Chapter 607 – Who Is The Real Jules? A Visit To The Doc
I really started feeling bad about the way we thought of Jules after what he just told us in the shower, as he was emotionally upset having been left out of our lives, almost forbidden to be any part of it by Will. Had we totally misjudged him, led only by what Will told us about him? These were questions Jake and I racked our brains over, as we climbed into bed naked with one another and cuddled.
“Jake, I don’t know. Maybe Jules isn’t as bad as we all thought he was. I mean he was driven to anger with Will and me the last time we saw him in the City when we all had lunch together. Maybe he saw me stealing his Will away for good this time, angry at me for taking the only guy he loved, jealous of me because I had everything and wanted Will also. I mean that’s what he could be thinking. Damn, I feel real shitty right now, the more I think about it. Was Will so enamored with you and me, he threw that in Jules’ face constantly which made Jules want to hate us? You heard him say, all he ever wanted to be was part of what Will loved. He felt excluded, and with good reason, from an important part of Will’s life he wasn’t allowed to share, or even allowed in. Fuck, do I ever feel shitty. Do you sense that?” I asked, feeling terribly guilty the more I thought about it.
“Uh, I’m kind of stymied by all this. I think it has more to do with you and Will than it does with me. I’m ambivalent about the whole thing, as I’ve never really dealt with the guy like you and Will have. Josh, honestly, I don’t have much of an opinion. You’ve been around him more and had more interaction and conversations with him, more so than me,” Jake replied. He was right about that. It was always Will, Jules and me and sometimes with others like Tom and James, who didn’t particularly care for Jules either for some reason. I needed to explore their reasons for not liking him.
“Gees, I wish I knew what the real Jules was like. Right now, I’m thinking we made him into the asshole we all thought he was. Although Allen says he uses people also. I can go with what Allen says, as he doesn’t really have any emotional connection with Jules,” I commented.
“Well, he has had sex with the guy. You heard him say how much he liked Allen’s skinny little ass that made his cock crazy when Allen rode it. Allen and he were never in love, but they sure as hell fucked one another. I suspect OBB was involved with that also,” Jake replied. He had a point.
“I need to find out if Allen is upset with Jules because he thought we were, or if he really doesn’t like the guy,” I mentioned.
“I know one thing is for sure. You couldn’t have done any better for Cam tonight than what you orchestrated to happen with Kyle taking him to see his father, then filling in Dale on what was going on while they were gone. Cam could not have felt more loved than he did with all of us surrounding him and supporting him. Kyle and Dale are going to bear most of the emotional weight of this trauma, but the rest of us will be there to support them in any way we can. Josh, that was the most successful part of the day, if there ever was one. Jules showing up, couldn’t have been at a worse time for that matter, but everything worked out,” Jake assured me.
“You know, though, Jules witnessing what he saw in the support given to Cam for what was going on, may have changed how he viewed all of us. He must have thought we were boyfriend stealers in the past, but got to see the real us, loving brothers and team members. I told him Will had a new boyfriend and was very happy. Maybe that was an indication to him we didn’t steal Will, we really did need him. I don’t know. I wish we had some way to go back and do a redo of sorts, understanding everyone’s true emotions and motives, not just jumping to conclusions, but unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. The most we can hope to do is to repair any damage that was done, I guess. What do you think?” I asked, Jake. All I heard in response was snoring. I lost my guy to sleep. I reached under the sheet and massaged his balls, but Jake was dead to the world at this moment. I pulled his arm over me, then fell fast asleep myself.
It was Thursday morning. We finally managed to make our way out of bed. Garth and Jules were in the shower with Blake when Jake and I joined them. Jake and I said good morning to them, getting hugs from Garth and Blake, then from Jules who didn’t want to be left out.
“Damn, I’ve spent more time with you and Jake naked than I ever dreamed imaginable. You really don’t hate me it seems,” Jules said. I frowned at him, as I jumped into the stream of water and started to lather up.
“Jules, Jake and I don’t hate anyone. You’d have to try to kill Jake are do something on that level to make me hate you. We don’t hate you at all. We just don’t really know you. All we know about you is from what we hear from Will mainly, and then there is Allen and OBB, but I’ve never really heard Allen and OBB be upset with you,” I told him, as Jake washed my back and I started to wash his, taking a few liberties with his asshole, making him smile.
