Coach's Assistant

Chapter 30

Hi guys well who would ever imagine that I would reach chapter 30 with Coach's Assistant. To be honest not me but still when I am having a quite time my head fills with idea's to continue so I am sure there is more comming only time my friends is limited but I will try to do at least one chapter a month.

I have no idea if still any one is reading this but to all of you thanks for doing so. If you want to let me know that you are contact me at: noway16@hotmail.com or through ICQ: 36967366. You can see the whole of the story and two others on my own webpage. I have added some pictures of the gay canal pride 2002 in Amsterdam, go to www.geocities.com/timsfunplace.

so now lets go on with chapter 30:

I'm not sure how long we stayed like that but, suddenly, I felt his hands going down towards my dick. He softly touched it, first just going over it slowly with his hand and then suddenly he took it in his fist and I squeezed it rather suddenly and a bit harder than he had in the past. I let out a loud moan because it felt incredible. Before I finished, I felt his lips touching mine again.

Then, he stopped kissing and looked at me.

"You like that, don't you?"

"I'm sure, Francis, you already know the answer."

He smiled. "You know, I could feel you get harder and harder as I touched it and squeezed it. I could feel it get much stiffer than ever before. So if you don't mind ...."

He slowly leaned over until he positioned his head above my cock. I saw an intense look on his face. His eyes locked on my cock ... and then he took a deep breath. I could feel the air surrounding my dick being sucked away. Then he softly but for an extended period breathed on my cock. It felt warm, sensational. I moved my hips closer to his mouth, trying to reach his lips.

He looked up again towards me and smiled. "You want me to go on?"

As he said that, he blew another blast of warm air across the head of my cock and another moan came out of my mouth. Then he went for it, first slowly caressing the head of my cock with his lips, then slowly kissing his way down towards my balls.

It felt like heaven and I was moving my hips upwards, trying to increase the contact between my cock and his lips. I wanted him to take it in his mouth and then ... yea ... he went for it. I felt the warmth of his mouth and the soft flesh of his tongue, softly touching the edge of my cock. Moving around the most sensitive part of it and then again ... very slowly, he went deeper and deeper. Still, I could feel the warm air going around it but then he closed his lips and started to suck on it. Hard and without any fear. It felt wonderful.

He moved back up again, breathed deeply, and then sucked hard on the top of my cock. I'm not sure how he did it but, when I think back on it, I think he hit the right spot, just the edge of my foreskin and the top of my cock head ... sucking it. I felt cum flowing from my balls through the veins and then I shot in his mouth, hard. I was afraid that I was going to drown him, but somehow he was able to keep his mouth closed until after the third or fourth spurt of cum when he let go a bit and cooler air drew into his mouth, across the head of my cock. I felt him swallow again, his lips closing around the top of my cock as he did it. More cum shot out of my cock and slowly I collapsed onto my bed.

I closed my eyes for the last few minutes and still shocks of different emotions rushed through my body while I laid back on the bed. I opened my eyes and I saw that Francis was looking at me.

"I'm not going to ask this because you'll probably say again that I know the answer already Nick. But I just love you so much."

I just gave him a smile and leaned up I could kiss him. He still had the smell of my cum in his mouth and I started to get hard again.

"I know, Francis, and I love you, too."

"Well, you don't have to tell me that. I just found out," he said with a big smile on his face.

In the meantime, my hands found their way towards his crotch. I could feel he was hard and ready for it ... but, when I started to move my hands over his jeans, he stopped me.

"No, Nick, not now. This was something from me to you. I just wanted to let you know how much it means that you trust me ... and that you're with me in trying to do as well as possible in gymnastics."

"Are you sure? Because I don't mind."

"I know! I can feel that myself, that you don't mind."

"OK, if you're sure ... but let me know whenever you want me to return the favour."

He just smiled.

Then a yell came from the stairs. "Nick ... Francis ... I think it's time to move to your own quarters."

Hmmm, dad's going to take this really seriously, I thought.

"OK, dad, we will."

"Are you going to be OK with this?" I asked Francis.

"Yea, we'd better cooperate, as we both know that he'll have us out again early tomorrow."

So the next few days went by without much happening. We got up every each day and did our exercises, then we'd meet the rest of the team and went for a walk and, at the end of each school day, we'd visit the exercise room and work out more. The only thing that happened, of course, was excruciating pain in almost all the muscles I had. I never knew I had so many places to hurt.

