Disclaimer : This is a fiction story and is not meant to imply anything about the sexuality of Sean Faris.
Ryan wiped his sleepy eyes irritably. He was tired, and had slept badly. It seemed like the bathroom was a mile away, but he slowly meandered there, only to look into the mirror with a sense of deep dissatisfaction. He was 25 and good-looking with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, but he looked like something from a horror movie after last night. His eyes shouted exhaustion and their red tinge made him feel even worse. He felt tired, dirty and irritable. With a sigh he climbed into the shower and started to wash himself, all the while reciting his intentions for the upcoming meeting.
He seemed young for an IT executive, but even if it seemed arrogant to say, he had to admit he was a genius. Very few people possessed his skill with computers. He thought he could live off programming code even if all other forms of language disappeared from the world. He'd managed to land a contract with a large company today - a contract which he could retire on if he managed to secure it.
"Who in their right mind pays ten million dollars for their IT work?" he asked himself bitterly in the shower. Big companies, that's who. Of course, it wouldn't be plain sailing if he did land the contract. Ten million dollars implied a shitload of work, but that was a minor problem. He didn't mind working hard, though he couldn't say the same about getting up early.
Climbing out of the shower, he stood in front of the mirror and looked at himself again, his hair hanging mischievously in his face, and the water running in intricate paths over his body. The shower had made a small improvement. At least he no longer looked like he'd been hit by lightning. His hair wasn't long, but his fringe did hang into his eyes when it felt like it. He started to shave and watched his pecs and abs flex while he moved.
"At least something looks good in the morning," he said. He did have a good body, and the gym was a good distraction when the torment of a computer screen became too much.
A few minutes later he was looking considerably better as he put his jacket on over his open necked shirt. He couldn't decide whether he should wear a tie or not. He hadn't worn one for years, but he was hardly up to date with modern business trends. What to do...
He walked out of his apartment at high speed minutes later (without a tie). He still had more than an hour until his meeting, and his first priority as usual was to head down to the coffee shop downstairs and enjoy a cup of coffee and something light to eat. Normally he did this much later in the day, but today he had a meeting and that was abnormal in its self. The coffee shop made the best, well, anything in the city, and it was mere feet from his apartment.
He shrugged as the city air hit his dark blue shirt, unsure whether it was going to be cold or not. To his surprise it didn't bite like he expected it to, and he relaxed. He entered the almost deserted coffee shop and walked to the counter to place his order.
"Ryan!" the pretty girl behind the counter said with a wide smile. "I've never seen you here so early. Everything okay?"
"Everything's fine thanks Becky," he said with a gracious smile. "Could I bug you for some coffee - something very strong - and a croissant over there. Yes, that one."
She smiled at him deeply as he paid, and her suggestive eyes roamed over him. He politely thanked her and sat at the counter table on the comfortable stool, while trying to arrange his newspaper and food. Becky was very sweet, and she was beautiful too. She'd been trying for nearly two years to get him to go on a date, sometimes she was so open about it it was shocking. He thought she would have figured out by now that he was gay, or at least thought that he wasn't interested, but she persisted to his amusement.
With a sigh he started reading through his newspaper, but he didn't make any progress and he certainly didn't absorb a single article. He was too preoccupied with his job later in the day. He took a bite out of his croissant - an angry bite to cause the pastry as much pain as he could. He felt like a wild animal tearing his prey to pieces. Ridiculous perhaps, but he needed to channel his frustration into something. With minimal concentration he reached and grabbed the sugar for his coffee. He added a copious amount. The coffee was bound to be satanically strong, firstly because he'd asked for it, and secondly because Becky would do her best to prove that she'd done what he'd asked. He stirred his coffee indifferently while trying to read some article centered on soaring food prices.
He took a deep sip from his coffee. It was warm and he savored the taste. It was as strong as he'd expected, but at least it would keep him awake. Suddenly he froze in the act of swallowing his coffee and realized that something was wrong. Something was revealing its self through the coffee, something which was moving with malignant force even through that strong blend. Salt! With a cough and several splutters he spat his coffee out into the paper cup.
"Oh shit... that's rancid!" he muttered. He shook his head convulsively as the salt started working on his taste buds.
Becky was there in an instant. "What's wrong Ryan? Oh my! Is it the coffee? I can make you some more."
