Copyright and Disclaimer: 1. This is a fictional story with fictional characters. 2. No one is to steal this story under any circumstances. 3. This story deals with relationships and not sex, so if you're looking for a story with a lot of sex in it, this isn't the story for you.
Hope everyone is doing well and having a great week. Here's part 7 entitled, "Oh Sht!" This chapter is going to change a lot of things and add some much needed drama into the story. Hope you enjoy! "OH SHT!"
LUKE
It was Friday and the work day was almost over. Shane and I were both sitting at our desks working while we talked about our plans for the weekend.
"Do you want to grab dinner tomorrow night?" Shane asked.
"Can we do it Sunday?" I asked. "I'm hanging out with Morgan tomorrow."
"You have a date?" Shane asked.
"It's not a date," I replied. "We're just hanging out as friends."
"So you two are just friends?" Shane asked.
"Yeah, I told you before, I'm not ready to date," I replied.
"Thank God," Shane said. He then quickly added, "I just mean that it's good you're taking some time to just be alone."
"I guess," I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not putting too much thought into it."
"Well that's good," Shane said. "Glad to hear it."
I was about to ask Shane why he was so interested about my intentions with Morgan when my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Ford.
"Hey Ford, what's up?" I asked.
"I need you to help me," Ford replied franticly.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I don't know what to wear for my date tonight," Ford replied. "Can you come over?"
"What time is your date?" I asked.
"He's picking me up at seven," Ford replied.
"Okay, well Shane and I are almost done working for the day. We'll come over when we get off, okay?" I suggested.
"Please hurry," Ford said.
"Okay, bye," I said hanging up.
"What's the problem?" Shane asked.
"Ford needs help getting ready for his date with Patrick," I replied.
"He's going to make the same mistake he made with Roland and get too serious too fast," Shane said.
"You think so?" I asked. "I hope not."
"It's the writing on the wall," Shane replied. "He's going to screw this one up. I really wish he'd be a smarter dater."
"I think it's kind of nice that he has such a naïve and romantic view on dating. There's not enough gay men who feel the way he does about relationships," I said. "Most gay guys are like Benji."
"Speaking of which, did he tell you the good news?" Shane asked.
"No, what?" I asked.
"Some big corporation wants to discuss the possibility of franchising his store," Shane replied.
"Seriously?" I asked impressed. Benji has been surprisingly quiet about this piece of news. I would have thought he would jump at the chance to brag about this.
"Yeah, he's leaving tomorrow I think," Shane said.
"I'm surprised he didn't mention it to all of us when we went out to dinner the other day," I told him.
"He seems pretty nervous about it," Shane said.
"This can be big for him if it goes through," I said.
"Extremely," Shane said. "There is talk of him possibly moving to New York for a while."
"That's incredible," I said. As we were talking I put the finishing touches on my latest column before e-mailing it to Farrah and turning off my computer. "We should call Benji to help us get Ford ready for his date."
"Good idea," Shane replied, he was finishing up his latest review as well. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," I replied as I got up. "Let's go."
FORD
I was frantically pacing back and forth in front of my closet trying to find the right clothes to wear for my date with Patrick tonight. I want to look good, but I don't want to make it seem like I'm trying too hard to impress him. I want to look effortlessly amazing. Trouble is, suddenly I feel as if my closet full of clothes don't look good.
As I was waiting for the guys to get here my phone alerted me to a received text message. I looked at the sender and it was from a number I didn't recognize. When I opened the text it didn't give me any clues as to who the sender was, all it said was `Surprise. Guess who's back in town?' I figured that it must have been sent to me by accident so I just erased the text and went back to looking in my closet.
Thirty minutes after I called Luke there was a knock on my door. I rushed to answer it and was happy to see Luke, Shane and Benji who all arrived to help me get ready.
"Did someone call for reinforcements?" Benji asked holding up a bag of clothes. "I picked up some things from my store that I think will look fabulous on you."
"You guys are lifesavers!" I said giving them all a hug. I think grabbed Benji by the arm and we all rushed into my bedroom to start going through the clothes that Benji picked up.
