Sleepy Days, Come No More
Chapter 31
Michael and I spent the week before Christmas decorating the apartment. I bought an artificial tree. I considered a real one but thought that an artificial one was more practical. Sean even helped us assemble and trim the tree, though he wasn't very good at it, which was odd since he was so meticulous about his appearance, but we all had fun doing it.
The next few days were really relaxed. I was off until the 3rd of January. So, I was free to lounge around and hang out with Michael and friends. I went to a coworker's party on Christmas Eve and spent that night baking and prepping for Christmas dinner.
Michael woke me up early Christmas morning so we could exchange gifts. We sat on the floor before the tree like children and took turns passing each other gifts. I bought Michael a few outfits and a pair of leather boots. He gave me a handsome bronze statue and a gift card for Netflix.
Later we cleaned up the wrapping paper and put away our gifts. Then we set up the furniture for dinner and I started cooking. Marie came over early to help with the cooking and so we could exchange gifts. Everyone had arrived around 4 o'clock, which included Lena, David, Thomas, Sean, and Michael's friend Ryan. There was more gift exchanging and then we all sat down and had dinner.
Michael and Thomas cleared the dishes. Then we all sat in the living room and talked, some of us ate dessert, but others were too full. Vanessa and Rico arrived shortly after dinner and joined in the discussions, which ranged from the economic climate to reality television shows.
Later we split into two groups to play games. One group played cards at the dinner table, while the rest of us sat around the coffee table and played Monopoly and Sorry. Later we all gathered in the living room and played Charades and Taboo.
Lena and David were the first to leave and then Marie and Thomas, followed by Ryan. That left me, Sean, Vanessa, Rico, and Michael. We were all sitting in the living room talking.
"So how are things going with the band?" I asked.
"It has been kind of slow for a couple of weeks but we have a few gigs lined up between now and the first." Rico informed.
"What kind of music do you guys perform?" Sean asked.
"It depends, if it is a party, we perform requests but our original material is a mix of rock and hip-hop." Rico explained.
"Were you with a group called the Upstarts?" Sean asked.
"Yeah, I was but I left them a little over a year ago." Rico said.
"You guys were really good." Sean acknowledged.
"His current group is really good too, Blake and I went to see them several times." I said then realized that I probably shouldn't have mentioned Blake.
"How is Blake?" Michael asked.
"He is doing well. He is teaching over at Riverside and he is loving it." Rico informed.
"That is good. I haven't seen him in a while, tell him I said hello." Michael added.
"You know Blake?" Sean asked.
"Yeah, he is one of my best friends." Rico proclaimed.
"Oh, so that's how you know Steve, through rich boy? I mean Blake." Sean said with a smile.
"Yeah. You call Blake rich boy?" Rico asked.
"Just a little joke." Sean explained.
"You know Blake too?" Rico asked.
"I have seen him around and he used to date a casual friend of mine." Sean said.
"Who?" Rico asked.
"A guy named Miguel. You know him?" Sean inquired.
"I met him a few times." Rico answered.
"Well, that chocolate cake was great." Vanessa said attempting to change the subject.
"It was very moist." Michael added.
"The secret is a tablespoon of mayonnaise." I informed.
"Really?" Vanessa asked.
"Yes. You can also use yogurt." I expounded.
"So do you have any special plans for New Year's?" Vanessa asked.
"No, I think I might just stay home and watch movies, have some ice cream, and just relax." I said with a smile.
"Not a chance." Sean exclaimed.
"What?" I asked.
"You can't spend New Year's held up in your apartment, there are plenty of things that we could do." Sean proclaimed.
"Well, Rico is performing downtown at the Animal House." Vanessa said.
"Oh yeah?" I replied.
"Yes, so if you want to come that would be cool." Vanessa said.
"I don't know, like I said I really think I want to stay in." I affirmed.
We continued to talk for about a half an hour. Then I invited Vanessa in the kitchen so I could pack some to go plates for her and Rico.
"Rico and Sean seem to be getting along well." I said.
"I think Rico is just being diplomatic." Vanessa said.
"Really." I said.
"Yeah, he didn't know that Sean was going to be here. I think it is a little awkward for him." Vanessa explained.
"I didn't know that Sean was going to come either, he said that he might, I should have told you." I said.
"Don't worry about it." Vanessa said.
"It went well." I observed.
"I know you said that there was nothing serious going on between you two but birthdays and holidays are usually a sign of seriousness." Vanessa countered.
