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Paul was emptying the dishwasher when Carlos showed up. He’d been alone for a while, cleaning up the kitchen before the end of shift, and he was happy to have company. Even if he wasn’t the one Carlos intended to visit. He always enjoyed spending time with the man and hoped this would grow into a nice friendship. Time just the two of them, without TK there, could only help get them there.
“Hey, Paul, how are you doing?”
“Good, you?”
“Good too. Where’s everybody?”
“You mean, where’s TK?”
“I don’t always come here just to see TK. What tells you I’m not here to hang out with you? I was just wondering why the place is so empty.”
“You are definitely here to pick up your boyfriend after shift. But it’s okay, I still get to hang out with you a while, because he’s out on a call with the rest of the crew.”
“And how come you stayed behind?”
“Someone has to clean up and get things ready for next shift. I lost at rock paper scissors.”
“I can persuade TK to volunteer next time if you want.”
“Oh, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, I’m so holding you to that one.”
Carlos laughed. He helped Paul put away the last few dishes and they decided to play some table football. Paul’s shift was over by now and he was free to go, but he wanted to spend time with his friend. Plus, beating him over and over again was fun.
“That’s unfair, you clearly have a lot more practice.”
“You can’t win at everything. You got a hot date, I get to win at this game.”
“It’s not like it was easy, you know. I tried to make him dinner and he blew me off, then I had to process him when he got arrested. And when I finally got the courage to ask him out, he spent the whole time ranting about Judd. I had to work hard for that one.”
“That’s what you get for falling for a white boy.”
“Well, it’s not like I had a lot of options. You’re a catch, but you’re straight.”
“And yet, I’m still alone.”
“You’ll find someone one day, I’m sure. In the meantime, we should do game night. We can invite more friends, drink beer, it’ll be fun. And maybe we’ll find something I can beat you at.”
“Oh, keep dreaming, I am great at board games. But I’ll be nice and bring food.”
“You know I can cook, right? I’m actually great at it.”
“So am I. You know what, you should come over here sometime and we can both cook for the crew. See whose food they prefer.”
“Loser pays for drinks next time we go out?”
“You’re on.”
The more they talked, the more Paul realised they had a lot in common. Sometimes, he missed the friends he had in Chicago, but it finally felt like he was making some new ones here, some great ones. They hadn’t spent that much time together yet, but already Paul knew Carlos had his back, and he had his.