Archive of Our Own ^beta

He really shouldn’t be here right now but June and Nora refuse to celebrate his birthday late or in advance. It was 10 PM on a week night and June just ordered another round of drinks for the three of them. This was probably their sixth or seventh, he couldn’t keep count anymore. Alex was just planning how the fuck he was going to get up tomorrow in time for his 9 AM meeting. That’s for tomorrow’s Alex to worry about. 

“Alejandro, that girl has been eye-fucking you the whole night. Why don’t you entertain her for a little bit. Who knows, maybe you can finally get laid!” Nora exclaims. 

Alex sighs and rolls his eyes. 

“I don't have time for that, Nora.” Alex says looking over the girl. “I have to get up early tomorrow. I need to remind you that it’s a weeknight and not everyone has the privilege of working from home” 

“Boring! Just say you’re saving yourself for marriage. We’re sick of your excuses.” Nora drunkenly says and wraps her hands around June’s waist. 

“Ugh gross. Please don’t talk about my brother’s sex life in front of me.” Leaning into Nora.

“You mean the lack thereof? It’s not that I’m saving myself for marriage. I just haven’t found the one yet you know? I just want it to be with someone I really like and not just some casual fling. You guys know I can’t do casual.  But really, I am also too busy for that.” Alex replies, ignoring June’s disgusted noises. 

At 29 years old, Alex has been non-stop working his ass off to fulfill his dreams of becoming a great lawyer. He was recently promoted as a senior associate at the Bankston & Associates Law Firm. After graduating NYU Law and passing the bar right after graduating, he was immediately hired by the law firm. He wanted to prove everyone around him that he’s good enough and took as many cases as he could or as many cases he was allowed to. He’s pretty sure every time he asks for another case, just as soon as he finishes one, from Zahra it takes away a year from his life. Powered by coffee and redbull, Alex hasn't had a real break since he graduated. He didn’t have any plans of slowing down even if he’s a senior associate now. 

“If you say so, Alex. You know we’re just worried about you. Mom and dad have been messaging me asking about you. Apparently you haven’t been taking their calls. Always messaging them back saying you’re still in the office working on a big case.” June sighs. 

Alex feels guilt. He knows he’s been distant for so long but he can’t help it. The idea of being not enough scares him. If he loses focus he fears that everything will crumble down.

“I’ll do better, Bug. I’m sorry. Why don’t we continue with our weekly brunch plans huh? We can also bring Mom and Dad if they’re available.” Even though Alex knows they will never be able to make it or if it does it will just end up in a disaster. Alex makes a reminder in his head to set up alarms to call them.

“Okay enough with this emo shit. We’re here to celebrate Alex’s birthday alright. Let’s save that conversation for another time. For now, let’s just dance and wait ‘til the clock strikes 12 to give our Alejandro sweet birthday messages” Nora interrupts.

The trio moves to the center of the club and dances to the 2000s pop music the DJ is mixing. Alex dances with other people but not too long to give them an idea that he wants to take them home. It’s going to be an awkward move to refuse a  “ Want to take this somewhere else?” question. He just doesn’t want people to feel rejected. He does take a few drinks from people when they find out that it’s the night of his birthday. 

He remembers June and Nora crowding up to him to give him a birthday kiss on each of his cheek.

–

Alex wakes up from his alarm with a raging headache. He doesn’t even remember how he got home and dressed for bed. June and Nora probably booked an Uber for him. He reminds himself to give them a ring to thank them for taking care of his drunk ass last night. 

He gets up and finds some tylenol and drinks a glass of water. He realizes that he doesn’t have much time before he needs to leave for work and just starts his coffee machine while messaging his group chat with June and Nora asking what time they got home last night and thanking the girls for celebrating his birthday eve with him. He pours the coffee into his thermos, not forgetting to sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. He could get a cup of coffee on his way to work but they just don’t get it right. His favorite coffee shop is out of his way, if he had the time to wrestle with the morning rush of sleep-deprived New Yorkers he could’ve but he is not risking it today when he has an important meeting. 

Alex moves to the bathroom to have a quick shower and shaves his stubble to look a bit less tired. He doesn’t have time to style his curls today and do his hair-care routine to keep them tamed. Alex wears the first thing he sees in his closet, a navy blue suit. He continues on with the rest of his routine as fast as he can and grabs his leather bag putting in his wallet and keys. 

