Trucker and Pup

by Drew Hunt

  After arranging their breakfast on a tray, Kevin picked it up and turned round. The shock of seeing a naked Joey standing next to him caused Kevin to start in alarm.

  Joey reached out and took the tray from Kevin’s shaking hands. “Sorry, Pup,” he yawned. “Did I scare you?”

  Kevin nodded and tried to force a smile.

  Joey put the tray onto the worktop and held out his arms to Kevin, who accepted the hug. “Were you gonna bring me breakfast in bed?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Joey yawned before delivering a quick peck to Kevin’s lips. Kevin didn’t mind his lover’s morning breath. Joey picked up the tray and headed for the bedroom, Kevin dutifully following along behind, admiring the view.

  Kevin was surprised and pleased when Joey told him he’d take him to work.

  “But, Sir, you don’t need to go in until this afternoon.”

  “I don’t, but you have to be there this morning,” Joey announced through a mouthful of scrambled egg.

  Feeling bold, Kevin reached up and kissed Joey’s cheek. “Thank you, Sir, I wasn’t sure of the bus route from here.”

  Joey shook his head. “Remember, Pup, you’re mine now. That means I take care of all the things which used to worry you.”

  Kevin didn’t trust his voice; he hoped the loving look he gave Joey conveyed what he couldn’t say.

  Swallowing a mouthful of food, Joey asked, “How’s your ankle this morning?”

  “Good.” In fact Kevin hadn’t even thought about it. “No pain at all.”

  Joey stared into Kevin’s eyes, and no doubt being satisfied with the truthfulness of his answer, nodded. “And your arse?”

  Kevin winced at having to discuss such things over breakfast, but knew his sir was just doing his job. “It’s a lot better, too.”

  * * * *

  Kevin had to remain standing in the car park for a couple of minutes after dismounting from Joey’s bike. He knew he couldn’t walk into the office with a hard on showing in his trousers. He’d gotten a real buzz out of weaving in and out of the morning rush hour traffic on the back of the Harley. Not to mention the fact that he could legitimately cuddle up to his lover in public.

  Noticing Kevin’s predicament, Joey had asked, “Is that a gun in your pocket, Pup, or were you just happy to ride with me?”

  Kevin had felt his cheeks beginning to burn.

  Before dropping his visor, Joey had blown Kevin a kiss. He had then revved his engine and circled Kevin before heading for the exit. Kevin had just stared lovingly at the retreating form of his leather clad Adonis.

  * * * *

  Unfortunately the happy start to the morning didn’t last. Mr Parker’s secretary had called in sick, leaving Kevin in charge of the office. The phone kept ringing off its cradle, Kevin being forced to answer it as well as attending to his own duties. Mr Parker was in a foul mood because he’d learned that a shipment would be delayed, “putting all my schedules out of sync.”

  Because Kevin didn’t have his glasses, he couldn’t work fast enough to re-arrange the driver schedules. To his dismay he realised it was Joey’s load that would be affected by the delay. Kevin’s slowness further infuriated Mr Parker, who kept up a steady stream of put downs and derogatory comments.

  During a momentary lull, Kevin rang round a few opticians, trying to get an appointment for an eye test, but no one could fit him in until the end of the week. Rubbing his eyes, he knew he’d certainly come back down to earth with a bump after his incredible weekend.

  The morning continued to deteriorate. It reached rock bottom when Mr Parker yelled at Kevin to come into his office. After dealing with the phone call he had been in the middle of, Kevin slunk into the inner sanctum, knowing he was in for another bollocking.

  “Look at this!” Parker said, jabbing his finger viciously at a time sheet. “You’ve written the bloody details in the wrong sodding column. What the fuck is wrong with you this morning!”

  Averting his eyes, Kevin tried to explain he couldn’t see properly because of his broken glasses, but Parker wasn’t interested. Kevin thought the old man was going to have a seizure when Kevin shyly told Mr Parker he’d have to leave the office to go and get a sandwich as he hadn’t brought lunch with him.

