by Alex Silver
“Well, almost never. If we need to pull quotes for promo, I might have you go through recent comments. The comment section is for the viewers, not for us. I have the Hauntastic Haunts website and other social media set up to interact with the viewers, but the comments are their domain.”
“Did you need me to do anything else tonight?”
“No, you’ve put in a full day already between shooting the flashback sequence, wrangling diva child actors, and everything else.”
“Cool, well, I guess I’ll hit the hay,” he gave me a shy smile.
“Good night,” I said.
I resisted the urge to watch him crawl into his bunk. And I stayed up editing footage until I was in danger of dozing off over my keyboard. Because the thought of sleeping next to him, with only the partition between us threatened my resolve not to think about him like that.
I was too exhausted to think about the proximity of his soft breathing or his soft lips by the time I crawled into bed.
THIRTY
Chad
“What’s this about you being in Vermont?” Kay asked on our weekly phone call.
I was still riding high on the buzz of endorphins from the live chat the morning after my first livestream with Daniel. Not even my sister’s third degree could bring me down. I might have neglected to mention changing jobs on a whim and fleeing the state in our brief chat the previous week. To say she wanted answers was an understatement.
Chorus had me scheduled to work through last weekend so I’d cut short last week’s call without arousing Kay’s suspicions too much. My luck at keeping her in the dark ran out when I didn’t drop by to see her and the kids this weekend. I should have been free, and she knew it. I always spent my weekends off with her family.
“Didn’t I say in my email last night? I got a new job that requires travel,” I spoke softly so I wouldn’t wake Daniel. It wasn’t early, but he’d been up for ages last night. Not that I’d lain awake in my bunk for hours listening to him mumbling to himself as he edited our raw footage. Okay, so I had done that. Did that make me a creeper?
“I read your message. I’m just shocked that my baby brother—the prototypical stable boring career man—took a job working for a freelance vlogger. With no notice. And left the state to follow him.”
“It was a good offer, and I needed a new job,” I defended myself.
“Uh huh, and the fact that the vlogger in question is the guy you’ve been crushing on for years had nothing to do with your decision?” Kay asked.
She sounded amused rather than accusatory but I still felt defensive. I glanced toward the bunk where Daniel was still asleep. Then I ducked inside the shower stall for what little privacy it offered.
“I like his videos,” I hissed into the phone.
“Uh huh, and I read playgirl for the articles, Chad. I’m not judging you, bro. For serious, I’m glad you are doing someone—oops Freudian Slip—something that makes you happy for once in your life.”
I rolled my eyes at my sister, I needed to end the call before I gave myself eyestrain. There was no reasoning with Kay when she got her teeth into an idea, “So how are the rugrats?”
“Sadie’s grumpy that summer is almost over. Zoe is beside herself because she gets to go for a full day of school this year and ride the bus with Sadie. They both missed your cartoon date yesterday.”
“Tell the squirts I missed them too. I can’t believe I won’t be there to send them back to school this year. Next week we can video chat for our cartoon brunch.”
“I’ll tell them. And I’ll send you pics of their first day outfits. Now, stop trying to change the subject.”
“Who, me?”
“Yes, you. You can’t send me an email saying you’re uprooting your life for a hot guy and then leave me hanging. How am I am I supposed to relive my youth vicariously through you with no details?”
I snorted at that. Kay and her husband were sickeningly in love and I knew it.
“Ha, if either of us needs a vicarious love life we both know it’s not you, Kay.”
“Fine. Still, dish. Is he as hot in person? Is he a good boss? Are you still crushing on him or did familiarity breed contempt?”
I considered hanging up on her. But there was no sign of Daniel being awake yet so I figured there wasn’t any harm in talking to my sister. Besides, she would just keep calling back until I satisfied her curiosity. And it might help me process how I felt to put it in words.
“I’ll admit he’s cute, all right? And I suppose he might not hate the way I look.”
“Oh? Elaborate!”
“I showed him my tats and he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off me. But I mean, he was probably looking for my scars or something.”
“You can tell the difference between appreciating a view and that kind of staring, Chad. So he’s into you too then. What’s the problem?”
“He’s my boss.”
“Sure, but it’s not like you need the job.”
“Um, I kind of do. Living isn’t free, sis.”
“Ugh, you know what I mean. You can get a different job. You’re more than qualified to be doing much more than you have been with your fancy degree.”
“It’s an MBA, hardly fancy.”
“Fancier than anyone else in our family.”
“Kay, I love you, but seriously, drop it. So what if I’ve got a hopeless crush? I enjoy working with him, that’s worth more to me than risking a relationship. Nothing can happen between me and my boss.”
“It worked out for Brad and I,” she said.
She would bring that up. Brad was a manager at the restaurant where Kay worked when they met. She’d earned her way up from a part-time hostess position at sixteen to a bartender after she graduated high school at eighteen.
At first she’d hated Brad because her boss overlooked her for the management position to bring him in from another franchise location. Then he’d set out to woo her and won not only her workplace cooperation, but her heart too.
