Silver & Black

by Tyler May

“Are you ok?” I ask while my eyes shift glances between Silver and Dr. Miller.

  “I don’t mean to cut this introduction short, but I do have an appointment I must keep in about thirty minutes.” Dr. Miller smiles. “It was lovely meeting the man that captured Brian’s heart.” Captured his heart? They were talking about me? I just smile and nod.

  “Will you excuse me for a minute and then I will explain everything.” Silver kisses my cheek and walks out with Dr. Miller and Connor. I hear him thank the doctor and ask Connor to see her to the parking garage then he returns. He strolls over to me and wraps his arms around my waist.

  “Are you ok?” I repeat.

  “I’m fine. Dr. Miller sees me every six months as a precautionary measure.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “I had a surgery several years back that so far, thankfully, has worked. She checks me just to make sure everything is still healthy and my vision hasn’t changed. It’s all precautionary, like I said.”

  “What’s wrong with your eyes or what was wrong?”

  “I have an eye disease called macular dystrophy. It’s genetic, my grandfather had it. Thankfully, no one else in my family inherited it except me.”

  “What does that mean? Will you go blind?” He winces at my question and I quickly become aware of how insensitive I am being. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, please don’t apologize. It’s a fair question and it’s a reality I’ve had to deal with since I was young. It’s always a possibility.” Blindness? Poor Silver. “But I have a world-class doctor and a very competent team of other specialists, and they are always watching me, pun intended.” He smiles. “The last procedure they did stabilized my vision, so I am optimistic. That’s all I can be.” I lean in and kiss him. He is so strong. He’s been going through this since he was young? “I missed out on a lot because of this. I refuse to let it have any more of my time. That’s one of the reasons I find you so refreshing. You’re young and full of life. I never got to be that way. It was doctor’s appointments, blurred vision, and surgeries. I want to experience so much with you.” My heart melts at his words. “You know just in case. I want to see everything. Stuff I haven’t yet gotten to see….” He puts his head down.

  “Hey, we’re optimistic remember!” I lift his head. “And I can’t wait to experience this stuff with you. We’ll have fun.”

  “Teach me to have fun―I want to do so much.” His tone is honest. “But that isn’t the only reason I like you. I hope you know that,” he says. “You’re easy on the eyes too.”

  “Are you flirting with me, Mr. Silver?” I squint my eyes; he nods and smiles. “It’s working.” He grasps the back of my head pulling it toward him. His mouth feverishly touches mine. His kiss is perfect. With our kiss getting sloppy and oh so good, our hands roam over each other. He stops abruptly which leaves me wanting more.

  “Why’d you stop?” I start to kiss down his neck.

  “Because I’m a man of my word, Mr. Black. I promised I wouldn’t keep you. You have things you need to do.” He grins at me.

  “Well, I have a little time to play.”

  ‘’To play’? Is that what we’re calling it now?” He kisses me and his phone beeps. He pulls it out to check it. “How was your test anyway?”

  “I think I aced it thanks to a very sexy instructor.”

  “I hope your referring to me and not Professor Mullins.” He laughs.

  “Of course you! Did you tell him about how you were going to test me?”

  “Absolutely not. I would never tell anyone. What happens between us stays between us.” Oh, maybe now’s not the time to tell him I told Levi. “Why, did he say something?”

  “It was just the way he was acting. He insisted I call him Marcus since our professor/student relationship would technically be over as of tonight when he puts everything in the computer. Then he asked me out.” Silver’s face goes red. He looks mad.

  “He what? He asked you out―like on a date?” I nod. “I’m going to have to have a talk with that fucking idiot.”

  “Don’t. I’m not interested in him anyway. I told him I wanted to see where this went with us,” I assure to offer him comfort. He gazes at me and his eyes soften. “Don’t worry about Professor Mullins. I think he was trying to get to me or maybe even you.”

  “I think you’re right, but I do like what you told him. I want to see where this goes too.” He pulls me close to him and lays a small kiss on my lips. “Marcus is always trying things. I should be used to it and he should be used to me. He knows I don’t like to share.” Oh, yes the selfish part.

