Chapter 8
CONRAD HAD said that Lizzie was spending the day and the night with her grandmother.
Apparently they were going to Philadelphia to see a show, and Conrad had asked Forrest to come over for lunch and an afternoon of Lego.
He pulled up in front of the house and parked.
Conrad opened the front door, staying out of the rain, but looking deliciously amazing in his skinny jeans and light T-shirt.
Forrest hurried inside, dodging the deluge pouring from the low clouds above.
“How was your week?” Forrest asked as he took off his dripping coat. Conrad hung it up to dry and groaned. “That bad?”
“Sort of. There was an issue with one of the systems. Not something I’m responsible for, thank goodness.
It was fixed, and the issues it caused were corrected.
But the firm decided they needed to do a better job of reviewing their system upgrades.
Something I’ve been saying for a while.” He led him inside the warm, dry house as the rain pelted the windows.
“Did they foist this onto you?” Forrest asked.
“That’s the interesting thing. I got called into Mr. Maxwell’s office, and he reviewed the situation.
I explained that what we needed was a test plan for upgrades.
That every department needed to develop a base set of test entries that we could run through before implementing new software.
That would allow us to be sure this didn’t happen again.
Then he asked if I would take the lead on the project, and he even assigned an intern to help gather the plans together and assist in developing the final documents. ” He smiled.
“So in a way they did give you the task?” Forrest asked.
“Yeah. But they gave me the help to do it properly, and they asked me to head it and to oversee the rest of the firm’s efforts.
Directors usually do that sort of thing, which means that my work is being taken seriously and I’m being given senior-level responsibility within the organization.
” He smiled. “I didn’t see Lester after that, but I heard the rumors he was trying to talk up.
The man is a real menace, and he needs to learn the cost of his gossip-mongering. ”
“Okay, well, I have a few ideas we can try. The first involves the internet. There are a number of sites that you can use to dig up past legal issues. We can start there. After that, it will take more digging, but we can find out if there is anything else.”
“Cool.” Conrad smiled and drew closer. “I’m really coming to hate him.
He’s just useless and seems to think that whatever he can get people to think will get him what he wants.
It’s idiotic and rather shallow.” He sighed.
“Okay, sorry. I don’t want to talk about work anymore.
” He led them through to the kitchen. “I made some burgers for lunch. I hope that’s okay. ”
“Are you nervous?” Forrest asked with a smile, and Conrad blushed. “You are?”
Conrad opened the refrigerator, and Forrest slipped his arms around his waist. “You don’t need to be.”
He leaned back against him. “It’s just that it’s been a while, and things didn’t go well with my last boyfriend.”
“Hey. Just relax. There’s nothing to be nervous about. We’re going to have lunch and then figure out how to build this pterodactyl of yours. After that we’ll have some dinner, and we can take things from there. You don’t need to feel any pressure.”
Conrad took a deep breath. “Don’t get me wrong, I want something to happen. It’s just that… what if I’m not up to what you expect?”
“Hey. You are getting way ahead of yourself. Nothing has to happen that you aren’t ready for. So relax and let’s have some lunch.” What he needed to do was get these expectations and worries off the table. “One step at a time.”
Conrad snickered. “Even now, you sound like a teacher.” He turned in his embrace.
“And yes, you’re right. I’m letting my head get ahead of me.
” He leaned forward, and Forrest kissed him.
It started off gentle, but soon Conrad pressed against him, the kiss deepening quickly.
Forrest cupped Conrad’s cheeks, caressing them before he backed away.
“Where were your worries there?” Forrest whispered, taking a second to get his balance once again. Somehow Conrad managed to make his legs feel like jelly.
“I guess you make me feel like I can do anything. God, that sounded corny.” He turned away and pulled out the burgers. “I better get lunch done or we’ll both starve.” Conrad got busy at the stove, and Forrest sat out of the way.
Soon Conrad had a nice lunch on the table, and they sat down to eat. The burgers were amazing, with just the right caramelization to give the meat that amazing taste. “How do you do this?”
