Hey Everyone! This is my first story for the Nifty Archive...Hopefully I will do a decent job:) OK so let me give ya a little background before we begin our journey. Yes, sex is nice, and yes my story will have sex, but it will not be based on sex, it's gonna be a romance story I suppose. I love writing so I think you will enjoy this. Questions, Comments, Complaints, Ideas, or whatever, feel free to email me at spifty214@email.com. Also, since I enjoy writing so much hopefully you will get an installment once a week :)
Legal Stuff: This material is not meant to be read by anyone under 18. If you're offended by literature with homosexual themes, go away! If not, read on. This is a work of FICTION. Therefore, the author makes no claims as to the sexual orientation of any member of *N Sync.
With that taken care of, on with the show....
Lonely Lance....Chapter 1
"Dammit" was all Steve could think. He had been turned down once again. Steve a 22 year old college grad had been looking for a job now for sometime. He had gone to school at Northern Michigan University for 4 years. After that he moved to the condo his parents had outside of Orlando. Michigan wasn't his favorite place in the world and he figured there should be plenty of jobs for him in Florida. It was July and he had been out of school for nearly 2 months. His parents gave him some money to live off of until he found a job, well cash as well as hope was dissipating quickly.
Being 5 in the afternoon he figured he should just call it a day and look some more tomorrow. It was a typical summer day in Florida, scorching heat, unbearable humidity, and the sun that just never seemed to go away. Of course, of all days for the A/C in his car to not work, it would have to be today. "I wonder if today could go any worse, traffic sucks, car sucks, people suck, life sucks!' he thought. A few seconds later his question was answered with an explosion under the hood of his `93 Taurus.
He sat on the side of the road for a few minutes, trying to calm down, trying to think what the hell he was gonna do. He looked outside his car and realized that since he was in downtown Orlando finding a phone would be no problem. "The first good news of the day" he thought "ha, see, it is possible to look at the positive side of a situation." The building he had `parked' in front of was very plain looking, maybe five or six stories. He pulled the heavy glass door open and immediately felt relief from the hot humid outside.
He entered a lobby with a receptionist at the far end, on the front of her desk said Jive Records. She didn't even notice him walk in, she just kept talking on the phone to someone. He walked up to her desk and still not a word. Just "uh huh" "OK" "yes" repeatedly being told to the person she was on the phone with, "definitely an airhead" he thought. She hung up her phone, looked up, smiled and said "How may I help you?"
"My car overheated out front, I was wondering if you had a phone I could use."
"I sure do hun, right here" she said giving him a flirtatious smile.
"Thank You" he said, giving her a smile back, not as flirtatious, but pretty close. "Do I need to dial nine for an outside line?"
"Yes you do, what's the number, I'll dial it for ya." she should have just had a sign on her head that said, `I Want You!' That's how many people acted around him, Steve wasn't exactly ugly. Six feet tall, 160 pounds, light brown hair, deep blue eyes and not a trace of fat on his body. He wasn't muscular, but he wasn't scrawny. He had a light tan from going to the pool every now and then. He was modest though, and shy. The sensitive type. He'd rather have someone to love him than anything else. There was a problem though, being a shy homosexual 22 year old male love wasn't easy to find.
"18005557924" he said as he took the insurance card out of his wallet. "uh huh..... yeah.... OK...... an hour and a half..... yes ill be waiting....you too....bye" He handed the phone to her and said thank you.
As he headed for the door she yelled "Where are you going? If they aren't gonna be here for another hour and a half you should wait in here, it's too hot out to be outside!" he stopped thought about it for a second and turned around and headed back to the receptionist.
"Thank You ma'am, it is very hot out to.." he was interrupted.
"Kelli" she said
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Kelli, with an I." she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
"My name is Steve."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Steve." she said shaking his hand.
"The pleasure is all mine" he said smiling.
"So Steve, what do you do?" she asked, trying to make conversation.
"I look for a job all day everyday basically." he said, somewhat embarrassed.
"Why?" she asked, hoping the guy she thought was hot wasn't a deadbeat.
"Well I went to a university in Michigan and I needed a change so I moved down here. I figured it'd be easy to get a job down here, I majored in public relations. However I have had no such luck, and I am almost out of money and if I don't find a job soon I am going back to Michigan."
