Chapter 9 Brandon
brANDON
Monday morning started off great. I woke up with Sebastian still curled against my chest after our magical weekend together. I didn’t want to disturb his soft breathing tickling my neck, but I had to get up and go to work.
The Westfield project was already behind schedule because of the days I'd taken off for my tooth, and I needed to get the crew back on track. As long as nothing else went wrong, we’d be fine. But we were dangerously close to breach of contract and every day had to be at maximum production.
I kissed Sebastian goodbye and promised to text him during my lunch break.
He smiled sleepily but didn’t fully open his eyes. “Have a good day at work.”
When I got to the site, Frank was waiting for me with his arms crossed and a grim expression on his face.
"We've got a problem." He handed me a tablet showing the electrical schematics.
"The inspector just left and those issues with the wiring in the north wing are still getting flagged. We’ve gotta start over. All of it."
I scrolled through the notes and felt my stomach drop. "How did this get missed?"
"No idea, but we’re looking at two extra weeks…if not more." Frank rubbed his face and sighed. "And we're already over budget. If we don’t get this shit fixed, we’ll be paying off the other contractors who are waiting on us to do their parts."
"Fuck." I handed the tablet back and looked at the building. "Alright, lemme update Mike and we'll start pulling the bad wiring. The sooner we fix that, the sooner we can finish everything else."
The rest of the day was chaotic and frustrating, and I barely had a chance to check in with Sebastian. I wanted to see him for dinner, but I was cranky and tired, so I sent a text good night and promised to talk more the next day.
Unfortunately, the next day wasn’t much better. The wiring issue turned out to be worse than we thought, and we had to tear out entire sections of wall and reposition our junction boxes throughout.
I was at the site by six in the morning and didn't leave until well after dark.
I texted Sebastian when I could, but I was distracted and couldn’t focus. I warned him that work was crazy but I’d make it up to him as soon as I could.
The reality was that our conversations got shorter and shorter as the week went on.
While I was waiting in line at the lunch truck, I scanned through our texts.
Monday morning already felt so far away. Hey, sweetheart, missing you already. Work is crazy but I'll call you tonight.
He responded a minute later, like he’d been waiting to hear from me. Miss you too! Can't wait to talk later.
But I didn't call that night. I got home after ten and crashed on the couch without even taking off my boots.
Good thing I apologized on Tuesday. Sorry I didn't call last night. Today's gonna be long too. I'll make it up to you this weekend.
He totally understood, always considerate of me without being needy. It's okay. I know you're busy. Talk when you can.
On Wednesday, I managed to make my follow-up appointment at the dentist. I'd almost forgotten about it until my phone reminded me that morning. I showed up fifteen minutes late, still covered in dust from the job site, but I was there.
Sebastian was waiting for me in the exam room, and his face lit up when he saw me. "Hi! I was worried you weren't gonna make it."
"I almost didn’t. Work's been insane." I gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before I sat in the chair. "How's your week been?"
"Fine, I guess." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Busy."
Dr. Weismann came in and confirmed I was healing well and wouldn’t need to come back until I was ready for a full exam and cleaning. That was a discussion for another day…or year.
My whole appointment took less than twenty minutes, and even then, I was itching to get back to the site so I could try to get us ready for the first of several inspections by the end of the day.
Before I rushed out, I gave Sebastian another quick hug. "I gotta run, sweetheart, but I'll see you this weekend, okay?"
He nodded and stepped back. "Okay, be safe out there."
I wanted to stay longer and actually talk to him, but Frank texted about another issue with the inspector, so I kissed Sebastian's forehead and hurried out.
On Thursday, I was feeling better about where we were on the project. Things weren’t fully resolved yet, but we’d made a lot of progress and were almost back on track. One more day and my week from hell would be over.
As soon as I got out of the shower, I texted Sebastian, hoping to catch him just as naked so we could have a little phone fun before bedtime. Hey, baby. Another long day done. How are you?
My phone showed that he read my message almost instantly, but it took several minutes for his response to come back. Fine.
That was it. Just "fine." I stared at the message and wondered if he was upset with me. I was about to call him when Mike forwarded an email about a new section that was red tagged. A section we thought was done weeks ago.
So, I got distracted. Again.
In the back of my mind, I didn’t like that Sebastian’s texts were getting shorter and shorter, but I figured he was just busy too. He had his own job and his own life. He understood that work got crazy sometimes.
By lunch on Friday, we'd finally gotten the wiring fixed and passed one of the gating inspections. Frank clapped me on the back and told me to take Friday afternoon off as a thank-you for busting my ass all week.
I texted Sebastian right away, hoping he had the whole weekend available because I didn’t want to waste a single second. We had a lot of making up to do after a week apart. Finally done with this nightmare week. Can I come by in a few hours? I miss you.
He didn't respond until after I got home and had showered and shaved. Sure.
Just "sure" didn’t sound like Sebastian. My boy was usually enthusiastic and chatty. I kinda expected an "I miss you too" or maybe "I can't wait to see you."
His single-word response kinda felt like a punch to the gut.
But I pushed the worry aside and focused on our weekend. I wanted to look good for Sebastian to make up for being such a shitty boyfriend all week.