But thanks to a relaxing massage we got from the father of one of our team mates, we could stand it.

Sometimes you just don't believe how much exercise a body can do. That is what I wrote on that Friday to Alexei:

Hi, Alexei,

My god, you'd hardly believe what we've had to endure this week! I thought we weren't going to make it to the end of it all. I feel knackered and totally off stride. I'm not sure but I think I could sleep all Saturday, but I don't think dad will let us rest.

I know you talked with him, as he told me that you had, but I'm not sure he was honest about what happened to cause this obsessive exercise regime. So, to tell you my side of the story. I'm sure we overdid the party stuff just a bit ... but dad also seems obsessed with winning. One victory wasn't enough, Alexei, at least not for him. I also think he was a bit disappointed with the way we tried to celebrate our win. First, the evening with you, then the Sunday without much exercise at all, and then the week after that. Especially the evening which I've told you about on the phone, the one that got a bit out of hand. So dad is making us pay for it ... but he also wants us not to throw away a chance that we might become real good.

As it is, I don't think it'll be any surprise to you that both Francis and David are going for it and want to try to improve as much as they possibly can. As for me ... I'm just not sure now, after this week, what I want. I can understand that it'll take dedication to make it that far ... but I am not prepared to give up yet.

We tried to let the others profit from your training techniques but, so far, I'm the only one who seems to have profited from it at all. I can't say I'm doing as well as I did that Saturday but, for the time being, I still feel relaxed and much more concentrated because of it.

So I'm really looking forward to your visit. At least I know that, by then, my time exercising this hard will have been over for a few weeks. I didn't manage to do all the assignments you gave me to try and do this week ... but I think I'll have made a lot of progress in my endurance and physical strength this week. I'll keep you informed how I'm doing.

There is one more thing I want to ask you, and that is about Randy. I'm a bit confused by his eagerness to become friends with us. It seems so strange for a celebrity like him to want to stay in contact with two ordinary people. If there was any connection ... like, if we wanted to become actors or something ... I could understand his efforts to be friends.

But there isn't any such reason. So if you can shine a light on this, that would be nice to know. If not, I accept that as well.

Take care and see you in two weeks.

Bye

Nick.

Indeed, I felt strangely about Randy. Although his last mail had been friendly and had explained his motivations a bit, I still felt puzzled by it all. I just sat back for a while, considering everything that had happened this week. I really felt much fitter than I had and, although all my muscles were hurting, I knew I had gained a lot of mass in several places as well. Not that I noticed it myself but, last evening, Francis told me so and I saw it in him as well. His arms and his tummy were much tighter than ever before.

OK. Now, you might wonder ... it's Friday evening and why isn't Francis with him? Well, I can tell you that I'm thinking about him and I want to go and spend time with him ... but we decided that it was better to make sure that our homework was finished, so we could go spend time on the Saturday and Sunday afternoon together.

I finished my homework and went to bed. I almost phoned Francis because I wanted to hear his voice. It was after 10 p.m. and I know dad would not be happy with me going to see him, so I decided just to lie down and dream about him.

On Saturday morning, I got up early and went to shower. It was vacant, so I quickly took one and got dressed. Dad was already downstairs in the kitchen.

"Hey, son! You're up early!"

"What? Didn't you call David and Francis?"

"Why, Nick?"

Now I was really confused! I expected that we'd go out running again this morning. My dad had his clothes on, and so did I, so I expected we'd be out early.

"Aren't we going out to run?"

"Oh, is that why you're dressed like that? I though I said at dinner that we'd skip Saturday and Sunday morning, as you seemed to have done a lot already and you needed the rest."

"Shit!" I blushed as I said it. "Sorry, dad, I didn't mean that."

My dad smiled. "I think you did, Nick, but you can go back to bed if you want or you can join me."

I thought about it for a second and then decided I probably wouldn't sleep anyway ... so I joined him. I saw a smile on his face when I said I would. Together we ran for almost an hour. Not as quickly as the other day, but still a steady effort. Talking and running are two things that don't go together for me, so we hardly said anything.

So we kept quiet until we returned home.

"Should we first have breakfast, or should we go and take a shower? Maybe it's a good idea not to wake up the others with running water?"

That seemed like a good idea, so we started to put the things on the table.

