Lost and Found
1x2, 3x4, 5x Sally
Warning:Angst, violence, graphic... the usual.
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His home was clean.
Duo looked around, puzzled, at the wiped down surfaces, the smell of lemon cleaner, and the made bed. Putting down his groceries and going to that bed, he could see that someone had washed the bedclothes. They still weren't the best, but they would do until he was able to afford better.
Duo was certain that the landlord hadn't had a hand in it. The man was, clearly, unconcerned with his renters and the state of their living conditions. The note on the pillow, solved the mystery, and made Duo grimace and make a mental note to change locks as soon as possible.' Just being neighborly', the note read, 'I still had a key from when Davis lived there. Hope you don't mind. Jenny.'
Duo still had to chase down roaches. He wielded the roach killer spray, until it over powered the lemon scent, and opened an old window to let out the fumes afterward. While he worked, he considered what to do about Jenny. Saying, sorry, I'm gay, seemed a good way to make an enemy, but Duo wasn't going to lead her on, not with kids in the mix. He had to be honest with her.
"You're very nice, Jenny, but, I'm sorry, I'm gay," Duo muttered as he washed his hands and began making dinner. Duo frowned as he popped open a can of franks and beans. "No, I'm not sorry that I'm gay."
Duo cracked open a soda and then sat down on his bed. Balancing the soda on one knee, he forked the beans and franks into his mouth, cold, too tired to heat them up.
"Jenny, I really appreciate how you helped me the other day, but I..." Duo chewed thoughtfully. "Have an old war wound... you know... down there..."
Duo snickered and then schooled himself to seriousness. "Jenny, thanks for the other day. I was really ashamed to bring Dan, my lover, to a dive."
Duo took a swig of soda and then shook his head. "She might want to meet him. Nix that. Dan wouldn't help out with that."
Duo chewed thoughtfully and then said, "Jenny, you're very nice, but I should tell you that I'm gay."
Duo looked at that from all sides and then sighed. "That sounds good. Now, I just have to save it for the right moment, like when she's trying to drag me into bed." He shuddered in disgust and that set every wound and aching muscle throbbing.
After putting his food and drink aside, on a bedside table, Duo stretched out on his back on the bed. His muscles were glad to, finally, have rest, even though the mattress was lumpy and dipped on one side. He missed Diss, and his furry, warm body curled up next to him. He missed his old apartment. He even missed his old job, at that moment. They hadn't been much, but they had been a piece of what every one else had, and he had loved them just for that. For too long, he had been in a fishbowl, looking out, with envy, at every day life, and wanting it. He could, if he felt less furious and betrayed, thank Heero for getting him out of Preventers and helping him see what he had really wanted. It would be a cold day in hell, though, he thought viciously, when he would give Heero that credit, though. You didn't thank a man, for knifing you in the back, just because it gave you some much needed rest.
Duo was a genius in so many areas; a child protege, the best of the best. A lumber mill job, a run down home, and no transportation, seemed a huge step downward, but there was no denying the calming satisfaction it gave him. Eight to Five, no shootings, no hostage situations, and no universe in need of sacrificing his life for. He was his own man, in charge of his own life, and nothing was expected of him, except to do a good job, show up on time, and not kill anybody. He grinned at the last. No killing, was the best part.
The grin faded. Loneliness was his only problem. He never had found a way to over come it, even with Diss. Casual sex, with strangers, was hollow. Friendships, put his anonymity at risk. Love, was out of the question, and he locked down, hard, the reason for that. It wasn't a good feeling, knowing that his freedom came with a heavy price, but, for him, there wasn't any other way. Peace of mind or peace of heart. He couldn't have both and, just then, he needed peace of mind more, for his sanity's sake.
Duo ran a hand down his braid. There were so many ways to make himself less noticeable, and to guarantee that no one would be able to remember a purple eyed, young man, with a long assed braid. His hand clenched on it, though, and a spark of rebellion quelled the notion. He wasn't going to lose himself, entirely, for his freedom. What would be the point? Duo Maxwell was living his life. He wouldn't turn that life into such a complete sham, that he might as well jump back into the fishbowl, and let them run his life again.
