Chapter Text
Patrick Brewer had a headache. The words on the page in front of him were starting to swim. He needed to focus on this new ad campaign for Lucky Strike because the executives would be in Meeting Room 1 within the hour. He’d worked diligently on the story for this campaign for the last week. Last night, he stayed in the office until about 8 pm going over the new ideas with Ted.
Ted was Patrick’s go to for every campaign and they worked well together. Unfortunately, this time around they weren’t allowed to use Mutt (not his real name, just what the office called him) for their art concepts. No, this time Johnny Rose had insisted Patrick use his newly hired son. Patrick hated nepotism. He was a firm believer in working your way into the career you choose, not getting handed the keys.
With a deep sigh, Patrick rubbed his temples and pressed his intercom button.
“Gwen! Could you get me that Rose kid from the art department? NOW!” He hated yelling, especially when he had a headache but Gwen was the worst secretary. She felt it necessary to take her time doing things he asked.
On second thought he pressed down the button once again.
“Gwen, could you also bring me aspirin?”
“Yes, Mr. Brewer. Do you want Rose on the phone or in your office?”
Patrick thought for a moment and then responded, “my office. As soon as possible.”
A few moments later, Gwen came into his office with a fresh pitcher of water and a few aspirin in hand. She stopped at his drink cart across the room from his desk and grabbed a whiskey tumbler to pour the water into. She wordlessly handed him everything.
Her grey hair was cut close to her head in a bob, but Patrick could see what Bob in accounting saw in her. She was beautiful, for an older woman. When she wasn’t being totally incompetent Patrick appreciated her motherly nature. She would worry about him working too much or not taking care of himself. In fact, almost weekly, Gwen was suggesting another “fine, young woman” for him to marry. He only got to see his own mother once or twice a year since he’d left Canada for New York.
Patrick had just swallowed the aspirin and dismissed Gwen when a soft knock sounded on his door. Patrick groaned, he wasn’t in the business of holding hands. This kid was clearly going to need it. He groaned again before responding.
“Come in!” Patrick barked and his door opened.
What he wasn’t expecting was to see the most handsome man he’d ever laid eyes on. Sure, the man was extremely timid and hugged the walls as if he belonged there. But damn his hair was so neatly coiffed and the exact color that Patrick dreamed about — pitch black. The man wasn’t as young as he had expected either, in fact, he seemed to be around Patrick’s age. He couldn’t see his eyes because the man was staring at the floor instead, but Patrick knew they were probably beautiful too. There was an understated elegance to him that made Patrick’s normally highly analytical brain turn to static.
“Do you need anything else Mr. Brewer?” Gwen stood awkwardly behind the newcomer.
“No, Gwen. Thank you.” Patrick dismissed her with a wave of his hand before he turned to the man standing before him.
“Do you always do that?” Patrick knew he was coming off as a dick but he couldn’t help it. His mouth had a mind of its own at this point.
“Do what, sir?” The young Rose stammered almost inaudibly.
“Stand away from people like some kicked dog.” Patrick’s headache wasn’t going away and that made him more irritable than usual. “Also, speak up. Just because I bark orders doesn’t mean I have the hearing of a dog.”
“David.” The man finally looked up. His brown, milky eyes were alight with anger. “I’m not a dog.”
He stepped forward only to throw the artwork he’d brought with him on Patrick’s desk before storming out with a slam of Patrick’s door. Patrick was stunned by the young man. David; he mentally reminded himself, had gone from timid to outright scary in seconds flat. That should terrify him or even irritate him — considering he was the superior — but instead it empowered him to interact with David even more. He needed to know what made this man tick. How he could encompass both the timidity and fire of two totally opposite types of people.
Just like that his mother’s voice entered his mind, “Patty, you should apologize to him. He didn’t deserve the way you spoke to him.”
As if on cue, Gwen entered his office at that moment with a disappointed look on her face. “He was simply bringing you the art you asked for. Seriously, Patrick none of the other girls believe me when I tell them you are actually a sweet and kind man. This is why. Go apologize to him.”