"So, how are your muscles today, Nick?"

"Sore, but the massage at the end of each day is doing a lot of good, I guess."

"You don't find it all too hard on you?"

"So far, I can keep up, dad ... although I never thought I would be doing these things."

"I was a little afraid that it would be too much for you, Nick. With your inexperience in real workouts, I thought you might want to skip it ... but I was proud that you've stuck with the rest of the team."

I smiled at his compliment and thought about the best answer. "You know me, dad. If I go for something, I want to give it my best."

"So, what are you planning to do this weekend?"

"Hmmm, spending time with Francis, I guess."

"OK, that was a stupid question, I guess, but did you plan anything special?"

"I think we'll go to the mall this afternoon and, if the weather is good, I want to go to the park tomorrow to do some drawing."

"Ahhh, I wondered when you'd want to start doing that again."

"I need to pick up some things this afternoon, as I didn't bring everything with me when we moved, but I'm looking forward to some time doing that tomorrow."

"Good, I always wondered if you would pick it up again. You were pretty amazing at it, you know."

Damn! Another compliment! That was more than I'd had from my dad in a long time. I just looked up and smiled.

"You don't want to talk about it, is that it?"

He was right. I was inspired to draw by my mom, as that had been one of her interests but since .... Well, let's just say, I'd not been able to pick it up again since she left.

"No, nothing particular, dad. Maybe some time in the future, OK?"

"Whenever you want to talk, I'm here and if not ... well, that's fine, too, Nick."

"Thanks, dad."

As I said that, the door was thrown open and Francis stood in a t-shirt and, I think, his briefs in the open door. But his shirt was just long enough to hide exactly what he was wearing below.

"Oh, there you are, Nick. I was looking for you but you weren't in your room."

He lifted his hand to his eyes and, as he did that, I saw a bit of his red briefs under his t-shirt. I wanted to answer but, before I could, he continued.

"Wow, you didn't!"

"Didn't do what, Francis?" I asked as he came a bit closer.

"Go out running this morning? Didn't you say last night, sir, that we didn't have to run this morning?"

"Yes, you heard right, Francis ... but it seemed that Nick forgot what I said ... so when he got up this morning, he decided to join me."

Francis was standing almost directly behind my chair and he bent over a little.

"Good morning, my love," he whispered in my ear and he kissed my cheek.

I blushed a bit from the public affection he was showing.

"Do you want something to eat, Francis?"

"Hmmm, I could do with something, yes."

He sat down beside me and started to nibble on a croissant as I poured him some tea. It stayed quiet. I'm not sure why, but somehow I didn't miss the conversation until dad said, "OK, I'd better go and take a shower. You can enjoy your breakfast together."

I then turned towards dad and realised that I'd been watching Francis eating all the time. Because he was eating, he hadn't said too much either.

"OK, dad. Will we see you before we go out?"

"Well, I'm going out to do some grocery shopping, so I don't think I will."

I kept my eyes on Francis as he ate his croissant when he suddenly looked at me.

"You want some, Nick?"

I smiled and said, "No, thanks, I've had two already. I'm just enjoying the view."

He smiled back at me and continued to eat his croissant.

When he finished, he looked back again. "So, what do you want us to do today? I expect you'll want to do something together?"

"What do you think, after spending all last evening on homework?"

"Just asking, Nick. It could be that you've forgotten about me already," he said with a big smile.

I gave him one in return.

"Stop smiling like that and come over here! If you don't, I'll just have to jump you."

"Oh, I thought you just liked my smiles," I said, teasing him. I knew I was driving him crazy ... first by watching him eat and now by just sitting there and putting on a very tempting smile.

"Well, I'm sorry, Nick, but you'll have to deal with the consequences." Before I could do anything to protect myself, he jumped up and shoved me back a bit ... but the floor was not going to give in. I knew he planned to jump on my lap, but he forgot about the fact that the chair was pretty solidly placed on the kitchen floor. So instead of jumping on my lap, the chair went side ways and he landed on top of me.

"Oops," he said. He got back up quickly and asked, "Did you hurt yourself?"

I had fallen quite suddenly, so I landed on my back. I could stop my head from hitting the floor so, under the circumstances, I did quite well. The fall could have been much worse. So, what should I do? Try to get the most out of this, or just drive him madder with another smile?

