The Warehouse

by Jason Collins

  He took two glasses down from the cabinet and began to pour us both glasses of whiskey. I noticed that he didn’t add ice cubes to the drinks, and it made me even more attracted to him. I had always been able to spot and notice men who drank their whiskey straight, and nothing was more appealing to me.

  “Whiskey?” he asked, already pouring both of our glasses.

  “It depends,” I replied with a smile, walking up behind him and wrapping my arms around him again. “What’s the rest of the news? How are you going to make this happen?”

  “Well,” he replied, “I’m just going to end it, plain and simple. I’m thinking that she must already have an idea that…”

  His voice trailed off and he turned around to look me in my eyes, handing me a glass of whiskey.

  “I don’t want to bore you with these details,” he said, “when you just dealt with a fire. Don’t you want to talk about it?”

  “Believe me,” I replied, accepting the glass and taking my first sip, “I’d much rather talk about this.”

  “Do you think he started the fire?”

  “Kenneth?” I asked, not wanting to think about him. “I don’t know. My best guess is that he probably did.”

  “Don’t you want to call the police?” Clint asked, taking a sip from his glass and walking me over to the couch.

  “Not yet,” I said. “I want to see what the investigators find first. If it points to arson, then I’ll let them know about Kenneth.”

  “I think it’s definitely going to point to arson,” he replied, plopping himself down onto the couch and beckoning me to join him. “But back to my situation: I think I’m just going to call her up and end it. Let the chips fall where they may.”

  “Do you think her father will fire you?” I asked, not wanting to bring it up, but realizing that it needed to be considered.

  “I made such a huge mistake in going on a date with her,” he replied. “If I hadn’t, I would never be in this position.”

  “You can’t change the past,” I said with a smile, trying my best not to be cheesy, “but you can always look to the future.”

  “Did you really just say that?” he asked, leaning over and placing a kiss on my cheek. “I don’t think I’ve heard anything that cheesy since –”

  Before he could finish, we both heard a knock at the door. Placing his glass on the coffee table, Clint rose to his feet to answer it, before turning to look back at me with a concerned expression on his face. He tapped his foot on the floor a couple of times, and turned back to look at the door again.

  “It might be Kelly,” he said with a frown, obviously feeling nervous about seeing her.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked. “End things with her right now?”

  “Well…” he began, but his voice trailed off.

  I could see the look of uncertainty on his face, and I began to wonder if he had truly made a final decision after all. Pacing back and forth, he placed his hand on his chin and looked as though the last thing he wanted to do was answer the door. A few seconds later, the knocking resumed.

  “What are you going to do?” I asked.

  Before he could reply, we both heard a woman’s voice coming through the door. “It’s Kelly!”

  “I wasn’t expecting her,” Clint said. “I mean, she didn’t tell me she was coming over.”

  “Maybe it’s a sign,” I said. “Maybe it’s time to end it now.”

  “I just wasn’t prepared for this,” he said, reaching over and retrieving his glass of whiskey before drinking the entire glass in one gulp.

  “I should leave,” I said.

  Shaking his head, he turned to walk toward the door. He reached down, turned the knob, and pulled the door open to reveal Kelly standing on the other side. At first, she was smiling, but once she noticed me her expression changed to one of concern. She was probably already suspicious of us since seeing me at the gym with Clint a few days before.

  “Hi,” she said cautiously to Clint. “I just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted to grab dinner in the neighborhood.”

  “Oh,” Clint replied with a forced smile. “I’m just here with Nicholas. You remember Nicholas, right?”

  “Right,” she replied in a condescending tone. “The dancer from the bar.”

  She walked through the door into the living room and nodded at me.

  “I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on,” she added.

  Even though she was trying to insult me, I didn’t mind. I had never been bothered by conservative women who enjoyed putting other people down. I lived my life the way I choose to live it, and I wasn’t going to let her disapproving glare get me down.