She fixed him with a knowing stare and nodded her head off toward the direction David had fled to.
Patrick sighed and stood up to come around and look at the young man’s mockups. If the art was trash he figured he could ignore Gwen -- and his own guilty conscience -- and demand a redo instead. However, when he looked at the sketches, really looked at them he was blown away at how totally perfect they actually were. For a fresh face in the company who had never worked with Patrick before, David had somehow fully captured what Patrick needed for this campaign.
With a slight groan as he rubbed a hand down his face, Patrick knew he needed to seek out his boss’ son to apologize and convince him to continue their discussions about what to do for Lucky Strike. Patrick strode out of his office and headed straight toward where he knew Ted’s office to be. A quick chat with his best friend couldn’t hurt before his real mission.
The art department of Rose LLC was one floor down from where the executive advertising offices were. Normally, Patrick would take the stairs down, however he was on a time crunch with the executives of Lucky Strike expected within a half hour. He needed the courage to approach David and apologize and still present with the highest of confidence.
He stepped off the elevator and hung a quick left where he knew Ted’s office to be. While the art department didn’t really have a hierarchy of management, per say, Ted was the senior most designer so the others defaulted to him regarding any issues. Which is why it came as no shock to Patrick that he would come upon David when he reached Ted’s work space. Patrick could see they were in a deep discussion so he hung back and waited for Ted to notice him and motion him in.
As David’s arms flailed around the air Ted leaned back in his chair and glanced up to make eye contact with Patrick. Patrick knew Ted was going to admonish him the first moment he could because his eyes had taken on a dad look. It was something Ted was infamous for, all the guys from the ad men down to the researchers all knew Ted and his “talks.” If Patrick didn’t know better he would assume Ted spiritually channeled his father whenever Patrick was a bit too hard on the younger, fresher faces around the office. It always made Patrick feel even more uneasy than was absolutely necessary.
“A guilty conscience” Gwen had once told him with a knowing look. Which, she wasn’t wrong. Patrick didn’t set out to be the jerk of the office, he just didn’t really feel comfortable in social situations so it came off as gruff and dismissive. He loved working hard to create a story for each of their clients, but workplace dynamics baffled him and made him nervous. Part of that was a level of shyness he’d always had, but the bigger part came from his deathly fear that if people really got to know him his secret would get out and that would be it.
Patrick didn’t want anyone to find out that he was gay because he could get fired or worse. It all depended on how Mr. Johnny Rose felt about one of his ad men being “light in the loafers” as Patrick heard all too often. It was always about other guys, mostly from Chuck over in accounting who was trying hard to become part of the cool crowd, aka the art and sales guys. So, Patrick stood by uncomfortably as the guys joked about people like him getting more and more sick to his stomach the longer he listened. Hence why he didn’t socialize for very long, if at all. He knew his reputation wasn’t that great, but at least he was safe.
“Ah, Mr. Brewer. What can I do for you?” Ted adopted the most sincere voice Patrick had ever heard. Judging by Ted’s gaze he figured out the man was fucking with him. David must have jumped five feet in the air alone at the mention of Patrick’s name.
Patrick grinned and decided to give David a bit of a run for his money. “Oh good, David I am glad you are here. I wanted to inform you that I have had some time to glance over your sketches.”
David meekly looked up at him and their eyes connected. Patrick put on his most neutral of faces and shifted his feet a bit before continuing. “I’m not sure we are quite where we need to be just yet. We are going to go into today’s meeting with what we have, but I’m going to need you here for long hours until we get this completely sorted. All week if we have to.”
David broke their eye contact and glanced at the floor. The younger man groaned and then threw his head back in frustration. The move exposed his neck and Patrick licked his lips and forced his brain to think of anything but that.
“Seriously? But, I have time off scheduled for the end of the week.” David huffed and looked between Patrick and Ted. The two men exchanged looks with each other and both shrugged.