Before I said anything, I put the same smile on my face again.

"Oh, I think your smile just said it all." He bent forward and started to kiss me slowly and a bit seductively as well. Instead of lowering himself as far as he could, he started to get back up. If I wanted the kiss to last, I had to raise my head as far as I could.

Just as we started to kiss and I started to say something about teasing, the door opened and David walked in.

"Oh, no, you guys! Not on the kitchen floor or even in the kitchen! This is a place where we prepare food!"

"Oh, and you never have done anything in here?" I knew he'd once passionately kissed Kathy here just after he met her.

He started to blush but was awake enough to answer, "But not on the kitchen floor, Nick."

"OK, we'd better get up, Nick. There are other places where we can continue. Is your dad out of the shower, David?"

I immediately liked the way he was thinking. I looked towards David.

"Oh, no, I'm not going to help you with any of that! You'll just have to get up and see for yourself."

I knew I wanted the advantage of being on the ground ... so, as I got up, I gave a little yelp. Francis looked at me with concern.

"Shit! I think I hurt myself a bit more than I thought I did."

"Oh, no! Nick, nothing serious, is it?"

"Hmmm, let me see, Francis," and I moved my body around a bit. "Well, nothing that a good massage under a warm shower couldn't fix."

"OK, let's get up there then and see if your dad is finished."

"Later, David," I said.

"Oh, you'd better not make it too much later, Nick, as I need to shower, too."

"Well, we've already done homework, David, so I have no idea how long we'll be," Francis answered for me.

"You'd better finish within 45 minutes or I'll come and get you," David replied, laughing.

"Hmm, now wouldn't that be fun, Nick?" Francis retorted.

I started to gag at the same time David did.

"Come on, Francis. Let's get up there."

We walked upstairs. Hearing no shower, I knew dad wasn't up there any more.

We walked into the bathroom.

"You smell, Nick. Do you know that?"

"Well, Francis, if you hate it that much, why did you try to get on my lap a moment ago?"

He looked at me, smiled and said, "Let's get out of our clothes and under the shower."

Within a minute, we were both naked under the warm water, enjoying each other's company. Little was said. We just showered first and, when I reached for the soap, Francis was just a bit quicker and said, "Let me."

Well, there was no argument from me, of course, as he slowly started to soap me up, first my back, then my arms. He turned me around, smiled at me, and gave me a quick kiss before he continued. He washed my face and reached down to my legs, leaving my crotch alone while he ran the soap over my legs, first slowly and then a bit harder. It felt great, after the running I'd done hours earlier that morning.

I looked down and saw he was concentrating very much on what he'd been looking at, as he'd been glancing at my crotch from time to time. But I wouldn't let him go there, not now, as we'd have more time later on to enjoy each other ... or at least that was something that I was planning for that evening.

I took his head in my hands when I felt he was going to move to my crotch. He looked up at me and I pulled him up further so he'd understand that it was my turn. Slowly, I took the soap out of his hand and started to wash him. Gently, I soaped all his body, enjoying ever little spot, every muscle that was there. I could see that he was enjoying himself. He stood relaxed and his cock had gone full mast at that moment ... but, once again, I didn't touch it.

When I finished, I rose up and kissed him passionately. Slowly, the soap slipped off our bodies and made its way to the drain. I stopped kissing him and, just when I wanted to go back, there was a hard knock on the door.

"Ten minutes, guys, so if you haven't cum yet, make it a fast one!"

Before I could say anything, there was a yell from my dad. "David, that is not the way I brought you up. My god, how did I deserve you?"

"Sorry, dad, but it's probably the truth about what they're doing in there. If you ask them when they get out, they'll both blush as bright as two light bulbs."

"OK, that might be the case ... but that doesn't mean you have to yell it out loud."

There was a bit of a silence and then another knock at the door. "You guys had better get out so David can take his shower."

"Almost finished, dad," I yelled.

I looked at Francis who already had a nice blush on his face. "Come on," I said. "Let's get dried off and out of here before one of them decides they need a hammer to get in."

We dried each other off and then we walked back to our separate rooms.

"See you in about ten minutes, Nick."

"Yep. My room?"

"OK."

I changed and waited for Francis. I went back to the bathroom to do my hair, as David wasn't there yet.

"Are you ready, Nick?"

"Yes, Francis, almost."