  “Well,” I replied with a huge grin, “hello to you too, Kelly.”

  “What are you two up to?” she asked, noticing the open bottle of whiskey on the table.

  “I, uh –” Clint began, but his voice quickly cracked.

  “Oh,” I said, interrupting him. “You know, we’re just drinking, Kelly.”

  “I see,” she replied, looking me up and down with disgust.

  Turning back to Clint, she added, “I guess you don’t want to get dinner then? I didn’t realize you were…busy.”

  “Don’t mind me,” I replied, pushing myself up from the couch and rising to my feet. “I was actually just leaving.”

  I expected Clint to try to stop me, but he didn’t say anything at all. At that moment, I realized that maybe he was more interested in keeping his conservative girlfriend – the same one who wouldn’t sleep with him – than in keeping me.

  I picked up my bag from the floor and walked past Clint toward the door, turning to give him a look as I did so. I wanted it to be clear to him that – if he wanted to make his move with Kelly – now was the time.

  Finally, Clint turned to Kelly and said, “There was a fire in Nicholas’s apartment tonight, and he doesn’t have anywhere to stay, so I told him he could come here.”

  “I see,” Kelly replied.

  It was obviously her favorite thing to say when she was at a loss for words.

  “I can find somewhere to say,” I said, looking toward the door to make my exit.

  “No, no,” Kelly said, trying to paint herself in a more flattering light. “I don’t want you to leave on my account.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said with a forced smile, walking through the door and out into the hallway. “I can easily find a hotel in the neighborhood.”

  “Are you sure?” Clint asked.

  I was hoping – and expecting – him to insist that I stay with him, but I was disappointed to see that it wasn’t going to happen.

  “Yes,” I replied, shooting daggers at him with my eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

  Turning to walk away, I descended the stairs and made my way out onto the street. I noticed that Kelly was not behind me, so I assumed that Clint must have asked her to stay. Just a few seconds later, as I walked down the sidewalk, I heard my phone dinging in my pocket, and I knew that it was probably Clint sending me a text message while Kelly wasn’t looking.

  Still, I wasn’t interested in seeing what he had to say. He had made his choice clear, and I couldn’t respect someone who couldn’t make a decision and then act on it. I knew I deserved better than that, and I didn’t want to allow myself to be treated that way.

  As I walked past a hotel, I realized that I didn’t want to spend the night in a strange place, so I decided to head back to my building to see if it was safe for me to sleep in my apartment. There had been no damage whatsoever, and I needed something comfortable for the night.

  As I walked, I realized that there was likely to be heavy construction going on in my neighbor’s place soon as they worked toward rebuilding the apartment. Knowing that I didn’t want to hear loud noises next door, I sighed as I realized that I would probably need to start looking for a new place before they began working.

  Finally making it to my building, I looked around to see that everyone had cleared out and
the block was as quiet as it normally was. I placed my key into the door, and pushed it open to walk through the hallway and up the stairs to the fourth floor. The smell of smoke still permeated the air, but I hoped that it wouldn’t be as bad inside my apartment.

  16

  The interior walls of The Warehouse had become like a second home to me, and for the first time in days, I was happy to be back. I had spent the previous night in my apartment, happily noting that the smell of smoke had eventually disappeared. I had called Greg a few hours earlier and told him that I’d like to stop by, and he insisted that I didn’t need to feel pressured to work or entertain anyone, but that I should stop by and just hang out.

  Walking through the doors, I saw Allen’s familiar face behind the bar and I was grateful to see him there. As much as he hit on me, and as much as he constantly pushed himself on me, I still knew that he was a decent guy who meant well. I walked over to the bar and sat in a regular chair, just like a customer.

  “Hi there,” Allen said with a genuine smile as he approached me, drying a glass and talking to me like a regular customer. “What’ll it be?”

  “A whiskey and Coke,” I said. “Or three.”