That was how they told the story whenever prompted. I assumed Kay was glossing over hate sex with that story. I was disinclined to think about my sister fucking so I accepted her sanitized version of events.
Anyway, they still worked together, though it was at Brad’s family’s restaurant these days. I guess his family wanted him to bring his own bona fides back to the restaurant before hiring him. Either way, working together didn’t seem to pose a problem for them.
“You and Brad are one in a million, Kay,” I said.
“We are pretty awesome. But you can have awesome too, you’re related to me.”
“There’s more to life than sexual relationships, Kay. I’m enjoying this job, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll drop it for now. I saw your video though, you two are cute together.”
“We aren’t together,” I grumbled.
“But you could be. Take chances, Chadrick,” she said, I rolled my eyes at the ridiculous nickname. Two could play at that game.
“Whatever, Kaybar,” I teased back. “Kiss the kiddos for me, I need to get my caffeine fix.”
“Oh, is that why you’re being such a grump? No coffee yet? Did something catastrophic happen? Is your coffee maker broken? Do I need to send help?”
“Daniel’s still asleep,” I mumbled, and then over her peals of laughter I added, “I didn’t want to wake him up.”
“Aw, that’s my sweet, thoughtful brother. It’s after ten—wake that fucker up.”
“He was up late last night.”
“No excuses. Wake him up, share a cup of coffee and give him that irresistible smile of yours, you’ll have him curled around your finger in no time.”
“I don’t want him curled around my finger.”
“Keep telling yourself that and go caffeinate. And call to dish when you kiss him.”
“I will not kiss him.”
“Uh huh, were you there for that segment you filmed? You two couldn’t keep your eyes off each other.”
; “He was talking to me about his gear. And I was just handing him crap.”
“Not just a river in Egypt. You’ve got it bad, little brother.”
“I’m not in denial.”
“Go make your man coffee, Chadrick,” she said with an air of finality.
“I’ll text you about video chatting with the kids later this week, Kaybar.”
I hung up before she could say anything else. Daniel was still in his bunk so I tried to keep the noise down while I made coffee and rummaged around for breakfast stuff. Daniel had a box of pancake mix so I figured that would work for a late breakfast when he woke up.
He eased out of his bunk as I was flipping the last pancake with slices of banana in it.
“Smells awesome in here,” Daniel said with a sleepy smile for me. Kay was right, I had it bad for the guy.
“Uh, yeah,” I said, tongue-tied.
“You didn’t have to cook,” Daniel reached for a coffee cup.
“I wanted to. It’s no trouble. Help yourself.”
Daniel swung the table into dining position, poured us both coffee, and set the table without asking. I added the last pancake to the stack.
We filled our plates in silence. Though Daniel raised an eyebrow at me when he noticed the fruit I’d added to the batter.
“More hidden fruit, huh?”
“It was looking overripe.”
He took a few bites before talking again.
“It’s good. So I heard you on the phone this morning, is everything good back home?”
“Oh, yeah. Just my sister giving me a hard time.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’m not what she’d consider impulsive.”
“You dropped everything to come work for me on short notice. That was way out of character, huh?”
“That about sums it up. In hindsight, I’m surprised it took her this long to call.”
“Glad to hear your family is well.”
“Yeah. They’re good. Great. She watched our Ghost Hunter 101 video. Er, I mean your video.”
“You were in it too,” Chad grinned at me, his eyes sparkling with good humor, “You can call it our video.”
“Right, well she watched it. I sent her the link to the Hauntastic Haunts channel.”
“Did she like it?”
“She said we made a cute couple,” I grumbled. Then I covered my mouth wishing I could take the words back when his eyes snapped to me and time seemed to slow. We stared at each other for a long time before he averted his gaze.
“I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable, Chad,” Dan said, studiously not looking at me.
“I know. You’ve mentioned a few times that you aren’t interested in anything with me,” I said. And boy, could I sound more like a petulant child denied a treat? I’d been spending too much time with my nieces if I was whining like that.
Daniel sighed, “It’s not about you, Chad. You’re great.”
“You don’t have to explain anything.”
“It sounds like I do. I’ve been enjoying getting to know you, I love working with you. Heck, you are hands down the best PA I’ve ever had. You take our work as seriously as I do. But that’s just it.
“I’m your boss, I sign your paycheck and provide your housing and meals as part of our arrangement. How can we even consider starting a relationship on equal footing under the circumstances?”
That he’d jumped to relationship talk instead of just a hookup told me what I needed to know. He was as into me as I was into him. Maybe Kay was right. We both deserved a chance to see where the mutual attraction might lead.
“My sister married her supervisor. People make it work,” I blurted.
Daniel sighed, “I don’t want to put you in a position where you feel like you have to say yes to me.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’m capable of telling you no. You’re my boss, not my guardian. I can make my own choices.”
Daniel shook his head, “I don’t want to cross any lines.”
“Okay, fine. How about this? During work hours we keep it professional.”
“That’s exactly what I’m proposing,” Daniel said. I held up a finger to silence him
“I’m not done, during the workday we are only employer and employee. But once the cameras stop rolling and the editing is in the can, we put aside the work stuff and try dating. Not as a big shot vlogging superstar and his lowly PA. But just Daniel and Chad. Two guys who’re into each other?”