Taking the subway isn’t his favorite but there was no way he was going to drive in New York City, that will just further deteriorate his mental health. Alex gets lost in the rush of the subway. Sometimes, the subway gives him some sort of calmness. Watching people and wondering what their lives are like. No one really knows what others are dealing with. 

Alex was standing cramped with other people holding on to the handrail when he realized something. He was hearing multiple voices but no one around him was talking except for the obnoxious man taking a call in the train for everyone to hear about his stocks in the market. He looked around confused wondering about where the voices he was hearing were coming from.

“Am I going insane?” Alex thinks to himself. He really must’ve drank so much last night that his hangover is translating into hallucinations. 

This is why I  should be in fashion school. I think my stomach isn’t handling that matcha latte too well. Look at this girl thinking she’s above everyone else. I wonder what my cat is doing at home. “ What the fuck is going on?” Alex’s head is hurting from hearing the different voices swarming in his head.  His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. What is this man frowning about?  Asshole. Alex tries to match the voice to anyone around him and his eyes land on the middle-aged white woman in front of him. He followed their hands and saw that they were holding the same handle and their pinkies were touching. Gross. He sees the woman shocked as if she has been caught. “Huh. Interesting.” 

Alex gets off the subway still confused about what was happening. Was he suddenly capable of reading minds? Impossible. He was just probably still very hungover from last night. He shakes his head and walks to his office building. When he gets in his building and through the scanners he rushed to catch the closing elevator.

“Hold please! I’m sorry!” Alex exclaims trying to block off the doors closing. The doors open again and he is met with wide blue eyes and a tight lipped smile. Alex reaches the elevator buttons and realizes that the 31st floor has already been pressed. He took back his hand and accidentally grazed Henry Fox’s front. The man freezes up and moves back away from his arm. Alex apologizes and is returned a nod.

Alex has never had a conversation with Henry Fox. He works in the same law firm with him for almost a year now and he has yet to make a successful interaction with that man. He was just probably an introvert but he sees him converse with their other co-workers just fine. Alex was starting to think he hated his guts for whatever reason it may be. No, he’s pretty sure Fox hates him because he has tried multiple times to be friendly with him but the man always finds an escape to get out of his presence. 

Whenever he brings this up to his closest co-workers like Amy, they don’t believe him and say that Henry is the sweetest and friendliest person ever. They think that Henry Fox is an angel and would never have hatred in him. He is just that nice but never to Alex. He would always wear that stupid blue cardigan that makes him look all soft, innocent, and cuddly which doesn’t help Alex’s case of convincing Amy that he loathes Alex. 

The elevator door opens on the 12th floor and Alex gets pushed backward closer to Henry. Their shoulders touching with Alex’s back to Henry.

God he smells bloody good. It’s always Santal 33. Alex hears in his head. He frowns and looks around. “Fuck. It’s still going. This is so fucking weird.” He thinks. 

His curls look so fluffy today. They would probably feel so nice if I buried my hands in them. Alex looks down to the right and sees that Henry Fox has his fists curled tight like he was restraining himself from touching anything. 

Alex was moved towards the back of the elevator again when someone got off another floor and his arm was touching a young woman’s arm. She seemed to be distracted and didn’t feel the shift of people around her. Did I forget to unplug my straightener? I should’ve taken a picture of it. Oh fuck what I forgot was my  file case. I’m cooked. Great way to start the day. 

Alex realized that he was only hearing the voices in his head when he’s in direct physical contact with them. Cramped up with people in the subway, the middle-aged woman, Henry Fox, and now this woman. He tries to move closer to Henry but the man just tensed up and avoided him. He was pushed by another passenger getting out of the elevator and he briefly touched Henry’s hand. 

All day. All Night. From the kitchen floor to the- 

The voice was cut off in his head when Henry jolted away from the touch. “Is that what I think he is thinking about…” Alex wonders in his mind. 

The elevator reached the 31st floor, Alex and Henry made their way to their respective departments. Alex walked mindlessly to his desk thinking if Henry really said something about how he smells or his hair. Which would be unusual because why would Henry say that about him if he hates Alex. Henry who can’t stand being in the same room as him. Henry who always avoids his gaze when their eyes meet. Henry who says the most ridiculous excuses to avoid answering Alex’s questions whenever he tries to strike a conversation in the common room. 

Alex makes up a plan to touch Henry any way he can just to get any information out of him and finally figure out what he did to make him hate Alex so much. This is gonna be a tough game. 