After thirty minutes and six different outfits we all agreed on one that was perfect for my date tonight.
"This outfit is fabulous," Benji gushed. "I just got it in at the store too."
"It's great," Shane agreed.
"Really nice. I might have to borrow this outfit sometime," Luke said.
"You all sure this is the one?" I asked.
"Positive," they all said in unison. The outfit was pretty amazing. It consisted of a black and white striped Perry Ellis polo with a maroon Ralph Lauren mesh fleece cardigan and embroidered Ralph Lauren chinos with a simple pair of white Hugo Boss sneakers. It was a look that embodied my personal style; preppy-chic.
"So you went to school with this guy?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, him and I had a class together and we were in the same study group," I replied.
"Were you two close?" Shane asked.
"Not really," I explained. "He was closer with my roommate." The thought of my college roommate made my skin crawl. I didn't even want to think about him.
"You're college roommate Chandler?" Benji asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
"You're going on a date with someone who was friends with Chandler?" Benji asked surprised. "I thought you wanted to avoid Chandler and anything close to him."
"Patrick wasn't anything like Chandler," I replied. "They had a falling out as well."
"That's good," Benji said. "I don't want to see you with a jerk."
"From what I can remember, he is not a jerk," I said. "He was always really friendly."
"Why did you two never date before?" Shane asked.
"We just traveled in different crowds," I replied. "I went along with a group that spent spring break in the Bahamas and Summer at the family chateau in France. He didn't really come from that background."
"So monetary issues kept you guys from ever being close in college?" Shane asked.
"Pretty much," I replied.
"I didn't realize you were so rich," Luke said.
"I'm not. My parents are," I explained.
"He is to rich," Benji said. "He has a trust fund."
"Yeah, but I'm not going to touch it until I want to retire," I replied.
"He can retire right now with the trust fund he has," Benji laughed.
"Impressive," Luke said.
"What? That I have a hefty trust?" I asked.
"No, it's impressive that you want to work and have a career despite the fact that you have a trust," Luke replied.
"Well, I wasn't always this way," I said as I was checking myself out in the mirror on my closet door to make sure my outfit looked all right from all angles. "There was this one friend I used to have who got me into some pretty bad things."
"But you're not like that anymore and thank God, because we like you the way you are," Benji said giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Now have fun tonight."
"I will, what are you guys doing?" I asked.
"We're taking Benji out for dinner and drinks tonight to wish him good luck for his New York trip," Shane said.
"Well if I don't talk to you before you leave, good luck Benj," I said giving Benji a big hug. "I'm sure they will be begging you to let them franchise your store."
"I hope so," Benji replied. "I'll call you later."
"Have fun tonight Ford," Luke said giving me a hug. "We'll talk to you later."
"Bye guys." I gave them all a hug goodbye and began to wait for Patrick to pick me up.
LUKE
After we got done helping Ford get ready for his date the three of us went to get drinks and have an appetizer dinner at Altitude at the Marriott, which had a great view of the bay. I loved going to this lounge, Shane had taken me here a few times before after work and I fell in love with it. It was a nice environment and the view was amazing, not to mention that I am in love with the spicy lobster quesadilla and the BBQ chicken flatbread appetizers they had there. Shane is a big fan of the garlic herb fries.
"I'm so glad we came here," Benji commented as we sat down and ordered our drinks. "This is a great place to go before having to leave for a week."
"Yeah, we thought it was an appropriate place," Shane said. "Although I'm sure you'll fall in love with Manhattan. I remember when I went there, I didn't want to leave."
"Will this be your first time in New York?" I asked.
"Yeah, I've never gotten the chance before," Benji replied. "I went right from school to working and opening my boutique."
After the waitress came to give us our drinks and take our food order we raised up our glasses to give a toast to Benji.
"Well, here's wishing you luck," I said. "You'll do great."
"Cheers," Shane smiled and the three of us clinked glasses and took a sip.
"So Luke, you haven't talked about Morgan lately," Benji commented. "How's everything going?"
"It's fine," I shrugged. "We're just friends."
"Yeah right," Benji said. "Ford told me about how close you two were at the club last week."