"I am sorry babe." she said sympathetically.
"It's OK, that's li..." she interrupted him again.
"I have the perfect idea! We are hiring right now, it's not anything big, basically a secretary, but you can move up with what you know. Do you have a resume?" she said, she sounded extremely proud of herself
"Yes I do! Ill be back in a sec!" he ran out to his car and was back in within 2 minutes carrying in a packet of papers. He gave them to her "Thank you so much Kelli, you don't know what this means to me!" he said pulling her into a hug.
"Anytime babe." she whispered into his ear. "Well, I am off in a few minutes, it's almost six o'clock, if they aren't gonna be here till 7 I'll wait with you. Maybe after you get everything taken care of we could go out to dinner or something."
"I think that can be arranged, I'd have to go back to my place and change, then we could go." he figured he would just go do something with her to thank her, he wasn't gonna tell her he was gay because it might harm his chances of getting the job.
The next hour was filled with mostly small talk, he told her about his family and his life, leaving out the whole gay thing. She rambled on about what she liked to do and her friends and a bunch of other crap that he really didn't need to hear. He listened just the same though, he knew he'd need her friendship to help him out. Finally at 6:55 the tow truck pulled up and he hopped in and Kelli followed behind. They got to the mechanics and he got a loner, surprisingly it was basically the same car, a `93 Taurus, only this one was red and his was gray.
By 8:30 he had changed and was ready to go. They went to some night club and had a good time. He drove her home and then drove himself home and went to bed. By 2am the mouth of slumber had engulfed him. The loud ring of the telephone woke him up at 10:15am.
After the third ring he finally picked up "he-hello?" he said groggily.
"Good Morning, may I speak with Stephen Graham?" a distinguished voice asked.
"This is he, May I ask who I am speaking with?"
"Yes this is Derek Poplar, I work for Jive Records. I received a resume from you and I would like to make an appointment with you for an interview, that is if you are still interested in the job."
"Oh yes, I am very interested in the position. When would you like to have the interview?"
"Is 2 this afternoon suitable for you?"
"Yes, I can make it, thank you so much, is it the same place where I submitted my resume?" Steve asked in excitement
"Yes it is, Kelli, our receptionist will show you where to go."
"OK, Thank you so much Mr. Poplar! Have a great day and I will see you at 2."
"You too, Bye Bye."
With that the conversation ended. He was dressed and ready to go at 1:30, He made it to Jive at 1:55. Part of him wanted to be happy, but another part didn't want to be let down again. In he went, he saw Kelli and they talked until he was called in. The interview went really well, he made a good impression and received many compliments from Mr. Poplar. At quarter to five he left for home. He was nervous, he thought it went very well, yet he thought most of the others did as well but he didn't get any of the other jobs so what would make this one any different. He was tired and the heat was getting to him, he just decided to head for bed when he got home. Even though it was Friday night, he felt like laying in bed. But as his head hit the pillow the damn phone rang. He was a little pissed but he answered it.
"Hello, Steve here."
"Hi this is Derek, from the interview. I would just like to be the first to welcome you to the Jive family."
Steve didn't know what to do, he screamed into the phone. "OMG!! Thank you so much!!"
"I am glad you are happy, since today is Friday you can start Monday if that is OK?"
"Yes YES YES!! It's perfect!"
"OK, that's good, so I will see you Monday at 9am, have a nice weekend!"
"OK I will thank you! Wait, what is my title?"
"Basically you will be my assistant, you tend to clients complaints and basically make them comfortable from here in Orlando. Not too tough. It's kinda humorous, hearing Britney Spears complain about how the toilet paper at a hotel isn't soft enough. You'll have fun."
"He He, thank you again, Cya Monday, bye bye."
"Bye Bye"
Steve couldn't believe what had just happened. He couldn't think of anything else to do, he called his mom who lived in Michigan.
"Hi Mom! I have the best news!!!" He said excitedly
"Wait dear, You've got a job or a boyfriend?" she said snickering
"A JOB MOM!!! A JOB!!! I work at a company called Jive Records!!!"
"Well congratulations!! I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!"
"Thank you mom! I get to cater to musicians complaints."
"Sounds fun dear, but I have to get going, Dad and I are going to a show, I will tell him the wonderful news."
"Thank you so much ma! I love you!"