“That’s the nature of the ad business. You get time off when you get it. Sometimes, you have to miss out on things because a client needs you more.” Ted shrugged. “Last year, I missed my daughter’s birthday because Brewer and I were busy finalizing a campaign for Ford Motor Company. It’s the nature of the beast.”
“Oh.” David’s face fell and he stared at his feet while they shuffled some kind of design on the carpet. Patrick couldn’t stand it, he had to give it up.
“Ted’s fucking with you. He doesn’t have a daughter. He’s not even married.” Patrick grinned over at Ted. “But, he’s not kidding about the work.”
“So, I’ll expect to miss our family dinner tomorrow night. My sister is finally back from Europe. We were all going to celebrate. You know, my dad.” David dismissed the whole event as if it really wasn’t all that important. However, Patrick could tell underneath that David desperately wanted to go.
“We will just have to see. Most likely.” Patrick shrugged and turned to leave Ted’s office. He had come all this way to talk to Ted about apologizing to David and yet, here they were. He’d lied to the young guy about his skills to treat him unfairly. All because Ted had given him a dad disappointment look? Jesus, what the fuck was wrong with him.
Patrick was his own man and made his own decisions regarding his own opinions. In fact, Ted never managed to affect him this way before. So, what was different this time? Patrick shook his head and walked back through the secretarial pool to get to his corner office. Despite the art department not having a hierarchy, the ad sales definitely did. At 35, Patrick was one of the senior most salesmen while still being one of the younger ones. He wasn’t the youngest, that position went to Mutt, who’s real name was Matt, but a clerical error when he first started led to a career-long nickname. Mutt was only 26, but he was probably the most ambitiously laid back guy in the whole company. Customers loved him because he was easy going and really flexible to whatever they wished. Johnny also loved him because he was ruthless about getting the sale, even though you’d never know it looking at him.
As Patrick rounded the corner a few feet from his door and sanctuary, a fuss rose up all along the secretary’s desks.
“Oh my goodness.”
“That is just awful.”
“His poor wife.”
“Those darling children.”
The mutterings were all around him and despite having a hard and fast rule not to talk to the ladies just outside his office, Patrick put that aside to inquire about more information.
“Hey, Twyla. What is going on?” Patrick whispered to the closest secretary. She was a plain, meek girl with dark brown hair pulled back with a bright green ribbon into the poofiest of ponytails. It bounced as she walked.
“John F. Kennedy has died. He was shot in Texas. It’s just so sad.” Twyla’s eyes shone with tears but her mouth still curved into a gentle smile. “You know, I have a cousin in Texas. He swears that aliens have taken over everyone down there. Well, everyone except himself that is.”
“Uh huh.” Patrick gave Twyla a strange look as he processed the other bit of news she had said. The president had been shot and was now dead. He moved toward his office and saw that Gwen was at her desk, crying. He paused briefly to tap his fingers on the desktop and give her a soft smile. He didn’t know how he felt about JFK being killed -- no, assassinated, that’s what Rita’s radio a few feet away was saying.
Patrick shut his office door and plopped into his chair. He had just heaved a sigh when his phone rang. With news like this more than likely someone was calling to either confirm with him or cancel an appointment. He took a deep breath and answered right away.
“This is Mr. Brewer speaking.” Patrick leaned back and loosened his tie.
“Patrick, change of plans for today. We need you and David to go to Lucky Strike. Just take a cab across town. Treat them to a nice dinner for their trouble. Since we will be moving back the appointment time that is.” Johnny’s voice came through the speaker soft but stern. He was all business but not in the kind of way that made him a robot. One of the reasons Patrick enjoyed working for Rose Advertising LLC was the way Johnny had a subtle kindness about him.
“Sure. I’ll grab David and we will head over there straight away.” Patrick switched the phone to his other ear, cradled it between his ear and his shoulder while he used his hands to unroll his sleeves and latch his cuff links once more. Then he adjusted his tie. Johnny explained a few more finer details about the dinner reservation and what they hoped to gain from this campaign before hanging up. Patrick quickly grabbed his suit jacket and the abandoned sketches David had left in his office.