—

After his morning meeting with Zahra about a new client, Alex executes the first stage of his master plan to touch Henry. Which sounds extremely inappropriate by the way but there was no other way to call it. 

The first step is to research this phenomenon. How did he get this ability of reading people’s minds? I don’t think anyone in my family has passed this ability down to me. June has never said anything about being able to read people’s minds. Abuela probably did. That must be the answer. She was always saying she knew what naughty thing  I was up to whenever I visited her house when I was a kid. 

“Why can I hear other people’s thoughts when they touch me?” Alex types into his computer. Not a lot of results came out but there was one post from Reddit that caught his attention. 

“I, 30M, suddenly keep hearing voices in my head when I am in physical contact with other people. This only started on my 30th birthday. I just suddenly woke up on my birthday feeling weird and as mentioned I was hearing thoughts of other people. Does anyone know if I should seek psychological help? Or am I just discovering that I’m actually a wizard?” a Redditor asked a community. 

Most comments were saying that he was just probably day dreaming and it was nothing. Some were saying that they were experiencing the exact same thing while others were recommending him to go to therapy. One comment replied, “Is there any chance that you are a virgin? There is this myth that has been going around that claims that if you haven’t had any sexual experience by the age of thirty, you will be gifted the power of mind reading. I don’t know much about its origins but based on the other comments saying they are the same age and experience a similar situation, this myth is probably true.” 

Alex had his mouth hanging reading the post and the comments under it. That is fucking insane. Who knows being a virgin has its merits? He’d be able to read his clients' minds. Take that June and Nora! There's nothing wrong with being a virgin! Will he lose this ability when he finally gets into it? Well that’s for future not-virgin Alex to find out. 

The next step in his touch-henry-operation, is to ask Amy about Henry’s day-to-day routine. Like where he goes for his coffee, who he reports to, and asks again if she knows why Henry hates him so much. 

“I am beginning to think you are obsessed with him and want a piece of his ass.” Amy laughs in amusement. 

“No way. I am just really curious because I can’t take not knowing the reason why he hates me so much! May I remind you that I’m straight! So no, I am not obsessed with him and  I am simply just trying to make a friend” He replies. 

After getting the information from Amy, Alex makes his way with a jump to his steps to Henry’s table. Henry was sitting on his desk, his back facing Alex. 

“Hey Henry! Amy wanted me to give this to you.” Alex says, putting his hand on Henry’s shoulder and dropping the papers on Henry’s desk. 

Dear god. His hand is so big. They way it spreads over my shoulders. This is too much for me to handle. I need him so badly. This isn’t funny. Henry tenses and mutters a quick thanks before standing up abruptly and running to the direction of the washroom. 

Alex watches Henry run so fast yet somehow manages to still be elegant. Amusement washes over him and recalls Henry’s thoughts when he touched his shoulders. Those are some very interesting inside voices coming from a man who appears to be an innocent sweetheart to many. Alex looks at his hands and recalls the way it covered Henry’s shoulder. He wondered how it would look on Henry’s bare milky skin. Pause. Why did he think of that? I’m straight. Alex repeats over and over again. 

He walks his way back to his desk to actually have some work done before lunchtime. He didn’t. 

—

Henry was on his mind all day. After eating his lunch at his favorite taco truck, as a birthday treat to himself, he went on to check on his to-do list and saw that he still had a lot to accomplish today thanks to his unproductive morning. He wouldn’t have been motivated if not for the delicious meal he had over lunch. While working, he can’t help but have his thoughts drift to when he could touch Henry again. He doesn’t know why he’s so obsessed with knowing what Henry thinks about him. Now that Alex has seen a portion of Henry’s thoughts he just wants to rake through it and hear them in-person. He works on a few more files and decides to make himself a coffee with their fancy machine in the common room. 

While he was sprinkling cinnamon in his coffee Alex heard the door to the common room open. He faced the newcomer and was shocked to see Henry who was equally surprised seeing him. He looks like he wanted to leave the room but decided against it. 

He slowly went to Alex’s side and grabbed a mug printed with beagles on it from the cupboard and a tin of earl gray tea labeled with “Hen” on it. Alex snorted, “You are really British aren’t you?” 

“Yes because I am British?” Henry said sarcastically. 