I stepped out of the bathroom and walked to my room.

"So, are we ready to go to the mall, Francis?"

"The mall, Nick?"

"Yes, Francis. I need to get some material so I'll be able to draw again. I have a few things still but not everything."

"OK, let's get out of here."

We walked to the mall, as it was not too far. I wanted to take his hand, but we knew we still had to be careful. We had talked with Peter and Andrew at school, so they knew what had happened. Our schedule was pretty crowded until after the meet, now in three weeks.

We first went to the artists' shop, which I'd already found a few weeks after we'd come to live here. I'd never shopped there before. I walked around it several times, as I knew that it would be difficult to get everything that I wanted with the amount of money I had at that moment. I choose some good sketchbooks to draw on and some charcoal and other pencils.

Once my mom had given me a quite expensive set to draw with and, when I saw the same thing in the shop, I knew that would be great to have it. But when I checked my budget, I saw I couldn't afford it if I bought the rest of the things, so I put it down and walked further on.

I lost Francis for a few minutes as I was looking at some books of drawings by different artists from the past and present. I looked around to see where he was as I walked to the cashier to pay. But I didn't find him before I'd paid and walked towards the exit of the shop.

"Hey! There you are," I said.

"Sorry, Nick, but there wasn't anything interesting in there."

I laughed a bit. "Glad you can be honest with me, Francis. I'm sorry, but for you, that is as boring a shop as your favourite bookshop is for me."

"Ah, well! Let me know next time ... then, I'll go into a music shop or something while you shop."

"OK, deal! Let's go there now."

So during the next two hours, we went into several shops ... music, book and clothing. We didn't buy too much. I saw Francis buy some music but that was all, and my money was already gone by the time I'd left the art shop.

"So, now what?" I asked Francis.

"How about an ice cream? We can sit down there on the bench to eat it and just look around."

"OK, you get the ice cream. I'll look for a nice spot."

I found a seat looking out on the entrance of the mall opposite a small fountain. I put down my stuff and looked to see if Francis had seen where I'd gone. He smiled back and waved while he was waiting in line to be served.

I got a pencil and a sketchbook out of my bag. I quickly looked where Francis was standing and I started to draw. Oh, it felt so good! All the techniques and movements with my hand came back to me, as if I'd never quit doing it. Quickly I made a raw outline of the situation and then started to put Francis in it so I could finish it later. I just wanted to sketch the surroundings where he was standing at that moment.

When I looked up, I saw he was walking towards me. I put the drawing supplies beside me.

"Drawing already, Nick?"

"Sorry, Francis, but I just wanted to see how it felt."

"So, how did it feel?"

"Great!!! You have no idea. Just having the pencil in my hand and the paper in front of me made it very easy to start. I'm glad I had the idea of starting to do it again."

"Can you show me, Nick?"

I smiled at him. "Sorry, Francis, but not until it's finished. You must promise me never to look at anything until I show it to you."

"OK. No problem with that. Back in the shop this morning, you looked for quite a long time at that set of five different pencils. May I ask why?"

"Oh, you saw that, did you, Francis? Well, to be honest, it is the best set available. When I was drawing earlier, I got one from my mom for my birthday. To draw with that is like riding with a Formula 1 car, if that gives you any idea what it's like."

"Good."

"What do you mean by that, Francis?"

"Well, I wanted to give you a present but I had no idea what to get you ... so here, I hope you'll enjoy it."

I opened the parcel he got out of his jacket. Oh no, I thought. He didn't!!! But when I opened it, yes, he had. I almost hugged him for the gift ... but when Francis saw that, he just smiled and made sure I kept a little distance.

"You can do that later, Nick," he whispered.

Just as we were finishing our ice cream, we saw some friends close by. When they spotted us, we started to talk about all kinds of stuff.

I knew there would be a new movie out that day, and it seems they had come in to see it. I knew that Francis was a big fan of the movie, but I hated that kind of film, which was a bit too violent for me. So, when they asked if we would join them, Francis looked at me.

"You go, Francis. I can sketch a little bit more and I will see you later."

He knew he couldn't say anything special, so he just nodded and said, "OK. See you later then."

I watched him walk away. Although I had enjoyed the fact that he would have stayed with me the whole afternoon, I wanted to finish the drawing of him, especially since he'd given me the drawing set.

