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It was an usual late hour, and Bradley was descending into the lobby of the large building where his office was located—a two-and-a-half-minute elevator ride.
A tired yawn opened his jaw, stretching his mustache across the skin of his face, above his lips.
Mav was a great boss in so many ways, but his total lack of private life outside of work and his absolute dedication to the design of civilian aircraft were making Bradley's existence more complicated than ever.
Crazy working hours, weekends spent with him in the office, urgent requests to satisfy: being the assistant of a genius in aircraft technical design was a dream, but sometimes for Bradley it was a real nightmare too.
He no longer remembered the last time he had a date with anyone, woman or man. Or seen his parents other than on his cell phone screen during a video call.
Once Bradley stepped out of the elevator, he noticed that someone else was there.
Someone who still was in the office like him, and it was almost nine o'clock pm.
And not just anyone, but Jake Seresin.
From the tired line of his shoulders and the slightly messy blond hair that was usually perfectly gelled, he had had a long, hard day too and wanted to just go home.
Jake Seresin was Tom Kazansky's assistant, another true genius also known as Iceman, who was based in that wonderful skyscraper in downtown San Diego. Only he worked on projects for the United States Navy: a very lucrative parastatal job, and he was the best in the business, just like Mav.
They knew each other by name superficially, since their working environment regarding flying was indeed small, and Bradley, who was a man so, so weak in the face of a pair of green eyes, had immediately memorized his counterpart in Kazansky's office.
But beyond a cursory introduction and a few Hi and Have a nice day exchanged in the elevator, nothing else had happened between them - much to Bradley's supreme chagrin.
Jake was talking to a delivery boy from the Italian restaurant a few blocks away—they had apparently called in the same moment to order dinner for their bosses, so Bradley went over to pick up the mushroom and prosecco rice that Mav wanted, accompanied by a grilled sea bream and a bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water.
He and Jake exchanged a look of deep mutual understanding before picking up their own cardboard food bag and heading back to the elevators.
Their slow, tired footsteps on the marble floor of the lobby echoed perfectly in silence; their only company was the night watchman who took care of the building's security after working hours.
As soon as they pressed both floors to go to - Bradley on the twentieth, Jake on the eighteenth -, a distraught sigh escaped from Jake's drawn mouth.
Bradley found himself staring at him. It was clear that man was Texan even by the way he breathed.
"Dude, I don't know about you, but these working hours are really messing up my life. I don't know what it's like to exist outside of this office anymore," Jake complained, clutching the cardboard box from the Italian restaurant to his chest.
From the sublime smell that emanated from it, Jake recognized tagliatelle with meat sauce and a steak with potatoes and salad.
The same disconsolate breath escaped from Bradley's mouth.
"Don't tell me. I’m grateful for the wonderful work I do, Mav is awesome... I just wish he’d find, I don’t know, a partner and just go out with him. So I could get out of here at six pm like God originally intended.”
His words hit Jake, Bradley noticed immediately.
It was like seeing a little light bulb turn on live above his head.
A sly smile painted on his chiseled features and Bradley was almost blinded by it.
“You know what a really good idea you just had, Bradshaw?” Jake stated, his eyes shining under the artificial lights of the elevator. “What our bosses need is a boyfriend... and that’s exactly what you and I are going to give to them.”
A confused expression spread across Bradley’s face.
“What are you talking about, Seresin?” he asked, curiosity tightening his stomach like a snake.
That sly smile appeared again before Jake opened his mouth to reply.
“Think about it, you and I handle Ice and Mav’s schedules. It would take us a minute to arrange for them to meet up outside of here. They’d go out together, because they’re two single, middle-aged gay men obsessed with planes, and you and I would get our lives back. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of sitting here until ten-thirty at night sometimes!”
Bradley laughed at his crazy suggestion as he heard the elevator approach the eighteenth floor—he recognized the specific sounds and bumps by heart by now.
“Are you insane? You want Mav and Ice to get together?”
Jake’s blond head shook in agreement as he moved toward the exit.
“There’s a charity baseball game arranged by the city major next week, and I’m sure Mav got the invite too. I have connections who could put them side by side in there,” he said with dazzling confidence.
Bradley was speechless at both the idea and the plan Jake had concocted so easily.
Then Jake walked over to the open elevator doors and blocked them with one hand before turning to Bradley.
Having his undivided attention was the strangest feeling, making Bradley feel like he was in the middle of a hurricane: everything in slow motion as fury outside raged.