“I really don’t understand how you white people enjoy leaf flavored water. It’s disgusting” 

“You don’t hear me talking about your addiction to burnt bean flavored water. I don’t understand how you can like 6 cups of bitter water in a day.“ Henry retaliates as he  leans on the counter. 

“You’ve been watching my coffee intake, sweetheart?” Alex moves closer to Henry and smirks while sneakily touching his side with his thumb. Henry did not notice the softest of touch on his hip. 

Sweetheart. He did not just call me sweetheart. Sweetheart?! Is he insane?! Don’t make me kiss you right now. My gay heart could not take this. 

Alex raises his eyebrows at this and tilts his head. Henry coughs and tries to change the topic. 

“Happy birthday, by the way. I- uh- saw it on the HR board. They greeted you there. I just saw it a while ago.” Henry stammered fidgeting with the string of his tea. Henry looked so adorable with the blush spreading across his cheeks. He wonders how far his blush could spread. Pause. Again. Okay so maybe he wasn’t as straight as he thought. 

“Thank you, sweetheart. That’s so kind of you to remember my birthday.” 

Please stop with the nicknames before I fall to my knees right here and then. Bollocks. Quick, how do I strike up a normal conversation?

“Uh. No. Again, I saw it on the board. Well uh- how do you plan to celebrate your birthday?” 

“I already did. Last night, with June and Nora. We went to the club and got a few drinks.” Alex replies, forgetting that Henry must only know June because she used to work for the firm as a copywriter. An unrecognizable look washed over Henry’s face as he said that. 

Oh. Of course he has a girlfriend. What person as beautiful as him would be single? This is hopeless. 

Before Alex could say that Nora was his sister’s girlfriend Henry was already rushing out of the common room with his tea. Alex followed Henry with his eyes and saw that Henry had his face on his hands and let out a heavy sigh and went back into his work. He looked up and his eyes met with Alex but he looked back to his computer. 

Alex shakes his head and grabs his coffee walking back to his desk going past Henry’s desk. Alex’s mind was running in circles; he was speed running his realizations about his sexuality and how Henry’s seems to fancy him. Maybe Amy was right, he has been obsessed with Henry ever since he first asked her about Henry. It only worsened when he was able to read minds and that was just this morning. What an eventful 30th birthday. He never expected to have a full-blow sexuality crisis at the ripe age of 30. He has known himself to like women only. Apparently, shit Alex did in highschool with Liam will always creep back to him. This can’t be but he was trying to wrap his head around this maybe new discovery about himself. 

Alex messages his group chat with June and Nora, “Hey. I might be bisexual?” 

“I know this is completely inappropriate to say to someone who just came out but… I always knew my baby brother” June replied first. Alex sent a middle finger emoji to that. 

—

Over the next few days, Alex has been trying to make small little interactions with Henry. He always asks Amy if he’s got anything to give to Henry every few hours and tries to touch Henry’s hand while he hands it over. He would always say the most unhinged things about Alex and it’s fucking with his head.

Look at this lips, imagine that wrapped around m- 

His hands would look really good wrapped around my ne- 

Those eyes are sinful, I would give him anything he wanted.

Fucking eyelashes. 

It was getting hard to ignore the things Henry said about him. Sometimes Alex just wants to grab Henry’s face and kiss him senseless. Which is completely new to him. He has never sat down and dissected the way he has looked at other men. Alex has always assumed that those thoughts were in a bro way and not in a I wanna tap that ass way. 

Hearing Henry’s thoughts only made his obsession with the British man stronger. Alex is realizing that he has been thinking about him the same way. The way his blonde locks cover his eyebrows from running his hand over the gel coated hair all day. How his lips pucker when he’s blowing on his still too hot tea. Alex’s heart almost skips a beat whenever blue meets his own across the room. How Henry’s accent curls around the vowels when he speaks and on the rare occasion that he says Alex name make him want to kiss those lips.

He just wants Henry to say all those things straight to his face but he wasn’t just gonna bombard Henry with that. He needed another plan to let the man know how much he’s in his head. 

–

The next time Alex gets to be alone with Henry was during their once a month office get together at a nearby restaurant. He was the last one to arrive because he had to go back to his apartment to change and grab a few things before following his co-workers to the restaurant. There was only one seat that haven’t been taken  and it had to be the one next to Henry. 

“Hey everyone. Sorry I’m late” Alex says while sitting down next to Henry. 