"We just danced. It wasn't a big deal," I said.
"Yeah," Shane chimed in. "Why would it be a big deal? It isn't a big deal. Right?"
Benji and I both looked at Shane with a raised eyebrow. He usually isn't one to ramble like that. I gave him a pat on the back, "Um...yeah, right."
"Something wrong?" Benji asked Shane.
"No, I'm fine," Shane quickly said. "Let's move on."
"Anyway," I said choosing to ignore Shane's weird behavior, "Morgan and I are just friends for now."
"For now?" Benji asked. "Does that mean you see something happening later?"
"I don't know," I replied. "Maybe. He is pretty great. I'm just not in that place yet."
"So you really think you'll get with him eventually?" Shane asked.
"Like I said, I don't know," I shrugged.
"Well just take your time," Shane said. "You don't want to end up with the wrong person."
"It's a little early to be talking about being with the right or wrong person," I said.
"Regardless, you should be careful," Shane said. "I personally think there might be someone better suited for you."
"Yeah? Like who?" Benji asked.
"I don't know," Shane said. "Just someone."
I got the feeling that there was something that Shane wasn't telling us, but I didn't want to press him about it, so we just continued to drink and talk about other things.
FORD
Patrick picked me up right on time and couldn't be more charming as he flashed me a big smile when I opened the door. He was dressed in a black polo with dark washed jeans. He looked great.
"You look great," Patrick said.
"Thank you," I replied. "You clean up pretty good yourself."
"Well it was either this or my lifeguard uniform," Patrick joked.
"I wouldn't mind seeing you in that either," I laughed. He did look pretty amazing in his lifeguard uniform. He has a great body.
"Are you ready to go?" Patrick asked.
"Yup," I replied.
We walked out to the parking lot and headed to his car. He apologized in advance, "Sorry that my car is a dump." When we got to his car I could see that he was embarrassed by it. He drove an old, rusted Chevrolet Lumina. It was a car that you could tell was once nice, but with the age and wear it lost it's charm. I didn't mind, but it was obvious that Patrick did.
"Don't apologize," I said.
"Well, I'll make up for it by the place I'm taking you to for dinner," Patrick said.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"You'll see," Patrick smiled. "It's a surprise."
Fifteen minutes later I definitely was surprised when I saw that the place Patrick was taking me for dinner was Donovan's. It was a favorite restaurant of mine. I gave the place a good write up a while back.
We pulled up to the valet and Patrick once again looked embarrassed as he received his valet ticket from the worker.
"I love this restaurant," I smiled. "How did you know?"
"Honestly? I looked up some of your reviews that you've done and read how much you liked this place," Patrick said.
"Wow," I smiled. He really did his research to make sure this was a good date. I couldn't be more thrilled to be on a date with him right now. "You really thought this one out."
"It's only the beginning," Patrick gave me a wink. "Let's go."
Before we even ordered our food I had an amazing time catching up with Patrick on everything he's been doing since we last saw each other. It seems that his long passion for cooking drove him to go towards culinary school. Even though it was expensive he knew he had to go for his dream. I loved that he wanted to be a chef, it gave him and I so much to talk about since I am a food critic. Most of our dinner conversation consisted of food talk, what type of cuisine we liked best (he loves Japanese, while I'm a fan of Italian), what restaurants were good, favorite wine. It was the best first date I've been on in a long time.
"May I go ahead and take your orders?" the waiter asked coming up to us.
"Yes," I replied. "I'm going to start with the grilled Portobello mushrooms and then I'll have the 14 oz. Filet Mignon cooked medium rare with the creamed spinach as my side dish."
"Excellent choices," the waiter smiled as he wrote down my order. He then turned to Patrick, "And for you sir?"
"Um..." Patrick scrutinized the menu, "I think I'm just going to have the soup du jour and the asparagus side dish."
"And for your entrée?" the waiter asked.
"Uh...no entrée for me," Patrick replied.
"Very well," the waiter said taking our menus and leaving the table.
"That's all you're getting?" I asked. "You said earlier that you were starving."
"I don't get paid until next Friday so I have to watch my spending," Patrick shrugged.
