The Maestro | RusAme |

Eighteen

Roderich was dressed and eating his breakfast at the table twenty minutes before he had to commute when he received a distressed phonecall from Ivan.

Although Ivan had gotten good at hiding the things that bothered him, he was bad at it with Roderich. For some reason, he felt like his ability to hide behind his smile disappeared with Roderich, and so he figured he'd be transparent. He knew Roderich could tell when he was sugarcoating something, or when he was irked by something. And it wasn't like he would completely open up to him and be overly emotional, but he'd stay composed and tell him like it was.

He told Roderich, "I heard her phonecall with this co-worker that sounded like she was seeing him behind my back, and she said she was going to be going home with him. She sounded very friendly with this man on the phone as well, and I can't help being concerned."

His Austrian friend was silent for a second, and said with shock, "Uh, I would wait and see what else she does and then maybe, um, ask?" Roderich could not believe what Gilbert saw was correct, and that this was actually happening. Everything was working out so perfectly for him and his plan.

Ivan replied, "I guess you're right. She said things would be better soon, but I didn't buy a word she was saying... and now I'm starting to doubt if she even works overtime."

Roderich could at least tell Ivan was put off by this but he was surprised he wasn't more upset by the situation. It was probably because he'd become so desensitized. He didn't know by what, but something did enough to him to change how he lived his life.

"I'm sorry to hear. I'm glad you called me, it's really nice to hear from you, even if I'll already be seeing you today. I'm sure if things don't work out you'll find a way to sort things out." Roderich told him reassuringly.

Ivan sigh inaudibly, relieved. "Thanks. I'll see you after two."

"Okay, bye." Roderich hung the phone up.

Ivan was sitting with his head in his hands for a few minutes, contemplating the situation and finally breaking down and shedding a few tears out of frustration.

He thought it would be best to go with what Roderich said and wait to see if she really is cheating, but he new that he'd have to be patient.

Which he was terrible at.

But what were his other viable options? What if it wasn't true? Yan wouldn't trust him anymore, and the falling out may be slower and more ugly. He didn't want to hurt her feelings or get his feelings hurt because he knew it wouldn't be necessary, since they had been falling apart since they had moved back from Europe.

What to do...? Poor Ivan had been out of ideas and started working up the courage to ask his mother if he could move in soon. His ego hurt at the thought of it, and he knew he should be more concerned about telling Yan that it wasn't working but he really didn't want to have to stay with his family again.

'Nothing against them,' he thought, 'but they are kind of weird...' He not only thought they were weird, but he wanted to have a place of his own. He was an adult! The only good thing about this was he wouldnt be alone everyday, at least. He would have to keep an eye on Yan while figuring out what he was going to do.