JOHN DARLING'S COMA
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
When the alarm sounded at five o'clock Monday morning, October 2, it was the third straight morning that John Darling woke up in bed with Gary Thomas, but the first time awakening in Gary's apartment. Gary stretches, bouncing John off him as he mumbles, "Good morning, pretty boy. Let's get moving," and he's out of bed, leaving John looking startled and asking, "Aren't we, um, gonna have a little eye-opening morning sex? I've got my morning boner, and it's... hey, Gary...?"
Gary walked out of the bedroom and was already in the bathroom. John's like, "What the...?" He gets out of bed on Gary's side to join him in. Opening the bathroom door, he starts to say something about morning sex but sees Gary sitting on the toilet and says, "Oops," instead.
"I'm disappointed you don't know this, but when a bathroom door is closed, Darling, it means... stay out. I'll respect the same thing for you. Use this time to get dressed, as we'll leave for work in less than a half-hour."
Mumbling, "Jeez," John turns around, closes the door behind him, then goes back to the bedroom to get dressed. His dick is still hard because he gets turned on when Gary's in his confident authoritarian role. If John didn't already have a boner, he'd be on his way to getting one when Gary sent him out of the bathroom.
Dressed, John stands outside the closed bathroom door, hesitatingly asking, "Um, Gary, should I make coffee or something." He hears, "NO!" and chuckles at how confidently succinct Gary was in answering the question. No explanation, just... NO!
He stops chuckling, thinking about yesterday afternoon when Gary was driving them away from the house and John was in some freaky funk, feeling extremely apprehensive about something. He didn't know what exactly he was apprehensive about, but it had something to do with being alone with Gary. It got worse when Gary acted scary, asking if John thought he could handle him, Gary, without having Andy baby him... it was something like that.
Gary's strange voice, too, or it's hard to remember now, but it was something scary. Then, as the day progressed, John got comfortable with it being just Gary and him. After all, he's intensely attracted to Gary. They even discussed why John was so seriously attracted to Gary but couldn't articulate why. He could only mumble something about how he felt safe with Gary--feeling 'safe' from what he didn't know. Other than that...
Not surprisingly, Gary felt it was a bit insulting that John couldn't name anything about Gary as a reason for being attracted to him, but he brushed it off as... Who cares? That's another example of his self-confidence.
Banished from the bathroom and not knowing what else to do, John looks in Gary's kitchen refrigerator for juice when he hears Gary bellow, "Darling, the bathroom is all yours!"
Closing the refrigerator door, John walks across the hall into the bathroom and, as he's peeing, he thinks about asking Gary, after work, for a little urine play, then he chuckles, imagining the emphatic negative response from Gary. Well, wait, though... Gary did it once, so he may do it again. Then John's puzzled about them not having sex last night and then none this morning, and is this going to be how it is every day? C'mon people, John is horny!
Finish with his morning piss, he listens for movement from Gary. Not hearing anything from him, John strokes himself off, thinking about sucking Gary's big dick, and climaxes forcefully. It's a hard stream of cum roaring out in thirty seconds, splashing noisily in the toilet water. Taking a deep breath, he gasps, "Ooh, umm, that felt good..."
Flushing the toilet, John turns and washes his hands and face. Drying, he smiles at the thought of Gary fucking him after work. He wants that even more than the urine play. Putting toothpaste on his toothbrush, he stops and holds his breath for a few seconds, thinking how awesomely Gary fucking him yesterday. Goddamn, but he really wants Gary to fuck him now, this morning. Jerking off can't compare to getting fucked.
Finished brushing his teeth, he tells himself that he is not going to complain about no morning sex, and he will not nag Gary about a fuck after work. Gary accused John of being grossly oversexed or something like that, and John wanted to prove Gary wrong. He isn't going to even mention sex to Gary and see how long Gary can abstain. 'I'll make him ask me for it,' John tells himself as he goes downstairs, calling, ''Gary, where are you?"
"I'm in the kitchen making a quart of OJ from this frozen concentrate. I should have done this last night, but my boyfriend makes me forget things. He distracts me in the most marvelous ways."
John's like, "Marvelous? That's an uppity word. Um, you were referring to me, right?"
"Who else, pretty boy? Here, fill this container with tap water to the one-quart mark while I get our coats."
"What?"
John takes the container with a frozen blob of concentrated orange juice at the bottom. He said "what" from habit. He fills the jar, puts a lid on the plastic container, and shakes the hell out of it. Seeing only one juice glass on the counter, he yells, "Don't you want orange juice?"