“Think about it. They'll find love, and you and I can go back to being free as birds,” Jake said, topping it all off with a wink. “Well... if want to be my partner in crime, you know exactly where to find me.”
And with that, he disappeared from Bradley’s sight, leaving him completely speechless.
After all, he and Jake could have arranged this meeting cleanly, without fear of any retaliation... and a sort of date certainly wouldn’t have hurt Mav, God only knew how much he needed it.
And Bradley would finally have some free time again, hours to spend at home or going to the movies or out to dinner.
“Well, Jake’s not entirely wrong. I’ll sleep on it and decide about it in the next few days,” he whispered to himself as he stepped out of the elevator to return to Mav’s office.
He was never a man for impulsive decisions, on the contrary – he was like a rooster safely clinging to his perch, waiting for the right moment that never comes.
But maybe, maybe this was the right time to take a risk.
“Oh oh oh, look who stopped by on my lunch break,” Jake began, sitting in his chair in the entrance to Ice’s office, two days after meeting Bradley in the elevator.
He was wearing a navy suit with a light blue shirt, and he looked terribly ready for a People Sexiest Man of the Year cover.
He knew he had won, that Bradley had accepted his crazy idea to arrange a romantic sort of date between their bosses, and that was making him feel very happy.
Bradley could see it in the way a little smirk was tugging his mouth to the side, creating an adorable dimple right there.
Come to your senses, Bradley. You’re just here for business, remember. Just to get your private life back.
“Don’t get too big for your boots, Seresin,” Bradley said, trying not to give the other man any more reason to feel superior. He had a strong suspicion that his self-esteem didn’t need any more boosts in that direction— especially with that attractive face God had given him, of course. “Mav really drove me nuts today, and it’s still one pm. I really need that plan of yours to work.”
Jake’s green eyes lit up with cunning.
“Do you trust me, Bradshaw?”
“Absolutely not, but I have no choice if I want Mav to have a life outside of here and I can go back to having one that doesn’t involve designing commercial aircraft eighteen hours a day, thank you very much.”
The laugh that erupted from Jake’s chest was crystal clear.
“Don’t worry, we just need to get them in the same place on Friday afternoon at 4:00. You'll convince Mav to go, I’ll convince Ice, and they’ll magically watch this baseball game side by side. Let the Seresin magic work!”
Bradley looked at him like he was crazy, but did he actually have any other options?
Absolutely not.
“Okay, Harry Potter, let’s try giving the gift of love to our bosses. Give me your cell phone, so I can write you my number and we can stay in touch to plan the details of this total madness,” Bradley muttered, his baritone voice with a slightly amused tone that still came out of every single word. “I really hope I won’t regret this.”
Jake’s green eyes flooded him like a clear sea as he handed him his personal cell phone.
“You’ll see, everything will be okay. For us and for them... I really think they can be good together. And even if they only have to fuck, I’m fine with that. Ice's been really upset lately...he needs something long and hard up his-”
“I get it, I get it! That's enough, Jake!” Bradley laughed loudly as he dialed his own number.
He wouldn't have admitted it to another living soul, but it had been a long, long time since he'd had this much fun.
And, for the millionth time, he found himself hoping that this would be a win-win situation for everyone.
Petco Park was the San Diego baseball stadium.
It was magnificent, very huge, and had a breathtaking view of San Diego.
Bradley only knew it by name, but he had never been there—he was more of a football or swimming guy, to be honest. Jake had teased him about it the whole time as they stood there together, checking on Ice and Mav, sitting far apart side by side in a special box.
They looked like two tiny dots lost in the immense crowd.
“I knew they’d start talking nonstop once they were alone together in a non-office environment,” Jake whispered with satisfaction, as he looked at his and Bradley’s bosses through binoculars.
“Have you ever thought about starting a lonely-hearts service, Seresin? You might have a real talent for it,” Bradley snorted, his shoulder and arm attached to Jake’s like an envelope and its stamp.
The lack of personal space didn’t bother him at all and distracted him from the thought of having meddled so strongly in Mav’s private life. Plus, it had been months since he had dated a man this handsome and-
No, no, no, Brad, calm down. This is not a date. You and Jake are here to follow Mav and Ice, not because you like each other. Or rather, you like him, you already know that... but Jake flirts with everyone, you know that, so you are certainly not that special to him.
