***Heya. I'm not a first-time writer, but this is the first time I've ever written something like this. It's actually a story that came to me after a really stressful day at work and has kind of grown from there. No, I don't really know anyone in *NSYNC. All representation of them, and any other celebrities referenced here are solely my imagination and are not intended to reflect the true nature of any of them. If you've ever met people who are in the `business' you know they are always a lot different than what you expect. They work hard for their fame, and have precious little privacy as it is. However, their images, and our imaginations our public so, well, here's a fun little story that's not meant to insult, alarm, offend, or disgust anyone. I hope you enjoy it. If it ain't legal to read about love between men where you live, then read no further! As per the Nifty Guidelines, all rights are retained by the author as per copying & posting except on the Nifty Archives.
For everyone else...let me know what you think! Email to: dkstories@cox.net
A Phone Call -- Chapter 1
Jeez, it was turning into an even worse day. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. It's just that I hate it too. Yes, it is possible to love your job and hate it at the same time. I should know, I've had this job for three years now. During the interview, they asked me if I like to busy.
I will never answer that question "yes" again. I've learned my lesson.
What started this rant anyway? Oh yeah, the phone is ringing. The damn phone. Well, it's just going to keep ringing unless I answer it. A quick glance tells me that it's an outside line (as if the double ring wasn't enough of a clue) and it also shows the time: 4:30 p.m. Ah! A ray of hope, a shining beacon of light. Only a half hour to go until quitting time!.
"Good afternoon, City of Mesa. This is Dave." I say into the phone after picking it up. The tone of the voice I hear coming back at me crushes the light feeling I had a moment earlier. Ah, the ups and downs of life.
"Hi." This deep voice came through the handset. The voice was deep and the tone easily conveyed the unhappiness of the caller. "I understand that you're the person who's holding up the closing on my home?"
"I'm sure that's one way of looking at it." I answered dryly, trying to keep my voice professional. "What subdivision is the home in?"
"Rancho Del Toros" the answer came gruffly. "Markon Homes told me that everything's ready for me to move in, except you won't give them a clearance. Can you tell me what the hold up is?"
"Actually, I have no problem telling you, sir." I said. I didn't even need to look for the file. This was the fourth phone call from a potential homeowner today. Hell, the file was still sitting on my desk, so I opened it and flipped back to the page I needed.
"Let's see, the reason we haven't issued the clearance for the subdivision yet comes in four parts. First, there are three fire hydrants that have to be raised to grade. This means that until that is done the fire department would not be able to use them in case of fire. Second, the streetlights along one of the streets have not been energized. I'm sure I don't need to explain the dangers of unlit streets. Third, none of the concrete collars have been poured for the water valves along the entrance road. I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate damaging your car because of that. Finally, the street name signs haven't been installed. In case of emergency, the police, fire, or ambulance will have a hard time finding your place without being able to read street signs."
"That's not what the agent told me." The as-yet unidentified caller said, his voice showing some confusion. "She told me that everything was done and you were just holding them up because of some paperwork."
"Sorry, sir." I told him, letting a bit of satisfaction creep into my voice. "Either she she's not aware of the status of her subdivision or you're being misled."
"How do I know you're not trying to shift the blame back to them?" the caller asked.
"Easy, sir." I told him, glad he couldn't see the evil grin on my face. "The paperwork for their clearance is sitting here on my desk, in the same file as the list I just read to you. As soon as they get their butts in gear and get the work done, the inspector and I will sign it off and you will have your clearance to move."
"Can I see it?" the caller asked. I wasn't really surprised. This had happened so many times before that I knew there was always a few people out there who wouldn't believe me until they saw the file for themselves.
"Of course, sir." I answered immediately. "The file, and everything in it is public record. If you want to come down to the office tomorrow morning, I'll be more than happy to show you."
"Can we do it this afternoon?" He asked, and I let out an internal groan.
"Well, we close in a half hour, you'd have to be close by." I told him.
"Are you in the main city building?" he asked, and I both cringed and sighed with relief. Maybe I'd get out of here on time after all.
"Yes, we're on the second floor. Just tell the receptionist you're here to see Dave Young."
"Okay, I'm in the parking lot so I'll be there in a few minutes." The caller said before hanging up. It was more like a few seconds rather than minutes that my phone rang again. The single ring and number displayed told me it was the receptionist. I hit the speaker button and told her to send him on up. Less than two minutes later, she was leading him back towards my small office.
