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sat there shaking his head. “I’ll see you soon, Arthur.”
    Arthur promised to come by the bookstore before going home and flipped his phone shut. He wasn’t actually concerned about the string of weird days he’d been having since meeting Mitchell, but he was becoming concerned that he was thinking about things he’d always taken for granted, like not caring if a homeless person had a story or not even thinking there was no one else on the Earth like him. Arthur picked up the phone to call Rune as he wondered if this was how falling in love started; if love was just nature’s way of changing people, one person absorbing the beautiful qualities he or she sees in the other. And if that’s true, Arthur pondered, what qualities would Mitchell absorb from him? Mitchell was already perfect.
     
    *  *  *
    “ May I help you, sir?” Mitchell’s eyes were bright and shining as Arthur turned to look at him.
    “No.” Arthur adjusted Mitchell’s tie, hoping it wasn’t too intimate an act. “I’m just here to see this gorgeous man I met the other day.” Arthur leaned in and whispered, “His name is Mitchell MacDonald, and maybe you know him?”
    “Flirtatious!” Mitchell blurted the word out before Arthur had finished his last sentence. “That is another one for the list.”
    Arthur laughed, noting all of the faces looking in their direction, some confused, some smiling. “People are going to think I’m hitting on you.”
    “Or that I’m hitting on you.” Mitchell shrugged and moved closer. “Either way, they’d be right.”
    “Would I get you fired if I kissed you right now?”
    “That depends on where you kissed me.” Mitchell turned perpendicular to Arthur and began pointing as he explained, “Travel is too open, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and TG Interest is right beside the café, and Children’s, well, that would just be wrong on too many levels, but—”
    “How about here?” Arthur leaned down and brushed his lips against Mitchell’s, delighting in the fresh, minty taste of his lips. Arthur made sure that the kiss was brief and chaste, no tongue. He would have been surprised if anyone had observed it at all.
    “I don’t think that will cause any problems.” Mitchell smiled up at Arthur’s flushed face and placed his hand on the taller man’s chest, pressing lightly. “Good kisser should go on the list too.”
    “Now who’s being charming?” Arthur put his hand over Mitchell’s, stroking the long fingers, feeling the heat coming from them. “Can I pick you up at ten?”
    “If you’d like, but I have to be home by midnight.”
    “Do you live alone?”
    “Yes.” Mitchell removed his hand slowly, trailing fingers along Arthur’s cobalt blue silk tie.
    “Maybe I could stay over tonight?”
    Mitchell caressed Arthur’s tie, exerting a little more pressure. “No, not tonight, but I don’t need to be into the store here until noon on Sunday.”
    Arthur felt his knees go weak at the mere thought of Mitchell in bed with him. “Can I pick you up on Saturday then, after your volunteering, and bring you back to my place and cook you dinner?”
    By way of an answer, Mitchell stood on his toes, pressed his hand to Arthur’s chest again, and kissed him lightly on the lips.
    “What’s the address of the soup kitchen?”
    “It’s a homeless shelter, and I’ll call your cell and leave the address.” Mitchell stroked Arthur’s tie once more and pointed a finger at him playfully. “Don’t answer your phone, unless you have a pen and paper handy, otherwise I’ll just have to call again to leave the address.”
    Arthur crossed his finger over his silk tie, promising not to answer his cell. Besides, he thought as he made his way out of the store, I can listen to Mitchell’s voice whenever I want.
     
    *  *  *
    Saturday, December 16
     
    As he stirred in bed Saturday morning, Arthur was wondering just how many times he’d listened to the message on his cell phone since Wednesday night. Who