"I love you too dear, bye bye, good luck"
"Thanks, Bye bye"
He hung up and decided to call Kelli. He didn't have any friends in his new home yet so he figured he'd see if she wanted to celebrate with him. She said she wanted to and that was that. They went out and had a good evening, until the end that is...
As Steve stopped in front of Kelli's house, she leaned in to kiss him. He immediately pulled away.
"Sorry he said, it's nothing against you." He hoped she wouldn't pry and just leave it at that. Of course though, she was a woman, and he couldn't get off that easy.
"Then what is it? Do you have a girlfriend?" She angrily asked.
"No, it isn't that. I just don't want to kiss you."
"Oh so that's it, I am not good enough for you? You asshole!" she screamed at him, attempting to leave the car. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back in.
"Wait, let me explain Kelli, Please." He said to her sympathetically.
"I'm listening" she bitchily said.
"Look, you are such a wonderful girl, I don't know what I would have done without you. But, arg, I don't know how to say this so I'll be blunt, I'm...I'm gay." he said, the tone of his voice serious yet compassionate.
"You're g-gay?" she asked
"Yes I am" as he said this she started laughing, quietly at first and then hysterically laughing. "What? What's so funny???" he prodded
"I'll talk to you later Steve. I love ya dude. It's always the hot ones!" she said
"You're not mad?"
"Nope, Now get home, it's late!" She said in a motherly voice
"OK thanks babe, I'll talk to you later, Bye Bye!"
"Bye" she waved and he pulled away. He was happy that it was out and that she was OK with it. That night he slept the best he had in a long long time. He still felt like something was missing though. He needed someone to love, and someone to love him. With those thoughts he drifted off to his dreams, where life was good and carefree.
Monday he went to work the first day. He had no problems and he actually enjoyed what he was doing. He got the hang of things pretty quickly. He set up some appointments and made some calls, as he did for the next few months. He and Kelli, developed a friendship. By the time fall rolled around He considered her to be his best friend. He made some new friends and eventually by mid September everyone he worked with knew he was gay. There were a few people that were uncomfortable with it, but most were accepting and happy for Steve.
Well as always summer faded into fall, July to August, from September to October, Halloween and Thanksgiving passed. Life was pretty good for Steve now. He had the life, he bought himself a 2000 Mustang, black of course. He had the friends, he had some cash. He always felt this hole, something missing. He went on dates with guys in those months. Nothing serious. None of them were what he was looking for. He did most of it to please Kelli and to get her off his back.
It was early December when I got the call form Kelli. It was normal for me to get daily calls from her. Usually though she is a little less excited.
"STEVE YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!" She screamed
"Whoa there, calm down bud, what's goin on?" he calmly asked.
" N Sync!! WE SIGNED N SYNC!" she yelled.
"Really, that's cool." Steve calmly said. He was just as excited though. He loved N Sync Music.
"They are coming in Friday! That's tomorrow!!" Kelli Blurted out
"Are you serious? This is so awesome!" He said maybe a little too loud.
"Listen I have to get back to work, by the way why aren't you here today?" she questioned
"I am comin in, I took the morning off. I'll see ya in an hour or so ok?"
"Ok I will talk to you later, Bye Bye babe!"
"Later hun!"
With that he went and got showered and dressed. He made it to work at 1pm and Kelli was where she always was, answering calls and filing her nails, she was the poster child of the secretary/receptionist.
"Mr. Poplar said he needs to see you in his office as soon as you get here." she said as he walked through the door, she sounded concerned.
"Did he say what for?" Steve prodded
"No, but you better go so you don't piss him off." she said, sounding worried.
"OK, thanks." he said running to the elevator, not giving her a chance to respond. The elevator ride to the 7th floor seemed to take forever. When Steve reached Mr. Poplars office he had an apathetic look on his face. This concerned Steve even more.
"Sit Down Steve, close the door. We need to talk." Mr. Poplar said
With that Steve sat down and became incredibly worried.....
TBC.....
OK so there ya go! I will have the next installment out soon. That was fun. Don't ya love those endings. Yes I know this didn't involve any of `N Sync...yet....give it time, I had to establish a story line first. As I said at the beginning Questions, Comments, Complaints, Ideas, or whatever, feel free to email me at spifty214@email.com. Have a Great Day! :)