THE STORY OF US BY: Julien
This story is 100% fictional and is by no means depictive of the life of any person, place or thing. It contains sexual activities between males and should only be read if it is legal to do so in your area. Read at your own risk and enjoy. Comments are welcomed and would be very much appreciated. ENJOY!
There will be many flashback sequences in this story so as not to confuse anyone, when a flashback takes place, there will be an asterisk (*) before the start of that flashback
Even though we were under the same roof, we weren't on the same page. He was still feigning annoyance with me for making him call Adam and I was still playing the role of the wounded one. Who knew how long this little tiff would continue. I watched as he slapped some peanut butter on a slice of whole wheat bread.
"Tell me that's not what you're gonna eat for dinner?" He looked over at me and rolled his eyes and I thought, 'this was going to be harder than I ever imagined'.
"Come on Michael, you not gonna talk to me now." Again he ignored me and continued to spread more peanut butter over the slice of bread.
"Fine! Be that way, it's not my fault that you fuc...
DING! The sound resounded throughout the condo.
"Fuck, that better not be who I think it is." Cried Michael making his way to the foyer. Knowing the illustrious life that he lived, that could mean that it was one of his tricks calling.
A few seconds later I heard my name being called.
"What?" I called back
"It's for you." Curiosity filling my head, I made my way to the front door and stopped. He stood there in the same attire that we saw him in earlier in the evening.
"Bobby." His name came out in a whisper and I could feel my face grow warm.
"Richie can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Yeah, sure, ok come on in." and just as he was about to step in, Michael stepped between us.
"Hold up man, you're about to invite him in my house like I'm not here?" He had a point and I all of a sudden felt pangs of selfishness hit me one at a time.
"Michael I know we haven't been cool and I know the way I handled the situation the other day was out a sync but I want you to know I'm sorry." I couldn't believe that Bobby was actually apologizing to Michael of all people and he sounded humble on top of it.
Michaels face remained unchanged and for a moment I thought he was going to throw Bobby out but just then he did the opposite. He threw his arms up in the air and said, "get the hell in here, you're letting in the cold air." With that he broke into a smile that lit up his whole face.
"Thanks." Bobby replied stepping inside the house and allowing Michael to close the door.
He turned back to me and winked- I took that to mean that the tiff was over and done with.
"I'll be in the back Richie." He said not giving Bobby another look, I would have to ask him about that later.
When I was sure he was out of ear shot I suggested that we take a seat in the living room.
"Thanks." He stated following me.
When we were seated, I waited for him to start talking and he did.
"How have you been man?" It seemed that that should have been as obvious as stars in the sky but if he wanted to drag this out, we would drag this out.
"I'm here, I'm alive."
"Oh." And if he had expected me to be the one to take this conversation of the ground, he had another thing coming.
We were quiet for a few seconds than he spoke again.
"I'm sorry." Two little words that could have had so many meanings but I only wanted one.
"Yeah." I answered uncommitted to the idea. I wanted him to say what he was sorry for, I wanted the whole enchilada with a side of reason and I wanted it now rather than later.
"The reason why I came here was because..." and the ringing of that stupid doorbell again interrupted us.
"Shit" I heard Michael call out. I waited to see him emerge from the back but he didn't come out.
The doorbell rang again and again and then it stopped. BANG! BANG! BANG! The ringing turned to knocking.
"Michael!" I called again.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck! It's Adam." He called out.
I didn't know if I was ready to handle having Adam, Michael, Bobby and myself under the same roof - too many bottled up feelings and resentments.
BANG!
"Michael!"
"Shit, tell him I'm in the shower or something."
"What happened to being upfront?"
"Fuck that, just tell him to go away, I can't deal with this shit now."
I looked across at Bobby who had a quizzical look on his face but seemed resigned to the fact that he would have to sit and wait to find out what was going on. I walked to the door and opened it. The moment Adam saw me, his face fell.
"Is Michael here?"
"Um...yeah but he's um, he's in the shower."