He raised a placating hand, still unsure whether he could speak because his throat felt as if it was being torn to pieces by a swarm of killer bees. "It's my fault," he said to her in an embarrassingly hoarse voice. "I wasn't looking and added salt to my coffee. I would like another one please."
She smiled with amusement and pity and started to make him a new coffee. He started reading his paper again, but his tastebuds were still dancing. From behind his newspaper he heard snickering. He ignored it but it persisted and he slowly lowered the ear of the page, to cast his vengeful eye on the perpetrator.
Some guy was sitting next to him with his fist over his mouth, trying to veil his laughter. The nerve. He was a young guy, about his age, but he couldn't see his face very well which had been well obscured with a baseball cap. He was wearing a green sweater and blue jeans, and he looked like someone who totally didn't have a job to go to. Ryan pondered a rebuttal - something he could say to destroy this rude swine, but at the same time to stop short of starting a fight. He opened his mouth to deliver his judgment, but the guy spoke to him first.
"I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to be rude," he said between laughs. "It was pretty funny that's all. Sorry."
He gave Ryan a quick look in the eye, and the moment seemed to freeze as if it had been taken with a camera. He was so hot! His smile was beautiful, for lack of a better word, and his eyes were perfect and ... inviting! The moment stretched and the guy decided that Ryan was probably pissed and not likely to respond, so he faced forward with an embarrassed cough, and the smile slid from his face as he started to drink his coffee. Ryan shook his head, and jumped when he heard a voice next to him.
"Here's your coffee, Ryan," Becky said, and he looked at her vacantly. He murmured thanks and started at his new coffee. His brain seemed to be working as massive speeds, but at the same time it seemed like the air had turned to a gel and that he was moving through it at a fraction of the normal pace. He turned to his right and stared at the guy next to him, just to make sure he really was there. He wouldn't have been surprised had he been hallucinating, especially after his most appalling sleep the previous evening. The guy's face was serious, perhaps even dejected, as he ate his muffin morosely. Ryan found his eyes tracing the guy's jawline - it was strong and horrendously well sculpted. He wanted to scan the rest of the guy's body hungrily, but suddenly found himself looking around at the rest of the shop to see whether he'd been too obvious. Empty seats greeted his anxiety.
No. He would not let this potential opportunity pass by. "Dude, I am so sorry!" he said to the guy next to him. The guy stopped chewing and looked at Ryan, unsure whether he was the target of the comment. It had, after all, been over a minute since the guy had spoken to him. The guy must think him mentally incapacitated! Well, that seemed to be a half-truth at least. He did feel like he'd been hit on the head with a hammer. He suddenly found himself hoping his eyes were less red and that he didn't look as bad as he thought he did.
The guy had turned in his chair to half-face him, and Ryan continued. "Sorry, I'm just really tired and I have a huge job promotion today. I'm just stressed. Sorry."
The guy delayed only for a fraction of a second, but Ryan felt terror during that moment. Anything could have happened and he half-expected the guy to tell him to fuck off. Suddenly the guy smiled weakly and he found himself exhaling a breath he couldn't remember holding. He took a deep gulp of coffee to disguise his embarrassment.
"No salt this time?" the guy said with a smile. So perfect!
Ryan merely laughed, and the guy joined him a moment later clearly looking at Ryan's mouth. "I'm Sean," he said with an outstretched hand.
Ryan shook his hand and enjoyed the brief period of contact much more than he should have. "Ryan," he said sheepishly.
"Pleased to meet you," he said cheerily. "I thought you were a prick when you first spoke," he added, and Ryan felt himself blush.
"Uh... I thought I was a prick too," he responded, and they laughed again.
"So, you have a job interview today?" Sean asked.
"No, a job offer. I'm trying to get a contract for my IT company. I'm pretty nervous. It's a make or break deal, if you know what I mean."
"Sure I do," he said. His eyes were so nice to look into - his face was so fucking perfect, but he had to control himself. He couldn't stare like a fool, but he tried to steal glances every few seconds. "Are you going like that?" he said skeptically.
Ryan suddenly became very self-aware and recoiled against his will. "Uh... is there a reason I shouldn't be?" he said softly.
"Well," Sean said matter-of-factly, as if Ryan hadn't said anything at all. "I've been to a lot of interviews, and they generally like it when you wear a tie."
