17. Wallace #2
“Hey, all I’m saying, man, is congratulations. Volt seems like a nice guy. I thought maybe you might like a little something to celebrate.”
He flashed a peacock blue nickel drive in his hand, dotted with golden sparkles and the size and shape of some obsolete currency.
Wallace’s stomach lurched, remembering the similar disc that Colton had pushed into his hand last time, though that one was pink with a little red heart.
Wallace had brought it home—he was pretty sure—but he’d lost it before he’d actually thrown it away. Though to be fair, he scarcely remembered anything from that week. He hadn’t been eating well or sleeping well, and he was all unmoored without his texts to Daddy.
Had the awful thing fallen out of his pocket and into a gutter? Rolled off his dresser and been swept up by the cleaningbot’s vacuum attachment?
He hoped it had been crushed by a truck, but the important part was that it was gone.
And now this jerk was trying to shove something else at him.
Was this guy like… a drug dealer for sparks? Was that a thing?
Wallace knew there was a black market for mods, but he hadn’t realized that people dealt them so aggressively on the streets.
“No thank you,” he said clearly.
“Oh, but you’ll like this one. It’s really mellow, like having a couple beers.
Great way to relax after a long week. Or there’s a second app that’s a little more peppy.
Like a little hit of ecstasy. Wears off in a couple hours.
And once you’ve installed the mods, you can just buy another round whenever you like.
” He flipped the metallic blue nickel upward, letting it sparkle in the air as it tumbled back into his hand.
“No, thank you,” Wallace said, with more aggression this time. “I’m not interested.”
“Ah, but maybe your boyfriend will be?” Colton asked, showing far too many of his sparkling white teeth, all in perfect alignment. “Maybe let him decide?”
For a moment, Wallace was almost swayed. Should he let Volt make the decision about something like this?
Nah. If Volt wanted to get tipsy, he was sure that between the two of them they could find someone else to buy from.
Someone who wasn’t so pushy and invasive.
“We’re not interested,” he repeated, finally coming up to the circular drive in front of his apartment building.
He made eyes with the porter, gesturing at the man following him.
The porter scrunched his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on, but when Wallace pulled away from Colton, shoulders high, he alerted the security guard inside. Thank God.
Colton kept on following him, practically pushing the nickel drive into his hands.
Wallace almost took it, just so he could drop it on the street, but he didn’t want to touch Colton more than necessary or owe him for damaged merchandise.
“Carmen,” Wallace called out, glad that he knew the security guard on duty.
She was walking toward him. “This man has been aggressively panhandling me since I stepped out of my car. He says his name is Colton Alexander. I’d suggest that the police be called if he doesn’t remove himself immediately from the premises. ”
Carmen gave the man a stern look. She was a smidge shorter than Wallace, so not tall at all, but her padded vest and don’t-fuck-with-me expression said enough. “Colton Alexander?” she asked.
“Well, hello, ma’am,” he greeted her, a toothpaste-commercial smile plastered on his face.
She looked him dead in the eye. “You heard what Mr. Wollencroft said. Your name and image have now been recorded. Please exit the premises immediately, or I will call the police to remove you.”
“Hey, hey!” he laughed, holding up his hands like that could prove his innocence. “No reason to get all pushy. I was just offering Wally here some opportunities.”
Wallace gritted his teeth. He hated that name. But fortunately, he didn’t have to deal with this. “Good afternoon, Carmen.” He nodded to the porter as well. “Jamal. Thank you for handling this.”
Carmen didn’t look away from Colton Alexander as she bid Wallace a dismissive good evening. Jamal escorted him to the sliding glass doors.
This was why he paid so much for his apartment. Well, he didn’t actually love his apartment, and it often felt lonely and sterile, though he was starting to fix it up and almost had a surprise ready for his Daddy. But for today, it was all worth it.
He was still a little frazzled as he took his shower and slipped into a crimson v-neck along with a pair of black jeans. He looked at himself. He felt good. The shirt felt daring and flirty, almost like what he really wanted… but that was as far as he could go today.
It had been a very, very long day, and it was still the afternoon. Was the clear gloss on his nails too much? He didn’t think it was.
Hell, men wore nail polish all the time. Even men at his own office, though all of them were lower than him in the corporate hierarchy.
He was tired of overthinking it.
When he was dressed, he stopped at the security desk, wanting confirmation that the odious man was gone before he called his car to wait for him at the curb.
“All clear, Mr. Wollencroft,” Carmen reported. “I’ll escort you to your vehicle.”
“Excellent,” he told her, more grateful for the professional courtesy than he should have been. “Thank you.”
He was definitely ready for some time with his Daddy.