This story is a work of fiction intended for a mature adult audience only. All similarities between characters in the story are fictional. This story depicts homosexual acts; so if you do not approve of this subject please do not read any further. This story is copyrighted by the author and may not be copied without the written permission of the author.
If you like the story, email me and drop me some feedback at: luthifer@tpg.com.au
You can also catch me on the NiftyOrg IRC chatroom under the alias, `Izzy'.
Chapter 1 -- A New Face
"Fine and 26, Sydney will be cloudy and 28. Finally Melbourne will have a few showers..."
Damn it, I thought as I was woken by my alarm. If there is one thing I'm not good at, it's waking up in the morning. Especially seeing it was eight in the morning. As I sat up I looked down to the end of my bed and saw that once again I had kicked the sheets off. Rubbing my eyes, I got up and made my way to the kitchen.
Monday... Again. That meant that I had to be at work in an hour. I work as a sales assistant at a large department store. So, I showered and got dressed and made my way out for the day.
Finishing high school the previous year, I had only recently turned 19. I've been told that I have a good figure. I'm 6'2" with long rusty blonde hair and grey eyes. I have a few distinguishing features, like my goatee and tattoo of a dragon on my upper right arm. Apart from that, there's nothing special about me. I'm just another citizen of the ignorant masses.
Yawning, I got in my car and made my way to work. The neighbour seemed to be off somewhere, too. Whoever lived next door only just moved in.
It only takes about 10 minutes to drive to work, and I only have to go through two sets of traffic lights. Unfortunately, I have this annoying habit of catching the red lights all the time. As I stopped at the first intersection I opened the window and lit up a cigarette. It always took ages for the lights to change.
As I was stopped a car pulled up beside me. I averted my eyes to the driver. He was about my age, with short brown hair. Suddenly he turned and saw me looking at him. Blushing, I quickly looked back to the road, and as the lights turned green, I took off.
Then, as predicted, I stopped at the next red light, only to be met by the same car again. I looked to the driver again. He looked back giving a small wave and smile. He drove away.
A horn beeped and I realised that I was still sitting at the lights, even though they were green. I snapped back to reality and drove off.
I pulled in to the car park to find someone had once again taken my usual car park. I growled and pulled into a car park 50 metres away.
~*~
It was busier than expected. Two people had called in sick today, so I had to do their work as well as my own. Some times it was a real pain in the ass working here. Although there are a few perks of the job. Like long breaks.
I was restocking a shelf when a particularly rude, regular customer approached me.
"Can I help you sir?" I asked politely.
The man snickered, "of course you can. You DO work here, after all." He was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a flannelette shirt.
I managed a small smile. Usually the guy would come in and abuse one of the sales reps and it looks like I was his target for today. He began to complain to me about something, I guess I tuned out when he spoke. I tried to tell him that I wasn't the person to talk to, but he wouldn't listen. He became irritated rather quickly and soon threatened to hit me. There was nothing I could do, he was bigger than me and I was doing my job properly. It was then I did the dumbest thing. I said in a strong a voice as I could manage, "Sir, I think you should leave the store."
The second I said that, I found myself pushed up against the shelf with the man's hand about my neck and his other raised ready to hit me. That was the last thing I remember.
~*~
"Hey dude, are you OK?" a voice said.
I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the couch in the tea room. There was a guy kneeling by the couch looking at me. "Who... Who are you?" I was dazed.
"Leigh. Are you alright?"
I nodded, "yeah, I'm fine. I'm Chris. What the hell happened?" I sat up with difficulty, my head was throbbing.
Leigh smiled, "I know, it's on your name badge. Maybe you got hit harder than I thought. That customer you were serving went crazy, I heard him yelling from a few aisles away. Curiosity got the better of me and I came around the corner to check out what was going on. I came around the corner just in time to see you get decked."
"What'd they do with him?" I replied, shaken.
"Well, I chased the guy out of the store. He won't be coming back for a while. I'll grab you some ice." He got up and made his way over to the freezer.
Leigh was about 6 foot tall and had... Well, come to think of it, he looked like the guy I seen in the car on the way to work.
He made his way back with some ice wrapped in a tea towel. Sitting on the couch next to me he placed the ice pack on my cheek.
