**
“What’s happened to you, Hugo?” Sam asked in exasperation.
Hugo squeezed the phone against his ear, flicking ashes on the roof of his apartment complex. “Nothing, Sam,” he finally answered after several long seconds.
“Bullshit. You never come to the studio anymore, saying you’re busy with work, and you are not exactly known for your work ethic, genius. Do you have a girlfriend or something that you’re blowing us off for?"
Hugo blushed. “N-no of course not. I just…this job is really important to me.”
Sam snorted on the other end of the line, “Right.” His tone turned mocking, “Well, do you think you’ll ever grace us with your presence again? We’re all going to a party tonight, you should come.”
Hugo’s stomach tied itself into a cold knot; the thought of seeing people and talking about things that had once been so important, but now meant nothing, sent terror shooting through him. “I’m sorry, I’m busy tonight. I…I have some reading for work to do.” He folded his legs so that he was sitting down next to the pile of books he’d brought up to the roof with him.
“You have homework at that job?” Sam asked incredulously.
Hugo ran his hand over the hardcover of one of the books Dr. McFadden had recommended to him, “I want to. I’m learning a lot-”
“See! This is what I mean! How did you turn into a business nerd overnight? When I met you at the rehab center the only things on your mind were sex and music.”
Hugo cringed, “A lot of things have happened since then.”
“Jesus Christ, Hugo, you’re letting that job take over your life. You better be careful, or you’ll wind up with nothing but that.”
Hugo’s fingers dug into the spine of the book, “I’m sorry, Sam, I’ve got to go.”
“Right, right, of course,” Sam said dryly, “Bye.” And then he was gone. Hugo buried himself in Chemistry.
On Monday no one made eye contact with him as he made his way to Mr. Hansen’s office.
Nancy was at her desk, typing away at her keyboard. She looked up when Hugo approached, “Hi Hugo, Mr. Hansen isn’t in right now, but he wanted me to give you this.” She handed him a small cream envelope. He took it slowly, turning it around in his hand. His name was typed on the front.
Nancy lowered her gaze back to her monitor as Hugo opened it. The neat black letters invited him to William Hansen’s funeral. Hugo nearly dropped the crisp piece of paper. He looked at Nancy, getting ready to ask her why he was invited, but as she looked up at him, her mouth turned down slightly, he turned away, “T-thanks Nancy.”
“Of course,” She said, her voice full of sadness. Hugo quickly walked away.
He was paying so much attention to where he didn’t want to go, that he almost ran into Clem coming around a corner. The musician looked down at him, the slight smile he’d been wearing spreading.
“Hey Hugo, how’s it going?” There was nothing but cheerfulness in his voice.
It made Hugo cringe anyway. “H-hi Clem. It’s going ok.” That was far from the truth, but they both knew that. Or at least Hugo thought they did.
“Ah, you got an invitation to the funeral too, huh?” Clem responded lightly.
Hugo, startled, looked down at his hands, but the invitation had disappeared somewhere in one of his pockets. “How did…”
“Read your mind. Sorry. I’m still getting the hang of it.”
Hugo’s eyes widened, “You…can…”
“Yep, I leveled up,” the musician said with a smirk. “And all it took was some serious trauma.” He sounded thoughtful at that.
Hugo’s hands squeezed inside his pockets. He tried to let out the apology but nothing came, so he quickly walked down the hallway, away from the telepath.