My first sight of the last minute caller, and upset citizen, took me by surprise. I was expecting someone in their middle age, not this young...and cute...guy. His blond hair was cut medium and his bangs were combed down over his forehead. As I stood up to greet him, I realized he was shorter than me, but then again I'm 6'3" and am taller than most people. His hair made me a little jealous, mine had been that color until a few years ago. Now that I was closer to thirty than twenty, my hair had gotten darker. He had a nice build, like a dancer and I realized that in a moment I'd be very glad to sit down behind my desk.
"Hi, Dave Young" I introduced myself as we shook hands. I immediately motioned him towards a chair on the other side of the desk and sat down before he could notice anything that would be...um...unprofessional. I was distracted enough that it took me a moment to realize he had paused slightly before answering my introduction.
"Uh, James." He introduced himself simply.
"Well, James, it's nice to meet you. I just wish it was under better circumstances." He chuckled politely at my feeble jest before I continued, picking up the file off my desk and handing it to him. It was already open to the relevant areas.
"As you can see there on the left side, the paperwork for your clearance is already done. The only things lacking are the necessary signatures. On the right is the punch list that was prepared two weeks ago. You can see from the sticky note on top that the inspector noted the items that were still not done. It's dated yesterday and he confirmed that they still weren't done today."
"They've had two weeks and still aren't done?" James half-asked, half-stated in a tone that I'd call dangerous. He leafed through the file for a few moments and I took a moment to wipe the smile off of my face. Gloating really isn't pretty. The developers played so many games that it was always nice to win a dispute. I really couldn't help gloating a little. I am human after all.
"That's pretty much what I said to the inspector this morning." I told him once I'd gotten my voice under better control, no, the tone wasn't too smug...I think. "He thinks they can knock everything out in a day or two, but until they do, well let's just say I wouldn't want my parents, or friends living in that subdivision."
"Thank god you said friends. I'm not old enough to be a parent." James said with a chuckle in his voice. "Still, this doesn't exactly help me out in my situation. Why didn't they just tell me this? Why did they try to blame it on you?"
"It's all part of the business." I said, leaning back in my chair, mind racing about how to phrase this diplomatically. I'd been lectured enough about my lack of tact in certain situations.
"They don't want to have their customers pissed off at them. You probably talked to the sales agent. They have their deadlines and all those contracts on the line. The contractors work their butts off to get things done in time, but well, sometimes they don't succeed perfectly. The agents always worry about losing customer confidence so they spin the story. Everyone hates government, and everyone knows that City employees are lazy so we make great targets. Unfortunately, I never have worked for the DMV so I don't have a problem in actually trying to be helpful."
That definitely worked. It actually got a laugh, not a chuckle, but a full laugh. That deep voice, and oh, green eyes! Combined they had an affect on me that caused me to change how I was sitting slightly. Damn, I better go out tonight. Maybe I'll meet someone and get rid of some of this tension.
Just at that moment, one of my co-workers came in with the stack of warranty files that I'd be working on come Monday. Since the stack was delivered on a cart and ended up being three feet high, James eyes went a little wide. He made a comment about keeping busy, which caused me to laugh and tell him about the question they asked me during my job interview. We'd moved past the upset citizen/government bureaucrat stage and were actually having a nice conversation. After that little story, we chatted for a little while about developers and I ended up telling him the story of my first day on the job when I had the Governor call me and complain about noise from a construction site next door waking her up. She didn't like learning that there was no noise ordinance preventing them from starting so early and liked my suggestion that she could always change the law even less.
"Do you mind if I make a phone call?" James asked me as he pulled out his cell phone out. We'd both laughed for a few minutes after that and he was still smiling.
"No problem." I told him, turning back to my computer while he made his phone call. The clock in the lower right corner told me it was now 5:15 p.m. So much for getting off work on time. Oh well, the bars didn't close for five hours at least, and tomorrow was Friday. I shut the computer down and forwarded the phone to the night number, getting ready to leave as soon as James was done with his call. The hallway outside my office was already deserted. Some things about City employees are true; especially that five o'clock is closing time. After days like today, no one wanted to stick around. My attention returned to James and I realized that I'd totally tuned out his phone conversation until this point.
"...yeah, well I'm sitting in that `asshole from the City's office right now" James was saying. "I saw the file for myself. Don't go and try to blame your company's shortcomings on hard working people. No, I'm not going to pull out of the closing as long as you get all those things fixed by Monday. Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow, and I'll be sending you the bill for my hotel room tonight."
He finished the phone call pretty quickly after that, but immediately dialed another number. Trying not to be rude, I started sorting the stack of warranties that had been dropped off. Hell, It'd make Monday morning a little easier anyway.
