This is a work of fiction - names and places are elements of fiction.
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Card in the Deck - Adam and Ben 22
The Last Brevard
Card in the Deck - Adam and Ben 22
The Last Brevard
Quinn appeared bright and early on Sunday morning. He entered and without much communication launched onto me. I'm not sure if it was the new status of our relationship or the surprise I warned him of but he was like the kid in the toy store. After we settled down, I made some scrambled eggs and juice.
I sat in silence and ate knowing it was killing him.
"Well?" he said exasperated. "What is it?"
"Quinn," I said with direct seriousness, "the task of winding down this estate is a large one. One that will require objectivity, focus, and attention to detail. That is, actually, not me. I grew up here. I have too much history. I have too much ownership. That is why I have decided to make YOU the project manager for Brevard Sunset." There, I put it all out there.
He looked shocked and bewildered. Truly.
"What in the hell are you talking about? I can't get rid of all this stuff. Are you kidding or having a spasm or what?"
"Quinn, you absolutely can facilitate this project. Listen to what I'm saying. Fa-ci-li-tate. You will work the items in the room and with Christies Estate Agents to evaluate. Think about it for a minute before you say anything else. What would you do first?"
He thought for a few minutes and I did not interrupt him. Then he got a look of knowing.
"Start with a room."
"Good start."
"Identify the contents of the room. Make a list."
"Getting there."
"Furniture, art, decor."
"One room at a time. I have the floor plan for the whole house. We can put it up in the study and use it for flow."
"Oh yes. We can tick mark each of the rooms to the list. Cover the whole place."
"Take pictures and details and what not. Then you will coordinate with the estate agents."
"Ok," he said calmly, "I think I'm getting it." He looked out of the Solarium glass into the backyard as if in thought. "Updates to Phil and your Uncle James?"
"Yes. They are counting on it."
"Ok, but are you sure you want me to do this?"
"Quinn you are exactly the guy. First, you love things. Getting to know and handle valuable things will thrill you. Second, you have an auditor nature. You will understand how deliverable and result work together. Third, you have the communication skills to deal with estate agents and my family. I need you on this. This is the path to the finish line, lover," I said with some flourish.
"How much do you want done today?" he asked
"Nothing. This is not work for today. We can do some prep for fun though. And Quinn, this project may be like a roller coaster, especially for me. Progress over perfection is completely allowed. But, you have to remain focused."
"What about my job at the plant?"
"Get your audit report finalized and I will give it to the accountant to review. Then send it on to OSHA. If there are issues, send a copy to the managers to create an action plan. I will oversee that part." I thought for a moment then added, "And Quinn, you will continue drawing your paycheck throughout the project. You will just be working for me, though. And, once the project is complete, I will give you a bonus of $10,000. Deal?"
"Oh my God Ben. That is incredible. How long do you think this will take, honestly?"
"A couple of months is my estimation. The buyers are not preparing a closing until February so that gives us between now and Christmas. Hey, have you ever seen all the room in the house?"
"Nope, I haven't been in those rooms over on the other side except the Billiards Room and I have just barely peeped in the rooms above us, except Adam's old room. And I have not been on the 3rd floor. Those stairs look creepy." He gave a shiver. I laughed.
"Well let's start now," and we got up from the table and headed over to the east wing. I stopped in grandfather's study and pulled out the old plans for the house. There were several rolls. We went to the end of the hall and started with grandmother's sitting room and from there we browsed each room. We took the skinny stairs up to the second floor and looked at the old bedrooms. Quinn marveled at how old things were in each of the rooms. He also did not understand why my grandparents had separate rooms. I told him to look that stuff up. He would understand why. Then we took the stairs up to the third floor. I had to unlock the door to get into the hallway. There were four rooms built into the roof with sloped ceilings. The rooms mostly contained storage and all of the Christmas items. There was a small safe that contained certain valuables that we didn't have ready access to. He wanted to comb through everything which is exactly what I expected.
When we came back down to the second floor, we walked over to the west wind and went through each of those rooms. Adam's old room which would have to be packed and shipped I guess. I ghostly air passed over me as I could smell him in that room. Quinn too, I think. Then we went into my old room, my teenage shrine.
Quinn went in with a smile. "I have only seen this once. It's a beautiful room, Ben. You were quite the stylist back in the day."
"Nah, it's just a traditional bedroom. You like it because the green makes it look classy."
"You're right," he said.
I stood at the window and looked out over the back lawn as I had done so many years before. He came up behind me and put his arms around me.
"Memories?"he asked, kissing in my ear.
"Oh yes. Many," I said thoughtfully.
"I want to create one more," he said.
"One what?"
"One memory," and with that he turned me toward him and started kissing me. And as the sunlight shone into the room, and the memories raced around in my head, I felt light headed. I felt my heart pumping. I felt my cock throb. I was heading into that zone.
As our clothes came off and we collapsed onto my old bed, Quinn rolled onto his back and hoisted me on top of him.
