This story is a work of fiction. It contains scenes that involve sex between men and if this offends you, you are underage, or prohibited by law from viewing such material leave now.
One of the main characters in this story is Gareth Gates, a singer famous at least in the UK after taking part in a t.v. programme, Pop Idol, to find a new star. Nothing in this story should be taken to imply that Gareth Gates is gay or that the events portrayed are in any way real or based on knowledge of actual events. It is a work of pure fiction.
For those unfamiliar with Gareth then use a search engine to find some of the many sites dedicated to this absolutely gorgeous man.
On a technical note the real Gareth gates has a severe speech impediment when talking (but not singing). While I have acknowledged this in the text I have had to ignore its true severity. I hope his fans will forgive me for this and putting him in a work of gay fiction.
This is my first attempt at this style of writing. All comments gratefully received at GarethSam@aol.com.
Please note there is virtually no sex in this chapter. Chapter 2 which will appear very shortly contains the hard stuff!
Enjoy. Love Jack.
Gareth and Sam
Chapter 1 Flight
My name is Sam Bates and at the time my story starts I am standing patiently in the queue at the Quantas check-in at London Heathrow airport. I had put off going to my parents in Melbourne, Australia, for as long as I could, claiming pressure of work in my final year at Warwick University. However flying any closer to Christmas would mean a higher fare.
I had arrived in plenty of time, hoping to talk my way into an upgrade, but a lot of people clearly had the same idea and I had been waiting twenty minutes already.
As I got to the front of the queue four people arrived at the First Class check-in. One was young, probably about my age, but his face was obscured by a wide brimmed blue cap, so I couldn't really see him clearly. His body looked hot though. They began loading bags onto the scales, including a guitar case. I was sure that the young man looked familiar. Maybe it was the way his arse filled his jeans, but I just wasn't sure. However there was no need to stop checking him out while I waited.
I found myself at the far end of the row of check-in desks closest to the first class section. There was still the Business Class desk, between me and the boy in the blue cap. I looked across and was sure I recognised the boy, but had to look at the check-in assistant to hand over my ticket and passport.
"Did you pack your bags yourself Mr. Bates?"
The questions began and I thought of saying "No three Arab strangers came round to borrow a cup of sugar and did it while they waited", but just said `Yes'. I was trying to hear the conversation at the 1st Class booth.
"Gareth, take your passport and boarding pass." Did he really say Gareth? , I wondered. I wasn't listening to the plain girl behind the desk anymore and hoped `Yes' was going to do.
The boy then half turned towards me and I at last got a look at his face. Now I was sure. It was Gareth Gates the singer who had become famous through the TV series Pop Idol and the hottest Gay pin up in Britain for nearly a year. "Shit" I thought and completely forgot to try my luck by asking for a seat `upstairs'.
There was no reason to stop looking and I caught the singer's eye as he looked across. I smiled, a shitty, `O my God your famous and hot' sort of smile that must have looked pathetic, but it was all I could do and Gareth had briefly smiled and looked back at his companions.
Bollocks; my one chance in life to attract the attention of a superstar and I blow it with a shit-faced grin. Anyway everyone knew Will Young was the Gay one in Pop Idol, not Gareth.
I took my boarding pass, passport and return ticket from the assistant and turned around. I carefully turned to the left so I could get another look at Gareth Gates before I went. This time Gareth was already looking at me. Right at me!
My heart was in my mouth. That was deliberate eye contact, wasn't it?
"Hi" mouthed Gareth and put his finger to his lips to indicate I should not reply.
"Hey!" Gareth shouted across the divide. I began to look over my shoulder then realised the comment was aimed at me! Gareth Gates began to walk towards me. Me! I felt my heart beat at about 160 a minute and my face go red as my blood pressure built. "Accept and build." I thought there is nothing to loose here.
"Great to see you man, how are you." I said in a cheery voice. By now Gareth was right in front of me, holding out his hand for me to shake.
Gareth looked like he was about to say something, but nothing came out. I remembered his severe speech impediment from the TV show. The words came suddenly, but quietly. "Play along."
I decided that I had to help and forgot all the plans he had ever made in my (fairly detailed) dreams about when I met the hottest piece of arse in England.
