Oh my gawd! Edwin Lee! Never in a million years did Dustin think he would ever see Edwin again. What had it been, ten years? The last time he’d seen Edwin was in the tenth grade. They were at a bus stop together waiting for the bus to come to take Edwin home. Someone had beaten him up in the locker room. After that Edwin had transferred to another school…a private high school closer to his home. Dustin hadn’t thought about him in a long time. Now he couldn’t get the guy off of his mind. Why wasn’t Edwin more excited to see him?

He didn’t think he had changed that much except he’d gotten older, taller and maybe heavier. Edwin, on the other hand had gotten taller, older and cuter.

Tom entered his office. “Don’t forget to pick up those flowers.”

The florist shop in Chinatown had promised to have Lindsey’s bouquet of roses ready by five. Dustin looked at his watch. It was almost three. “I won’t. What are you plans for the evening?”

“I’m taking Frank to dinner and then to a movie. What about you?”

“Lindsey will probably cook something. More than likely we’ll kick back and watch a movie on television.”

“You two didn’t make plans?” Tom asked.

Dustin shook his head. “No. We never make plans. We just get together whenever we can.”

“That’s because you’re still afraid to be seen in public with him. I don’t understand you. We hang out together all the time.”

“It’s not the same. We’re friends and co-workers,” Dustin explained. “Lindsey likes to kiss and hold hands and stuff like that.” He’d come out to his folks in college. No one else needed to know. His private life was his private life.

“You better hope that Lindsey hasn’t made plans for the evening.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Dustin said. “Who else would he spend Valentine’s Day with?” He stood up and put on his suit jacket and his overcoat. “I better get going if I expect to make the florist in time.” He had the evening off and one of the other newsmen was covering sports for the evening and night editions of the news. Dustin had done the morning and lunch time spots. Tom followed him out of the office. They walked to the parking lot together.

“Are you going to tell me about the guy from the gift shop?” Tom asked.

“There’s nothing more to tell,” Dustin answered. “We were just good friends when were younger. I used to go to school with him.”

“When?” Tom asked. “I’ve known you since the eleventh grade.”

“He was gone by the time you arrived,” Dustin explained. “I met him in middle school, but he transferred to a private school in the middle of the tenth grade.”

“Too bad,” Tom said. “I would have surely lost my heart and my virginity to him. You know how I like those doe-eyed types.”

“Yeah,” Dustin said. “I often wondered what happened to him. He was real smart, like rocket scientist smart. I didn’t think he’d end up working behind a gift counter.”

“Maybe something happened to him,” Tom said.

“People change,” Dustin said. He got into his car and waved goodbye to Tom. He’d have to take it easy on the roads because it was school zone time.
It was four-thirty when he found a spot in the parking lot of the mall. He had picked up Lindsey’s flowers so he couldn’t linger too long with them in the car. He was just going to go in and speak to Edwin and then leave. The sign on the store said it would be closing at five because of the holiday. There were still some customers in the store. Dustin spotted Edwin behind the counter again. He was assisting a lady. Edwin looked up once, saw him and then lowered his gaze again.

“Can we talk?”

“I’m busy,” Edwin replied.

Dustin sighed. At least he didn’t say no. Dustin wandered around the store. The customers were making their final selections. He caught Edwin checking him out as he cruised around the aisles. The last customer finally left.

Edwin came from behind the counters and started straightening the shelves. “You have to leave if you’re not buying anything.”

“I’ve missed you,” Dustin said.