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No sex in this first chapter... just the installment.
I was at a turning point in my life. Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Al and I am 1,80 m high and an average weight of 80 kilos. At the moment of this story, I was 42, living on my own with no-one special in my life. I still thought I would conquer the world, but my lousy job didn't match that idea. I was the typical next-door guy, nothing really special, just average. My brown hair matched my brown eyes. A constant two to three day's beard was always visible on my squared jaw. I wasn't really hairy but not really smooth either. I trimmed my pubes on a very regular basis and shaved my balls almost every other day, but nobody enjoyed the care I gave to what I had in my mini white briefs. Yes, I always paid attention to my underwear, as my mother had always told me to do so because you never know when people will see it. She was thinking about any hospital personnel, I was thinking about different situations. Oh yes, I forgot, I am gay.
The economical crisis hit full force and like many other people I lost my job. Finding something new was certainly not going to be easy. Recession, cost-cutting and all kind of excuses were daily currency. I browsed the Internet and all possible job sites and sent my resumé to hundreds of companies of which very few had the politeness to respond or even acknowledge the fact they had received it. Would it be too harsh to say I was pissed? Well, sorry, I was. I got convinced that big part of job related ads were as false as a 3,50 euro banknote. The bigger the ad, the less chance there was it was a true one.
With my degrees and Masters I had, I could at least hope for a decent job. Unfortunately I had to realize I was in need of money and even accepted to send my resumé for jobs I was overqualified for. I was desperate enough to lower my standards. Nonetheless, there was one ad that really caught my attention although it was at the other side of the country. It was a very small ad. No big logos of the company or pretentious super design. You could actually look over it and pass by, but I didn't. They were looking for someone exactly with my qualifications and despite the distance, I wrote. If I had to move to a new place, I was prepared for it.
It took them less than 24 hours to respond, saying they were interested in my resumé and could I meet them at their offices. I was sure they had seen my address and knew I was far away. It was obvious to me that an interview was also a test from their part to see how willingly I was to get the job. I immediately answered their e-mail, saying that they only had to give me a date and an hour and that I would be there. Their reply was as prompt as mine and I had exactly two days time to be as presentable and ready at their offices for an interview although I was not even sure to have the job. I thought it was worth the risk.
The following day I went to the hairdresser and even bought myself a new suit. I really wanted to be at my very best for that interview. At the appointed hour I was at the modest reception desk in a modest building, greeted by a very smiley receptionist who invited me to sit down while she would call the manager. I didn't have to wait long till a man of about forty-five shook my hand, welcomed me and thanked me to travel all over the country to meet him. He told me to follow him to his office and to sit down in front of his desk that was so covered with papers that a cat wouldn't have found her kittens. Didn't that man have a secretary or something like that? Anyway... he was pleasant and put me at ease in the first minute. He presented himself and the company. Then he told me what they expected and the work conditions and salary. When he was finished he asked me if I had any questions. I didn't know where I got the guts from.
-When do you want me to start?
He laughed out loud.
-I like the way you're thinking and that you go straight to the point. What makes you think I already made up my mind?
-I guess you are an honest person and straight to the point yourself. If you were not convinced I could be your perfect candidate, I don't think you would have made me travel from one side of the country to the other. That makes me think your mind was made up for 35%. The next 35% came from the fact you took your time to tell me exactly what your company is doing and what it is needing. Then we had another 30% where you gave me the work conditions and salary... The only 5% left are for you to tell me yes or no.
-Wow... that is an accurate and quick analysis of the situation at hand. I like that. If you will allow it, I would now like to have a more personal conversation with you, as human beings and not working related items...
I knew I was going to be very honest with him and not avoid the slightest question. What surprised me the most was that he first talked about his personal situation and then asking my position regarding to what he had told me. It was not a nosey way of getting information from me. So far I liked Jude very much. He was open and transparent. When he told me about his wife, I knew what the following question would be.
-Is there any significant other in your life, Al?
If he was homophobic I could say farewell to the job. That was the reason why I told him I am gay as openly as he told me about his wife, except that I had no significant other in my life. He just said ok without insisting on the subject and apparently not giving it any special attention. For him it was just a piece of information more.
-Let me return a question to you Al. When can you start? As for me as soon as possible isn't soon enough. I need you here.
I had made my time calculations on my way to Jude's office and I gave him a date that was reasonable, explaining I had to give up my apartment, find a new one and move.
-There is a brand new complex not so far from here. They advertise it with the rainbow flag which means you wouldn't have any problem at all. If you are interested, you can rent the place with an option to buying in the future. If you want, I can give a call to my brother-in-law Bill who is in charge there and I guess he could even let you visit the units that are still free.