“Don’t worry about it, Alex! We’re glad you were still able to make it. Order anything you like.” One of his co-workers, Spencer, replied and went back to his conversation with Shaan. Everyone was already in their own bubbles with a drink in their hands. Tension from the long day of work is already escaping them. 

The table they were occupying already had appetizers and some mains. He ordered a whiskey from a passing server and as he was about to reach for a mozzarella stick when he noticed Henry quiet beside him. Seemingly nervous with Alex’s chair too close to him. 

“Hey, sweetheart. How’ve you been?” Henry rolls his eyes at the endearment that escapes Alex’s mouth. 

“I’ve been well. Thanks.” He replies curtly and continues to fiddle with the signet ring on his pinky finger.

“Look, we’ve been co-workers for almost a year now and I haven’t really talked with you, like actually talked to you.” 

“I guess there hasn’t really been an opportunity to do so, unfortunately.” 

Alex narrows his eyes at Henry and crosses his arms at his chest. “You mean you purposely pass up any opportunity to talk to me.” He raises his eyebrows. 

“W-what no! That’s ridiculous!” Henry defends himself.

“If you say so, sweetheart.” Alex leans back on his chair and watches Henry’s expression go from disbelief to nervousness. “I want to get to know you better Henry. How do you say we play a game?” He adds. 

“Like 21 questions? What are you 16?” Henry asks. 

“There is nothing immature about 21 questions! It is a completely productive and fun way of trying to know a few things about one another. But yes, it’s 21 questions but with a twist. How about I guess what your answer to the question is and you do the same.” Alex pats himself mentally in the back for thinking of his genius plan! 

“First of all, that is impossible to do. That is the most stupid idea ever. We will get nowhere.” Henry replies.

“That’s how I have been doing this game since forever, Henry! And it never fails! It just gets more fun.” Alex tries to persuade Henry. Has he ever done this before? No. Anything to make Henry go with his plan.

“Fine, you menace.” Alex pumps his fist in the air with triumph which is totally weird for a 30 year old man to do. Alex shifts his chair impossibly close to Henry’s and bumps their knees on purpose. Henry tries to give them a little space but to no avail he cannot move any further unless he wants to bump into his co-worker behind him. So there they are in their own world, knees touching each other. 

Fuck shit. Fuck shit. Fuck shit. Alex has never heard Henry swear this much. Why does he have to sit so bloody close to me?

“Let’s start, Sweetheart.” Alex says with a smirk. “I’ll ask the question first and you guess what my answer could be. What sport did I play in high school?” 

“Lacrosse.” Henry says easily like it was a known fact to the world. 

“Well done, Fox. I haven’t really mentioned that to any of you.” 

“I just guessed. It’s a typical American sport.” Henry just shrugs.

It’s hard to miss from your Mom’s Facebook posts about winning every tournament you joined. He really needs to tell his Ma to private a shit ton of old posts. Wait, Henry has stalked even his Mom’s facebook? 

“If you say so…” Alex replies with wonder. 

“My turn. What is my dog’s name and breed?” Henry asks him. 

David the Beagle. Henry supplies from his thoughts. 

“David! And he’s a Beagle!” Alex feigns thinking about the breed. What kind of dog name is that?! Although I am not surprised, British people are weird.

“How were you able to guess that on the first try? That isn’t a very common name and I haven’t told anyone about him.” Henry had his eyebrows furrowed in thought recalling if he had mentioned it to anyone. 

“I just had a feeling.” Alex shrugs his shoulders. And to not make it too obvious he adds, “Just kidding, Amy may have mentioned it to me before? You might’ve forgotten that you shared that with Amy. I remember she has an equally awfully named dog called Jonathan.” 

“Hmm. Okay.” Although Henry really doesn’t recall sharing that bit to anyone.

“What is my favorite Star Wars movie?” Alex asks next.

Henry pauses in thought. “I don’t know. Return of the Jedi?” He replies unsure. 

“Uh wrong! So wrong! It’s Empire strikes back!” Henry looked so offended with that answer.

“But Return of the Jedi is better because of its happy ending! It’s my favorite.” Henry defends. 

“You have never been more wrong in your life with that choice.” Alex rolls his eyes. “Do you not care about Han and Leia’s kiss?” 

“Well. I do but I guess I just prefer happy endings.”

“Didn’t take you to be a romantic, Fox”

Oh you have no idea.

“Whatever. Who is my favorite author?” It was Henry’s turn to ask the question.

