5. Wallace #2
Now she was going to be annoyed, too. They’d already had this conversation a dozen times.
No wonder everybody hated him.
He fumbled his way through the rest of the meeting, thinking of nothing but when he could sneak out the door.
By the time he made it out, he wasn’t crying—thank goodness—but he had that sick feeling of failure deep in his gut.
He went in every week hoping that this time his arguments would be good enough to make a difference. That this time, his father would take him at his word.
He’d long since given up on finding parental love, but would a bit of respect be too much to ask?
“Well, I’ve got things to do,” his father finally grumbled.
Wallace didn’t wait for a second invitation, racing out the door and practically slamming it behind him.
Was it too soon to call Volt? He’d spent the past two days with him. And even though he knew Volt had asked for more phone calls, that didn’t mean he wanted to hear Wallace being whiny and pissed off. He wasn’t a teenager anymore. He should be over that.
But oh, how he wanted to hear Volt’s voice right now.
He made his way to his office and firmly shut the door.
Daddy? he texted Volt. Are you around right now?
He definitely wasn’t going to call. He couldn’t imagine calling Volt only to have it go to voicemail if his boyfriend was… working.
Not that he had a problem with his work. Really.
Well, mostly.
But he really, really didn’t want to call and have it go to voicemail, then sit there wondering if his boyfriend was doing things with a client that they hadn’t even done together yet.
He barely had a second to wait, though, before his phone rang. He quickly swiped to answer.
“Hey, creampuff.” Volt’s deep voice filled the room. “I missed you today.”
Wallace could feel himself smiling, all of his anxiety swept away. “Hey, Daddy. I missed you, too.”
“I don’t suppose you were calling to say you were done with work early and wanted to come over?”
Wallace found himself giggling. How he had gone instantly from feeling worthless and worried to laughing was a miracle, but that was what Volt did to him. “I have work, Daddy. And you just saw me!” Surely three days in a row would be too many.
“I didn’t see you enough, though,” Volt teased.
“Would you really want me to come over again tonight?” He kind of knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it anyway. It was like a balm on his soul.
“Absolutely. I need to wander through the lounge every hour or so, and I wouldn’t want to leave the building in case Angel needs me. But Tuesdays are slow. If you don’t mind hanging out in the office or the kitchen, we could have most of the evening together. Are you free tonight?”
Wallace would have been lying if he said he had to check his calendar. He didn’t have anything else happening this evening, or any other evening. “I’m free, Daddy. I’ll be there around seven.” That would give him time to go home and grab some clothes.
Not that he was assuming that he’d be staying over. He could just leave a few work outfits in the car.
In case.
“Yes!” Volt hissed.
His man was such a dork. And Wallace was totally head over heels for him. Nobody, nobody, had ever been that excited to see him before, and he couldn’t get enough of it.
“Though I still want to take you on a proper date,” Volt continued.
Wallace shook his head, even though Volt couldn’t see him. “You’ve already taken me on two dates. Or maybe three. Four? Shouldn’t it be my turn?” He hoped he sounded cute and flirty. That’s what he was aiming for.
Volt laughed. “I just took you on one date that lasted two days. But I can compromise and let my pretty boy have one. Where are you taking me?”
“Uh…” He had absolutely no idea. Not out to dinner, obviously, because Volt couldn’t eat.
No, he did have some ideas. He’d figured out several last week before Volt rejected him as a client, and eventually took him back as a boyfriend.
“I guess I was wondering if you’d be interested in a nature trail at one of the state parks?
Or the ballet, I thought, because you like to dance.
Or… Oops. I was going to say the aquarium, but you already took me there. Maybe the ballet or hiking?”
“I would enjoy both of those, creampuff, especially with you at my side. Though I’ve never been to the ballet. Or the theater, for that matter. I trust you to make a good choice. And what we don’t do this time, we can do next time.”
“Okay, Daddy.” Wallace was grinning from ear to ear. He was taking his real boyfriend on a real date, and he hadn’t screwed it up at all.
They chatted for a little longer, until Wallace realized he should probably get some work done if he wanted to be free this evening. Though he was going to put off talking to Ms. Yin as long as possible.
Maybe he was wallowing in his office, but it was totally worth it. He’d make sure all his work was done, regardless.
He reluctantly hung up and turned to his computer, only to be interrupted by a chipper voice. “Hey, Wallace!”
He grunted. He wasn’t going to give Maxamillion—the annoyingly outgoing spark who lived in Orbit’s mainframe computer and was just one mistake away from a lawsuit or someone getting grievously injured—any more encouragement.
“I heard you talking about the nursebot project with your dad.”
Wallace glared at the camera over the small conference table in his office, which was where he assumed the unregistered knowledge was watching him from. “You shouldn’t listen in on people’s private conversations. It’s rude.”
“I just wanted to say that I had some ideas for the testing that could help speed up…”
“No.”
“But Wallace…” Maxamillion wheedled.
“No. Don’t touch that project.”