"Fine, I'll wait." And before I could say anything else, he pushed his way past me. I cursed under my breath and closed the door.
"I'll go tell him you're here." I stated making my way into the back.
My main purpose for coming here was to get things resolved but all I had ended up doing was creating more tension. We hadn't even gotten past the preliminaries before we were interrupted and now I found myself alone with this stranger who seemed to be in a worse mood than me.
"Hi." I said taking him in.
"Hi." He replied giving me the one over and then a look of recognition hit his face.
"You're the singer right, Knight. Sorry but I can't remember your first name."
"Yeah I am and it's ok. I'm Bobby." I stretched my arm out to him and he took it.
"Adam, I heard your last album, pretty good songs you have on there."
"Thanks." We were both quiet after that until, "you're Michaels' friend?" He asked me.
"No, Richies', me and Michael," I paused then continued, "We don't feel each other if you get my drift." Another look of recognition seemed to cross his face and that friendly attitude that he displayed towards me earlier turned into a scowl.
"Shit! It's you."
"What?"
"You! You're the one who put him in the hospital." And I took my stance hoping that this cat was not stupid enough to think he could take me.
"Listen man about that, me and Michael, we're..."
"You don't need to explain anything Bobby." I turned to the sound of this new voice and found Michael standing in the hallway with Richie some ways behind him.
"Adam, what are you doing here?" I could see the veins in his neck pulse a little and thought that Adam had more to fear from Michael than he did from me.
"I wanted to talk to you."
"Well I said what I needed to say or didn't you get that over the phone."
"Excuse me." I said quickly getting up and walking over to where Richie stood. This was one conversation that I didn't want any part of - at all.
"Come on, let them talk." Richie whispered to me as he took my hand in his and led me down a corridor into a back bedroom. And I had to admit that having him take charge like that sent a strange feeling through my veins.
We both walked in and he closed the door.
"Who is that?" I asked quickly.
"Michaels' latest whatever you want to call it." All I could say in regards to that was "oh". And y'all wonder why I didn't want him messing with Richie.
"What are you doing here?" A simple enough question but it still caught me off guard and I was left without an answer.
"I, uuh, I wanted to see how you were, you know."
"I'm ok, I'm good, really." He had said it too quickly, something that keyed me into the fact that maybe he wasn't all right.
"Richie." I started and stopped as he interrupted me with, "we don't have to talk about this Bobby. Now is really not a good time for me." And that gave me the out I needed from that convo and an in for the real reason I was here.
"Ok." I took a deep breath then continued, "I want to ask you something and I want you to be real honest with me."
He seemed hesitant when he said ok but I tried not to pay it much mind.
"Ok, when you saw Ernie that day, did he say anything to you about...about me and my career." His face changed color and I already knew the answer to my next question.
"Not in so many words."
"Did he threaten you man?" His blush deepened and his face took on a purplish tint.
"Why?"
"Come on Richie, just tell me, did he threaten you?"
"No." And the second the words were out of his mouth, I knew it was a lie.
"No?"
"No man, no he didn't threaten me."
"Richie you can tell me if he did. It's really important you tell me what he said."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because what?"
"Shit man, stop making this more difficult than this has to be ok, I need to know the truth, did Ernie threaten you or not."
"Fuck! I said no - you want me to fucking spell it out for you." And I knew without a doubt what had gone down and I vowed to myself revenge.
"Fine, you don't have to go off on me." His erratic breathing returned to normal and his normal color began to take over again.
"I'm sorry. It's just been a real hectic day with me and Michael and...a whole lot of things that have, been on my mind lately, you know how it is." And I wondered if I was one of those things. I wanted to push the issue but something in his eyes told me not to, not now anyway. And as for that other issue, we would have to deal with that eventually but not now, I couldn't deal with that now, not when so many other things were going on.
"It's ok. Um, I need to get going, got a meeting with Laurence bright and early tomorrow." I thought I saw his face fall but it must have been just my imagination running away with me as the good ol song put it.