“Josh, I’m so relieved to hear that, as Will made me believe you guys couldn’t really stand me. I kept telling him that’s because you never really got to know me. I mean I must have been a half-decent guy for was long as Will and I were together. We had some wonderful sweet times together. I loved him. I really loved him. I just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t include me in his life with you guys like you two include all your friends and partners. You were like ‘hands off’, only to be enjoyed by him. I was not to be part of any of that. I was an outsider and needed to understand my place. I felt excluded, feeling like I was dogshit or something to you guys. It hurt, it really hurt. Then when he was almost giddy about leaving the City and moving here, happy to leave me behind, not even telling me he was planning on moving until he was actually leaving, I just lost it. I’ve never felt so terrible in all my life. I’m so sorry for the way I got angry that one day, but if you could understand what I was feeling you might have been angry yourself. It’s water under the bridge, but at least I’ve seen and experienced the real you, Jake and all your great friends. If Will wanted to exclude me from the life he had with you guys, then maybe we’re both better off not being together. I just hope we can all be friends. I will work my darndest to do the best job for you in the financing area I can. That I can promise you. I can only hope and pray I can be a friend also to both you two and all your partners and friends, even Will. I’ll always care about him no matter what. He’s too wonderful not to love,” Jules explained. I hugged him again, our naked bodies pressed together, however his cock was flaccid this time.
“We can be friends, Jules. You have to earn our trust, and I trust you will do your best to earn that. That’s all we ask. You are welcome in our family, and if we’ve treated you unjustly, then I apologize. Let’s start over again, and see if we can’t do this better the next time,” I told him. He hugged me tightly, thanking me over and over.
“So did you have a good time last night with Garth and Dylan?” I asked him, as we broke our hug.
“Oh, did I ever. I haven’t been fucked in ages and damn did that feel good. I think my balls are empty this morning. Those guys fucked my balls dry last night. Some damn hot orgasms also. Wow, they were something else. Yep, I could fall in love with those two,” he replied, making Jake and I smile. Garth had a big smile on his face also. Blake shook his head.
As we gathered some breakfast and had our morning coffee, Jules asked Garth if he could run down to his car and bring in his overnight bag so he had some clean clothes to wear today. Garth was more than happy to accommodate him. “I have to admit, I have a headache today. I really did drink too much last night, especially after hearing that Will had a great boyfriend. That I didn’t need to hear. It’s like my world fell apart on me. That was a crushing blow for sure. Can’t say that I don’t understand it though. He’s a beautiful loving person and hard to resist by anyone that can see how wonderful he is. Promise me you’ll keep an eye on him, Josh, and keep him happy. He really does love you and Jake more than he could love anyone else in this world. I hope he can learn to love his boyfriend as much as he loves you and Jake,” Jules said, in the most thoughtful way. I wasn’t sure if he was messing with my brain or if he was being totally sincere. I treated his comments as him being sincere. “Tell Will, I am happy for him, and I wish him all the happiness in the world. I won’t bother him anymore, but if he ever wants to talk to me, I’d love to talk to him and wish him well,” Jules added. Damn, if he wasn’t sincere, he was sure good at schmoozing.
“I’ll tell him that, Jules. I’m sure that will make him feel good. He’ll appreciate hearing that from you. I don’t think he hates you at all. He just needed some time to figure out what he was really looking for in life. I think he’s happy these days. He loves his job, and he was sorely needed there. He loves working with us here at the bar, helping out with the renovation at our straight friends’ house and all the other things we do. He really didn’t have that many friends, other than you in the City, to do things with. He has a life full of happiness now. He’s good, actually,” I told Jules. Jules smiled.
Garth brought his overnight bag to him and Jules got dressed. He asked me if I wanted the bikini briefs back or should he wash them and send them back. I laughed, telling him to keep them as a token of our appreciation for his help last night. He laughed, telling us it was fun. He enjoyed hanging out with us more than anything.
Jake and I finally had to go to class. Jules said he was heading back to the City for now, but had reservations for Chicago for next Monday. He’d report back to what he found out after he had his meeting. I thanked him again for his help in the project and told him to have a safe trip back.
“Thanks, Josh, and you too, Jake. Thanks for helping me understand what great guys you are. I hope your friend Cam gets through this time of grief okay. Knowing he has all you guys to support him, I don’t see how he can’t. I’ll report back to you next week, but I can’t thank you enough for putting me up last night and being so nice to me. That meant the world to me,” Jules said sincerely, then hugged both of us again. I patted him on the back, wishing him good luck in Chicago.
Off we went to class. “Damn, Josh, I see what you mean. Maybe we did have the wrong idea about the boy before. Did Will really dislike Jules that much to make us think the guy was a total jerk?” Jake asked.
