The Attraction Of David

Chapter 15

I felt different.

It was a good kind of different. The kind that brought happiness for no damn reason. It felt like I had been through a successful therapy session, and I’d never been to one. What I wanted the most, the focal point of my attention for the past week, was well within my grasp. I had Stanley, and I felt like a f*****g champ.

If it was possessiveness that my mind was reeling on, then it was surprising. It was never on my list of repertoire, even before. The wonders a blowjob from the previous week can bring. That felt so perverse to say, but it was great.

As usual, the wind was sultry, the kind that could ruin one’s good mood. And it bugged me that the wind had ashed my cigarette without me fully enjoying it within the short-lived moment of my twenty-minute break.

“Man, you look pensive and lost tonight. And since last week, you’ve been silent,” Darryl wrinkled his brows. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, just figuring out life,” I covered my giddiness with a deadpan tone. “How was the presentation? Did the clients approve to collaborate with us?”

“They said they’d call. They were interested, but had to cascade the data first to their creative team and see if details had to be revised,” he said. He took a drag on his stick. The usual grit that he regularly had on his face was swapped with worry.

“Man, your group did well. Just wait for their email,” I reassured, coating my sadness as we both knew that the presentation failed.

He knew that those comments from the time the presentation had concluded meant the clients did not like it. Second chances never existed in this business. A single mishap could f**k things up, and the presentation that their group had done f****d up big time.

“You think so?” he pressed. “You thought it was good?” It was like my yes could grant him the miracle with how hopeful he sounded.

“Of course, yeah, you worked hard for it.” I’m a good friend. We've all lied to someone at some point. “You done?” I asked, diverting the topic off work.

I felt bad for him. He almost drowned himself in caffeine and worked overtime shifts for it. But here we were, both troubled by the disappointing event.

“Yeah, just one more.” He took another long drag from the stress-relieving smoke. “Hey, wanna come with us tomorrow?” he puffed the fume out.

I sighed the smoke and frowned questioningly at him. “Where?”

“Crocodile’s. Yeah?” Darryl flippantly dropped the butt of his cigarette down on the ground, ignoring the big metal ashtray right ahead of us.

I flung the butt I was holding onto the tray. “I’m not sure, I’m meeting someone tomorrow,” I answered. The glee I should’ve given Darryl was rather translated into a small flutter in my stomach. I had to endure a couple of days just to meet Stan, and the prospect made it all worth the wait.

All I could think about was him when we’ve gone back to doing the tedious office work. As I opened the programs in my workstation, I pictured us drinking Lemmy together and cracking up, throwing dad jokes around like what we had used to do back at his pad and over the phone.

I moaned and closed my eyes, leaning my head on the edge of the swivel chair.

He made my heart race with just the reflections of things we had done together and could do together in the future. Constantly reliving the moments we had already become a habit, and being excited for what’s coming always followed that. Stan had bound me to him, and it felt great.

My eyes opened when I heard footsteps ambling in my direction, making me uncurl my back and turn my chair around to see Kate, a lovely smirk on her luscious red lips.

“Hey,” I said.

She nimbly hopped her hips up to sit at the edge of my workstation. “How are you? You’re feeling better now?” she furrowed her brows.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sorry I was feeling ill that time. Have you had a great time?” I asked her, feigning my curiosity as the way her clothes hugged her breasts was distracting. My eyes focused on her face instead.

She looked down at the framed photo of my dog Daytona beside the computer monitor. “Yes, I had a great time. Did you enjoy the food?”

I nodded. “Food was great.”

“Anyway, please, let your buddy Stan know that we were grateful. He was such a gentleman and had paid for everything.”

The way she mentioned Stan’s name sounded like she was smitten when she peered back at me. I couldn’t blame her. He looked like s*x on a stick. Wanting to see her further reaction, I acted as if I was surprised with how chivalrous my friend was to them.

I smirked. “Oh, seriously? Wow, he’s an asshole sometimes, maybe he liked you, that was why he cleared the tab,” I said.

The devil in my brain was congratulating me for being such a terrible jerk.

