26 Plans and Proposals
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #26 Plans and Proposals
Rating: PG
Summary: Luke and Reid discuss pitfalls
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for preserving my phrasal verbs
Disclaimers: just called my accountant. No changes whatsoever. Still not making money off this story.
After goofing off - Luke’s words - a whole day, yesterday, the young professional had left for a meeting at Grimaldi Shipping early this morning and Reid distracted himself with a pile of papers. He felt annoyed with himself. His whole life he’d been perfectly capable of being alone and ever since he’d come to Podunk Illinois and looked Mr. Luke Snyder in his eyes, he was thinking in two’s. In couples. Feeling awkward, now Luke was not around. How a man could change.
His annoyance faded when he realized something. It made his mouth drop for a moment. He may have convinced himself he was a loner, but looking at his life in Dallas told a different story. He’d never given himself a chance to be alone. He’d been at the hospital almost 24/7. He’d kept himself busy, so he could convince himself he was doing great. And he really thought he was. Until now. Now he started to grasp the full concept of ‘doing great’.
He grinned. So he wasn’t really changing. He was just discovering who he really was. For some reason that conclusion comforted him and it gave him the focus to concentrate on the papers again.
Yesterday, after their encounter with Dan Snyder, Luke had made a delicious dinner for two and Reid had rewarded him accordingly. When their brains started functioning again, they had turned their bed into a joined office. Both with a laptop within reach, trying to come up with ways to make this whole Passion Triangle - Luke’s words again - work.
Luke, Brains, and Chief of Staff. The combination was possible - they were both convinced about that - but it would take some planning and solid agreements.
He was surprised to hear the front door and checked his watch. Wow. Time really did know how to fly. He leaned back in his office chair and waited for Luke to find him. That didn’t take him very long.
“Here you are! Working hard, I see.”
Luke kissed him, turned the chair a little, threw one leg in the air and mounted Reid’s lap as if he was a mechanic bull. Visibly pleased with his seating arrangements, he put his hands on Reid’s cheeks and kissed him firmly.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered, as he cuddled up to Reid’s chest.
“I can tell,” Reid smiled, holding him close, “I’m very glad you’re back so soon.”
“Me too,” Luke didn’t move, enjoying this closeness.
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand…” Reid’s voice was calm and a little teasing, so Luke wasn’t alarmed.
“Hmmm?”
“You find me in here, surrounded with papers and you call it ‘working hard’…”
That made Luke sit back a little, so he could see Reid’s eyes.
“And yesterday our day was pretty filled and still you felt you’d been ‘goofing off’ the whole day… What’s that about?”
“Hmmm,” Luke laid his head back on Reid’s chest, “That is weird, isn’t it?”
“Your words, not mine,” Reid chuckled.
“The first thing that comes to mind is the setting,” Luke said pensively. “If we’re working on something together, it doesn’t feel like work. Something like that.”
“O-kay. But I wasn’t just referring to the work we did last night.” Reid hesitated, but asked it anyway: “Could it be that anything not work related isn’t worth taking seriously?”
“What?” Luke came up again, this time with a big frown, “You think I don’t take us seriously?”
“No no no, that’s not what I meant,” How can I explain this? “I know you take us very seriously. As do I, I might add.”
“I know,” Luke kissed him softly on the lips, but pulled back quickly because he wanted to hear more.
“But it feels like you’re selling yourself short by calling a busy day like yesterday ‘goofing off’.”
“Ah. I see.” Luke nestled himself against Reid again. “I think you have a point. Where is this all coming from?”
“I had an epiphany this morning,” Reid declared. “I felt a little lonely, without you, and it made me realize I’ve always filled my days with work. It gave me a sense of importance. A sense of worth. Of being indispensable. I spent almost every waking moment saving lives, without really having a life of my own. And I don’t want that anymore. That’s what this,” he waved at the papers on his desk, “is all about.”
He took a deep breath and said: “I guess the real epiphany is that my value is not only in what I do, but also in who I am. And building a life together should never be less important than our jobs.”
Luke looked at him. “Do you feel that it is?”
Reid shook his head. “No, I don’t. Not now. But it’s relatively easy right now, with me having a few days off. But that ends tomorrow. And I needed to lay this on the table. Because I think it’s not only my pitfall, but it may be yours too.”
Luke nodded, deep in thought.
“Point taken,” he caressed Reid’s chin. “I have noticed I often feel the need to prove I’m worthy. I’ve messed up a lot and maybe I’m still trying to make up for that in a way.”