It was a temptation to sleep, clothes and all, but Duo pried himself from the bed and used the old shower, wincing at the groan of pipes and the erratic spray of the shower head. He felt better afterward as he sat on the bed, naked, and tended to his healing wounds. Antibiotic cream went into the puffy edges of the biobandage on his arm. His face was healing better, only, he suspected, because he didn't use his face for anything during work. The arm was getting used, far more than he liked. It was unavoidable. He hoped that his body managed to overcome the abuse and heal properly.
That done, he put out the lights and crawled into bed. He tried to tell himself, that clutching his pillow tight, had nothing to do with his loneliness, and that burying his face into it, as if it was another person, was only a comfortable way to sleep. It helped, though, when the darkness seemed endless, and the quiet made his isolation that much more acute.
_______________________________
"Here, it was a two for one deal," Dan said as he handed a wrapped sausage biscuit sandwich to Duo. He dug into his own, not waiting for a response.
"Thanks," Duo replied and tried not to look too eager as he bit into his sandwich. Having something hot for breakfast, that was actually good and filling, raised his spirits immediately.
Perched on a stack of logs, they were waiting for an inspection team to finish before the start of work. The serious looking inspectors were crawling through the mill, checking for safety violations.
"Do they ever find anything?" Duo wanted to know around his bite of sandwich.
Dan frowned and nodded as he chewed and swallowed. "Don't matter, though," he replied. "Our boss man pays their boss man, and everyone forgets that they seen anything."
"Why?" Duo wanted to know. "I mean, a dead or injured worker, costs them money."
Dan grunted. "The work goes faster without equipment guards, or safety zones, so they make that money back in production. I can't tell you how many times I've crawled into the chipper with it still running."
Duo had trouble swallowing his next bite. "Why don't you report them?"
"It's the only job that pays this good," Dan replied sadly. "My family needs every cent I bring home."
Duo understood taking risks for the people depending on him. It was senseless, though, when it didn't have to be that way.
Dan looked down at him, frowning from his greater height. "Don't get any ideas, little boss," he warned. "They'll shut the mill, and people will be out of work, if you make a complaint. The mill's hurting as it is, with people using so many synthetics. They won't keep running if it costs them too much money."
"A paradox," Duo sighed.
"A catch 22," Dan corrected and snickered at Duo's startled face. "It was in a movie I watched the other night." He nodded at Duo's sandwich. "Eat up, scrawny."
Duo eyes him suspiciously. "Did you actually buy this for me, Dan?"
Dan shrugged, embarrassed. "Sometimes, the good Lord needs us to help out others."
"Well, I'll thank you, since you're closer," Duo replied, amused.
Dan said seriously, "No, He's closer to you than I am, and don't forget it."
Duo felt uncomfortable, but he really shouldn't have expected any other answer from a man as grounded as Dan. He only nodded, not sure how to reply to Dan's strong faith, especially when he had so very little lately.
The inspectors finished and Duo and Dan went to start on their first broken machine. As Duo inspected a blown circuit board, Dan asked, "That your lady, I seen you with this morning? She's mighty fine."
Duo gritted his teeth for a moment, remembering the ride, and how it had seemed endless with Jenny's innuendos and non stop chatter. "She's just being neighborly," Duo replied, "by giving me a ride to work."
Dan grinned. "I seen the way she waved bye, bye, to you. She showed you a whole mess of cleavage."
Duo remember the low dip, when she had leaned out of her jeep to wave, and the way her shirt had hung, showing her entire bra.
"She's real sweet on you," Dan continued.
"Aren't you a married man?" Duo replied sourly. "You aren't supposed to notice other women."
"I'm married, not struck blind," Dan laughed. "It'd help you out, too, to get with her, if she's willing. Two people do better than one, even with kids in tow."
That was true, and exactly why Jenny was pursuing him. He didn't say so, though, and simply muttered, "It's something to think about." Duo, though, intended not to give it another thought.
__________________________________________
"So, you're the genius," a deep voice rumbled near Duo.
Dan's, "Hi, boss," kept Duo from reacting badly, as he turned from the machine that he was working on to see Dan facing a tall, broad shouldered man, with a shock of dark hair and a chiseled jaw. Buff body stuffed into tight fitting jeans, and wearing a plaid shirt, he was easily over six feet tall. Duo had to look up into the man's blue eyes as he came forward to shake Duo's hand.
"Solo Knight," Duo introduced himself and wiped off his hand, with a rag, before he made the firm handshake.
"Patrick Corman," the man returned. "I'm the owner of the mill. My foreman has been talking about you a great deal, so I thought that I should come and see my new, phenomenal employee, myself."