She scrunched her nose. “No, he’s too gorgeous, that’s impossible. He looked like a lothario, isn’t he?”

God, she’s really beautiful, it was undeniable. The way her body looked in her gray dress, god forbid, objectifying her was hard to ignore.

“No, he’s rather...” I trailed off.

What? Rather too gay to like Kate? It felt like I was playing with fire with what I was doing. First, I got hard just staring at this wonderful woman in front of me, then I also got hard when I thought about Stanley. I needed a f*****g fix.

“He’s uptight, so yeah.”

She chuckled. “Oh, such a waste!”

“Yeah, he’s really good-looking,” I smiled. Too good-looking, apparently.

“Hey, you’re not so bad yourself, David. You looked handsome that time.”

My face warmed. The bright lights and my alabaster skin easily exposed me whenever rare moments such as this would happen. She surely had seen how my complexion turned red, and she couldn’t help that slight quirk on her lips.

“Thanks,” I turned around, cowering at myself as the company tools fired up on my computer. “You looked great, too. Even now.” f*****g karma.

Kate chuckled. “What time would you take your lunch break? Let’s have our lunch with Darryl and Kent at four? I brought some food that I’d cooked earlier this evening.”

“Oh, really? Wow, you’re amazing, sure!” I exclaimed. I was really glad when I heard her hop down from the workstation. I regarded her with a smile when she held my shoulder to excuse herself back to her cubicle.

It was a bad thing to scram out of The Orange County and leave both of them ladies behind. Kate may even have felt like it was just an alibi, but it didn’t matter anymore.

Worse, of course, was how confused my d**k had been. It did not have any when I sucked on Stan’s rod, that even if my mind didn’t want to, it became inclined into wanting to spread Kate’s leg and fill her with my damned seed just to appease the heat in my body.

My mouth sighed the thought away. My mind could still recall how tired my mouth had been when it took Stan, and how my feet had to take their walk of shame after we had downed the Lemmy during that night, with me being sexually frustrated and truly intemperate.

The day ended with nothing special. My mind and body were frazzled after leaving the office. My back relaxed against the softness of the bed.

Lucas Stanley: ‘Hey, sexy. Call me once you get home. Take care.’

I took my shoes off and dialed his number, resigning my head in the comfort of the pillow.

“Hello, David,” Stan answered right away.

I smiled. “I just arrived home, like, five minutes ago,” I said. I peered at the wall clock and saw that it was eight in the morning."

“Are you tired?” he asked.

I exhaled loudly. “Yeah, I’m tired, just gonna sleep it out for later.”

I was exhausted. The prospect of meeting him later tonight imposed me to have a substantial amount of rest.

“Good thing you called, we can’t see each other. I got to meet someone for an important matter, I’m sorry.”

“I see... uhh, that’s unexpected. I was excited to see you. Then, good thing I have called.” I couldn’t hide the melancholy in my voice.

“Yeah, sorry, David. There was an emergency, and I have to be there. It was unexpected.”

“Is everything alright? Did something happen?” my brows furrowed.

“Yes, yes, all is well. I’d make it up to you, I promise,” he answered.

“It’s fine, I know that thing is important, don’t think about me,” I said. I was thinking about his beautiful face when those lines came out of me. I had the impulse to ask him what the emergency was about, but did not pursue it anymore.

“It’s an emergency, but all is fine. I honestly would rather see you if it wasn’t for that.”

I heard chewing sounds while he talked. “You’re having breakfast now?”

“Uh-hmm. You’re gonna have your breakfast after the call? You should eat before you sleep.”

“I will, yeah,” I said. I remembered then that I was invited by Darryl to join them later. “Hey, uhh, I was invited by my colleague to unwind later tonight. I turned him down ‘cause I thought we’d spend time at your place. I will go with them instead.”

“Oh, where? Did they say where?” he inquired.

I tried to recall where the venue would be. I was so enamored by the thoughts of Stan that it made me forget the place Darryl had mentioned earlier.

“The Orange County.” I was not sure where it would be, though. It was the only place I could recollect.

“I see,” he hastily replied. “I’m going to the gym after this, I am almost done with my meal.”