Gary yells, "I can't. Too many calories!" John thinks, 'That's nice he was thinking of me wanting juice this morning...'
John fills his juice glass and puts the bottle in the refrigerator. Gary mutters, "Heads up," and tosses John the hoodie sweatshirt John wore last night, asking, "How could you forget to bring a coat?"
Swallowing OJ and catching the hoodie, John says, "That's the kind of thing Andy would have reminded me to do, but now he's busy doing what Dickie says, and you didn't bother seeing if I had everything I'll need."
Gary says, "Uh-huh. If we weren't running late, I'd put you in a headlock and walk you around the block, explaining to you that I'm not your nurse."
Finishing the juice, John smiles, "I was joking, Gary," and he goes over to lean on fat Gary, murmuring, "You haven't hugged or kissed your boyfriend this morning."
Gary hugs him and kisses his cheek, then says, "I'm starting to really like you. Come on, you don't want to be late for work your first day."
Outside, getting in the passenger seat of his pickup truck, John mumbles, "Don't get mad, but how come you always drive my pickup? Why can't I drive it?"
Driving off the apartment building's parking lot, Gary says, "I'm a better driver than you. Plus, yesterday, you didn't know how to get to my apartment, and this morning, you don't know how to get to work. As the lead boyfriend, the number one boyfriend, I'll always be the driver, no matter who owns the vehicle. Even when you learn driving directions for how to get places we want to go, I'll still drive because I want to drive."
"Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining that."
Gray looks over and grins at John, then mumbles, "You are so fucking cute. I can't wait to show you off to my bud Denny Morning. He's going to be so envious."
"Does this guy, Denny, work with you?"
"No, I met Denny at Bayard Technical Auto Mechanic's school right out of high school almost seven years ago. He lives in Buford now and works in South Greely, which, as you know, is only four miles from your house in Cheyenne. We're going to see him tonight."
"No shit. I'm anxious to meet your friends. I'll be your adoring, shy boyfriend."
"Yeah, I guess you're that alright. Denny and I were both eighteen, getting certificates to be auto mechanics. He's the only person I've ever let fuck me. I fell for him, but he didn't fall for me. He's lived with a black dude for the last three years."
"So, you still hang out with him, huh?"
"Yeah, we still get together now and then. As I said, he works for a Ford dealership in South Greely."
John nods, then asks, "Does Dickie know this guy, Denny-something?"
Pulling into a small parking lot in front of a building with three garage bays and a big sign, "MARSHALLS AUTO REPAIR." Gary mutters, "Why are you asking all these questions?"
Getting out of the pickup, John says, "I'm just curious," and then, "Oh, here comes Dickie!"
Dickie's smiling as he parks his Monte Carlo next to the pickup. John and Gary wait for Dickie to get out, and they all do guy hugs, with John trying to kiss Dickie and Dickie turning his head away, muttering, "Are you crazy? We don't do gay shit when we're at work!"
Gary taps John's cowboy hat and says, "Use your head, pretty boy, and also don't do any of that lisping shit you do to make me laugh. I didn't think I'd need to tell you how to act in public. Working is serious business... no fucking around."
"What?"
They all go inside the office portion of the building; Gary points to a chair, muttering to John, "Sit there and don't move." Then to Dickie, "First thing you need to do is get Walter working on the used car inventory iPad report, and, taking a clipboard off the desk, Gary hands it to Dickie, saying, "These three cars need to be done today. I will get Darling's paperwork completed, and then I'll need to work the front here because your old man is in the other shop today. When Darling's filled out the paperwork, you'll need to show him what to do."
Shaking his head, Dickie looks at the work orders on the clipboard and says, "I don't have any time to train him. I'll get old man Sylvester to do it."
Gary says, "However you want to do it, just get it done! Go ahead, get started."
"It's ten of seven. I start work at seven, remember?" He stalks off, going through a door and disappearing into the work bays.
The phone rings, and Gary answers, "Marshalls, how can I help you?" As he talks on the phone, the phone held against his shoulder and ear, he gets paper forms from a file cabinet, writes something on a pad, says, "Thanks," and hangs up. "Darling, come here and fill out all these forms."
Taking the forms and a ballpoint pen from Gary, John sees an older man, almost totally bald, and a Hispanic-looking thirty-year-old guy with a baseball cap get out of separate cars and walk into the garage through a door next to the bay door. Gary mutters, "The old bald guy is sixty-two years old, Walter Sylvester, who Dickie will hook you up with for today and tomorrow."
