Jordan stuffed his hands in his pockets as he strode down Summer Street. He could see his target, South Station, and after a long day of shooting portraits of mostly unpleasant, spoiled high school seniors, he was more than ready to head back home.

It hadn’t been all that long since he’d been one of those seniors, and he knew he should cut them more slack than he did. At the same time, they generally rubbed him the wrong way. Did they just not get how little their frivolous concerns meant to the greater world?

No one cared about a zit in the picture for the yearbook. The zit would be edited out before the picture ever saw the light of day, and anyway, a zit didn’t matter when their very right to express themselves or to get an education was on the line.

School portraits seemed ridiculous when children were being ripped from their mothers’ arms and people were being shot in the streets, all over skin color. Who cared about high school when evil corporations were trashing the environment and the very air they breathed? He could feel his arteries straining against his blood pressure just thinking about it.

Jordan’s parents hadn’t let him forget about all the evil in the world. They’d taken him to every protest they’d attended. They’d made absolutely sure he understood what their country was up against, and all the sacrifices that needed to be made.

Did it chafe sometimes, knowing how hard he would have to work, and what he would have to give up? Absolutely. Did he understand there were things out there bigger than himself? Yes.

But now he was done, free from appointments, and ready to face the world. He had a few free hours to work on his own projects before he needed to be anywhere.

He was going to meet up with a few other guys to plan an action against ICE later on tonight. Not only was that going to be a good cause and a good meeting, it would be a good time, too. The committee for that project was a good bunch of guys, and they made the work fun.

He was so lost in his own head, in the anticipation of a good time, that he almost didn’t see Alex until he bumped into him. It only made sense that Alex would be down here. Charles River Bank had a huge building, an eyesore of a place, right near South Station. Of course he’d commute through the old terminal.

“Jordan!” Alex’s whole face brightened up when he saw Jordan. Jordan’s insides warmed up at the sight. He’d had a few partners over the years, but none of them had that look, like the mere sight of Jordan on the street made their day better. “Hey! It’s good to see you! Where are you off to?”

Jordan put a hand on Alex’s shoulder and relaxed. “I was just headed back to my place. I finished my appointments and I was going to have a little downtime before heading out again.”

He didn’t want to share his late-night plans with Alex, not yet. He wasn’t sure of Alex’s politics, and given that he worked for and defended Charles River Bank, Jordan didn’t know if it would ever be something they’d completely agree on. “How about you? I didn’t think they ever unchained you before nine.”

Alex laughed. “They usually don’t. Today they had a catastrophic tech failure and kicked us all out so they could work on the problem.”

He winced and glanced around, but no one showed any signs of having heard them. “As far as I know, all our backup systems worked. They said everything should be up and running by the opening bell tomorrow, but they wanted everyone out tonight.”

Everything about the situation sounded shady as hell to Jordan, but he didn’t say anything. He wasn’t an investigative reporter, and he wasn’t a finance guy. Right now, he was just glad Alex was getting to see some daylight. “I guess that works out well for you, huh?”

“Right?” Alex grinned and ran a hand through his glossy black hair. “So hey, if we’ve both got a few hours free, maybe we could grab a drink or something?”

Jordan thought about the unfinished projects at home. Then he shook himself. Sure, he had unfinished projects at home. None of them had deadlines, and time with Alex was a precious commodity. They’d only had two dates, but Jordan knew enough to appreciate the time he got with him.

“Let’s do it. There’s a good bar right over here — not too snooty, and they make the best rum drinks in Boston.” Jordan jerked his head in the direction of Baba O’Reilly’s, a little hole in the wall bar he and some of his buddies liked to meet up at.

It only took them about ten minutes to get there, and even that was only because of traffic lights and their own unhurried pace. They got a few weird looks, probably because Alex’s banker monkey suit and Jordan’s own disheveled artist getup made such a stark contrast.

When they got there, Jordan recognized his friend and frequent co-conspirator Betty behind the bar. He greeted her and introduced Alex, and brought him over to a table toward the back where they could hang out without being disturbed.

“This place has some of the best vegetarian food in Boston, too,” Jordan told his companion, passing him a menu.

Alex scanned the menu quickly and looked up at Jordan. “I didn’t think you were a vegetarian. In fact, I’m, like, ninety percent sure I remember you ordering your burger ‘so rare you might want to call a lawyer’ the last time we got together.”

Jordan laughed. “I’m not a vegetarian. I keep trying to make that change. It’s better for the planet, and for the animals, of course. A lot of my friends are vegetarians, and I don’t mind eating plant-based foods. I just can’t make myself give up meat entirely. I try, but it never goes well for me. I guess some people just aren’t meant to be herbivores. I feel guilty about it, though.”

Alex nodded a little bit as Betty approached. They both ordered, and she went back behind the bar. There weren’t too many people in here tonight, so Jordan didn’t feel too bad about asking for table service. If there had been, he’d have gone up to the bar to order instead.

“I guess that makes sense.” Alex turned his head to take the place in. “I’ve gotten mostly used to a meatless lifestyle. It’s just cheaper. Someday, maybe, I can do it for the animals or whatever, but if meat is a rare treat, it’s probably not a terrible thing.” He shrugged. “So if you’re on a first-name basis with the bartender you must be a regular.”

“Yeah, well. You know how it is. My studio isn’t too far from here, and I sometimes have meetings around here too.” Betty delivered their food and their drinks. Jordan thanked her and turned back to Alex. “When are you going to take me to your favorite haunts?”

