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.”“Well…” Miles hesitated.“It’s for research,” Nic reasoned.“I noticed you only make one kind of kimchi, and thiswill give you a chance to broaden your horizons.”“Count me in.” It sounded like fun.More fun than he’d had out in a long time, in anycase, and the sad part was, he truly doubted Itai would even notice he was gone, let alonecare.“Great!” Nic was eating something else now.It was a good thing he did work out, sincethe amount of calories he consumed every day was probably staggering.“You want to meetme there or should I swing by your place? It’s close enough to walk, and parking’s a bitch.”“Yeah, come here.We’ll walk.”“Okay.See you around eight.”“Bye.” Miles hung up and realized he was grinning from ear to ear, flattered and amazedthat someone like Nic would want to spend time with him.Miles smelled something burning.“Shit, my soup!”He rushed over to the stove and pushed the pot off the burner.The soup wassalvageable, but there was nothing that beat burned milk stuck to the bottom of a pan interms of lengthy cleanup.He transferred the soup to a different container to cool, soaked the damaged pot in waterand soap, and moved to prepping his pickles.He put on the radio and dashed around thekitchen, feeling more inspired than he had in ages.He didn’t even realize hours had passed until he heard the upstairs door open.Heglanced at the clock over the sink, where he was scrubbing the burned pan.It was alreadytwo in the afternoon.Itai wandered in wearing his designer sweats and a tightly knit merino wool sweater thathad a small hole in the cuff and therefore was deemed no better than sleepwear.His hairwas slicked back, but he hadn’t shaved, and dark stubble covered his chin as if he’d spent agood week harvesting a beard.“Yanix Inc.is interested,” Itai declared proudly, yawning.He reached on the bread rackfor one of the loaves that remained from the day before and had yet to be converted intocroutons.“Yeah?”Itai nodded.He tore the roll and started eating.“They’re formulating an offer for us thisweek.It would be huge if they bought us.They’ve become the hottest thing in onlinemessage boards and secure document sharing, so it could really take Fantastic far.”“Isn’t that great.” Miles scrubbed his pot.Itai’s smiled vanished.“What’s your problem now?”“Now?”“You’ve been acting like a pouty bitch all weekend.”The words were like a sucker punch.“I don’t know, Itai.Maybe it’s the fact that you arecheating on me again?”Miles waited to see the reaction, because that would reveal everything.Itai flinched and looked guilty for a second before he cleared his face of all expression.Itwas that second that revealed everything to Miles.“I wish you’d stop—”“I’ll stop,” Miles interrupted.He sighed.He hung his head and dropped his sponge,feeling so angry he’d grown numb.“I’ve stopped.”Itai stood there silently, hands in pockets.“Look…”There was a long silence between them, while Miles tried to swallow back the flood ofemotions that threatened to overwhelm him, and while Itai clearly searched for the rightthing to say.“Miles…I’m sorry about last night,” Itai said at last.“I know I wasn’t there for you.”“Or the night before,” Miles reminded him.Itai’s eyebrows came together.“The night before?”“My dinner? My Festival of Lights event? You didn’t ask how it went.”“Yes I did.”Miles stared at him.Itai looked away.“Maybe I didn’t.It’s been a busy time for me.You have to understandwhat I’m going through.”Miles continued to stare.Like a dry branch breaking free, Miles realized theirrelationship was over.He didn’t love Itai.Their love had withered months ago, dried upwithout the nourishment it needed to survive.Miles turned back to his pot and continued to scrub.Itai left.And less than half an hourafter that, he saw Itai through the kitchen windows that looked into the alley, coming downthe stairs.He got into his car and drove away.Miles breathed out in relief because he didn’t want to have that conversation now.Hewould have to, soon, but not right now.Miles nearly wore the brown sweater Itai had given him that night as a form of revenge,especially since the sweater had obviously been less for Miles than it had been a gift for Itaihimself, a way to dress up his guests at the launch like the faceless accoutrement Miles hadbeen.But he didn’t like the sweater, so he went to his old staple, a dark blue button-down thathad a cut that complemented his frame and made him look stronger than he was.He woreclean jeans and his dark suede boots and decided he looked acceptable enough for kimchi,at least.Because it wasn’t a date, he reminded himself.Around eight he realized he’d forgotten to instruct Nic to come up the alley and knockon the second-story entrance, so he gathered his wallet, phone, and keys and waited for Nicoutside the front of the store
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