He's just a Friend

Wyatt had short dark brown hair, angular brows and a bit of a rounded jaw, while a little overweight, he looked good in a suit. Not particularly tall, and all together he had a sweet and sensitive gaze. He had been looking forward to tonight for the last couple of months. Tegan and Wyatt worked wildly different schedules that made it difficult to line up their days off without either of them using their vacation time. While he didn't like the situation Wyatt did love Tegan dearly as she did him. Tegan worked for a pharmaceutical outfit in Vermont and as such she was constantly on the move, traveling, sometimes to neighboring states. She was recently promoted and now her job was taking up even more time so tonight's date was a big deal for her as well.

"Hello, my name is Sally and I'll be your waitress this evening. Is there anything I can start you two with?" Sally asked, her gaze shifting between Wyattand Tegan.

"I'll have a Riesling please." Tegan requested.

"Sure, and you sir?" Sally asked.

"Merlot, please." Wyatt smiled.

"Great! I'll be right back with your drinks!" The waitress said before departing.

"So how's work been going honey?" Wyatt asked.

"It's okay." Tegan sighed. "I just a have a huge week of meetings coming up and since we got bought out last month, management has been on us all about making our sales." She shook her head. "I'm ready for our vacation."

"Ugh." Wyatt made a face. "Well I think..."

"Here are your drinks. A Riesling for the lady." Sally said cutting off Wyatt's thoughts. "...and for the gentleman, his Merlot." Their waitress deposited the drinks before her guests. "Would you like me to give you more time?" She asked.

"Oh, uh, yes please." Wyatt smiled pleasantly.

"Okay, I'll be back in a few minutes." Sally returned the smile before darting off.

"What was I saying?" Wyatt asked as he sipped his wine.

"Um..." Tegan began as she too took a pull on her glass.

"Tegan?!" A gravelly voice called out. "Oh my god! Tegan!"

Tegan's eyes lit up and grew wide as she straightened in her seat, peering around the restaurant for the source of her name. No one was looking their direction at the bar or by the windows. It wasn't until he came from around the restaurant's small arboretum, a series of palms and fronds, sitting near the entrance that Tegan's lips curled into a wide grin.

"Oh?" Wyatt was curious too and had attempted a half turn to trace the voice but couldn't see its hidden source from his seat.

"Lance?!" Tegan shouted as she jumped up from her seat.

She looked so beautiful, Wyatt thought. Tegan was a little taller than Wyatt and the way her body moved in that sparkling red gown set more than his heart ablaze. Bright blues eyes scrunched as she smiled broadly, her straight shoulder-length golden locks floated behind her as she bound and hopped into Lance's arms. He was tall and looked as if he might tear his suit apart should he decided to flex in even the slightest of ways. He easily caught Tegan in his powerful arms as she wrapped her own around him. What made Wyatt uncomfortable was that Tegan had also wrapped her legs around this stranger who had now just slipped his hands down over her butt.

"You look great!" Tegan began as leaned back to look into Lance's eyes.

"So do you! Seriously, Tegan. Wow." Lance grinned before setting her back down and giving her long look over.

'Okay will you two please stop holding each other now?' Wyatt thought to himself as she shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He took a sip of his wine as he regarded his girlfriend's reaction to this stranger whom she clearly had a deeper relationship with than the term 'stranger' would imply, but as he didn't know anything about this guy, Wyatt found himself beginning to experience a pang of jealousy for the first time since he and Tegan started dating.

"Oh my god, Lance!" Tegan half bent and slapped her thighs with a giggle. "What are you doing here?"

Wyatt attempted to clear his throat and when that didn't seem to catch their attention he took another sip of his wine, shifting uneasily in his seat.

"Business." Lance shrugged and made a face. "What about you? What have you been up to?" He asked.

"Not a whole. I'm just here with Wyatt." She nodded back to her boyfriend who was again taking another sip of wine. "Come! You should join us!" Tegan took hold of Lance's giant paw and pulled him back the table, much to Wyatt's chagrin. "Wyatt, this is Lance. He's an old friend of mine. Lance, Wyatt. "

"Nice to meet you." Lance rumbled as he offered his hand to Wyatt.

"Actually I think we've met once before." Wyatt responded weakly as he accepted Luke's hand, looking up at the giant of a man, made all the worse by his seated position, but he had a vague memory of him.

"Listen, I'm all for catching up, but do you mind if we do this at a booth?" Lance asked as he held his arm up, catching the attention of their waitress.

"Yes, sir? What can I do for you?" Sally asked with a warm smile. Wyatt noticed Sally's interest in Lance as he caught her checking him out.

"Tell me you have a booth for us." Lance indicated Tegan, and Wyatt with a wave of his hand and that damnably charming smile.

"Oh yeah. Right this way!" She beamed.

The trio followed their waitress to their new table, a booth in a far corner. Wyatt took his seat opposite Lance, but Tegan plopped herself in right next to her friend. She was closer than Wyatt cared for but he was still processing the initial interruption. He felt flush but chalked that up to the wine.

"I'll give you guys a little more time to order. However can I get you something? Anything at all, sir?" Sally asked with a glaze in her eyes.

"Yes, a scotch, clean please." Lance said as he leaned back in the booth.

"It's so nice to see you! So how have you been!?" Tegan asked as she leaned into Lance's shoulder.

"I've been doing well. I have my own brokerage firm now and we just purchased a pharmaceutical lab." Lance revealed.

"A pharma...? Wait..." Tegan's brow cocked up. "Did you buy PharMont?"

"How did you know?" Lance asked.

"I fucking work for them!" Tegan shouted with a laugh.

"Get out." Lance blurted.

"Yes, go. Leave, damn it. What is even going on here?" Wyatt thought to himself. He couldn't even believe what he was hearing. He had had plans for tonight and now that was all out the door, so he again returned to his wine.

"Your, you bought PharMont?" Tegan asked again.

"Yes. There's good money to be made and PharMont looks profitable. Now that I know you're on the team, I can understand why." Lance shared.

"Here's your drink, sir." Sally said as she set his scotch down.

"Can I get a ref-..." Wyatt began but Sally was already gone.

"Oh wow. I can't believe it." Tegan laughed.

"Yeah who would've thought I'd buy some pharmaceutical business and you'd be working there?" Lance laughed as he sipped his drink. "Pardon me, Tegan, but I have to hit the head." Lance said.

"Oh, sorry!" Tegan smiled as she wiggled out of his way to let him out of the booth.

"Thanks. I'll be back." Lance announced unnecessarily.

"Okay who the hell is he?" Wyatt asked once Lance was out of earshot.

"Who? Lance?" Tegan asked. "He's just a friend from school." She shrugged.

"He must be one hell of a friend since you've never mentioned once." Wyatt stated.

"Oh stop it, honey." Tegan said. "You're being silly."

Wyatt didn't think so but Lance's return stifled that branch of conversation rather effectively. Eventually the trio would order their dinner, while Tegan and Lance seemed to be enjoying the company of one another, Wyatt made due with his bottle of wine. The night he had been looking forward to all month long was not going how ad he hoped. While he could not have foreseen such an interruption like this he was still feeling defeated.