Austen. 

“That’s easy. Jane Austen ofcourse. I figured since you were a romantic.” Alex could have never guessed that. He probably would have guessed Charles Dickens or something.

Henry was shocked that Alex was able to guess that. Reading Jane Austen wasn’t really common for men to read or even know.

“Where is my hometown?” Alex takes his turn to ask a question.

“Texas.” Henry replies.

“Great memory there, Hen. My dad actually has a lake house there. I should bring y'all there sometime.” By y'all he means just Henry. No way he is bringing his other co-workers there.

“What is my favorite snack?” Henry asks Alex.

Jaffa Cakes with Tea

“Jaffa cakes and tea.” Alex tries to act like he was thinking about the answer for a moment. 

“ How are you able to guess each answer so accurately? That, I am pretty sure no one knows about as only my family members know that about me. How can you possibly know a British snack?” Henry starts to be suspicious.

“Dunno. Just popped up in my mind." Alex's eyes widened. Shoot. Will Henry figure it out?

“What do you mean it just pops up in your mind? Quickly, what word am I thinking about now?” Henry tries to think of the most random word.

Jiggery Pokery.

Alex panics and forgot to pretend he didn’t know what word Henry was thinking about. “Jiggery Pokery!”

“Bloody hell! How did you figure that out Alex?!” Henry says hysterically.

“I swear! I just guessed!”

“Don’t be daft! That’s impossible.” 

“How else could I have guessed? I am not a mind reader–” Yeah. Alex was fucked. Why is he doing this to himself? Yup. Just stone him to death right now.

No way. Surely he isn’t?

“Alex, you’re a virgin?” Henry asks in bewilderment, realizing their knees were still touching, he moves away from Alex.

“Really, that’s what you picked up from that?” Alex rubs his hands roughly on his face in disbelief.


“And well I mean– I–, you recently had your 30th birthday and since then I have noticed you were trying to touch me in any way and I did not think too deeply of that. I didn’t assume you were a virgin because well– you’re you.”  Henry remembers something, “But don’t you have a girlfriend, Nora? You mentioned her once.”

“No! That’s my sister’s girlfriend!” Henry breathes in relief.

“How did you know about this?” Alex asks, completely missing Henry’s comment.

“Uh- my sister, she just yeah you know…” Not wanting to share any details about her sister’s activities or the lack thereof. Henry, suddenly filled with clarity, “You’ve been reading my mind this whole time?!”

“Yeah… about that” Alex starts scratching the back of his head.

“Oh. my. God.” Henry was now just staring into space recalling all the times he and Alex touched and what was going on in his mind in those moments. Probably not the most innocent. He blushed furiously. “Look I know you were doing this to make fun of me and your perception of me has probably changed. I know that was completely inappropriate of me. I apologize.”

“What are you apologizing for, baby?” Alex sneakily moves his knee back closer to Henry’s

BABY?! Say that again. No! This bloke is making fun of me. He is probably doing this to get a rise out of me. I don’t know why I like this man.

“I am seriously not making fun of you. Wait. Baby huh? You have a thing for that?” Henry’s eyes widen and looks down on their knees and jerks away from it.

Alex reaches towards Henry’s hands and takes it in his. “Look. I’m sorry. I know I should’ve said things sooner but there were just a lot of realizations going on in my mind and I wanted to make sure that you really like me.” Alex softly says to Henry. “I also wanted to figure out how I feel about you and wanted to be 100% sure about my feelings for you.”

“And your feelings for me are..?” Henry hesitates.

“I like you, Henry. Even before I could read your mind. I realized that I wasn’t exactly as subtle about that but you still didn’t say anything about it. You continue to escape my presence every chance you get.” He kisses the back of Henry’s hand.

This cannot be real. Am I dreaming? Oh dear he can hear me right?

“This is very real, sweetheart. I’ll do anything to prove to you how much I like you. I plan to woo you until you get sick of me.” 

“I don’t think I will ever get sick of you, Alex. I like you too much.”

“Since when?”

“The whole bloody time.”

Alex wants to kiss Henry right there. He is pretty sure that he has found the one. Not forgetting about their co-workers being a foot away from them, Alex stands and takes Henry with him.

“Why don’t we figure out if this curse gets lifted?” Henry laughs and replies “Boo, you virgin.” 

The answer is yes. Alex’s mind reading ability went away.