Fifth Valentine’s Day

Chapter 1 “Hey, Singer. Check this out.” Matthew Singer turned around and looked at his fellow mechanic, Jason Owen. The burly redhead was holding a bouquet of flowers and smirking at him. He didn’t know how the other man expected him to react. Was he supposed to be envious? “So someone sent you roses, man. Big deal,” Matthew mocked his co-worker before resuming his work under the hood of the Lincoln Continental. He had promised the customer that he would try to identify the problem with the car before lunchtime. It had been brought in early that morning by the despairing client and he had been working on it ever since. He checked the time. Damn. Thirty minutes left before lunch and he still had no idea what the hell was wrong with this stupid piece of junk. He was not arrogant or anything, but he had been touted as one of the best mechanics in the city by many of his customers. Some of them claimed that if he couldn’t deal with their car problems, then no one else would have a clue. Unfortunately, he had not been able to find anything wrong with the Lincoln for the last couple of hours. He was tempted to tell the customer to simply buy a new car instead of having it repaired because it might be cheaper in the long run. Only his ego and sense of professionalism prevented him from doing just that. “Ah-ha. Correction. First of all, I am holding exactly fifty red roses. According to Mr. Google, that represents ‘unconditional love.’ Someone is f*****g rich and generous to have bought so many roses. They must have cost a bomb. Second, these beautiful roses are not for me.” Jason had emphasized the words “unconditional love” and his tone of voice was becoming more gleeful by the second, which Matthew knew from experience would lead to nothing good. He was proven right. “Someone, let me repeat, someone, has the hots for you, Matty-baby.” Jason guffawed and slapped his thighs as if he had told the funniest joke ever. His whole body was shaking with laughter. Matthew heaved a resigned sigh and looked up to the sky. All right, he was looking at the inside of the car’s hood, but that was just semantics. Whatever. He had become used to the other man’s odd sense of humor after working together for many years. He turned around to face the other man and leaned back against the car before crossing both arms and pasting a smirk on his face. “Aww, Jason Owie,” Matthew began in the most sarcastic tone he could muster. “Are you jealous of little old me? Don’t worry, my itty-bitty Owie. Papa Matty is more than willing to share a stalk or two of those roses with you. I know how to share my things. I learned that back in kindergarten, you know?” Jason harrumphed, pushed the bouquet of roses towards Matthew’s chest none-too-gently, and gave him a middle-finger salute before walking away. Matthew snickered at the other man’s juvenile behavior. He loved getting the final word in any argument and this time was no exception. Being the winner in this argument made him feel better. Besides, Jason should have known better than to get into a battle of wits against him. He had been winning most of their arguments since day one. It occurred to him that some people, especially Jason, simply never learned to cut their losses and keep their mouths shut. “Come on, Jase. Take a joke, man,” Matthew shouted at Jason’s retreating back. “I’m only kidding.” “f**k you, Matt,” Jason retorted. “f**k you.” “State the time and place, buddy.” Matthew laughed out loud when Jason threw him a dirty look. “My d**k is for my girl.” “I know, but it’s so much fun teasing you.” “Whatever. I’m going to call Linda now. It’s almost lunch time. See you later.” “Alright, man. Later,” Matthew replied easily before leaning closer to the bouquet of roses in his hand and taking a deep sniff. Wow. The scent was amazing. He almost didn’t notice the small envelope that was tucked in at the edge of the bouquet because it had been slipped in slightly deeper, making it almost invisible. He pulled it out and slid out the card inside before reading the content. Matt, These roses are beautiful. They remind me of you, of your pretty…Damn. I can’t come up with something poetic enough. You know what? f**k it. You’re my boyfriend and I’m allowed to be as corny as I want to be. You’re so much more beautiful than the most beautiful flower. I’m the luckiest motherfucker in the whole wide world because you love me back. I love you, Matthew Singer. Happy Valentine’s Day. Always yours, Aiden Matthew was blushing as he put the card back in its envelope. The message was sweet. He grabbed his phone from the front inside pocket of his jeans and sent a text message to his best friend and lover. Thanks for the roses, babe. I love you unconditionally too, but I’ve got to be honest with you: your gifts are getting to be rather excessive over the years. For the record, you’re not the luckiest motherfucker; I am. Matthew looked at his watch again. He had another ten minutes before lunch. He tinkered with the car, and…Voila! He finally found it. This cursed vehicle had irritated him for hours now. He thought that he wouldn’t be able to make good on his earlier promise to the customer because nothing seemed faulty with the car. Now that he knew what the problem was, he could take a few extra seconds to breathe out a sigh of relief before stepping into the small office next to the big yard. He had to call the customer to inform her of the issue with the car and the probable cost of repairs. It would have been unprofessional to renege on his promise. He had bought this car repair business from the previous owner slightly less than two years before, after scrimping and saving like crazy to make the down payment. He had been more fortunate than most first-time business owners, though. His lovers, Aiden Eastwood and Edward Langston, had been very supportive. Moreover, they all got to live in Aiden’s penthouse, so he didn’t have to worry about paying rent every month. The utility and grocery bills were shared equally among the three of them so he didn’t end up being totally destitute, homeless, and starving. Most of his earnings could be invested in his business. He had always been a very independent person. Even after he had been awarded a full scholarship at the university to study for his business management degree, he had continued to work his ass off as a part-time mechanic to pay rent, utility bills, and food while studying hard to pass his classes. He was determined to acquire a degree, something to fall back on in case his business plan fell through. When both Aiden and Edward offered him money to help the business, he had adamantly refused their assistance. He was going to be successful on his own terms even if it ended up killing him. His business management degree had turned out to be very useful now that he owned this car repair business. Most importantly, he wasn’t stuck inside an office, wearing a stuffy dress shirt and tie, and doing a boring nine-to-five job for the rest of his life. He had always enjoyed working with cars. There was something very soothing about the whole process. Owning this car repair business was a dream come true. He could only hope that it would manage to stay afloat. He frankly couldn’t see himself getting involved in another occupation or working for someone else now that he had had a taste of the freedom of setting up his own hours by owning a business. After contacting the car owner and agreeing on the price for the repairs that needed to be done, he hung up and eyed the clock on the wall. He had about forty-five minutes before he needed to get back to work. He decided that now would be a good time to grab some lunch before things began to pick up later in the afternoon. He whistled merrily and grabbed his sandwiches off his office desk before heading towards the small pantry at the back of the building. He wanted to heat up his food and drink some coffee. He would need the caffeine to stay awake for the remainder of the day.