Page 31 of Come As You Are
“How’s the ankle feeling?” he asked.
Vee’s gaze finally left my face, and he glanced down at his foot as he wiggled it a bit, then turned it side to side. “It’s pretty sore, but I still think it’s only a sprain.”
“Can you stand?”
“I should probably try.”
Sebastian was unbelievably gentle as he placed Vee’s foot on the floor, then stood to help him stand. As soon as Vee’s foot touched the floor, he cried out in pain, and Sebastian’s arms were there to catch him from falling. My own arms ached to hold Vee as well, for Sebastian and me to cradle him like we’d done before, for a way to share this burden with them, but I stayed where I was.
I was too unsure how to proceed, or even if I should, nor did I know what to do with what I was feeling for these two men. When my phone rang with a call from Toby asking if Sebastian could return to the bar since they were swamped, the tension in my chest lessened as if I could breathe again.
The clock on the wall read only a little after half past ten. Since Sebastian had the following day off, he was closing tonight and wouldn’t be home until at least three. That was a long time to make Vee wait for a ride. Sebastian seemed to realize the same thing as he told Vee he needed to get back to the bar. He pulled out his phone and told Vee he’d call for a Lyft to take him home.
“Nonsense,” I said. “I’ll take him. As long as you can help me get him down the stairs.”
In the end, Sebastian carried Vee down the stairs and out the back door to where my car was parked, and I drove him back to Sebastian’s.
Of course, when we arrived, and I saw that Sebastian lived in a two-story Victorian with a steep flight of stairs to the front door, I realized Vee was going to have to climb those since I couldn’t carry him the way Bast had.
Vee slung an arm around my shoulder, and moving slowly, we started our climb, pausing every couple of steps to catch our breath. By the time we made it into the apartment, and I was able to ease Vee onto the couch in the front room, we were both sweaty and breathing hard.
Vee leaned his head back on the cushions and sighed. “That feels better.”
I gathered up a couple of pillows and put them under his ankle. “Do you have any ibuprofen?” I asked. It was too much to hope there was an ACE bandage in the place.
“Maybe? If there is, it’s in the bathroom cabinet.”
Heading down the short hallway to the bathroom, I tried not to snoop, but I was intensely curious about Sebastian’s home. I’d never seen the interior of any of my employee’s dwellings, and had lived in Antonio’s Twin Peaks house since I’d left home. I didn’t think it was terribly ostentatious except for its stratospheric San Francisco price tag, but it wasn’t as compact a space as this one which had been carved out of the lower level of what had once been a single-family home.
I did note that the space was remarkably clean, but then that shouldn’t have surprised me as Sebastian kept the bar organized and insisted on it being spotless.
I found the ibuprofen and brought the bottle back to the living room. Vee had turned on the television and was scrolling through a list of movies and shows, while I went to the kitchen for water so he could swallow the tablets. The kitchen, too, was remarkably clean, and economically outfitted with a minimal number of plates, bowls, cups, and glasses—all from IKEA—but when I looked in the refrigerator for something Vee could eat to buffer the effect of the pills, I found very little that wasn’t expired or inedible. I poured a glass of water, rustled up a few crackers, and returned to the living room.
“Thanks,” Vee said as I put everything on the coffee table.
“Do you want something to eat?” I asked. “I was going to order an ACE bandage and some other things to help, so I might as well order us some food.”
Vee looked confused for a moment. “You don’t have to do all that.”
I opened my mouth to tell him of course I did, but realized… No, I didn’t have to. I wanted to. I’d hated seeing what that customer did, and it scared me that Vee might have gotten seriously injured. When Sebastian had leapt over the bar and come to Vee’s aid, I cheered inside. Now, I wanted to take care of Vee, make sure he was safe, and I was willing to stay here until Sebastian returned in order to make sure of it.
“It’s not a problem,” I said, and pulled out my phone as I sat down on the other end of the couch. “I want to make sure you’re okay. Now tell me what you’d like to eat, because there’s nothing in that kitchen.”
Laughing, Vee agreed with me, and I loved the way his smile lit up his entire face. “I’d kill for some Chinese dumplings,” he said.
“Done.” I opened up the delivery app and started scrolling for a Chinese restaurant, the thought of orange beef and potstickers making my mouth water. After placing the food order, I opened up Instacart and chose an ACE bandage, heating pad, and ice pack. I couldn’t think of anything else that would help Vee feel comfortable, but I did add some staples I noticed were not in evidence during my cursory look in the kitchen. I paid for the order and closed the app. “Food and stuff for your foot will be here within the hour,” I said.
“Thank you, Olivia, you didn’t have to do all this.”
I shrugged, overcome with an unexpected awkwardness at the novelty of Vee calling me by my name. Struggling to come up with something to talk about, I remembered our conversation from earlier. “What about that idea you had for the club?” Iasked. “I wanted to wait until there weren’t a lot of ears around, but no one else is here, so…”
“Oh, yeah.” Again, Vee’s face lit up, and I was struck by how beautiful he was, how absolutely mesmerizing. “I was thinking we could do a prom. We can give it a bit of exclusivity by selling tickets, both regular and VIP, offer some special drinks for the night, have food, maybe even a live band. We could even choose a theme or a decade to make it more fun.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” I said, thoughts about how to implement it already starting to turn over in my head. “We could bring in a chef to do a pop-up menu, have a photo booth, and I love the idea of choosing a decade like the 70s as a theme so people have to come in costume.”
Vee and I tossed some ideas around until the food arrived, then I went to the kitchen and brought us plates and forks.
“Do you want to change?” Vee asked before I settled back on the couch to eat.