"Then let me pay for dinner tonight," I insisted. "Want me to call the waiter back so you can order something else?"
"No. I'm paying tonight," Patrick said. "I wanted to take you out."
"You can take me out next time," I replied.
"No," Patrick replied. "It's fine. Really."
"Okay," I resigned. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Patrick replied.
I got up and walked away from the table and found our waiter.
"Excuse me," I said getting his attention as I walked up to him.
"Yes, sir?" he asked.
"I'm going to go ahead and give you my credit card now," I replied handing him my American Express. "So at the end of dinner just go ahead and charge it."
"Very good sir," the waiter smiled as he took my credit card.
"Thanks," I smiled. It was sweet of Patrick to insist on paying for everything tonight, but I know he isn't exactly in a financial place to be treating me to such fancy dinners. I then went to the bathroom before going back to the table to continue my date with Patrick.
SHANE
I've been living in hell the past couple weeks. All I can do is think about Luke. Why the fuck is this happening now? I'm not someone who is like this usually. I've never been one to have a `crush' on a guy like this before and now here I am and the object of my affections is one of my best friends. I hate how jealous I get when I hear him talk about Morgan and the possibility that he may one date start dating him. I didn't want to say anything though because I don't want us to loose the friendship that we have with one another.
Luke's phone rang and a smile came across his face. "It's Morgan. I'll be right back." Luke got up to talk on the phone.
As soon as Luke was out of hearing range from us Benji looked at me suspiciously.
"I can tell what's going on," Benji declared taking a sip of his drink.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" I played it cool.
"I may not be a guy who's into relationships and love, but I can tell when someone likes another person," Benji said. "You like Luke."
"Shut the fuck up, I do not," I replied too quickly. I looked over my shoulder to make sure Luke still couldn't hear us.
"Admit it," Benji threatened.
"Be quiet," I hissed.
"I won't until you admit it," Benji said. "Just say it. You like Luke."
"Fine! I like him. Are you happy now?" I resigned.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Benji asked.
"Nothing. I'm not going to do anything about it," I replied.
"Why?" Benji asked.
"Because, it can completely ruin our friendship," I replied.
"Yeah I guess you're probably right," Benji replied. "Best to leave it as just a friendship."
"My thoughts exactly. So can we just drop it?" I asked.
"Okay," Benji replied. "You know what you need to get over him?"
"I'm not going to go and pick up a random hook-up with you," I already knew what he was going to suggest.
"Oh come on! It will be fun! I can use you as a wingman," Benji said.
"You seem to do very well without a wingman," I laughed.
"Sorry about that," Luke apologized as he sat back down with us.
"What's Morgan up to?" Benji asked.
"Not much," I replied. "He just called to let me know that he got us reservations at Jack's La Jolla."
"That place is great," Benji said. "Their pasta is amazing."
"I was going to get us reservations for there on Sunday," I said.
"Oh, well we can still go there," Luke replied. "I'm sure I'll like it enough to want to go twice."
"That's okay," I shrugged. "We can do something else."
"Okay," Luke gave me a pat on the back.
FORD
"Are you sure you got enough to eat?" I asked as Patrick and I were finished with our meal. "Your dinner was really small."
"It was plenty,"
When we finished eating dinner the waiter came over and handed me the check.
"Oh, I'll take it," Patrick said reaching for the check.
"It's already been paid for," the waiter said as he handed me the bill.
"What?" Patrick asked confused.
"Yeah, I went ahead and took care of the bill," I replied. "I figured since you only got a couple things and I got so much that it was only fair."
"You weren't supposed to do that," Patrick said a little upset.
"It's no big deal," I said.
"It is to me," Patrick replied. "I wanted to take you out tonight. I can afford to pay."
"I know," I replied. "I just-"
Patrick interrupted me, "Just because I'm not from a wealthy family like you it doesn't mean I'm broke."
"I know that," I insisted. "I just didn't think you should pay for a dinner where you only had soup and asparagus."
"I knew it was only a matter of time before this issue came up," Patrick shook his head.
"What issue? There is no issue," I told him. "I don't care about money."
