If you are under age, or live in an area where reading stories that include sex between males is illegal, or if you're not into this type of story, please leave. This is a fictional story that takes place in a world where everything is safe. In the real world where many things are not, the characters would take precautions. Please respect yourself and others enough to always play safe.
If you have read any of my previous stories you will know that I tend to be a romantic with a bent toward happy endings. This story starts out as a potential romance but is one that takes a wrong turn, or so it seems. And as for the ending, you'll just have to read on. The author retains all rights. No reproductions or links to other sites are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at NJMcMick@yahoo.com.
Chapter 17
I called Matt the next morning to give him the news about Jose. I figured now that everything was out in the open he could hurry up the divorce. He was quiet as I told him about Jose's visit to the bar but surprised me when he responded to my suggestion that now he should press for a quick divorce.
"Actually, I was thinking just the opposite. It's all about negotiating the financial settlement now. You're in no hurry because the divorce will only make a negative change in your life. Right now you're covering the household expenses and giving Anne a generous stipend but the rest of your income is yours and you still control your investments. After the divorce you'll be much worse off. And it's not like you're in any hurry. You and Carlos aren't planning to run out and get married as soon as you're free, are you?"
"I'd love to if we could, but I see your point. And now that Carlos and I can be open about our relationship he can move into the hotel with me, so we don't have to wait for the divorce for that."
"And it will give me time to try to dig up a little dirt on Anne and Chaz down in North Carolina."
"I don't think you're going to find anything there. Even if they are having an affair Anne is such a stickler for 'proper' social appearances that they'd probably keep it very well hidden."
"Speaking of social appearances, I have another idea. I'll drop a hint that you and Carlos intend to live in the city, but if the financial settlement is too punitive you probably wouldn't be able to afford that, so maybe you'd look for a place the two of you could afford in the suburbs, such as Middletown."
"Oh, that would kill her, having the two of us living in her neighborhood. Not that we could afford that neighborhood but there's plenty of cheaper housing close by. And you could let her know that I'm eager for all of our friends to meet Carlos."
"Okay, I'll get in touch with her side and start the negotiations. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, relax and enjoy your little hottie."
Carlos moved into the hotel at the end of the week. At the same time I switched from my room to a small suite. It wasn't that much larger but it gave us an extra closet and room to move around without bumping into each other. Even though he'd been spending several nights each week with me, it was so nice to wake up with him every morning knowing that that was where he belonged. And I was sure it was a good feeling for him not to have to live out of a suitcase anymore, running back and forth between the rooming house and the hotel.
A month passed and Matt had no progress to report in his negotiations. He'd offered Anne the house and half of everything else, including my salary, but she wanted more. She was determined to make me pay until it hurt. I was just as determined not to offer any more. If I was going to give up my share of the house I needed at least part of the rest of our assets to start my life over. So we were at a stalemate, but as Matt had said, that situation wasn't a problem for me. As much as I wanted it to be over with Anne, I felt I could hold out forever. I figured sooner or later she'd want to be free of me and get tired of living off an allowance set by me.
Carlos began the training program to become an investment fund manager. He seemed to be a natural at it, soaking up and retaining the information he was taught. It was good to see him so enthusiastic about his job after watching him plod along in the mailroom for so long. He'd always maintained a good attitude no matter what he was doing but now he was genuinely excited. The fact that he was making a lot more money didn't hurt, either.
We settled into a comfortable routine, still dropping by Rick's for a drink after work even though it wasn't very convenient, exploring new restaurants, spending an evening at the Eagle now and then. And we went to the private club once a week, often when they had a special theme party. When there was sexual activity there, we usually joined in, at Carlos' direction. He never let me forget he was in charge on those occasions, and sometimes pushed me to try kinky things I never would have on my own. Sometimes I enjoyed them and sometimes I just tolerated them because he enjoyed them. Even if the activity itself wasn't something I liked, I liked doing it with and for Carlos. In the rest of our life things were more equal, although when we had a difference of opinion things usually ended up the way Carlos wanted.