In a few moments, I was lost drawing the scene of Francis standing in line at the ice cream shop. I started with the image, which I'd sketched before, and used it as the basis for a new one. What I hadn't noticed was that someone else was sitting beside me. At some point ... I'm not sure when ... she spoke loudly to get my attention.

"Young man! Can I disturb you for a second?"

I didn't answer at first, but looked around to see to whom she was talking. When I didn't see anyone, I just looked at my paper and continued drawing.

After what seemed to me about five minutes or so, I felt a tap on my shoulder. The question was repeated.

"Young man! Can I disturb you for a second?"

"You mean me?" I asked.

"Yes, but if you want to finish that sketch, I don't mind waiting a bit."

I looked at my watch and saw I had about 45 minutes before the movie was finished, and I knew I only needed another five or ten minutes to finish the drawing.

"Hmm, well I can talk if you want to ... but I do need to finish this within the next 30 minutes. But it will take me only five or ten minutes to do so."

"OK, then finish it first," she invited.

I looked back to my drawing and worked on it. I knew I'd probably be finished soon. Who was the lady and why did she want to talk with me? I didn't look up to see her but my mind kept going over and over what she'd said. I came to the conclusion that there was something familiar about her, but I just couldn't place it.

I finished the drawing quickly and then I put it away and looked up again.

"So, ma'am, what do you want to talk to me about? Do I know you from somewhere?"

"No, Nick, you don't know me."

"You know my name!" I interrupted her very quickly.

"Yes, I do, but you probably don't know who I am. But for the moment, I'm not going to tell you my name. I'll do that before I leave you, I promise."

"Sorry, but you've gotten me more and more confused."

"Well, that is not what I intended, Nick. I'm sorry but, please, just let me explain."

"OK," I said and waited for her to continue.

I looked at her but she looked away. It took a while before she continued but then again she took me by surprise.

"Are you here alone, Nick?"

"Ah, no, I'm waiting for a friend who went to a movie. That is why I said I needed to finish what I was doing before the movie was out."

"Oh, was that a drawing of your friend you were doing?"

I blushed but, before I could say anything, she continued, "I hope you didn't mind me looking but you were doing a great job. You can sketch very well."

"Thank you," I said, "and that is indeed the friend I'm waiting for."

"Is he a good friend of yours? Have you known him a long time?"

I found this conversation getting stranger and stranger. What did she want from me? Should I continue answering, or should I just ask her to tell me what she wants, or I'd leave? I looked at her again. She was no threat, I could see that. Then I noticed that she was very, very nervous about something.

"I've known him for a few months now, since the new school year ended."

"Ah, he just moved here recently?"

'Well, as a matter of fact, he did."

"He's enjoying his time here in this new city?"

"I guess so. He seems to be happy at school and he's very good in gymnastics."

That did it. I nearly started to praise Francis, and I know that when I do that, I just blather on and on and on ... and the last thing that I wanted to do was say something stupid to a total stranger. Well, a stranger to me, I guess.

"Well, he must mean a lot to you ... the way you were drawing there showed total dedication."

Shit! There it was! Now what should I say now? This has lasted long enough.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but what is all this to you? I think I have the right to some answers from you as well. Who are you and why are you so interesting in me and one of my friends?"

"Oh, Nick, I'm ..." and she started to cry a bit.

Damn! Now what was going on? I'd hardly said a word, and now this! I looked around to see if someone was watching. Most of the people were walking around, but some of them looked at the women crying beside me.

"Hush," I said to her gently. "Whatever is happening, you can tell me. I don't bark or bite."

She lifted up her head and a small smile came to her lips. "Well, I'm not sure you won't after I tell you who I am, Nick."

Now this was getting stranger and stranger. She was still resting against me, then she stiffened her back a bit and looked at me.

"Maybe I should have stayed away, Nick. I'm sorry, I just barged in. I had no right after what has happened." She must have seen my puzzled look because she continued, "I'm Francis's mother, Nick."

It was as if something had just struck me. I looked at her but glanced away the moment she said it. I looked to see how long we had until the movie was over and then I looked back at her.

"Yes, maybe you should have," I said with a lot of anger in my voice.

"I'm sorry I didn't, Nick, but after I saw you two together this afternoon on the bench, I just couldn't let go. I had to know if he was doing OK or not."

"Well, he is, no thanks to you."

"I saw he did well during the city championships."

