Jesse Hamill
April 26, 2015
This is a love story between two consenting males and contains sexual themes and graphic depictions of sexual acts. It is by no means a sex story, and focuses on the relationship and romance first. This is also work of fiction. All characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This is my first work for Nifty and any criticism, comments, improvements or thanks can be directed at jesse.hamill88@gmail.com
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The Love of Rainn: Chapter 3
"Jesse?" a friendly voice asked from a behind a large flower arrangement.
"Hi mom," Jesse said, "I brought a friend over."
"Oh?" She peeked around to see who Jesse was talking about. She smiled at Rainn.
Jesse's mom was a bit short, petite, with friendly brown eyes. She had straight brown hair like Jesse, but darker and, obviously, longer.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Diana," she said.
"Nice to meet you too, ma'am," Rainn said. She laughed a little.
"Ma'am? You're too much! I like the manners though!"
"Thank you. I'm Rainn, by the way."
"Rainn? ...That sounds familiar... Oh yes! I remember now. Your grandma comes in all the time," she said. "She talks about you often. What's her name again? Ellie?..."
"Elise, ma'a--er... Mrs. Michaels," he corrected. She laughed a little again.
"You can just call me Diana. It's fine. Did Jesse mention that he has work to do?"
"That's what I told him, but he didn't mind," Jesse added.
"Well, that's fine by me, as long as someone minds the store while I make deliveries," she said.
Jesse smiled and Rainn felt elated.
Wait... was she going out? We're going to be...like... alone?!
"Well boys, I need help loading these flowers up in the jeep. Could you lend me a hand?"
Jesse and Rainn helped her load up several delicate and elaborate arrangements into the jeep. Being as it only had two seats and a trunk, it still held a surprising amount of flowers. They loaded the last one in when she asked Rainn if he was staying for dinner.
"Sure... if it's not too much trouble," he responded.
"Only if you don't like hot wings and pizza," she said. "I'm not too much into cooking, that's Jesse's area."
Jesse got a strange look on his face, half surprised and maybe a little embarrassed. It only last a second, before he kind of made a half smile. Rainn didn't know what he was embarrassed for, it wasn't like she said he made dresses or something.
Well, even if he did, that would still be cool. Anything Jesse does is probably awesome!
Diana, noticing Jesse's face added, "Well you do! Nothing wrong with that."
"Yeah, uh... maybe one day you can come over and have lasagna or something..." Jesse said a little quietly.
"That would be awesome!" Rainn said a little too enthusiastically. Now he felt a little embarrassed.
"He's a great cook, Rainn. You should come over some more," she added. "Okay guys, I'll be back before six. I'll call the pizza place and have them deliver later. Pepperoni okay?"
They both nodded. She smiled, told them to be careful, and that she'd be home soon. She got in the jeep and left.
Rainn followed Jesse back inside, where he slipped an apron and stood behind the counter.
"Well, this is it. You get to see me at work for a change," Jesse said.
"Well it doesn't seem too bad... No messes like at the diner," Rainn said.
"Nah... It's alright. I like helping my mom out. We've been through a lot together."
Rainn just smiled at that. Rainn knew exactly what that was like. Gran was the only person that looked after him since he was little.
Jesse helped Rainn clear off a spot on a work station by the counter so that he could sketch some more. As Rainn sketched, they chatted about school, classes, and what they liked to do. Jesse liked to play the guitar, read horror novels, and obsessed about the latest technology and video games. Rainn, besides his love of painting and drawing, was also into video games, and reading manga (Japanese comics). They both had the same tastes in music, liking rock, singer/songwriter, indie, Motown, pop, and alternative.
"My mom calls it `hipster' music, so I guess that makes me one," Jesse said.
"I think the rule is that hipsters can never call themselves `a hipster,' " Rainn said, "otherwise they're no longer cool enough to be a hipster."
"Hmm... So they can only be a hipster if someone calls them one?" he asked.
"Yup, afraid so. Now you're not cool anymore," Rainn teased. That was completely untrue.
"Well, I'm sorry to say this, but your taste in art and music makes you a hipster," he added, a little sarcastically.
"Well, I'll take hipster over `emo kid' any day," Rainn replied.
"I've never thought of you as an `emo' kind of guy, just..." Jesse started, "...uh...artistic."
Rainn was glad that he wasn't the only one that stumbled thinking of what to say. Rainn noticed that Jesse also looked a little red right then...
"Thanks Jesse," Rainn replied. Jesse smiled.
Jesse only had to stop their conversation a few times to help some customers. He was a very charming salesperson as he wrote down their requests, their info, and helped them make decisions. He was quite kind to an elderly woman who recently lost her husband.