Alex scoffed. “Besides the Charles River Bank cafeteria? I don’t really have one. I don’t really get out much.” He looked down at his drink for a second.

Jordan sighed and put his hand over Alex’s. “You know, it’s okay to get out a little. I get that you have a responsibility. And I understand you want to make sure you’re secure and everything. I do.

“But man, you can’t just spend your life working. You have to at least do something else. Otherwise you’ll stagnate, and your work will suffer.”

He swallowed. “I know you’ve heard from other guys about wasting your youth and everything, so I’m not going to rehash all that. I’m just thinking, it’s like refreshing your eye. If you don’t look away from the project once in a while, you won’t see the flaws and the errors, you know? You won’t find a different perspective, and you won’t see any issues that crop up. The bank needs that, or else they could just hire robots to do the work.”

Alex sighed. “I know. I know all that. And I want to be a more rounded person. I want to draw again, and I want to get out and have a social life again. I really do.

“I just — I’m scared, you know? If I lose this job, I lose everything. I lose my home, my parents lose their home, we all wind up living in a cardboard box in Harlingen.” He used his free hand to bring his drink to his full, beautiful lips. “It’s hard to let go of that fear.”

“I’ll bet.” Jordan licked his lips and grabbed for his own drink. He couldn’t look away from Alex’s mouth. God, the guy was beautiful. How could Jordan not have realized how stunning Alex was before? Okay, sure, attraction hadn’t been a thing for him until he’d been older, but still.

“I’m sure your parents don’t want you to work yourself into an early grave, either. But anyway, we’re out and about right now. We’re having a good time, it’s spontaneous, and it’s fun.”

“That’s right.” Alex’s shoulders lowered. He probably hadn’t realized he’d raised them. “Hey, you were right, this is an awesome drink. How did you find this place, anyway?”

“One of my buddies brought me here. It was right after a big protest against anti-LGBT laws in Russia, and we came here to rest after the march. I got really into the rum drinks, and that was kind of all she wrote.”

He dug into his bean casserole as he spoke, warning to his topic. “I even took a part-time job here for a while, learning to mix drinks. It was awesome. I had a blast.”

Alex widened his eyes. “You did?” He seemed to forget about his eggplant parm. “I have trouble seeing that.”

“Well, it didn’t last much longer than eighteen months.” Jordan blushed at the memory. “I can’t say I loved working with the public, and I mostly did it to tide me over until my business and art really took off. Once I was self-supporting with those, I stopped tending bar pretty quick.”

He laughed and ducked his head. “I wasn’t ever going to be a star in the field.”

“Maybe not.” Alex smirked and took another drink. “It’s a hard field to be in. I did a little bit of it back in college. You do what you have to do to get paid, obviously, but that doesn’t make it fun!”

Heat pooled somewhere in Jordan’s belly. “You probably did catered events and stuff like that, didn’t you?” He could just see Alex now, in those tight black pants and a tuxedo shirt, mixing drinks for high-level donors and alumni.

“I did, among other things. I worked for the university’s catering services organization and for an outside caterer. I worked this one political fundraiser; it was fifty grand a plate. You should have seen this thing. It was downright obscene.”

Alex launched into a story about a fundraiser for a presidential candidate that involved garments that might have cost as much as a car, and debauched behavior that should have made the tabloids but didn’t. “I remember thinking, these people are going to be making laws?” Alex laughed. “That guy’s a freaking admiral, and he won’t take the lampshade off his head!”

Jordan snickered. “I can see that. I wish you had pictures, but I can see that. I hope they tipped well.”

“Decently, for the most part. Some of them did lecture me on how I should have made better life choices instead of tipping, but you always get that.” Alex rolled his eyes.

Jordan joined in. “Oh, you get some of those at any venue. I heard one guy come in here and tell Betty he didn’t believe in tipping, because bosses should pay workers a living wage so they didn’t have to depend on tips.”

Alex looked over at Betty and shuddered. “Did they ever find the guy’s teeth?”

“Oh, she didn’t deck him. She served him water, on the grounds that he was obviously too drunk to keep drinking. But she let him keep all his teeth.”

Jordan grinned and shared a story about a bachelorette party that had come into the bar one night, only to find the groom’s bachelor party in the same place. Alex countered with a story about the archaeology and geology faculties getting into a fistfight at a gala to celebrate the appointment of a new dean.

Another story followed, and another story after that. Jordan didn’t notice how late it had gotten until Alex frowned and pulled out his phone.

“Is the bank really calling you to come back in?” Jordan asked. He didn’t appreciate the reminder that Charles River Bank was number one in Alex’s life, especially after such a warm and fun-filled evening.

“No. That’s Devon’s number.” Alex swiped on his screen and looked at his messages. “Oh. He’s looking for you. Apparently you’ve gone missing and aren’t answering your messages?”

Jordan choked on his drink and reached for his own phone. Sure enough, his do not disturb was still active. “I turn it off while I’m at work, so clients don’t get mad. I must have forgotten to turn it back on. It happens.” He checked his texts. “Crap. Is it really eleven o’clock? I had a meeting at nine thirty.”

“Yikes.” Alex blushed. “Well, I can’t say I mind, but I guess I should apologize for keeping you away from your meeting. You wouldn’t have scheduled it if it wasn’t important.”

Jordan took Alex’s hand again. “I think they can have a planning meeting without my input, just this once.”

He gave a little squeeze. His heart sped up when Alex squeezed back. “Tonight was more important.” He bit his lip. “Er, if you want to tell them I’m alive, though, you can do that.”

Alex laughed, eyes bright, and Jordan was on top of the world.