“The amazing Keelan Mason Mars has arrived!” The familiar voice of the seemingly unyielding pest (aka Jordan Kale’s best friend) resonated round the eerily silent and gloomy office.
Like always, the thick black curtains that shielded the floor to ceiling windows in his office, were drawn together to keep every ray of sunlight from entering, as well as to prevent any of the thick and heavy atmosphere of the room from seeping out through the glass and affecting the hustle and bustle of the busy streets of the great Manhattan below.
“Oh my goodness! Why is it so stuffy and freezing in here?” The slam of the door coupled with his unnecessarily exorbitant voice were the only sounds perceived in the otherwise, mum room.
As expected, the lone figure in the dark corner of the room paid no heed to his best friend’s presence; not even a slight movement was made by him where he sat still in his chair, his head resting against the headrest with his eyes closed as his inked arms remained folded across his broad expanse of a chest.
His suit jacket had been completely discarded and the first four buttons of his grey shirt had been loosened with his long sleeves rolled up to his elbows, as though he had been feeling suffocated in the room.
Keelan shook his head as he made his way further into the office, deliberately making noises with his shoes in order to get his friend’s attention but still to no avail. He dropped his light backpack on the visitor’s seat before moving behind the motionless figure of his friend towards the shielded view of the aglow city.
Dramatically, he pressed, more like slammed, the button responsible for drawing the curtains automatically and with a smile on his face, he watched the dark curtains part, giving way to the beautiful, sunny city which had been held captive behind the inane yet powerful fabric. It was surprising how much a really thick curtain could hide and unveil at the same time.
Having enough of the view, Keelan turned back towards his friend and saw that he still hadn’t moved one bit. The back of his head was still to Keelan and the tempting urge to hit him upside his head bit continuously at Keelan but his life was way more important than temporary pleasure.
Jordan wouldn’t hesitate to break his arm permanently or worse, kill him. He still wasn’t sure what mood his friend was in this time around but he could tell by how he completely ignored him that he wasn’t in a good mood. With a deep breath, he prepared himself for the interrogation he was about to give before moving towards the mute and immobile elephant in the room.
“J,” he called out as he reached for the A. C. remote control, turning up the heat to lower the chances of an impending blizzard ever happening. “Of all the liable things that I know could or would kill you, I would never believe it if I were told your cause of death was by suffocation, freezing to death or by the dangerous rays emitted from an air conditioner.”
Silence was all he got in return. He groaned loudly as he settled into the next seat beside the one occupied by his backpack. “Let’s not do this today, J. I have somewhere I need to be. I only came here to inform you of my trip and to say goodbye.”
Silence, once again.
“Come on, J! Don’t make me call mama Carol,” he teased and successfully, he got Jordan to open his eyes to pass him one of his infamous scorching glares. “Perfect! I got you to open your eyes. . . No! Don’t you dare close them again!” He shouted when Jordan proceeded to shut his eyes again.
“I will call Carol, J! Don’t you underestimate me!” He threatened, pulling out his phone from his pocket. Jordan let out a frustrated groan as his eyes snapped open again but the death glare he shot at Keelan this time – let’s just say if looks could kill, Keelan would be dining with the devil by now.
“What the fuck is it with you and calling Carol? And stop shouting. Your voice sounds so high-pitched and squeaky,” he insulted, making Keelan’s jaw drop at his words. Jordan smirked at his reaction.
“First of all, my voice is not squeaky,” he narrowed his eyes with a grimace, “it’s deep and manly. Even more so than yours.” Jordan snorted in mockery. “Secondly, it seems Carol is the only one who has a leash on you. Mama’s boy.” It was Keelan’s turn to smirk while Jordan glared.
“What are you doing here, Mars? You said you were going on a trip.” Jordan asked with distaste.
“Oh my goodness! Stop it, J! You’re killing me with how much you’re gonna miss me!” He enthused sarcastically with a deadpanned expression.
Jordan smirked, “Oh, I wouldn’t mind killing you though,” he tilted his head with a sadistic smile on his face, momentarily scaring Keelan who hurriedly grabbed his backpack and held it to his chest as a shield.
Despite his disturbing thoughts that had been gnawing at his insides all week, Jordan chuckled, grateful to have such a friend as Keelan by his side. No matter how much he had pushed him away or even threatened his life, Keelan still stood by him solidly. He couldn’t be more grateful.
“J?” Keelan called cautiously with his eyes widened as he looked extremely freaked out about something. “Are you alright?” He asked tentatively.
“Yes, I am,” Jordan frowned. “Why? Is something wrong? You look like you’re freaking out.”
“Of course, I am! You were just staring at me with a smile on your face. It was creepy.” Keelan shuddered and rubbed his arms to prove his point.
Jordan rolled his eyes and rested his back against his seat again. “To the point, Mars, why are you here?” He was now serious.
Keelan sighed, fixing himself. “Like I said earlier, I’m going on a trip. I have to be in Wyoming this evening and I’ll be staying there for a few days for some business issues.”
“Wyoming?”
“Yep. Laramie, precisely.” He confirmed.
“Oh, ok. Is everything alright, though?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just need to handle some things.” Jordan nodded in understanding. “But when I had gotten here to say goodbye, you were being your glum ole self again. What’s the matter?” Keelan asked with a frown.
“Nothing is wrong,” he responded flatly with a stoic expression now etched on his face. Keelan narrowed his eyes and watched his friend’s every move.
“I was serious about calling Carol, y’know?” He reminded, watching as Jordan’s visage hardened even more, but his stubborn self refused to back down.
Keelan didn’t need to know what he was bothered about. He could handle it alone perfectly. Besides, it was his personal matter.
Both men refused to cower away from each other’s death glares as they engaged in an epic stare down until Keelan blinked and raised his hands in mock surrender, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
“Alright, alright. You leave me with no choice. Only Mater Carol seems to be capable of handling your intransigent ass,” he muttered as he pulled out his mobile device and began dialing a number, making sure the dial pad tones were loud enough for Jordan to hear.
He slowly tilted the phone so Jordan could watch vividly as his thumb crawled towards the call icon, purposely taunting him. His smirk further widened when he noticed Jordan’s jaw tick painfully.
Raising his eyebrows slightly, he shrugged and as his thumb moved to touch the screen, Jordan snapped and lurched forward to grab the phone like a predator but Keelan was too fast for him as he immediately jerked back and pulled his hand further back from his body with his lips turned down as he shook his head in disapproval.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Jordy,” he tutted, “that’s not playing fair, you know?” he smirked, watching as Jordan’s nose flared up in anger. “You could just make this easier for the both of us by telling me what the problem is, ya know?” he wiggled his eyebrows.
Jordan glared at him but conceded nonetheless. “Fine, I’ll tell you but only because I need some advice,” he mumbled. Keelan raised a surprised brow.
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