Compassionately, he helped her choose flowers for a funeral arrangement. Rainn had to stop staring at him a few times, as he was enraptured in his beauty. Jesse was one of the rare cases of when someone who was handsome was also a good person at heart. Usually, at least in Rainn's experience, attractive people ended up being assholes. Take, Mark, for instance. If he wasn't hellbent on making Rainn's life miserable, he was actually kinda good looking.
"That was nice of you," Rainn said.
"Huh? Oh, that... Well her husband did just pass away recently, and..." he trailed off.
"Yeah, I saw that, but... well..." Rainn wasn't sure how to finish. "You're a good person is all."
"Aww shucks," Jesse said, teasing a little.
"Really, though! I think you're kind," Rainn told him, a little bit red. "First you save me from flying rocks and dangerous jocks, and the next thing I know your rescuing old ladies and helping people with the power of flowers." Jesse laughed at that. Rainn's poetry was atrocious.
"That was terrible..." Jesse said, still laughing. "You don't write poetry do you?"
"Obviously not!" Rainn said, laughing too.
Rainn was happy he got to know Jesse a little more. He had a good sense of humor.
The next customer was not so pleasant, or nice, ...or even tolerable. A tall, skinny blonde woman walked into the store and demanded service like she owned the place. She had the look of being excessively wealthy and held her nose in the air. She was wearing expensive clothes and jewelry. Jesse did his best to be a charming salesman, but she was being very particular and difficult about everything. After going through the entire stock of flowers twice, she finally decided to choose some large pink orchids.
"I guess these will do... I'm a little disappointed there was nothing fresher or more aesthetically pleasing in this...shop," she doled out sarcastically. "I am planning a wedding, and you'd think the store could stock better flowers."
"I'm sorry to hear that. We try to get the best flowers we can, but I'm glad you were able to find something to your tastes," Jesse replied.
His tone sounded genuinely apologetic, but there were hints of sarcasm in his words. She paid with a platinum credit card and left in a huff.
"Jeeze..." Jesse said as she got into her luxury SUV.
"You handled that well. I would have told her where to stick those flowers," Rainn said. Jesse laughed at that.
"Yeah, I'm not supposed to do that... My mom would probably kill me if I lost a $800 sale..."
"You just sold $800 in flowers!?!" Rainn exclaimed.
"Yeah, she bought all the orchids, even the rare expensive ones. And... well I might have added some... inflation to the cost," Jesse added. Rainn smiled at that.
While they had been talking, Rainn had started several new sketches almost automatically. When he got into the groove of it, the lines, the shapes, and the shading just flowed through him. Rainn looked through them and noticed that Jesse was the center of each one. It didn't surprise him at all, but he didn't want Jesse to see that he was the focus of each piece.
He'll think I'm some sort of obsessive freak, or a creepy stalker! He might throw me out! What kind of weirdo draws a new friend in six...no seven(!) new drawings? Seven??
"Hey, can I see what you're working on?" Jesse asked, intrigued. Rainn cringed a little inside.
How did he know? Was it written on my face??
"It's just my... surroundings... um... here," Rainn replied as he passed a drawing of Jesse helping the blonde lady pick out orchids.
"Wow, you're like a Renaissance master! The realism is sooo amazing!"
"Thanks!" Rainn said, genuinely pleased to hear a compliment from Jesse.
"There's just one problem," Jesse said with an eyebrow raised. "There's this ugly dude right in the center... maybe you could improve his looks a bit?"
"I don't think he's ugly..." Rainn said, immediately clapping a hand to his mouth.
Great job, genius! Now he knows you've been looking at him!
"Aww... thanks! Hahaha!" Jesse teased. Rainn just sat there trying to compose himself and diffuse his embarrassment.
Think dummy! Think!
"I mean... er... besides the blonde hair and the boobs, I think he's an excellent looking man!" Rainn said.
"My mom's right! You're too much!!" Jesse said, laughing himself hoarse. He had to wipe his eyes a few times and sighed deep to recompose himself. Rainn breathed a sigh of relief and laughed a little, too.
"I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! You're hilarious!"
"Thanks, I don't get that a lot..."
"Well seriously, you should be a comedy writer or something! Much better than your poetry," he said. "You know... " Jesse added, "she kinda had a deep voice..."
That cracked them both up and they spent the next few minutes laughing and holding their stomachs with the ache of it. When they finally managed to stop, they were unable to look at each other otherwise they'd start laughing again.
