Blue Hearts - On Break

It wasn't exactly teatime when Bex met up with Oliver. Naturally, he got to her when he could have a break. As usual, he brought her a Kit-Kat candy bar. Her favorite. They shared, along with cups of hot brewed tea in the library breakroom near the lockers and outdated furniture. They sat at the table to chat.

"So is she being a bitch?" Bex asked about his supervisor.

"Is yours?" He shot her a serious look.

They both laughed.

"So everything is OK with Dayton?" Oliver wanted to know.

Bex didn't want to tell him how sore she was or the bruise she found on the back of her arm. It was better just to say. "Yeah, everything is fine."

"You didn't have a fight or anything?"

"Why do you always say that?" She didn't like that sort of question. "We have never had a fight."

"You get so mad, you know, I just didn't know." He looked a bit hurt that he'd suggested they had an abusive relationship.

"It's not like that. It's never like that. Never."

"OK." So much for their fun fifteen minutes together.

"Sorry." She sighed. "So what are you doing after work?"

"Shopping."

"Oh, that sounds intriguing, with anyone I know?" Bex's smile was open as if she wanted to know more.

"No. No, it's not what you think. Probably the most boring time ever. Said I'd do somebody a favor. And hopefully, that's the end of it." He told her quickly. He was beginning to get restless she noticed.

"Why do you want it to be the end of it?" She was puzzled. He never let on there was anybody. There had to be somebody. There just had to be.

"Because, it just is. It's boring." He gave her a quick smile and downed his tea. "Suppose I must get back to the infantiles."

"So call me?" She smiled, watching him get up, clean his cup in the sink and put it away like a speed demon. "E-mail me. I don't care."

"Sure." He looked a bit indifferent then. And it made her kind of sad. Weren't they friends?

He never did the e-mail much. She wondered what he really did when he wasn't here. She was sure it was something nice. Maybe he volunteered somewhere, and he didn't want anyone to know. It had to be something like that. Just had to be. Maybe he was shopping for homeless kids.