"Hi Melinda." James was saying into his phone now. "Look, the house isn't ready yet. Were you able to get me a room tonight?"
"What do you mean they are all full?"
"Okay, try one of the economy places. I guess I can stand one of those for the night. Also, call the furniture company first thing tomorrow and postpone the delivery until next week. I'm not sure what day it'll be ready, but schedule it for tomorrow. Okay, I'll go to dinner and wait for you call on the hotel room. Goodbye."
"All done?" I asked, trying not to show my desire to leave too much.
"Yeah. What the hell's going on that all the hotels would be full?" he asked, standing up from his chair at the same time I did.
"Big game in town this week." I told him. "Playoffs are going on, plus there's like a couple of conventions in Phoenix going on. You'll be lucky to find a budget hotel."
"Damn, this is NOT my week." He said, almost whining. I couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Watch this, every restaurant I go to will be full as well."
"Probably." I agreed with him as we moved out the door and down the hallway. All of a sudden, I didn't want to leave. I knew better than to mix business and pleasure, but he was cute. "Look, I was going to a pub near here that serves food as well. It's an English style pub, good food and I've got a table reserved. You're more than welcome to join me."
"That'd be nice." James said, his face broadening into a smile. All of a sudden, something clicked in my head and I knew I'd seen him somewhere before. As we walked into the parking lot, and I gave him directions to the pub, I wracked my brain on where I knew him from, but kept on coming up blank. Oh well, I decided to ask him later. The drive was short to the pub, and he managed to stay behind me all the way there. I could see him in my mirror, dancing in his seat as he drove his rental SUV. I just hoped he didn't rear end me when I stopped for the red light. Less than ten minutes later, we pulled into the pub's parking lot and made our way inside. Luckily, they'd held my table. There were advantages to being a Friday regular. Joanie, the waitress kept giving James a weird look as she took our order and I almost told her to back off. Of course I didn't know if he was gay or not, but I still felt an urge to tell her off.
"Okay, Jim," I said after she left, unconsciously shortening his name. I know, another bad habit. "I kept help but feel like I'm supposed to know you. Have we met before?"
"No," he said with a goofy grin on his face. "I'd remember meeting you. Maybe you've seen me somewhere before."
"Hmm, are you from the Phoenix area?" I asked. Maybe I'd seen him in a bar around town.
"No, I'm originally from Mississippi. Lately I've been living in Orlando and L.A. though. My business keeps me moving around a lot."
"Oh." I said, momentarily defeated. "Must be a bitch living and working bi-coastal."
"It can be, it can be." He said with another grin. The waitress returned with our drinks and I took a healthy swig of my ice tea. Joanie knew me well enough to come back with a pitcher and refill my glass immediately.
"Thirsty, eh?" James said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, you know this is Phoenix after all. Got to keep the fluids flowing." I responded, deciding to drop a little innuendo.
"Hehe, true." James chuckled. "I tell ya, it may be hotter than Orlando, but I won't miss the mugginess."
"Really? So, if I may ask, why are you buying a home out here?"
"Well, there's a lot of business prospects blooming here for me and I've been spending more time out in Tempe lately. Plus, I've been through here a lot and always wanted to spend a few months a year out here. So, I bought a home out here for when I'm in town. It's better than hotels, I've gotten to where I hate them."
"Tempe, huh?" I said. "If I may ask, what kind of business are you in?"
"Uh..." James stuttered for a moment, and I knew that he wasn't going to answer, or at least answer fully. Fortunately his phone rang at the moment.
"Hi Melinda" James said into the phone. I would have wondered if she was his wife or girlfriend except his tone was all business, no affection at all. "What you got for me. Uh huh. Okay. Um, Dave, how far away is Glendale?"
"It's about forty-fifty minutes depending on traffic." I told him.
"Crap! Melinda, that won't do. Find something closer."
"That may be near impossible." I told him.
"Look, just make some phone calls, our food is here." He nearly slammed the phone down as Joanie was setting our plates on the table. We ate in silence for a few minutes, but conversation picked up quickly. We talked about some clubs in Tempe that had been visiting, the Phoenix weather, local scenery, basically a bunch of small talk. Before long our food was gone and we were both sipping some after dinner coffee when his phone rang.
"I hope you have good news." He said into the phone and I knew it was Melinda. He listened a few moments before speaking, and his tone expressed his frustration very well.
"Look, I don't pay you what I pay you for answers like that. It's bad enough that I have to stay in a hotel instead of a house, but I'm not driving an hour just to stay at a Motel 6!"