"I'm off to Melbourne to see my folks for Christmas. They moved there for Dad's work in June." I offered. It was a very odd conversation, because I had no idea why Gareth Gates was talking to me! I had to wait as Gareth found the words. But I felt sure something good was happening though and I wasn't going to miss the chance.
"Fantastic." Gareth managed to say. "Come over here."
I followed him to his three companions, two men and a woman. It was clear they were not friends but much older colleagues. The woman, an attractive 30ish (to a straight guy), and two 40 something men in suits (neither very attractive to my eyes).
"My friend" Gareth said to them. He then looked at the besotted check-in assistant and managed to say, "Upgrade?"
In normal circumstances this was a strange turn of events, but the few words the singer could manage made it far from flowing conversation.
"Hi, Sam Bates." I offered my hand to the nearest man.
"Rod Flowers, from Gareth's record company." The man replied. At least I had managed to communicate my name to his new found friend.
"I don't really think we can ask that Gareth." Rod continued while I shook the hands of the others. "It is unfair to ask the lady. And an abuse of your position"
Gareth just looked towards her and tilted his cap back a little so she could drown in his great big brown eyes.
"We do have space in First Class" she said, "If you like Mr. Gates?" Gareth beamed and reached down to a bag on the floor. He pulled out a CD and then a pen from his pocket. He looked enquiringly at the obliging girl.
"To Sue" she giggled. By now one of here colleagues was standing behind her having realised who was at the desk. She was out of luck. Gareth handed over the CD and almost spat out "Thanks." And turned towards me.
"May I see your boarding pass and ticket please Sir" Sue said to me and I handed them to her.
My day just got a whole lot better.
Sue changed my boarding pass and handed it back. "I wish I was going with him." She said and smiled at Gareth one last time. "Have a good trip".
Rod was clearly unhappy about the situation but there was nothing to be done now.
"I will see you when you get to Sydney after New Year. Sheila will introduce you to the Australian tour management and they will take you from there. Remember to take every opportunity for TV coverage. Be brave in the interviews. Good luck"
"OK." Gareth said. Shook Rod's hand and waved goodbye to the other man.
By now a uniformed Quantas steward had arrived and seeing that Gareth was ready to move on asked Gareth to follow him. Gareth turned to me and waived to follow him. I walked with the 30ish lady, Sheila, who, as she had a boarding pass and passport in her hand seemed to be coming too.
"How do you know Gareth?" she asked. Gareth turned around hearing the question. I was now feeling that I was in the middle of a very bizarre experience. I think I had just been picked up by a superstar in the manner used in clubs when no one can hear themselves speak. I was also conspiring in a lie that had got me a seat that would cost three or four times more than the £900 fare I had paid. And the basis was that I already knew Gareth Gates.
"From school." I said.
"You don't sound like you're from Bradford?" was Sheila's immediate response.
"Dad was working there for a few years when I was a teenager". I lied. Although it was true that we had moved around the country as Dad moved around the ICI plants he managed.
Gareth was obviously pleased with the story and by now had dropped back to my side.
"Haven't seen him for over a year." Gareth said, quite confidently. This helped to consolidate the story and was true if never having seen me in his life counted as `over a year'. Sheila seemed satisfied with the answers anyway.
We reached a lounge with large wooden double doors. It wasn't a real VIP lounge, but one for first class passengers. It was, however, deserted.
"The flight will be called in about an hour and a half." The steward said. "Someone will come and get you Mr. Gates." With that he left.
On one side of the room was a bar and a green-jacketed steward appeared at the counter. Sheila went to sit in an armchair next to a table full of newspapers. Gareth pulled my sleeve and headed for two more chairs facing the large window looking out at the tarmac. At least I assumed it did. It was 8 o'clock at night and so dark, but there were plenty of flashing lights in the distance.
We sat down. "Thanks for getting me the upgrade man. But I don't really know you. Why did you do it?"