Duo shrugged as he finished the handshake and stuffed his rag back into his back pocket. "I've just been around a lot of these kind of machines," he replied. "It doesn't have anything to do with smarts, sir."
"Meaning that I shouldn't promote you to foreman, any time soon?" the man laughed.
"No, sir," Duo agreed more seriously. "I'm only good around what I know."
"Well, you're still an asset to the company," Corman insisted. "Those laser cutters have been idle too long."
"They just needed the sawdust cleaned out of their opticals," Duo replied, digging hands into his pockets and looking at his feet. "I didn't do much."
"Modest," Corman almost purred and Duo suddenly found him very close, the warmth of his body, and the smell of an expensive after shave, making Duo feel uncomfortable. "I like that, in a man, but don't be so modest that you miss out on opportunities for advancement."
Duo saw Dan's one big fist clench, telling him that he wasn't imagining the innuendo."That girl of yours won't thank you for passing up a raise, Solo," Dan said. "The boss is right."
Corman tensed and then stepped back, as he said, "I imagine that she wouldn't. Keep up the good work, Knight, and I hope to see more good work from you in the future."
Duo watched the man go and then he turned back to the machine that he had been working on. "Thanks, Dan," he said without looking at him, not wanting to embarrass the man.
"I was hoping that you missed that," Dan replied. "I think I threw him off the scent, though. Is this going to make you high tail it out of here?"
"No, I don't scare that easy," Duo replied and heard a relieved sigh. It troubled him that Dan was relying on him. Like with Diss, it was almost guaranteed, that, sooner or later, Duo would prove to be unreliable. If anyone began to suspect who he was, he would have to run again, and Dan and his family would have to go back to worrying about him unclogging chippers.
That thought reminded Duo just who he had been talking to. Corman was the one who decided to put men in dangerous situations. That took a measure of ruthlessness. It would be wise to stay clear of him, Duo decided, and to not stand out, in his abilities, more than he had already. It was time to play dumb and to settle in his position, the same way that he had settled for crane operator at his last job. Nothing high up, nothing to go on the net, nothing to stand out as unusual.
At the end of the day, Duo clocked out, said goodbye to Dan, and headed for the bus stop. Running into the red sports car, while he was digging into a pocket for his credit chip, startled him. When he saw Corman in the driver's seat, he mentally groaned.
"Need a ride, Knight?" Corman asked.
"Uh, actually..." Duo began, mind racing for a good way to tell his boss to go to hell without losing his job.
A jeep crunched gravel, and sprayed the expensive red car, as Jenny pulled into the gravel parking lot too quickly. She waved to Duo cheerfully.
"Get in, baby!"
"Thanks, but..." Duo apologized to Corman and motioned to Jenny with a suggestive grin that he didn't really feel.
Corman looked annoyed and shrugged as he pulled away. Jenny looked over her big sunglasses after him. "Who was that?" she wanted to know, and her voice sounded edgy.
"The boss man," Duo replied as he climbed into the jeep. "Were you just driving by?"
Jenny blinked at him, "What?"
Duo motioned to the mill as he fastened his seatbelt. "Were you just driving by, from somewhere else?"
"Oh, no, honey!" she laughed, turning on the charm again as she drove out of the parking lot. "I came her special to get you."
"Jenny," Duo started. "You really shouldn't have-"
"I wanted to!" Jenny replied, cutting him off. "You'd be late to dinner, if I didn't come get you."
"Dinner?" Duo repeated.
"I'm making dinner and you're invited," Jenny told him firmly. "You are in desperate need of some good home cooking. I know you're probably still waiting for payday, besides, and you can't have much to eat."
"They gave me an advance," Duo told her and then decided that he should let his preference be known at last. She was getting serious.
"Sweet potato pie," Jenny told him. "Mashed potatoes and gravy. Steaks that I managed to get for half price down at the stop and shop. Green beans with tons of butter. You have to come, Solo! Please tell me that you will?"
Her voice was pleading. Duo's mouth was watering. What could one dinner hurt? It was just food and her kids would be there. Nothing could happen.
"All right," Duo agreed, ignoring the voice, not attached to his rumbling stomach, that told him he was making a bad decision.
"Great!" Jenny exclaimed happily. "It'll be so good, that you'll never want to leave!" She shifted gears loudly and yelled, "Hold on to your bandana, Solo, I'm taking us home!"