"Fuck! I knew I should have worn one," Ryan said to himself, furious for looking incompetent in front of Sean. Sean was laughing.
"You're funny," Sean said smiling widely.
"Trust me, mate, it's not intentional. If anything, I'm laughable."
"Nah, just funny," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Go put on a tie. You'll look nice in one," he said almost unintentionally.
"Will I now?" Ryan said sexily, and Sean suddenly became aware of what had escaped his lips. The smile vanished from his lips and he appeared to almost panic, swinging to face ahead and take a deep gulp of his coffee.
"Dude, relax," Ryan said with some mild concern, because the guy had reacted severely. "I was just joking."
Sean nodded to himself, but he kept his eyes downcast. He didn't respond though. Ryan knew that he felt uneasy, so he tried to break the ice a little.
"So Sean... what do you do for a living?" he asked with a smile on his face, trying to give every indication that he was trying to move on.
Sean stared ahead for a few moments then jerked around. "Wha?" he said, then coughed. "I'm... uh... I'm an actor."
"Really?" Ryan said, with genuine interest. "Take off your cap, let me see you," he said.
Sean looked around warily then slowly removed his cap, and tried to neaten his hair. The cap had made his hair untidy but Ryan thought it made him twice as sexy. He had thick brown hair, and he had rapid visions of him running his hand through it while kissing Sean fiercely.
Ryan smiled and nodded to himself. "Ah okay, I've seen you in some TV programs. You were pretty good."
Sean blinked with surprise and then sat quickly while putting his cap back on. "Wow, most people go mental when they recognize me."
"Do you want me to go mental?" Ryan asked uneasily.
"No!" Sean shouted, and blushed after he realized that he'd done so. "I think it's refreshing." Sean leaned forwards on his elbows and moved a little closer to Ryan. Ryan suddenly really did feel uneasy. "Is Becky your girlfriend?" he asked suddenly.
Ryan gave a small chuckle and shook his head. Sean's face was serious, and something which might have been anxiety hid behind his eyes. "No," Ryan said definitively. He made sure Becky was on the other side of the shop. There was no need to be a bastard and hurt her feelings.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Sean said immediately, and his question almost rode over his answer. Ryan looked at him for a moment, and wondered what he was up to. This seemed like some sort of desperate interrogation.
"No Sean," he replied with a small smile. "I gay. So gay."
It was Sean's turn to recoil. Ryan muttered to himself. Some people responded like this, but it would be a pity if Sean turned out to be some sort of bigot. Sean's face became serious and his chest stood out as he said proudly, "well, I have a girlfriend."
Ryan looked from side to side, wondering if there was some hidden message in that proclamation. Had he missed something? "Good for you," he said with as much sincerity as possible. "What's her name?" he asked politely.
Shock seemed to pain Sean's face. "Her name? Uh... well... listen I have to go," he said suddenly and he got up and threw some money down, an unintentionally spilled his coffee onto the floor. "Fuck," he said angrily, but he didn't make an effort to clean up. Instead he ran to the exit of the shop, clearly intending to flee. Ryan felt a pang as he realized that this guy wouldn't tolerate being near another gay guy. It was a real pity - they guy seemed so awesome. Ryan was about to turn back to his paper and read when Sean's form caught his eye. He looked to the entrance quickly and saw that Sean had stopped in his tracks and was looking at him. There was agony on his face, and true desperation if he was correct. He felt his mouth drop despite himself. He was on the verge of getting up and rushing to Sean to ask him what the problem was when Sean turned and sprinted out of sight. He heard a cry and a bag of food crashed on the sidewalk as Sean had evidently collided with someone and their parcels.
"What a jerk," he heard next to him. Becky was busy cleaning up the mess on the floor, and her face was vexed and angry.
"Yeah - a jerk," he said softly, but his mind was racing. Something very strange had just gone on here. He looked at his watch and gasped.
"Shit!" he shouted and ran out of the shop, Becky's voice trailing after him. He had fifteen minutes to get to his job, and he still had to collect his stuff. He sprinted up to his apartment, but before leaving, he made a stop an put on a tie. Smiling to himself, he had the uncanny feeling that he and Sean would cross paths in the near future. Something was not right, but something wasn't wrong either.
I've wanted to write a Faris story for a while now. If you liked the story please write to me at rahvin747@yahoo.com and I'll add the next chapter in the near future.