“I’ll be eagerly waiting for a full report, Ian. I’m glad I met you, and I certainly enjoyed our train ride together. Good luck with school and everything.”
The intensity and duration of this little hug was not lost on Grant, who could see the pair through the windshield. Bobby got back in the car and waved good-bye to his new friend as Grant drove back toward the highway to Evansville. A mile away he could contain his anger no longer and pulled over.
“What the hell is going on with you, Bobby?
“What do you mean?” he replied, genuinely surprised and confused.
“First you run off to Chicago with a creep of a boss you’ve only known for a few weeks and share a room with him, and then you kiss some stranger on the train and put me in the awkward position of giving him a ride to Bloomington. Then you hug him good-bye like you’ve known him all your life. What’s going on with you?”
Bobby was deeply stung by Grant’s words – it was the first time he had ever raised his voice to him or doubted him, and he just wanted to cry. In fact, he did. He had no idea that Grant had witnessed the chaste kiss with Ian on the train.
“Grant, you need to understand some things if we’re going to get through this,” Bobby said through his sobs. He regained his composure and went on.
“First, you know that I only went to Chicago with Nick for professional reasons. I had no idea what he was really like or that he would bother me. It was his idea to share the room – he never asked if it’d be all right with me.” Bobby went on to give Grant a full report of what happened – and most importantly what didn’t happen.
“Second, Ian is just a friend. Yes, I admit he did initially show an interest in me after we’d been on the train all night, but he backed off as soon as I told him about you and our relationship. He respects that and definitely will not get in the way of it. If I’m wrong about that, I’ll cut him off permanently, but for now I just want to be his friend and he’s perfectly all right with that.
“He’s going to be in Boston next weekend for a job interview, so I told him about Philip and gave him his contact information. I hope they hook up with each other because I think they would hit if off great. They’re both really nice guys who need to find a soul mate.”
“Okay, I can accept all that, Bobby, but what about the kiss? I thought I was seeing things when I saw you two kissing through the train window.”
Bobby felt his face go red.
“I had no idea that you saw that, Grant, but I swear it was just an innocent friendship kiss. He asked me if he could do that as just a way of thanking me for telling him about Philip, and I didn’t see any problem with accepting it. It only lasted a couple of seconds, and we both kept our mouths closed. I imagine you would’ve done the same thing if you’d been in my shoes. I swear there’s nothing between Ian and me that would get in the way of our relationship. I love you with all my heart, sweetie, and you’re my one and only as long as you’ll have me.”
Bobby waited an agonizing minute or two while Grant looked out the window and processed all this information. He knew his outburst had been a bit over the top, but a combination of extreme worry and little sleep over the weekend had set him on edge more than he realized.
“Did Ian have to run his hand through your hair after your little kiss?”
“Well, no, I didn’t see that coming, but still I swear…Ian and I became good friends overnight and he was just trying to show his appreciation. I kept my hands to myself, and I never stopped thinking about you and how much I was eager to be back in your arms again.
“You’ve got to trust me, Grant. There’s no one in the world I care for more than you, but I can’t apologize for forming a new platonic friendship when someone as nice as Ian comes along. You’re the only one I’m going to have sex with – I promise.”
Another agonizing minute went by before Grant spoke again.
“I’m sorry, Bobby. I do believe everything you said. I guess I’ve just never gotten over the way Marcus treated me all those years. He made it hard for me to trust anyone again by all his philandering. I know you’re not Marcus, but I still have insecurity issues because of him. I’m sorry I jumped to unfair conclusions, but you might’ve wondered what was going on if you’d seen some strange guy kissing me through a train window. Right?”
“Yeah, I guess I would have. I’m sorry, too, Grant. After what happened in Chicago, I was just so happy to be treated nicely on the train by Ian that I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong by letting him give me a little kiss. Can you forgive me?”
“Only if you can forgive me for being such a jealous bonehead.”