The second week of March our entire life was turned upside down yet again. One morning I'd been at work about half an hour when I had a call from Stephen Garrison's secretary, requesting that I report to his office immediately. While Stephen was vice-president of my department and I'd sat in on several meetings led by him and run into him on a few social occasions, the only time I had been to his office was the spring before when he'd informed me of my promotion. I wasn't up for another promotion so I couldn't imagine why he wanted to see me. When I walked into his office he looked anything but happy. He was staring at the flat screen monitor on his desk and working his keyboard and mouse. He glanced up at me and waved to a chair so I sat down. Finally he focused his attention on me.
"I received a very disturbing email this morning, Peters. Very disturbing." He swiveled the monitor around and there was a photo of Carlos fucking me on the bed in the apartment. Both of our faces were clearly identifiable as was his cock in my ass. Stephen clicked the mouse and another picture appeared, this one of me sucking Carlos. I sat frozen in my chair.
"I don't consider myself a prude and I would like to think I'm tolerant about what two consenting adults do in private, but that doesn't mean I want to see it." He shut off the monitor. "This bank has a very strict policy regarding sexual harassment, and a violation of that policy disturbs me even more than having to view these pictures."
"Sexual harassment? What do you mean?" I was absolutely horrified at seeing those pictures on his screen and was so glad he'd turned it off or I'd never have been able to speak.
"Last summer, Carlos Fernandez posted for a position in our department. He was turned down, mainly due to your negative comments about him. Recently when he posted again, you gave him a glowing recommendation, the exact opposite of last summer. How else am I supposed to view that, given these photos? It certainly looks as though your opinion of his abilities changes in direct relation as to whether or not he's having sexual relations with you."
"But that's not what it was at all! I, um, er..." I didn't know what to say. He was sleeping with me before and after both the negative and positive recommendations. How could I explain that?
"Well, it sure looks to me as though you either pressured him to have sex with you in order to get a good review, or he decided to sleep with you to assure himself of a promotion. Either way, this would warrant an investigation. Our policy on sexual harassment is clear. Not only won't we tolerate any sexual shenanigans in the office, there can't even be the appearance of such."
"Please don't blame Carlos. This isn't his fault."
Stephen studied me carefully. "I tend to believe that, given the other picture that was sent to me." He switched the monitor back on and clicked the mouse. A picture of me fucking Kyle in the woods appeared. Damn!
"Now I'm going to investigate any apparent impropriety in my department anyway, but when I see that you are also molesting my nephew, you'd better believe you're in trouble."
"I wasn't molesting him. Kyle is legally an adult."
"I don't care how old he, you're a lot older and you took advantage of him. Or are you claiming this was his idea?"
I couldn't think of anything to say. How could I explain what had happened in the woods with Jose, Carlos and Kyle without making myself look like a depraved slut? And if I told him about Kyle's attempted blackmail and Carlos' response, that would make both of them look just as bad. Carlos could already be in trouble just from having sex with me. And Kyle had said he wasn't out to his parents so even though this would out him to some extent, I didn't want to make things any worse for him.
"Now my inclination is to turn this over to Human Resources for an investigation into your affair with Carlos Fernandez, but there is an alternative."
My ears perked up. I myself couldn't see any alternative to the disaster facing me.
"If you were to resign, accepting full responsibility for the situation with Mr. Fernandez, there would be no need for an investigation."
"But how would that help me?"
"Well, if it was determined that you were guilty of sexual harassment, you'd be fired. Resigning would be far better for your career. On the other hand, if our investigation concluded that Mr. Fernandez had taken advantage of you, he would be the one who was fired. Of course, being used that way still wouldn't look good on your record, so either way your future here would be in doubt. I'll give you 24 hours to think about it. If your resignation is on my desk tomorrow morning, I'll drop the matter as far as your relationship with Mr. Fernandez is concerned."
I was stunned. Seeing those pictures and realizing how they made me look was bad enough, but the idea of losing my job just blew me away.
"Of course, there's still the matter of my nephew. Whatever you decide to do here, I will have to discuss this with my sister, her husband and Kyle. If I feel there was any coercion at all on your part I'll do everything I can to ensure that they report it to the authorities."