“Gwen!” Patrick yelled as he gathered up the rest of what he would need for their meeting. She still hadn’t responded after five minutes so he yelled again, while pausing to rub his temple once more. The headache was still there and almost unbearable.
“Gw-”
“No need to shout, Patrick. I’m right here. What can I get for you, dear?” Gwen gently placed her hand on his shoulder to slow him down.
“I need that Rose kid! We have to go across town to meet with the clients from Lucky Strike. They’re waiting.” Patrick spun around frustrated and flustered, which he hated being -- especially in front of others.
“Dear. Breathe. Your glasses are on your desk. I will call David’s line and tell him to meet you by the elevators. Everything is fine.” Gwen fixed him with her signature motherly gaze and Patrick could feel his racing mind slow down in response.
By the time Patrick was pressing the button for the elevator to take him down to the street, David was racing to catch up. His tie was extremely loose and his shirt was half untucked. Patrick rolled his eyes and gave David a rough look.
“Jesus. Have you ever met with customers before?” Patrick gave him a pointed look toward his untucked shirt.
“No, I actually prefer to stay away from them.” David shrugged and rolled his eyes, “The artist never reveals their tricks. It’s incorrect.” He then shoved a few papers at Patrick and demanded he hold them while the young man proceeded to tuck in his shirt, but his tie remained untouched.
“What exactly are these?” Patrick glanced through the papers that had been shoved into his hands as the two stepped onto the elevator. There were images of people dancing and having a good time. They were extremely rough sketches, but Patrick couldn’t understand why David was bringing them with him.
“Well, you said that the sketches I had given you weren’t quite up to standard so I wanted an alternate option for the client.” David shrugged and grabbed for the papers once more.
“Damn, you really are talented.” Patrick muttered under his breath. There was a couple of elder men from the fourth floor riding down with them. Otherwise, Patrick would’ve fessed up to how much he loved the originals. Though, these alternates weren’t anything to laugh at either.
“So, what do I need to know?” David fussed with the papers to straighten them out.
“Well, when you work with me it’s a partnership. I don’t run the whole show. I can’t explain your art to our customers, that’s your job. My job is to be sure they like what we are selling.” Patrick threw over his shoulder as he strode off the elevator and straight to the front desk.
“Hello, Mr. Brewer.” Mrs. Hines said in a breathless voice. Her hand immediately went to her updo. She had a lot of hair that was all piled on top of her head and hair sprayed to stay in place. She flirtatiously played with a few loose strands. Patrick appreciated her effort, but there was no interest on his part.
“Hey, Abbigail. Could you get Harry to bring the car around?” Patrick gave her a sweet smile and a wink. He knew that she’d be quicker to respond if he pretended to show her interest. Besides, it was safer for him to show fake interest in women than to ignore them completely. He couldn’t see him but he could tell that David was witnessing all of this.
“Anything for you, Mr. Brewer.” Abbigail smiled and giggled as she paged the valet number. “By the way, I’m open on Friday night. Lucy and I are going to the drive-in if you want to join us.”
Her attention turned to David, “You can come too. Lucy would love to meet you.” Abbigail laughed again.
“Oh. Um. I’m sorry. I am out of town this weekend. I have a friend getting married in Niagara Falls.” David seemed all too eager to dismiss her offer. Patrick ducked his head and smiled to himself. He wished he had that kind of confidence toward advances from women.
Once in the car to go across town, Patrick was comfortable to just sit in the silence and mentally prepare for the campaign ahead of them. However, five minutes in, David decided to open his mouth. They were approaching the FDR and a traffic jam. Patrick loved moments like this when he could just take in the city around him. The tall buildings, the rush of people and traffic, the silence that came from being an observer to it all. He loved growing up in Toronto, but New York City was truly his home. He couldn’t imagine a life anywhere else. It was probably a couple minutes into David talking before he even realized.
“What’s that?” Patrick tuned back into the presence of his coworker.
“I was just commenting on how cataclysmic today’s events are.” David let his hands flail around like he always seemed to do. “That poor woman. Her husband dead and her beautiful dress ruined.”
