The water was falling plenty on his head; plenty and most importantly, hot. His entire body was relaxing due to the high temperature and there was nothing else to think of but the sweet sensation of the bed once he’d lay down.

It was already midnight by the time he stepped inside the shower, even though he got home early in the morning. The moment he closed the door behind him, leaving Nick and his new lover outside of his business, his boss called him. The old man started throwing a fit without even a decent greeting. The scolding was about the errors that kept him up all night in the office. Mr. Yaro couldn’t stop talking and pointing out that failures were not welcome, especially from someone with his skills. If it was a matter of pressure, he said in an exaggerating tone, then Teo should consider finding a more easygoing job than this one. Boy, James did love blubbering around. There was no other way that Mr. Yaro could find out about it. The man would rarely visit the company’s offices. He’d simply throw a glance at the reports to make sure that everything was working fine. He’d proceed to a delightful brunch with his dear nephew and then leave for god know where. It was impossible to have the bugs figured out on his own.

After an hour of endless screaming, Mr. Yaro asked Teo to work overtime via his personal computer, make sure that everything was working to perfection and be thankful that he was kind enough to accept a change in the product’s release date. Thankfully, it all came to an end, even if he had spent more than twelve hours working.

Leaning against the wall, with the shower head spitting water as hot as the depths of hell, Teo finally relaxed. There was no reason to beat himself up for a couple of mistakes. In 6 years of working, he only met bugs like these three times, and he stood on his feet afterward, proud of himself. Why not do the same again? Perfection, after all, was nothing but a constant moving target. Always going higher whenever you’re close to reaching it. But in the meantime, you were improving despite the obstacles along the way. A battle; a neverending battle.

After spending twenty minutes thoroughly cleaning his body – more like scratching every inch of it to erase the unpleasant memories of the day – the young man finally stepped outside the bathtub. Next was the sink, wiping with the back of his hand the steam off the mirror and taking a good – moisty mostly – look at his face. Water was dripping from every corner of it as well as from each lock of his brown hair. Teo leaned closer to the mirror, struggling to notice something else; something different. His reflection followed the exact same movement, presenting him with the usual figure; the usual, everyday man, only but a few days older.

Come on, tell me, what am I supposed to do?

He pulled back some of his hair, trying to fix the image of the guy he was staring at. Was he satisfied with the sight? Perhaps. Carla used to remind him that he was way too good-looking for his fashion sense. Way too handsome, he chuckled at those words. Maybe the signs of her stranding away were all over but he was too afraid to see them; too scared to acknowledge their existence. He smiled and then frowned. Thankfully no age lines had formed in between his eyebrows, close to his eyes, or at the corners of his mouth. If he was his mother’s son, then those signs would show up in much later years. His chin was rather sharp than his younger, college – self, but it added a rather nice charm.

You are too lame, he grabbed the forest green towel from the counter next to him and wrapped it around his waist, tying a tight knot to keep it in position. Then again, was there even a point in doing that? After six years of living with Carla, Teo was finally on his own. No one was living with him so no chance for anyone to see him naked and make him feel bad about it. So, no; the towel was not a necessary asset. He could wear nothing and simply walk around naked in his apartment.

He was free to do that.

Right?

A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he looked away from his reflection. No. Nothing was right. He was supposed to be feeling furious with her! She technically cheated on him! She abandoned him for the sake of another; of a stranger. It didn’t matter to him that he was good-looking, more fit, or richer. What mattered the most was that the love they once shared turned out to be a cheap knock–off. So, he had every right bestowed on him to fill with rage, but no. Not him. Not good guy Theodore. He had to feel anything but anger. He even blamed himself for not offering her everything that she needed. And that’s why nothing was right in his life and around him.

The moment he entered the bedroom, the man fell flat on the mattress. There was no strength left in him to dress up or even be somehow more descent and put on pants. With a swift movement, he pulled the covers over him and remained buried under them, with eyes shut and ready to fall asleep. Ah yes, the sweet sensation of falling into the arms of a handsome Morpheus, granting him peaceful dreams; escaping for a few hours the harsh reality.

As if anything like that was possible...

The irritating sound of the doorbell penetrated his ears and pressing his head in between the pillows was not helping. Teo screamed. He found all the remaining drops of energy in him and wasted them into a muffled scream against his pillow. But the doorbell insisted and forced him in getting up. He wasn’t happy at all. Actually, at that moment, he was furious! Which led to him forgetting one small detail as he walked to the door.

“Uh, I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Nick was standing right in front of him, wearing an oversized hoodie and a pair of gray joggers. Theodore blinked a few times. His head was killing him. “I mean usually you stay up late to work on those code-thingies.” a pause.“Unless I interrupted.” Nick’s lips formed the most mischievous smile the other had ever seen.