"I wanted company on the plane." Said Gareth. There was a pause and I began to think that I hadn't been picked up at all. "When I saw you checking in I realised you were alone." Another pause and I was reasoning that it was ridiculous to have been pulled by the sexiest man in England, but what the hell, I was here. "I guess you're about my age and we could hang out for the next day." That did it. He was straight and I was only about 50% as lucky as I had hoped.
The steward came and offered us drinks and we both ordered Coke. "Given up Pepsi." I asked and we both laughed. (Pepsi had dropped Gareth from their advertising a few months before.)
"I have trouble speaking." He said. "Its usually ok when no one else is about though." But it was noticeably slow.
For the next hour or so we chatted, mainly about what I did as I did most of the talking. However we established I was a third year economics student, at 20 about two years older than him on my way to stay with my parents in Melbourne for Christmas. Gareth, I learned, was on his way to undertake a tour of Australia, New Zealand and Japan. He was doing a lot of promotion until Christmas based in Melbourne before starting the concerts. Sheila was going out to the recording companies offices in Melbourne and had been sent with Gareth to introduce him to the Australian management. When the flight was called and the Quantas man came to get us it was like I was talking to an old mate, just an incredibly cute one. I had almost overcome my disappointment at not having been pulled.
We were allowed to board first and at the front of the plane while everyone else crammed on to the back. We were shown to the first class cabin that is right at the front. There were three rows of four seats, arrange 1, 2, 1, one on each side and two together in the middle.
"Wow." I said, "Do you always travel like this?"
"Don't know. First time" Gareth replied.
Sheila looked at her boarding pass. I was beginning to feel a bit guilty, as we had not said a word to her for nearly two hours. She headed for one of the double seats in the front row. Gareth stopped her.
"Sam and I can take the middle seats. Have one on your own." He said, in the most confident sentence he had managed so far.
"Fine." she said "I am quite tired anyway."
Gareth and I settled into the huge seats. They had foot rests that came out when you reclined the seat so you had a virtual bed and a sliding screen that could separate the two seats if you wanted to. They were operated by buttons, so naturally as mature and grown up people we proceeded to play with them. As we were reclining the seats and raising the screen for the third time the steward came over and we stopped like schoolboys caught stealing an apple.
"Good evening gentlemen. I am Andy and I am the 1st Class steward for this flight. Please put the seats in the upright position for take off." We obeyed.
"Can I offer you a glass of champagne before take off?" he asked.
"Shit yes." I said, forgetting my place.
"OK" said Gareth, once again finding the presence of a new person slowed his speech. Sheila also accepted and Andy went away and greeted the other two passengers in the cabin.
"Do you like champagne?" Gareth asked.
"Hardly ever drunk it, but I am not the most confident of flyers so a bit of Dutch courage might help. Actually I normally like to sit in the back of planes."
"Why?" asked Gareth
"Never heard of one backing into a mountain." I replied and we both laughed. Champagne now safely in hand I went though all my aircraft jokes, which mainly involved disasters. Gareth laughed and Sheila looked uncomfortable.
The plane took off and we settled into the seats. 24 hours sat next to Gareth Gates. This was a dream come true and it was clear we were getting on even if I was doing more of the talking. But Gareth was saying more and more.
"It's morning in Australia. I said. "And 10.30 at night here." Said Gareth. "We ought to try and get on to Australian time."
"Ok. No sleeping for twelve hours then." I said.
"Not me." said Sheila as soon as they feed us I'm going to sleep.
"What shall we do?" I said and of course wanted to suggest a quick bunk up in the washroom.
"Here." Said Gareth and held up a game pad. We set up the small screens that were fixed to seats and played computer games on the plane's system for the next four hours, only stopping to eat a fantastic steak. On a real plate, but, with plastic knives and forks to prevent us taking the plane over. The food was better in first class, but we were clearly still a danger to the crew.
I won most the race games, but Gareth kicked my arse in the fight games. After losing five in a row I decided to call a halt.
"What about a film?" I said and we flicked through the choices. Lord of the Rings part two was a choice and although we had both seen it we decided to watch it again. We could have watched different films, but it seemed right to agree on one.
We both just made it to the end of the film. It was obvious we would not make our twelve-hour target before sleeping. It was nearly 6 am on our body clocks and without saying anything we knew we would sleep. I reclined my chair, put the pillow under my head and pulled the red blanket provided over me.