“David, I am pretty sure the last thing on Jackie’s mind is her ruined dress.” Patrick ever so slightly shook his head at this young man he was now forced to work with. It was like the universe thought he needed this rare specimen to come up and throw his life off kilter. He didn’t know exactly what to make of this man before him, but at least there was never a dull moment around him.
“You would think that. You’d barely know a good suit if it slapped you in the face. How could you truly appreciate fashion?” David cocked his eyebrow at Patrick and he decided right then and there that he loved the way David’s face looked when he fixed him with that raised eyebrow.
“Oh, and you do?” Patrick gave David a good look up and down.
“Yes, this isn’t a simple Brooks Brothers ensemble. I’ve got only the best.” David motioned to emphasize the clothing on his body. “Though today is not my best example. I usually also wear a vest for a bit of added flair.”
“Ah, yes.” Patrick nodded. “The Ivy League pretentious look.”
“Would we call it pretentious? Or timeless?” David cocked his head and fixed Patrick with a gaze just as the car pulled to a stop outside the restaurant they were meeting the clients at.
Patrick wanted so badly to laugh at David’s antics but he was back into game face mode. He needed to nail this campaign and get another win on his belt. This particular client was a big one for the firm. Patrick couldn’t allow himself to get distracted or risk saying something he would regret for all time. Namely something revealing about his attraction to David. It wasn't just something that could put his job in jeopardy, but revealed in front of the wrong people and his life could be at stake too.
They walked into the restaurant together, Patrick having his own inner crisis about being gay, while David continued to move his hands around empathatically and talk about something Patrick was blissfully unaware of.
“Mr. Brewer!” the client’s representative, Craig Hirsch, hollered at Patrick from across the room. The two of them had always met up for dealing with any campaigns Lucky Strike wanted. Patrick was put at ease by the sight of a familiar face.
“Hirsch! How are you? I was informed that you had been promoted over there at Lucky Strike. Congratulations, a drink is in order I believe.” Patrick skillfully managed a greeting, a topic of conversation, and motioned for a drink all while easing gracefully into a chair across the table from Craig.
Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick could see David frozen in his tracks, dumbfounded by Patrick’s total change in demeanor. Patrick turned his head to give the younger man his full attention.
“David, have a seat. We aren’t going to bite you.” Patrick raised his eyebrow in silent plea that David comply. He wasn’t about to be made a fool of in front of a well respected client.
“Sorry, where are my manners?” David came to and immediately sprung into action. He leaned across the table to shake hands with Craig. “I’m David Rose.”
“So, Brewer, where’d you drag this one up from? He’s a baby.” Craig cracked a smile and a joke as he tucked his hand away from David’s, after their handshake, and wrapped it instead around his whiskey tumbler. “Did Mullens finally wise up and leave your sorry asses?”
“No.” Patrick ducked his head and chuckled, “No, Ted is still with us. Mr. Rose removed him from the account in order to give David here a chance to prove himself.” Patrick motioned his head toward David.
“So, should we talk campaign?” David blurted out suddenly. Patrick could tell he was nervous, but even he couldn’t stop what he knew was about to happen.
“Eager beaver, huh?” Craig directed at David before he laughed and motioned to someone behind Patrick. From experience he didn’t even have to look in order to know what was coming.
Craig Hirsch was married, but that didn’t mean he didn’t like to play when the wife was away. It was honestly the one thing that prevented Patrick from truly becoming friends with the guy. He knew that monogamy wasn’t part of their work culture, but was extremely important to Patrick as a whole. He was raised to only commit to someone if you are 100% behind them. He hated this part of the “wining and dining” of the customer, but knew that he could fake it to get a big stamp of approval on their campaign ideas.
“Ahh ladies! So glad you could join us.” Craig pulled one woman down into his lap with a laugh. The woman looked a little uncomfortable for a second but then her wall went up.
