Warning: the following story contains graphic descriptions of male/male/female sex between consenting adults. If that sort of thing bothers you, or you are a minor, or it is illegal for you to read this type of content under the laws of your area, don't read any further.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people or events is purely coincidental.
Accolades, encouragement, suggestions, comments, and corrections are welcome and gladly accepted. Flames will be utterly ignored. dog_oocl@yahoo.com.au
Chapter 7.
We went back to my place after the visit to Tomas' ex-employer to pick up his backpack.
"Mr. James you kick me out?"
"No, Tomas, I'm taking you to a much nicer place than mine, and you could stay there as long as you like"
"But I like you, I like here"
"I like you too, but the flat is too small for 2 persons" I was not ready to change my living arrangement, not just yet. Tomas followed me down to my car like a puppy dog, dejected, looking rather unhappy.
I took my car through Kings Cross, into Rushcutters' Bay Road, passed the park where I received my very first blow job from Ben, uphill through Edge Cliff, continued our journey passing Double Bay, Vaucluse, Point Piper, then reached our destination Rose Bay. Parked my car outside a house with two huge Morton Bay Fig trees adorning its front.
"Very beautiful house, Mr. James, your house?" He was duly impressed.
"Not mine, my parents'"
Mother opened the door, "Good morning James, nice to see you, and that must be Tomas, welcome to our house, I'm Jennifer, call me Jenny if you like"
"Good morning Mrs. Jenny"
She planted kisses on my cheeks, then grabbed Tomas's hand and did the same, she hung on to Tomas and guided him through the hallway into the family room. I was surprised to see the whole family, except Matt, was there. I dutifully exchanged kisses and handshake with each of the family member while mother was doing the introduction.
"This is Tomas, everybody, you probably recognise him by his photo in today's paper" So thats what the family gathering was for, me and Tomas became the minor celebrities, our 3 minutes of fame.
"James' grand father Edmund, grand mother Susan, father Lionel, sister Jessica, or Jess, her husband Vincent, and of course me his mother Jenny, the only person missing here today is James' brother Matt, who is overseas in God knows where" I hoped Tomas remembered all those names. Tomas kissed and hugged each of them, I had to warn him to take it easy on my grands on the hugging, so not to crack their bones.
Mother disappeared after we sat down, then returned holding a tray with glasses and bottle of champagne resting in a wine cooler. I was totally embarrassed by now, I could feel a deep blush spreading my cheeks.
"Mother, no need for the fuss!"
"Well, James, not everyday you child appeared in the national paper for the right reason, and you must admit, it was a marvellous defense. We are also here to celebrate Tomas' well deserved freedom" Crystal clinked and bubblies sipped. I noticed Tomas suddenly went all quiet, our family could be overwhelming. Then unexpectedly, Tomas covered his face with both hands and started sobbing, mother was alarmed, "Oh Tomas, did I say something wrong?" She went over and embraced him, then, she knew. It turned out our family reminded him of his losses. He was condemned by war, all his family members perished in it, and Tomas orphaned by it. When he finished his story, minus the bits relating to Captain Mueller, and at my flat, there was not a dry eye in the house, mother, and the rest of my family, took a shine to Tomas from that moment on. They adopted him on the spot, Tomas Ancic-Menzie was born. He was in good hands when I left him.
I received regularly progress reports from mother, how she took on the duty of helping Tomas to improve his English, and his daily job hunting disappointment etc. Few weeks later, came the good news, he found work in a gas station in Rose Bay, man Friday kind of job, refilling, cleaning, and cashier duties. The pay wasn't that much less than a junior law firm associate, I deserved a raise. Tomas and I never slept together again, not that I didn't enjoy the sex we had, but in my heart I knew he was more attracted to the opposite sex. Besides, I still had to sort out my relationship with Marrion.
I met Marrion at the airport, she came out of the arrival gate looking radiant, that holidays did her good. I kissed her on her cheeks, then suddenly I realized someone was standing right next to us. A thirty something guy in glasses, Marrion did the introduction.
"Oh, I like to introduce you guys, this is James and this is Bradley, we met at the Bangkok Conference" We shaked hands, something was going on between those two, when I saw Marrion kissed that Bradley guy, on the lips, well well well, and said "I'll ring you later tonight Brad". He left me and Marrion behind. We went to pick up my car, We were quiet all the way from airport to Marrion's home in Bellevue Hill.
"Coming in James? I think we need to talk" I knew whats on offer.
"It's about you and Bradley?" "Yes"
"Our relationship is heading nowhere, we both want different thing. You are not prepared to commit yourself, and I want to get married and bring up a family. I still love you, but in my heart I know we are not in love" She made things so easy for me.