  “It’d only take half an hour, I’m supposed to have a full hour for lunch.” Kevin knew his pleas sounded ineffectual, but his weekend with the strong and confident Joey had given him sufficient courage to speak up.

  “Your duty is to run this office, especially as Susan isn’t here.”

  “No, it isn’t,” a deep voice said, startling Kevin, who turned round to see Joey in the door frame. “Kevin’s right, he’s entitled to have an hour for his lunch. Go on, get your coat. We’re eating out.”

  Kevin looked from one man to the other indecisively. He loved and felt an obligation to obey his sir, but Mr Parker was his boss, and going against him could prove unpleasant at best, and at worst…Kevin didn’t want to go there. He was frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

  “Now, Pup!” Joey said quietly but with increased authority.

  Kevin found his legs complying, while his brain continued to debate the point. Stepping to one side, Joey let him pass.

  “What the fuck! You’ve no say in what goes on in here. You do the driving, I do the decision making,” Parker barked.

  Standing by his desk in the outer office, Kevin winced; he hated the thought of a showdown, especially over him. He wanted to go back into the inner office and apologise, tell Mr Parker he’d miss lunch, he’d re-enter the figures, he’d do anything to make things right.

  “Jerry, when are you going to learn you can’t treat your employees like shit? That guy out there would wash the floor with his tongue if you asked him. You’ll never find a more conscientious worker, unlike that dozy cow of a secretary of yours. How come she’s not here anyway? Her time of the month again?”

  Kevin winced; no other employee could get away with calling Mr Parker by his first name.

  “She said something about backache.”

  Joey snorted.

  “It’s been hell in here today. Potter’s have just rung up to say that your load has been delayed. By the time you get on your way, you’ll be too late for the ferry. Then I’ll have the Belgians on my back about late delivery.”

  “And how much of that is Kevin’s fault?”

  “He fucked up the time sheets. Says he can’t see without his glasses. He ought to have a spare pair.”

  “You don’t pay him enough for that. Anyway I’m going to get all that sorted over lunch.”

  “And just who’s gonna man the office?”

  “Jerry,” It sounded as though Joey was beginning to lose his cool. “Kevin will be a much more efficient worker if he can see right. And as I said, he’s entitled to a lunch break. If you’d employed a secretary on her IQ rather than her chest measurement, you wouldn’t be in the mess you’re in now.”

  “It’s none of your bloody business who I hire!”

  Kevin wanted to dive under his desk. He thought at any second Mr Parker was going to collapse unconscious or something.

  “And while we’re on about hiring staff,” Joey’s tone remained reasonable, but Kevin could tell there was a hidden steeliness. “I want you to give Cal Briggs the boot.”

  “Aye? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “Your chief driver. I worked for this firm when you only had two lorries and an empty order book. I helped build up this business, and you know it. Cal’s trouble, not to say useless. You know he is. I’m pretty sure he’s been taking on extra jobs and not putting them through the books. Get Kevin to take a look through the odometer records. I bet if you check the number of miles he’s declaring, they’ll be a lot higher than what they should be for the runs he does.”

  Kevin’s blood ran cold. He knew Cal would hit the roof—as well as him—if he ever found out his activities had been investigated. Cal never liked Kevin touching his paperwork, and ever since
their break up, that had suited Kevin perfectly. And where on earth would he find the time to check all those figures anyway?

  “It won’t be that easy to prove. Briggs is bound to fight it, and if the fucking union gets involved, it’ll get really ugly.”

  “I am the fucking union round here, and I’ll make sure Cal doesn’t get anywhere. You do your bit, Jerry, and I’ll do mine.” Joey marched out of Jerry’s office, took hold of Kevin’s arm roughly, and pulled him out of the room.

  “Sir?” Kevin struggled, Joey’s grip was hurting him.

  “Sorry, Pup.” Joey let go of Kevin’s arm then rubbed it gently. “How long’s Parker been treating you like a doormat?”

  Kevin shuffled his feet.