The second woman who had approached their table with her friend, sat down between Patrick and David. To do this she had to pull up a chair, but didn’t seem to mind it in the slightest. She draped her arm over Patrick’s shoulder in a way that always made him uncomfortable, but he could manage to stomach for a few hours. He didn’t have to sleep with her, just give Craig the impression that when they left, together, that night he would be inviting her over to his place. Patrick looked over the woman’s shoulder toward David. His heart sank, David who was usually super flirty and comfortable around women was frozen to his spot and staring between the other two men in disbelief. Patrick didn’t have to know David to know he was about to say something that could be taken the wrong way by Craig.
“David, why don’t you tell,” Patrick paused to stare at the woman leaning on him, silently asking for her name.
“Elizabeth, but everyone calls me Betty.” Her words came out all breathless, and she swiped at her flowy blonde hair for extra measure.
“Tell Betty here all about your art. I’m sure she’d love to hear how you learned to do it all.” Patrick gave David a pointed look and subtly motioned toward Craig. As if to tell David the campaign rode on this one simple interaction.
“Oh. Um. I’m so sorry, but I need to use the men’s room.” David nervously stumbled over his words before stumbling away from the table. Patrick couldn’t figure it out. David was naturally a confident person. What was going on?
“Guess, I can expect to see Mullens next month.” Craig threw out flippantly toward David’s retreating figure.
“I doubt it.” Patrick shrugged, putting back on his game face in order to seal the deal with Craig. “After all, his dad runs the company.”
“Do you think he’s a shirt lifter?” Craig fixed Patrick with the hardest of stares, it made Patrick feel on edge.
He subtly gulped and panicked in his mind about how he should answer the question. He didn’t want to start rumors about David, especially ones as damning as this. But, he also didn’t want to cast suspicion on himself. He was truly at a loss on what to do.
“How should I know? I barely know the guy. We literally just met today.” Patrick shrugged and pulled Betty in closer and planted a kiss on her lips, which she earnestly reciprocated.
“Good.” Craig gave Patrick a knowing look. “Something tells me he is and you wouldn’t want to be mixed up with his sort. People would get the wrong idea.”
Patrick leaned back and loosened his tie and collar. The uncomfortableness he was feeling at Craig’s words couldn’t be understated, but he also knew if he defended David there was a chance Craig would turn on him too. It was a weird position to be in. Patrick wasn’t the kind of person who actively made fun of people or judged them based on how they lived their lives. It was none of his business what David did in his own time, just like he believed it was none of his co-workers business to know what he did in his own time. Being gay is a dangerous state of being and Patrick wouldn’t force that rumor or knowledge on anyone.
“Why don’t we focus on the campaign? We had some great ideas that we cooked up and thought you should take a look at.” Patrick decided to simply change the subject. It would protect David and himself.
“You’re telling me that poof drew the concept art for our advertisement? Brewer, we love working with Rose Advertising. You have never steered us wrong before. But, I can’t allow our account to be handled by him .” Craig leaned forward and gave Patrick a knowing look. Patrick subtly gulped. This was moving into extremely dangerous waters.
“David, isn’t the only artist on staff at Rose Advertising. In fact, he is our newest hire, which means he had to work on this campaign with a mentor. His mentor was Ted Mullens. You can trust this art as much as you trust me and Mullens.” Patrick lied through his teeth to both protect the account and by extension David’s job and reputation.
“OK. But I will be reaching out to Mr. Rose tomorrow to let him know I don’t want that person anywhere near our company, ever again.” Craig accepted the sketches Patrick was trying to hand him.
“Understood.” Patrick desperately wanted to fight back and let Craig know that he was making assumptions about someone he had only spent five minutes with. Just then David returned with a smile, completely unaware of how against him Craig was.
“Oh good, you’re looking at my sketches.” David exclaimed as he sat down next to Patrick, “I wanted to capture what you guys are as a company with who you guys advertise to.”
“It’s really good knowing that Ted Mullens oversaw this creative idea. He knows what fits us perfectly and once again he didn’t disappoint.” Craig muttered as he flipped through the final storyboard David had created.