"Goodnight mate." I said.
"Night Sam."
I woke a little after three hours later, about 9am UK time, out of habit. There was still nearly 5 hours until the plane reached Singapore. It was light outside and it was easy to see around the cabin.
I led there and looked at Gareth. Shit, led next to Gareth Gates. I always have an erection when I wake up and it was getting harder not softer. I started to look hard at Gareth; he was led on his back so I saw his profile. First I looked to see if there was a stiffy apparent under his blanket, but there wasn't. I then looked up at his head, his hair was jet black and thin around his temples and swept back and I followed it to his ears. His ears were cute, not too big with a kind of symmetry. Ears have never been my thing (chests and pricks are my thing) but it was a real sight because this ear was really famous!
I changed my focus to Gareth's face. He was breathing gently. His beard was beginning to show in contrast to his usual fresh-faced appearance. He had lots of very light freckles, and above his eyebrow was a little group of them. I was looking really hard at them when he opened his eyes and turned his head towards me. He must have realised I had been looking at him.
"Hi," he said. "I need some water." And he sat up and called Andy over and asked for some.
In First Class you can have what you want when you want as long as they have it. Gareth asked Andy for some breakfast and he brought rolls, fruit and some cereals. We wandered about the cabin while we ate to stretch our legs.
Australia is a long way and inevitably Gareth was going to ask his next question.
"Do you have a girlfriend Sam?'
I have been open about my sexuality since starting university. I paused and said: "No. I'm gay actually." As I said it I regretted it. Shit what if he hated the idea and banished me back to economy. We weren't half way yet. I quickly followed this with; "I hope you don't mind."
Gareth was clearly not expecting my answer and he found it difficult to say the next words, but eventually managed; "That's cool." And took a bite of an apple.
"Will Young's gay too. He's a nice guy."
Relief swept over me.
"I thought you might be. It was the way you looked at me when you were checking in." He was really flowing now, almost singing, "And then I saw you looking at me when I woke up."
"You really don't mind."
"I like you Sam. I hope we can be friends."
"Thanks." Was all I said.
"Do you have a boyfriend then?"
"No. Not for a few months." Actually I had only ever had one regular boyfriend, Mark, and we had split up at the end of the last academic year. Gareth asked for no further explanation ad dropped the subject.
We sat back down and settled on more computer games for a while. Gareth wanted to play `Kick boxer' and duly whipped me again.
"You're a real girl at this." He said after game six, and grinned. Now he was making fun of me. A far cry from the guy who could hardly get a word out at the airport desk.
Eventually we arrived at Singapore and a short period for us to get off. We couldn't walk around the shops of the airport because Gareth would have been recognised. Gareth said I could go alone, but I didn't feel I should.
It is odd when you spend so much time so close to a person you have just met. I had told him, what for most people, would be their deepest darkest secret and I felt we really were friends. I also felt he was lonely.
We went to the First Class lounge, which was much larger than the one at Heathrow. It had a special section for `VIP's" and we were shown in.
There was a real bonus as they had showers. Would we like to use them? All three of us said yes as after 14 hours on a plane things are getting a little ripe. Naturally I saw the potential to get a good look at Gareth at least semi-naked. Like most gay men I am an expert at checking people out in locker rooms. I was, therefore, crest fallen to find that each shower was located at the back of a separate ante-room, giving each user total privacy.
"See you back in the lounge." I said as Gareth closed the door of his cubicle.
Everything was provided for the passenger, including toothbrush and razor. I entered the shower and briefly thought of jacking off, but decided against it. However I was not in control of the situation and the thought of Gareth naked on the other side of the wall gave me a massive hard-on. I had little choice but to think through the consequences of sharing his shower with him and in no time blew a huge wad against the shower wall. I felt much better for it.
Washed, shaved and having made use of a proper flush toilet I returned to the VIP lounge. Sheila appeared and said she was going around the shops. I said I would wait for Gareth. He was another 25 minutes.
"Been here long?" he asked.
"A while." I said.