"Yeah. Well tell Laurence that I'm gonna give him a call later on in the week."
"Sure thing. And Richie?"
"Yeah."
"We'll talk later ok, I promise you that." I half smile plagued at his lips and he nodded his head.
We walked outside and slowly rounded the corner expecting a full on assault from both Adam and Michael but was surprised to see only Michael standing in the kitchen with his head over the sink.
"Michael, you ok?" Asked Richie.
"Yeah man."
"Ok." and turning to me he continued with, "I'll see you later."
"Yeah." It sounded like an empty promise to me but I was too chicken shit to call him on it. He walked me to the door, opened it and then stood there as I walked out, not bothering to say anything to me except "Bye."
I watched as he got into his car and pulled away from Michael's complex and then closed the door. I was very curious as to why he would be asking about Ernie and whether or not he had threatened me with anything and then It hit me like a light - maybe Ernie had renounced on our agreement and had sent in those pictures to the tabloids, maybe Bobby had found out and wanted to fuck me up for not warning him and maybe I was about to end up in the sack with Michael anytime soon - as are a lot of things, it was an improbability but that didn't mean it couldn't and wouldn't happen and if it did, I'm sure I would have been the first one to know. And just as my thoughts turned into a jumbled mass of shit I remembered Michael hanging his face over the sink. At first glance it didn't seem strange but now that my mind had time to clear, it seemed kinda out of place.
"Michael you ok?"
"Is he gone?"
"Bobby? Yeah, he left a while ago."
"Good." And something in the tone of his voice worried me.
"What's the matter?" I asked making my way over to him.
"Ah shit!" He looked up from the sink into my eyes and I gasped.
His lips were busted up and his right eye was beginning to turn a blackish blue color.
"Fuck, what the hell happened to your face." I cried.
"What the fuck do you think happened?" His voice held much frustration
"Did that little shit do that to you?"
"Let it go Richie."
"I'm not gonna let it go."
"Fuck! I said let it go!" he screamed. He tried to push his way past me but I refused to let him go.
"I want to know what happened."
"Later."
"No Michael, now!" My tone not only surprised him, but also myself.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I hate you, you know that." He said, a sad smile plaguing his lips.
"No you don't." I quipped. I took his hand and led him over to the sofa, "Now either you tell me what happened or I'm gonna assume whatever I assume and I'm gonna do something to..."
"Ok, ok." I sat across from him and waited:
He looked like shit and I came to realize that I never saw Adam disheveled, not once, not after sex, not after a night over, not ever. I didn't want him here.
"What can I do for you Adam?" I kept my voice as formal as possible.
" 'What can I do for you Adam.' After everything we've been through those are the first words out of your mouth."
"Adam."
"What!" I knew this could go hard or it could go easy but the way he was acting, I knew it wasn't going to be easy.
"I don't want this to get heated."
"Too late Michael. This SHIT is already heated." He paused and then continued, "What the hell did I do wrong? I just don't get it."
"You didn't do anything wrong, you didn't say anything wrong, I just don't want a relationship right now." He shook his head and then started laughing, just laughing!
"Yeah right. I see what's really going on."
"What?"
He got up and headed to the door, I followed.
"Everything was fine until a few days ago. You were all into me and then your friend comes back and it's like you're not interested in me anymore, like I wasn't even there and I can't figure out why."
"This has nothing to do with Richie, Adam. This is between me and you." And then as an after thought I added, "this was in the making way before Richie came back."
"Well thanks for telling me. I'm supposed to be your lover and I was the last to know."
"Adam." I tried to get out what I wanted to say but he was looking at me with eyes so tender and it reminded me of all the time we had spent together - was I really willing to give all of that up just because I was...I let my thoughts trail off. Adam was just one of many, many men, he just happened to be able to know how to work me over better than most.
"No, let me get this off my chest, it's the least you can do for me. I love you Michael. You know I don't go around telling every guy I fuck that I love them, I'm not a psycho but I love you. I did everything I thought you would like and not once have you ever complained. I know the sex was good for you, you can't lie about that."