“Maybe we should fix Nick up with Marcus – they deserve each other,” Bobby said with a grin, turning toward what he hoped would be a forgiving hug from his lover and partner. He got what he wanted as Grant turned and embraced him tightly.
“I love you so much, Bobby. Let’s go home and let me make sweet love to you.”
“Exactly what I need, honey – right after a good nap.”
“Amen to that, kiddo. I have to be on my toes Monday morning for that guy I work for.”
“At least you have a job to go to,” Bobby sighed.
Bobby’s family didn’t know what all had happened in Chicago, but they knew just enough to be worried about him. Grant hadn’t talked about his misgivings about Nick in front of them, but they could see that he wasn’t his normal cheerful self on Saturday. He pretty much stayed in the bedroom he shared with Bobby, and they could hear him using his cell phone a lot.
That evening he begged off from the usual family dinner, saying that he was going “out” and not to wait up for him. He just wasn’t up to pretending in front of the whole family that everything was normal, so he ate at a local diner and went to a movie to try to get his mind off his worries for a couple of hours.
When he finally got a call from Bobby late that evening and learned that he was okay and just needed a ride home from Indianapolis, Grant raced home to a darkened house and left a message on the dining room table that he was going to drive up to Indy in the wee hours on Sunday and return with Bobby before noon.
Both bedraggled from lack of sleep, Bobby and Grant walked into the house just as Barbara was putting some lunch on the table.
“Well, hi boys,” she said, as the rest of the family gathered around the table. “Welcome home, Bobby – we missed you. Grant, that was a long drive up to Indianapolis and back. Why didn’t you fly home today with your boss, Bobby?”
“Well, it’s a long story, Mom, but I don’t have a boss anymore. Nick was behaving inappropriately around me, and I chose to break away from him and take the train to Indy. It turns out that Nick isn’t the kind of man I thought he was, and I don’t want to work for him anymore.”
Bobby’s family took all this in and looked around at each other. They weren’t stupid – they knew what he was hinting at – but no one wanted to verbalize their questions and make Bobby feel any worse.
“I’m glad you did what you had to do, Bobby,” Al said, seeing the disillusionment in his middle son’s eyes. “No one should have to put up with that, uh, sort of thing. We’re really sorry that your job didn’t pan out.”
“Thanks, Dad, but I’ll find another one.”
Everyone had a quiet lunch together, and then Bobby and Grant retreated to their quarters for a shower and that much-needed nap. True to his word, Grant made love to Bobby tenderly when they awoke from their nap and apologized once again for doubting him. Bobby held his lover tightly and made love to him right back. By dinnertime, they were once again all smiles, leaving little doubt in anyone’s mind that they had enjoyed more than just a nap together.
On Monday morning Grant went off to work while Bobby paid a visit to the temp agency to lodge a complaint against Nick and see about getting a new assignment. They were waiting for him.
“Hi, Patty,” he said to the receptionist, who had come to know Bobby well over the past few weeks. She wasn’t her usual perk
y self and was having trouble holding eye contact with him.
“Uh, hi, Bobby.”
“I’m here to ask for a new assignment. I won’t be going back to Nick Perry anymore.”
“Yes, I know, Bobby. Mr. Perry already called here this morning and talked to Janice.”
Bobby’s heart sank at this news. He had hoped to get to them first and was alarmed that Nick had.
“Do you have anything else for me?”
“Well, I’ll have to let you talk to Janice about that. She told me to let her know if you called or came by.”
Patty pushed a button on her phone.
“Bobby Rushton is here. Shall I send him back? Okay, I will.”
“Go on back, Bobby. She’s waiting for you.”
Janice Graves was the agency manager and wasn’t known for a warm and fuzzy demeanor. She was always all business. Bobby had felt uneasy around her during the two times they had met face to face and wondered why he had to see her again today. Patty was usually the one he dealt with.
“Hello, Mr. Rushton,” she said as he approached her doorway. “Close the door, would you? Have a seat.”
