by Jerry Cole
“Me too,” Roman said just as seriously. “Me, fucking too.”
The past six months had been leading up to this day. For the past six months, Roman and James had been writing a film script together while simultaneously trying to put together a crew, a filming schedule, actors and actresses and most importantly, gather funds. Well, that was all done now and the only thing left was to make the darn thing. That’s when it got really exciting.
Roman was the director of the film, and the producer, and the writer, and the talent scout, and the location scout, and about a dozen other roles that he and James were forced to fill together on account of how small their budget was. But none of that seemed to matter, or mattered little at all. They’d done the hard work and now it was time to finally ‘play.’ The last step was this meeting, the first production meeting with all their cast and crew. Both Roman and James had agreed that if today went well, then nothing could stop them.
The meeting was being held in an old warehouse about twenty-minutes from the city of Brisbane. The warehouse belonged to a friend of theirs, so it was free to use. And as well as being their meeting place, it was also their sound stage, their storage space and the locale for pretty much every scene that was being filmed indoors. This really was a low-end production.
But again, none of that mattered. When James pulled the car up to the warehouse, there were already a dozen cars parked around the lot. This was the crew and their early arrival spoke to how eager they all were too. Everything was going according to plan.
“All right! Everyone! Gather up – around the table, now!” James shouted as soon as they walked into the warehouse. “The last person to sit down gets dropped!” James was the official ‘hard-ass’ of the two, a role he had volunteered for. He liked to dominate, and Roman liked to let him.
The warehouse was just a big, open space with a high ceiling, four walls and not much else. The ground was concrete and dirty, the walls were stacked with random bits and pieces that the owner had long since forgotten about, and in the center were three long tables pushed together to make one extra-long one. At the sound of James’ commands, the eighteen people in the warehouse rushed for the table and took their seats.
Roman didn’t rush. In fact, he stood back and signaled to a woman named Sally Tomb who was hovering just down from the tables. She was a petite, mousy-haired girl with big-thick glasses, a huge overbite, and what would have been a pretty face if she put any effort into her appearance at all. But she was a self-described ‘Tomboy’ and thus never really bothered.
“Bobby isn’t here yet.” Sally had a clipboard balanced in her arms and a pen perched between her fingertips; her hand shook violently from drinking too much coffee. As she moved in beside Roman, she read off the clipboard. “But he called and is on his way.”
Sally Tomb was Roman’s production assistant, and his runner and his ‘everything person.’ All the small tasks that needed to be done on set, or looked after, or watched over, fell on Sally’s shoulders. It was a bottom of the rung kind of job, and one she was doing for free. But it was also invaluable practice and a great way to pay one’s dues. It was exactly where Roman had been a few years ago, which was why he had so much respect for her.
“That’s fine,” Roman sighed. “He’s only the lead actor for fuck’s sake – how long will he be?”
“Ten minutes,” Sally answered immediately. “But to make up for it, he’s bringing coffee and muffins.”
“I suppose I can let it slide,” Roman joked. “Anything else?”
Sally looked down the folder, pen running over each line as she read. “Nope,” she said after a moment. She then paused and looked again, as if sure there had to be something wrong. “We’re... we’re good. Huh – well, we’re good once Bobby arrives.”
“Maybe even before then.” Roman indicated for her to take a seat with the rest of the crew. She nodded her understanding and then hurried over. Once she sat down, she unpacked her folder and started getting everything ready for the day. Sally was a go-getter and Roman could not have been happier she was on his team.
“Everyone, listen up!” Roman took his seat at the head of the table beside James. Although Roman was the director and technically in-charge, James was his number two and was more an equal partner than anything. “Before we get down to business, me and James —”
“That’s me for anyone wondering,” James joked to scattered laughter.
Roman smiled but continued. “We wanted to say, welcome. The last six months have been the emotional equivalent of having your balls trapped in a vice grip... but with far less pleasure.” More scattered laughter. “But that was then, and this is now. So again, we want to say welcome to day one of production for our first ever film, Death Ride.” This was met with cheers, applause and a little whooping from some of the more excited people at the table... James, for example.
The excitement was justified, and Roman hadn’t been kidding in how hard the process leading up to this was. As well as writing the script at pace, it had been almost impossible to bring the funds together. And as he was trying to do that, he’d also had to find a crew willing to work for next to nothing, and to work for two guys who had no experience. The process had almost killed Roman.
But that was the past and this was now. And now was good.
The movie itself was a horror-thriller about a brother and sister that rented a car to drive home for Christmas, only to discover that the car was haunted and had a penchant for killing its passengers. It was a low budget film, shot entirely within the car – except for a few small scenes – had only a few actors to worry about, one main prop, and a short filming schedule. Really, it was perfect for a first-time film.
And even though it was their first, both Roman and James knew it wouldn’t be their last. When this was made, they’d make another and another and another. Finally, after years of slaving away, Roman was in the throes of his career path. Finally, his life was coming together.