  “He did say something else that kind of bothered me.” I have to be honest.

  “What’s that? You can ask me anything Greyson.” His eyes lock onto mine. I feel an overwhelming peace when I look into his eyes.

  “He asked me to join the LBGT committee and I told him I would help, but I was busy working and going to school. He asked me if you help me and when I said no. He insinuated ‘you usually help your men out’. He told me not to be naïve.” Silver blinks as anger fills his face.

  “I seriously am going to kick his ass. He is just trying to stir up trouble. Who he is referring to is a man by the name of Brady. I met him in a rehabilitation center for the blind. They were having a family picnic for all the patients and we hit it off. Brady’s blind. Brady is also straight and married. Marcus was always jealous of him. I did help Brady out. I opened a Silver Coffee franchise for him and his wife to manage. It’s actually the one that’s attached to the campus. I do help them a lot. I pay for their home mortgage and some other small things. They’ve never asked me to. I do it because I can and I love to help people. I figured it’s the least I can do. He’s had it rough. He lost his sight in an explosion when he was serving overseas. There was nothing they could do to repair it. I met him at the rehab center. We were both going through treatments. We became very close. I felt compelled by him and his story. His wife was pregnant at the time. He got depressed thinking he could never support them the way a man should, so I gave him an option. Everyone deserves an option.”

  “Everyone does,” I agree. “How is he now?”

  “He’s doing wonderfully. The coffeehouse is doing great and thriving, and it’s all because of Brady and his wife; who is pregnant again with their second and third.” Oh, twins. “I help because I can. I enjoy it and it makes me happy. Life’s too short to be anything, but happy.” I couldn’t help but smile. He is so kind hearted and he is really trying to plead his reasoning.

  “That’s remarkable, Silver. You should be very proud. I’m proud.” Everything about him astonishes me. The more I hear the more I like him.

  Silver cups my face and continues. “And I’m sure the other man, if he said something, was in reference to Connor. He never cared for him either. Marcus was very jealous. Anyone that took my attention off him, he didn’t like. Marcus thought Connor was taking advantage of me. Now you and I both know that Connor works his ass off and is nothing but loyal to me. I love to help him and Sarah.” Sarah must be Connor’s bride-to-be. “I have the means. I come from a wealthy family and I do pretty well for myself. Money’s nothing to me. I want to see people happy. I want to feel happy. It’s killing me that you won’t let me spoil you.” He leans in kissing me.

  “Maybe we both have to give and take. I’m not used to someone wanting to help me or spoil me, Silver. I do have to say, hearing you explain all this makes me like you even more. You’re a good man.” I lace my fingers through his. “You make me want to be a better man. You’re so successful, I envy you.”

  “I see good things coming your way.” Silver dusts the side of my face with his knuckles and I lean into his touch. My heart fills and I can’t stop myself from embracing him. He holds me tight against him in a hug. I raise my head to stare at his beautiful face. He closes his lips on mine. His kiss is tender and soft. Romantic. I’m not used to that. I trace his bottom lip with my tongue. I need to taste the inside of his mouth an
d he opens. Our tongues tangle and our kiss gets heated. One of his hands moves up the back of my head to feather my hair while his other is flush against my back holding me tight to him. “Shit, Greyson. It’s getting harder and harder to practice any type of self-control,” he says, his nose touching mine.

  “That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” I pull his head down to kiss him. I reach around and cup his ass with both hands. He lets out a small groan as he reaches for the hem of my shirt. We are just getting into it when we hear the door squeak open and Connor gasp in embarrassment.

  “Oh, crap… I’m so sorry.” Connor shields his eyes like he walked into a porn session. Jeez, we were just kissing.

  “It’s ok, Connor. It’s not a problem.” He winks at me and whispers in my ear. “It’s my self-control kicking my ass.” I smack his ass playfully. Damn self-control, I almost conquered you! “Connor, did you need something?”

  “Miss Silver is on her way up,” he announces.

  “Miss Silver?” I question.

  “My sister, Deborah.” Oh! “She’s probably here to chastise me for not responding to her invite yet.” He laughs.

