Page 62 of Seasons of Love
So yeah, the moment I saw Slade walk down the corridor hand in hand with Mike, I pocketed my phone and ran toward him.
He opened his arms for me and held me tight. I felt his tears on my neck. There was nothing I could say in that moment, so I let him cry as I ran my hands up and down his back.
When he finally stopped, I cleaned the tears with a tissue and handed him the bottle of water.
Slade smiled and drank most of the water in one go.
"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mike," I said and ran my hand up his arm. He looked very shaken too.
"Would you…would you come home with me? There's a few things Ted said he wanted you to have," Mike said to Slade.
"I'll go back to the hotel and pick you up later when you're ready," I said.
"No. You're coming with us."
Mike nodded. He didn't seem upset that I was tagging along, but I still felt like I was being assessed.
We followed Mike's car in silence, which put me a little on edge. My phone burned in my pocket, buzzing every so often, but I ignored it.
I looked at Slade, who was staring out of the window, lost in thought.
"Hey," I said gently.
"Hey," he replied. I glanced at him when we hit a red traffic light and he was staring at me.
I took his hand and lifted it to my lips, kissing his palm.
"It's been a while, huh?" I said.
"Yeah. These streets are so different now, but they're also the same."
Ted's place was like I'd imagined. The garage was shut, but from the size of the metal gates, it was much bigger than Slade's, though there was no shop attached to it. We followed Mike to a door on the side which led to an indoor staircase. At the top there were two doors, one on either side.
Mike opened the door to the left, but I noticed Slade staring at the door on the right.
It was strange being in the house of a man I hadn't met and that had just passed away.
The place was very tidy and didn't have much inside.
"He started getting rid of stuff when he got the terminal diagnosis," Mike said. "He said there was no point in keeping old crap as he put it."
"He got rid of his chair too?" Slade asked.
"No, that's at our place, um…my place. He moved in with me a few months ago."
Mike picked up a box and took us to his place, which as it turned out was the door opposite Ted’s.
I felt like I was intruding in Slade's old life as I followed them into Mike's place. There were photos of them all over the walls.
Two young guys with their arms around each other, clearly so much in love. There were photos of the beach, mountains, viewpoints. It looked like they'd traveled and enjoyed their life together.
"Um, can I make myself useful? I can make coffee or get some water, if you like?" I asked. They were both on the couch with the box on the coffee table in front of them.
"Thank you, Aiden, coffee would be nice, actually. The kitchen is through there, everything is easy to find."
I nodded and walked toward the corridor leading to the kitchen, busying myself with the coffee machine. My phone buzzed again. I took it out just in time to see the screen go dark as the battery died. That was probably for the best.
I needed to keep going, keep focusing on Slade and what he needed. Mike too. What I saw on my phone had to have an explanation, but now wasn't the time to seek it.
