V: The V in Vigilant

“Onemoment please while I connect you to a supervisor.”
Matt whirled in his seat and caught Roxiewith his best glare. “What?”
“Jeez,” she drawled, cracking her gum.“You’re in a mood.”
Matt wasn’t buying it. “Roxie, what do youwant? I’m sort of in the middle—”
“Never mind.” She tossed the mail onto hisdesk, catalog and all. “Call me when the snit passes, will you? Idon’t get hazard pay.”
Ignoring that comment, Matt turned back tothe invoice and silently apologized to Tom for being such an ass.But hey, it got Roxie out of his hair, didn’t it?
Luck was on his side—he managed to avoid herthe rest of the day. When one of the lifeguards called in sick,Matt stepped in, and the role kept him poolside until Joy came into relieve him around four. Then a problem with the pool’sfiltration system occupied him until a little before six, when hefinally got the pump working again. After a quick call to the doggydaycare to assure them he was on his way, Matt ducked out the backdoor of the gym in his haste to pick up Sadie before the placeclosed. So, technically, in his mind, he wasn’t avoidingRoxie. He was just too busy to see her before work ended wasall.
The daycare was only a few blocks from thegym, but rush hour traffic and an insistent downpour stretched afifteen minute drive into a half hour from hell. By the time Mattpulled into the parking lot, tires squealing, he was sure theywould’ve closed already, trapping his dog inside for the night.They’d threatened as much to other clients before; Matt had heardthem. But the young girl behind the counter thought him cute andhad Sadie leashed and waiting in the lobby when he arrived. “God,”Matt gushed as he knelt in front of Sadie, who tackled him in joy.“Thank you so much for waiting. The day I’ve had…”
The girl giggled. She wasn’t even out of highschool, and Matt could never remember her name. Unfortunately shehad already taken off her nametag, so he couldn’t sneak a peek andfake it.
“It’s okay, Mr. diLorenzo. I knew you were onyour way.”
She towered over him, tall and slim, headducked shyly so her blond hair fell forward a little. When Mattflashed her a smile, she blushed and blinked quickly several times.“I don’t mind waiting for you,” she said, her voice soft.
Matt had to stifle a laugh. He didn’t needhis lover’s super-powered telepathy to guess what the girl wasthinking, but sometimes he wished he had Vic’s ability to toy withothers’ thoughts. He would’ve liked to take whatever daydreams shemight have about him and turn them on their head in a rude,eye-opening way. True, she was probably still in school when Vicdropped Sadie off in the mornings, but surely one of her coworkershad to put together the pieces and could clue the poor girl in. Twomen owned this dog. Both their names were listed as emergencycontacts in Sadie’s file, and they shared one address. In this dayand age, no one pretended that didn’t mean what they thoughtit meant. Once he and Vic exchanged rings, there’d be no furtherquestion.
If he ever got up the nerve to talk to hislover about it, that was.
Tonight, he promised himself, faceburied in Sadie’s soft fur. He’d bring it up tonight. What was heworried about? How could Vic possibly say no?
* * * *
The rain cleared up when darkness fell, butthe streets were still wet as Vic made his way home from work. Themuscles across his back were bunched in tight knots—he wanted a hotmeal, a hot shower, and his hot lover sitting naked above him,gently massaging away the stiffness in his shoulders. Though hisday had been trying, the night stretched ahead of him full ofpossibility.
When he passed a familiar mailbox two blocksfrom their apartment, Vic reached out with his mind to try andconnect with Matt’s. For a moment he sensed Matt asleep in therecliner, television on low and the dog curled heavily on his lap.Vic didn’t want to wake Matt, but before he could pull back, thedog woke with a soft bark and jumped down, trotting to the door.Matt jerked awake, one thought on his mind. ::Vic?::
A slow smile spread across Vic’s face in thedarkness of his car. ::Almost home.::
As Matt stretched, Vic felt the energy coursethrough his own muscles, too, as if they were one soul in twobodies. ::How does she do that?:: Matt wanted to know, notfor the first time.
Vic couldn’t talk with Sadietelepathically—when they first got the dog, he had tried, but herthoughts were so foreign to him, they simply didn’t register on hisown the way other people’s did. He’d been ready to say it didn’twork when he noticed her looking at him, one ear up, head cockedquizzically. Maybe he couldn’t understand what she might bethinking, but she certainly seemed to hear him loud andclear. Whenever he and Matt communicated silently, she watched themas intently as she did when they spoke aloud. Commands given to hermentally were obeyed without hesitation. And whenever Vic was onhis way home, Sadie always picked up his presence as easily as Mattdid himself.
Now she scuffed at the door while Mattsnapped on her leash. Pocketing his keys, he told Vic, ::Meetyou outside, lover. I’ll be the one with the dog.::
Vic’s mood improved with each passing minute,and by the time he pulled to a stop in front of their apartmentbuilding, the rest of his bad day had fallen away. Even the musclesclenched in his back seemed to relax, though he still wanted thathot shower, and the hot lover went without question. After heturned off the car, he sat behind the wheel a moment and watchedMatt, dressed in a battered pair of jeans and an oversized shirtVic recognized as one of his own. His lover stood on the bottomstep of their stoop, arms crossed as if to ward off the autumnalchill, a leash leading from one hand into the scraggly azalea bushbeside him. Vic could tell he’d just woken up—faint color pinkedhis cheeks and he kept yawning as he waited. ::God, you’regorgeous,:: Vic told him.
Matt turned, his gaze drifting down the curbuntil he