You, Me, and Her

Verse 28: One More Night

Maxen stood in the office hallway watching a sexy male colleague walk by but he did not give him a second glance. This was watched closely by Halwyn who couldn't help but giggle at the disappointment marred on his friend's face.

Max looked on. "What do I have to offer to get that dude to notice me?"

"Have you tried blood?"

"Did anyone ever tell you how mean you are?"

Hal continued to smirk. "Give it a rest, he's an intern."

"So?"

"So...he's probably not asking you out because he's intimidated by your position and emotional maturity."

Grimacing painfully, Max couldn't help asking, "Am I talking to Hal or Gwen? That sounds like something girls, like Gwen, would talk with other girls while sipping cocktails in a bar."

Hal rolled his eyes. "Gwen isn't that kind of girl," he replied tonelessly and started shuffling some papers, evidently searching for something but couldn't seem to find it. "He likes you too much. You're too pretty and awesome---is this what you want to hear?"

"Devil incarnate! By the by, how have you been with Griffin and Aidan?"

To what he said, Hal couldn't help glaring. "Please, don't start!"

But Max wasn't the one to be ignored and he started singing an oldie to get a reaction, "Torn between two lovers, feeling like a fool...loving both of you is breaking all the rules..." The tone-deaf way of singing was more annoying than the fact that he was being teased. Hal groaned.

"Neither one is my lover and I'm not breaking any rules. Don't you have anything else to do?"

Steffan strode inside his office without knocking and started complaining that Hal suddenly wanted to curse. "Caller ID was the worst thing that ever happened in the world. Total invasion of privacy and personal freedom!"

Hal, "Oh please, people, get the fuck out of my office!"

Max ignored him and turned to Steff instead. "What's got your panty in a bunch? Is that guy you're seeing not calling you again?"

Steffan kicked him lightly on the shin but it still made him whine. Hal was curious, "Are we still talking about the same guy?"

"Ah, er..."

"We don't even know his name," Max pointed this out, "Or did he tell you?"

"I was thinking of his random hookups."

"What?" Steff was outraged. "I'm only seeing one at the moment, what do you think of me, a slut?"

Max acted surprised and it made Halwyn laugh. "You're not?"

"How are things with Griffin, Hal?" Steff thought of asking instead of giving Max the attention he craved for.

Halwyn was obviously exhausted from being asked the same thing. Earlier, his sister and Cadi kept prompting him to say something about Aidan, baiting him into even disclosing what they had talked about that night he asked for another chance on his front porch. Now, Max and Steff wanted to know the situation with Griffin...if there ever was a situation.

Well, to be fair, the man wanted something more than casual dates but Hal was not ready to entertain the possibility of being in a relationship with him. He didn't want to question it at first but now he was sincerely considering that it must be because of Aidan that he couldn't imagine himself being with Griffin.

There were just too many memories of the man around him and it wouldn't be easy to move on...

"He seems...alright."