“I honestly don’t know what to think. Obviously Will can probably tell us if he was blowing smoke up our asses or if he was trying to be sincere. Will is not the type of guy to discredit someone that doesn’t deserve it. We have to trust him more than we trust Jules. I mean, I was even a witness to some of Jules’ crap. Maybe Jules is trying to straighten out and be more sincere now that he lost Will. Maybe that made him aware of his own self-interests, and losing Will smacked him in the face, making him want to change or lose out on ever having any friends, especially one of the largest business clients he has. Who knows? I don’t think we need to fall in love with him right away, but we can at least be friendly until he does something that might lessen our opinion of him. I’m so confused at the moment. Maybe Will can shed some light on this,” I replied. Jake said he hoped he could, as he was totally confused as well.
Before I got to class, I called Kyle to see how Cam was. “Josh, I was just about to call you and tell you that Cam is fine. He’s much better today. The initial shock has worn off on him, and he’s approaching things rationally today. Hal wants to go to the office today, so Cam is going with me to be with Hal. It’ll be the three of us, which will be nice,” Kyle informed me.
“That’s a relief. He was pretty shook-up last night. I was a little worried about him, but he seemed to have his wits about him. Was he able to sleep okay last night?” I asked.
“He did, actually. I put him to bed then went to bed myself. In a few minutes he walked into my bedroom and asked if he could sleep with me. I told him sure. I slept with my arm around him all night long, Josh. He said he just didn’t want to be alone, and I was the closest thing to family he’d ever had. I told him I loved him and he was safe. I was always there to support him. I told him how proud we all were of his passing all his FAA check rides. That made him smile. I think we’re okay. I think he’ll be fine. Don’t get me wrong, as this is going to be tough on him and me, and you also, but I think with our support, he’ll be okay and will survive all this. He’s a trooper now. That depression of his is all in the past. He’s never been better,” Kyle explained. I told him it was very thoughtful of him to let Cam sleep with him last night and make him feel secure. Kyle said it felt good holding him all night. “I’ll see you guys later this afternoon to have a beer with you. Cam is having dinner at home tonight, and I thought they might just need some alone time together, so I’ll hang with you guys later,” Kyle told me. I told him it would be our pleasure.
“Josh, there’s one more thing I need to tell you. I wasn’t sure if I should ever say anything about this to anyone, but I trust you more than life itself. I need to know if I did something wrong or not by letting Cam sleep with me,” Kyle told me.
“Nothing wrong with that. You showed him how much you really cared about him, Kyle. You are a true friend and brother,” I replied, trying to relieve him of any guilt he felt about sleeping with Cam.
“Uh, well, he was doing so well, and I had my arm around him, spooning him, when he asked me if I would make love to him. Josh, I was shocked out of my mind. I thought of all things this was not the right time or right thing to do. I didn’t know what to do, and I’m telling you, it was freaking me out like you wouldn’t believe,” Kyle told me in a nervous tone.
“Uh, yeh, I can kind of get that. So did you??” I asked, hoping this helped him along in explaining what happened.
“Josh, he told me he wanted to feel loved more than anything and he trusted me and loved me as his friend. He wanted to know that we could share something like that, as close friends. He said there would be no strings attached, but he needed my love more than anything at the moment. Was that wrong? Did I do something totally stupid and wrong? I mean, as sad as he was, I didn’t want to disappointed him again, and I do love him for shit’s sake, just not intimately, you know.”
“Okay, I need to think about that one for a couple of seconds at least. So, I assume it happened. Was he awkward afterwards?” I had to ask.
“He was fine. He snuggled up against me and fell asleep. I was the one with the anxiety, my mind racing as to what just happened and was it all wrong and totally terrible. He slept like a baby, but I was a wreck,” Kyle replied.
“Kyle, you did a very close friend one hell of a favor, and it gave him peace. You calmed him, made him feel loved, not just told him he was loved, you actually performed an act of love for him. That was pretty wonderful of you, actually, showing how much you cared about him,” I replied, now trying to rid the guilt in Kyle’s mind for doing something wonderful for a friend. “How was he this morning towards you, knowing what the two of you did last night?” I asked.
“Oh, he was fine, but apologized to me for asking me, as his roommate and close friend, to have sex with him. He said that was probably overstepping the bounds of our friendship, but he wanted to really feel loved in the worst way, and he said he does love me as his friend. He said that really relaxed him and comforted him at a time he wasn’t sure he could ever be comfortable again,” Kyle explained.