"It wasn't about the sex."
"Obviously! You got your jollies and now you're off to the next fawn."
"I said it wasn't about the damn sex Adam. If I wanted just a fuck from you I would have ditched your ass a long time ago."
"Then tell me what it is. Why did you keep me around for such a long time." And on the verge of saying something I never thought I'd say, I stopped. 'Why the fuck should I let him manipulate me, ME. Guys like Adam were a dime a dozen and if it killed me, he would know that by the end of the night.'
I took his arm and pulled him outside, Richie didn't need to be hearing this, nobody needed to be hearing what I was about to say.
"Because...Adam, the bottom line is it's fucking over ok. Get over it! The sex was good, the sex was great even but I know there's better out there. You can't tie me down Adam, I'm just not that kinda guy."
"I never tried to 'tie you down'. I want a relationship from you. The way you make it sound is like I wanted to put the ball and chain on, I don't want you to feel like that - ever."
"Adam the bottom line is..." the time had come, do or die and I decided that I wouldn't be the floundering fish here, "I don't want this. I don't want the house with the white picket fence, the dog and the garden, I don't want none of that shit. I like my bars and my strip club, I like my anonymous one-night stands and I like my freedom. I like to drink till I pass out and I like waking up in my own bed, able to move around without the obstruction of another person. I like my life the way it is."
"And there's no room for me, that what you saying." It was more a statement than a question and his voice came out strained. I didn't want it to end like this because believe it or not, I cared a lot about Adam but right now, the timing was off- maybe in a different time, I would have been all for my current predicament but not now.
"No room Adam. You just can't keep me interested. And...you were a great trick, really but I make it a point of habit not to take my tricks home to roost." And I wanted it to happen, I expected it to happen and it did happen. SMASH! His fist connected with my face and I the next thing I knew, I was on the ground holding it.
"A trick! After all we did together you have the fucking nerve to call me a trick. Well fuck you Michael! I hope you get some godforsaken V.D. and your dick falls off." With that, he had spun around and stalked off in the direction of the subway. I watched him until he disappeared out of sight and then went back inside.
"Oh God Michael, tell me you didn't say it like that."
"I did."
"Did you have to be so cold with him? A trick? How would you feel if someone you loved called you a trick?"
"I wouldn't know, I've never loved somebody that much." I turned to look at him and once again shook my head. I wanted to be mad at Adam for putting his hands on Michael but with all the facts in front of me, I found myself sympathizing with him. He didn't deserve this.
"You're a jerk you know that. Someone who actually has something to his name wants you and you just turn your back. There is more to life than fucking Michael. What happens when you turn forty? You think the young tricks are going to be eyeing you from the bar counter. No! They're gonna want something young."
"Is this going somewhere?"
"Yes. That's the beauty of being in a relationship. You don't have to worry about where your next warm body is coming from. You'll always have someone who knows you better than you know yourself and you won't ever have to be scurrying for a date for Valentines Day." I saw him roll his eyes and it was as if the end of my rope snapped in half and plunged me backwards.
"You are a fucking moron Michael! You have the perfect guy right there and you discard him for what - a different fuck seven days a week." I got up from the couch and started walking away when he began calling after me.
"We're not alike Richie. I don't need to have some bullshit man babying me at every opportunity. That's why there are guys like you. You know what guys like me call guys like you, the pussy pedigree, you want to know why? Because you're just as bad as women with all your emotional shit weighing everything down. If you like Adam so damn much, maybe you should shack up with him."
I didn't hear what he said after that as I had reached my room and had long ago shut the door.
ANOTHER CHAPTER OVER WITH AND I HAVE TO SAY I REALLY ENJOYED WRITING IT. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO READING EMAILS. ALSO, AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, MICHAELS' P.O.V. IS INTRODUCED HERE TO MAKE DIALOGUE A LITTLE MORE UNDERSTANDING. IS THIS SOMETHING PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF? LET ME KNOW. ENJOY!!!