Making a face, John mutters, "No, can't you train me, Gary? That guy looks grumpy as hell."
"This is a job, Darling, not playtime. Fill out the forms."
Muttering under his breath, John starts filling out new employee forms while Gary answers the phone and deals with walk-in customers. It takes twenty minutes to complete all the forms. Giving them to Gary, John asks, "What now," and Gary says, "Report to Dickie. He'll be in charge of you, and he is who you'll report to first thing every morning. What Dickie tells you to do is as if I told you to do it. I guess he wants Walter to be your immediate supervisor, although Dickie has the last word on everything you're concerned with. I'll see you at lunch so you can tell me how your morning went. Now, off you go so I can do my job."
John wants to ask if they'll have sex after work but remembers his plan to make Gary ask him for it. Squeezing his junk, he goes through the same door he saw Dickie use to enter the noisy garage area. It smells like motor oil and new tires. Not a bad smell. There is loud country music playing and loud buzzing from impact wrenches dealing with lug nuts, but there's no talking.
The Hispanic-looking mechanic with the baseball cap and a young-looking black guy John is seeing for the first time are working on separate cars up on lifts, and Dickie is working on a car on the floor with its hood up. Going to him, John hears cursing as Dickie shakes his hand, muttering, "Mother fucker won't come loose..."
"Dickie, um, excuse me, but Gary said I should report to you."
Dickie has an exasperated facial expression as if he's really pissed off, then forces a smile, saying, "No, I told him I don't have time... Ah, whoa! I gotta calm down. I told him you're to hook up with Walter. He's in the parking lot on the other side of the building. You'll be working for him, inventorying and washing all the used cars. I told him to expect you and that you'll be his helper, doing whatever he needs you to do except if he tells you to blow him. You don't need to do that... he's a kidder."
"Whaaaat?" Frowning, John thought he'd be working with either Gary or Dickie. What the fuck fun will it be working for some old man he doesn't even know? He says, "But I didn't think this is what..."
Dickie cuts him off, "Just go see Walt, alright? I'm trying not to lose my temper, buddy. Can't you simply do what you're told?"
John looks hurt, so Dickie adds, "It's just that I don't have time for you right now! Go ahead, Darling, get to work. This car I'm working on needs to be ready to go by ten o'clock."
Backing away, John mutters, "Jeez, okay." Then, grinning, he touches Dickie's cheek and says, "You've got a smear of grease or something across your cheek. Haha... Huck Finn, auto mechanic!"
Saying each word louder, Dickie says, "I can't fucking play around, Johnny." Then, taking a deep breath, he adds, "Gary's on my ass to get this engine working. I'm sorry to be so, um, business-like, but you need to get to work!"
Nodding, making a face, John goes out the door Dickie pointed at a minute ago. He sees the old baldheaded guy typing on an iPad. Taking a deep breath, not wanting to piss off Dickie any more than he already has, which will piss off both his bosses, John is determined to give this job a fair chance. He really wants to make him being Gary's boyfriend work out okay... sub/dom boyfriends living together in a hot, successful 24/7 relationship. Why that's important to him, John still doesn't know for sure, but he knows he's super attracted to Gary. In fact, thinking about Gary fucking him yesterday is giving him a boner right now.
Adjusting his crotch, John walks over to the old bald man; then, forcing a smile, he says, "Hi, I'm John Darling, and I'm supposed to..." The old bald man says, "Shut up, Sonny. I've got to concentrate on using this fucking computer they're making me use."
"Um, that's an iPad, not what most people would call a computer."
Getting red, the old fuck stammers, "Shut up! Dammit, now I've forgotten this Dodge's VIN number."
"Yeah, okay, but you don't need to tell me to shut up. That's, ah... And what's a VIN number?."
Baldie gets red in the face, and the red spreads to his bald head as he again says, "For the love of God, will you just shut up!"
"I didn't say anything. Jesus... what the hell's wrong with you?"
Walter stalks off, going through the door John just came out of.
Watching the old guy storming toward the office, John mutters, "What the fuck is going on here?" and then Dickie is at the door yelling, "Get over here, Johnny."
"What...?" John starts walking, and Dickie yells, "Now, Goddammit! Jog over here! I do not have time for this shit."
"What shit?"
John jogs over to whine to Dickie, "This old bastard keeps telling me to shut up, and I don't see how..."
Dickie cuts him off again, saying, "John, you work for Walter. He's your boss. Do what he says, including shutting up when he says shut up."
