Honey

Frank stood outside in the back lot of the small convenient store he worked at, a half finished cigarette hanging loosely between his thumb and index finger. If he forgot, even for a second, that the thin stick of nicotine (and god only knows what else) was in between his fingers it would surely fall to the ground. Not that he would forget seeing as it was the last cigarette he had in his possession. His eyes drifted downward toward his fingers as he flicked the excess ash off the edge of the cigarette before lifting it to his lips and taking a long drag. He tried his best to ignore the foul stench seeping through the closed lid of the dumpster he was standing next to. Over the course of the year he'd been working at Everything at Joe's (he found the name to be obnoxiously cheesy, but the job payed so he didn't mind all that much) Frank had learned to accept the smell of the garbage, but he never got used to it. Even now it seemed to singe the small hairs in his nostrils.

Glancing down at his watch, Frank realized that his fifteen minutes was up and it was time to get back to work. He took one last puff of his cigarette and sadly tossed it to the ground. He hated wasting cigarettes, but he hated the sight of unfinished ones lounging around the opened pack of marlboros he always kept in his back pocket. He stomped the cigarette out with the front half of his shoe and picked it up from the ground before tossing it into the trash.

Frank shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans and kicked the half open door to the "everything" store so he could get back to work. One plus to working at Joe's, and perhaps the only good thing if you were to ask Frank, was Eliza. The pair had known each other since the second grade and had been inseparable since. Where Frank went Eliza followed and vice versa.

As he entered the store, Eliza averted her attention from the magazines she'd been shelving and waved towards her friend. "You know your break ended like... five minutes ago, right?" she asked, checking her phone for the time.

Frank chuckled and waved off Eliza's lame attempt at exercising her authority. Technically, she was the boss whenever Joe wasn't around, which was often, but Frank had a hard time taking her seriously. He wouldn't go as far as not showing for work and eating the merchandise, but tacking on an extra fifteen minutes onto his break wouldn't hurt.

"So... how was your twenty minutes, Frankie?"

He shrugged. "It was okay, I didn't get a chance to finish off my cigarette."

Eliza frowned, knowing how much Frank disliked a wasted cigarette. "That was your last one, too." He nodded. "You could have finished it, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but I hate taking advantage of your lack of authority. I feel bad if I'm longer than twenty minutes."

Eliza laughed, playfully punching her friend in the shoulder. "Yeah, right. Really? You don't feel bad."

Frank rubbed his shoulder and lifted the sleeve of his T-shirt to observe the damage. "That's probably going to bruise, Eliza!" He whined.

Eliza rolled her eyes and shoved a pile of magazines in Frank's direction. "Stop complaining and shelve some magazines."

Frank sighed and did as he was told. Eliza chuckled softly to herself at Frank's bruising shoulder, mumbling the word "baby" under her breath. Frank chose to ignore it since he knew, very well, that she was only kidding. Besides, the worst that would happen would be that his skin would be red for a few minutes. A bruise would hardly be forming.

"Oh!" Eliza exclaimed, breaking the silence. She turned to face Frank, crossing her legs in the process. She'd always sat Indian style when she was on the floor. It would be strange to see her any other way.

"Guess what?"

Frank turned to face Eliza, pulling his knees to his chest. "What?"

Eliza held her arms out, palms up, and waited for a response. When none came she groaned. "Guess, Frank."

Frank ran a hand through his hair and looked around the shop as if the soap or the greeting cards were going to give him an answer. "Ahh.... you won the lottery?" Eliza raised her brows. "I honestly don't know. There are too many things to guess."

"Fine," she said, giving in. Almost. "You can have a hint. It's a guy... and he came in to see you today."

Frank's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He hadn't expected to see Josh again since they'd broken up a few months back. Two months and fifteen days to be exact. Frank had hoped for a phone call, but a visit? He wasn't expecting that.

"Really? He showed up?"

Eliza nodded. "Yeah. He showed up this morning before your shift started. I was actually opening up. I told him you weren't there at the moment, but he could stop by sometime this afternoon if he wanted to catch you today."

Frank leaned in a little closer towards Eliza. "And? He said?"

"He said he'd stop by, stupid! What do you think he said?"

Frank leaned back on his palms, taking in the situation. Joshua was really going to stop by and see him today. The only problem was, Frank had no idea what the guy would want to see him for. He'd broken up with him and had virtually avoided all communication since then. Over the past two months, Frank had been adjusting to life without a boyfriend. It was actually quite difficult since he'd been a couple for close to three years.

"What could he possibly want?" Frank asked, looking to Eliza.