“Alright, Stan. I Look forward to seeing you again.”

“Me, too. Do you miss me, David?”

I snickered. “Would you believe me if I’d say I don’t?”

“Who knows? Maybe you reconsidered after the... blowjob.”

I held in the laughter I wanted to do, hearing him cackling after he said his words.

“Isn’t it crazy how fast things had transpired? Just two weeks, but to me, it felt like it’s already such a long expanse of time. Does it not unnerve you, Stan?”

He took a sharp inhale, and as he sighed it out, my mind mulled over on my own words. He didn’t speak. Within our two weeks of being together, he made me comprehend that he’d got a predilection for taking a momentary pause. It was one of the many things that my subconscious had picked up along the way. And it was me who had to break the ice before he would utter anything.

“There are days when I would wake up, and it feels just like a dream, a very vivid one. It was still like an equation that I wanted to solve. Whenever I would think of you, it felt weird, but, amazing. I don’t know if you thought of me now as a man who loves rambling, but I just, you know, wanted to tell you that I feel special when you look at me, and I hope that you feel the same way when I look at you, Stan.”

The words just gushed out. Being an open book and being candid about my feelings was uncomfortable, not because it was him, but even for other people. It was something hard to be lenient with. My emotions for this man were abundant, so much so that it seemed to just ripple out of my mouth in words. The words did not make me feel shame. It was like needing to confess to him was something so integral. And to be honest, If he even wanted to hear it every day, reiterating it would not be a problem. For him, it wouldn’t be.

“It’s hard for me to put my thoughts into words right now, David, because you’re overwhelming me. I don’t know if you’re just tired, that’s why you said those to me, but you’re... very vocal. Whenever you would start with telling me how you feel about me, it’s like you’re speaking in tongues.”

“You charmed me, that’s why. I’m only like this with you, Stan.”

“And I fancy that. I hope these words aren’t simply just sweet nothings, though. Actions speak louder than words.”

I shifted in my bed, tickled by his qualms. “Yeah, right? What more would you want me to do?”

“Lock your door then, or was it locked already?”

“Yeah, it is, why? You’re being weird again,” I fretted.

“Just talking to you excited the hell out of me, David. I missed licking your body, from your mouth, down to your neck, then to your nipple...”

I huffed. He claimed the moment with how nasty he was. It took me off-guard. “Stop that.”

“Are you hard?” he asked. The way he whispered was low, sultry and so damned sexy. “Have you done this before with anyone?”

“What?” I inquired of, my heart, thumping. I knew what he was asking me, but I acted as if I didn’t. “Done what?”

He moaned. “What a naïve creature you are. Phone s*x, of course.”

Of course, f*****g hell, I was hard. “No, I have not done it before.”

“I see,” he said. “You wanna try it?” he cackled throatily.

I mulled over for an answer. I was hard, so hard and so in the mood for anything that could make me come. And right now, it was as if all the blood in my head had traveled down to my rod.

“Do you want to? If you want to, I can try it for you.”

“You would try it for me? Is pleasing me a turn-on for you?” His words lolled out of his mouth languidly.

“Yeah, I want to make you feel good,” I admitted with urgency. “I’d do what you want, just tell me.”

He gasped sharply. “So f*****g obedient. Would you do everything that I wanted you to do, David?

“Yes, I will,” I breathed my answer out. I bunched the sheet tightly in my hand.

He huffed loudly. “f*****g hell, you’re driving me. You’re turning me on. You sure you’d do everything I would tell you now?”

“Yes, I will, Stan. f*****g tell me now and cut through the bullshit.”

“Eat your breakfast and take a rest.”

I shut my eyes tightly, feeling like an i***t when I heard the rumbling sound of his cackle. “Why would you goad me like that?”

“Sorry, just teasing you. How about you eat your breakfast then get some sleep?” he said, giving up the act that he incited.

“Fine,” I murmured.

“Fine then,” he replied, the bliss still clear in his tone. “Too much for missing me. I can’t wait to see you, too, David.”

___________________________________________________

Lucas Stanley: ‘I'm out-of-town now. Take care.’

