Chapter 26: Pavlov’s Room
June 24, 20—
Their civil arrangement for that summertime evening was agreed upon without argument. Pavlov would stop by Cupcakes and pick Hayden up after his shift. The two men would then share dinner together at Tee’s Chinese & Sushi Bar, enjoy sweet and sour chicken, and end up back at the older man’s rented room on Sontenheimer Street. Hayden was looking forward to the date, semi-excited to finally see Pavlov’s room. He felt somewhat nervous but honestly couldn’t place a finger on why. As he did his end-of-day chores at the bakery, his stomach rolled and growled and he half-believed he was going to vomit, but didn’t.
This particular date with Pavlov among the others was exactly how Hayden expected it to be. Pavlov opened doors for the young man, ordered his