  “I see,” Joey said, looking levelly at Kevin. “Some changes will have to be made round here. But we’ll worry about that later.”

  “Sir, I’m scared. Cal isn’t going to like it when he finds out I’ve been checking up on him. He’s…” Kevin looked down. “I’m scared.” He repeated.

  Joey gave Kevin a sideways hug. “You’re mine now, I’ll protect you. Remember I warned him off the other day, next time I see him I’ll remind him that you’re mine, and he better keep his distance if he doesn’t want to suck hospital food through a straw.”

  Despite Joey’s words, Kevin wasn’t particularly reassured.

  “Come on,” Joey looked at his watch. “You’ve got an appointment at the optician’s in ten minutes.”

  “I rang round all the ones in town this morning, and none of them could fit me in.”

  “My uncle works at the one on the high street. I called him this morning.”

  * * * *

  Joey was seething inwardly as he sat in the waiting room while Kevin’s eyes were being tested. That fucking waste of space Parker had been lording it over his pup all morning. Why was Kevin so willing to let people walk all over him? Why didn’t he stand up for himself? Then Joey remembered Kevin had actually put up a bit of a defence against the loss of his dinner hour. I just need to toughen him up some more. However, he knew Kevin would always be a lover rather than a fighter. Joey smiled for the first time since he’d walked into the office.

  Hopefully Parker will get off his fat arse and do something about Briggs. Woe betide that scum-bag if he so much as looks at Kevin the wrong way. Joey felt his jaw tighten and his fists clench. With a bit of luck, the slimy piece of shit will crawl under a rock somewhere when Parker fires him.

  Joey was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Kevin emerge from the back room.

  “If you’ll just pick out the frames you want, we can set about grinding the lenses,” the female optometrist said.

  Kevin peered at a few of the frames on the rack, paying more attention to the price tags than anything else.

  “He’ll have these,” Joey stood up and tapped a pair of gold-coloured thin wire frames that he knew would suit Kevin’s face.

  “But, they’re—” Kevin began.

  “Those are very popular,” the woman said quickly, no doubt because the chosen frame was one of the most expensive. “But they’ll only support the new kind of thin lenses, not the ones Mr Lawrence is going to have.”

  “Can his prescription be made from these new thin lenses?” Joey asked.

  “Certainly. But we don’t offer those in our budget range.”

  “It’s okay, these will be fine.” Kevin pointed to frames in thick brown plastic.

  “No they won’t. Plastic snaps, wire bends. Plus you’ll look really brainy in these.” Joey didn’t add they’d also make his pup look sexy. Lifting the wire-rimmed frames from the display Joey handed them to the optometrist. “With the thin lenses.”

  The woman, obviously realising Joey was the one making all the decisions asked him, “Will Mr Lawrence like us to add a scratch-resistant coating?”

  “No, that’s okay,” Kevin said.

  “Yes, please,” Joey said at the same time.

  The woman made a note on her clipboard.

  “My uncle Joshua said he’d make sure the specs would be ready by close of business today,” Joey said.

  The woman looked momentarily surprised but just made a few more notes on her clipboard.

  After paying the bill, Joey turned to a bewildered-looking Kevin. “Come on then, Pup. We’ll just have time to grab a quick sandwich before you have to get back to the grindstone.”

  Kevin meekly agreed and followed Joey out of the shop.

  As they sat eating, Joey could tell Kevin was uncomfortable about something. “Okay, spill.”

  “Sir, I know you said you’d look after me and all that, but it’s not right you paying for my glasses. And I didn’t need an expensive pair anyway.”

  “I was responsible for your old pair getting scratched. And I won’t have any more of this ‘I don’t deserve expensive things’ crap.”

  “But—”

  “The matter’s closed. Now eat up. We best not wind up old Parker any more than we have to.” Joey knew Kevin was still brooding, Why the hell did he always come out with all this inferiority shit?

