Chapter 15
Lesedi just smiled, resting her head on Haley’s shoulder. “Yeah. Got a problem with that?” She asked, her gaze challenging him. Mateo quickly shook his head, glancing over at Haley as she anxiously twiddled her thumbs.
“I thought- oh fuck I thought you’d already- did I just out her for a second time?” She asked worriedly, but Mateo just shook his head slightly. “No, I probably would’ve figured it out after a while anyway.”
Lesedi frowned, standing up straighter. “What’s that supposed to mean? You make it a habit of working out who’s cis and who isn’t?” She asked, looking pretty displeased. Mateo hastily shook his head, trying to clarify what he meant.
“No, but once I knew you two were a couple I eventually would’ve thought about Haley and my first conversation and then pieced it together. It’s really none of my business who’s cis or trans,” he said honestly.
Lesedi nodded slowly, her gaze turning normal again. “Ok. Sorry for the mini interrogation; if you were a transphobe then I would’ve told Jed instantly and got him to fire you. As I’m sure you can imagine I’ve come into plenty of transphobia in my time and we really don’t tolerate that here.”
Mateo smiled wryly, fiddling with his ring awkwardly. “Trust me, I get exactly where you’re coming from.”
Rolling her eyes, Lesedi crossed her arms. “Sure, the cis guy totally knows what it’s like to encounter transphobia.”
Haley looked between her girlfriend and Mateo, suddenly feeling hyper aware of the fact that Mateo was also trans; she never thought about it much, and most of the time it just didn’t occur to her. But oh boy was she thinking about that teeny weeny fact right now.
Mateo crossed his arms in return, shrugging when Lesedi’s gaze landed back on him. “I’m flattered, actually, by that comment. But seriously, I used to get beaten up at school literally all the time when I first came out. So yeah, I get it.”
Mateo held his breath for a moment; this was the first time he’d deliberately come out to anyone at his workplace. It took Lesedi a moment where Mateo could practically see the cogs working in her mind, before her eyes widened.
“Holy fucking shit, you’re- no way! You’re pulling my leg, right?” She asked, but there was belief in her eyes as she let out a light laugh. “Holy fuck,” she breathed out, before frowning slightly. “Wait, does Jed know?”
Mateo grimaced slightly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “No I uh- you two are the only ones who know.”
Lesedi suddenly glanced over at her girlfriend, “wait you knew too?! I didn’t even realise you and Mateo knew each other; I didn’t think you were particularly close.”
Haley glanced over at Mateo, shaking her head. “We um, we’re friends, but like…this is probably the longest we’ve ever had a chat. So no, we’re not- I sort of just, umm,” Haley tried to explain, feeling slightly awkward and not sure how much Mateo wanted Lesedi to know about the situation.
“I gave her my ID on my first day of work, and the pronouns are wrong on it,” Mateo stepped in, playing with the ring on his little finger. He didn’t wear rings much, but he had this one he liked to wear on the little finger on his left hand sometimes, just because it looked cool.
“Oh heck, really? That’s a bloody nuisance to get changed, I’ll tell you that for nothing. But it’s worth the hassle, trust me,” Lesedi said with a bright smile, resting her head back on Haley’s shoulder.
Mateo opened his mouth to continue the conversation - he was genuinely interested in Lesedi’s experiences and would’ve enjoyed continuing to chat - but then the door to the staff room opened again, and James stepped in.
“Mateo! There you are, did you manage to find the folder? Thought I’d come show you where it is just in case, because apparently you hadn’t been up to the office yet and I realised I’d left it in a pretty nasty hiding place,” he said jovially, smiling at Haley and Lesedi as he walked past, rootling around by some desks and in drawers.
When Lesedi made no move to stop holding Haley’s hand, Mateo guessed that James already knew about the two of them.
“Ah, here it is. Make sure not to work too hard today, alright? It still hasn’t been that long and whilst I’m certain you’re a strong guy, we don’t want you somehow reopening the wound or something. Also, I’ll be interviewing some bodyguard options today, and if you could, do you mind watching some of them spar? We want to make sure that we find someone of at least your skill level.”
Mateo nodded, taking the folder from James and saying a hasty goodbye to Haley and Lesedi, but not before Lesedi scribbled her number down on a stickie note and gave it to Mateo, telling him to text her later.
When Mateo finally made it up to Jedidiah’s office, a total of five minutes late, he mentally chastised himself for letting himself get caught up in conversation for so long, even if it was an important one.
Mateo always made sure to leave extra early for work, so that if he did get held up, it wouldn’t make him late. But he hadn’t planned on going to the staff office, seeing his friend and her girlfriend kissing, and then stopping to have a chat with them for quite a while.
“Well if it isn’t Mateo Montero himself!” Jedidiah said brightly once Mateo entered his office, a smile almost as big as Jedidiah’s replicated on his own face.
“Good morning, Jedidiah. I’m sorry for being late,” he said politely, reminding himself to stay professional. His boss just beamed back, pushing his laptop to one side and watching as Mateo sat down at his own desk, placing the folder on the table and glancing across the reports from the past two and a half weeks.
“You’re hardly late at all, it’s alright. And I like your ring by the way, it suits you,” Jedidiah said, staring down at his own work intently, so that he wouldn’t have to meet Mateo’s eye.
Mateo just smiled to himself, admiring his ring once again. He was surprised that Jedidiah had even noticed it; he must be more observant than I’d realised, Mateo thought with a slight grin, before it grew gently.
Well one good thing I know is that Jedidiah isn’t a transphobe, considering his best friend is trans, which I’m fairly certain he knows. This is good, really good, Mateo thought with a bright smile.
Comments (14)
See all