"Only someone with money would say they don't care about money," Patrick said. "You know this is the reason why I never asked you out in college. I thought now it wouldn't bother me."
"And it does?" I asked. "Why?"
"I don't want to talk about this here. Can we go somewhere a little more private?" Patrick asked.
"Sure," I replied. "Let's go."
After we left the restaurant we went to the beach where we got some quiet time.
"So you were going to ask me out in college?" I asked as we got out of the car. The smell of the ocean filled the air and the sound of the waves crashing was the only sound we could hear besides each other.
"Guilty," Patrick replied. "It was after we had completed our group project for our sociology class. I was going to ask you out afterwards, but then you and Chandler took us out celebrating at 30 Two."
"That was a fun night," I remembered.
"For you maybe," Patrick replied. "Seeing how you two were able to get us into a members only bar and provide us with Dom Perignon bottle service the whole night made me see how we would probably never work."
"If you thought that, then why did you ask me out now?" I was curious to know.
"Honestly, since that night I always wondered what could have happened and when I saw you at the beach I took it as a sign that I should just ask you out and see what could happen," Patrick explained.
"I'm glad you did," I smiled. I normally never make the first move, but I saw that Patrick was feeling very vulnerable right now so I leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. It was one of those perfect first kisses. It was sweet and simple, our lips brushed lightly against each other at first before pressing more firmly against one another. Patrick's right hand was pressed against my lower back and he gently pushed me closer to him. After we kissed we both looked at one another and smiled.
"I'm glad I did too," Patrick replied. "I'm sorry for the way I acted back at the restaurant."
"It's fine," I replied. "And don't worry about the money issue. We'll work it out."
"Yeah?" Patrick asked.
"I think tonight will be the first of many dates together," I replied.
"Me too." Patrick then gave me another kiss. It really was the perfect first date.
BENJI
I barely slept at all. I was too excited about my trip to New York. I really feel as if this business trip can turn into something really great. My little store was fairly successful, but I never dreamed that a bigger company would approach me about turning my store into a major chain. There was talk of opening locations in Los Angeles and New York. Now here I was, traveling first class and going to one of the most exciting cities in the world to talk to people who wanted my business. I truly feel as if I came a long way from where I came.
My family was your typical middle-class family. We weren't poor by any means, but I never had the type of opportunities that Ford had. I grew up in perfect suburbia and began working and saving from the time I turned 16. I started out working at a grocery store and then moved up to working in retail where I found my passion. During and after college I saved and saved until I had enough money to get a loan from the bank to start my own business. It took longer than expected, but my hard work finally seemed to have paid off.
Five hours later I was at JKF Airport and was in a taxi on my way to check in at the Peninsula Hotel. It was another perk of this trip. I was being put up in a hotel that I know I never would be able to afford otherwise.
When I got to my beautiful hotel room I couldn't help but jump up and down in excitement. I felt as if I was on an adventure and the world was my oyster. As I was unpacking my bag for my week long stay my cell phone rang. It was Luke.
"Hey sweetie," I said answering the phone.
"Hey, how's the Big Apple?" Luke asked.
"I've only been here an hour but it's absolutely fabulous," I gushed. "I'm staying at the Peninsula Hotel."
"The Peninsula?" Luke asked. "Impressive."
"To think that I can have a store in the same city as such names like Saks, and Bendels and Bergdorf Goodman." I couldn't wrap my mind around how great that would be. I am in the fashion capital of the world. A place where trends take the country by storm. I may have been born and raised in California, but I feel as if New York is where I truly belong.
"I hope everything goes great," Luke wished me well.
"So how are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm good," Luke replied. "Can I ask you a question? Was Shane acting weird last night?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. I didn't want to let on that I knew about the feelings Shane had for him.
"I don't know," I replied. "It just seemed as if anytime I mentioned Morgan he shut down or something. Does he not like him?"
"I didn't notice anything," I lied. I didn't know what else to do.
"Really?" Luke asked. "Maybe I was just imagining it."
"I'm sure that's it," I replied. "Listen sweetie. I have to get going. But I'll call you later."
"Okay. Have fun. Go out and meet lots of hot east coast boys," Luke laughed.