"Um, James." I said softly. His green eyes were steely hard, but softened as he looked at me. "I don't mean to be too forward, but I have an extra room in my apartment. You're more than welcome to stay there for the night."
"Are you sure?" he asked quietly. "You just met me."
"I'm more worried that you wouldn't feel comfortable. After all you just met me." I told him.
"Well, you can't be too bad, you don't work for the Post Office after all." He said with a laugh. "Look, Melinda, I'm going to stay with a friend here. Just get me a room for tomorrow night and make sure my tickets are waiting at the airline counter Saturday morning. Have a good night."
"So," I said after he had set the phone back down. "Do you feel like doing anything tonight?"
"Actually, if you don't mind," he began a little hesitantly, "I'd kind of like to stay in. Maybe watch a movie."
"No problem," I told him, actually getting excited about having a guest for the night, even if he wasn't sleeping in my bed. "We can stop at the DVD Palace on the way home."
"Great, let's get going!" He said, bouncing out of his chair and grabbing the check before I could.
"Don't argue!" he told me, shaking his finger and grinning at me. I knew better than to push so I shrugged as he went to the counter to pay the bill. He had a quiet conversation with Joanie as I went to the bathroom before leaving. By the time I was done he was waiting outside watching the fiery Phoenix sunset. Even after being here for three years, I never got tired of those sunsets. They were the most beautiful, bar none.
"You ready?" I asked after a few minutes. My only answer was a nod of his head. I gave him the directions to my apartment, a few miles away and we got into our vehicles. A half-hour later (traffic was bad) we pulled into my complex and I hit the remote for the gates. He followed me into the parking area and I motioned him to my covered parking spot, taking a guest spot nearby for my own vehicle. He had already opened the back of his SUV and was struggling with several bags. Being a good host I gave him a hand and we headed for my apartment.
"Nice place" he said as I unlocked the door and stepped aside for him to enter. He spent a few minutes looking around and I showed him to the guest room.
"Nice furniture, big, spacious, they sure do pay well at that City." He said after we set his bags down on the double bed in the guest room.
"Your tax dollars at work." I joked and we both chuckled.
"I thought we were going to stop for a movie?" he said after a moment.
"Shit." I exclaimed. "Sorry, forgot. I've got a few by the t.v. If you like one of them, we can watch it. Otherwise we can go get one. Would you like something to drink?"
"Coke if you got it." He said as he made his way over to the entertainment center. As I returned with his soda in a glass, he was holding up a movie with a small smile on his face. I saw the cover and smiled. Father's Day with Robin Williams, Billie Crystal, and Charlie Hoffheimer. A nice comedy that I bought a few weeks ago.
"Good choice." I said with a smile and handed him his drink.
"I haven't seen this in years." He said. "It brings back some fun memories."
"Cool, we can watch it." I said, sitting on the sofa. He put the movie in the DVD player, and I turned on the television with the remote. The next hour passed with both of us chuckling occasionally over the antics on the screen. I started laughing at one point, not because of what happened on the screen, but because of a memory from a recent trip to Disneyland.
"That scene wasn't that funny." James said softly, giving me a weird look out of the corner of his eye. I knew he was wondering if he'd decided to stay with a madman.
"Not the movie, just something I was reminded of." I gasped out.
"Oh!" he said, smiling again. "Do share."
"Well, let's just say that a few weeks ago my best friend and I took a trip to Disneyland."
"And that's funny because..." Lance said as I tried to catch my breath.
"Well, while we were there, we met Charlie Hoffheimer, the guy who played the kid. He was with some other minor actors in line behind us. We started talking up a storm and hung out for a while. I recognized him a little and he told me he had been in this movie. That's when my friend Manuel, said `Oh, well I thought you were Justin Timberlake at first with your curly hair, but then I realized you were too short and too skinny.'"
"Oh, I guess you had to be there." James said, then continued "So, your friend likes *NSYNC, huh?"
"Yeah, he's a big fan of them." I told him, remembering all those damn posters that Manuel had insisted on buying, and the concert he'd dragged me to see. "Back when we were still dating he even dragged me to a concert in Sacramento..."
I kind of faded off at that point because I was looking at James and remembering the concert. Now I knew where I'd seen him before. It had been at that concert. He'd been on the damn stage. His eyes had gone wide at the same time as mine did. I imagine we both had looks of surprise on our faces as we both blurted out at the same time.
"Shit, you're fucking Lance Bass!" I exclaimed.
"You're gay?!" James nearly shouted at the exact same time.
Hmmm, should I continue this story?