"I may not be your first lover in this bed but I'm going to be your last, Ben. Give me the best you got. I have waited so long...lover," he said with a whisper.
And it was done. All the passion I could muster. All my feelings were in one basket. I knew he felt it. I touched him places and I could sense him tense. I knew in those moments where he was silent that he was engrossed in those feelings. Where his strong legs started around my waist, they eventually elevated up and out. I was on target. Him, me, the ghosts of the past. The room became very small. And when his eyes rolled up into his head and his body convulsed upwards and down, I knew he had reached the pinnacle. The evidence was smeared between our bodies. The pillows had slid off the side of the bed and with one hand cupped behind his sweet head, I gave him a piece of my soul. This was not a lustful experience, or man/boy kind of stuff. This was man-on-man love. I collapsed beside him and he curled up in a fetal position with his arms around me, his head under my chest. We stayed that way for some time. Silent. Feeling.
Finally, "Well lover," he said, "I'm going to expect something like that every time. You may need to do some callastentics," he said with a giggle. It was amazing just laying there kissing him and feeling his softening body as we relaxed. It had been a long time since I experienced that kind of passion. It was right though. It was due.
"What are you going to do with all this stuff when you leave?" he asked.
"I don't know. I hate to throw it out. Some of it has history."
"Keep the suit for a guest room so that it gets used and not like a shrine," he said laughing at his cleverness.
"Yes, I could have a tapestry designed to depict the stages of my life. Put it around the ceilings of my new place." I could be clever too!
"Ben, I hate to tell you but no one would admire it except, um , I mean more than you!" Now that was clever.
I dragged him out of the bed and got dressed. It was nearing lunchtime as we had killed an hour and a half in my old room. We visited the other rooms then I took him outside and showed him the rooms over the garage. Finally, we went down into the basement which was a scary place. I hadn't been down here in ages. Mostly junk. This would be a clean up day. Probably bring someone in for it. The ceilings were not high enough to make viable rooms down there. Pipes, furnaces, drains kept the main house in working order.
He expressed how interesting the whole tour was. He was getting his thoughts together about all the things that would have to be bundled. Art, lamps, rugs, silverware, chinaware - three different sets. Glasses with stems, glasses without. The list was extensive but he was writing it all down on his iPad.
We took a breather from the house and went outside and wandered the grounds. It was a pretty day. He asked me about the old tennis court. It was again falling into disarray. I told him I had not made any agreements on repairs with the buyers so it was up in the air. I wasn't sure if they wanted to keep the court. That was Ian's fun place.
Skipping lunch made dinner that much more necessary. But I wasn't starving. My head and body were so disconnected today. Physically stretched but energized. Quinn had been spot on in his assessments of things. He was charged with focus. He made a remark about not knowing how to get all these things appraised. I told him that was the estate agent's job. I also told him I would take him out for dinner and instead he said he would throw something potluck together from items in the fridge and pantry. It all turned out rather nice as leftovers met cheese, fruit, and bread with a glass of wine left from the night before.
I'm not going to kid you here. As we relaxed on the sofa and basked in the memory of the day, and the discussions about the estate and about the experience we shared upstairs, Quinn got wound up again. I wasn't sure I was up to it but he left me no choice. One thing I found out during this second round, Quinn learned from someone how to suck a cock. I haven't usually been too excited about getting oral but he had me on edge. I flopped several times as he brought me close. Secondly, he had mastered the art of fucking. With little discussion and with direct impact, he took me. I didn't have to guide him. I didn't have to tell him to slow down or speed up. I didn't have to give any instruction at all. He made his feelings for me quite plain. His sensing that I wanted a gentle touch told me he was using good instincts.
His first words as he started to enter me were, "I need to show you not tell you." His last words after we had reached our moments, "It's real Ben. I have felt anything like it." He paused for a moment, then added, "I don't know how this works. How it worked with Adam. I don't have any money or anything."
"Quinn, I will never be with anyone who has what I have. It's a responsibility I carry in any relationship. I should expect you to earn some money of your own and contribute where you think you can. You should not be beholden to me or any man. Otherwise, your actions and deeds add to your contribution to this relationship. If I cared if you had money or not, we wouldn't be here right now." I let this digest then concluded, "Money will never be a concern to me or us. As long as neither of us makes the relationship contingent on it. No `quid pro quo' in other words. You understand me?"
He looked at me and smiled and nodded his head.
"That's how it worked with Adam, well until the end, when the credit cards were more important than me. But that ends tomorrow."
Now that I am in relationship status again, I am not going to get into the weeds with our sexual encounters. You know enough about me by now to know that I am a passionate man. Quinn wears his clothes well and has a preppy nature. He cannot help but sport a bulge which turns me on to no end. He fills out his clothing nicely. He is versatile which I adore. He will give as good as he gets. This is not that sort of thing like 4 years ago when he and Adam jumped me on New Year's Eve. I was never comfortable with that approach to sex. I also did not intend to get into any group encounters. They work for some but it's not my style. Not since college anyway.