__________________________________
Jenny's house was comforting. An abused couch and chairs, a nicked dinning room table, with a half broken chair, and obvious signs in the kitchen that everything was past its prime, coupled with the homey feel of hot food cooking, kids playing video games in front of the small vid screen, and the normal clutter of normal lives, made Duo feel his lack keenly. There was an emotional cost to living as if tomorrow might find him half way across the country or half way to mars colony. A person craved permanence, a place to make his own, and that was what Duo wanted, more than anything else, just then, as he sat down to dinner and became, for a short amount of time, part of someone else's permanence.
She asked questions, of course, and Duo sidestepped every one of them, while Jenny's children looked at him with appraising eyes. That bothered him, that they were waiting to see whether he was going to be their mother's new boyfriend, and what that would mean for them. That, more than anything else, made up his mind to tell Jenny that he wasn't interested. He might make her an enemy, but he could live with that, for the sake of the children.
Dinner was cleared away, and the children went off to bed at the back of the small shack. Jenny slept on a sleeper couch and she giggled and said as much as they settled on it with coffee.
"Why, Mr. Knight," she admonished jokingly, "I'm not that kind of girl."
It was an opening and Duo didn't miss it as he replied, with a nervous chuckle, "Well, I'm not that kind of guy, either."
That puzzled her and her smile was pasted on as she tried to get the joke.
Duo looked down into his steaming cup of coffee as he continued, "I hope that it doesn't bother you, but I'm gay."
There was a long silence on her end and then a, "Oh."
Duo looked up to see her blush and disappointment. "I didn't want to lead you on."
She was quiet for a long while, sipping at her coffee half heartedly. Rallying her thoughts, Duo supposed.
When the silence began to be painful, Duo started to put his coffee aside, onto the coffee table, as he said, "I can leave, now. I understand-"
She made an exasperated sound and then snapped, "Sit down, Solo! Finish your coffee."
"Oh... Okay." Duo settled again, watching her and wondering what was going on in her head.
"Do you know anything about appliances, about fixing things?" she wondered at last.
"Yes." Duo replied, confused.
"Do you mind taking a look at my stove? Only one element works." She looked almost pleading. "I don't have money for a repairman."
Duo could understand her, then. She latched on to men for comfort, for finances, and for fixing things. If he couldn't help her with the first two problems, then he felt the need to help her fix at least the mechanical things in her life that had gone wrong.
"I don't mind doing that," Duo replied and was given an instant demonstration of her gratitude. His arms were suddenly full of female; soft hair, soft body, and the smell of perfume.She held him longer than he felt comfortable with, and then slid out of the embrace in a sensual manner, that he supposed had become second nature for her where it concerned men, even gay ones.
"Thank you," Jenny said with emotion. "I can make it up to you, I promise."
"We're neighbors," Duo replied. "That's what neighbors do, so don't worry about trying to repay me." He didn't really know what neighbors did, for one another, but he didn't want her trying to find ways to repay him.
"You don't have to do anything with the stove tonight," Jenny told him as she settled in her corner of the couch with a smile. "You're full of food and coffee."
"After work tomorrow, I'll get on it," Duo promised.
She nodded, relieved that something in her life was getting fixed. Her frown, a moment later, worried him, though. She said, "I'm sure it's none of my business, but who was that creep in the red car today? The one trying to take you for a ride?"
"My boss," Duo replied. "He owns the mill. He just thought that I needed a ride home."
Her snort was knowing. "I don't think he was wanting to just give you a car ride. You better watch out for him. He looked slimy."
"Women's intuition?" Duo chuckled, as he blushed a little, too.
"Experience," Jenny replied. " I didn't understand him, though, until you told me about the gay thing. Now I see what he was all about. He must know you're gay, too."
Duo doubted that his boss knew anything about him. To some men, it didn't matter, what their 'interest' preferred, though. Duo wasn't about to discuss it further with Jenny. She didn't need to know, either, that he was capable of defending himself, even with only one arm, if his boss stepped out of line. If the man was stupid enough to push things that far, he was going to be very sorry that he did.
"You look dangerous," Jenny said nervously, and Duo smoothed out his frown quickly.
"He won't be any trouble," he assured her.
She laughed. "I bet not. Little guys, I've found, are the best scrappers."