“So basically you’re trying to prove to yourself you’re worthy,” Reid looked at him in wonder and Luke smiled.
“I guess you don’t understand how that feels, with your self-confidence and all.”
“Don’t be fooled by the exterior, Luke,” Reid smiled. “After meeting you, I’ve felt more insecure about myself than in all my years prior to that. Especially when you kept going back to Noah. Even after kissing me. I mean…come on!”
“I’m sorry for putting you through all that.”
“Don’t. It was very humbling and we both know I could use some of that.”
They laughed out loud.
“No arguments here,” Luke chortled and then squealed when Reid tickled his side. “Don’t…”
“Really?” Reid’s eyes darkened and Luke found himself lost in them. He leaned forward, but before their lips could meet, he saw Reid raising one finger. One? Come on, we can do better than that! Luke raised the bid by holding two fingers up and Reid grinned.
“Excellent counteroffer, Mr. Snyder.”
“Shut up and kiss me already.”
***
Reid was very pleased with the plans and proposals they had come up with. The opportunity to be the ‘top dog’ was too tempting to pass up and if the board would agree on these changes and additions, the whole Chief of Staff adventure would be very surveyable. And he liked things well-organized.
Luke watched Reid looking at his laptop and smiled. His man looked absolutely content with their ideas and he knew Reid. He didn’t like to waste time. So Luke threw him a bone.
“If you want to talk to Bob about it, you know you can, right?”
Reid looked hesitant.
“But I took those days off to spend more time with you…”
“I know. But talking to Bob will give you peace of mind and that’s important too.”
“True.” Reid smiled. “And don’t look so smug. You may think you’ve figured me out already, but I do have plenty surprises up my sleeve.”
Luke laughed. “I’m not worried.”
“Maybe you should be,” Reid tried to look scowling, but failed miserably.
“You’re a little early with your horror stories, Dr. Oliver,” Luke grinned, “It’s still three weeks till Halloween.”
Reid’s face darkened. “Don’t tell me… that’s a big deal for the Snyder clan, isn’t it?
“It is.” Luke’s smile was a cheerful mix of sincere joy and kindhearted teasing and the end result was so breathtaking, Reid almost forgot to look disgusted by Luke’s answer. Almost. He managed a convincing roll of the eyes.
“I’m not sure, but I’m pretty convinced I’ll have to work that day,” he smirked and to his surprise Luke smiled.
“That’s absolutely okay. I need them motivated or they can stay away.”
Reid snorted. “Stealing my lines again, Snyder?”
“Why bother with making up new ones, if I can steal some brilliant ones from you?” Luke shrugged with a teasing grin. “But seriously, Reid. We’ve talked about this before. You know I would love to share those things with you, but it’s okay if you really don’t want to. I know I was pretty relentless and pushy about you joining me at the wedding-that-never-happened, but that was partly the spoiled brat in me, wanting to have his way, and partly the I’m-so-proud-of-my-guy-and-I-want-the-whole-world-to-see part of me.”
“I see. And you’re not proud anymore?” Reid raised a eyebrow and Luke grinned.
“You know I am, idiot. But now I have plenty opportunities to show you off.”
Reid frowned. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but I really don’t understand. You thought that wedding was the only chance you would get?”
Luke blushed. “I think I wasn’t very sure. With Noah…” he smiled apologetically, “our relationship was like a flashing light. Together. Breaking up. Together. Breaking up. I guess it taught me to take my chances when I could, because I never knew when it would stop.”
“That’s sad.” Reid put his hand on Luke cheek and caressed the skin with his thumb.
“It was,” Luke smiled. “And it made me very clingy and way too eager and I really didn’t like that about myself. So I don’t want to go there anymore. Please be patient, because undoubtedly it will pop up again, but I am trying.”
“Selling yourself short again,” Reid kissed him firmly. “You’re awesome.”
“With you I am.”
“Believe me. You were awesome with Noah too. Don’t forget I watched a lot of it, so I do know what I’m talking about. You were awesome. But Noah was too blind to see it, in both senses of the word.”
“Maybe you’re just a teeny-weeny biased, but I love you for it,” Luke softly pinched Reid chin. “I’m just happy it’s all behind me now.”
“Hear hear,” Reid kissed him. “But to return to our initial conversation…”
Luke grinned. They had managed to get side tracked…a lot.
“Yes. Bob. At least find out if he’s available this afternoon,” Luke suggested and Reid nodded.
“Good idea.”
Bob sounded both thrilled and curious and he was more than willing to schedule Reid in. Holding hands, Luke and Reid walked to the car.