"You have no reason to believe me or do me any favors, but please talk to Kyle alone before you bring his parents into it."
"That sounds like you do have something to hide."
"No, believe me I don't, but I think that whatever Kyle has to say, it's up to him whether or not he wants to tell his parents about this." I sure didn't want to take the blame for what I'd done with Kyle but I hated to out him any more than the picture already had.
"I'll do what I think is right as far as my family is concerned. You think about what you're going to do about this job. I'll expect your answer tomorrow morning."
I was in a daze all the way back to my office. My whole world had just blown up and I couldn't even think straight. I was surprised that I'd been able to have any kind of conversation with Stephen at all. As soon as I got to my desk I called Carlos on his cell phone. He was in a training session so his phone was off, but I left a message asking him to come to my office on his break.
Twenty minutes later his head appeared around the corner of my doorway, that little smile on his face. That alone made me feel better, although not very much.
"You look really agitated, Ry. What's the matter?"
I got up and closed the door, then took a deep breath and told him about my little meeting. His eyes just got wider and wider as I talked.
"That fucking Jose! I really thought we were done with his meddling."
"I assume it was him although I have no idea how he knew where to send the pictures."
"He has access to my address book on the computer at the apartment and that included all kinds of people here at the office. And since Anne told him about Mr. Garrison he knew just who to send the pictures to. I'm surprised he waited so long."
"Do you think I should call Kyle and warn him? I feel bad that he's going to get caught in the middle of all of this."
"Let me call him. You have to protect yourself here. If they suspect you of having forced him to have sex then any contact you have with him will look suspicious. So what are you going to do here?"
I sighed. "I don't know. I'll have to think about it but it doesn't look like I have much of a choice."
"We both know you're not guilty of sexually harassing me and I sure didn't sleep with you in order to get ahead here, so they can't prove anything."
"No, they can't prove us guilty of anything but there's no way either one of us can come out of this looking good, especially if we fight them."
Carlos glanced at his watch. "Look, babe, I have to get back but we'll talk about this at lunch and again after work. Try not to obsess about it. We'll come up with something."
It didn't do any good to try not to think about it. The rest of my day was shot. Carlos had some good news at lunch but it didn't help much.
"I called Kyle as soon as I left your office. I expected him to be in school so I'd thought up a very carefully worded message to leave him. But it turns out he's on vacation this week so he answered the phone."
"I'll bet he freaked when you told him about his uncle and the pictures."
"Well, he wasn't thrilled, but fortunately, depending on how you look at it, things have changed somewhat for him since last fall. His parents caught him with a guy a few months ago and even though they're totally unaccepting, they know he's gay."
"So what's he going to say about me?"
"He doesn't want them to know he was trying to blackmail you so he said he'd try to make it sound like it was a one-time thing, something that just happened spontaneously and was totally mutual. His parents won't like it but then there's nothing he could say to make them feel any better about it."
"I hate to see him having problems because of this shit between Jose and me. It's not fair to him."
"No, but then he did bring it on himself. If he'd dropped it after that first time there wouldn't be any pictures of him. The ones that Jose took with his phone didn't have Kyle's face in them, only yours."
"I still can't shake this feeling that everything is my fault, that I brought all of this on myself and others through my stupidity and lust."
Carlos was quiet for a long moment and then spoke quietly. "I know we've both been a little reckless at times, Ry, and I guess we could have been a lot more careful, but I don't regret the way our relationship has developed. I hope you aren't saying that you wish none of this had happened between us."
"No, that's not what I'm saying. Meeting you is the best thing that ever happened to me although I wish I'd been a little more attuned to what I wanted so we didn't have to stumble so much through this period of discovery. You're right that we should have been lots more careful, but that's hindsight and we can't change the past. We just have to figure out what to do now."
'That's right, Ry. And we will figure it out, together."
After work we talked about the situation over drinks at Rick's and continued the conversation through dinner. It became more and more clear that the only solution was for me to resign. I no longer had any hope for a career at the bank anyhow. Carlos' future there didn't seem bright either, but if I took full responsibility and quit he would at least still have a job. And once he was fully trained and had a little experience he could look elsewhere.