"It's my hair that takes the time." Gareth has a hairstyle he calls the 2 2 1 formation. He arranges his hair in a series of small spikes in a repeating pattern. Two spikes, followed by two more with one behind. However there were many of them and I couldn't see quite how 2 2 1 applied.
"Does it look ok?" he asked. I will have to get of the plane like this.
"Looks good to me." I said as he tilted his head forward so I could inspect the top. "Is it all gel?"
"Yeah. It gets quite hard too. Feel."
I placed my hand on his head and felt the quite sharp spikes. "You could have someone's eye out with those." And we laughed.
We spent the next 45 minutes or so drinking tea and continued to find out about each other. It was like meeting any other new friend really and reminded me of many conversations in my first weeks at university. By now we were talking about everything, such as what a wanker Tony Blair was, how George Bush was probably going to get us all killed, how awful it was Tim Henman was the best we could do in tennis and how much we didn't like the French or the Euro. Pop stars are not such shallow people.
We returned to the plane, Sheila with a large carrier bag full of clothes she had bought tax-free. As we waited to take off again Gareth and I began to talk about Pop Idol. I had been avoiding it as I thought it was probably something everyone talked about.
"What about Zoe?" I asked. Zoe was another contestant on Pop Idol with whom Gareth had been romantically linked to in the press.
"She's okay. She gets lots of work now."
"Are you two an item?" As I said it I thought better of it, but it was too late. I didn't want to know the answer. Gareth had been so cool about me being gay; I still hoped he might be interested. Knowing he was shagging Zoe would completely dash my last hopes.
"No, just mates." Gareth said.
"Anyone else then?" I was really pushing my luck now.
"No. It is very difficult to meet anyone now as well."
"You could always proposition people in queues at check-in desks."
"I'm working on it." He beamed at me. I decided I was doing too well and dropped the subject.
"No champers this time?" and I looked round for the steward.
By now we had both had about three hours sleep in a day and a half. As soon as we had eaten another `dinner' we slept for about four hours until woken when we were about two hours from Melbourne. Why do they do that? We don't need that long to get ready to get off the plane.
We sat up and accepted the tea and fresh toast. Another benefit of First class. We said very little. I pulled out my Walkman and put in a CD. Gareth listened to something on the planes system.
The CD finished I reached for my CD wallet. I showed Gareth my copy of `What my heart feels' his debut CD.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"Love it." I said and I meant it.
"It isn't exactly what I want to do in the future." he said. We were off on a discussion of his music, how he wanted to write more rather than do covers and other peoples songs. He spoke quickly and with enthusiasm. I wished we had talked about music a day earlier.
The Captain announced we were just 20 minutes from landing. Time to get things together.
"Thanks for keeping me company." Gareth said, "It's been fun."
"For me too. What a break. It's been awesome." I replied. "Hope the tour goes well".
"We can't just leave it at that. You must come and see me while we're both in Melbourne."
My heart leapt. Even if there was going to be nothing between us having a pop star as a mate was a pretty good second.
"I'm staying at the Hilton." Gareth turned to Sheila. "Do you know what is happening tomorrow?"
Sheila said "You are meeting the guys at the office in the morning then I think they have a few interviews with magazines and newspapers in the afternoon."
"Come by about 6pm then." Said Gareth, turning back to me. "I'll be finished by then and we can hang."
"Great. I'll be there." I was getting a stiffy again and I shifted my legs to cover it.
We landed a few minutes later.
Sheila said to me, "We will go through a special channel to avoid any crush with fans and so on. You just get off and follow the rest as usual. Goodbye Sam. Nice to meet you"
"Sure. Nice to meet you too" I said and got up and picked up my bag.
Gareth stood up and stretched a little. He stood next to me and as we were both about 5'10" looked straight in to my eyes. Sheila headed for the door.
"See you tomorrow." He said softly and then put his right hand on my left arm and lent towards me and kissed me. Right on the lips. Just a peck, but my legs nearly gave way. "Don't be late." And he turned and followed Sheila.
I sat back down heavily in my seat. There were a series of small explosions in my head and my temples felt like they would explode. Had Gareth Gates really just kissed me? There were no witnesses to ask.
Fuck me this was a good day.