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25
Author: SYLnl
Title: #26 Plans and Proposals
Rating: PG
Summary: Luke and Reid discuss pitfalls
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for preserving my phrasal verbs
Disclaimers: just called my accountant. No changes whatsoever. Still not making money off this story.
After goofing off - Luke’s words - a whole day, yesterday, the young professional had left for a meeting at Grimaldi Shipping early this morning and Reid distracted himself with a pile of papers. He felt annoyed with himself. His whole life he’d been perfectly capable of being alone and ever since he’d come to Podunk Illinois and looked Mr. Luke Snyder in his eyes, he was thinking in two’s. In couples. Feeling awkward, now Luke was not around. How a man could change.
His annoyance faded when he realized something. It made his mouth drop for a moment. He may have convinced himself he was a loner, but looking at his life in Dallas told a different story. He’d never given himself a chance to be alone. He’d been at the hospital almost 24/7. He’d kept himself busy, so he could convince himself he was doing great. And he really thought he was. Until now. Now he started to grasp the full concept of ‘doing great’.
He grinned. So he wasn’t really changing. He was just discovering who he really was. For some reason that conclusion comforted him and it gave him the focus to concentrate on the papers again.
Yesterday, after their encounter with Dan Snyder, Luke had made a delicious dinner for two and Reid had rewarded him accordingly. When their brains started functioning again, they had turned their bed into a joined office. Both with a laptop within reach, trying to come up with ways to make this whole Passion Triangle - Luke’s words again - work.
Luke, Brains, and Chief of Staff. The combination was possible - they were both convinced about that - but it would take some planning and solid agreements.
He was surprised to hear the front door and checked his watch. Wow. Time really did know how to fly. He leaned back in his office chair and waited for Luke to find him. That didn’t take him very long.
“Here you are! Working hard, I see.”
Luke kissed him, turned the chair a little, threw one leg in the air and mounted Reid’s lap as if he was a mechanic bull. Visibly pleased with his seating arrangements, he put his hands on Reid’s cheeks and kissed him firmly.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered, as he cuddled up to Reid’s chest.
“I can tell,” Reid smiled, holding him close, “I’m very glad you’re back so soon.”
“Me too,” Luke didn’t move, enjoying this closeness.
“There’s just one thing I don’t understand…” Reid’s voice was calm and a little teasing, so Luke wasn’t alarmed.
“Hmmm?”
“You find me in here, surrounded with papers and you call it ‘working hard’…”
That made Luke sit back a little, so he could see Reid’s eyes.
“And yesterday our day was pretty filled and still you felt you’d been ‘goofing off’ the whole day… What’s that about?”
“Hmmm,” Luke laid his head back on Reid’s chest, “That is weird, isn’t it?”
“Your words, not mine,” Reid chuckled.
“The first thing that comes to mind is the setting,” Luke said pensively. “If we’re working on something together, it doesn’t feel like work. Something like that.”
“O-kay. But I wasn’t just referring to the work we did last night.” Reid hesitated, but asked it anyway: “Could it be that anything not work related isn’t worth taking seriously?”
“What?” Luke came up again, this time with a big frown, “You think I don’t take us seriously?”
“No no no, that’s not what I meant,” How can I explain this? “I know you take us very seriously. As do I, I might add.”
“I know,” Luke kissed him softly on the lips, but pulled back quickly because he wanted to hear more.
“But it feels like you’re selling yourself short by calling a busy day like yesterday ‘goofing off’.”
“Ah. I see.” Luke nestled himself against Reid again. “I think you have a point. Where is this all coming from?”
“I had an epiphany this morning,” Reid declared. “I felt a little lonely, without you, and it made me realize I’ve always filled my days with work. It gave me a sense of importance. A sense of worth. Of being indispensable. I spent almost every waking moment saving lives, without really having a life of my own. And I don’t want that anymore. That’s what this,” he waved at the papers on his desk, “is all about.”
He took a deep breath and said: “I guess the real epiphany is that my value is not only in what I do, but also in who I am. And building a life together should never be less important than our jobs.”
Luke looked at him. “Do you feel that it is?”
Reid shook his head. “No, I don’t. Not now. But it’s relatively easy right now, with me having a few days off. But that ends tomorrow. And I needed to lay this on the table. Because I think it’s not only my pitfall, but it may be yours too.”
Luke nodded, deep in thought.
“Point taken,” he caressed Reid’s chin. “I have noticed I often feel the need to prove I’m worthy. I’ve messed up a lot and maybe I’m still trying to make up for that in a way.”
