DISCLAIMER: 1.) No one is to steal this story under any circumstances. 2.) This is a story about relationships and not sex. If you are looking for a story about sex then go elsewhere.
Previously on DIRTY LAUNDRY:
"I need a guy in my life so badly," Eric said dreamily.
"We know," everyone said, laughing.
Frank was furious and threw things off Justin's desk. Justin walked towards the photocopier and wondered why he was even with Frank.
"I don't envy you. Long distance relationships must be impossible," Eric said.
"They're a bit... difficult," Nathan said, hesitating as to not reveal the truth about his non-existent love life.
"Oh my god," Scott said, "This note is awful."
"What does it say?" Eric pressured him for a reply.
"It says," Scott read out, "Jordan is never coming back. You will never see him again."
"Oh Jordan," Eric said in despair, "Where are you?"
Episode 2: Secrets
"So, let me get this straight, Jim" Justin said, when approaching the server, "it was a woman in sunglasses and a hat, and that's all you know?"
"Yes, it was," Jim said, annoyed, "I've already told you this on the telephone. She then left and nobody knows where she went."
"I just don't understand it," Eric said, puzzled as they walked out of Matty's, "why did some woman give us a note saying Jordan wasn't coming back?"
"It doesn't make any sense at all," Tyler replied, confused, "I mean, surely this woman must know something about where Jordan is."
"Well, apparently Jordan is now a missing person, so I guess we'll find out soon enough," Scott added.
"I'm just so confused as to why someone would kidnap Jordan or even why he went missing," Justin said, drinking coffee, "He had no enemies as far as we knew, and we knew him very well."
"Maybe he was hiding something secret all along," Nathan added quietly, "I mean he must have had some secret if he's gone missing."
"That's wrong, dude," Scott said laughing as they sat down in a park, "no one in our group has secrets."
"Right," Nathan said unconvincingly as he thought of Joe.
"So what are your plans for today?" Tyler asked the group who were lying around.
"Well, I've got work to do then I'm going to video call Joe in Australia in the evening, which will be nice," Nathan said dreamily.
"Oh look at lover-boy!" Justin laughed, "well I'm going into work unfortunately, and then I'm having dinner with Frank, which will be dire."
"Why, what's wrong with it?" Eric asked curiously.
"Oh well, we just spend... so much time together it can be a bit difficult," Justin said hurriedly and looking at Scott. They shared a knowing look.
"Interesting," Eric answered unconvinced and confused, "well I'm going out to find a man tonight and refuse to go home until I've officially slept with another man."
"Woah," Tyler said laughing, "that's very forward and upfront."
"Well, it's not like I have any luck just sitting around, is it?" Eric questioned, "I may as well try a new strategy. Anyone want to join?"
The group looked around at each other to find out who was available to join him for this no doubt terrible experience. Justin had his dinner and Nathan had his video date. Tyler was working and so...
"I'll go with you," Scott said reluctantly, "I guess," he mumbled to himself.
"Well, I'll be working so I guess I'll see you if you come to Fusion," Tyler added later, "but today I've got some stuff I need to do."
"What's that?" Justin asked, sipping his drink.
"I'm going to go to see Mike and see how he's getting on without Jordan," Tyler said gazing at a tree to the side.
"No you're not," Eric said to him, "you're obviously just going to get some information about Jordan."
"Well of course I am," Tyler chuckled, "but what's wrong with that? Mike may need some company, but he hasn't talked to any of us since Jordan's disappearance and I want to know what he knows."
"Well good luck," Scott said apprehensively, "that's not going to be a comfortable visit after what we've seen from Mike in the past."
"Indeed," Nathan added, "the last time I spoke to Jordan was before Hawaii and apparently Mike was trying everything to stay at home."
"I've never understood that man," Justin said and they all agreed.
"Well, I better go, I'll be late to the office otherwise," Justin added, and they all got up and went on their merry ways.
"Thanks for coming with me tonight," Eric said gratefully as he passed a cocktail to Scott, "you're a life saver!"
"Don't worry, man!" Scott said, taking a bit swig, "you've had a hard time recently and I think for everyone's sake you need to get laid!"
"Sorry," Eric said apologetically, "you must be frustrated by me talking about men and sex all the time."
"It's okay," Scott replied, "you know, we all have our needs."
"What about you then?" Eric pressed Scott, "don't you have needs?"