"So how do you think this is going to affect the divorce, Ry?"
"I don't really know but it looks like Anne shot herself in the foot this time. It was her witness and her big mouth that caused this. She's been holding out for more than half of my very large salary but it looks like now she's going to be stuck with a share of nothing. Of course, I can't just sit around and not work. I'll have to find something pretty quick but even so there's no way I'm going to start out making what I am now."
"You don't have to, babe. Don't forget we're together and I'm making pretty good money now. I can carry us for a while."
It was so good to hear Carlos talk about us being together and offering to help support me if need be. Although he was making a lot more than he had been in the mailroom it still wasn't close to what I made. He had no idea how much I was giving up, but then money isn't everything. Especially since a good chunk of whatever I made would be going to Anne.
When we got back to the hotel I wrote my letter of resignation. While I would make it clear to Stephen when I gave it to him that I accepted full responsibility for my actions and take any blame for my 'inappropriate' relationship with Carlos, there was no way I was putting that in writing. I merely said that I was resigning "to pursue other career options."
I hand delivered the letter to Stephen in the morning. He informed me that he'd spoken to Kyle's parents and while he was satisfied that I hadn't forced myself on his nephew and would let that matter drop, he made it clear he had nothing but contempt for my actions all around. In my letter I'd given four week's notice but he suggested I leave at the end of the month, two weeks away.
When I got back to my office I called Matt to tell him what happened. While waiting for him to come on the line I realized that since he was my lawyer I probably should have consulted with him before making any decision but it was too late for that now.
"Don't you ever have good news when you call me?"
"Well, losing my job sure isn't good news, but I think screwing Anne out of a lot of alimony could be looked at as good."
"Nothing is ever as simple as that, Ryan. It may be clear to us that you've lost your job due to Jose's actions brought on by Anne's interference, but on the surface there's no proof of that. To anyone else it looks like you're just walking out on a very good, very lucrative job, possibly to try to get out of paying alimony. That may hurt you more than help you. You may end up having to give up more of your assets to make up for the lower alimony."
"That in itself should be proof that I wouldn't do this on purpose. No way I'd want to do that! I had a great job with a fantastic salary. Even if Anne got two-thirds of it I'd still be left with plenty to live on. Any new job I get will pay so much less that I may not even be able to scrape by after paying Anne. This hurts Anne but it hurts me too. No one could think I'd do this on purpose."
"Well, our only witnesses are Jose and Stephen Garrison and both of them are hostile to you. That doesn't mean they're going to lie under oath though. I'm going to subpoena both of them and also get a copy of the email that Jose sent to Stephen. That alone should prove that you were forced out of your job."
"Nothing's ever easy, is it, Matt?"
"I'll admit your situation is more complicated than most divorces I've worked on, but it's not that bad, Ryan. You and Anne are both going to end up with less than you wanted but neither one of you will be starving. You're young and have great earning potential. And Anne would have to get a job sooner or later in any case."
"Yeah, she has her degree in fine arts and with her volunteer background she shouldn't have any trouble getting a job with a museum or gallery. It probably wouldn't pay all that much but it's the kind of thing she'd enjoy."
"I'll get to work on the subpoenas and witness depositions but until you have a new job we won't be able to have any substantive negotiations. I'll keep you posted and you do the same."
I spent a good part of my last two weeks in the office explaining, or rather trying to avoid explaining, why I was leaving so abruptly. Since I didn't have anything else lined up my coworkers knew it had to be more than just 'exploring what was out there.' I could do that without resigning. But they all sensed that it was something I didn't want to talk about. They knew I was going through a messy breakup with Anne and I hadn't talked much about that, so maybe they thought I was having a very early mid-life crisis.
I contacted the headhunter I'd put Carlos in touch with the previous summer. He hadn't been able to do much for Carlos but with my resume he had more to work with. In my first week of unemployment he had two interviews lined up for me. By mid-spring I'd decided on a job with a firm that handled investment funds for retirement plans. I wouldn't be a fund manager as I had been, just an investment specialist, but it was similar to what I had been doing. It was also almost exactly what Carlos was doing now at the bank. Due to my experience I was making quite a bit more than him but I thought it was ironic that we now held similar positions.