John looks at the old bald guy who is smirking as if, 'You're in trouble now, Sonny!' John looks back at Dickie, who finishes with, "It's easy to do! If Walt tells you to shut up, you need to shut up! Got it?"
Nodding, John says, "Well, Goddamn. It's kind of a rude way to be, but okay. I guess I can do that, Dickie."
When Dickie asks Walt, "Are you okay now, Walt?" John can see that Dickie is straining to keep his temper under control. John wants to help him and says, "I'm sorry for upsetting you, Walt." Then to Dickie, "Um, don't tell Gary about this, okay? I'll work fine with Walt."
Dickie says, "See, Walt, he's sorry."
Avoiding looking at John, Walter says, "Yeah, well, I don't need some girlie boy giving me a hard time, that's for damn sure. I've been a mechanic's helper for over forty years, ya know? And this Goddamn computer is all the headache I can handle, Dickie."
Nodding, Dickie says, "Of course, Walt. That's an iPad, not exactly a computer. John didn't understand how we work around here, but now he does. Don'cha, Johnny?"
"Yeah, sure," and then to Walt, he holds out his hand. Instead of shaking hands, Walt gives him the iPad, saying, "You're in charge of this computer from now on. I'll tell you what to type, and you type it where it says on the picture tube there."
Holding the iPad, John frowns, mumbing, "What? Picture tube?"
Dickie says, "Please, guys, do not disturb me again. Either of you!"
Walt says to John, "Let's go, Sonny. You've caused enough problems this morning." John follows him back to the car Walter was working on, repeating himself, saying, "I'll tell you what to type." He points at a space on the form that reads "VID Number." You type there and then where it shows you.
"Huh, what?"
For the next two hours, that's what they do; it's not just the cars' VIN numbers. There are speedometer readings to record, measurements for tire tread, and ten other measurements that need to be typed into the iPad for each of the twenty-eight used cars. Walt is not speedy, but he is very thorough, making John read back what he typed to ensure he typed what Walt told him to type. Yeah, Walt's slowly thorough, so thorough and slow after an hour, John wants to scream. It's tedious going beyond belief.
Waiting for Walter to measure the tire tread on a bald tire, John notices that there are many used cars, but nobody is here to sell them. He asks, "How come there's no salesman here? What if somebody wants to buy one of these junkers?"
Walt mutters, "Don't worry about it. Just type what I tell you."
Grinning, John mumbles, "You don't know why there's no salesman, either, huh?"
They only get through five cars when Walt checks his watch and says, "Follow me." They go inside, where Walt hands John a small pad of paper and a Bic pen, saying, "Ask everyone what they want for morning break and then get it at Wally's Donut shop in that strip Mall across the street."
"What? I mean, who pays for everything?"
"Mr. Marshall treats everyone to morning break, of course."
"Why would you say, 'of course'? And he's not here anyway."
Ignoring that as not his problem, Walter says, "I want a bear claw and a hot green tea with three sugars."
"What? Tea?"
"Write it on the pad. It's what I get every morning! Debby knows..."
John wants to say, 'And how the fuck was I supposed to know that?' but doesn't because Walt's head is getting red again. Walt adds, "Hurry, you're late for morning break as it is!"
Everything he says, he says with an exclamation point.
John wants to say, 'How is it my fault we're late for morning break?' but he doesn't say that either.
John goes to Dickie first, who says, "The usual," and John goes, "What's the usual?"
Dickie rolls his eyes, then says through clenched teeth, "Go ask, Walt!"
Stomping out to the parking lot, John goes to Walt, who is doing a car by himself, writing the information on a pad of paper for John to type into the iPad later. John asks, "What is the usual order for Dickie's morning break?"
Walt says as if John should have known this, "It's right there on the back of the pad. Everyone's regular order is right there. Ask them if they want the regular."
John stares at Walt until he sees him getting red-faced again, then says, "Oh," and goes back inside to ask the Hispanic guy if he wants the regular. The Hispanic guy with the baseball cap asks, "Who the fuck are you?" as does the young black guy. Everyone, including Gary, wants the regular. Gary tells him, "Wait, pretty boy," and he gets two twenty-dollar bills plus a ten from a metal box, "This is for the coffee break stuff; give Debby a tip. It usually comes to an even fifty dollars with the tip when everyone orders the regular. Your order equals out Mr. Marshall's order or close enough that the fifty dollars should be enough."
John nods, "Whatever." Gary says, "Keep it simple. Just give her the two twenties and the ten... you don't need change."
The girl at the counter of Wally's Donuts grins at John, asking, "Oh, wow, you're the new Marshall's guy, huh? What can I get you, sweetie."