“So, you really did him a big favor, Kyle. You went above and beyond as a roommate and friend because you are a very caring, loving person first,” I replied.
“Cam said he hoped that he did didn’t freak me out, but he thought it was special. He said he loved Dale and knew I cared for Blake, so he’d never tell anyone. But, he wanted me to know how special it was of me to share love with him last night, and for the record, he said it was pretty damned hot,” Kyle said, in a rather upbeat tone of voice. I had to chuckle.
“Damn, Kyle, you blew the boy’s balls off. You go boy,” I replied.
“No, not that, Josh. It was nice. I shouldn’t say this, but he has a nice ass and dick for sure. Not only that, but he must have cum a gallon when he blew his load. I mean I didn’t hate doing what I did, it just bothered me as to whether I should be doing it, if you know what I mean. All the mental exercises and anguish aside, it was great,” Kyle admitted. “You know, as you’ve been there. I just never thought of having sex with him, but we did, and it was good. He even told me that if I ever needed him to return the favor for me sometime, he was there for me, Josh. Can you believe that? I don’t know. I’m still trying to understand it all in my mind,” Kyle explained.
“Kyle, it was an act of love between two friends that love and care for one another, especially at a traumatic time in Cam’s life where he really needed a friend. You stepped up, and were there for him. I would never condemn you for doing that. I commend you for loving Cam like you did. That was an extremely thoughtful act of love for your friend, Kyle. I want to hug you so much right now for your thoughtfulness,” I told him.
“I’m certainly no saint, Josh, but I just had to share that with you to see if you thought it was stupid and crazy. He seems to be fine though. I’m trying to get there. He did tell me he’s going to ask Dale to spend the night with him tonight and as often as he can. He asked if that would bother me any. I told him, I thought it’d be nice, as Blake might be spending time with me. He told me he was happy I liked Blake as he liked him also. I told him I really liked Dale also, and thought they were great together. He said he thought so to, and was so glad we had great boyfriends. He said we shouldn’t’ forget you and Jake also, as he loved you both and knew all of us did. He is a special friend, Josh. You can’t help but care about him. All these years we’ve been friends, hell since we first got hair on our dicks back in middle school. Never did I ever think we’d have sex together and I’d have my dick up his ass. Oh well I guess strange things do happen. I’m just glad we got through it, and are able to stay friends after that. I can’t imagine what it’d be like if he hated what we did and I’d feel so guilty,” Kyle told me. I chuckled.
“Kyle, relax. You did a wonderful thing and I’m proud of you. No one will ever know, other than the two of you, know how much you can care about one another. You gave him the love he needed at the time, and he appreciates you for that wonderful act of love. Now, move on and just smile when you think about it. I know I will,” I chided.
“Josh, you can’t tell anyone. Please,” he asked desperately.
“I’m not. You’re secret is safe with me, Kyle. Like I said, I love you even more for your thoughtfulness. We have to have a little fun to get through his crisis about to happen in our lives. We can’t forget that Hal wants us to go forward and be happy. You, Cam and the rest of us will do that, because we love and support one another any way that’s necessary. I think you proved yourself last night for sure, so buck up and smile,” I told him. He had a small chuckle, then told me he loved me and would see me later this afternoon. I told him I loved him even more now. I was sure he was smiling.
I told Jake everything Kyle told me, after I swore him to secrecy. Jake did a doubletake about the sex, but said it made sense, he thought. I kind of thought it was sweet myself. I told Jake, Kyle thought we were out of the woods as far as Cam slipping back into depression. Jake was relieved to hear that, saying if we all had to take turns loving him physically, we could do that to keep him happy. I told Jake, Dale was going to be spending the nights with him in the future, thinking Dale would be taking great care of him.
After class, just to be on the safe side, I decided to stop by Dr. Wayne’s office to report what happened so far to see if he could tell us what to look for to spot any regression in Cam’s happiness, or tell us we were out of our freaking minds for having sex with him.
I had to wait for a few minutes to see Doc, as he had someone in his office. A nice young man walked out and thanked him for his help. The guy looked straight at me and smiled. I told him that Doc was the best when it came to treating the mind. He said he thought so also, giving me a look up and down. He couldn’t have been more obvious. I needed to teach him a thing or two about checking guys out without being obvious. He needed some lessons in that area. I had perfected that operation and could almost approximate penis sizes by sizing up the guy. This guy was probably about my size in the dick department. I could see the head of his cock hung to the left in his jeans, and almost how long it was in a flaccid state, or maybe, just maybe, Doc got him a little excited, which in this case, might skew my approximation. Oh well, it was just a mental game I liked to play in my mind, visualizing what guys looked like naked. That was always so much fun.