Bobby felt sweat in his pits and his mouth go dry. She kept him waiting a few seconds while she finished writing something and then looked up grimly.
“Bobby, I’m going to get right to the point. Nick Perry called here a few minutes ago. He is terminating his arrangement with you and asking that we drop you from our active roster. He has accused you of stealing money from him while you were in Chicago this weekend. This is a very serious allegation – what’s your side of the story?”
Bobby’s mouth dropped open, and his face went red with anger.
“That is absolutely untrue, Mrs. Graves. I came by here this morning to say that I would not go back to work for Mr. Perry because of his actions in Chicago toward me. I walked away from him Saturday night and took the train home because I couldn’t face him another minute. I did not steal a dime from him, and he knows it.”
“And what were those actions that made you leave, Bobby?”
Bobby held nothing back. He laid it all out, knowing that he had nothing to lose by doing so. He told the manager about the frequent free lunches and the invitation to go out for a drink before the idea of going to Chicago came up. He told her about Nick reserving only one room for the two of them and that it’d had only one bed in it. He told her about Nick’s nudity and heavy drinking around him and about the personal questions that he persisted in asking him. Finally, he told her about being accosted by Nick in the shower and what he had done in retaliation.
Janice winced at the latter but reserved comment until Bobby was finished. She waited for a few seconds before replying, never taking her eyes from him – as if trying to assess whether he was being truthful with her or not.
“Bobby, this unfortunate situation is obviously Mr. Perry’s word against yours, as there appear to be no witnesses to corroborate either of your stories. I haven’t known you for more than a couple of months, but I consider myself a good judge of character and my decision is to give you the benefit of the doubt in this case. Nick Perry has a long-standing arrangement with this office, but I have to tell you – in confidence, of course – that he is never able to keep an administrative assistant for more than a few weeks before they leave of their own accord. And you’re not the first one who has leveled accusations of a similar nature against him. I won’t be sending anyone else there again. With me, it’s three strikes and you’re out, and Mr. Perry has reached his allotment.”
Bobby had been holding his breath but was greatly relieved to know that he would not be doubted.
“I hope you can see, however, that I will be unable to completely forget his accusation against you, Bobby, although I don’t personally believe it. I just hope that no complaint of a similar nature about you reaches me again. My instinct is to trust you, but you have to understand that there is a limit to how far I can remain confident in you if further allegations like this arise in the future.”
“I understand, Mrs. Graves, but you have my word that I have done nothing wrong. I can’t help what others may accuse me of, but you have my assurance that I can be trusted by any reasonable employer. You now have ample feedback that Mr. Perry doesn’t fall into that category.”
“Very well, Bobby. We will not speak of Mr. Perry again, and I ask that what we have discussed this morning about him stays just between us. I’m going to offer you a new assignment that just came to my attention last Friday. I was thinking all weekend about who I might fill it with, and I’ve decided that you may be just the person they are looking for.”
“What is that, Mrs. Graves?” Bobby said with mounting anticipation.
“Most people call me Janice, Bobby. Let’s be on a first-name basis now, shall we?”
“Okay, Janice, if you like. I appreciate that.”
“The registrar’s office at the University of Evansville has had an unexpected vacancy come up. They need someone to come in for a few weeks to work with prospective and first-year students while they conduct a search for someone permanent. I know you’re a recent college graduate, and I think you would fit in and enjoy this assignment. If you’re interested, they could use you right away. Are you?”
“Absolutely!” Bobby replied. “How much would I be making?”
When Janice laid out the terms of employment, Bobby was satisfied with them. It wasn’t a lot of pay, but he saw several advantages in the arrangement. For one thing, he could walk to work in ten minutes, and he would have a fixed schedule with no pressure to do anything for this employer during his off hours. He and Grant would have their evenings and weekends to themselves – except for Grant’s self-imposed custom of spending a few hours working for Bobby’s dad on Saturday mornings.