"I met Bradley at the Bangkok Conference, we hit off straight away, and it was love at first sight, I'm sorry James, I hope I haven't upset you too much" No, sweetheart.
"I respect your decision Marrion, I wish things turn out differently between us, cie la vie" I was acting out a forced smile on my face, I was the victim here, had to play the part of the deeply hurt. I wasn't brave enough to reveal to her the true James Menzie.
"Friends still?" "You bet" Ironically, in actual fact, we had been friends instead of lovers all that time we were together, I was fooling myself, and taking Marrion on the way, and I was pleased that things started to work out well for her. No need to face that burden of guilt. We kissed and said our goodbyes.
"I'll call you soon James" "Don't forget the invitation to your wedding" Did I fool her?
At work things turned out well for me, I was given more cases to handle, but I was still waiting for that promotion and raise. Perhaps Johann would like to wait until the Olympic Opening Ceremony to tell me face to face? Then I got the call from his secretary.
"Hi James, Mr. Long's secretary Veronica here" Husky and sexy.
"Oh, hi, Veronica, whats up"
"Just to remind you don't forget this Saturday night. the Olympic Opening Ceremony, I'll send over the ticket later on, and dinner will be served at the box. Dress code Polo and jeans, and we'll see you there"
I arrived at the Homebush Olympic Stadium 8pm sharp, Johann and Veronica hadn't turned up yet. I knew the traffic would be horrible, so I took the train instead. I bet those two held up in the traffic jam. The VIP corporate box not only had a fantastic view but the catering services were phenomenal. By 8.30, while I was nursing my warm glass of beer, Johann and Veronica, together with 3 other couples entered the box. I recognized the three guys, they were well known underworld god fathers, if there were any truth in the rumors, the three guys here would have control over half of Australia's illicit business, I won't be surprised it the box was wiretapped. The chicks with them were too young and beautiful to be their wives. Employees? the Veronicas of the underworld.
Drinks flowing freely, canap'e, cray fish, oyster, roast beef kept coming. Johann was in his element, dirty jokes, jokes at the expense of the prosecutors, I was enjoying myself. Being the only unattached, I received full attention from those four female employees. They flirted with me all night and it didn't seem to bother their employers, not even Johann. As a matter of fact, I found Johann was a bit too friendly on some occasions, having his arm around me and his hand slapping on my knees, could he be? No, he was well known being a skirt chaser. And Veronica, several times she leaned over and planted kisses on my cheeks, ruffled my hair, resting her hand on my knees, looking at me with those false long eye lashes flapping like the wings of butterfly, with her juicy red lips forming the occasional "O", I wondered if I might be the dessert for the night? Alarm bell started ringing, I better took my drinks slowly.
The Opening Ceremony was spectacular, Cathy Freeman, the firework, the crowd, I enjoyed the night as all the others. When we were leaving, Johann said the night was still young, why didn't I join him and Veronica for a nightcap? I declined, too tired, early morning tomorrow to visit my parents, etc etc, lame excuses, not good at giving excuses, not since the morning after that night at the park. I could detect a hint of displeasure on Johann's face, but as my grand father often reminded me "James, whatever you do in you life, never shit on your own doorstep" I wasn't going to do it for Johann, I was not desparate, I was not Tomas in Hamburg with no other alternative, I wasn't ready to exchange sex for promotion, I didn't need a Cpatain Mueller at this point of my life. Not that Johann and Veronica were ugly, in contrary, they were chic and exceptionally good looking, but not on my own doorstep. However, I did wonder what would it be like to have a threesome with that couple, well, I'm a man of principle, so I never found out.
The next day, I decided to act, after days of pondering, I picked up the phone and dialed the number. A female voice answered the phone.
"Hello"
"Hi, is that Mrs. Miller? This is James, James Menzie, Benjamin's high school classmate"
"Oh, hello Jamie, it's been a long time, I was thinking of you the other day, I saw you photo on the Saturday paper, well done Jamie, are you Ok, and how's your family? and that girlfriend of your, what's her name? Marrion?" My 3 minutes of fame.
"I apologize for not keeping in touch, Mrs. Miller. Everyone is fine, mother and father are still lecturing at the Uni, Jessica got married a couple of years ago, no kids yet, my grands still happily retired, and I'm still happily single"
"Well, so is Ben, but if you are looking for him, he's not home at the moment, as a matter of fact, you probably know he'd joined the army after high school and currently he is in East Timor. I can give you his mailing and email address. But because of the nature of his deployment, his replies could take weeks if not months. I was told the duty of his unit could be rather hazardous, with the fightings going on with the Indonisian militias over there, I worry sick over his safety, sometimes I asked myself why couldn't he just be a regular soldier instead of joining the Special Unit" Because Ben was special. I wrote down the mailing and email address.