"I guess," Scott said thoughtfully, "I've just been so busy with my job I haven't had time to even consider it much."
"You're lucky," Eric said nodding as they surveyed the club for cutties.
As Nathan prepared for his video chat with Joe, he couldn't help but be excited about what was happening. Maybe he would get back together with Joe? Maybe Joe would tell him everything that he wanted to hear and he could come to the USA?
All Nathan really wanted, however, was to hear Joe's voice.
"This was a good idea to go for dinner, right?" Justin said hopefully as they just ordered their starter course.
"Right," Frank said distantly, "listen maybe we could make this not go to long, because you know I have stuff to do."
"Oh," Justin said, "well that's okay. But you know," he added sexually, "I was hoping we could end it soon to go back for other things." He winked at Frank.
Frank, however, just looked flustered.
"You know, maybe tonight wasn't the best night, I mean, I have to go back and organise all my things for the business trip this weekend and next week."
"Oh," Justin replied deflated. However, he was determined not to give up hope.
"I just need to go to the bathroom quickly," Justin added, running quickly away.
As he approached the bathroom, Justin ran into one of the servers.
"Hey... Carlos," Justin said, reading his nametag, "I have a huge favour to ask you."
"Um, okay," Carlos said, confused, "but I gotta serve these drinks first."
"Oh, no no no," Justin said, blocking him, "I mean afterwards, yes. But now, I need you to go and take the bottle of water that we have and add a small bit of vodka to it."
"I dunno," Carlos said, unsure, "I mean I could get fired for that."
"Oh nonsense," Justin tried, "It'll be fine, I know... Pedro. He owns this joint, right?"
"Er, he's the cleaning guy," Carlos added, looking less hopeful.
"Ok, listen Carlos," Justin added impatiently, "I'll give you whatever tip you want if you go and do what I ask of you." Justin began to walk away, "Oh, and you need to flirt with him a bit, you're his type," he added, much to Carlos' surprise.
"So, what would you give him out of ten?" Eric asked Scott about a passing larger man, "I'd say six."
"SIX?!" Scott said incredulously, "Eric! Get a grip on yourself! You can't be serious, that guy was so hairy and I know that's not your type at all."
"I guess," Eric conceded, "I'm just... really desperate," he admitted.
Scott put his arm around Eric, "We'll get you a guy tonight," and looked him in the eye, "I promise."
Eric smiled and sipped his drink, while Scott looked around. After a second, he pointed to a group dancing and said, "that guy there. He's hot!" He was pointing to a blonde, tall and handsome guy who was dancing with friends.
"Wanna go introduce yourself?" Scott asked hopefully.
Eric winced awkwardly, "maybe I'll just stay and see who approaches me."
"No," Scott said forcefully, lifting Eric out of his seat and walking towards the group, "you're taking risks tonight." He promptly marched with Eric towards the blonde guy until they were right in front of him and pushed Eric in front of him, leaving Eric with no choice but to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Eric" Eric said nervously.
"Hey," the blonde guy said, smiling and winking, "I'm Kent. Wanna dance?"
"Sure," Eric said gratefully, and they walked off towards the dance floor.
"Thank goodness," Scott thought to himself as he ran to the bar for another martini.
"How's your meal, baby?" Justin asked sweetly.
"Um, you know it's good," Frank said, coughing a lot.
"Oh," Justin said, confused, "maybe you should sit for a moment."
"I'll just have some of this water," Frank said as he filled his glass and took a huge sip. Much to his shock (and even Justin's shock), the bottle wasn't partially filled with vodka. It had been completely replaced by it.
"This is alcohol!" He claimed, furiously.
"Hey!" Frank tracked down Carlos, who was passing, "why is there VODKA in my water pitcher?"
"I'm sure it was just a mistake," Carlos said, "no big deal."
"It's a big deal alright," Frank spluttered furiously, "I want the manager here right away."
"Okay, okay," Carlos pleaded quietly, "please don't get the manager! I need this job to pay for my college degree. It was him," Carlos pointed at Justin.
Frank turned slowly towards Justin. "Justin? What? I don't understand."
"He did it to try and get you drunk and take advantage of you," Carlos said running away quickly.
"I wasn't trying to take advantage of anyone, bastard!" Justin yelled out afterwards, attracting the attention of the entire restaurant.
