One Direction was blaring in his earbuds and he knew it was going to be a good day. He felt so good about the extra mile he ran that he decided to skip the protein shake on the way to his Botox injection.

"You want to go for some collagen today too?" asked his aesthetitician.

"Can't today, Susie. I've got a cute new boy I'm too busy smooching."

"Oooh!" the aesthetician cooed. The calendar reminder alert went off on his iPhone. "Is that him?"

"No, I'm just late for an appointment with my accountant."

*

"You've got to in rein your spending," his accountant demanded.

"What are you talking about? I'm hardly spending more lavishly then I have in the past."

"You are in fact and the numbers don't lie. This might've been ok years ago, but you're living on a single income now. And I gotta tell you, you're not bringing much in at the moment."

"So what are you saying?"

"If you don't live more modestly, you're going to be completely broke by the end of the year."

"More modestly? I don't think you understand how this lifestyle works!"

His accountant sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm just trying to be a friend. You're right, maybe I don't understand everything about your lifestyle. We're the same age, I've got a wife and kids and maybe I just think about money differently."

"Exactly. You don't get it."

"Quite frankly, it's rather alarming how much your funds have depleted in the relative short time you two have broken up."

"I've been making some... new investments."

*

He knew retail therapy was probably the worst idea considering the conversation he'd just had, but it's the only thing that would've made him feel better. It was one shop he told himself. He stopped into Water Tower Place at Abercrombie and Fitch He loved the way that store smelled and the eye candy all around wasn't so bad either. He walked up to the cash register with two matching shirts in tow.

"Do you need gift boxes?" the hot fratty cashier asked.

"No. Well, maybe one. For the shirt I'm buying for my boyfriend."

"And the other one?"

"It's for me."

"Oh," the cashier said, rolling his eyes.

*

They hadn't made plans for the day, but he figured since the boy would be done for the afternoon, he'd surprise him. He waited outside patiently, waiting to catch a glimpse of the boy.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked.

"I wanted to see you. I thought it'd be a fun surprise."

"But I've got plans."

"Oh, but I got you a present," he said, tossing the shirt to him. "So please will you hang out with me? Pretty please?" His face contorted itself into one of those lame duck face pouts that the boy felt plagued his Instagram feed.

"God Bruce! Grow up!"

Bruce sighed and watched Alex walk off, still in his school uniform.

###

Just joining us? Catch up here:

Volume 1 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 2 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 3 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 4 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five


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