John says, "Omigod, a nice person. First one I've encountered this morning. Um, yeah, I'm new at the garage over there," and he points unnecessarily over his shoulder, adding, "I'm the gofer for everyone's regular coffee orders."
She says, "You're two hundred million times nicer than Walt, who always gets the order. So, you want the regular?"
"Yes, do you know what it is?"
She nods, saying, "Yes, I've been getting this order since starting here at Wally's. I'm Debby, by the way," and John says, "John Darling. Nice to meet you."
As she puts a tea bag in a paper cup and then pours hot water in the cup, she asks, with a grin and a wink, "Was there a comma after John in your introduction, John?"
She's cute for a girl, about twenty years old, with almost a boy's haircut, about five feet tall, with perky facial features, and a nice girl's body, if that's not an oxymoron. John smiles, "I should have said, John Darling, no comma."
He leaves the money, carries everything across the street, and delivers it to the guys, none of whom says thanks. John asks Gary, "How did Mr. Marshall manage to find four socially impaired individuals to work here? I'm excluding you because you haven't yelled at or insulted me... yet."
He says, "I'll assume that's an attempt at humor. Finish delivering the coffees and whatnot before they get cold."
John nods and mutters, "Five socially impaired..."
Going into the garage bays to deliver the Hispanic and black guy their orders, he goes outside to give Walter his tea and bear claw, then John walks over to sit on a short brick wall to drink his coffee. A minute later, Walt says, "Come over here."
"What?"
With an exasperated sigh, John goes over, and Walt goes, "This tea is warm when it should be hot. You stayed over there flirting with Debby, didn't you? In any case, you took too long, and another thing... My bear claw is almost stale. It's one from Sunday's leftovers."
John murmurs, "Charming," and gets a stare from Walt, which goes on until John meekly says, "Sorry, Walt. I was kidding around with her, but seriously, how was I supposed to know about the bear claw?"
He'd like to tell this old baldheaded motherfucker to stick his bear claw up his ass, but he didn't want Walt's bright red head to catch on fire as he was running to complain to Dickie again. Walt didn't say anything this time. He just walked away. Shaking his head, John leans against a 2015 Toyota, drinking his coffee and eating the strawberry iced donut, thinking, "How am I going to get out of this bullshit job without pissing off Gary?
He and Walt, without talking socially at all, do the next ten cars before lunch. A food truck arrives for lunch, so John doesn't need to take everyone's order. He gets a ham and cheese sandwich on a roll and a root beer. Gary got bottled water and a spinach salad with low-calorie Italian dressing. As instructed, John ate with Gary in the office; Gary asked, "How is it going so far?"
"Good, Gary! Yeah, no problem."
John didn't want to complain on his first day or disappoint Gary.
After lunch, Walt and John finish the rest of the used car inventory, and then Walter says, "Give me the computer," and when he gets it, the two of them stand in the middle of the parking lot on this chilly, breezy day while Walt slowly checks all twenty-eight forms to be sure every block is filled in. John rolls his eyes, hugging himself to get warm, but doesn't say anything.
Dickie had caught up with his workload and now wanders out to see how his employees are coming along in the parking lot. "Walt, how's the inventory coming along?" Walt waves a hand at Dickie, muttering, "One minute, please. Let me finish checking on Sonny here, boss," so Dickie grins, and asks John, "How are you doing, sonny?"
John smiles, "It's fun having Walter as my boss."
Tapping the iPad, Walt says, "He's a slow worker, but he'll do what he's told, so I'll try working with him another day or two before giving you a thumbs up or down."
Dickie says, "John is only two days a week part-timer so far, Walt. Only Mondays and Tuesdays for a few months."
Walt looks at John, emphatically telling him, tiny spit balls coming from Walt's old mouth, "I've been doing this assisting the mechanics job for many years, so I'm telling you right now that you need to do everything faster. That's what Rich Marshall expects from me, and I expect no less from you, sonny boy. I agreed to train you to do my job so you can perform at the other shop, but only if you try hard to learn it and do what I say." Looking at Dickie, he asks, "Am I right, Rich?"
Looking uncomfortable, Dickie mutters, "Uh-huh, yeah, um, we'll see, Walter. Um, you've got an hour before the bell, so see how many cars you and Sonny can wash, paying special attention to the interior of every car, too. Finish up with the car washing tomorrow because, on Wednesday, there are ten oil changes scheduled."
Walt says, "Wait a minute, Rich! Are you just now telling me that Sonny won't be here Wednesday, and that's when I need a flunky helper the most."