"You know what, I'm leaving," Frank said angrily, "I'm so fed up of this."
"Wow, are they still kissing?" Tyler asked from behind the bar.
"Yup, they've been at it for a while," Scott said chuckling and looking at Eric and Kent.
"I'm happy for Eric," Tyler said as he polished a glass, "he's so desperate it's kind of embarrassing."
"Yeah," Scott said laughing, "but the guy there is hot."
"You bet," Tyler said as he watched them.
Meanwhile, on the dance-floor, Eric and Kent were dancing sexually and kissing.
"You're a good kisser," Eric said as he approached Kent again.
"Thanks," Kent said as he kissed Eric, "You've got a great body and you dance well."
"Ha!" Eric laughed, "You should ask any one of my friends, they'll tell you I'm the worst dancer alive."
"I'm sure they would," Kent replied, kissing Eric again. They danced and grinded together for a while before Kent reached for his pocket.
"You know," Kent said quietly and seductively, "I have some pills we can have. You know, just to get us in the mood."
"Pills?" Eric said, confused, before realising. "Oh," he paused and hesitated slightly before replying, "you know, I'm pretty chill right now, thanks, I'll pass."
"Come on," Kent said, grinning and looking at him in the eye, "We'll have lots of fun together, I promise."
"Nope," Eric said again and smiled, "I'm pretty okay as it is, thank you."
"Eric," Kent shouted firmly, grabbing his arm with a strong hold, "take some of these pills."
Eric began to get a bit afraid, "No, Kent, I'm not taking anything."
Kent paused, before suddenly grabbing Eric and pushing him, "Come on," he said strongly, "We're leaving."
"What?" Eric shouted, surprised, "we can't leave yet, I'm staying here!"
"I said, let's go!" Kent yelled, attracting the attention of others on the dance floor.
"No, Kent," Eric tried to push him away but he wouldn't budge, "leave me alone!"
"What's going on over there?" Scott said to Tyler, "it looks like there's some commotion over there."
Tyler glanced over momentarily before moving quickly, "It's Eric," he yelled to Scott, "he's in trouble!" They began to run towards Eric and Kent.
"Let go of me!" Eric yelled, trying everything as they approached the door, "stop!" he pleaded to Kent, who had stopped talking to him and was just dragging him mercilessly out of the club.
"You!" Tyler said, approaching Kent quickly and confidently, "let go of him now!"
"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Kent said menacingly at Tyler.
"I work here," Tyler said strongly, "so unless you want a lifetime ban, I'd suggest getting out right now!"
Kent paused. There was a small crowd and no music. Scott was standing behind and watching it all.
"Ok... fine," Kent spat at Eric and Tyler, "but you both need to lighten up!" He stormed off out of the club and out of sight, leaving the others shocked and confused.
Outside, it was raining. That unfortunately summed up the mood of the night for Frank and Justin.
"Frank!" Justin cried out, following him out of the restaurant, "I'm sorry okay!"
"You tried to get me drunk, Justin, by forcing servers to give me extra vodka. What the hell?" Frank yelled.
"Okay," Justin said running ahead of Frank and stopping him, "I know it was a dumb idea, but listen. I did it because our relationship isn't working."
"What do you mean it isn't working?" Frank raged, pushing passed Justin to his car.
"You're always angry," Justin yelled causing Frank to stop, "and you never listen to me anymore. We used to be in love, but you've been pushing me away for a while."
"Justin," Frank sighed, but Justin cut him off.
"I may have been stupid," Justin said tearing up, "but I'm just trying to save us and our relationship."
"Justin, come here," Frank hugged him, "I guess I appreciate it, but you're right. We're not exactly the couple we used to be."
"No," Justin agreed.
"When I get back from my trip," Frank promised, "We'll work our issues out, k?"
"Okay," Justin agreed and they kissed for a while in the pouring rain.
It was sad, then, that despite the timing they'd arranged, Joe failed to call or respond to any of Nathan's calls, despite Nathan waiting up all night to get them.
"How could you do this to me, Joe?" Nathan exclaimed out-loud, "we had so much fun together in Australia and now you're ignoring me out-right?"
Now stuck in a rut, Nathan went to bed, incredibly frustrated by Joe and his life and vowed to forget that his ex-boyfriend ever existed.
"Thanks for walking me home, Scott," Eric said gratefully, "You and Tyler are the best friends ever."
