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In hindsight, he should not perhaps have been so easily influenced. But Adam, lovely Adam had been talking to Simon by the water cooler, and they had been discussing a trend. Adam, being young and well-liked, presumably knew all about trends. Elias hadn’t had time to eavesdrop further, as their boss Mette had shrieked at him to get his sorry butt into her office. There he had been berated for his lack of productivity and threatened with dismissal if he didn’t ‘get his act together.’ He knew that he needed to focus, but ever since Adam had started working at the office, he couldn’t think about anything else. Oh, the little demon liked to sashay through the office in his tight trousers and green shirts open at the collar, being charming and cheeky and utterly irresistible. Elias frequently caught himself staring at the younger man, and mentally kicking himself for it.
He’d tried to ignore him, but it seemed like wherever Elias was, Adam was. And more often than not he was doing something that…confused Elias. For example, Adam had dropped three pencils this week as he passed Elias’s desk. He bent down to pick them up, his perfect bottom practically in Elias’s face, and Elias had to think very intently about his brother Gabriel’s shoulder warts in order to avoid an incident. There were plenty enough of those outside of work, late at night or early in the morning when images of Adam presented themselves unbidden in his mind. Incomprehensibly Adam also needed new supplies of staples almost daily, and he would have to stand on a little pall as he was rather short and stretch up to reach the staple box. His shirt would ride up revealing a taut, pale stomach to which Elias’s eyes were inevitably drawn. Finally Adam liked to drink a lot of water, often coming over to the water cooler for a top-up, and chatting to Silly Simon, Elias’s desk mate. Adam’s voice was soft and kind, and he spoke Danish with a charming English accent. It had a delightful lilt to it, one that wholly captivated Elias’s attention whenever he heard it.
Old fool that he was, Elias realised he was falling for the young man. Through some careful eavesdropping he’d determined there were eleven years between them, and some part of his foolish heart hoped that Adam believed that age was only a number. The more pressing issue, however, was Elias’s appearance. He was what his brothers called ‘an acquired taste’. He had ‘a face for radio’, they said, or that he looked ‘like the back of a lorry’.
It was highly unlikely that someone like Adam would ever find him attractive. Especially not now.
Elias hid his face in his hands and heaved out a sigh. This was an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions. He’d searched for videos of the trend in question, which stated he would need a special makeup pen, but he couldn’t see how that was any different from a marker pen. He wasn’t going to fork over his hard-earned money for something he didn’t need. He’d followed the instructions faithfully, shaving his bushy eyebrows off entirely with his razor. He didn’t need to pluck – that would take forever. He’d gone to bed and woken up with horrible red bumps where his eyebrows used to be. After an initial panic, he’d determined that it was no matter – he’d simply cover them with the marker pen as the girl in the video did. Her eyebrows looked so pretty, perfectly shaped and drawn on. But as it turned out, a marker pen was not sufficient. He looked ridiculous, with his angry red bumps and his disastrous brown lines. This was not what the video had promised, this was not how the girl looked. This was awful. He’d scrubbed off the ink as well as he could, and tried covering his forehead with a hat, but none reached down far enough to cover up the damage.
And now it was time to get out of his car and go into work, and Adam would see him. Adam, wonderful, handsome Adam, would see him looking like this. Elias prayed then to any deity that might be listening for a quick and painless death. It would be easier. It would be far easier.
Death did not come, so Elias stepped out of his car and walked furtively into the building, resting one hand over his face as he passed the receptionist with a grumpy hello.
“Oh, Elias,” came Simon’s voice when Elias sat down, followed by a fit of giggles. This got the attention of the office, and Elias looked up just in time to see Adam’s face turn from smiling to worried. The rest of his traitorous co-workers burst out laughing. Elias’s face burned hot and he lowered his gaze, cleared his throat and shuffled some papers on his desk.
“What happened?!” Simon asked.
“That doesn’t concern you,” Elias snarled at the sniggering crowd. “It doesn’t concern any of you. It was…an allergic reaction to a new shampoo,” he said desperately.
“That happened to me once,” Adam said to the room. “My eyebrows vanished overnight. Don’t worry Elias,” he added, nodding in Elias’s direction, and smiling kindly. As if he couldn’t get any more wonderful, Elias thought, feeling his heart twist fondly in his heart. After a few more jokes at both his and Adam’s expense, the laughter subsided, and Adam walked over to Elias after Simon had got up to use the bathroom.
“Were you trying the new trend?” Adam whispered conspiratorially.
“I –” Elias sputtered, unable to form coherent sentences. How had Adam guessed?!
“I’ve seen how you look at me. I’ve been waiting for you to make a move, trying to get your attention. I didn’t anticipate this though,” Adam said, a cheeky grin on his beautiful face. Elias’s mouth responded of its own accord, mirroring Adam’s smile with one of his own.
“Do you want to go for a drink tonight?” Adam asked next, taking the opportunity to reach up for some staples again. Elias was a goner.
“Uh,” he said eloquently.
“We could go after work, if you want?” Adam prompted, raising a perfect dark (and normal) eyebrow. Elias finally managed to nod, and Adam’s beam was nearly blinding.
“See you later then, big guy,” Adam murmured, squeezing Elias’s shoulder with a wink.
“See…you…” Elias choked out.
It was unbelievable, really. He looked and felt his worst, but Adam wanted to go out for drinks anyway. And many years of marriage later Elias was always the first to tell anyone who would listen how the disaster of his shaved eyebrows had led him to the love of his life.