  “You still haven’t done that? You are so immature,” I say and he playfully smacks my ass.

  “Oh, baby.” I mock smiling widely.

  “I guess you get to meet my sister. She can be a bit bossy.”

  “Hmm―must run in the family.”

  She knocks lightly and Silver answers greeting her with a kiss on the cheek. Deborah is very attractive. She is very petite and has a manicured cut to her brunette hair. I watch them exchange hellos and offer warm smiles. Aw, her smile is similar to Silver’s.

  “You are an ass, my brother.” Deborah exclaims and then smacks him on the shoulder. “You aren’t responding just because you know it irks me.” He laughs. That’s exactly what he was doing. She looks over Silver’s shoulder and spots me. “Well, I see. Maybe you’ve been a little preoccupied.” She smiles warmly at me.

  “Deborah, this is my friend, Greyson Black.” I offer my hand and she delicately shakes it.

  “Nice to meet you; Silver, uh, Brian has told me so much about you.”

  “Don’t believe a word he says. He’s a horrible gossip.” She giggles. “So you two are just friends?” She’s looking me straight in the eyes. I glance over to Silver and back to her.

  “Stop interrogating him, Deborah.” He takes her hand and goes to sit on the couch. Silver fills her in on the visit from Dr. Miller. She goes over some business stuff for Silver Coffee with him. She must work with him from the sounds of it. “Did you come just to talk business?” Silver sarcastically asks.

  “I’m sorry I don’t mean to butt in, but do you both run the business?” I was so curious for some reason.

  “She’s my CFO,” he answers and I look at him dumbfounded.

  “Chief financial officer. She went to school to be an accountant,” Silver answers and she nods to agree.

  “We can speak business later. I didn’t come for that. I came to see if you wanted to get some lunch.”

  “I thought you came just to smack me?”

  “Oh, that too.” She turns to me. “Greyson will you join us for lunch? On me; I’d love a chance to get to know you.”

  “I should really get going. I have stuff to do at home.”

  “Come on, Greyson…don’t make a girl beg.” She pouts her lips. Silver is just sitting there shaking his head. Talking people into doing things must be a Silver Family trait.

  “Ok, I guess I can do lunch and then go after.”

  “Yay!” She gets up and kisses my cheek. She turns to Silver. “Shall we go? I’m thinking Mediterranean.” I furrow my eyebrows. Mediterranean? She notices my expression. “It’s good you’ll like it.” She loops her arm around mine as we walk out.

  We take her car into downtown and pull up to an upscale restaurant. The valet opens our doors and we walk in. The greeter addresses Silver and Deborah by name and we bypass the line of waiting people. The hostess seats us at an intimate table in the back of the sophisticated restaurant. Silver nods to the hostess and slips her a tip. She flirts with a smile and says, “Thanks, Handsome”. Watch it girlie. The hostess returns with our menus and one more flirtatious smile for Silver. I lay my hand on Silver’s knee and glance up at her. Move it along lady. He grins at my jealous gesture.

  “Mmmm―everything looks delectable,” Deborah says as she scans her menu. “What looks good, Bri?”

  He lays his hand on mine, over the one I’m using to caress his knee, and looks at me. Apparently I look delectable. I start to skim my menu. I have no clue what this stuff is. The waitress comes to the table. Deborah orders first.

  “What are you getting, baby?” Silver asks me.

  I lean into him and whisper, “Silver, I have no clue what any of this stuff is.”

  “I’ll order for you. I know you like chicken, right.” I nod. He orders some chicken dish I can’t pronounce. The server goes to put our order in and then returns with a bottle of wine. She pours us all a glass then leaves the remaining bottle in a bucket of ice by our table.

  “So how did you two meet?” Deborah asks as she sips her wine.

  “He worked at one of my coffeehouses.”

  “Oh, that’s convenient.” She laughs. “Well, I hope that you can join us at my engagement party Saturday. You can be Brian’s plus one.”

  “Uh.” I look at Silver. “I guess if it’s ok with him.”

  “Of course, I would be honored. You can meet the rest of my bossy family.”