Beaten by exhaustion, understanding the meaning of those words was a true struggle and he wasn’t in the mood to decipher that particular code.

“What are you doing here?” was all that he managed to speak out loud.

“Mhm, right.” he wasn’t making any sense, then again, Nick was rarely making any sense. Aside from his favorite habit of meddling with everyone’s business, he also loved communicating in riddles. The boy leaned to the door, arms folded on his chest while staring at a clueless Teo. “Well,” he clicked his tongue against his teeth and chuckled before whispering “I’d tell you, but I can’t concentrate...y’know?”

“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t.” Teo’s patience was on the edge.

“Listen, I’m fine with nudity. Really fine with it. And it’s your place, you can do whatever you want in there. Don’t feel obligated to change your ways just because I showed up, ok?”

Nudity?

Just a glance down was enough for Teo to lose his mind.

“Damn it!” he yelled and ran to the bedroom, leaving the entrance wide open behind him.

“I guess, I should come in?” Nick stepped inside softly and low-key enjoying a bit of Teo’s fret. He wandered a little around the place, admiring the neatness of it and its nice decoration. Certainly, it was way different than his, but it had nice homey feelings. The boy walked to the living room and gazed at the hanging photo frames, all of them showing Teo and Carla with a variety of people; friends, family? Who knew? They did seem happy, but that girl seemed a little distant. He took a photo in his hands. Sunny day in the park. Teo was wearing a black T-shirt with some white-haired guy in leather medieval clothing. His arms were wrapped around her waist, pulling his wife into a loving embrace, yet her face was kind of stiff, forcing a fake smile across her lips. So much pretending, How could he possibly withstand it?

“Why does he keep those around?”Nick tried to bring into his mind several of his previous relationships. Some ended badly, others on good terms, but he never allowed himself to stay attached. Once the party was over, he had to get rid of the evidence and the garbage. Gifts, photos, silly cards, and messages, all would go to the trash. No regrets and no looking back. Unlike this guy here, of course, whose place was a true memorial of his dead marriage. Each to their liking, he thought with a shrug and placed the photo frame back.

“Sorry about that.” Nick turned and to his subtle disappointment, Teo was wearing his dark bluish pajamas. “I don’t usually go around naked. Not even in my house.”

“It’s cool, don’t worry. You are not the first guy I’ve seen naked” there was that smile again; full of innuendo with hints of pure joking.

“So, Nick” Teo clapped his hands and looked at the boy “What can I do for you at such an hour?”

“Right! Yeah. Sorry” he turned entirely towards Teo, walking next to him. “Um, listen, I wanted to apologize for this morning. I shouldn’t have mentioned Carla. I guess how awful you must feel these days and it’d be a shame to bear with my sense of humor. I get it that sometimes I may cross the lines.”

“Sometimes?” Theodore questioned without regret the boy who chuckled at the response.

“Yup. Sometimes I even get on my nerves. Bu this,” he pointed to his temple, “sometimes works far ahead. First I say whatever it is and then I think about the consequences. I work hard on fixing this, though.”

“Mhm, that’s good for you. But what exactly did you mean that you guess how awful I feel? I don’t feel awful at all.” Lies were not his strength, and it was pretty clear why. He couldn’t convince himself about it.

“Come on now, Teo. It shows and it’s understandable. You just got divorced, she already is up for some dessert. If I were you, I’d be out there and searching for the next girl. Or boy. Whatever is to your liking”

“And couldn’t the apology wait till tomorrow?” he completely ignored everything. Even though Nick was right, he refused to listen to him. What a kid, after all, could know about marriages and serious relationships? From all this time he stayed in that building, the boy had brought home many different fellows. And how long would this type of relationship last? A month? Less than a month?

“Tomorrow I have a full day. Uni, work, you know the drill. I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing that you were upset because of me.” Nick moved closer to Teo. He shrugged a little and looked into those green-bluish eyes. “Plus, I know how it feels to be dumped and I wanted to let you know that you have a friend here. Someone to hang out with and ask for anything.”

Was this an invitation of a short? It was already too late, his mind was burnt out from all the hard work. He must have misinterpreted his words, that’s all.

“Yeah, sure. I know and thank you for that. But, I need to rest. Sorry if it sounds like I’m kicking you out”

“You are doing that and, hey! no hard feelings. I’ll make sure to bump into you tomorrow.” A wink was all that he offered him, and without saying any other word, Nick was out of his apartment.

Teo collapsed on the sofa. His face was burning up still from the thought that someone had seen him fully naked and that someone was the horny kid from the apartment across his. But exhaustion took over him, knocking out his final struggle to keep his eyes open. Soon, sleep pulled him in, yet a phrase kept on playing in his mind;

I’ll make sure to bump into you tomorrow. Ok?