"I know but we are just going with the flow." I said.
"Okay, just be careful." Vanessa cautioned.
"We are using protection." I joked and we both laughed.
"You know that Blake is out of town, so he won't be at the New Year's Eve party." Vanessa said.
"Oh. Good because I was not going to even consider going because I thought he may be there." I confessed.
"Yeah, I wanted to say so earlier but I didn't want it to seem like it would be an issue, given that Sean was here." Vanessa explained.
"I appreciate that." I said.
After we finished packing the plates Rico and Vanessa headed out. Michael went to my bedroom to let Sean and I could have some privacy.
"Did you have a good time?" I asked.
"Yeah, it was just like the Waltons." Sean said.
"Well, I am pretty beat. I think I am going to turn in. Do you want to take some food?" I asked.
"No. I am not a leftovers kind of guy." Sean said.
"Yeah, you don't seem to be." I agreed.
"Though, I really would like another piece of pie." He said.
"Take some, there is plenty." I said.
"There certainly is." He said with a smirk.
"Oh." I said with a laugh.
"I love your pie." He said with a smile.
"Not tonight. I am very tired." I said.
"Okay. Walk me to the door." He instructed.
I walked him to the door and we hugged and kissed. Then he turned and descended the stairs. I told Michael that Sean had left and he came out of my room. We unloaded the clean dishes from the dishwasher and then put in another load. We put away all the food and reordered the furniture.
Then Michael pointed out that there was more present beneath the tree. A large box without a tag. I told him that the gift was for him. He opened and realized it was full of packing material and had a catalog at the bottom.
"What is this for?" Michael asked.
"I am thinking about doing some redecorating." I said.
"Okay." He said quizzically.
"Well, I was thinking of turning my computer room/storage room into a guest bedroom." I said.
"Yeah, you mentioned that you might do that." He said.
"I thought that you would like to help me pick out the furniture." I said.
"Okay, but why the gift box?" He asked.
"I thought that you could use the room if you wanted." I explained.
"You mean move in?" He asked.
"Well, you spend so much time here and I know you have complained about the dorm, so if you want you can have the room or you can help me decorate it and use it for you frequent visits." I said.
"Really?" He said with a smile.
"Well, you hinted at it and most of your stuff is here, and I like having you around, I really do." I said.
"That would be great." He exclaimed.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Yeah." He replied.
"Great. That way you can save the room and board money and put it towards getting a car." I suggested.
"Yeah. That would be cool." He declared.
"Good. We should talk about what we expect from each other and how we will handle things if it doesn't work. I am very happy that you want to be my roommate but I am very tired so I am going to turn in." I said with a smile.
We hugged and I went to bed. The next day we sat down and discussed house rules, we each contributed and agreed on them. We decided to give the living arrangement a trial run through the next semester and if all went well it would be permanent, however if it did not he would return to the dorm after that.
We were both satisfied with the agreement. We cleaned out the room. We moved some of the things into my room, some into the hall way closets, and the rest we donated. Later that week we went furniture shopping. Michael found a bedroom set that he really liked and I priced some new living room furniture.
That night I went over to Sean's place. We had takeout and watched a movie, which was followed by rigorous bedroom activity. We lay there in bed for a few moments in silence, both still riding the waves of orgasm.
"Another stellar performance." I said with a smirk.
"Well, give yourself some of the credit." Sean said.
"You are so generous." I said sarcastically.
"I know." He replied.
"It is a good thing that you are cute and have those dimples, because if not you would be a very lonely man." I said.
"Really? I thought my large dick assured me of plenty of company." He said flirtatiously.
I blushed, "You are such an asshole!" I exclaimed.
"So you want to spend the night?" He asked.
"I don't know if there is enough room in your bed for me and your large dick." I said with a grin.
"Well, you can help me control the size." He retorted.
I laughed, "That sounds like a fun job." I said.
"So you are staying?" He asked.
"Sure." I replied.
"Good. Now have you decided what you want to do for New Year's?" He inquired.
"I told you that I want to stay in." I reaffirmed.
"That isn't what you really want, is it?" He asked.
"Yes, that is why I continue to say it, over and over again." I said.
"Why waste your day lying around the house when you could spend the night with me? There are several parties we could go to." He said.
"I don't want to go out and be around a bunch of people I don't know. It is always so loud and everyone is trying to hookup with each other. I am not in the mood for that." I explained.