I jumped to the occasion and Jude made the call. In less than five minutes we were on our way to the complex and I met Bill. Jude insisted with his brother-in-law to get me the best deal as I was going to work with him. Believe it or not, but half an hour later I had seen the perfect apartment for me and at a very reasonable price. When I went back home in the afternoon, I had two contracts in my pocket. One was a work contract and the other was the lease contract with the option to buy it in two years time or continuing the lease.
The very next day I contacted my landlord to say I gave up the place. He was not really happy about it because he had seen how I took care of it and always paid my rent in time, but didn't make any problem for me to move out when I wanted. I knew he wouldn't have a problem to find someone else to come in my place.
So, here I was, scared to death about this new beginning: new town, new apartment, new job and new car as it was included in the package. I knew I was going to love the job. There was no doubt I was going to love the new apartment and it was obvious I was going to enjoy the new KIA SUV Sportage that was shinning in the sun. Within less than two weeks time, the apartment was decorated and the furniture moved from one place to the new one. Bill was an enormous help for finding shops and so on. Bill was obviously gay, but not my type at all. Nonetheless he took me out several nights to discover the nightlife and the gay-friendly places, introducing me to a lot of his friends and even a few tenants in the complex where I was now living. Nightlife had never been my cup of tea, but being in a new place and knowing absolutely nobody, I saw the use of getting out a few times. That's how I discovered "The Corner", a cosy little bar where most of the tenants were more my age than at the noisy bars where the youngsters went to. Freddy, the bartender and owner of the place, was a very friendly man and pleasant to talk to. In his bar you couldn't really talk about tenants. It was more a gathering place for friends and after two or three visits I was accepted as one more friend in that bar.
The first day at the new job was more dedicated to paperwork and installing my office, getting all the settings on my computer and learning how the telephone system worked. Janice, the receptionist, was an all round secretary for Jude and me, but insisted from the start that she wouldn't tidy up my office.
-I tried it once with Jude's office and I was shouted at as he didn't find his things back.
I could imagine it. Jude's office was a mess but he found everything back in a split second. I could reassure her that my office would never reach that state. She didn't say anything but looked at me, holding her fingers crossed in the air. I won't enter in details what our company does. Just let me tell you I am responsible for the commercial part of it and that means I travel quite a lot to meet old and new clients. Jude found that my analytical mind was an absolute asset in that department and discussing new strategies with him was really challenging and he was always open to new ideas. The new approach I brought in made him doubt from time to time, till he noticed that the figures were getting better each month and even each week. From then on, he let me do my things the way I wanted and, even if I say so myself, he had no complaints whatsoever.
I easily settled in my new life and was happy with the decision I made to move so far from my home-town. It was like ... a new-found freedom. I kept in touch with the very few friends I had left behind and as suspected, these contacts decreased as well. At the same time, new acquaintances came to my life. I was surprised to note such differences between the North and the South of our country and even more in the mentality of the people. Here in the South people were more open and certainly smiled a lot more. I had to admit that waking up in the morning and seeing a blue sky helped a lot in that aspect.
It became a habit to go to "The Corner" on Fridays after work and even though I always separate private life and the professional one, Jude sometimes came with me. He made it a point to not talk about work when we had a drink and I appreciated it. It was obvious Jude had no problems with gays and sometimes he even wanted to now more about what it is to be gay, what gay life is all about and yes, even what gay sex is like. From the very start, we had always been honest with each other and I didn't see why I would change that and answered all his questions truthfully. When he asked some more intimate questions, I answered and then asked how it was with straight sex.
-Well... you know...
-No, Jude, I don't know. It is the same for you and for me. You don't know about gay sex and I don't about straight sex. It is as easy as that.
He had to admit I was right. We take so much things for granted and they are not always that. The absolute furthest I ever went with a girl was kissing and even that had not given me any satisfaction. A kiss with a man is totally different, more profound, more intense, using mouth and tongue to the fullest. A kiss with a girl or a woman never got me hard. A kiss with a man could get me hard in seconds!
In one of such conversations he got me totally flabbergasted and stunned.
-I'll have to try that one day.
I couldn't believe my ears. Jude was the typical macho straight man, the proverbial arrow straight man. I didn't have the slightest suspicion that he would even have a remote wish to discover a kiss with a man and even less gay sex. I knew he was open-minded for a lot of things, but not that! Anyway, it all stayed to the level of talking, nothing more. But anyway, most of the time we talked about everything and nothing. Jude joined me on my Friday habit more than once and it was always pleasant. He would drink one beer, or maximum two, and then leave to go home. I would stay a little longer and have a chat with other tenants or Freddy at the bar.
As one Friday I entered "The Corner" alone, Freddy looked a little quizzical at me.
-Where is your boyfriend?