Patrick could see David was about to object so he grabbed him by the arm and gave him a look to shut him up. Patrick knew he’d have quite a bit of explaining to do once Craig left, but right now they both needed to keep quiet and just accept whatever Craig had to say.
A few minutes later, Craig closed the portfolio and looked up beaming. He leaned back in his seat and pulled the girl cuddling him from before even closer against him. “What do you say we take our women to somewhere more private? Ehh Brewer? I will have our guys call Rose tomorrow and get everything finalized for yet another perfect ad campaign. You’ve outdone yourself Brewer.”
The woman next to Patrick, who had quietly moved to his other side during the business discussions, leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
“I’ve got an hour before my roommate expects me to be home. We could have so much fun together.” Betty was giving Patrick bedroom eyes and he knew he should respond, but his mouth was like sandpaper.
“Look at that, Brewer is speechless. Never had a woman as beautiful as Betty here interested, eh?” Craig raised his whiskey in mock salute of Patrick’s assumed prowess.
“Sure.” Patrick gulped, looking at Betty. “Let’s take this somewhere else.”
The men all stood and while Craig and Patrick were making their final arrangements for tomorrow while also palling around about the women they were taking home, Patrick saw David make his escape. There was something sad about the way his face looked as Patrick made plans with Betty and Craig encouraged it. Patrick knew he had made some kind of social blunder with the kid, but he didn’t know what else to do. There were only two girls and David had made it abundantly clear he wished to return home alone. Patrick made a mental note to speak with the young man first thing in the morning to make up for how the whole evening had transpired. David deserved to be able to take full credit for his work, but in protecting him, Patrick hadn’t allowed him to have that one glory. God he was such an asshole.
The next day, Patrick arrived at the office before anyone else, or so he thought. But, as he was walking past the Art Department he saw a light on in the bullpen. He went over to see who it was and found David frantically sketching and then erasing, over and over. His energy was more frenetic than Patrick had ever seen from any one of the designers. He slowly approached David’s area, not wanting to completely spook the guy.
“Hey, good morning.” Patrick said gently as he rapped his knuckles on the side of David’s design space wall. David didn’t even look up.
“Here to tell me what a sham I am? Don’t worry, I heard you loud and clear yesterday.” David mumbled under his breath and Patrick could hear the eye roll.
“No. I actually came to apologize.” Patrick knew David would be a hard sell, after all Patrick had dismissed his actual work multiple times the day before.
“Wow. How big of you. Of course, let’s apologize when no one else can see you do it.” David finally looked up and his eyes were blazing with anger. Patrick deserved every ounce of it.
“I deserve that.” Patrick mumbled. “I just wanted to let you know that Craig thought the designs were Ted’s because he wasn’t going to buy our idea for the campaign if he knew it was completely yours.”
“No, of course not. Why wouldn’t you let my work speak for itself.” David was wearing a purple vest today and it really accentuated his dark, expressive eyes.
“You are new to the business.” Patrick started to try and explain in a way that wouldn’t offend David. “You don’t understand the social dynamics that includes.”
“Yes, because I’m so hopeless and green that I can’t hold my own!” David was now angry and had stepped away from his storyboard to get closer to Patrick.
“That is not what I meant. I loved your ideas. That’s why I convinced him to give them their full due. If he had thought they were created by you and you alone he wouldn’t have given them his real opinion. It would’ve been clouded by his image of you.” Patrick threw up his hands in frustration.
“What is that supposed to mean?” David threw his hands to his hips and angled his eyebrow up to challenge everything Patrick had to say.
“You didn’t hear what he said about you when you had left briefly. I was protecting your reputation with future clients.” Patrick tried his best to explain.
“You mean you were protecting yourself and your job. You cared more about selling that damn campaign than about having my back.” David scoffed at Patrick before basically dismissing him by pushing past him to leave the area entirely.
Patrick followed him to the coffee area and grabbed a cup with David. The two didn’t speak at first, but by the time Patrick had opened his mouth to speak, David beat him to it.
“Unless it is about this campaign, don’t speak to me. I’m sure it won’t be hard for you to do.” David dismissed Patrick once again.