Maybe exchanging numbers and starting to talk to each other every day hadn’t been a great idea for Bradley, since he had gotten to know Jake, to laugh even more at his jokes, to understand his tastes, and to identify those little idiosyncrasies that made him unique – like the fact that he inexplicably and irrationally hated pistachios and loved to watch old musicals like Singing in the Rain on repeat.
“I have so many talents, mon cher. But you’re not ready to see all of them yet, believe me,” Jake said, and Bradley playfully rolled his eyes.
God, he hated it when he did that—but that was part of his undeniable charm, too.
“Give me these binoculars and show me what Mav’s doing. If he’s fixing his hair every minute, that’s a good sign—it means he likes what he’s seeing.”
Just like me right now, actually.
“You and I need to stop meeting like this,” Bradley joked as he stepped out of the elevator and saw Jake partially drown in a large bouquet of red and yellow roses he’d just delivered in the name of Tom Kazansky.
Sender: Pete Mitchell.
Mav had him go down to the lobby to make sure the precious shipment had been put in the right hands and that it had arrived safely at Ice's office.
“Ha, ha, ha. You're so funny, Bradley. Next time, can you please tell your boss to order some more manageable flowers? These roses are heavy!” Jake exclaimed in a mock-irritated tone, which made Bradley laugh like never before.
Bradley laughed a lot when he was with him. And that wasn't something he often did when he was with other people, he admitted honestly to himself.
“I'd say they spent the weekend together, since I haven't had any calls or texts since Friday afternoon. And today, Monday morning, someone got these beautiful roses...” Bradley emphasized with a wink of his eyebrows as he escorted Jake into the elevator to his office.
“Ice came in today whistling. Whistling! I’ve been working for him for three years and I’ve never heard him whistle, my God!” Jake exclaimed in shock, surrounded by those beautiful fresh roses. “I should get a raise for what I set up!”
“Hey!” Bradley interrupted. “I thought you had the idea to get Mav and Ice together from me!”
Jake laughed delightfully. “You are so right,... you deserve a raise.”
Then, for a few long moments, silence stretched across the elevator shaft, and that left Bradley feeling uneasy.
“Now we can have our lives back, if they keep seeing each other. Aren’t you happy?” Jake asked in the space between him and Bradley.
At that precise moment, the sudden realization that their little mission was over and that, objectively speaking, he and Jake would no longer have reason to talk every day hit Bradley like a heavy brick wall.
“I’m so glad,” Bradley whispered, not really convincingly.
He hadn’t thought about the fact that he had gotten used to Jake Seresin’s presence in his life so quickly and that now, just as he had appeared, he would vanish in a matter of moments.
The two of them would go back to being semi-strangers, capable only of greeting each other from afar or exchanging small talk in elevators.
The bitter aftertaste that melted on Bradley’s palate at the thought of that immediate future was hard for him to swallow.
When Bradley heard his name being called and looked up to see who it was - since it wasn't Mav's voice -, seeing Jake's tall, slim figure in front of his desk, his heart skipped a beat and a smile spread across his lips effortlessly.
After the roses delivery, they had crossed paths a few times in the elevator (at the right time for offices to close... Ice and Mav had finally realized that there was more than just their work in their lives) and they had chatted, even if less frequently, in those days.
Bradley missed Jake, but it was ridiculous, because he had been nothing more than a perfect accomplice in a crazy plan that, for now, was going great.
Just as it was ridiculous to think that Jake considered him special or that he was somehow looking for him because he wanted to be by his side in some way.
"Seresin, what brings you to the twentieth floor?" Bradley asked him as he smoothed his hands down his dark gray pants—the office dress code was very strict in this regard.
A planner materialized from Jake’s hand, which he waved in the air with satisfaction.
“My boss, known in the industry as Iceman, sent me here to see what your boss is up to this weekend. He wants to take him away from San Diego for a romantic getaway,” Jake stated as he positioned himself next to Bradley, his cologne wafting up his nostrils in a sublime way.
“Huh?” was all Bradley could say, and that set off a spontaneous laugh from Jake.
“I know, I was speechless too, by their love at first sight. Our matchmaking skills are unmatched, Bradshaw. If I were to open that lonely hearts service, you’d be leaving here with me. Now let’s talk about business—what’s Mav up to?”
Bradley pulled out his tablet—he was all about technology, he hadn’t used pen and paper in years—and quickly checked Mav’s schedule for Friday and beyond.