"Maybe we can do something together then." He suggested.
"No, I want to be alone. Besides I can't imagine you sitting around with me in sweat pants watching Jane Austen movies and eating chocolate mint cookie ice cream." I replied.
"This is true, ice cream is very fattening and I prefer suspense over romance." He said with a chuckle.
"And I know that you love going out. I know that you want to go to as many of those parties as you can and I encourage you to do so." I said sincerely.
"This is also true." He agreed.
"So, I will stay home on New Year's Eve and you will go out and have enough fun for the both of us, I just hope you have enough condoms." I said with a grin.
We both laughed and continued to talk about various things, and then we had more fun and went to sleep. I went home the next morning and completed a few chores. I also worked on some details for the fair and sent out some holiday messages to relatives and friends, and I spoke with Luis and Chuck. Both were doing well.
On New Year's Eve Marie and Thomas stopped and asked if I wanted to go out with them, but I declined. They stayed for a few minutes and then headed out to a party. Michael had left earlier and said that he would be out late. I told him to be careful and to call if he needed anything and he agreed.
Later that evening I took a hot bath and compiled a collection of snacks, then headed to the sofa to watch movies and pig out. I had just started movie number three when there was a knock at the door. I thought that Michael had forgotten his key. I stumbled to my feet and made my way to the door.
I looked through the peephole and opened the door to greet Blake. He was holding a few packages.
"Hello Blake." I said.
"Hey Steve." Blake replied.
"Come in." I said as I stepped aside so he could enter.
"I am actually a little surprised that you are home, I thought that you might be out at some party or something." He informed.
"No. I didn't feel much like partying tonight. I just wanted to stay in and relax." I said.
"I see Jane is on." He observed.
"Yeah, your favorite." I said with a smile.
He laughed lightly.
"So are you Santa Claus? If so your timing is terrible." I said kindly.
"Better late than never." He said.
"In some cases, but in others you can be too late." I countered.
"Well, I went home for the holidays and my family wanted me to drop these off for them." He informed.
"Really? That was nice of them and you." I acknowledged.
He sat the gifts on the coffee table and we sat on the sofa. He watched as I opened the gifts and helped himself to my bowl of ice cream.
There were two cashmere sweaters and a couple of silk ties from Blake's parents and a knitted quilt from Liz. There was also a book of poetry from Theresa and Caleb. There was one more gift. I opened it and found a toy racecar track.
"A racecar track." I said with a smile.
"Yeah, you said you always wanted one." Blake said.
"You remembered that?" I asked.
"Yeah." He said.
"You're going to make me cry." I said with a smile.
"Come on let's put it together." He instructed.
We pushed the coffee table aside and began to assemble the track in the center of the floor. After assembly was complete we spent hours racing each other and talking about Christmases past. Once our thumbs were sufficiently exhausted from operating the controller, we sat on the floor, Indian style and talked further.
"It was nice of your family to give me gifts." I said.
"They love you and they appreciated the gifts you sent too." He replied.
"Yeah, your mother called and your sister emailed me." I informed.
"Good." He said.
"Though I think I got the better end of the deal." I confessed.
"It was the thought. They were really touched that you thought of them, especially Liz." He assured.
"Great, I really like them." I said with a smile.
"How was your Christmas?" He inquired.
"It was nice. I cooked and had people over. Vanessa and Rico came over." I said with excitement.
"That is nice, anybody else?" He inquired.
"Just the usual suspects and Michael invited a friend." I said.
"That's good." He said.
"Excuse me." I said as I stood and went to the bathroom.
I returned with a bottle of lotion and found Blake sitting on the sofa. I sat on the opposite side of the sofa and poured some lotion into my palm and started to massage it into my skin.
"Would you like some lotion?" I asked.
"That is a strange offer." He said.
"Well, I thought your hand might be stiff, it helps with the massage." I informed.
He moved over next to me and took my hand, "Let me. It is better with two hands." He said as he massaged my hand fluctuating between gentle and firm strokes.
"You really don't have to do that." I said with a meek smile.
"I want to do it." He said.
"Tell me about your Christmas." I instructed.
"Well, we had a quiet Christmas. We exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve and watched some old family videos. Mom spent the next morning cooking and then we all had dinner together and talked. It was really quiet this year." He explained.
"No annual Mitchell Christmas bash? I thought you said your mother goes all out for that party." I observed.
"Nope, for the first time in like 18 years there was no bash." He said with a slight smile.