"It's all good," Scott replied, smiling, "all in a day's work."
"It's not everyday that some psycho tries to give you drugs and drag you out of clubs," Eric refuted, to which Scott nodded.
"I suppose you're right," Scott agreed, "but still, I'd never have let you go like that."
"Thanks," Eric smiled sincerely as they approached his apartment.
"Do you want to come in?" Eric asked him, "We're really far from your apartment here."
"Thanks, do you mind if I crash here?" Scott asked, "I'm not working tomorrow."
"Go ahead," Eric said, "after tonight I owe you and Tyler one."
As they got out the elevator and into Eric's apartment, they settled on the sofa and chatted for a while.
"I'm interested in the scoop that Tyler will find tomorrow with Mike," Eric said, sipping some coffee.
"Me too," Scott replied distantly before telling Eric, "I'm sorry I forced you to approach that guy. I had no idea he was bad news."
Eric laughed, "It's not your fault at all! In fact, if it hadn't been for you I'd never have done anything. Which would have been probably better in that case," Eric conceded, "but still, I need to be more confident to get a man." He laughed some more before putting his head on Scott's shoulder. "You know," Eric continued, "I vowed I'd not come back to my apartment until I'd slept with a guy. I guess I failed."
"You did," Scott laughed, closing his eyes, "better luck next time."
It was then that the numerous cocktails they'd consumed that evening finally hit them. Feeling a lot more drunk, and thus a lot more horny, Eric realised that Scott, a very hot guy, was right there. He could even hear Scott's breathing as he lay on his chest.
Sitting up slightly, Eric moved towards Scott and so their faces were very close. Scott opened his eyes, and didn't move away even though he looked shocked.
Although he couldn't really believe it, Eric moved even further in and kissed Scott. Scott didn't back away, and in fact started getting far more into it. They two began making out furiously for a long time before heading towards Eric's bedroom.
After last night's events, there were many confused faces in the morning. Firstly, there was Justin, who woke up after spooning all night with Frank. Unfortunately, in the morning he had a less than pleasant discovery.
"Frank?" Justin shouted, looking around their apartment for him, "Frank, where did you go?"
After finding a piece of paper that said "see you soon" and some money, Justin quite understandably was furious. "I can't believe that son-of-a-bitch left without saying goodbye to me! What a horrible person!"
After what they tried to resolve the night before, Justin realised that his relationship with Frank was falling apart rapidly.
There were more confused faces at Eric's house, where the blurry happenings of the night before began to come back to Eric, as he woke up lying next to Scott. Moving away slightly, he winced as he realised how much his head hurt from his hangover, and then looked down to find out he was naked, as was Scott.
"SCOTT!" Eric said, jumping out of the bed and taking one of the sheets, "what happened?"
Scott woke up suddenly, and covered himself quickly with some pillows, "I don't know," he said, grabbing another sheet and pulling it around himself, "I guess we must have slept together."
"SLEPT TOGETHER?" Eric said, dumfounded as the reality set in, "we can't have done!"
"Why not?" Scott chuckled, rubbing his tired eyes, "I mean you were desperate and we were both drunk as hell. I guess it just... happened."
"It can't just happen," Eric replied, still shocked and throwing clothes at Scott, "we're friends! Friends! And friends," he said, pointing at the two of them, "don't sleep together like that! Friends aren't supposed to have sexual feelings like that!"
"Hey, I guess we have a complicated relationship," Scott said, putting on his pants, "but you know, you were the one who vowed you needed to have sex. And you put the moves on me, as far as I remember."
"Don't try blaming this on me!" Eric said, throwing a shirt on quickly, "you didn't back away."
"I didn't see a need to," Scott said laughing, "besides, you may not admit it, but the sex was good, right?"
"Scott!" Eric said flabbergasted, "we can't be discussing this type of thing." He moved towards the door, and pushed a still dressing Scott with him. "We need to forget this ever happened and go back to being friends."
"Okay," Scott said puzzled, moving out the door, "but I don't see what the big deal is."
"The big deal is that I don't want to destroy our friendship by doing something stupid like that again," Eric said, as he stood in the doorway. "Oh," he stopped Scott, who was walking away, "if anyone asks, we spent last night having a guys night in watching movies and going to bed late before having some breakfast today."
"Alrighty," Scott said, "if you feel as though you need to lie, I guess we could do that."
