Self Preservation by Ethan Day Page A

a smile. He turned back around and opened the door. As he shut it behind him, he was screaming in his head to stop. Screaming at Jack to fling open the door and stop him. He walked slowly, thinking maybe he might, but as the elevator opened and he stepped in, he knew it wasn't going to happen.
     
     
     
    Jack walked over to the window looking down onto the street. He couldn't believe he could go from such a complete high to this desperate low in so short a time. He watched as Davis stood out on the curb, waiting for the cab. Look up, he thought. If Davis looks up it'll mean I'm supposed to stop him. Fuck, that's stupid. I should just go stop him. What if I do go to stop him and he still leaves? Damn it.
     
    Jack turned and ran for the door. He grabbed the door handle and stopped. He didn't have the right to try to stop him. Davis had made a life for himself, and maybe he was happy with that. He turned and ran back to the window and watched as Davis climbed into the cab. He spun around as it drove away, taking the last bit of hope Jack had with it. Jack looked down at the room in which they'd fucked all night. He walked over, picked up an empty bottle of wine, and threw it across the room, shattering it into pieces against the wall.
     
     
     
    Davis sat in the back seat of the cab and the tears started to flow. He was so confused. The way they'd looked at one another last night. He knew it was real. It felt so real. Davis noticed the cab driver looking back at him through the rearview mirror. He reached up self-consciously and pulled his shirt closed. He couldn't believe that it was happening. No…this couldn't be happening. Jack would call Deseree's looking for him. There would already be a message by the time he got to her apartment.
     
    When there was no message, Davis told himself that by the time he got home, Jack would have called. The days passed with nothing, and after a few weeks, he knew Jack wasn't going to call. When Davis finally got up the nerve to call Jack, he acted as if nothing had happened. It was all run-of-the-mill chitchat. Nothing that led Davis to hope, but he still did hope. Hope was all he had left.

Chapter Seven
     
     
     
    Present day
     
     
     
    Tadd's condo occupied the front half of the third floor in an old four-story brick and stone warehouse that had been converted into living space. The floor plan was open, and in the living areas, the ceiling was two stories high. The walls were a bright white with large pieces of artwork hanging along them, and pieces of sculpture were scattered throughout. It was very contemporary looking with the clean lines of minimalist furniture and tons of track lighting, which hung from the high ceiling. A large dining table sat under a huge modernist rectangular crystal chandelier. It seemed more like an art gallery than a living space. Stairs in the back of the large room led to a second level where the bedrooms were located.
     
    The party was already in full swing when Davis, Jack, Deseree, and Candace arrived. People were scattered about in clusters, chattering away with cocktails in hand. There was a bar set up at the far end of the room and a jazz quartet along the back wall next to the dining table. The caterers were running about the open kitchen, and waitstaff walked around the room with trays of hors d'oeuvres. Candace was immediately swallowed up by adoring fans.
     
    Jack turned to Davis and Deseree. “I'll go see if I can find Tadd.”
     
    “We'll be at the bar,” Deseree said as Jack walked off, leaving Davis and Deseree to move into the crowd.
     
    “People are staring at me,” Davis observed as several men looked him up and down.
     
    “You can thank me anytime,” Deseree said as they walked up to the bar.
     
    The bartender awaited instructions as they pointed at one another. “Ketel One dirty martini, up,” Deseree said at the same time Davis said, “Ketel One cosmo, up.”
     
    “Better make mine a club soda,” Deseree told