Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 227

Chapter 227

"I still don't get it," Eric said. "Why the hell do I have to cover for all three of you? You just left me with Andy! You know he's not going to pull his weight."

You were in the little office kitchen and had been grabbing a drink from the water cooler when Eric found you in there.

"Dude," you said. "I really can't blame you for being annoyed at this. But me and the girls didn't volunteer - Garrison just called us out and gave us the assignment. And believe me, this isn't a job you want. It isn't like when Sabrina and I went to that other office. This sucks."

And it did. It was even worse than our usual document management stuff. Every paper had to be assessed and dated, and every box had over five hundred papers, and the boxes seemed like they were never-ending.

"Well... shit," he sighed. "I'm just getting tired of getting left out."

Now that did make you feel a little guilty because you hadn't stood up for him more on the mentoring thing with Garrison. Eric had been on your side all the way. Sure, he could be a little Bro-y and annoying, but did that mean he didn't deserve to be treated like a friend?

"I'm sorry, dude," you said. "Next time there's some sort of special assignment thing, I'll try and do my best to get you on it. OK?"

"I'd really appreciate it, man," Eric nodded. Then he sighed. "OK, completely different subject. I... may have matched with Joy on Bumble. And she's flirting with me."

You almost dropped your water cup. "Um... what?"

"I swear to God I'm not lying," Eric said, pulling out his phone. He opened up his dating app and went to his matches and opened up a profile.

It was real. It was Joy.

"If I didn't know who she was I probably already would have tried to set up a date," Eric said. "I mean, she's hot, right?"

"Eric," you said slowly. "I would never try and tell you who you should or shouldn't date, but if I were you I would be blocking the match, deleting the app and then throwing the phone in a river."

"Oh, it's not that bad," Eric said, but he looked down at his phone like he was seriously considering it.

"Look, just... be careful," you said. "Don't let her get in your head. Remember she did that to that IT guy."

"True," Eric nodded. Then he pursed his lips. "Maybe I can milk her for a nude or something."

You raised your hands and shook your head. "I don't want to hear anything about that," you said.

When you got back to the conference room you were still a little shocked. "You guys are not going to believe this..." was how the conversation started, and as you were working you, Sabrina and Gemma had an entire afternoon of guessing at what Joy was trying to do.

The answer ended up splitting between her either having forgotten who Eric was in that short a time, mostly because she was that stuck up, or her planning to steal his soul through sex because she was secretly a demon succubus. The three of you gave about even odds to both options.

At the end of the day, you kissed Gemma and Sabrina goodbye outside the office and went home alone for the first time since last Thursday. It felt kind of weird, both looking forward to a bit of alone time and also missing your girlfriends' presence after just spending all day with them.

You had the apartment to yourself for a while when you first got in, but after an hour Mosche was knocking and peeking his head in the front door.

"Hey," you said, raising an eyebrow at his antics. "What's up?"

"Are you alone?" Mosche asked.

".... Yeah?" you replied.

"Oh, good," Mosche sighed, coming into the apartment. "I just wanted to make sure it was all clear."

"Dude, we discussed this. Sexy time stays in our rooms," you said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he shrugged. "I just keep flashing back to having my weiner out in front of Gemma and Sabrina. It was like living through one of those 'not wearing pants in front of the class' nightmares in real life."

"I've never had that dream, but I understand the reference," you said. "But you're not naked, so...?"

"I didn't say I was being rational," he said.

"Well, nothing to worry about right now. What's up with you?"

"Ugh," Mosche sighed, slouching down into the chair in the living area that was across from the couch you were on. "I'm just so tired."

"Physically, mentally, emotionally...?"

"Yes?" he answered. "Well, maybe not physically so much. I'm just not used to dating, especially someone like Tasha. And things at the Club have been really up and down lately."

"Oh, I'm sorry," you said. "So, ah, are you and Tasha officially dating now, or just seeing each other?"

Mosche quirked his lips to the side in thought. "I guess we haven't talked about it. We mostly don't actually go out on dates, we just meet up here or at her place."

"Are you exclusive?" you asked.

Mosche opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again.

"Dude, if you want that, you need to talk with her," you said.

"I know," he said, sounding just a little whiny.

"Look at it this way," you said. "The longer you put it off, the more likely it is that Tasha starts seeing another guy at the same time as you."

"Uuuugh," Mosche groaned, throwing his head back. "I hate this. Why couldn't I be born in, like, the 1950s?"

"Cause then you could have been drafted into the Vietnam War," you pointed out.

".... shut up," Mosche sighed.

"Wanna watch a movie?" you offered.

"Yeah, sure," Mosche nodded. "Pizza?"

"Sure," you agreed. You checked your phone again before turning on the TV and looking for something to watch. Gemma and Sabrina had sent you pictures of their outfits for their night out and they had looked great - great enough that you wanted to be with them. You trusted them completely, but knowing they were out at a bar in the hot dresses they'd picked where guys would be hitting on them... Maybe you needed to work on that. Or maybe you just needed to put your foot down and go with them to that sort of thing.

Huh. Maybe you were as frustrated by modern dating as Mosche was, and you'd just stumbled into the best-case scenario.