  “I’ll give you the big boy glass,” he said with a laugh. “Especially after what you went through last night. By the way, how’s your place?”

  “It’s fine,” I said. “I actually stayed there last night, as there wasn’t any damage to my place.”

  “Well that’s good!” he said, pouring the whiskey into a glass.

  I looked down at the rich brown liquid as it filled my glass, realizing that I had probably been drinking just a little too much over the past few days. Still, I wasn’t going to let that stop me, as I knew I needed something to help me relax.

  “I guess,” I replied with a sigh. “The sad thing is, I’ll probably need to move anyway. My neighbor’s apartment is completely ruined, and I’ll know they’ll need to do work to repair and rebuild it. That work is going to be extremely loud, and the walls between our apartments are paper-thin.”

  “I’m sorry,” Allen said.

  I could tell that he wanted to offer me a place to stay, but he probably knew that it wasn’t the right time or place. Truth be told, I was happy to start looking for a new apartment as I had been making good money and I wanted my home to reflect that. The tiny, cramped studio I had lived in for several months wasn’t cutting it anymore.

  “Where’s Greg?” I asked, not noticing that he had snuck up behind me.

  Wrapping his arms around my waist, he whispered in my ear, “Right here.”

  “Hi there,” I replied, turning around to accept his kiss on my cheek.

  “I know there was a fire,” Greg said, “but let’s not talk about it. Instead, let me put on a show for you.”

  Greg pushed past me and climbed up on to the bar. As he did, I noticed his perfectly sculpted ass as the flashing lights bounced off it.

  “You’ve been doing more squats, haven’t you?” I asked, teasing him.

  Instead of answering me, Greg gestured for one of the customers at the opposite end of the bar to come over and sit down. The man – whom I had never seen before – eagerly came over and sat in front of Greg, reaching down into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

  “Nope,” Greg said, reaching over and pushing the man’s hand back down. “This show is on the house. My friend here,” he added, pointing to me, “needs something to take his mind off his troubles.”

  “I see,” the man replied, his eyes lighting up as he realized he was in for a good show.

  “It’s your lucky night,” Greg replied, turning to look at Allen to add, “let’s get this man a drink on the house.”

  “What have I done to deserve this?” the man asked, looking up directly at Greg’s tight white underwear.

  “Nothing,” he replied with a laugh, watching while Allen poured his drink.

  Looking over at the man, I could see that he was a well-dressed man in his forties. His physique was impressive, and his handsome face was outlined by a chiseled jaw. I smiled as I thought about the fact that most people assumed our customers would be older, out-of-shape guys, but I had been surprised to learn that many of them were hot.

  “You want to see it?” Greg asked, sitting on the bar and inching his dick closer to the man’s face.

  “I want to taste it,” the man replied confidently.

  Wow, I thought. He knows what he wants.

  I was happy to realize that my thoughts were slowly drifting away from Clint. He had sent me several text messages after I left his place, trying to explain himself to be, but I didn’t reply to any of them, as I wasn’t interested any longer. If he wanted to spend his life with some girl just because her father is his boss, then that was fine by me.

  No, it’s not, I thought. It’s not fine by you, Nicholas. You’re upset and you –

  Shaking my head, I lifted my glass to my lips and took a long sip, forcing thoughts of Clint out of my mind. After receiving his texts, I had turned my phone off, and had left it off all night and day except for a few brief seconds where I turned it on to text Greg.

  Looking down at my bag, I began to wonder if I had possibly been receiving messages from Clint all day, unbeknownst to me. Still, I knew it wasn’t a good idea for me to communicate with him any longer, as he had made it clear that his decision had been made.

  I glanced back over at Greg to see that he was slowly moving his underwear lower, allowing the man at the bar to take a glimpse at what was underneath. The man’s eyes lit up, as he was probably delighted to receive such a show for free. Looking over at Greg’s cock, I watched as it slowly grew to full attention, and I knew he was enjoying it just as much as the man beneath him was.