The meeting that day wasn’t meant to be a long one; it was more of a meet and greet kind of thing. It started with them going around the table so that everyone could introduce themselves. After that they went over the production schedule, brought attention to a few things that Roman and James had discussed earlier, and made sure that everyone was going to be where they needed to be, doing what they had to do, when the time came.
“You got it,” Mike the sound guy nodded.
“I’m there, baby,” Liam, the grip, agreed.
“Of course.”
“What else am I doing?”
“So long as I get to be famous.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for my mother’s funeral.”
“Even prison won’t keep me away.”
And down the table they went. By the time the meeting was over, it was only just getting toward three o’clock in the afternoon and Roman’s mood was at an all-time high. Even better that he knew the best part of today wasn’t going to come until tonight.
“What’s the plan for the rest of the day?” James asked as he dropped Roman off back outside his apartment that afternoon. “Going to go inside and masturbate over how good today went?”
“Obviously,” Roman agreed. “Then I might go for a run, make dinner, watch a little TV and relax.”
“Until the golden hour, of course. That’s hour, not shower.” James wore a knowing smirk on his face, but he didn’t elaborate on what he meant. He didn’t need to.
“Until the golden hour,” Roman agreed. He popped the door open and went to climb out. “What are you doing?”
James raised a single eyebrow, as if to say, ‘Do you even need to ask.’
Roman rolled his eyes. “Just make sure you wear a condom.”
James barked his laugh. “I always do baby... you know, unless she’s really fucking hot.”
Roman did his best to look serious as he swung the door closed. “See you tomorrow.”
“Until then.” James waved his goodbyes and took off down the road.
Who knew what he’d be getting up to tonight? He was single after all, reasonably successful and in a good place in his life. The world was his.
Really, Roman was in a very similar position to James. He was also single. He was also reasonably successful. And he was also in a very good place in his life. But unlike James, he didn’t live the life of a single person. Not right now anyway. Right now, there was no need...
The “golden hour” as James jokingly referred to it came exactly as it did every night. And it was never only an hour either. Usually it was two hours, and sometimes it even stretched to three. Sometimes there were nights where it was impossible to quantify just how long it had been as time kind of just stood still and became meaningless.
Roman had been looking forward to his production meeting for months before it was even a sure thing. But even still, ten o’clock at night was sure to be his favorite part of the day.
The “golden hour” couldn’t come soon enough either. Between the hours when Roman got home to when the clock struck that magic number, he did just about everything he could think of to pass the time. He ate, he went for a run, he napped, he made food, he cleaned the house, he watched a little television, he did some script re-writes, went over the production budget and so on and so forth. And the whole while, his leg bounced excitedly, his heart thumped in his chest and his breathing increased. Basically, he got more and more excited as ten o’clock got closer and closer.
It should be pretty obvious by now that it was the time when Bryce called every night, which was why Roman was so fucking excited. It had become their little ritual and was quite literally the best part of Roman’s day.
The whole thing with Bryce was super unexpected, but in no way unwelcome. When Roman had first given his number to Bryce, he’d had no idea what was going to come of it. And although he had hoped that in doing so the two might actually meet on purpose for once, he could never have predicted that things would be this serious and so quickly. And even though they hadn’t spoken about it specifically, Roman had no doubt that sooner or later, he and Bryce would become “official.”
There was only one real problem with their “relationship” as it currently stood, and that was the fact that they lived some nine hundred kilometers apart. These phone calls were their only source of contact, and as great as they were, it wasn’t enough.
Roman was always excited about these calls. But tonight, there was an extra reason for it. Now that the first production meeting for his film had happened, and now that it was a success, he’d be able to share with Bryce one-piece of info that he’d been with-holding for three months: he was officially coming to Sydney. The final scene of his film was to be shot in Sydney and he’d need to be there for two whole weeks. He could not wait!
He and Bryce weren’t dating. Not yet. But they would be. They got along too well and were too into one another for it not to happen eventually. But until that day came, probably when he was in Sydney in a few months' time, Roman was happy to make sure he was home every night so he could take this call.
And as always, it was right on time when the phone rang – tonight was Bryce’s turn. Excited as ever, Roman took the phone and lay back on his couch. He then answered with a “Hey, sexy,” and settled himself in for what he knew would be the best few hours of his day. Right now, everything in Roman’s life was going as well as it ever had, even better that things were looking to pick up too. Right now, Roman’s life was pretty darn good. Honestly, it was about fucking time.
Chapter Thirteen
Bryce and Roman didn’t even make it back home from the airport. They had meant to, though. Seriously, they had! Bryce had taken the entire morning off work so he could pick Roman up. Then they could have headed back to his apartment so Roman could have unpacked, showered, eaten and then they’d have had at least an hour, maybe even more until Bryce had to go to the office. But as mentioned, they didn’t even get that far.
“Hands to yourself!” Bryce snapped playfully as he and Roman made their way across the airport-parking lot to where his car was ready and waiting. He was trying to wheel Roman’s bag for him, but Roman kept on grabbing at his crotch and pretending to try and take his pants off... at least Bryce assumed he was pretending.
“I can’t help it.” Roman got in right behind Bryce; one hand slipped down his front while he bit at Bryce’s earlobe. “You look so good.”