“Look, all he has is a work dinner Friday night at 7, and then he’s free. If Ice wants to take him somewhere nice from Saturday morning until Sunday night, he can do that,” Bradley said, feeling Jake’s eyes trained on him like lasers.
He had a hard time swallowing as he wrote it all down in his notebook.
“Are there any special things I should be aware of? Food allergies, for example?”
Bradley smiled. He knew Mav down to the smallest details as well as himself.
“He wants to sleep on hard mattresses, because of his back. As for flowers, he loves orange tulips. He’s not allergic to anything, but he loves fish and Italian white wine,” he began to reel off to Jake, who absorbed the information with alacrity.
“Perfect. I’ll check with the hotel about the mattress and make sure there are orange tulips in their room,” he smiled at Bradley, and he felt like he was being bathed in warmth.
Jake was a bright and pleasant person. Sure, he was competitive and perfectionist, but he was like a pure light that attracted everything that gravitated towards him.
Bradley included.
“So... since our bosses will be together and we’ll be free, what are you doing this weekend? Do you have any special plans?”
Go out with me. Let’s go get a drink. Or we can see one of your beloved musicals together somewhere. I’m fine with anything as long as I can be with you.
Bradley swallowed those words that were on the tip of his tongue, because it would be ridiculous and inappropriate to put Jake in a situation like this and have him reject him resoundingly.
“I think I’ll clean the house thoroughly, you know... I have a lot of laundry to do. Then I’ll go visit my parents for lunch on Sunday... nothing special,” Bradley muttered, feeling a lump forming in his throat.
Was it almost as if Jake had asked the question in an almost suggestive way, with some hidden meaning?
No, it was just his silly fantasies about it that were twisting his rationality, and nothing more.
Jake Seresin certainly didn’t want to spend his weekend with him, for God’s sake.
“I see,” was all Jake said, in a very confused tone, almost as if he expected Bradley to give him a completely different answer.
Which was, frankly, totally insane.
“Then I hope you get some rest this weekend, Bradshaw. If I ever need more information, I’ll text you,” Jake said before grabbing his notebook from Bradley’s desk and hurrying away from him.
Bradley watched him walk away with a strange feeling in his chest.
What the hell had just happened between the two of them?
That Friday afternoon, at six o’clock sharp, Bradley left his office and took the elevator as usual to leave the skyscraper and go back to his apartment.
The bizarre interaction with Jake had left Bradley feeling a little queasy... it was like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had passed right under his nose.
And he hadn’t stopped thinking about him for even a minute.
His instincts had been screaming at him ever since, but he was still the same old rooster clawed on his perch, and leaving his comfort zone for Jake didn’t seem like a great move.
He hadn’t gotten any definite signs of interest, and since they worked in the same building, he didn’t want to get into any awkward situations with him.
When he stepped out of the elevator, letting the others flow in, Bradley didn’t expect in a million years to see what was waiting for him.
Before him there was Jake, dressed up as always and holding a flower—a simple white gardenia, Bradley’s favorite—, a confident, calm expression on his face as he stared intently at him.
Bradley stupidly felt tears well up in his eyes, as if he’d suddenly transformed into a teenager dealing with his first crush.
“Hey,” was all he said to Jake as he walked over to him.
The space between their bodies narrowed as if they had turned into two magnets that couldn’t separate, and that couldn’t help but please Bradley to the core.
“This is for you,” Jake whispered before placing a kiss on his cheek, soft as a feather. “Since my subtle strategy from a few days ago didn’t work, I decided to take a more direct approach with you, Bradshaw.”
Bradley felt his lips stretch into a relieved, happy smile unlike any other he’d ever had in his life.
“Your subtle strategy would have been to ask me about my weekend plans and hope I’d invite you out?” Bradley laughed, grabbing Jake’s hand and entwining it with his own.
“A girl can dream,” Jake replied goofily, his green eyes blazing with amusement and warmth. “After all, we were so good with Ice and Mav that I want to see if our matchmaking talents can be applied to ourselves too... what do you think?” Are you ready to find out?”
Bradley’s curly head shook happily.
“I’d love to. I’d like to take you out for pizza, and if you behave, dessert at my place,” Bradley replied softly before finally stepping down from his metaphorical perch and planting a quick kiss on Jake’s lips.
They were soft and tasted like cherries, from the lip balm Jake used almost obsessively.
But for Bradley, that kiss also tasted of future and promise.
He was really looking forward to see where this weekend might take him and Jake.