I didn't know what he was talking about and asked him who he thought my boyfriend was.
-Jules or what is his name?
-Jude you mean and he is not my boyfriend, he is my boss.
-Whatever you say Al, but the way he looks at you, I was pretty convinced he was your boyfriend. Sorry! My mistake I guess.
Where on earth had he come up with such an idea? How did Jude look at me? I didn't have a clue and never searched for one, but now that Freddy mentioned it, I was wondering. Jude was always quite forward and never avoided my eyes when talking. Was it that that Freddy saw? I couldn't help to ask him.
-Yes, indeed, he always looks you in the face when talking, but it is more his stares when you are not talking I am referring to. He has a very discreet way to check you out. Jeez, I am standing here behind this bar for so long that I start to recognize things, and I can tell you he is definitely after you. By the way, you are an awesome couple.
-We would be if we were a couple, but we are not.
-Well... don't let him escape from your hands, buddy.
This small conversation surely opened my eyes concerning my boss. I didn't know if Freddy was correct or not and if he was, Jude certainly had been very cautious to not let me know. What happened next was that I paid a lot more attention to the way Jude looked at me and acted when I was around. At the office I had met his wife Lily more than once and I found her a very nice and beautiful woman. To use Freddy's words, they were an awesome couple.
For a few mayor contracts, Jude went with me to see the clients. His presence as owner and manager of the company, always impressed the people we visited. When the client's location was further away and we had to stay over for a night, we always had separate rooms in a nice hotel without being the top of the top. It was not that the company could not afford it. It was Jude's strategy to show we had the money but didn't waste it either. He made it a point to have a nice restaurant to celebrate if we closed a good deal which was quite often. The following day we would go back to the office and business would go on as always.
Did you ever think about the fact that time flies by when everything goes as it should? I had not realized it till I celebrated my first year's anniversary in my new life. It had been so fulfilling and satisfactory. Both, Jude and I, were happy with our collaboration and we were convinced things would go on like that.
I was now a more than familiar face at "The Corner" and my connection with Freddy was stronger than ever. I was even wondering if he tried to seduce me at one point, but then we talked it over. He admitted he wouldn't mind having sex with me, but that he valued our friendship a lot more than a one-night stand. On some occasions we even exchanged kisses that made me hard as soon as his lips touched mine, but we never got any further than that. There was a real mutual appreciation and the bar acquaintance became friendship. He still insisted that I should consider having Jude as my boyfriend. I couldn't disagree more and kept my silent vow to not mix private life with the professional one and even more separate sex from work.
Jude, on his part, kept asking about gay life from time to time and I stopped being surprised by his questions. Meanwhile, I had had a few encounters and it was almost every time Freddy who instigated them. He knew me enough to know who would be a good match for me and never doubted in telling me. Most of the times he was right, on the spot and it gave me a few wonderful nights of torrid sex, but strangely enough it were always one-night stands without repeat-session. Only with Carl I had sex more than once. We both knew it was purely sexual and nothing else. The nights we spent together were great and the sex was wonderful, being both versatile we enjoyed anal sex a lot and the preliminaries were awesome. But it was sex, point final. A few times I considered taking it to the next level and that was when I discovered Carl was from another town where he was happily married to another man. They had an open relationship and both seemed to be happy with it.
An open relationship was not my cup of tea. As long as it was sex for sex, I didn't care about the other's status. When feelings were involved, I was not ready to share my boyfriend or husband with anyone. Call me old-fashioned if you want, but that's the way I am. With Freddy we had a long conversation about the subject. I asked him if he didn't feel alone.
-Yes, sometimes I do, but I have to face reality. I am actually married to my bar. I work long hours and I love it. As long as I work, I am never alone and here I have hundreds of very good acquaintances and a few good friends. If I need or want sex, I can pick-up anyone. It is strange to see the attraction there is between bartender and tenants. Being true to myself, I have to say that a relationship would bother me. I tried it a few times and it never worked out. Boyfriends tend to quickly become possessive and I can't have that. I worked a lot to be where I am and happy to be here. I won't let anybody interfere with that.
-But reaching an empty place after work is not always easy...
-I know what you mean and you are right. There is nothing such as a perfect situation. I made my choices and I am ready to pay the price for them and as I say, it I want company, it is only a snap of a finger away.
I guess we are all free to make our own choices as long as we are consequent about them. Freddy was. In a certain way, I admired him. His will-power was quite big and he knew exactly what he wanted. I was pretty much the same, but.... The loneliness sometimes nagged at me, telling me I was wasting my love-life. When that happened, I threw myself into work with double energy.
To be continued...
This story will be interactive. This means that I wait to read your comments and see how YOU want the story to go... Let me know at amahy1957@gmail.com