FREE⇡RIDE⇣HOME [Elevator Hitch || COTAG]

Could you tell me what I have to do?

We arrive at work with his car shortly after, and head to our departments, but we both get interrupted by our employer. My boyfriend is immediately repulsed, as though we're standing in a horse's feces.

"What do you want?" He groans, and grabs my arm firmly.

"Good morning to you also. I was wondering if you two would prefer to work in the same department." He looks at my partner with an innocent smile. "The guy in the cubicle next to you left..."

He reaches his hand out to me, but doesn't invite me for a handshake. I'm actually not sure what he's doing. "Only if you can handle the change, of course."

I make mild eye contact with my boyfriend, because I myself don't know what to say. He seems excited, so I just accept it. "Yes, I'd love that," I say, with a rather soft voice. I unintentionally anger him.

Our employer slams his hands together, in one, single, ominous clap. "Great! Then, I'll walk with you to your old cubicle and help you transport your stuff to the new one. Your coworker may go to his department already, to not waste any time." He winks.

I comply, without really thinking much of it... I mean, it's his job to explain things to me, so... it's fine, right?

I follow my employer, and quickly after I part from my boyfriend, he starts interrogating me. Lord...

"So, how's your face?" He asks.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, but... the scabs look awful," I answer.

"That's good," he continues, and I'm not sure to which part of my sentence he's responding. "So, did anything change since the last time we've spoken?"

"Not... really..." I roll my eyes, "well... yeah..."

He bumps my shoulder platonically. "What is it?" He whispers. I've never seen this guy act casually. Wow.

"Oh, uh... well, we're dating now– I mean, kind of..."

He laughs. That's it. "Have you ever thought of a polyamorous relationship?"

"A what?"

He leans in to my ear. "A relationship between three or more people," he whispers, with a flirtatious vibe, which turns my stomach upside down in disgust. "What?!" I can feel my face flush completely.

He smirks, in a way that isn't genuine, but somehow, it's not false either. "Of course I haven't..."

"I was just kidding," he states, getting on my nerves. "For the record, I'm just trying to annoy your boyfriend."

"But... why?" We finally arrive at my cubicle, and he still hasn't started explaining what I have to do at my new department. Did he just want to chat me up?

"To make him jealous, of course. That way, I get to see more interactions between you two..."

"You're just making him angry," I state.

"I may be making him angry, but he'd never get angry at you. Instead, he'd just treat you even better, because he'd think there's someone who can steal you from him." He winks.

"Why do you want him to treat me even better?" I ask, nonchalantly, as I fill my pockets with tiny useless stuff and grab some larger decorations. He's not helping me at all, even though he said he would.

"I just want to see if he can take care of you better than I can. I'd–"

"Just get a girlfriend, honestly. Or a boyfriend, for that matter. But leave me alone." I blurt out something improper, and immediately after worry that I might get in trouble. "I'm sorry, just... I'd appreciate it if you could refrain from trying to be a part of this."

His eyes widen. "Well, that's unexpected..."

He helps me carry some of my things, and we get to my boyfriend's department. He greets me warmly, and ignores our employer completely, before rolling his wheeled office chair to his desk again, supposedly listening to us through the cubicle wall. I'm glad I'm not alone anymore.

I place my stuff on the table, and our employer finally starts explaining to me what I have to do. I've been longing for this so badly, that I'm not even interested in what he's saying anymore. I have my sweetheart at the other side of the wall to tell me exactly what's going on.

"To put it briefly, you have to use the printer a lot more in your new department, whereas you simply had to type things out in your old department. Have a good day!" Our employer pushes me down on the chair, and leaves the rest to me. He leaves.

I boot up the computer, and stare at the screen, looking for tasks.

"Are you alright?" My boyfriend exits his cubicle and stands next to me. He has a little rod sticking out of his mouth, which definitely isn't a cigarette.

"Where'd you get that lollipop from?" I ask, presuming it's a piece of candy.

"I have a whole drawer pull of sweets. Do you want one?" He leans against his cubicle, waiting for me to accept.

"I prefer this one," I say, before tugging the lollipop out of his mouth, and putting it between my lips instead. "Could you tell me what I have to do?"

He groans about the loss of his lollipop, and crouches down next to me, to be on my level. He points to some icons on the desktop. "You print the documents sent from your old department, and segregate them. Easy, right?"

"Yeah... sure." Instead of printing documents, I focus on adjusting them, because I'm used to doing that. Also, I'm too anxious to walk to the printer all the time. In the end, I'm doing two things at a time.

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