Obviously getting pissed, Dickie says, "You've been doing oil changes for forty years without a flunky helper, and in any case, he'll only be helping you until we send him to the other shop."
Walt's bald head is getting dark red again, "I'm talking with your father at five o'clock, ya know."
John looks at Dickie because that shit from Walter sounded like a threat, so who does this old fuck, Walters, think Dickie's father is going to side with? Walter is the one who should be watching his ass. What the fuck going on here?
Dickie says, "Have a nice talk with my dad, Walt, but in the meantime, you and your helper need to get a few of these cars shaped up," and he abruptly turns and walks back inside the shop.
Walt says to John, "Well, don't just stand there... Let's go," as if John should know where everything is.
Naturally, John mutters, "What?" and Walt mumbles, "Follow me, Sonny," and he walks toward the back of the building, saying, "Don't let Dickie scare you. He's an okay boy."
"What? Scare me? Dickie and I grew up together."
They wash only two cars before five o'clock. Everybody clears out by two minutes after five, just as Mr. Marshall, Dickie's father, drives up and says hello to the workers in the parking lot. Dickie explains to John that Mr. Marshall is here until six o'clock to accommodate customers picking up their repaired cars.
Then Dickie says, "Johnny, don't take off yet. My old man wants to see you in the office. Gary said he'll wait for you in the truck. He also said you guys aren't hooking up with Andy and me later, so I'll see you at work tomorrow."
John nods, thinking, 'What? We're not seeing Andy and Dickie tonight?'
He gets that weird, scary feeling again. Then, walking into the office, he remembers Gary saying they were going to Gary's friend's apartment tonight. In the office, he sees Gary at the desk, not in the pickup as Dickie said. Gary says, "Where the hell have you been? Mr. Marshall is waiting to see you. He's in there," pointing at the private office behind the counter.
John's scary feeling gets stronger as he taps on the door with Gary saying, "Just go on in, for Christ's sake..."
He opens the door and sees Mr. Marshall behind a cluttered desk. He gets right up, murmuring, "Johnny, my boy..." and comes around the desk to hug John, "I'm so glad you're getting better, son. When we heard about your troubles, Richard was devastated, and the Mrs. cried."
Letting go of John, he continued, "Richard and I were reminiscing about the sleepovers at our house you boys had and how Richard was so protective of you. It was sweet the way he looked out for you. Then, of course, we found out that Richard, er, Dickie, was gay and all that. Anyway, I just wanted to welcome you to the shop, although for the life of me, I can't figure out why you'd want this job. You're almost done with college. At Duke, right?"
"Yes, sir. This job is just something to do, and with Dickie being my boss, it's really nice."
"He has the wild idea that you're training to fill the full-time opening in our Laramie main shop."
John shrugs, "Oh, I didn't hear about that, um... I'm just keeping busy, putting off my last semester at Duke until I'm feeling, um, more normal."
"Of course, John. We're very proud of you. At least you're working, um, training with a wonderful man. Walter Sylvester and I go back many years. But, for now, go ahead and catch up with Gary. It's wonderful to see you're doing alright."
Leaving the office, he sees Walter frowning at him. "Hi, Walter. Um, Mr. Marshall is, um, I just said hi to him."
"Did you say anything about me?"
"NO!."
"You better not!" and he's into the office. That was a little strange, but this whole day was strange. Plus, the day seemed very long to John, so he was happy to get into his pickup truck's passenger seat. Then, smiling, he's looking at fat Gary, who already looked less fat in his face. Gary asks, "Everything okay with old man Marshall?"
John nods, saying, "Yes, but I'm curious. Mr. Marshall mentioned Dickie being gay. Um, does Mr. Marshall know that you and I are gay?"
"I'd be shocked if he didn't. Dickie is still living at home, and he must have mentioned our situation. Maybe not, but I'll bet he did. You know, at dinner, he probably said something about not being the only gay boy in town... blah, blah, blah."
Shrugging, John mutters, "I don't care either way; I just wondered."
Gary asks, "Where's your cowboy hat?"
"Oh fuck! Dickie told me not to wear it working, and I forgot to get it after work from the little coat room, or whatever the room is called."
Driving sway, Gary mumbles, "Well, get it tomorrow. So, how was your first day on the job? Dickie told me you and Walt got off to a rocky start, but he straightened both of you out."
John frowned, muttering, "I wouldn't have described it that way, but I guess he did straighten us both out. Mostly, he straightened me out. He seemed timid about dumping on Walt."