As soon as I started the new job Matt pushed forward with the divorce. Since we hadn't been able to agree on a financial settlement, the divorce court turned it over to arbitration. We both got to present our case and then the arbitrator would impose a settlement which would be announced at the final divorce hearing.
The hearing was set for the second week of June in the county courthouse in Freehold. Carlos and I both took the day off from work. While I would have loved for him to be at the hearing for moral support, I realized that would be inappropriate. We drove down to the shore early and I dropped him off in Asbury Park before heading west to Freehold. He said he wanted to explore the town and we agreed to meet at our favorite restaurant for lunch after it was all over.
I met Matt at a Starbuck's near the courthouse and we walked in together. Anne and her attorney came in a few minutes later, accompanied by Chaz. I immediately resented that she got to have someone for moral support and I didn't, but knew there was a difference between Carlos and Chaz. Carlos was the co-respondent in the case, the one who had supposedly come between Anne and me, and Chaz was just, well, Chaz. Maybe they were just friends, maybe they were more, but we hadn't been able to prove anything. Anne glared at me and took a seat at the table opposite the one Matt and I were sitting at. She and her attorney whispered to each other until the judge came in.
He recited a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo and then got to the crux of the matter -- the arbitrator's decision. There was no longer a question of Anne keeping the house. With my new salary it would have been impossible for me to support both her and the house. The arbitrator found me at fault for having cheated on Anne and determined that I should be punished in the settlement for that. He fortunately found Anne indirectly responsible for causing me to lose my job so I wasn't further penalized for having tried to cheat her out of alimony with my resignation. She ended up being awarded two-thirds of the equity in the house as well as two-thirds of our other investments and half of my retirement fund. She was also awarded half of my new salary as alimony.
With the property distributed, the rest of the divorce proceeding was a formality. I barely listened as the judge droned on. The attorneys did all of the talking for both of us. Almost everything was done through depositions and stipulation. At last the judge ended the hearing, declaring the divorce final. There were some papers that Anne and I had to sign, but it was over. I was a free man. Lots poorer, but free.
I called Carlos with the news as soon as I got to the car. In fifteen minutes I was hugging him outside the restaurant. I told him generally how things had gone as we were seated at a table in the corner of the main dining room.
"So I can stop thinking of myself as the other woman now?"
I reached under the table and gave his ample package a squeeze. "Believe me, Carlos, I've never thought of you as any kind of woman."
"And in spite of all of my references to your pussy, I consider you to be all man as well."
Over lunch we talked about the financial settlement in actual dollar terms and what that would mean to our living situation. For the several weeks prior to the hearing we'd done some speculating and had looked around at possible places to live based on what the outcome might be. Using a fifty-fifty split of everything as our 'best case' scenario, we'd looked at apartments and condos in Manhattan, Hoboken and Jersey City. Manhattan and Hoboken were out of the question based on the morning's verdict. Jersey City had some possibilities but we hadn't seen anything there that excited either of us, especially in the price range that was now open to us.
After lunch we walked up to the boardwalk, passing Paradise and another club on the way. The whole southern end of the city seemed to be under construction. Asbury Park had been in a steady downturn for many years and every effort to resurrect the city had failed, but it looked like maybe they were finally turning the corner. There were a number of high rise luxury condo buildings under construction or planned for the entire block across the street from the boardwalk. We strolled along the boardwalk in silence for a while, holding hands and enjoying the beautiful late spring day. When we got to the northern end of town, past Convention hall, Carlos stopped and leaned on the railing overlooking the beach.
"You know, Ry, we've talked a lot the past couple of months about where we're going to live, but we haven't really talked about us, about where our relationship is going and how we're going to live."
I tensed up. It was true that we hadn't talked at all about our feelings toward one another. We'd made the decision a while back to take things slowly and not push, and apparently part of that was not talking about it either. The fact that he was bringing it up now made me nervous. Maybe he'd waited until after all of my job and divorce issues were settled to tell me things weren't working out for him. He'd never made a secret of his desire to sow his wild oats for a long, long time, and maybe he was feeling stifled by living with me and being with me all the time.