I stopped at the store and picked up his favorite milk chocolate truffles and a bouquet of flowers. It was cheesy, but I wanted him to know I'd been thinking about him even when I was too busy to show it properly.
When I pulled up in front of his apartment, I felt lighter than I had all week. I was finally gonna see my boy and spend some quality time with him.
I climbed the stairs and knocked on his door, holding the flowers and chocolate like some kind of lovesick teenager.
Sebastian opened the door, but he didn't smile. He looked tired, and his eyes were red and puffy like he'd been crying.
"Hey, sweetheart." I held out the flowers, but he didn’t take them. "I brought you these. I know this week has been crazy, but I wanted to—"
"Thanks, but I’m actually busy too." His voice was flat.
I flinched as if he’d slapped me. "What?"
"I said I'm busy." He crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't hang out today."
"Oh." I lowered the flowers and took a step back, confused by what was happening. "I thought we had plans."
"I thought we had a lot of things that haven’t worked out, so…" He shrugged. "I’ll see you around."
His words stung, probably because they were true. "Sebastian, what's going on? Are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad." But his tone said otherwise. "I just figured you’d be busy again, so I made other plans."
"Like what?" I didn't mean for it to come out so harsh, but I was confused and frustrated.
His eyes narrowed, and he sighed. "Does it matter?"
"Yeah, it matters. I haven't seen you all week, and I miss you." I tried to soften my voice, but it was hard to stay calm. "Can we just talk for a minute?"
"I don't wanna talk right now." He stepped back inside and started to close the door on me. "Text ya later."
Before I could say anything, the door shut in my face. It wasn’t quite a slam, but it was firm enough that I got the message loud and clear.
For a long moment, I just stood there staring at the closed door with the flowers and chocolate still in my hand. What the fuck just happened?
Part of me wanted to knock again and demand that he talk to me. But the other part, the part that had never been good at relationships, told me to just leave. I knew I’d screw up the best thing that ever happened to me, just didn’t realize it would happen so soon.
I walked back to my truck and tossed his gifts on the passenger seat. My hands were shaking as I started the engine, but I didn't drive away. I just sat there, trying to figure out what I'd done wrong.
Everything had been perfect on Sunday. We'd spent the whole day together and he'd been happy and sweet and perfect.
Now, he wouldn't even look at me.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through our messages again, looking at them from his perspective. His shortened and distant responses as the days went on obviously meant something. I'd assumed he was just busy too, but what if he was pulling away from me?
Dammit.
I didn't know how to fix this. I'd never been in a real relationship before, and he was too important to walk away from.
I called Mike, and he answered on the third ring. "Hey, man. What's up?"
"I need advice." I rubbed my face with my free hand. "About Sebastian."
"The cute dental tech you’ve been going on and on about?" Mike's voice perked up. "What about him?"
"I don't know. Everything was great last weekend, but I've been swamped with work all week and barely had time to text him. And now he won't even talk to me." I explained what had just happened at his apartment.
Mike was quiet for a moment then he sighed. "Lemme get this straight. You spent all week basically ignoring him, then showed up with flowers expecting everything to be fine?"
"I wasn't ignoring him." I bristled at the accusation but couldn’t fully deny its truth. "I was working."
"Dude, you sent him like three texts all week. And you didn’t follow through when you made promises to him. That's not exactly quality communication."
I slumped back in my seat. "I barely had time to eat, let alone have long conversations."
"I get it, but think about how it made him feel." Mike's voice was gentle. "You guys just started dating. You had this amazing weekend together, and then you basically disappeared for a week. He probably thinks you lost interest."
My stomach twisted. "I didn't lose interest. I’ll never lose interest in him."
"Did’ja tell him that? Does he know what was going on at work or does he think this is just how you are during a normal week?"
I thought back to our messages. I'd told him work was crazy, but I hadn't really explained that it was an exception and not the rule. And when I saw him at the dentist, I barely gave him a friendly hug before rushing back to the site.
"Fuck." I dropped my head back against the headrest. "He felt abandoned…by me."
"Probably." Mike sighed. "Look, I'm not try’na be a dick, but you've gotta communicate better. Especially if he's the Little you told me about. He needs reassurance and attention. You can't just disappear on him."
He was right. Sebastian needed me to be present and attentive, and I'd failed at both. "What do I do?"
"Give him some space to cool down, then go back and apologize.
Actually apologize, don't just show up with flowers and expect that to fix everything.
" Mike was better at this advice thing than I expected.
"And next time work gets crazy, make time for him anyway.
Even if it's just a five-minute phone call to say good night. "
"Yeah." I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "You're right. Thanks, man."
"No problem. Good luck, man. I’m rootin’ for you."
I sat in my truck for a few more minutes, staring up at Sebastian's apartment. I could see movement behind the curtains, and I wondered if he was watching me or waiting for me to leave.
Part of me wanted to leave and give Sebastian space while I figured out what I was actually gonna say to make things right.
But I couldn’t make myself drive away. I needed to do better. I needed to be better.
For Sebastian, I needed to be the Daddy he deserved.
And clearly, I was failing at that.