  The server brings our salads. I watch Silver and Deborah dig into theirs. I glimpse at the table setting and I have no clue what fork to use. Why do they have more than one fucking fork anyway? Is it funny that Levi’s Pretty Woman analogy is becoming more realistic? I feel like a classless idiot.

  Deborah notices my confusion. “Honey, just use whatever one you want. Fuck the rest.” She grins. I like Miss Silver.

  The rest of the meal goes flawlessly and we engage in some interesting conversation. They talk about their childhood and their parents. Deborah teases Brian about Marcus and other men he dated. Loved that! And Silver teased her about the other men she dated as well. Deborah tells me about her fiancé, Dr. Thomas Shultz. Before we know it, it’s an hour and a half later and we are finishing a dessert that Deborah insisted we try.

  “Oh, I have beyond ruined my diet.” She giggles.

  “Oh, me too,” Silver jokes and places his arm around the back of my chair.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but I should really get going. I don’t want to be carrying my laundry to the laundromat when it gets dark.”

  “They don’t have a washer and dryer in your apartment?” Silver frowns.

  “No not even in the basement. Good thing too, because that basement creeps me out. Thank you so much for lunch, Deborah. It was very nice talking with you. I learned a lot.” I grin over to Silver and stand up. I lean down to her cheek and kiss it softly.

  “You are a breath of fresh air, Greyson. I’ll see you soon, hon.” I nod. “Wait! How are you getting home? We can pay and I’ll take you,” she asks.

  “No, it’s fine. My place isn’t far from here. I’ll take the subway. Please, you two stay and enjoy some sibling bonding.”

  “Deborah, I’m going to walk Greyson out. I’ll be right back,” Silver says and clasps my hand as we walk out onto the busy New York sidewalk. “You are a breath of fresh air,” he says, half teasing his sister’s words and half being honest. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I had a good time, really. Your sister is awesome.”

  “I would have to agree. She is great.” He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight. I look up and kiss him.

  “I have to go, but I think next time we’ll make sure that the door is locked so I can get your self-control hard again.” He rolls his head back and laughs.

  “Deal,” he simply states. It’s hard to tell if he’s serious or not.

 
; “Deal? Really?”

  “Hmm… You hold the power, Mr. Black. I’m weak when it comes to you.” His lips close on mine. My heart feels like it skips a beat. His kiss does that to me every time. “Will you text me or call me later?”

  “For sure. I should go. The next train should be here soon.” I kiss him one more time and turn to walk away. He holds tight to one of my hands and pulls me back. I tilt my head and glare at him. He releases his grip and watches me walk to the nearby subway stop. I offer him a wave before disappearing down the stairs.

  ~Chapter Thirteen~

  I fucking hate doing laundry. I despise everything about it. It would be so much easier if I had a washer and dryer in my apartment and I didn’t have to go to this fucking laundromat. Silver texts me after I left the restaurant and offers to buy Levi and I an apartment-sized stacking combo, but of course I told him no. Maybe I should let him. He’s always thinking of me in ways to make my life easier; like the job. I just can’t let stuff like this go. I’ve had to basically take care of myself since my mom passed away. It was easier just to take care of myself than to deal with my dad, so I learned not to depend on anyone else. I learned early on that the only one responsible for me is me. Changing my thinking to let Silver do how he’s learned, spoil others as like he says, is going to be hard to get used to.

  I sort all my clothing: whites, lights, and darks and put them into three different washers. I guess that’s one good thing about the laundromat; multiple washers and dryers make for faster results. This small storefront laundromat is always empty midday. It’s not the best looking place either, but it gets the job done. I look around for a chair to sit on; all of them are broken. Nice. No one’s here so I plop up onto one of the folding tables and rest my back against the wall. I brought the phone Silver gave me. It has internet-access so I figure I could look for a job.

  Twenty minutes later, nothing. Job hunting is going to be very challenging. I need something that works around my school schedule in the fall. It’s my last year before I graduate. I should have finished already, but life got in the way. Here I am almost twenty-three years old still finishing my degree, but I’m finishing and that’s all that matters. I’m proud of myself.