This story is copyrighted and the sole possession of the author. No duplication is premitted without the express written consent of the author. It will contain graphic discription of consensual male to male sex and may be offensive to some. If this is not something you wish to read, please look elsewhere. The first installment of this story is true so the names, with the exception of mine, have been changed to protect the innocent. Future installments are pure imagination on my part and cannont be held liable against me. Hanging By A Moment is the title of a song by Lifehouse. Constructive email can be sent to Dakotajoe2000@cs.com
Hanging by a Moment, Chapter Two
The cold wind whipped around the building and down the alley. It was a narrow passage and the sharpness of the wind was intensified by the walls that climbed high into the night sky. Nick pulled his coat tighter around his body to retain some of the warmth but not so tight that it restricted his body from free movement. He hated this part of the evening. The keys to the door weren't working properly tonight and he was having to force the door to open. Several trys with the keys and a few swear words later he gave up. Shear frustration took advantage and he kicked the door with everything he had. It flew open and nearly knocked him back into the fence.
Work quickly commenced. He unloaded one of the pallets off the truck and wheeled it into the building. At least the lift gate worked tonight; he'd had too many occassions where he had to unload the truck manually. It was a light night, one pallet and he was done. He locked the doors again for the evening and started back to the comfort of the cab. A deep cough resonated into the night and he had to brace himself against the wall so he didn't lose a lung with it.
Nick leaned back softly into the seat and exhaled. Tonight's work was almost over and then it was the weekend. He guided the truck out onto the street and headed towards home. The light flahed from amber to red and he eased the truck to a stop. The light at Laskey and Secor roads was so long he had a tendency to drift off into thought.....
Thanksgiving was quickly approaching. Things had been extremely hectic since returning from Seattle. I had an average birthday overall. It was similar to my 18th. Things hadn't been going to well at home back then. I had failed out of Virginia Tech and dad wanted to know why. I couldn't really tell him. I hadn't been going to class for nearly six weeks and there wasn't a good reason. I enjoyed watching Craig play volleyball in the quad. He had a beautiful body and if the sun was out, he'd play shirtless. I spent countless hours in front of the window admiring him. My roommate would surely have known I was gay just from me sitting there, but he was too busy out drinking and hanging with his buds to notice. When I came home that summer with my grade card, dad wasn't happy. We argued through most of August and September. I took a "get away from all of this" trip to Maine in October that year. I said it was for my birthday and they believed me.
I wanted to move. That was why I went. I looked at Provincetown and was unimpressed. That type of lifestyle is what gives young gay men the sterotype we so happily take upon ourselves. I traveled farther up the coast, to Boston. It seemed too large and snobby for me, as a mid-western farm boy . . so I ended up in Maine. I fell in love with this sea-coast town of Damariscotta, just north of Portland. I had just turned 18 and my eyes were full of wonder. It would be easy to move here, just pack my things and go. Yeah.
Circumstances dictated otherwise. I found myself looking for an apartment in Columbus and the move never materialized. I was happy in my new apartment, my first apartment. Mom and dad were upset and that pleased me. It wasn't so much the idea of moving out as it was usurping their authority. I had done it and there wasn't anything they could do to stop it. I lived comfortably in that apartment for three years. I traveled anywhere I wanted to, as often as I wanted to. I was a free man.
The cost of keeping up an apartment though can be pretty hefty. I ended up working full time to cover expenses and cut my schooling at a local community college back to part time. Dad was proud of me, I'm sure. I was at the top of my class and accepted into a highly regarded architecture program at a prestigious east coast school and now I was working full time as a cashier at a local supermarket.
By the time my 22nd birthday rolled around, I began to be unsettled. The novelty of having a first apartment had worn off and now I wanted to get on with my life. The excitement of pissing off my parents was no more. Now I did that simpy because it would be of benefit to me in some way; I took little pleasure in it. I wanted to be in school full time, and at an accredited four year university or college, so I started looking. Ohio State has never been an option to me. The people have eyes only for themselves and fail to see the larger picture. I will never knock State for their academics, just the failed realization of what could be. Yes, Columbus will ALWAYS be a cow town.
Jason was my answer. I could afford to live in Seattle with a roommate, namely Chris, and I could attend University of Washington. It seemed to work out well, in my mind at least. That was where the problem lay, my mind. Jason consumed my thoughts and there didn't appear to be a chance between us. I proceded with plans for a move at any cost. I wanted to get away from Columbus, my parents and remnants of a life I didn't enjoy. As was the case with my 18th birthday, it didn't work out. I ended up signing a new lease with the same management company I was with previously. It was in a different part of town and I was hoping that it would be a temporary fix for things. It worked for a while.
Christmas was now days away and I was comfortably settled into my new apartment. I had been talking with a young man from Indiana but had a gut feeling that things weren't working between us. That was okay, as I was prepared to move on. Jason had been on my mind less and less as the holidays approached. I was busy working and shopping and just relishing the merriment of the season. I spent a great deal of time on-line in December, talking with many of the new friends I had made since deciding to stay here in town for now. Email was common in my box and I was always eager to get it. One sitting in my box on Christmas Eve bothered me.
Dear Nick,
Thanks for the emails you've been sending. I wanted you to know that I've been reading them and simply haven't had the time to reply. Well, not really, but I didn't think it was okay for us to keep talking like we were once David and I had that fight back in October. Did I tell you we broke up that night that you went to Westport? He still calls every now and then but I get tired of talking to him and I think he knows that. Anyway, I'm headed home for the holidays. Mom and dad want to see me and I think it would be good to get away for awhile. I know you understand that.
Later man, Jason
I was taken aback. He had been thinking about me. I didn't really know what to do at this point. I still had feelings for Jason and I'm pretty sure I always would, but I had moved on. Things were changing. I was hoping to get involved with someone I had just met and it seemed he felt the same way. We had planned a quick little getaway together, down to the Gulf shores of Alabama. He was flying in to Port Columbus later that afternoon and I was to go pick him up there. American Airways flight 8715, from Pittsburgh, connected to Seattle.
Nick's bleary eyes twinged as the light turned green. Not only was the light incredibly long but that horrible green burrowed it's way deep into his retinas. He was off towards Findlay and home, Jason and his email being left at the intersection.