Chapter 4

"Dad, isn t your birthday coming up next week?" Thomas smiled at James. "Yes. Don t plan anything extravagant." "But you ll be turning seventy years old." "It doesn t matter. Keep it simple." "Nope. I ll talk to Jeremiah and Jonah later. We will arrange everything." "But—" "Hush, old man," Lydia interrupted. "Let your sons handle everything. They love you enough to plan and celebrate your birthday. Just be grateful." Thomas frowned. "I am, but there s no need to make a big deal out of it." "Seventy is an important milestone, Dad," James insisted while opening the door for his parents. "Don t worry about a thing. You simply have to come to the party and enjoy yourself." Thomas grinned. "Fine. I ll be waiting for it then." "Sure thing." After that, James locked the door and led his parents to his car. He knew where his parents liked to have their afternoon tea. He would drive them there and spend an hour or two with them before bringing them back to his place. Then his parents would go back to their own house. They had done this often enough in the past. It was, more or less, a routine for them. Along the way, he participated in the conversations with his parents, but a part of him was also considering what he had to do to get the ball rolling with Joshua. He liked the man. He had been crushing on Joshua since the first time they bumped into each other. However, he didn t quite know how to ask Joshua out without coming across as weird and creepy. He might have to use his mother s tactic, after all. 2 Joshua placed his right palm over his mouth when he failed to suppress his yawn. He knew he looked every inch the professional that he was, with his buttoned-down shirt, well-fitted slacks, and not a single strand of hair out of place, as he stood in line and waited for his turn to purchase his first cup of coffee of the day at The Torpedough, a bakery owned by Anthony Lim. He had switched allegiance from frequenting one of the most popular chain of coffee shops in the world to the Torpedough for two particular reasons. The first one was the fact that Anthony was currently dating Vincent Yang, the Finance Junior Manager at the pharmaceutical firm he was working at and also one of his closest friends. The next reason, which was equally important, was the short line he encountered every morning at half past seven. A shorter line meant he wouldn t have to wait too long to get his caffeine fix. He had his own coffee maker at home, but he enjoyed a change of pace and flavor two or three times a week. Besides, The Torpedough sold some of the most mouth-watering pastries he had ever tasted. He was hooked on them. He would blame what occurred next partially as a result of his lack of focus and the remainder on him daydreaming about the delicious coffee and pastries he was about to buy and consume. He had jumped in surprise when someone tapped lightly on his left shoulder. Then he somehow lost his balance while shifting his right foot backward by an inch or so and stepping hard onto the shoe of the person right behind him before he stumbled shoulder first onto the ground. He braced himself for the painful impact once he hit the floor, but he was astonished to feel someone s hand on his shoulders, steadying him and setting him upright onto his feet. He had no idea when he had shut his eyes, but he opened them immediately and turned to face his savior. Then he was mortified. He had no doubt his whole face and possibly parts of his neck were flushing as red as his hair. His knight in shining armor was none other than James, his ultimate crush and the man he hoped to someday spend the rest of his life with. He might be a tad dramatic, but there was something about James he really liked. They weren t dating. Yet. However, he was certain he would soon grow a pair of balls and ask James out. That shouldn t be difficult. "James!" Joshua wanted to dig a hole and bury himself alive. He sounded squeaky and weird. This would be one of those times he hated those damn stereotypes about adults being so much calmer and cooler. Adults weren t supposed to be nervous around the people they were crushing on. Adults should be suave and charming. Adults didn t get tongue-tied in such a situation. Unfortunately, Joshua managed to fail all three conditions. A part of him wondered if he looked stupid at the moment. To worsen things, he could feel his underarms getting sweaty. That was the unwanted icing on the cake, and he had no clue how he was going to salvage this unexpected yet highly desirable meeting between him and James.