Genre: Character Exploration
Warnings: None
Feedback: Welcome!
Summary: The Arkham Cafe is a place for all my characters--no matter what story, series or genre they're from--to hang out. In this part, Ross Edmund from Roxburg stories runs into Zev Moscowitz from my upcoming NaNo novel, Not So Safe.
LINK TO PART ONE
The Arkham Cafe by J. Rosemary Moss is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
~oOo~
Zev leaned back in his chair, puzzled. His quip about the Sopranos seemed to have struck a chord. Maybe Ross really was from a Mafioso family. Or the WASP equivalent of one, anyone.
“So what’s your story?” Ross asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“What makes you think I have one?”
Ross shrugged. “Nothing--I’m just hopeful. Misery loves company and all that.”
Zev considered that. “Fair enough. Ok, this is a little schmaltzy, but it’s the best I can do. How does unrequited love strike you?”
“Depends on who you’re pining for.”
“My boss.”
“Your boss?” Ross looked a little impressed. “Are there workplace restrictions?”
“I work out of his home--he’s a writer. I do all his research. No upper management to worry about. In theory, we can do whatever we want to each other.”
“Nice. So what’s the problem? Is he spoken for?”
Zev shook his head. “No. He’s straight.”
“So convert him.”
“Can’t. He’ll never fall for another guy--he’s just not the type. Besides, he’s still grieving for his wife. He’s a widower. And anyway . . .“ He shrugged as he let his words trail off.
“And anyway what?” Ross prompted.
“It wouldn‘t work,“ Zev said at last. “He knows me too well--and I hero worship him too much.”
“Hero worship?”
“Yeah. He--he gave me a hand when I really needed it. And he keeps me in line. I've never had a lover who could do that. So maybe this platonic thing I have with him is better. At any rate, I'm resigned.”
“You don’t sound resigned.”
Zev shrugged and both men fell silent as the waitress brought their drinks. “There you go, boys. I’ll be back in a minute with your bagels.”
They both thanked her and turned to their coffees.
“I am though. Resigned, I mean. Completely.”
Ross snorted. It was an elegant snort, but still a snort. “I’ll bet once he finishes grieving, he’ll come around. And you’ll forget all about how resigned you were.”
Zev grinned as he picked up his drink. “That’s a dangerous dream to put in my head.”
He paused, catching sight of a familiar face. A familiar face he needed to charm a favor out of. “Listen Ross,” he said, putting his drink back down. “Would you excuse me for one moment? There’s someone here I have to have a quick talk with.”
“Sure,” Ross said.
“Thanks--I’ll be right back.”
To be continued . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment