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"Anything can happen in a New York minute. "

 

He'd heard that phrase so many times that he never really thought about it. Living in Manhattan all of his life, the city was just a part of him.

Working day to day in a call center for one of the largest companies in the city was so mundane that nothing exciting ever seemed to happen.

Brian Littrell had a daily routine that he liked to keep every day. Literally every day since he'd been living on his own after moving from his parents house in New Jersey.

He'd wake up every morning before the sun came up, and make some coffee. While the coffee brewed, he took a shower and dressed. If it was a work day he'd head right to the subway to catch the train to his stop two blocks from his office building. On mornings off he'd walk upstairs with his coffee and watch the sunrise, something that brought him the only joy to his day. Sometimes he'd go to Central Park and go jogging for a while if he was feeling up to it, but today was business as usual.

“The guys and I are going to the club tonight, I know you never come but I really must insist this time. It's karaoke night and I hate to see you not having fun. You should come. Even Phil from accounting is going.” his co worker offered by the water cooler. Brian smiled but politely turned him down once again, saying he wasn't feeling up to it.

The truth was, he didn't like to mingle with people from work. He didn't like to go out and party. He'd go home from work and put on Netflix, maybe watch Grey's Anatomy for a while and go to bed early. Not much of a life according to some, but he liked having a sense of normalcy.

“You know I invited Brian tonight?”

“I don't know why you bother. He does the same thing every day. He's not going to change for us.”

Brian stood around the corner, listening to his co workers talking about how boring he was. They said he was nice but never did anything fun. Always worked and went home.

“I wish he'd just have fun for once.”

Brian left them to their discussion, thinking. He thought the whole rest of his shift, getting distracted from his work. He thought about his routine every day. There was nothing wrong with having a set schedule. He was just organized. Did that mean he was boring?

On the way home, he kept thinking about what his co workers had said. Even when he went to sleep, he lay awake thinking about his routine.

The next morning, he heard his alarm go off…his eyes opened and he listened to it beeping but he didn't turn it off. A minute passed and he sighed. Something he'd never thought about or done in his life happened. He reached over and hit snooze. Laying in bed, he fought mentally with himself about missing his first alarm.  

Come on, you have to go to work now. Get up and get dressed. They need you. 

The second alarm came about a half hour later. He silenced that one too. Instead, he picked up the phone and called into work saying he wasn't feeling well. The person on the other end seemed confused and Brian had to stop himself from laughing. His brain nagged him again.

You can't miss work. Just tell them you were kidding and you'll be right there. 

He ignored his thoughts and went to get something to eat.

After breakfast, he got dressed and wondered what else he could do for the day. He'd never taken a unplanned day off before. Maybe he would go downtown and see a movie or something. Do some shopping. That sounded like a good idea. Opening his phone he looked at the Uber app that came with it. He'd never used it before but didn't feel like taking the bus today like he usually did. So he opened it, selected Uber Share and his destination. When the cab came, he got in feeling excited yet nervous….just doing things he'd never done before was exciting for him.

“Hey there, good morning. We are picking up another passenger about halfway.” the driver said pleasantly. He turned on the radio and they started driving through traffic.

“You okay today, man? How's your day going?” the driver said, trying to make conversation. Brian smiled at him as the car stopped, his mouth opened to answer when the door opened. A tall blonde man poked his head inside, wearing jeans and a t shirt.

“My day's actually going pretty…”

“Hello.” the man said, sitting next to him in the back seat.

“...perfect.”

Brian had never told anyone at the office, but he was attracted to men. He never mentioned it because he felt it would be too awkward. People around his workplace were very judgemental and he didn't want to subject himself to that.

“Hey,” the mysterious stranger smiled at him and he tried not to be obvious about blushing.

“Hi.” Brian said meekly. The car resumed driving and weaving through traffic.

“Name’s Nick.” he said, holding out his hand. Brian took it. It was soft. He smelled good too. His hair was spiked but his clothes were nice. He was dressed as if he had somewhere important to be.

“Brian.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, not speaking because Brian was too nervous.

“So where you going? Anywhere interesting?”

Brian almost jumped.

“Oh…. Um… Downtown?”

“Well duh. Are you okay?” Nick chuckled. Brian felt his ears turn pink.

“Yeah. I'm fine. Just going to go shopping, I guess. How about you?”

“I have this job interview. I been trying to get a job for a while since I quit my last one.”

“If you don't mind me asking, why did you quit?”

They stopped at a red light and Brian squirmed a little, trying to calm his own nerves.

“My ex boyfriend is a manager. When he got promoted he turned into a dick. So I quit.” Nick explained. Brian tried looking anywhere but at him to hide his smile. They kept talking for a good 15 minutes before the Uber stopped at where Nick had to get off.

“Good luck with the interview.” Brian called after him.

They both said quick goodbyes but never did he ask for Nick's number. The door to the cab closed and they drove away, Brian looking back at where they came. He thought about Nick the rest of that morning, until he decided to stop at a coffee shop. Normally Brian liked to make his own, but since today he was already doing things he normally wouldn't, he figured he might as well try the coffee shop. It was small but the coffee tasted just like he brewed it. He stayed there and people watched for awhile until he decided maybe it was time to go home. He took his time to leave, just a minute longer than he normally would. He was so deep in thought he didn't look up and ran right into someone, spilling the remainder of his drink all over them. The cup clattered to the sidewalk and Brian started apologizing immediately.

“Oh God….. I am so sorry. I wasn't looking and I-”

He stopped when he saw that it was Nick, covered in his hazelnut latte. His shirt was stained brown and soaked with warm coffee.

“I am so sorry.” Brian repeated, blushing.

“It's okay.” Nick laughed. He didn't seem to be angry at all, just kept reassuring him.

“God, I'm such an idiot…”

“Look, it's really not a big deal. It's only coffee. I was about to get myself one because I just got back from my interview.”

He didn't know why but his mouth opened and he just started talking.

“Would you like to go to my apartment to clean up? It's not far.”

Nick accepted and they walked down the street together, talking like they did in the cab. It was like they'd been friends forever.

“You seem like you're not having a good day, are you okay?” Nick asked. Brian made a pot of coffee for them and they sat down.

“My whole life I have put myself on a schedule. My Co workers think I'm boring, so this morning I decided to just not go to work and just have a day to myself. Then I decided to do something spontaneous and I met you.” Brian explained.

“Well, I'm glad you did that and ran into me again. I like you, I was going to ask for your phone number.” Nick said as he set down his mug.

“So you aren't seeing anyone” Brian asked.

“Right now…. I see you…” Nick whispered, his mouth curving into a smile.

Brian was speechless. He was about to speak but Nick leaned in for a kiss. They kissed for a while, tongues dancing but finally came up for air. Brian was about to say something but his coffee cup spilled over onto Nick's knee, soaking his pant leg.  Brian cursed at himself but Nick took his hand, smiling.

“It's alright.”

Brian smiled and kissed him back, not letting himself worry anymore about impressing him.

 

Anything could happen in a New York Minute.