She shrugged. "He didn't say. Just that he wanted to see you."

Frank bit down on his bottom lip in concentration.

"You know..." Eliza began, drawing in Frank's attention. "He looked like he wanted to ask you out."

"Really?" Frank asked, his eyes widening. "You think so? I was thinking he didn't want anything to do with me."

"Why on earth would you think that?" Eliza asked, furrowing her brows. "He was totally into you! You didn't see that?"

Frank shrugged. "I don't know. Every since the breakup I find it hard to believe any guy would want a date with me."

Eliza waved off Frank's comment and stood up, brushing the dirt from her jeans. "That's crazy talk, Frank. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Hell, I'd date you."

Frank laughed, following Eliza's movements and brushing the dust off his jeans as he stood up. "Thanks Eliza, but I don't think you're my type."

Eliza moved towards the front of the store, looking out the glass of the front door. Her eyes grew wide as she saw a figure approaching the store. "Oh, shit! It's him! go hide behind a shelf or something!"

"Why?" Frank questioned, walking towards the front desk.

Eliza raced towards her friend and pushed him towards the back. "Just do it. You'll look desperate if he sees you standing there waiting for him to walk in. Stand behind the laundry detergent. Or wait. Go to school supplies."

Frank groaned, but did as Eliza said anyhow. Meanwhile, she returned to the front of the store and stood behind the counter. The bell above the door sounded signaling that Josh had walked in. However, Frank couldn't hear a word of the conversation.

"Yeah!" Eliza said, a few moments later. "He's in the back."

Frank assumed she said that last part a bit louder so he's know to go back to the front of the store. He was glad the wait was over, he just wanted to go back to the way things were. Life without Josh was all too hard to get used to.

"Frank!" Eliza shouted. "Get over here; you have a visitor."

When Frank reached the front of the store, he stopped dead in his tracks. It wasn't Josh who was standing at the counter, it was some new guy he didn't recognize. Eliza was facing him, a huge smile on her face as Frank stared at the stranger with wide eyes.

"Hey," the guy said. "I know you probably don't remember me, but I talked to you yesterday?"

Frank shook his head, causing Eliza to cock her head to the side. "Wait... I thought you did. You were all excited that he was coming to see you."

Frank put his head in his hands and shook his head. "No, Eliza. I thought you were talking about Jo--" he paused, not wanting to embarrass his visitor. "Someone else. I didn't know you meant--" he gestured toward the stranger.

"Gerard," he finished. "Gerard Way."

"Yeah. That guy." Frank moved so he was standing next to Gerard in front of the counter. "Listen, I'm really sorry, but I don't remember you from yesterday. I hope you're not upset since you came here for no reason."

Gerard shook his head. "No, not at all. I figured you wouldn't remember me all that well. I mean... you guys probably see a ton of people everyday. I really just wanted to ask you to coffee."

Frank raised his eyebrows. He thought it was kind of weird that this guy still wanted to take him out even though he had made it clear that he had no idea who this Gerard character was.

"You know--"

"I wanted to ask you yesterday," Gerard continued, cutting Frank off. "But I lost my nerve. That rarely happens, and when I woke up today I knew I had to come over here and ask you to coffee."

Frank stood next to this guy in shock. Was he really experiencing this? Was this guy for real? "Uh... well...Gerard, right?" he asked.

Gerard nodded. "Yeah. That's right. What do you say? Saturday at Four?"

When Frank didn't answer, Eliza joined the pair in front of the counter. "He'd love to." Frank turned and looked at his friend in disbelief. "Saturday is fine."

Gerard looked to Frank for confirmation. Not knowing what else to do, he nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Sure."

"Great. Here's my number," Gerard said, pulling a pen from his pocket. He took Frank's hand, and looked into his eyes to make sure everything was alright. Frank nodded and Gerard scribbled his name and number onto his palm.

"Call me or... if you give me your number I could call you and we could settle on a location."

Eliza took the pen from Gerard's hand and wrote down Frank's number on a loose scrap of paper. "There. I'll make sure he answers if you call."

Gerard chuckled and gestured toward Eliza. "She's a great friend."

Frank looked towards Eliza and nodded. "She is. Most of the time."

"Well... I gotta get back to work, but I'll call you tonight or something, okay?" Gerard said, moving toward the door.

"Yeah," Frank replied. "Okay. I'll talk to you then."

Gerard offered a quick smile and moved toward the door. Frank watched as he left, waiting until he saw Gerard round the corner before he turned to face Eliza.

"I cannot believe you," he said. "I really cannot believe you."