Life Improvement Services

Chapter six

At home, Nick still cooked dinner for two. Colin gave him a heads up earlier that he wouldn’t be eating dinner at home, but it was just in case Colin wanted some later. Nick sat alone in the dining room. It was his first quiet mealtime in a while.

“Has it always been this quiet, Cal?” Nick asked. Cal, who was also eating her cat food on top the dining table, was too busy to reply.

By 10 in the evening, Nick was laying on the couch reading a book while Cal slept on the coffee table. He heard keys jangling then the door swinging open.

A minute later, Colin was in the living room. “Honey, I’m home!” He jokingly called out.

Nick didn’t peel his eyes away from the book, but he could tell Colin sounded tired. He felt a tap his foot. “Scooch over.”

“There’s another couch.”

Colin turned on the TV and slightly bent Nick’s knees to make room for himself. “Ahh, finally.” He let out as he sank into the couch.

“Rule number one,” Nick reminded.

Colin stretched his arms and yawned. “It was a life or death situation. I was deadly tired.”

They stayed like that for a few minutes, with Colin watching a random show in the TV and Nick thumbing his book mindlessly. They were completely silent until Nick spoke. “Long day?”

Colin lowered the volume. “Uh-huh. Traffic was horrible. You?”

“Same.” Nick glanced at Colin for a second. His hair was a mess and his white shirt had colorful stains on them that looked like paint. He could only wonder what the other man had been up to. “There's dinner and mousse in the fridge.”

Colin’s eyes noticeably lit up as he sprang up and made a beeline to the kitchen. He returned with the mousse and a fork. “Nicholas, have I ever told you that you’re the best?” He blew a kiss.

“Have you at least had dinner?” Nick looked back at the page he was reading, but he couldn’t attend to the words written.

“Nope, starving but I’ll eat dinner later. Dessert first. Want some?” He offered a bite.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Oh, right, no dessert after 8pm and you only like milk chocolate bars–your ‘forbidden sweets' from childhood. Well, more for me, then.” Colin happily said, eating away.

Nick was amazed at how Colin recalled that information when they had only talked about it in passing. As he came to think about it, Colin had been asking about small details of his life during random times. Nick answered every query as they didn’t seem invasive, but if one were to sew them all together, Nick had probably shared the most to Colin about his life than to any other person.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m surprised you got the mousse.” Colin said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t really eat mousse, and you stare out the window while I talk to Lim.”

“Lim?”

“Shop guy.”

“Ah, Lim. He sends his regards.”

“Nice of him. So why did you get this? Was it just for me?”

“No,” Nick answered rather fast.

He sneaked a peek at Colin from behind his book, watching him watch TV with a knowing smile on his face. He can read me like a book, but how much do I know about him? Nick wondered. He even had to get help from Lim just to order the correct dessert.

As Colin’s head turned towards him, Nick quickly pretended to be engrossed in the book.

“Whatchu reading?” He asked as he leaned closer to get a good look at the cover. “Anne Rice, huh? I must say, I didn’t have you pegged to like vampire novels, judging by the amount of educational and self-help books in your shelves.”

Nick closed the book, took off his glasses and closed his eyes. “Lisa recommended it and I was running out of books to read.”

Colin placed the empty plate and fork on the coffee table beside the sleeping white cat. “How was the clinic without me?”

“We somehow seemed to manage.” Nick kidded with a straight face. “Dave was looking for you.”

Dave was an 11 year old boy who owned a large, sweet Siberian Husky. Colin put a hand on his chest, looking touched. “Little Dave came by and looked for me? How’s his dog Pepper?”

Nick didn’t know why he kept getting surprised at how much Colin remembered. It personally took him quite a while to even recall names.

“Um, we had to put him down.” Nick opened his eyes and watched as the inner corners of Colin’s eyebrows raised with worry.

“Oh no, poor Pepper… poor Dave.” He turned to look at Nick and lightly put a hand on his leg. “Are you okay?”

They had a rule about physical contact not being allowed unless required, but Nick let it slide. He cleared his throat and sat up. “Yeah, of course.”

Colin's concern was apparent. “You can talk about it if you’d like. I know Pepper was an old patient of yours.”

“It's fine, it’s done. It happens.” Collecting his book and glasses, Nick stood up and headed towards his bedroom with Colin on his tail. “Clean up and go to sleep. Will you be coming to the clinic tomorrow?”

“It’s a holiday tomorrow, Nick. It’s your day off, remember?”

“Ah.”

“Sure you’re okay?”

Nick nodded.

“Alright well, step one of the Life Improvement Service will be implemented tomorrow so get some sleep. Let’s have breakfast at 9, we’ll do some stuff here then prepare to head out. Okay?”

Nick opened the door to his room and stepped in. “Okay.”

“Good night, Nick. Have sweet dreams!” Colin sweetly said.

Nick shut the door behind him, leaving Colin standing behind it. He heard him call out louder, “Good night!” Nick rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but smile. A few seconds later, he also replied “Good night,” and heard Colin chuckle.