On Monday, the operations manager from the Brevard Foundation called the bank and terminated the credit cards currently used by Adam West. I was glad they could do this as it was a hard thing for me to do. One would have thought since I had given up making contact with him for the past month that he would have been suspicious and made some contact with me. I had to use my energy making contact with Jane Blevins at Christie's Estate to get a tour scheduled. She was one of the best and had been assigned to the Brevard Estate. Quinn was chomping at the bit to get the process underway. Not to get rid of my things but to launch the experience.
The text I sent to Adam simply read: Your credit cards have been terminated. Please be aware before making purchases.
I then called Erin and had a detailed catch up. So much was happening. Of course, in good faith he asked if I had lunged into a new relationship too fast. I countered that at my age time was of the essence. We laughed and he disagreed. But he understood mine and Quinn's long history and was impressed with the overall details I shared. He and Joe had really come to love Adam and were not so impressed with where things had deteriorated.
Later that afternoon, I slipped into town to get a haircut. I certainly needed one. It was while I was in the chair my phone rang and you guessed it. Adam. I had to ignore the call until I got back to the car. I then didn't have the heart to have this conversation in the car so I drove back to the office. Then I called him.
So, let's summarize this rather than go quote by quote. Adam greeted me then asked what was going on. I filled him in on the proposed acquisition of Brevard Packaging and the disposition of my house and belongings. I told him the time had come for me to make some changes. He asked what that had to do with the credit cards. I advised that I was not going to subsidize his expenses as we were no longer together. He asked when that had happened. I told him I was unsure but pics of him at casinos and on beaches with other guys had been one clue. The other clue came in the form of a text offering condolences for the fact we were no longer together.
He spent a few moments trying to figure out where all that had come from. "Quinn!" he exclaimed. "I should have known he was following me."
I got him very quickly on the fact that trying to figure out who was telling on him and fretting about the credit cards was the wrong end of the stick. He backed down and tried to explain how busy he was. He thought I would understand how demanding his new role was and he had expense reports he had not yet submitted to his company for reimbursement which he was going to put to the cards. I responded that if he was this late submitting expenses his company either had issues or they were not going to pay these.
Moving away from the credit card discussion, I decided to go for the bulls eye. I was not feeling any sense of remorse or concern from him. I told him I knew he had hookups in college. I didn't say anything about those. He said "I'm just a guy. I couldn't keep it to myself all the time." I told him I saw the writing on the wall when he discarded me following graduation. He said, "I just thought you would appreciate that I needed some fun time after all that school work and before I started my new job." I reminded him he had not been home in 5 months and could barely return a phone call. "I'm busy Ben. I work around the clock some days!" He was shouting at me now. I then asked him, "Where do I fit in in your busy, round the clock, work and adventures?" He was silent for a bit then attempted to explain he was planning on coming home soon. He really wanted to see me. If I would hold on the credit cards we could get together in a couple of weeks.
I advised that was not an effective plan. I told him that I had no intentions of trying to renew anything that had been cancelled without discussing with me. I told him that he had been advised, warned, and encouraged, that if he ever wanted to move on, all he had to do was come and tell me. He would go quietly, and with my friendship and support. He failed the one thing that I counted on the most and that he would be fair with me in return for all I had done. I don't think this was a "pity-party" argument. I felt very strongly that I would have lived up to my agreement.
He started with the pleading telling me we couldn't just end it like this. I said, "It's not really ending like this. It ended like that months ago." I told him this personal belongings in his room would be packed and we would ship them anywhere he indicated. He gave one more plea that we have a face to face and sort things out. I told him, "History had given its very final and lethal verdict: Too late."
He asked if I was ready to go another long stint alone like I had before because I surely wouldn't like it. I told him I had been alone for some months already but that problem was remediated. Life is full of progressions. He screamed out, "It's Quinn isn't it? You let him move in!"
I said "Goodbye Adam," and ended the call. He tried calling back twice but I didn't answer. He attempted to apologize for his outburst in the message but I had to let it go. Not once did he offer anything mature. No apologies or regrets. Of course this would stew in my head for several days but ongoing responsibilities would help me keep it at bay.
Quinn came around to pick me up to drive home around 6. I told him, with reservation, I had handled the Adam situation and I wasn't going to discuss it. I told my attention level may seem faltering but please be specific where anything of materiality was concerned. "Reel me in when you really need me, Quinn. Otherwise please forgive me for spending time revolving the past four years around in my head.
"I get it, Ben. I had to do it too when Brian left me. Just don't forget to tell me what you need from me. I'm still here."
"Yes, you are, lover," I said affectionately and gave him a kiss on the cheek as he drove.
Just a brief heads up here - many of you provided great support in your comments about Adam and his potential. He had exercised great potential in our four years together and I do not regret them one bit. I do regret the dark manner in which this ended but I will give you a spoiler. Adam will appear towards the end of the story and there will be peace in the valley, so to speak.