This time when David walked away, Patrick didn’t follow him. He knew that David needed time and space away from the situation at hand. Patrick didn’t blame him for being upset, if only he could’ve better explained what his motives had been. Unfortunately, Patrick wasn’t that kind of person. He wasn’t an eloquent speaker outside of a boardroom.
A few hours later, Patrick was nursing another headache when Ted came into his office and plopped down on his couch.
“David is in a right foul mood today. I asked him about last night and he gave me a glare that shot daggers.” Ted smiled and quirked his head in question.
Patrick squeezed his eyes shut against the sharp pain in his skull before responding, “We got the client to agree to the campaign idea we had, but not without a few hiccups.”
“Do you mean you or Craig?” Ted knew the client well enough to know exactly what could’ve possibly gone wrong.
“Both?” Patrick sighed and then paged Gwen into his office.
She arrived before Ted could comment further.
“Mr. Brewer? What can I do for you?” Gwen stood stock still in a plain grey dress and jacket with her notepad in hand to take note of what Patrick would instruct her on.
“Please cancel all my meetings for today. I am going to need to call it a day. This headache isn’t going away and I can’t fathom dealing with idiots all day.” Patrick rubbed his temples some more and looked up without moving his head.
“Will you be in the office or are you going home?” Gwen nodded in understanding of what Patrick needed.
“Home. You know I don’t usually do that, but I need the silence and darkness of my apartment to really keep myself from pulling my hair out over this headache.” Patrick stood up and gathered his suit jacket while throwing an apologetic look toward Ted and Gwen.
He was out of the office and back in his apartment in 30 minutes flat, a record considering he took a cab. Without turning on any lights, Patrick loosened his tie and threw it toward the chair in the corner of his bedroom. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and untucked it before throwing himself onto his bed. He just needed to rest and release the tension building underneath his skin. He closed his eyes and felt himself drifting into dreamland.
Hours later, when the sun had sunk below the horizon, Patrick awoke refreshed and less in pain. The headache was now a dull thud behind his temples. He was standing in his kitchen getting himself a glass of water when the soft sound of a key turning in the lock had him turn around. Just then the door opened to reveal an exhausted, and disheveled David Rose. A small smile quirked on the younger man's face and Patrick found himself faking a smile of his own.
“You look like you weren’t expecting me.” David muttered softly as he approached Patrick and gently caressed his cheek. The look in his eye was the exact opposite of what Patrick had last seen at the office that morning.
“I wasn’t. You only come on the weekends.” Patrick closed his eyes to really take in David’s touch.
“When Ted told me you had left work because of a headache, I was worried. So, I decided to show up tonight and make sure you were okay.” David whispered as his hands continued to explore Patrick’s face, placing comforting touches everywhere that he could.
“What about your sister’s wedding?” Patrick protested when he remembered what day it was. “That’s why I'm here so late. The dress rehearsal ran really late.”
“You shouldn’t have come. Your neighbors might talk.” Patrick shrugged and tried to pull away from David’s touch. But David held him tighter.
“I know the last few days have been dangerously unsettling for you. I am okay with who I am and I know it’s dangerous to be gay, but I don’t worry about it nearly as much as you do. I’m sorry these last few days have set you on edge, but please don’t pull away from me. We’ve been through so much together.”
Patrick allowed David to hug him even though his mind was still in defense mode. Were his actions with Craig enough to keep David safe? Were they safe as a couple? Did anyone see David come here? He wanted nothing more than to be able to just sit here and love David, no worries and no anxiety. Unfortunately, that is not the world they live in -- despite how comfortable David feels.
“Is the headache gone?” David turned the discussion to Patrick’s health. As he led them over to Patrick’s couch.
“No. But, it’s much more of a dull ache now than the piercing knives feel from earlier today.” Patrick sighed and leaned against his boyfriend.
“You really should go to a doctor about this.” David ran his fingers along Patrick’s scalp in a soft, comforting way. Patrick hummed in agreement as he closed his eyes and drifted back toward sleep once again.