Leonard

Steven sighed as he slowly plucked the strings on his guitar.  He had already tuned the strings four times and resisted the urge to do it again out of anxiousness.  Leonard was late again.  This was becoming a troublesome habit if his.  Leonard would burst through the door, out of breath, bass in hand.  He would mumble something about traffic and sit down to immediately start playing.  Steven knew what was really going on.

            It was Nicole, Leonard’s girlfriend.  That woman was sucking the life out of him.  He could tell by the puffy look in Leonard’s eyes that he had been crying.  Steven could not believe that Leonard would wear his emotions on his sleeve like that.  Steven’s policy of suppressing everything that could convey emotions had done him well for years.  He had used those Easter Island heads as a model of stoicism.

            It was this very skill that had allowed Steven to have some kind of relationship with Leonard.  The more withholding Steven was, the more Leonard desperately sought his approval and attention.  It made Steven feel like a god, having someone around like this.  His girlfriend was just like him, so the most he could ever expect to get out of Susan was a reluctant admission of satisfaction.  But Leonard, he was like a reservoir of raw emotion wearing a t-shirt. 

            Perhaps it would be different if they saw each other more than once a week, but Steven was hesitant to do that.  He could only handle so much of Leonard’s emotional outbursts.  Leonard was fine in moderation, but too much of him would prove to be overwhelming.  Steven had enough trouble navigating the world as it is, he did not need this mopey, sobbing man-child reminding him how unfair the universe is. 

            Steven smiled at Leonard, told him not to worry about being late, and they tried to decide on a song to play.  In the back of his mind, Steven dreaded the moment when Leonard asked him how his week had been.  That was not a question he ever liked answering.