David Earl: You too.’

Darryl Chris: ‘Where are you? You should’ve come with Aris, he’s already here.’

David Earl: ‘I overslept. I’d be there in about an hour.’

I replied to the messages and hurriedly tossed my crap inside my small satchel bag. My hair was not even dry when I completed prepping up. It surprised me when I heard that Aris was coming tonight, and so were my colleagues when I advised them I’d be coming along.

The summer air was damp, and breathing was strenuous to do inside the train. It wasn’t the best experience, albeit fastest, particularly when it was quarter to nine in the evening.

I’d arrived in Crocodile’s. I immediately searched through the tables, squinting my eyes through the blue shades. I caught sight of Aris, and I hurried to their table for five.

The first thing I had noticed was the small bucket of empty beer bottles and other discarded ones down the side of the seat. They had already started before I even arrived.

“Hey!” Aris hailed, standing up to welcome me into a big hug. “Good to see you here! We assumed you wouldn't come anymore.”

I snickered and hugged my friend back, patting him on the back. “Of course I would,” I said and pulled back, knowing how much I had discreetly missed glimpsing the goof on his face.

“You’re doing well?” he implored as we both sat down on the wooden stools.

“Yeah, better than ever, really,” I smiled when I answered, and then looked at my colleagues, Darryl and Kent. “Sorry, I overslept. Traveling here was damn hard.”

“I know,” Kent approvingly exclaimed. “Fuckin’ trains are always full. I always get late with how much time I had to wait for every day.” He took a swig of his beer.

It was a delight seeing them here. I introduced Aris to Kent and Darryl last year when the four of us bumped into each other. Aris and I planned on drinking the night away during one of his hard days. He was weighing if resigning to find a better job was a good option during that night, and it happened that Kent and Darryl were also there at the place. We shared tables, and the rest was history.

They held a very meaningful spot in my circle as three of them knew my preference, and not just because of that, but also since our dispositions blended well. Aris was the most vocal one, tactless and jeering but also very insightful. Kent had the proclivity for being a good listener and his calm demeanor kept the balance in our group. And Darryl was the mix of both. I was the reserved one, just listening as they converse and scarcely would make quips when the bickering started, which made them always speculate that I was scheming something in my head.

“Dave,” Aris regarded, passing me a bottle of beer, which I took with no restrictions. “How’s everything?”

“Amazing,” I quirked my lips. I took another swig, and it dawned on me how much alcohol I had consumed these past two weeks, and now was another night of drinking. My body had already gotten used to it. “Life’s good, Aris. You?”

“What is it you two?” Kent asked, grabbing his phone to take a photo. He took several groupies of us and then returned his attention to me. “What is it? Anything I’m not aware of?”

“Nothing. It was just a... great night,” I chuckled, hiding my will to relay everything that had run on my mind. “And you? How is it going?” I asked as casually as I could, even though I knew what Kent was up to already, and why they were here.

“A series of f**k-ups,” he replied and then pressed his lips together, his eyes fixed on the screen of his phone. “f*****g job, f*****g presentation, f*****g life.”

Darryl chuckled. “C’est la vie, they said. But, yeah, what a f*****g presentation. It felt like we wasted our time,” he inhaled sharply, easing his stress up with a swig on his bottle.

“Que sera sera, let’s wait and see,” Darryl deadpanned.

“Just wait for the email, who knows?” I tried to palliate the situation they were in, but I knew it would not cut through the obvious fact that just wait for the email meant do not wait in vain anymore. “I will go to the john,” I stood up.

The place had expanded, and the walk to the john made me look around. Their tables were quite filled, and as I walked, I had noticed two men sitting to the right of my direction, sitting close with each other. The hue of the lights was the shade of blue, so as I went slowly, I had to squint to check who the familiar face was.

At that moment, I was in such a sprightly mood, and all of it cascaded down into nothingness and shifted into incense as I saw Stanley, sitting beside a man who had a buzz cut. I hastened, and normally, I use the urinal whenever I’d take a leak, but this time, I had entered a cubicle.