“You really want to date me? You aren’t just saying what you think I want to hear?”
“Do you believe I’d do that?”
“No, I guess not. You’ve always been upfront with me. Are you sure this won’t screw everything up though?”
“I don’t have a crystal ball to tell you how things will turn out. But I can promise to be professional with you if things don’t work out between us.”
Daniel scrubbed a hand through his hair, considering. From the way his intense gaze locked on mine, I knew I’d convinced him though. We were trying this.
“Deal. I don’t know if this is the best idea you’ve had yet or the worst, but right now I want to kiss you.”
“Same. Do you understand how hard it’s been sleeping less than a foot away from you all week? Dude, at the risk of you thinking I’m an internet stalker, I’ve had a crush on you since I looked up your videos.”
“When I offered you the job?” His confused blinking was adorable.
“No, I got curious after I got a call from a guy’s PA. That was a first for me. I wanted to see what sort of fancy deal you had going, so I looked you up and found Hauntastic Haunts.”
“And you’ve been a fan ever since? Wait, are you a creepy internet stalker? Is this the part where you send me dead flowers and creepy love notes with letters cut out of magazines and decorated with dismembered body parts? Should I be afraid?”
“Too far. Don’t even joke about that. I’m not a stalker. No creepy dead things of any kind, I promise.”
“Well, maybe some ghosts.”
“That is our business.” I agreed with a wry grin.
“Our business. Yeah. I like that there is an ‘us’. I guess since you admitted to being smitten with me for ages I can admit that I had a bit of a thing for you too.”
“Really?” I asked, skeptical, “But you thought I was some boring suburbanite dad.”
“Well, if you were a dad, you’d be a total DILF. Besides, you have a nice voice. It was comforting when I was freaking out about my medical bills. I think that might be why I assumed you were older, because you sounded like you had your shit together.”
“You think so?”
“Sure. I mean you’ve done a great job keeping filming on a schedule. We’ve already got tons of raw footage to edit for next week’s site history video and the haunting videos for the rest of the month. At this rate we’ll wrap with time to spare for doing retakes instead of scrambling to cut together whatever we can get at the last minute. Seriously, you’re a godsend.”
“The Goodmans are accommodating.”
Daniel snorted, “They want days to review the footage for the other three videos. I normally don’t even get around to editing stuff together until the Thursday evening before a film drops.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m such a hardass about the schedule then.”
“Yeah. You have a great ass,” Daniel said. We both flushed as the words sunk in.
“You think so?” I asked.
“Yeah, I mean, not that I’ve been ogling you or anything, I just... noticed. Sorry, god, I feel like such a creeper.”
“Don’t, you aren’t. We’ve established we both like each other. We’re both adults, no reason we shouldn’t explore our attraction.”
“Okay. Sure. But we agreed to keep the relationship stuff after hours. If we plan to make the Goodman’s deadline I need to stay on top of editing.”
“Fair enough. What’s on the agenda for today, boss?”
“I’m
thinking we have some fun working on the big flashback scene. That will take the most manipulation. Best to start early.”
“Sounds good.”
“Great, I’ll get set up while you handle the dishes. Then you can observe me working my flashback magic on the scenes we shot yesterday with the kids.”
THIRTY-ONE
Dan
Keeping my focus on work all day with Chad sitting close enough that our thighs brushed was one of the hardest things I’d done in a while. He was just as antsy as I was, but he tried to stay engaged with the work.
In addition to observing my edits, he set up the AMA thread we’d promised the fans. He answered questions as they popped up throughout the day.
On the editing front, we got about as far as cleaning up the footage we’d taken. We made a few splicing decisions about which camera angles to use for which shots. But my heart wasn’t in it and I called it a day around four.
“That’s a wrap for now.”
“Already? It’s not even five.”
I made a show of stretching, “My ass is going numb from sitting in this chair. We made a solid start on the scene. Tomorrow we can add in the filters and sound effects. If you insist on putting in more time, I can put you to work trawling my FX catalog. You can pick out just the right creepy kids laughing, barn boards creaking, and mood music.”
“Sure, I can do that.”
“And I thought I was a workaholic,” I laughed. “Okay, I’ll pull up my top contenders from what I remember having in the files. You can take a listen while I get cleaned up for dinner, I’m still in my sleep pants here.”
“Nothing wrong with taking the occasional lazy Sunday.”
“Sure, but tonight calls for something special.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a hot date tonight, hoping to get lucky.”
“I have it on good authority your date likes you in lounge wear,” Chad deadpanned.
I ignored that in favor of pulling up the sound files I wanted him to listen to. Once I set him up with a pair of headphones, I reached for a change of clothes in my overhead cabinets.
It took a bit of contorting to reach, but better that than climbing with my leg being what it was. I sent Lara a quick text asking about friendly local establishments to take a date. Then I wrapped my cast in a garbage bag and ducked into the shower while I waited for her response. Years of habit with a limited hot water supply had me washed up in less than five minutes and ready to roll.