Duo bristled at 'little', but then laughed at her joking wink.
Duo couldn't stop a yawn then and he put his coffee aside and stood up. "I better go get some sleep."
"Yeah, I have work, too, in the morning," Jenny agreed. "No rest for the poor."
"Thank you for dinner," Duo told her as she followed him to the door. "It was really good."
"Then you'll want to come over again, soon," Jenny replied, "and have dinner again. Maybe we can't hook up, romantically, but, like you said, neighbors have to help out each other."
Duo nodded, agreeing, and feeling relieved that she had decided to be friends.Walking to his own shack, and opening the door to his sparse, ready to travel, life, he felt an ache in his psyche; one that he recognized as pure envy. Maybe Jenny and her children were poor, but they had a hell of a lot more than he did.
"Why did you have to be such a fuck up, Yuy?" Duo muttered to the lonely room, and wished that things had been different.
______________________________________________
"We're barbecuing Sunday," Dan said offhandedly, as they worked to unclog a line, high off of the floor. It fed logs into the laser cutter, and one log was jammed solidly in the machinery. "You're welcome to come."
Duo frowned as he tried to unlodge the head of the log, while the belt continued to grind forward. They were both ready to get out of the way, but the danger was still there, that the log would pop up, or sideways, and take one of them out. Dan had a hook in it, but they were under strict orders not to damage the wood by cutting it down, or to stop the line, since that feed was notorious for not starting again, once stopped.With the danger of either getting a face full of wood, or taking a long fall to the floor, Duo also kept an eye on the backup of logs behind the one they were working to free, while he considered Dan's offer.
"Your family doesn't know me," Duo finally said through gritted teeth as he tried to unscrew the guide and move it upwards.
"The wife would like to thank you for the higher income," Dan chuckled as he put his full eight on the hook. Hanging backwards, there was a real possibility of the log unjamming and slinging Dan off the line.
"Don't," Duo warned.
"Just trying to save your life," Dan grumbled, as he repositioned himself.
"I'm not the one with the family," Duo shot back. He managed to pop a screw out and then asked, "How's her potato salad?"
"The best," Dan said with a wide grin.
"Does she put mustard in it?" Duo wanted to know.
"Tons," Dan assured him.
"I'll be there,then," Duo replied and then, serious and tense, "Get ready."
"I'm always ready," Dan chuckled and he pulled the hook out until it was barely lodged in the wood.
"On three," Duo said.
"Just do it," Dan grumbled.
"Okay." Duo said a small prayer and then yanked the guide off.
Dan's hook pulled the log onto the line as it shot forward and positioned, perfectly, into the cutter. The log behind it, released of tension, popped up. Duo had a clear view of Dan's big, gloved, hand, coming down on the log hard to reposition it, while Duo leaned back, instinctively, away from danger. Dan's hand was locked in Duo's work overalls, in the next instant, and only his hand, and his counterbalance, kept Duo from falling off the line. As logs zipped by between them, they met eyes, adrenaline pumping wildly, and then laughed.
After replacing the guide, and safely on the ground again, Duo felt angery, that their employer was making them take such dangerous risks.
"You're thinking," Dan lamented as they pooled credit, and bought a soda from the company machine. Sharing it between them, Dan continued, "It's always been this way, Solo. If you make trouble, everyone will be out of work, but they'll make you go first. We both agreed to do the job, and that will be their defense if you get the law involved."
Duo swallowed the cold drink and then used his bandana to wipe dirt and sweat from his face."They shouldn't be able to fire me , or you, for refusing to do it, though, and you know that they would have."
"That's true," Dan agreed, as he took the drink back and finished it. Crushing the can, and tossing it into the garbage, he explained, "People have tried to fight them before, Solo, and I'm here to tell you, that dog don't hunt."
"What dog?" Duo wondered,confused.
Dan chuckled. "Don't act all stupid. You know what I'm saying."
Duo nodded soberly and didn't say what he was thinking, that a job wasn't worth a man's life, to keep it.
"Barbecue is at one," Dan told him as they went to the next job on their list. "Be there."
"I will," Duo replied. "I wouldn't miss seeing you trying to light a grill, screaming kids, flies, and burnt hot dogs for anything."
Dan snorted. "I am a master griller, little punk ass. Nobody's getting burnt hot dogs."
