Ch. 4: Part 2

That's sort of how things went for the next few weeks.
After work, Abel and I would go to Ted's and get a couple of beers and head over to the park where we'd just sit and stare.
Mostly Abel would just talk about meaningless work-related subjects. I knew he was being careful not to venture in to anything deep that may make me uncomfortable. Though he hid it well. Always keeping things light, even trivial. Oddly, it wasn't annoying. I hated small talk for the most part. But this didn't feel like that. It didn't feel strained, like he was hiding from the truth or beating around the bush. It was always open. He was always willing for me to open up. Always willing for me to offer something. Always willing but never pushy. And I thanked him for it.
I was glad for his friendship, however tentitive it was.
Sometimes I would think as he talked. I would think deep and hard. Sometimes I'd just nod to whatever he was saying, grateful for the distraction.
I don't think he really cared either way.
I wondered why he did this. Why he would spend his evenings with someone who seemingly didn't give a rat's ass. What did he get out of it? Who knew. I wasn't going to question it. I was too selfish. I'd rather just have his unquestioning, never prodding company. Nothing I had to invest in. Man, I was really selfish.
I didn't know if he expected me to actually ever open up. I know I didn't. That's why I was surprised at myself when I eventually started to.
He was talking about Jonah and how he'd heard that he was being considered for some big promotion and might get moved off site.
"Jonah's a good guy. He deserves it." I commented.
His eyes flashed to my face before steadying back out onto the horizon. He nodded, trying to hide a small smile. It was two whole sentences he had coughed out of me and he had a triumphant smile hiding at the corners of his mouth. I rolled my eyes but smirked a little myself.
I soon became an active part of our evening discussions. The topics stayed light as ever but I was laughing and commenting and sometimes even initiating conversation of my own. And it was good. It was good to interact. It felt normal.