"Good," Eric said awkwardly, "well, see you later." He closed the door.
"Bye," Scott said, still smirking and a bit dazed.
Jordan always told his friends how much he loved his apartment. He loved interior design, and everyone loved his oak floors, his mahogany bookcases, and his bathroom tiles.
Now, someone was going back to that apartment, but instead of marvelling at the new wallpaper, he was there for another purpose: to find out the new whereabouts of Jordan.
Ringing the doorbell, Tyler stood patiently at the door. It was a few moments before a tall man came to answer it.
"Tyler," Mike said without smiling, "what a... surprise."
"Hello Mike," Tyler said smiling, and motioning towards the inside, "is now a good time?"
"Well actually," Mike began, but he was too late, for Tyler had already began to walk straight into the apartment. Mike was not happy with this sudden visitor.
"Jordan always loved these mugs," Tyler said abstractly, "didn't he buy them from Washington?"
"Yes," Mike said as he poured tea, "they were some of his favourites."
"Indeed," Tyler nodded as he drank some green tea, "did you enjoy Hawaii?"
"Yes," Mike said simply, "it was good to get away for a while. Unfortunately now things are a bit hectic."
"Yes, I can imagine," Tyler said obviously, gazing into space.
There was an awkward pause where neither of them said anything at all. Tyler quickly moved away from small talk and towards more important topics.
"Look," Tyler said, making eye contact with Mike, "I know this is a difficult time for you, but Jordan is now a missing person. He was all of our friends and we are really worried about him, as you must be. I want to propose that we all help you find him and where he is. I want nothing more," Tyler added sincerely, "than for us all to be reunited again."
"Tyler," Mike began, sighing, "I appreciate your offer but I think I'm going to carry out the search with the police myself. You know what they say," he added without smiling once more, "too many cooks spoil the broth."
Despite this rebuff, Tyler was determined not to give up.
"I know you are suffering terribly," Tyler started, "but do you have any idea where Jordan might be?"
"All I know is what you know," Mike said impatiently, "we had a bit of a fight in Hawaii and Jordan ended up getting another ticket to come back a day later. It's not nice," Mike added as an after-thought, "to know that Jordan and I ended things on bad terms."
"He's not dead, Mike," Tyler said firmly, looking at Mike and standing up, "One thing I know is that Jordan is still alive."
As Tyler walked to the door, he noticed some papers on a table.
"Is this your flight tickets?" Tyler said picking them up and glancing at them.
"Don't touch my private documents," Mike started, reaching over quickly, but Tyler was too quick for him.
"Wait a minute," Tyler said, reading the document, "It confirms here that you left Hawaii last Sunday," Tyler continued reading, "and also... that Jordan left Hawaii as well last Sunday. On the same plane..." Tyler trailed off and looked at Mike.
"Mike," Tyler said quietly, "What's going on?"
Mike paused for a while before reaching for the door and opening it. "I think you should leave now," he said threateningly and firmly.
Tyler walked out quickly and approached his car. When he got there he realised that something sinister must have been going on, and Jordan's life was obviously not as simple as he made it out to be beforehand.
Everyone has secrets in their lives. And even among friends there are those who try and hide the things they've done and the mistakes they've made. There are those that hide from the truth and there are those who confront their problems head on, sometimes with negative effects. But one thing is definitely for sure – those that mask their problems may think they've succeeded. But there is a secret in everyone; hidden underneath the oak floors or mahogany bookcases lies something that we keep from others.
As Mike approached his mahogany bookcase that evening, he found a box filled with pictures of Jordan as well as him and Mike and him and his friends, he glanced through all of them for a few moments considering them all and what they meant to him.
Finally he picked out one from the pack, the picture of Jordan and Mike from their one-year anniversary holiday to Lake Tahoe. Looking at the picture thoughtfully, he sighed. "Jordan," he said to himself, alone, "I hate you."
Thanks everyone for reading! Sorry about the delayed post, I've been on vacation for a few weeks. But I hope you've enjoyed the new episode. I promise to write more soon! Next time: find out what happens in the aftermath of Eric and Scott's one-night stand. Plus, new stories for Tyler and Nathan! And, we'll find out more about Jordan's disappearance.
Thank you for all your comments and feedback. That's definitely kept me going and inspired to keep writing. Any more comments or thoughts should be sent to bigg89@hotmail.co.uk.