Luckily, no one else decided to stop in, and Jesse's mom returned. She greeted them at the door, turned the sign to closed, and phoned in the pizza order. She talked with Jesse about the sales he made and the orders he took.
"$800 dollars, huh?" she asked.
"Yeah, she wiped out the orchids," Jesse replied.
"Well I guess you get a little bonus, Mr. Salesman," she said as she handed him a fifty from the register.
"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Oh yeah! Speaking of hard work, you should see what Rainn did today," he said indicating Rainn's sketchbook. "Hey, can my mom see your drawings, Rainn?" he asked.
Rainn just nodded and handed him the whole sketchbook. It was the first time he ever let anyone else handle it, so he was a little anxious. Rainn was giving Jesse a little test of trust, but luckily he didn't have anything to worry about. Jesse handled it like it was the Pope's personal bible, turning the pages gently and making minimal contact with the art inside.
"Holy crap, Rainn!" they both said together. They laughed at their stereo moment, but returned to being enraptured in the drawings.
The scenes were so beautiful and so photographic that they made you breathless. One, a black-and-white pencil drawing, showed an elderly gentleman placing roses on a gravestone. His three piece suit was well drawn and looked faded, frayed and patched. The man's face was a study in wrinkles, and his eyes were filled with tears and loneliness. Another showed a new mother holding her minutes-old baby in her arms. There was sweat on her brow, her hair was a mess, and her expression was mystic wonderment.
Some of the drawings were colorful landscapes and some were still-lifes. Some were realistic and some were fantastical. There were a few abstracts showing minuscule details, curving patterns and spectrums of colors and shades. Diana and Jesse reached the end, and smiled together seeing their flower shop. There was Jesse helping customers, writing orders, arranging flowers. Diana liked those drawings so much that Rainn let her keep a few.
By the time they got to the end, the pizza guy had shown up and was knocking on the door. Diana paid the guy, and brought the pizza over. Rainn cringed a little and hoped they wouldn't want to continue looking at the drawings with pizza in their hands. Jesse noticed Rainn's expression, however, and returned his sketchbook.
"Awesome work, man," he said handing Rainn his drawings back. "Seriously, you are like the most talented person I know."
Rainn just smiled. He got shy and modest when people looked at his art. It was very personal to him, like exposing a part of your soul to someone else. He was glad that Jesse liked his work. His opinion was gold.
"Hey guys, let's head up so we can eat," Diana said indicating the stairs in the back of the shop. Jesse grabbed the pizza and the wings as they followed her up to the upstairs apartment. They climbed up and reached a small living room with a plush red sofa, a coffee table and a TV. The room was carpeted in a dark chocolate brown and painted in a country white. Rainn thought that maybe they'd stop and have dinner in the living room, but Jesse's mom just kept walking.
They followed Diana and passed into the small dining room adjoined to the kitchen. It was painted a pale pastel yellow and had a simple wooden tables and chairs. The cabinets were painted white, and the floor was wood, stained mahogany brown. The apartment was modest but practical, and Rainn sat down while Diana grabbed some paper plates from the cupboard.
"Here we are, the fine china!" she said as she handed Rainn and Jesse some plates. They smiled and helped themselves to pizza and hot wings. They all talked with each other as they ate. Jesse's mom was surprisingly easy to talk to, and genuinely interested in what Rainn had to say. They talked together about school, the town, and movies that they recently watched. Rainn ate until he felt stuffed, and helped Jesse clear the table and put the leftovers in the fridge.
"Well, it's only 6:30, so I wasn't sure if you could stay... or if you needed a ride back, or--" Jesse started.
"Ten, I can stay till ten," Rainn interjected.
"Okay," he said smiling. "Mom! We cleaned everything up, so we'll be in my room if you need us!" he said talking to Diana in the other room. She had taken off her shoes and headed into the living room to watch the news.
"Thanks guys!" she said back.
Rainn followed Jesse through the kitchen and down a hall. He was crazy nervous about seeing Jesse's room. The hall lead to a bathroom and then split into two directions, one heading to Diana's room and the the other to Jesse's. Rainn followed, his heart in his throat, as Jesse opened the door and flicked on the lights.
Author's Note: And that's the the third chapter. Hope you like what you've read so far, there's more in the works right now. I have several chapters written, but I take the time to reread and edit one at at time till it's just right. So far, I've loved writing for you guys, the faithful and supportive readers. Thanks!
A warning, though: This is drawn from personal experience and the story is going to move slowly. I have a lot to write to get the characters right. As it said at the top this is a love story first and foremost! There will some action, though! Don't worry!
Copyright Jesse Hamill and nifty.org 2015. All rights reserved.