“Will you --!” Bryce grabbed Roman’s wandering hand and pulled his head away from Roman’s nibbling lips. He then spun around, as if to chastise him... but one look at the puppy dog eyes that Roman was throwing him and Bryce melted. Fuck he looked good!
“Will you what?” Roman smirked, his hungry eyes running up and down Bryce’s torso.
“Will you... will you... will...” Bryce babbled. He had forgotten what he had been about to say. All he could think about was... well, it wasn’t appropriate for where they were.
And yet, two minutes later saw Bryce and Roman in the back seat of Bryce’s car, windows up, steam hopefully fogging up the windows enough to block out what they were doing. And even if it didn’t, in that moment, Bryce didn’t give a fuck. It had been something like six months since he’d last seen Roman, which was also how long it had been since he had last been with someone. Roman looked good, Bryce was hornier than he had realized and the result of the two together was... well, it was a good time.
“Mmmmm that’s a cock,” Bryce licked his lips as Roman shuffled out of his pants; his thick, juicy member already standing to attention for him. He was so damn hard that Bryce could already see some pre-cum seeping out of the tip.
“And what do you like to do with big cocks?” Roman sat back, legs spread, stroking himself as he eye-fucked Bryce.
In response, Bryce wiggled down to his knees – it was tight fitting, seeing as they were in the back of his SUV – and took Roman in his mouth. As he worked him over with his lips, tongue and hand, he could feel the sun shining on the back of his neck. He took relish in the way that Roman groaned and moaned and grabbed at his head, and he wondered how the fuck he had lasted so long without this cock in his life.
They lost about thirty minutes that morning, on account of the blowjob. This in turn saw them having to rush through the rest of the morning at more of a pace than Bryce had hoped. Worse too that the thirty minutes lost saw them get stuck in traffic, which put them out even further. By the time they got back to Bryce’s apartment, he was already late for work and couldn’t so much as hang around long enough to show Roman where the bathroom was.
“Go!” Roman laughed as Bryce shuffled from foot to foot; he wanted to stay with Roman a little longer but he had to be getting to work.
“I’m sorry,” he grimaced. He stepped in and kissed Roman on the lips in a show of apology. “Seriously, I’m—”
“Will you go!” Roman pushed Bryce toward the door. “I’ll see you at dinner, right? You’re not going to ditch me for that at least?”
“The info is on the fridge.” Bryce was forced to shout and point as he hurried for the front door. “Spare keys are behind the door! I’ll see you tonight – eight o’clock sharp!”
“Can’t wa—!” Bryce slammed the door closed before Roman was able to finish.
It was unfortunate that their morning had been cut short like that, but it had been done so for the right reasons, so Bryce was willing to get past it. And besides, he had dinner tonight to look forward to, so he figured it wasn’t the end of the world. Fuck, he had the next two weeks to look forward to! So, what was he really worried about?
That’s right. Two whole weeks. There was to be no random bumping into one another, no rushed time-limits and no regrets. For the first time ever, Bryce and Roman had actually planned to be together. It was almost bizarre in how weird it felt... but it was also right, so very right. They’d spent the last six months speaking nearly every night on the phone, so this little pseudo-holiday together was the next natural step.
Bryce wished it were a real holiday. At
least that way he’d get to spend more time with Roman. Unfortunately, though, Bryce still had to work. He had tried to get the time off, but his job just wasn’t the kind of place you could do that. He was working toward a promotion and asking for two weeks off was a sure-fire way to miss out. Furthermore, Bryce hadn’t come out to anyone at work. So, to tell them he needed the time off to be with the guy he was kind-of-seeing might not have gone down so well.
Instead, Bryce had just worked doubly hard in the build-up to Roman’s arrival. In doing so, he made sure that he could arrive at nine, each morning, and leave at seven o’clock every night for the two weeks – verified by Mr. Stark, of course. It wasn’t the best scenario, but it was something.
It helped too that Roman was in town to work. He had a film to make and needed every day of the two weeks to shoot. Even if Bryce had gotten the time off, Roman would have been busy. So again, it wasn’t the best situation. But it was something. Really, it was everything.
As had been expected, Bryce was treated to some serious passive-aggressive reactions when he eventually got to work, at exactly ten past nine in the morning. Not only did the majority of the floor stop and stare as he walked in, but he had two emails from his boss, both asking where he was. The first came in at seven in the morning, even though Bryce had told him he wouldn’t be there until nine o’clock.
For the entire day, Bryce kept his head down and worked. He had to be finished by seven o’clock in the evening. That was the deal. That would give him time to get home, shower, change clothes, and make himself presentable so that he could meet Roman for dinner. Roman was spending the day on set, so he was just going to meet at the restaurant Bryce had booked; a fancy little Italian spot called Kindred.
The hours flew by. Bryce worked, and worked, and worked and worked. And worked some more. He didn’t take lunch, he didn’t take any coffee breaks, and he didn’t even poke his head up when a bunch of colleagues were chatting by his booth. He just worked like his life depended on it.