"Don't worry too much, Mrs. Miller, the Australian Army, in particular, the Special Unit, provides excellent training to our soldiers and our casualty rate is almost zero. How's Blue Mountain these days?" She lived in a little cottage in Blue Mountain.
"Oh, too many new houses being built here now, all those city folks having their sea change. They are good folks, but Blue Mountain is slowly becoming another big country town. Good for the value of properties though. Please write to Ben, he will be very happy to hear from you. You were his only friend at school, all the other boys looked down on him because he was a scholarship kid. He always mention how kind you and your parents towards him" I felt a little pain in my chest, I was the one who kicked the shit out of him, who knived him with venomous words.
I wasn't sure if the Australia Army Service Corps would open my mail, I had no knowledge what soldiers in the Special Unit's duties were, better be safe. I kept my message simple, I told him how sorry I was for not writing to him earlier and hoped to meet up when he returned to Australia. I posted my mail and email. I was anxiously waiting for his reply the following weeks, but none came. So many years passed, perhaps he no longer wished to rekindle our friendship, or he had found someone special in his life, or he discovered after all he wasn't even gay.
Business was normal at work in the few weeks after the Olympic, then I noticed some of the cases that normally passed on to me for handling now redirected to another junior associate Simon Jones. I observed that Simon had been frequenting Johann's office and joining Johann's after work drinking entourage more than anyone else in the office. It dawned on me that Simon was their dessert. The catalyst came when Simon was promoted ahead of me to a more senior job opening in the firm. I had no doubt about the whole situation, Simon was a good looking bloke, nice body, friendly smiles, and no doubt obliging, just by watching Johann putting his arm around Simon while discussing matters on some cases. No loin, no promotion, you wanted to be a star in my production, laid youself down on the couch, or in our profession, the bench, first. Time for me to move on, father was right, as usual.
I put my name down in several head hunting firms but nothing came out of it. Long & Long wasn't highly regarded among its peers. Then, I noticed an ad in the JobSearch web site, the Legal Aid NSW was looking for a lawyer with criminal law background to fill a vacancy, it was a part-time 25 hours job, and it allowed the applicant to do private consultant work on the side. Pay was about 80% of what I was getting, but when you divided it by 25, it was lots more than what Loin & Loin paying me. I won the job with hands down. When I told my parents and grand parents about my new job, they were genuinely pleased.
"Well done James, never like Loin & Loin, too sleazy, that Johann Long" My father Lionel said.
"Job satisfaction, James, money isn't everything" My grandpa Edmund said.
Knowing the political left leaning of my family, what the right wing politicians classifed as "Elite Liberals", their response was anticipated. With one exception, my brother in law, the conveyance guy, he said I should go and work for a private firm, Legal Aid? I must be crazy.
When I tendered my resignation, Johann didn't even bother with the usual "sorry to see you go, best of luck" crap, but Miss Tightfisted Yang was very upset and tearful, and a few of the junior associates started to evaluate their own future in the firm.
Next day the Saturday, I received a call from mother, she sounded strange, that she wanted me to go home that evening for an urgent family meeting.
"Are you Ok, mom? is dad sick? something wrong? is susan pregnant?"
"I'll tell you face to face, James, 6.30 sharp" she hung up. I hated suspense, shit, I hoped everything's ok with them, I loved them so much. I was unsettled the whole day long, all kinds of speculation went through my mind.
I rang the door bell on the dot 6.30. Mother opened the door, looking serious. I followed her into the family room, it seemed dark in there, the curtains must have been drawn. Suddenly the light went up, the whole gang was there yelling "Happy Birthday James" I forgot, stupid me. A fucking surprise party, my 28th.
Father came up and said "James, we are not only celebrating your birthday, but also you new job at Legal Aid" Couldn't argue with the Elite Liberals.
Mother then put her arm around me and said "We have a nother surprise for you, James" I was waiting for the present, then the family slowly stepped aside, and a stranger stood right next to Tomas, grinning from ear to ear, he could be Tomas' brother, except darker, with a short crew cut and a tight fitted army uniform. My heart skipped a beat, my throat went dry, I was feeling dizzy, I could see faces talking to me, but I couldn't hear a thing said. I approached him slowly, robotic. He came forward and hugged me. "Long time no see, Jamie". And I was 28, no longer a young fool. Thanks mom.
(To be continued.......)