“You have to get the pan hot to start with so the meat sears properly. You don’t want it to scorch. Then you turn it down to finish cooking so it stays juicy.” He wiped his mouth, and Forrest did too, just stopping a drip from landing on his shirt.
“Oh, I forgot,” Conrad said, getting up and hurrying to the refrigerator.
He returned with a bowl. “I made some pasta salad. There’s a restaurant in town that makes this, and I managed to get the recipe.
It’s mustardy and really tangy.” He placed the bowl on the table, and Forrest tried it before taking a good-sized helping.
“I love Lizzie, but sometimes I wonder if my taste buds are going to wither and die after the constant diet of kid food.” They ate, and once they were done, Conrad cleared the dishes and put everything away.
Then they headed downstairs to a place where just about everything was possible.
CONRAD STEPPED back from what they’d made, clearly frustrated. They had managed to put the model together, and to Forrest’s eye it looked good, but the wings didn’t move. When engaged, they fluttered upward about half an inch and then stopped. “The wings are too big and too heavy.”
“The too-heavy part I get. That has to be why they don’t move. But too big?” It looked good to him. Forrest stepped back to clear his mind a little. Conrad’s almost herbal, woodsy scent was driving him crazy. He had nearly pounced on him more than once. But he managed to control himself.
“I checked the internet, and the wing proportions are off. Judging by the body size, each of them should be two inches shorter. So if we redo them a little smaller, that might take care of our weight issue.”
Forrest scratched his head. “Okay. Let’s get them off and we can redo them.
” He helped Conrad remove the first wing.
There was no problem, but the second wing was stubborn, and once it came loose, it broke into pieces.
Conrad groaned. “It’s fine. I think we’re going to need to use different bricks anyway.
We can’t just take a section out. That will look dumb. ”
Conrad nodded, and they got to work, rebuilding the first wing using light and dark purple bricks.
The model was coming out really cool. By the time they got the wing done, they compared it to the other one, and it was shorter and noticeably lighter.
From there, they recreated the second wing and attached both to the body and to the motor inside.
Now the wings raised and lowered, slowly, complete with a flex as they moved.
Forrest pulled Conrad into a hug, grinning at their success.
He lowered his head to Conrad’s gaze and then kissed him forcefully.
Conrad responded with energy, and Forrest was tempted to push him back onto the table, but Lego bricks hurt, and that was the last thing Forrest wanted to do to him.
So he backed away, continuing to hold Conrad as they looked at their model flying above the table with a group of small dinosaurs below, running for cover.
Conrad turned off the motor and stood still, his hands resting on the table. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” Conrad checked his phone. “It’s almost Lizzie’s bedtime, so I was confirming with Mom that everything was okay.” He put the phone in his pocket. “I think we need some dinner.”
“We should clean up first.” He began gathering the bricks together by color and took them back to Conrad’s brick pit. Conrad helped, and it didn’t take long before everything was put away. “What are you going to do with it now that it’s done?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll probably leave it hanging from the ceiling and raise it up so it’s higher and out of the way.
That’s part of why it’s not hanging in the center of the room.
The prey I can put on a nearby shelf if I decide to keep them.
” Forrest admitted that they were okay, but the star was the flying dinosaur.
“Regardless, I’ll take a picture of it.” Conrad stepped back, and they moved the worktable to the center of the room.
“Okay.” They stood looking at their creation for a few more seconds before leaving the basement and turning out the lights. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starved.”
“I know. I always get that way after finishing a model. Most of the time I don’t eat while I’m working.
My mind is too worked up and focused to eat.
But when I finish, it all rushes back. It drove my mother crazy, but she figured it out as well.
” Conrad locked the door and then went right to the refrigerator.
“So she made sure we didn’t starve.” He pulled out a bowl.
“This is Mom’s turkey soup.” He got out bowls, bread, cheese, and some charcuterie, then made up a plate for the table while the microwave did its job.
“God, that smells good,” Forrest said as he inhaled, his stomach rumbling.
When the timer finished, Conrad stirred the soup and got it heating once more.
Then he cut the bread and popped a few pieces into the toaster.
Forrest had learned to stay out of Conrad’s way in the kitchen, and soon dinner was on the table.