment talking or planning the ceremony. Their dedication to detail was as scary as it was impressive.

  Kit didn't bother himself with the planning too much, though. Bosco needed to go for a walk, and he wanted to relax and enjoy his coffee. Kit poured some into his thermos, stirred in the sugar and creamer, and hooked the dog onto his leash. A few moments later and they were taking in the fresh air of the neighborhood.

  Though he wasn't an expert on the neighborhood, Kit knew his way around the place. His new neighbors were as friendly as could be, constantly talking to him about his relationship with Roman and how exciting it was to have someone younger around. Most of the people that lived here were wealthy older folks. Twenty-somethings that used slang regularly weren't exactly the norm.

  It'd been hard to let go of his apartment, but Kit figured giving up his freedom to do whatever he wanted was made up for by the fact that he'd get to see Roman every day and every night. This way, they'd get to spend nights together on the couch, curled up and watching some cheesy thriller movie on the Lifetime channel.

  While he walked the dog, Kit dug out his phone from his pocket and checked his person Twitter account. Last night, Chad tagged him in a picture on the cruise. In the picture, Chad was posted up in bed between a man and a woman, each of them making silly faces. Kit had never seen him happier.

  Since Michelle's dramatic exit from his life, Chad took life by the balls and did whatever made him happy. He wasn't the type to wallow over a girl forever, and he'd made up for that heartbreak two-fold. A month after Michelle was arrested, Chad met Eli and Grace, a couple looking to experiment more in the bedroom. He was the perfect fit for their relationship, and surprisingly, they'd made it work. Kit couldn't imagine taking care of two people's needs at the same time, but Chad had always been good at multitasking.

  After sending a quick response littered with emojis, Kit switched over to the Yellow Fall account. Five months ago, he'd made his presence known with a flurry of viral tweets. It seemed that self-deprecating humor was the best route to go for a company well-known for their huge scandal, and the general public had formed an overall positive opinion about Yellow Fall.

  The hardest part about the job was making sure he didn't go off on somebody. They received their fair share of trolling tweets and hateful responses, and Kit had never been one to hold his tongue. Any time he wanted to respond to something like that, he double-checked with Ari to make sure he wasn't doing the brand any damage. Every now and then, Ari would give him permission to make some witty quip about the user before getting back to business. Those were the tweets Kit had the most fun sending.

  Then of course there was the Facebook page, but nothing really happened there. Most people that were interested in the FB page were business professionals looking for actual information about the company and not snappy one-liners. Whenever he needed a break from the petty users, he switched over there to promote the company.

  He'd initially thought this job would be hard, but Kit soon came to realize that as long as he put his mind to it, there was no job he couldn't do. If he could design an entire office with no previous design skills, he could promote Yellow Fall's services and get in contact with potential clients. This new job was much easier than working for Roman had ever been.

  Kit spent the rest of his morning back at the house, playing with Bosco in the backyard until the poor pup was exhausted. He collapsed in their bed the moment he jumped on it. Kit laughed.

  “Worn out, huh, buddy?”

  Bosco didn't respond, but the lazy blink he gave was a good indicator of what he was feeling. Kit scratched behind his ear. He headed to the shower to get cleaned up for lunch with Roman, giddiness rumbling in his belly. Almost a year with the man and those feelings still didn't go away. It was almost impressive, the way Roman made him radiate this energy.

  He cleaned up and headed out to the company, rapping along to the latest Kendrick song the radio played. Though they censored some of the words, Kit used every explicative. Thirty minutes later, he pulled up outside of Yellow Fall to find Roman waiting for him by the curb.

  “Beep beep, it's time to eat,” Kit called once he rolled down the window. Roman grinned and climbed inside. He leaned over for a quick kiss.

  “Hey, kitten. Thanks for coming to get me.”

  “No biggie. How's work been today?”

  “More of the same,” he shrugged. “Yolanda's still terrorizing Dillon, as she's wont to do.”

  “Ahhh.”

  Kit had definitely been witness to her berating the poor guy. In a way, he was grateful that he didn't have to endure the smartass comments anymore, but at the same time, he missed them. With his new position and his relationship with Roman being out in the open, she no longer acted like a protective mother, vetting the people who she thought might be interested in him. It was silly, but every now and then, he longed to get into a verbal sparring match with her again.

  Barbie was still the same loveable woman, thankfully. Each time Yolanda mouthed off to Dillon, he practically came running to Barbie for reassurance and guidance. It was trippy for Kit. It was like watching his own life from a different perspective.

  “What do you want to eat?” Kit asked. He knew the answer, but he stilled liked asking. Maybe one day he would suggest something else other than the little Greek place down the street.

  “Actually, I'm in the mood for something else,” Roman said, directing Kit to park around the back of the building.

  “This is bad,” Kit laughed. “Someone could walk out here and see us!”

  “What, like you mind?”

  “I don't want to get in trouble—”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Roman's lips were on his, hungry and passionate. Only when they parted did he take a breath, staring into the other man's eyes. Before Roman, Kit would have never believed he could be so interested in someone. With all this wedding talk, he wondered what it would be like to marry Roman. Would they have a perfect marriage, or would they end
up bickering for the rest of their lives, showing their love through sarcastic retorts?

  Kit didn't worry himself too much about the future. He was far too young to get married or even think about marriage. Right now, all he wanted was to get money, eat good food, and fool around with his boyfriend every single chance he got.

  Roman stole another kiss and said, “Get in the backseat, kitten. I want to eat.”

  A deep blush made its way up Kit's neck, and he did exactly as he was told, stripping down to his boxer briefs. In the darkness of the car, no one would be able to see what they were doing, but it still felt thrilling. Roman climbed into the back a moment later, his hands on Kit's hips.

  “You can only eat if you promise me one thing,” Kit said, stopping him.

  “What's that?”

  “That you're gonna lick the plate clean.”

  Roman simply laughed. Then he got down to work.

  THE END

  About the author…

  Jack is your typical eccentric college student, writing stories much more interesting than his real life. If he's not writing, he's either reading books about magic girls, watching shows about blackmail and murder, or baking coconut macaroons. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @JackHarbon!

  Other books by Jack…

  ENCOUNTERS:

  The Babysitter (Encounters #1)

  Unwrap Me: An Erotic Christmas Novelette

  Teacher’s Pet, Volume One

  JUST ONE NIGHT