“What?” He looked down at Sylvia too then understood. They shared the same complexion, same hair color, hell even their eye color matched. “Oh, yeah, no, I see why you’d think that. This is my niece, Sylvia. My sister is over there in line for drinks.” He gestured to her. “They came in for my graduation.”

Richard’s cheeks were just a tad bit darker as he nodded. “Of course, sorry for assuming.” He nodded at a seat. “Please, have a seat.” Cio sat. Sylvia squealed excitedly and bounced her arms up and down while Richard gathered his papers and shoved them into the case by his feet. “Did you have something you were wanting to say?”

Sylvia suddenly reached out for Richard. She gurgled and laughed at him. Richard’s face softened. He reached out and held onto her little hand. Sylvia laughed louder then tried to pull his finger into her mouth. “Oh, yeah, careful. She likes to shove everything into her mouth.” Cio shifted Sylvia around so she could see Richard better. 

“She’s adorable.” Richard pulled his hand back then sat back to watch Cio expectantly.

Right. Did he have anything to say? He cleared his throat. “Was I not supposed to know who you were?”

Richard’s brows drew down for a second. “I took my cues from you. I was under the impression you weren’t interested.”

Wasn’t interested? When did Cio imply that? “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” It didn’t, but he didn’t want to press. “Except y’know, when I started going on about my ideas for my master’s thesis. You could’ve stopped me. I was literally explaining the basics to an expert in the field.”

Richard snorted. “I enjoyed listening to you. You obviously have a lot of passion. I expect to see you go far with it.”

It was an empty statement to make. One that advisors and teachers said all the time. It felt just as empty coming from him as it did them. Cio nodded at him. “Ok, yeah, I guess that was all.”

Richard gave a tight smile. He seemed to weigh his words before he continued. “Besides, I’m not an expert in biomedical engineering. My focus was originally on weapons engineering. What I know of biomedical is what I’ve learned since opening Price Labs.”

“Oh.” Cio had no idea. “I see. I just assumed your focus would’ve been biomedical, or similar since your lab was focused on it.”

“A fair assumption.”

“About last week. It was… I mean, thank you, for, uh…” Cio trailed off awkwardly. “I had a really great time.” Cio chewed his lip and bounced Sylvia. “Would you want to —”

“Your sister.” Richard interrupted and nodded to someone behind Cio. He turned to see her approaching with both drinks. 

Disappointment sunk deep into his gut. “Right. Well, it was nice to meet you, Dr. Price.”

“You too, Cio. Good luck with graduate school.”

Cio stood and flipped Sylvia back around. Amelia smiled at him and waved at Richard before heading for the door. Cio followed. 

Price Labs had been at the top of his list of companies he’d want to work for. It was well known, in the same city as his family, and was known for hiring staff who wouldn’t otherwise get an interview. Whether they weren’t getting interviews, or callbacks, due to physical handicaps, children’s schedules to work around, or names that weren’t ‘white’ enough, Price Labs truly meant the disclaimer every employer was forced to put on their job postings - ‘Does not discriminate.’

“How’d it go?” They stood drinking their coffee and watching Daniel and Clara through the large glass windows of the frozen yogurt shop. They were heaping toppings onto the boys’ frozen yogurt.

“Good, I guess. He thought Sylvia was mine at first.”

Amelia snorted. “She does kind of look like you.”

“Yeah.” Cio shifted her weight in his arms. She was dozing against his shoulder. “It did go pretty good though. I’m still going to apply for Price Labs once I’ve got my graduate degree.”

“Good. You’d never see him around anyway. I’m sure he’s too busy running the place to oversee the new hires.”

Amelia was trying to cheer him up, so he didn’t let her know that he’d rather be able to see Richard around. He might not get another night like that night, but it wouldn’t hurt to get to know him better. Once Richard got to know him, he might change his mind. He might be interested in more.

“I have two more years before I have to worry about it.”

He had two more years of hard work, then, if he had it his way, he’d be working at Price Labs, and, if he was lucky, be getting to know Richard Price a little bit better as well.

~-~-~

When Richard saw Cio holding that little girl who looked just like him, he was angry. Angrier than he’d been in a long time. The relief that he felt when Cio told him that was his niece was indescribable. It was a rollercoaster of emotion in a very small time frame. He was already craving another whiskey from it.

For that moment, where he’d thought he’d not only taken advantage of a college kid, but a married with a child college kid, he’d felt like the biggest piece of scum. He’d done some shitty things in his life, but this was damn near the top. Even taking the child out of the equation, this was still pretty high on that list.

He watched Cio talk with his sister outside the window. Sylvia’s dark head of hair was just visible over Cio’s shoulder. He could go apologize still. Let him know this wasn’t who he was. He didn’t go to colleges and get the students drunk so he could sleep with them.

What would that mean though? Would he be telling Cio that he was ‘special?’ and what would Cio expect from him after that? He sipped his drink and watched as two more adults joined them with two kids holding what looked like a small tub of cookie crumbles. One of the kids held a spoonful of his mixture out to Cio and Cio knelt down to take a bite. His new position put his front in view of Richard and Richard had to fight the smile that came from seeing Sylvia asleep with her head on Cio’s shoulder.

Cio had said that he had a great time, but Richard interrupted before he could ask what he was going to ask. A part of him feared he was going to ask if they could do it again. Another part wanted him to. He wouldn’t have had an answer to the question. It was better to just… leave it.

The group walked away and Richard watched them go. As they went to turn the corner, Cio glanced back to the shop window. Richard didn’t know if he could actually see him from that far away and through the window, but just in case, he gave a nod in farewell. Cio turned back around without reaction. Richard turned back to his paperwork and back to his life.

Apologizing wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t make him a better person. He’d made his bed and now he had to lie in it.