"That's because Walt is somehow special to Dickie's old man. They met in the service, the Air Force, many years ago and were close friends or something. Anyway, everybody tends to cut Walt some slack. He got hurt while on active duty and is a little slow because of it, but he's okay, I guess."
John keeps his opinion to himself about asshole Walter, saying instead, "What are they doing with all those used cars?"
"They sell them in bulk to developing countries like Nigeria."
"Oh, Walter didn't know. Whatever, what are we doing when we get, um, home, Gary?" Obviously, he's hoping Gary says... let's have sex.
He doesn't, though. He says, "We're not going home right now. We're going to that sex toy shop in Colorado; remember we discussed that last night?"
Nodding, John's encouraged, thinking this means sex tonight. He says, "Oh, right, um, and I guess I'm not doing my weightlifting today? Instead, I'll be trying on the new dildo cock ring... cool."
Gary mutters, "Yeah, we'll skip the weightlifting for today. Every other day is good. I don't want to pass up Denny's dinner invitation because he puts out a good meal. That's his hobby... cooking."
"We're eating dinner at that guy's house? Um, I feel funny about that."
Gary says, "You'll be meeting all my friends. I told you about Denny."
"You mentioned him, but I'd rather not have dinner if you don't mind. It'd be awkward for me not knowing anyone there."
Exhaling a noisy breath, Gary says, "Well, I do mind, and you will have dinner with us. Now, you said you're anxious to wear the sex toys. That's a switch from when you complained about me making you wear them."
"I didn't want to do it at first, but you made me wear them anyway, saying I'll get used to them, and you were right! But don't make me go with you tonight. Please, Gary, I'm shy about meeting new people."
"You're going, so stop it! You'll meet Denny Morning and his main squeeze, Clarence Smith. We'll probably get home too late for sex."
What, no sex this morning or tonight? John promised himself he wasn't going to mention sex. He was going to make Gary ask for it, but he's horny! He says, "Um, maybe I could try on the sex toys back at your, um, our apartment before dinner."
"No, we're driving right to Denny's from the sex shop. And then we'll be lucky to get home from Denny's by nine o'clock. We have work tomorrow, ya know. You'll have the rest of the week to get to bed as late as you want."
John's feeling shaky at the thought of not getting fucked today. He holds his hand out to his side where Gary can't see it, and his fingers tremble. Fuck, maybe Gary's right, and he is unnaturally oversexed. Jeez, that would really blow!
During the thirty-five-minute drive to the Lion's Den Adult Toys Shop, Gary chastised John for sulking about going to the dinner tonight. Then he quizzed John about today, and John gave an edited version, minus the negatives. Gary's like, "Goddamn, I'm proud of you, Darling. Good job! Walter can be a pain in the ass at times if he gets stressed. From what you've said, Walk seems to have liked you. Calling you, Sonny... haha, that's cute."
John says, "Um, yeah, Walt's great. Ah, Gary, the owner, Mr. Marshall, was puzzled that I'd even want the job, but I told him I needed time before returning to finish my senior year at Duke. Then he said something about me eventually working full-time in his other repair shop."
Gary mutters, "Yeah, that's my long-range plan for you as a full-time employee, but not until January. I can't envision how we can continue our relationship with you at Duke, so forget about going back there. Walter is this office's mechanic assistant, or flunky to be accurate, and you'll be the Laramie office's mechanic assistant/flunky. I'll have a car by then to drive myself to work while you'll be driving yourself to the Laramie shop. It's like a forty-minute ride, but we could get a new apartment, so our rides to work are the same."
"But I want to work where you work. Um, I mean, this was never supposed to be permanent... was it? And, that twenty-four/seven thing. I thought that you keeping an eye on me was the whole reason I was working. If I'm in Laramie, um..."
Looking over at John, Gary says, "Stop it! And stop using that whining voice. Jesus, I hate that. Be a man, John! Your baby routine doesn't work with me, and who knows what could happen in the next three months. I could get transferred, or maybe you can work in this shop. And it's always been meant as a permanent arrangement. You can't lull around our apartment all day, can you?"
John shrugs, "No, of course not. Whatever you say, Gary," but he thinks, 'Fuck that. I'm not driving forty minutes each way to a shitty job. Hell, I don't even need to work. I'm only doing this job so Gary won't get mad at me, but why fight about something that may or may not happen next January?'
What he isn't factoring in is how deeply he could be into Gary Thomas by then and how much control Gary will have over him by then.