“So basically you’re trying to prove to yourself you’re worthy,” Reid looked at him in wonder and Luke smiled.
“I guess you don’t understand how that feels, with your self-confidence and all.”
“Don’t be fooled by the exterior, Luke,” Reid smiled. “After meeting you, I’ve felt more insecure about myself than in all my years prior to that. Especially when you kept going back to Noah. Even after kissing me. I mean…come on!”
“I’m sorry for putting you through all that.”
“Don’t. It was very humbling and we both know I could use some of that.”
They laughed out loud.
“No arguments here,” Luke chortled and then squealed when Reid tickled his side. “Don’t…”
“Really?” Reid’s eyes darkened and Luke found himself lost in them. He leaned forward, but before their lips could meet, he saw Reid raising one finger. One? Come on, we can do better than that! Luke raised the bid by holding two fingers up and Reid grinned.
“Excellent counteroffer, Mr. Snyder.”
“Shut up and kiss me already.”
***
Reid was very pleased with the plans and proposals they had come up with. The opportunity to be the ‘top dog’ was too tempting to pass up and if the board would agree on these changes and additions, the whole Chief of Staff adventure would be very surveyable. And he liked things well-organized.
Luke watched Reid looking at his laptop and smiled. His man looked absolutely content with their ideas and he knew Reid. He didn’t like to waste time. So Luke threw him a bone.
“If you want to talk to Bob about it, you know you can, right?”
Reid looked hesitant.
“But I took those days off to spend more time with you…”
“I know. But talking to Bob will give you peace of mind and that’s important too.”
“True.” Reid smiled. “And don’t look so smug. You may think you’ve figured me out already, but I do have plenty surprises up my sleeve.”
Luke laughed. “I’m not worried.”
“Maybe you should be,” Reid tried to look scowling, but failed miserably.
“You’re a little early with your horror stories, Dr. Oliver,” Luke grinned, “It’s still three weeks till Halloween.”
Reid’s face darkened. “Don’t tell me… that’s a big deal for the Snyder clan, isn’t it?
“It is.” Luke’s smile was a cheerful mix of sincere joy and kindhearted teasing and the end result was so breathtaking, Reid almost forgot to look disgusted by Luke’s answer. Almost. He managed a convincing roll of the eyes.
“I’m not sure, but I’m pretty convinced I’ll have to work that day,” he smirked and to his surprise Luke smiled.
“That’s absolutely okay. I need them motivated or they can stay away.”
Reid snorted. “Stealing my lines again, Snyder?”
“Why bother with making up new ones, if I can steal some brilliant ones from you?” Luke shrugged with a teasing grin. “But seriously, Reid. We’ve talked about this before. You know I would love to share those things with you, but it’s okay if you really don’t want to. I know I was pretty relentless and pushy about you joining me at the wedding-that-never-happened, but that was partly the spoiled brat in me, wanting to have his way, and partly the I’m-so-proud-of-my-guy-and-I-want-the-whole-world-to-see part of me.”
“I see. And you’re not proud anymore?” Reid raised a eyebrow and Luke grinned.
“You know I am, idiot. But now I have plenty opportunities to show you off.”
Reid frowned. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but I really don’t understand. You thought that wedding was the only chance you would get?”
Luke blushed. “I think I wasn’t very sure. With Noah…” he smiled apologetically, “our relationship was like a flashing light. Together. Breaking up. Together. Breaking up. I guess it taught me to take my chances when I could, because I never knew when it would stop.”
“That’s sad.” Reid put his hand on Luke cheek and caressed the skin with his thumb.
“It was,” Luke smiled. “And it made me very clingy and way too eager and I really didn’t like that about myself. So I don’t want to go there anymore. Please be patient, because undoubtedly it will pop up again, but I am trying.”
“Selling yourself short again,” Reid kissed him firmly. “You’re awesome.”
“With you I am.”
“Believe me. You were awesome with Noah too. Don’t forget I watched a lot of it, so I do know what I’m talking about. You were awesome. But Noah was too blind to see it, in both senses of the word.”
“Maybe you’re just a teeny-weeny biased, but I love you for it,” Luke softly pinched Reid chin. “I’m just happy it’s all behind me now.”
“Hear hear,” Reid kissed him. “But to return to our initial conversation…”
Luke grinned. They had managed to get side tracked…a lot.
“Yes. Bob. At least find out if he’s available this afternoon,” Luke suggested and Reid nodded.
“Good idea.”
Bob sounded both thrilled and curious and he was more than willing to schedule Reid in. Holding hands, Luke and Reid walked to the car.
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25