Duo laughed, but the laugh was cut short as he was confronted by a worker with a sour expression on his face. "Boss man wants to see you," he said simply and then went away.
"Keep mentioning the hot chick girlfriend," Dan suggested."And don't bend down to get anything he drops on the floor."
"Ha,ha," Duo retorted sarcastically, "Just for that, you can start on the compressor down by the sawdust bin."
Dan grumbled, but went on his way, dutifully, as Duo resigned himself to a meeting with his boss.
_____________________________________
On the edge of town, Heero Yuy, shifted a backpack on his weary, sore shoulders, and put the cat, on a leash, onto the ground. "Which way, Diss?"
Diss looked disturbed as his eyes took in the landscape and the traffic. He crouched low on the ground, ears back.
Heero kneeled and ran a soothing hand over the cats fur, but the cat still gave him nothing. A dead end. He wasn't even sure that the cats faint reactions, during their travels, had even constituted proof that Duo had passed that way, ridden that truck, boarded a particular bus, or took a turn down a certain road, but there wasn't any other lead to follow.
"I'll have to search the whole town," Heero muttered and picked the cat up again. Perching the animal on top of his backpack, he began his long journey again, with Diss rubbing against his ear.
_____________________________________
The door was worn, the plaque that said, Patrick Corman, chipped and losing some of its wood finish. It told Duo that he had been sitting behind his big desk for a long time, that and his confidence, that was like a lion who totally possessed his territory, and those in it. Duo had known many men like Corman, and he had thoroughly enjoyed cutting them down to size.
The man was putting on the charm, first, smiling and reaching out to shake Duo's grimy hand. He grimaced a little as he motioned to a comfortable chair, and Duo watched as he wiped his hand off on a rag.
"Coffee?" His boss asked.
"No, thanks," Duo replied as he relaxed and stretched out his feet.
"Soda? Sports drink? My secretary can get you anything...?" Corman pressed.
The air conditioning was nice and a drink sounded like heaven. "Soda sounds good," Duo agreed.
When the secretary brought it in, it was ice cold, and Duo opened it with relish, and began drinking, hoping that he would get a chance to finish it, before Corman threw him out.
"Your work has been excellent," Corman began and Duo smiled around his drink, loving the chill and the burn that cut the sawdust out of his throat. "Even with an injured arm, you've accomplished more work than some of my older employees."
"That's because I still have all of my fingers," Duo replied as he wiggled the fingers of his free hand.
Corman smiled, but it was fake. He hadn't liked that jab about the lack of safety guards.
"The arm is a lot better," Duo told him and took another deep swig of his drink.
"Good, good," Corman said and then moved to sit on the edge of his desk, closest to Duo. "You don't seem like a man who'd be happy, long, in one position. You've moved up quickly, all ready. I'd like to propose an even better position."
Under you, Duo thought sourly, but kept his look pleasant as he finished his drink, and tossed the empty into a waste bin. He replied, "Well, I hate to sell myself short, sir, but I never did get through school. Everything I know is self taught. I really don't have any other talent, outside of fixing machines. I'm right where I want to be."
"I thought that you might be more ambitious," Corman said irritably. His hand slid over his crotch, as if adjusting himself. "I can offer you some perks, if you do me a few favors. A man with your shaky work history, can probably use a hand up. I'm sure background checks have kept you out of a great many job positions."
Duo frowned, feeling the teeth coming. "Well, you know, when you're a war vet, and you've seen some crazy things, people tend to think that you're a little... unstable... dangerous even. They don't like to think that an employee might snap, if too much pressure is applied."
"War veteran?" Corman was up, nervous, and retreating behind his desk. Every citizen had a healthy respect for a veteran, who might be on the borderline of sanity.
"That's why my job is just right for me," Duo told him, as he stood as well. "I work alone, well accept for Dan, and I do what I do best, with nobody bothering me."
"And you do it well," Corman told him, "Which is another reason why I brought you into my office. I'd like to raise your pay, to show my appreciation for your hard work."
Duo smiled. "Thank you, sir. I'll try hard to keep meeting your expectations."
"Good, I'm sure you will," Corman nodded to him and then motioned to the door. "Thank you for coming, Solo. I'm sure you have work to do?"
"A lot," Duo chuckled as he opened the door. "Thank you, Mr. Corman."
"Thank you," Corman replied and Duo couldn't help a real laugh after he closed the door and walked back to work.
TBC
TBC