"Believe me. I will," I replied before hanging up. I hate lying to my friends and I hate knowing this secret about Shane and his feelings for Luke and not being able to say anything. This just proves my point that love and feelings like that can only lead to trouble. It doesn't even involve me and it's already a pain in my ass.
I didn't want to think about it anymore so I took a shower, got dressed and headed out for my first night in New York City. I wish my friends were with me, but I had a feeling that I could do just fine by myself.
After I ate dinner, I stopped by the concierge to see where a good gay club would be and she recommended Devotion. So I hopped in a taxi and was headed to Varick St. at Vandam St. where the club was located and began my night of fun.
FORD
The morning after my date with Patrick I woke up in a great mood. I couldn't have been happier. I spent the previous night out with a great guy and had a feeling that life from now on was going to be a lot better. I knew I shouldn't be hoping for too much too soon, but it really did feel right. Something just clicked with Patrick and me. I sprang out of bed and took a shower. I had a full day planned. After breakfast I planned to go to the farmer's market and pick up some fruits and vegetables for the week and then I had to finish up a review for a little bistro I went to for lunch the day before. I also needed to call Benji and let him know about my date and see how his flight to New York went. As I was eating breakfast in my kitchen my cell phone alerted me to a text. It was the same number that sent me a text the day before. I opened the text and read, Hey Ford. Get ready for some fun. See you soon.' Since I saw my name in the text I knew now that the number was definitely someone I knew so I text back asking who it was. Less than a minute later I got a response and my heart stopped when I read the text. It's Chandler.'
The one person I hoped to avoid forever was now forcing his way back into my life.
When Chandler was in my life, he got me into lots of trouble. The worst part of it was that I more than willingly got into that trouble at the time. I was a lot different back when I was younger. And now it looks as if my past is catching up with me.
I'm normally not one to curse, but when I saw that it was Chandler, there was only one thing I could say.
"Oh shit."
It seemed as if I spoke too soon when I thought life was going to be better. If anything, it was only going to get worse.
SHANE
I got an e-mail from Luke asking me if everything was okay last night. I guess he picked up on my feelings towards him and Morgan. I tried my best to disguise it, I guess I had to work on my acting skills because I had no intentions of revealing those feelings to him. I had to find a way to get over Luke. Maybe I should take up Benji's offer and go out and cruise guys with him. It would at least be a good distraction from thinking about Luke. As I was reading Luke's e-mail, I got a call from Brenda who insisted that we meet. Something in her voice didn't sound right. She didn't sound sad or angry, but she didn't sound happy either. Something was wrong. I quickly got dressed and went to a diner that was halfway between our apartments. When I got there she was already sitting down at a table near the back. I made my way over to her and saw huge bags under her eyes. It looked as if she hadn't slept in weeks.
"You look awful," I said sitting down. "Something wrong?"
"I have some news," Brenda had a look of dread in her eyes. She looked as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"What is it?" Brenda can often get herself into jams, but I've never seen her look so distraught before.
Brenda took a deep breath, obviously trying to find the right way to tell me. "Remember last month when you and I got drunk and were really stupid?"
"Yeah," I shrugged.
"God, this is really difficult to say," Brenda said.
"Oh, I have a feeling where this is going," I said taking Brenda's hand in mine. It wouldn't be the first time we needed to have this talk.
"I don't think you do," Brenda shook her head.
"I do," I assured her. "Brenda, I love you. You know that, but I'm gay."
"That's not it," Brenda replied. "And don't flatter yourself. The way you make love to a woman makes it pretty obvious that you're gay."
"So what's the problem?" I chose to ignore the insult she gave me about my skills in bed.
"You know how we didn't use a condom?" Brenda asked.
"Yeah," I replied. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what she had to say next.
"I'm just going to say it." Brenda decided, she was too distraught to beat around the bush any longer. "I'm pregnant."
"Oh shit."
To Be Continued...
Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I felt that it was time to spice up the storyline a bit and add some good drama into the mix. With any comments, questions or feedback please e-mail me at ilj4ever44@yahoo.com. Thanks so much for reading!