  “Want to taste it?” Greg asked, scooching even closer to the man’s face so that he was perfectly positioned before him.

  “Yes,” the man replied, as the smile disappeared from his face and was replaced by a look of hungry desire. “I do.”

  Greg lifted his ass off the bar, reaching down and carefully sliding his underwear off before sitting down on the bar again, placing his bare ass cheeks against it. Opening his legs wider, he invited the man to lean it and take the entirety his growing cock in his mouth.

  “That’s it,” Greg said with a grin, placing his hand on the back of the man’s head as he guided him lower and lower. “Take it all the way down to the base.”

  The man did as he was instructed, opening his mouth wider and going down further until all of Greg’s cock was inside his wide mouth. Pulling his head back, the man began to build a rhythm, lowering down and rising again. Greg, leaning back on the bar, had a look of ecstasy on his face, his dick growing thicker in the man's warm, moist mouth, as his cock was at full attention, proudly poking and prodding the back of the man’s throat.

  Allen walked over to me and poured more whiskey into my glass as he asked, “Good show, huh?”

  “With Greg,” I replied, “it’s always a good show. He knows how to cheer me up.”

  “Are you going to get up there and join in?” Allen asked, obviously hoping I would say yes.

  Before I could reply, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and I looked down to see that Clint was calling me. Shifting my eyes back towards Allen, I saw him eagerly awaiting my answer to his question. My mood dropped instantaneously, as I was quickly reminded of what had happened with Clint.

  Deciding to answer the call after all, I gestured toward Allen that I was going to walk outside for a minute. Pulling the door open, I walked out on the sidewalk, dodging pedestrians as they clamored around me.

  “Hello?” I asked impatiently, not wanting to sound too eager.

  “It’s me,” Clint replied, and I immediately detected happiness in his voice.

  “Hi,” I replied curtly, hoping to keep my feelings to myself.

  “I have some good news,” he continued, not pausing for me to ask what it was. “I’m breaking up with Kelly.”

&nbs
p; “What?” I asked incredulously. “When did you decide this?”

  “Oh, believe me,” he replied, “I decided on this a long time ago, I just didn’t have the balls to act on it until now.”

  “When are you going to do it?” I asked, feeling my heart skip a few beats as I realized that we would finally have permission to do what we had been wanting to do.

  “Right now,” he replied. “I’m walking over to Kelly’s apartment; she lives in the neighborhood, not too far from me. I know she’s going to cause a huge scene; will you come and meet me at a bar nearby for a drink afterwards so I can vent?”

  “Are you going to call her beforehand?”

  “Nope,” he replied. “I’ll lose my nerve if I talk to her over the phone. I’m going to stop by in person and take care of it.”

  “You think she’s going to freak out?”

  “Yep,” he replied, as if he didn’t have a doubt in his mind. “I know she’s going to freak out.”

  I heard Clint take a long, dramatic pause before he finally added, “Nicholas, I want to be clear about something.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, not knowing what he was going to say next.

  “I know that we’ve talked about this before, but this time it’s real. The whole reason I waited this long,” he continued, “was because I didn’t want to ruin my career. I need you to know that. I want you to understand that it had nothing to do with you.”

  “I understand,” I replied, nodding my head as if Clint were standing in front of me.

  “I want it to be very clear,” he added, “that if it weren’t for her father being my boss, I would have ended things much sooner, and…”

  I waited for him to finish, but it seemed like he couldn’t find the right words to say.

  “And I’m sorry that I made you wait this long.”

  Smiling to myself, I replied, “I understand; I really do. Where should I meet you?”

  “There’s a dive bar a few blocks away from her place – I’ll text you the address.”

  “Sounds good,” I replied, “I’ll meet you there in a bit.”

  “Nicholas,” he said cautiously, “I don’t know how long this is going to take. We’ve only been together for a couple of weeks, so I’m hoping that it’ll only take a few minutes, but it might take longer.”