“Josh, what brings you in today?” Doc asked as he stuck out his hand to shake mine, me bypassing that and just going in for the hug. “Sorry, I forgot, you’re a definite hugger,” he replied, as he hugged me, right before I felt his ass. “Gees, Josh, you need to be a little less forward when it comes to playing with other’s asses.
“Can’t resist a hot ass, Doc. How’s Henry? I miss running my hands over his hot ass too,” I chided. Doc half-laughed, shaking his head.
“Oh, I’m sure he misses that from you too. He’s still not over you keeping your friend Cliff, you know. He thinks you did that just to torment him,” Doc chided. I smiled.
“I can do a lot more than that to torment your significant other, Doc. Henry is such a catch. You did good finding him, Doc,” I replied. Doc smiled.
“Actually, he kind of found me, but that’s another story for another time. What can I do for you today?” Doc asked.
“Well, the bomb dropped last night on Cam. He passed all his FAA check rides yesterday and is an official pilot now. He was so excited when he and Kyle got back from the City and his check rides. You should have seen him. He was almost walking on air. We’re all so proud of him, Doc. We just can’t help but love the guy,” I told him.
“It’s that love and care all of you have for him that sustains his happiness, Josh. That brought him out of his depression and brought him back to us. That’s better medicine than I could ever prescribe. But, you said the bomb dropped. I’m assuming he now knows about Hal and his illness?” Doc asked.
“I had Kyle go with him to tell Hal and his mother about his getting all his pilot’s ratings, share his excitement with them. I thought it best if the two were there for Kyle’s support. Obviously, he took Hal’s situation pretty hard as we expected. Kyle and Cam came back to the bar last night after Cam met with his father. He hugged me, grieving like crazy, Doc. I hated to let him go. He went from one shoulder to another, everyone showing their love and support. After we all talked to him and pledged our love and support, Kyle took him back to their apartment and put him to bed, then Kyle went to bed in his bed, but Cam asked him if he could sleep with him last night as he just didn’t want to be alone. The two of them slept together, and then Cam asked Kyle to make love to him, as he really needed to feel loved,” I explained.
“Oh boy. How’d that go over?” Doc asked.
“Well, Cam’s fine, but Kyle was beating himself up pretty bad, wondering if he did the right thing and feeling guilty as hell about it. Kyle’s a great guy and the most caring friend ever. He was just worried this might screw up Cam somehow. Cam apologized to Kyle this morning for asking him for his love last night, and told him if he ever needed to return the favor for Kyle sometime when he needed it, he was there for him. Are we good, or do we have something to worry about that will bite us in the ass sometime in the future?” I asked. Doc smiled, shaking his head.
“Josh, I think your friend Kyle is fine, and I think Cam is fine. If Cam was happy this morning, that’s all that matters. Some people, and probably the ones that went through such a deep depression as Cam did, just need to feel love and each one in a different way. Cam loves his friend but just needed that extra show of intimacy with him last night. Had you been there, he’d have probably asked you, but he was already in bed with Kyle, Kyle probably spooning him to make him feel loved and safe. So Kyle was the object of his affection last night. It’s fine. Both realized they weren’t permanent lovers so there’s no harm done at this point. I doubt if Cam will be excessive in demanding physical love from Kyle, so I don’t think Kyle has anything to worry about there. If he becomes fixated on having sex with Kyle, then that’s another story we’ll have to address at the time. Given the trauma Cam went through last night, I’d say all is well, and it was very thoughtful of Kyle to help him out. No harm done from what I can see. Keep an eye on it, and if the situation changes, which I doubt it will, then we need to talk again,” Doc told me.
“Kind of my thoughts also, but you’re the doc. I thought I’d run it by you just to see if we needed to jump in and do something to prevent any damage from happening, we weren’t aware was coming. Plus, I got a chance to feel your ass again also. Got me a little excited, I have to tell you,” I chided. Doc chuckled, shaking his head.