My tension must have been obvious because he turned to face me, put a hand on either side of my face and pulled me down to his face, kissing me lightly on the lips.
"Relax, babe, I'm not breaking up with you. If I wanted to do that I would have done it back at the restaurant so you couldn't make a scene." He grinned for a second but then his face grew serious. "I'm in love with you, Ryan."
I nearly fell over. That was the last thing I expected him to say. I'd known for months that I was in love with him, but never dared to dream that he felt the same way. I knew that he had strong feelings for me but he was also the hedonist, the guy who wanted to experience every type of physical pleasure with as many other guys as possible. And he'd always said he had no intention of settling down, not for a long time anyway. So many times, whether in the throes of passion or afterward when we were just cuddling, I'd had to bite my tongue so I wouldn't save the word love to him. I was so sure I would scare him off if I told him how deeply I felt. And now he was the first one to say it.
"Oh God, Carlos, you have no idea how happy that makes me to hear you say that. I've been in love with you for so long but was afraid to say it."
"Yeah, I know. You don't exactly hide your feelings well. I haven't said anything before because these feelings for you confuse me and scare me. I keep telling myself that I'm too young, that I'm not ready to settle down. There are so many things I haven't done or tried. But every minute I'm with you is so great and I can't imagine not being with you always."
"Falling in love and committing to another person isn't exactly the end of life, you know. As much as I've always taken it for granted that I was basically monogamous, doing things with other guys with you hasn't been so bad. In fact, it's fun sometimes. I know I'd be perfectly content to just be with you, but until you're ready for that it wouldn't kill me to help you explore the things you want to try."
"I can't promise you that someday we'll be monogamous 'cause that isn't anything I ever aspired to, but then again I never dreamed I'd fall for someone like I've fallen for you. I love everything we do together, whether it's just you and me or if there are others involved. Maybe I'm just immature and selfish, but I'm not ready to give up playing around with you and other guys. But I do think I can commit to you as far as saying that you're the one I want to be with, now and into the future. I love you and I want you in my life, my whole life. If I'm going to be with another guy sexually, it's got to be with you. Can you handle that for now?"
"I think so. I wasn't comfortable with it at first, like back at that first sex party when I saw you with another guy and felt so lost, so jealous."
"I remember when you told me about it and I was surprised that you would feel jealous, but what surprised even more was when I realized how much it upset me that I had made you feel that way. From that time on I made sure that you were always the center of whatever I was doing, and that's just the way I wanted it."
"I know you said you were going to do that and I assumed it was just something you were doing to make me feel better. And maybe you had to force yourself keep your attention on me at first, but over time I saw that you were always with me even when you were with someone else. There's a connection between us that a third person can't break. If we're with someone else they can add to what we're experiencing but they can never take away from what we have, because that's ours and no one else can touch it."
"I like the way you put that, Ry. No one else can touch what we have, what we feel for each other. I can't promise that I won't share my body with another, but my heart is yours. I think it has been since that day I walked into your office and you were sitting there shivering. You were one of the hottest guys I'd ever seen, but there was so much more than that. You were this strong man, but there was a vulnerability there too. I knew I had to know you better, to explore that strength and vulnerability. It turned out to be the perfect combination to hook me."
"I am so glad. That first time you seduced me, calling me sir while clearly being totally in change of the situation, I was yours."
"As long as we remember what we feel for each other, I don't think we're gonna have any problems. The rest will work itself out."
He put his arm around my waist and we walked back down the boardwalk.
"So what do you think we should do about a place to live? I didn't come out of the divorce with enough to buy a place in or near the city, and even renting might stretch us a bit. I suppose we could stay at the hotel for a while, but it would be nice to have more room, to have a place that was really ours."
"Why don't you let me look into that, Ry? I have a few ideas."
I stopped and looked at him. "Why am I not surprised? You've always got ideas."
He grinned at me. "Yeah, and you usually love 'em."