"I'm sorry, but right now, I have no idea what to tell you or even if I want to say anything. So I'll ask you to leave before Francis gets back."

"You don't think he'll want to talk with me, Nick?"

I looked at her. I wanted to say a flat "NO" but, then again, we hadn't discussed this and I couldn't talk on his behalf. I wasn't sure what Francis wanted.

"I have to be honest with you ... I have no idea if he would. I can only say that you hurt him very, very much when you threw him out of the house. That was so inhumane. I can't believe that any parent could do that to a child."

I saw she was stuck with what I just said, but I didn't regret it. It was the truth and I wasn't going to lie to her about how I felt.

"He told you about that?"

"Yes, the whole incredibly cruel affair. If I were him, I don't think I'd ever want to speak to you again."

Again I saw that she was taking what I said very hard. She looked at me. I saw tears start again to make their way down her cheeks.

"I know, Nick. I know what we did to him."

"No, I'm sorry but if you can talk about it calmly after such a short time and expect him to talk with you, then I don't think you know what you did to him."

"I can see you love him, the passion that is in you. But one thing you must believe. I did what I did because Francis's father insisted on it. I can't say I approve of the way my son wants to live ... but I realise that it is his life and that I still love him, no matter what. I miss him, you know."

"So, your husband knows you are here?"

"No, definitely not. Francis's name is never to be mentioned in our home again. I tried once or twice, just after I think your father visited us, and again three nights ago ... but both times we ended up in a big fight." As she said this, more and more tears were running over her face.

"I'm sorry, but I can't say how Francis feels ... but, at the moment, I think he's still pretty mad at you."

"Would you say a few words for me, to see if he'd be willing to talk with me?"

"No, I'll not ask him that. I'm not going to push him or anything. It has to be totally his own decision if he wants to talk to you or not."

"Oh, OK. I think I can see that. Sorry to have bothered you with all of this."

"It's no bother, but I just want to make sure that Francis does what he wants to do in this case. If he's happy seeing you or, if he says he doesn't want to meet you, but I see that deep inside he wants to, then I'll push him ... but only if I see that it is something that will make him happier."

"OK, I see."

"Why don't you wait until he arrives and see for yourself?"

"Oh, no! I couldn't meet him in public, not today. I wouldn't know what to say to him! I need to think about this first."

"Hmmm, well, it is up to you. Do you want me to tell him that I saw you?"

"I don't know ... would you lie to him?"

"Well, as long as he doesn't bring up the subject, I won't have to say anything. But if he ever asks if I've seen you, then I'll tell him ... so technically, I won't lie to him about it."

"Hmmm, thanks, Nick."

"But I have one question, though. If you don't know what you have to say to him, why did you come up to talk to me?"

"Sorry, Nick, but I was not ready. I saw you sitting there when I entered the mall and I just had to stay and watch you two. I haven't seen him since ... well, you know. When I saw him leave you and you went back to drawing again, I just wanted to see from nearby what you were drawing. Then, when I saw it was Francis you were drawing, I knew I had to talk with you and find out how he was doing."

I wanted to say more but I heard my name being called from the other end of the mall ... at least, that was what it sounded like. I looked up and, at the same time, I felt Francis's mother do the same.

"Hey, Nick, do you want something to eat?"

It was Francis, speaking from the other side of the mall, near the McDonalds. I just hoped he wouldn't see who was sitting beside me. He was still about 75 meters from me and I wasn't paying attention to her anymore, so I hoped she'd be able to steal away.

"Yes, get me a cheeseburger, Francis," I yelled back. People looked with disapproval of me screaming towards Francis, but I just ignored them.

When I saw that Francis was turning around, I looked to see if his mother was still there, but she'd gone. I turned around but I couldn't find her anywhere. I decided to get up and walk towards Francis, so I got my sketchbook and walked away from the bench.

When I came up to him, I just tickled him on the back.

"There you are! How was the movie?"

"Great, Nick, thanks. So who were you talking to?"

Damn!!! I thought, how ....

I have no idea if still any one is reading this but to all of you thanks for doing so. If you want to let me know that you are contact me at: noway16@hotmail.com or through ICQ: 36967366. You can see the whole of the story and two others on my own webpage. I have added some pictures of the gay canal pride 2002 in Amsterdam, go to www.geocities.com/timsfunplace.