  Once they’d finished eating, Joey paid the bill. A protesting Kevin was then steered out of the door. “I don’t want to hear it.” Joey stood on the pavement, hands on hips, glaring down at Kevin, who soon ceased his feeble complaints. Softening his tone, Joey continued, “I know you’re worried about Cal. But please don’t. I’m here now. Okay?”

  “Yes, Sir, thank you.” Kevin treated Joey to a weak smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  “That’s my brave pup. Now will you be okay for the rest of the afternoon without your specs? I won’t be back in time to take you for them.”

  “I’ll be all right.”

  “’Course, you could always call in sick.”

  “Oh, no, Sir. That wouldn’t be right.”

  “Nah, you’re way too conscientious to do that sort of thing.” Reaching out, Joey ruffled Kevin’s hair, not caring they were in public.

  After walking Kevin back to the office, Joey drove his empty lorry to the bathroom factory and waited around until they were ready. Judging it’d move things along more quickly, he helped load up.

  Locking the rear doors of his lorry, Joey looked at his watch, and thought he might just make the night ferry if he didn’t dawdle. It would certainly put him in old Parker’s good books if the shipment was made on time. The Belgian contract was an important one, and Joey knew the haulage company would suffer if it was lost.

  He was in luck. The traffic on the motorway wasn’t too heavy, so he was able to get to Hull in the nick of time. Fortunately his load was dealt with by a shipping agent he knew, so the paperwork didn’t take too long either.

  “Um, as a thank you to me for sneaking your load on board past time, how’s about me and you getting into the back of your cab, and testing out the bed springs?” The wiry port official asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

  Joey’s dick immediately twitched at the thought. He’d had an enjoyable romp with the guy the last time their paths had crossed. Reaching for the handle of the cab door, ready to climb up, Joey’s body froze.

  “Come on, I haven’t got all day,” the guy said, rubbing at Joey’s arse through his worn jeans. “I need a good seeing to before I finish work and go home to the missus.”

  The bloke’s wandering hands caused Joey to shudder involuntarily. The guy must have mistaken it for desire, because he increased his rubbing. Joey was snapped out of his inactivity, he spun himself round and pushed the guy violently away. The man fell to the ground, his limbs waving in the air, a confused and hurt look on his face.

  “Get the fuck away from me!” Joey said through clenched teeth. He knew most of his anger was aimed at himself. He’d almost given in, almost cheated on Kevin. It had been so close. If he’d climbed into his cab, he wouldn’t have been able to put a stop to his desires. Joey felt totally disgusted at his weakness to resist the first bit of arse that offered itself to him.

  “What
the fuck’s got into you? You turning straight on me?” The guy got up and began to dust himself down, but wisely kept his distance.

  The fight suddenly drained out of Joey. He sagged against the side of his cab. What the fuck was going on?

  “You okay, mate?” The port agent now seemed more concerned than angry.

  Joey shook his head. In an almost whisper, he said, “I’ve found someone.” Joey felt his cheeks get hot. “I,” Joey swallowed, “I love him. And I feel really shitty about what I almost just did.” He turned to face his cab and rested his head on his arms.

  “It’s okay, mate.” Joey felt the man put a hand on his shoulder. When he didn’t shrug it off, the man began to gently massage it. “God, you’ve got it bad, haven’t you?”

  “It scares the fucking shit out of me,” Joey said barely above a whisper, his head still laying on his arms.

  “Look, the ferry sails in about half an hour. You wanna stick around and maybe we could go and have a coffee and a talk?”

  Joey tensed. Was the guy still after getting into his underpants? Could he, would he fend him off?

  “Just to talk. I think you need a sympathetic ear.”

  Joey realised opening up to someone just might help. The whole thing with Kevin had happened so suddenly. Up until Friday night, he’d been doing his usual thing, not a care in the world, then bang!

  Joey lifted his head and turned to face the guy, he realised he didn’t even know his name. “Thanks, a coffee sounds good.”

  The other guy smiled broadly, “Okay, go and park your rig in the short term lorry park. I’ll come and find you when I’ve done here. It’ll be all right, you know.”