Okay guys, you know the drill. Not the real Bill, not the real Steve, not even the real Woz. No actual sex in this one, sorry. I’ll make up for it next time. -Jezebel S.
Reach Out and Touch Someone, Part 1
Midnight in San Jose. A lone figure stands staring out at the valley below, the dark window framing his darker silhouette. He leans forward, resting his head against the cool glass, closing his eyes, feeling very tired and very alone.
***
"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the line is ragged with tatters of sleep.
"Woz!"
"Steve?… What time is it?"
Steve props his feet up on the desk, not looking at the clock. "I don’t know. Late. Do you have a minute?"
"Um, yeah, sure. What’s going on?"
"Woz, did you ever do something you knew was a bad idea, but you couldn’t help it?"
"You mean like the time in fifth grade when Pete Dahlmann and I were goofing around with the methanol burners and almost burned down the science lab?"
"No, not like that. Have you ever known something… personal… was destined to end in disaster, but you went ahead and jumped in anyway?"
"Well, Steve… honestly? When I know something feels wrong, I don’t do it."
"Yeah, but it didn’t feel wrong. That’s the fucked-up part." He stands up, pacing as far as the phone cord will stretch. "If anybody had told me three hours ago that by the end of the night, I’d end up sleeping with… this person, I would’ve asked them for a hit of whatever they were smoking. But when it happened, it just seemed so… inevitable." He slumps back into his chair with a frustrated groan. "Am I making any sense whatsoever?"
"A little. What did you do, get back together with Arlene?"
Steve laughs, sharply and mirthlessly. "No. I don’t know if this is better or worse."
"Look, are you really sure I’m the one you should be talking to about this? I mean, I’m not exactly Dear Abby, here…"
"Yeah, I know." Steve rubs at his eyes with the thumb and middle finger of his left hand, then leans back, staring unfocused up at the ceiling. "Trust. It’s bizarre, you know?"
"What’s bizarre?"
"There can be this instant, when you’re so sure you trust somebody, and you want to trust them, and then it’s like it just evaporates." He sits up, resting his elbows on the desk. "I don’t know. Maybe it’s just easier to trust with your dick than with your brain."
"Steve… I’m probably going to regret asking this, but… do you want to tell me who you slept with?"
Steve’s gaze falls on the white leather couch across the room, and a bitter half-smile plays at the corner of his mouth.
"Steve?"
He blinks, shaking his head. "Thanks, Woz, but I think I’ve freaked you out enough for one night."
"Hey, my life is never boring with you in it." Pause. "Steve? Are you all right?"
"Yeah, sure. I’m cool." This time his smile is a little closer to real. "Goodnight, Woz."
"Goodnight, Steve."
***
Steve switches the lights off and sits down on the couch, trying to remember the first time he met Bill Gates. The second time, he’d been less than impressed. Could he have been that wrong?
He leans back and closes his eyes, his mind wandering to a more recent encounter. If nothing else, Bill is a master salesman. Steve Jobs just hopes he can afford the price.
-End-
Bill and Steve will return in "Multi-tasking". Stay tuned…
Tags: bill/steve, infamy