“Janice, I want to thank you for your trust in me,” Bobby said, rising and shaking her hand. “I’ll see to it that you get nothing but positive feedback about me from this employer – and any other ones down the road.”
“I certainly hope so, Bobby. I see great potential in you. Good luck, and do let me know how it goes for you there at UE.”
“I will, Janice. And thanks again.”
Patty had been on pins and needles since Bobby was called into Janice’s office, but she was relieved to see him emerging with a big smile and a file folder in his hand that indicated he had received a new assignment.
“Bye, Patty,” he said. “If I don’t see you for a while, it just means that everything is going well.”
“Good luck, Bobby!”
Bobby wasted no time in calling Grant with the good news and then went straight to UE to start training for his new job. He smiled all the more at this development because he knew that job searches in academia can take a long time, meaning that he could be employed at UE for several weeks, if not longer.
Bobby had written an e-mail to Philip, after he had his new job assignment, telling him about meeting Ian on the train and that Ian might be contacting him very soon about meeting him during his job interview trip to Boston. He also wrote one to Ian, giving him Philip’s contact information and encouraging him to follow through.
Well, follow through he did, and Bobby was surprised to get e-mails back from both of them the following weekend. The first one came from Ian on Saturday morning:
“Hi, Bobby. It was SO great meeting you on the train last weekend. I’m in Boston now and had my job interview yesterday with that friend of my dad’s. I don’t want to think that it was just a sympathy gesture on his part, but he offered me the job at a nice salary. I’ll be starting there in July, after I graduate from IU and have the chance to spend a few weeks with my mom. She’s having a tough time right now, and I’ll be going up to Evanston several more times before graduation.
“I also wanted to tell you that I met up with Philip last night, and we went to dinner together. That photo you showed me didn’t even do him justice – man, he is SO good looking! And a great conversationalist, too. We found lo
ts in common, and we’ll be meeting up again before I go home tomorrow. If all goes well, I might have more than a job waiting for me in July, but I suppose that’s being optimistic after only one date.
“Anyway, thanks for suggesting that I meet him. I’m really happy to hear that you got a new job assignment so quickly. Let’s stay in touch – I’m sure glad to have you as a friend.”
The next day, Bobby got an e-mail from Philip:
“Yo, Bobby! Hey, man, I just want to say a big thanks for connecting me with Ian. OMG, what a great guy! I’ve been moping around here ever since Thanksgiving, missing Kenny (and you, of course!) and looking for Mr. Right to walk into my life, and you hook me up with a guy named Ian Wright!!! There is a God after all! I had two dates with Ian this weekend, and the second one lasted from 5 o’clock last night until noon today. Ha! - is that too much information for you? :) I just took him to the airport, and he’s gonna try to get back here at least once before he moves here in July. You-da-man, Bobby! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!”
Bobby excitedly shared this good news with Grant but didn’t mention it to Kenny. Bobby didn’t think he needed to hear about Philip’s new love interest just yet, although his little brother seemed so smitten with Ethan that it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
CHAPTER 29
Following their initial tryst in the Rushton basement, Kenny and Ethan chatted on the phone and texted each other often. They were not on the same campus and not on a similar class schedule, so their mutual free time was very limited. They were eager, of course, to see each other again as soon as possible, but the logistics were difficult.
They finally were able to find a couple of hours to spend together late on the following Thursday afternoon at Ethan’s and Eric’s uncle’s house, where the twins were living while going to school. Their uncle, Roger Potter, was at work, and Eric was in class.
Kenny impatiently waited for a boring afternoon class on electronics circuit analysis to be over and then practically ran to the address Ethan had given him on East Walnut Street near the UE campus. It was a stately two-story house not unlike the one the Rushtons lived in. With his palms sweating and his heart in overdrive, Kenny rang the bell and waited for Ethan to open it. The window in the door had louver blinds on it, and Kenny noticed one of them opening slightly just before Ethan opened the door.
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