"I suppose it is best to just be with family sometimes." I said.
"Yeah it was nice." He said.
"Thank you." I said as I attempted to remove my hand from is grasp, but he just held it tighter.
"Let me do the other one." He said sweetly.
"Okay." I said and released one hand and took the other.
"Have you gotten the promotion?" He asked.
"I will find out this month." I informed.
"I am sure you will get it." He assured.
"I'm glad that you are so confident about it, I feel pretty good about it too." I confessed.
"You are the most determined person I know. You will certainly get the promotion." He said with a smile.
"Determined?" I echoed.
"Yes, determined." He affirmed.
"Well, I guess that is a good thing." I said.
"It can be." He added with a smile.
I convinced him to stop massaging my hand and then we continued to talk. Michael stumbled through the door around 3 in the morning. He smiled when he saw me sitting there with Blake's arm around my shoulder.
"Blake is back!" Michael exclaimed with a smile.
"Hey Mikey." Blake said with a smile.
"You two look very comfortable." Michael said with grin.
"How was the party?" I asked.
"It was okay. Loud and hot." Michael said.
"You guys having a slumber party?" Blake asked.
"No. Steve asked me to move in." Michael explained.
"Oh. That . . . . that is cool." Blake said.
"But if you like you and Steve can have a slumber party; there is plenty of room in his bed." Michael said playfully.
"That would be nice." Blake said with smirk.
"Michael, you can sleep in my room tonight, I'll take the sofa." I said.
"I guess that is my signal. Good to see you Blake." Michael said as he went to the back.
"So it's a boy." Blake said with a laugh.
"Yeah, he's yours, I was going to tell you but I didn't want to trap you." I said.
"He has grown up so fast." Blake observed.
"Yeah, it must be all the steroids they're putting in the food." I suggested.
"You have been feeding my son nonorganic food?" Blake quipped.
"I have done the best I can . . . . . it has been so hard raising him alone and working just to make ends meet and he is always asking about the identity of his father." I said trying not to laugh.
"You should have told me, I would have been there for you. You always try to do everything on your own; you refuse to let anyone help you. You just close everyone out." Blake said.
There was an awkward moment of silence.
"I mean, uh, I would have wanted to be there for the child." Blake said breaking the silence and pulled me closer to him.
"Okay, enough playing." I paused. "It is beyond late. I think it is time for me to turn in." I said.
"Yes. It is late." He agreed.
We stood and walked to the door. I opened and he stepped through it. I extended my hand for him to shake but he didn't take it. He placed his hands on my shoulders.
"Neither of us has had our New Year's kiss." Blake observed.
"It is too late now, it is after midnight." I contended.
He leaned and kissed me on the lips. I closed my eyes and let the kiss linger. I didn't add any pressure but I gave him no resistance. He ended the kiss. It felt as if the world had ended. Like all the oxygen had left the room. I opened my eyes and looked into his.
"It is midnight somewhere." He said with a broad smile.
He brushed his hand against my hair and kissed my forehead.
"Happy New Year Steven." He said and then he turned and descended the stairs.
Acknowledgement:
I would like to acknowledge the death of Dick Clark. It was reported that he suffered a heart attack and did not survive.
Sad news in Oklahoma:
Earlier in the month five men were shot in Tulsa. Three of these men died from their injuries, while the other two survived. Two men are in custody.
More recently a tornado hit the town of Woodward, resulting in the deaths of six people.
Condolences to all who were affected by these tragic events .
As always I hope you all have fun and keep safe.
Appreciation:
Special thanks to Oscar, Lou, Arch, Clayton, Jake, Ed, Adolfo, Khalid, Gary, Vern, John, Lance, Oz, Dudung, Alan, Terry, Greg, John J., Harold, Barry, Michael B., Cameron, Randy, Liam, Byron, Kris, Bryan, Fred, Tomaz, David, Joseph, Bruce, Shawn, Bobby, Gregory, Bill, David R., Ron, Bruce, Tom, Mick, Curtis, JT and Mikal for their support, and everyone who has taken the time to follow this story, I really appreciate you all.
Sincerest thanks to Nifty and all of the wonderful participants who make this site possible, from the generous donors to the archivists and administrators, you all are truly appreciated.
Last but not least, thanks to the editor, Raziya, for all of the wonderful work.
Let Me Know:
Please, forward any comments or feedback to bonotorros@yahoo.com.