For now, John glances at Gary and shivers, wanting to have sex with him and his fat body in the worst way. Gee, if he's wicked attracted to Gary in his fat body with this unfortunate beard, what will it be like if Gary has a hot, slim body and no beard, just his handsome face? John could be spellbound and in love with him, doing everything he was told.
Biting his thumbnail, grinning to himself, he thinks, 'Wouldn't it be a bitch if I get so enamored of Gary when he gets hot and handsome, I do end up in that other shop working for minimum wage with three million dollars in the bank... doing it because Gary insists and I can't resist.'
Thinking that John grunts, "Umm," feeling his dick tightening up into a boner.
Gary asks, "What was that?"
"Nothing, just a stabbing pain of horniness."
Shaking his head, Gary says nothing as he pulls up to the curb in front of the adult toy shop, saying, "I heard a text come in on my cell. It's probably from Denny about tonight."
He reads the text, then says, "We need to hurry, pretty boy. We're meeting Denny and Clarence at their apartment at seven o'clock, an hour's drive from here."
Inside the shop, a very unattractive man with a long beard, who doesn't appear to be the least bit gay, or have any public relations savvy, says, "We're closing in ten minutes, fags, and I mean exactly in ten minutes."
The unattractive man looks startled when Gary says, "No shit, asshole, we were able to read that on your front door," then to me, "We want to go over to the left."
John's looking at the staggering number of dildo variations, cock rings, and other so-called adult sex toys, many of which John can't imagine how you'd use them or what they're supposed to be. Gary picks up various toys, saying each one's name. "We definitely want this Loverboy 9-inch realistic vibrating dildo with balls. How will that feel up your ass, huh?"
He hands it to John, who nods and mutters, "Awesome..."
Passing a plastic package to John, Gary mutters, "Three different size silicone cock rings, and here's a must item. It's a cock ringmaster with dual support for cock AND balls. This is a tight good-feeling device you won't want me to take off, but I don't like my submissive sex partners wearing it for more than twenty minutes at a time. Dickie has one that he'll wear around the house for a couple of hours."
"Huh! That's, um..."
Gary interrupts, "Oh, yeah... look at this. This is a must-have toy. The stay-hard silicone single-loop cock ring and that's all we have time for now. We'll come back some Saturday afternoon a spend an hour or two here." Then he mutters, " Well," and picks up a dildo, adding, "This doesn't vibrate, but sometimes it's good to have a sturdy plain dildo when my pecker is sore. Will add this to the others."
Running his fingers through his gross-looking gray beard, the man yells, "That's it, you two! Let's go, you smart asses; I'm closing right now."
When they checked out their toys, John's surprised at how inexpensive it all was. Carrying the bag of sex toys walking out of the store, he says, "All these toys cost less than everybody's morning coffee break."
As Gary drives them back to Wyoming, John takes Gary's cowboy hat off, saying, "Let me wear this. I want to be looking cool for your friends."
"Put the hat back on my head."
Settling the hat back on Gary's head, John mutters, "You're a grouch... ya know that? Grouchy, that's you!"
Gary does a dramatic, deep sigh, saying nothing.
John plays with the sex toys, taking them out of their packaging, holding them, and getting a roaringly hard boner as he squirms on the seat and then can't help himself, "C'mon, Gary. Please fuck me before bed tonight. I won't nag you if we at least do it once a day. That's not much. Every-fucking-body has sex at least once a day, right? Please, I hate to be a pain in the ass, but you're my man, my dominant top, ya know? I depend on you, and you're so fucking hot. I can't help but nag you..."
"Stop it! If we get home in time, we'll have our usual good sex. If we don't get home in time, we'll set the alarm early Wednesday morning, and I'll fuck you then. And, hey, maybe Clarence will want to fuck you. He doesn't get a chance to top because Denny is the ultimate top, and he plows Clarence a lot if I can believe what he tells me."
"What? Do you mean it would be alright if this black guy I don't know fucks me, fucks your boyfriend?"
Gary glances over at John, asking, "Seriously... you find that surprising? That's a shock considering you switched off your nurse as your top to me, changing to me like changing your hat, and yet, you find it hard to believe that it's okay by me if you have sex with a buddy of mine. We're not married or anything, and I want you to be my happy, contented boyfriend."
John squints, trying to remember who else said that line... we're not married to him. John goes, "Um, no, I guess I thought I was, ya know, so special you wouldn't let anyone come near me."
"No, I don't think that."
John thinks, 'Damn, huh. I guess I wanted Gary beating anyone up who made a pass at me. This is better, though...'
To be continued... donnymumford@outlook.com
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