I flinched a little from both the coldness of the ice and the pain from where I was hit. I looked to Leigh. "You look really familiar."
He chuckled. "Of course I do. I seen you in you car on the way here. You saw me too." He smiled warmly.
"So it was you I saw. Anyway, why are you here?" I took the icepack from his warm hands and held it against my aching jaw.
He laughed again. "Well I wasn't just going to leave you on the store floor, and anyway, I work here now. I got a transfer from a Melbourne store. I'll be working in the Home entertainment section."
"Great. I'm in Home Entertainment, too. Except today I was covering for someone else in Toys." I grinned. This guy seemed pretty cool. Maybe now that he works here I could get to know him a little better. He had a kind face and his chin was covered in stubble.
"Well you won't be doing any more work today. I'm taking you home." With that, he helped me to my feet, and though I protested, he took me to his car and sat me in the passenger seat.
"I guess I have no choice about the matter. But what about my car?" I suddenly realised that it was Leigh that had parked in my space.
~*~
We drove back to my place. It was only a small one bedroom flat that I had moved into the year before. I lived there with my housemate for about 3 months but then we had a bit of a, how do you say it? Let's just say we clashed a lot. Anyway, I was living by myself and struggling to pay the rent each week. I'm waiting for the day I miss work and can't pay. I hate my landlords, and they hate me. One missed payment will be all it takes for them to nail an eviction notice to my door.
"Here we are," Leigh said as he got out of the car. He made his way around to my door.
Suddenly I realised that not once had he asked for directions and not once I told him where to go. "How did you know where I live?" I asked, surprised.
"Geez, you really don't pay attention, do you?" He replied.
"Wh... What do you mean?" I asked, confused.
He chuckled. "I live in the same block of flats as you. We practically pulled out at the same time to get to work this morning."
I blushed as the puzzle fell together. "Thank you for bringing me home, even though it was completely unnecessary. Um... What are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing," he replied, "why do you ask?"
I looked down to the floor. "Well, would you like to come over for dinner? I feel like I need to do something to repay you for being so helpful today."
Leigh smiled and extended his hand. "You should really rest. But if you really think you're up to it, sure, I finish at five. I'll be over at about six, okay?"
I took his hand in mine and shook it firmly. "Great, I'll be waiting!"
Leigh nodded. "I'll catch you then, I have to get back to work."
He got back in the car and reversed down the driveway. I waved as he sped off down the street.
~*~
I walked in the house, rubbing my head. I looked at the clock and saw it was three. Then I looked around the flat, and groaned as I seen how messy the place was. Three hours should be enough to clean and cook.
So, for the next three hours I ran around the house like chook with it's head cut off. Five o'clock came rolling around fast.
Come to think of it, I don't think my flat had ever been cleaner. It's funny that I spent so much time making my house look presentable for someone that I had really only met that day. The cleaning was done and the cooking was coming along nicely.
I went over to my sound system, switched it on and found a suitable CD to put on. I grabbed a couple glasses and went over to the liquor cabinet. I poured myself a glass of Southern Comfort and coke and went and sat on the couch. Not two minutes after I sat down there was a knock at the door.
There stood Leigh, in a nice blue shirt and dress pants. I smiled and asked him in.
"Wow, you've really done the place up, Chris," he grinned.
I blushed again. "Thanks." I realised that I hadn't had the time to get changed so I grabbed him a drink, asked him to take a seat and I rushed down to my room and changed.
My heart was beating faster than normal. Sure, Leigh was a nice guy and all, but I'd only just met him, and the chances of him being gay were pretty low. I checked myself over in the mirror, gave a weak smile and made my way back to the living room.
~*~
I sat on the couch next to Leigh. "Isn't it a coincidence that we live in the same block of flats and work in the same section of the same department store?"
Leigh grinned. "I reckon it's pretty cool actually. I only just moved here from Melbourne and I hadn't met anyone yet."
We sat there talking about what had being going on in our lives. It just so happened that Leigh was the same age as me. He Finished year 12 and went straight into full time work. Practically the same as me. We talked for well over half an hour.
Suddenly Leigh sat up and spoke. "Do you smell something burning?'
"Shit!" I cursed and ran for the kitchen. The curtains which were right above the stove had caught fire.
~*~
To be continued...