It riled me. I was beyond angry and I wanted to thrash around and kick the damned toilet bowl. I walked out and washed my face, soothing myself with water as the heat in my face was clear. My cheeks were the shade of red, splashes of water on the front of my shirt, and the locks of hair around my forehead.

The stream of thoughts that I had was overwhelming, and I was glad that I barely finished my first bottle of beer, or else I could’ve f*****g stormed to his table and knocked him down to the ground.

I inhaled sharply, mustering out all the patience that I had under the turmoil of confusion and disappointment that engulfed me. I wiped my face with my damned shirt and ran my wet hands at the side of my pants.

I whisked my phone out of my satchel and dialed Stan’s number. Breathing was hard, and I knew I could crush the phone with my bare hand with how hard my grip was around it. I had to wait for a couple of seconds before he had answered.

“Hey, how are you?” Stanley asked. “You’re with your friends?”

I had noticed that there were no noises in the background. He was clever; I knew that he had gone outside to get a moment away from the crowd. “Yes, I am. Where are you?” I asked as casually as I f*****g could.

“I’m with someone now for an important talk,” he answered.

I wanted not to overreact. Maybe he was not fabricating a lie when he said it was important. Who knew if that guy he was with was a colleague or a family member? But, seriously, f*****g beer at almost ten in the evening? Out of town? f**k me, it was not rocket science for me not to figure out.

“I understand. What important thing was it? I’m worried, can you tell me? Maybe I could help you out?” I carried on with the charade.

“It was nothing. Just tidying things up.”

The vagueness of his answer made me run a finger over the bridge of my nose.

“And about the emergency?” I implored further. My eyes, even though I didn’t want to, tearing up a little. “What was it?”

“Are you okay? Are you drunk?” he asked.

If it was the concern in his voice, I was not sure. My faith in him was gone. I couldn’t trust him.

“Tell me right now, or else we better end all this s**t while it’s still early, Stan.”

“I’m with my ex.” He succinctly answered. Monotone, casual, just like a conventional s**t he would say to someone he was involved with.

I clenched my fist. “That’s... oh, God. How fuckin’ foolish of me. I should’ve known better.”

My words were stuck in my throat. The thoughts of how I wasted all the time and affection I invested in him suddenly became disgusting. It appalled me, floored by the stupidity that had led me to this s**t.

“Where are you? Are you here in Crocodile’s? I thou-“

“Yes, I am, for Christ’s sake. Jesus, man. Really, emergency? Out of town? I thought we would be honest? What happened?”

“Can we talk about it? Calm down. It’s not what you think it is, okay? I am honest with you, I am not committing anything wrong, David.”

“f**k you for advising me to calm down and telling me you have done nothing wrong, Stan.” I couldn’t halt my eyes from glossing out. My nerves could shoot through the roof with how it felt like.

“Stop being a manchild and let me explain,” he hissed. “David, please listen-“

I had to end the call and wipe my eyes. I felt raw. I never knew I would tear up for something like this, of all places. I have not cried for years, and tears were something I always scorned as they reminded me of terrible things that had transpired in my life.

I rinsed my face and took a couple of sharp breaths before I went out of the john. When I sauntered back to our table, Stan was already back in his seat. The man he was with was chatting, a look of craving on his face.

Stan’s eyes came across mine. I strived not to pounce at him to land a punch square on his damned face. I could feel his eyes wavered as I sat down.

“What happened, you okay?” Aris frowned. “What took you so long?” He glared at my drenched gray shirt.

I grinned at him. “Yeah, they ran out of toilet paper, I had to dry my face with my shirt,” I lied.

“Good to see you being happy, David. There’s a glimmer in your eyes when you arrive, eh?” He raised his bottle for a toast.

“Was it obvious when I arrived?” I took a swig of beer, drowning my despair and anger with the liquid.

“Jesus, yes. It’s, like, your eyes had a different life in it,” he said. The farcicality in his words was sending me off.

“Blame it on the one-night stand,” I retorted. I forced a small smile on my lips, the kind that wouldn’t make it too apparent that I was stuck in the miasma of resentment and distress.