Country Boy, City Man

In a dark office on the27th floor of a Seattle skyscraper a red headed man sat- wallowing in hisdespair. Carson Jefferson was no sap, but this hangover was shooting throughhis head like an elephant through the Savanna. He groaned, resting his head inhis hands and rubbing his dewy face. How could Felix do this to him? Carsongave 6 years of his life to Felix and what does he do? Dump him for some bodybuilder? Unbelievable. "Carson" Ayoung woman eased into the office, "C'mon Carson- drink some coffee andlift your head up" she soothed, her hand reaching for his head. "Not!" Carsonhissed and slammed his fist on the table -regretting it instantly, "rightnow" he whines, lowering his head into his hands again. The woman huffed, puttingher hands on her hips pulling the blind open quickly. Carson let out a hiss andcurled over. The light was debilitating to him and he whimpered like a frightenedkitten. "Yes, rightnow" The woman said, "Your new intern is here, and you WILL meet withhim. I conducted tons of interviews to get the type you wanted" sherelaxed and smiled, "Mr. Sterling will be in shortly. "It's a guy?"Carson asked weakly. "Yes, so shape upCarson" The woman placed a venti cup of coffee on his dark oak desk andstrode out of the room. "Thank you, Kate!"Carson called after his oh-so-helpful assistant. Carson put his head up,blinking rapidly to get used to the sunlight. He stood up on shaky legs andgrabbed ahold of the hot coffee. He took a long swig and smacked his lips atthe bitter taste, but he already felt slightly more alive. He walked over to thecloset in his office and pulled the door open. He looked at himself in themirror hung on the back of the door and sighed. He truly looked like thewreck he was. His hair was pointing in all directions and his eyes sunk deep inhis head, not to mention his skin was paler than skin should ever be. He wasused to being very white since he was Irish, but this kind of planes scared thedaylight out of him. He didn't want to meet this new intern, but it was his joband no matter how much he acted like a moody teenage boy- he still had to doit. So, he pushed his sweatyfingers though his hair and smoothed it out. He straightened his clothes andtried his best to look lively. The coffee helped. A lot. I should give Kate araise, he thought, she always gets the job done. A strong knock on thedoor made Carson jump slightly-almost spilling coffee on his crisp white buttonup. He chuckled to himself and shook his head. How much more pathetic could heget? He closed his closet door and walked over to his desk, straightening hispapers and tapping his laptop on. "Come in" he called,and the door opened slowly. A man Carson's height(5'10") walked in and smiled politely. He was a lightly blond withfreckled and tanned skin. He wore a slightly wrinkled cotton button up and darkblue trousers. His feet were clad with a chestnut colored farm boot. Carsoncocked his brow in surprise. This was his new intern? The boy looked like hewas fresh off the farm. "Sterling?"Carson asked-unable to stop the shock in his voice. "Harrison, Harris orHarry is fine as well" the man said- a thick country drawl heatingCarson's spine. Carson reached out hishand and they participated in a frim shake. Carson ushered him to sit down inthe dark brown leather chair across from Carson's desk. "Would you like anycoffee or water?" Carson asked as he shifted into his chair and pulled upKates E-mail about Harrison Sterling. "No thank yousir" Harrison nodded and crossed his leg over his knee. Carson took the moment toobserve the boy- he was young and pretty. His biceps bulged in the shirt andhis cracked hands laid heavily on the ankle resting on his knee. He was acountry bumpkin and Carson wasn't too pleased with it. When he had told Kate tohire him an intern he was sure he'd specified female- so there would be noissues with attraction within the office but he either forgot or Kate wasplaying one of her games with his life again. "Tell me aboutyourself" Carson sipped on his coffee and opened a word document to recordwhatever Harrison said. "My name is HarrisonSterling, sir" Harrison nodded, "I just turned 25 and I am fromBridgewater Kanas" Harris snickered at his town name, "honestly siryou could say I am a stereotypical country boy. I was raised on the farm withtwo older brothers and a baby sister. I went to church every Sunday and plantedcrops after school. The only difference is I graduated with my master's degreein international finance from Princeton." "Princeton?"Carson looked at Harris and Harrison brown into a wide grin. "Yes sir, somehow Imanaged to convince them to give this bale of hay a full ride" "I'm impressed"Carson admitted, leaving his laptop alone and leaning to his left, getting abetter feel for his intern, "Well you are completely qualified and seemrespectable and polite- that will come in hand when dealing with clients andofficer of other countries" "Raised the good oldAmerican way" Harris nodded. "This job will be alot of late-night Harrison- I tend to work until Kate tells me to go home-sometimes I sleep here" Carson admitted but Harrisons face didn't falter,"we travel all over the world always have a go bag here. We filed-makedeal- and occasionally ruin people lives, okay with that?" "I came to the citybecause I raised a little too much hell in Bridgewater" Harris smiled,"I will be ready for anything sir" "It's justCarson" Carson waved his hand-dismissing the politeness, "I might beyour boss, but we are going to be spending hours on end with each other- sojust Carson is fine" "Very wellCarson" "There is just onemore thing I need you to be alright with" Carson eyed his new subordinateand leaned his chin on the back of his hand. "I came prepared foranything" "I'm gay"