“I’m sure you’ve got hotter asses to play with than my sorry ass,” Doc replied. I told him his was the best. He just laughed, telling me I was impossible. “Listen, I have another appointment, not that I couldn’t sit and talk to you all day, but I need to get to work. Thanks for briefing me on the status of Cam at the moment, and let me know if you see any unusual personality traits develop, like he’s depressed, not eating, becomes reclusive, that kind of thing. Knowing how strong he is, because of you guys, I think he’ll be fine. Now he’s going to be grieving, which is entirely natural, and knowing you, it will happen to you also, Josh. It’s a natural process so just get through it and go on. Stay close to your friends and especially Cam and Kyle. I know in my heart, you’ll all be fine. Last, but not least, and I hate to ask you for this, but if you’d let me know about the arrangements after Hal’s passing, I’d like to be there to pay my respects. Hal did a wonderful job for his son, and we became good friends over the years as I treated Cam. He's a great gentleman, one I hate to lose from this world. I may even try to see him before he gets too bad. He deserves all of our respect,” Doc commented. I hugged him again, him returning the hug. “You did a wonderful thing for Cam, Josh. Keep up the great work. You are a wonderful person and friend to many. I’m very proud of the way you care about your friends and people in general,” he told me as he hugged me. I refrained from feeling his ass this time, but I did give him a quick peck on the cheek, surprising him. “Okay, so now we’re kissing instead of feeling each other’s asses,” he chided. I chuckled.
“I can feel your ass too, if you miss it that bad,” I chided. Doc shook his head smiling.
“You’re always full of surprises, but I have to say, I enjoy them,” he replied. I gave him one more quick hug, thanked him for his advice, guidance and support, then told him I wanted to see him and Henry naked sometime to fulfill a long-time fantasy. He told me to get out, but he was laughing.
I made it back to the bar a few minutes before lunch, then remembered that Will was conducting his interviews of prospective management companies for the dormitory in our office, since he thought Jules was going to be meeting with Jordan, Nate and Ken at our corporate offices. I poked my head in to see if I could catch him. He was just finishing up with a good-looking young man in a suit. I happened to catch his attention, waving at him.
“Oh, Josh, come on in. We were just finishing up. This is Logan Fisher who just finished pitching his company for the management opportunity of Stoney Hall,” Will said, introducing me. “This is Josh our CEO of Stoney Enterprises. Glad you two could meet, as I think he has some interesting possibilities here for us to consider that are different from some of the others,” Will stated, as Logan and I shook hands.
“Pleased to meet you, Josh. You guys have quite a building going up nearby. Will here has spent a lot of time explaining what you guys are interested in, and I have to say, it’s what we do, we think better than anyone in the industry. We’d certainly like an opportunity to join your team and take over the management of the facility for you which we think could yield us both significant profits,” Logan explained. I told him that was the idea we had in mind and if he could make that work to both our satisfaction, then I was all for it. That got a huge grin out of him. He looked very handsome in his suit, but I was sizing him up as to what he might look like naked. He was thin, about 5’10”, had dark brown wavy hair, a boyish face, although he said he was 27 and been at this job for a few years. He had long legs that begged to be wrapped around you as you plunged your cock deep in, what I was sure to be, a very hot tight asshole. He didn’t have much butt, resembling Dylan and Garth in that respect. He had a hint of a beard, more like a couple of days stubble, the new look the young guys liked, which made him look even more masculine. I was sold. I just wanted to get hm naked and sign the deal, he was so easy on the eyes.
“Well, I’ve certainly enjoyed our meeting, Will, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet you, Josh. Will can’t say enough about you or your company. It’s amazing what all you’ve accomplished, and you’re still in school. I’m blown away. Like I said, we’d love to join forces with you guys and see what we could really do together,” Logan reiterated.
“Tell me, Logan, if we were to put a deal together, who most likely would come from your company to manage our dormitory here in Uni?” I asked.
“Well, that remains to be seen, depending on whether we get the business or not, but we have a variety of experienced individuals that would be excellent candidates to work with. Our company does have a policy of letting our clients interview candidates we select to see who might be most compatible with our clients since it will be a very close working relationship. You get to help decide, I guess is what I’m trying to say,” Logan replied. I, myself, might be interested in that position as I’m getting a little tired of traveling all over the country and would just enjoy putting down roots in a neat university town like Uni here. But that’s up to my superiors and you guys. I also work in training our management staff to transition into a new dormitory, so regardless who gets the job, of who you help select, you’ll be seeing a lot of me as we work together to get the place going. Does that answer your question?” Logan asked. I smiled, as did Will, knowing exactly what I was thinking.
“You have a family or are you still single?” I asked, trying not to be too personal, but I really wanted to know. “I’m just interested from the standpoint of if you’d have to uproot a family and move them from your current location,” I added, so I didn’t appear too nosey. Logan smiled.
“No, still single. As much as I have to travel, I couldn’t do justice to a family being gone all the time. The traveling has given me the opportunity to see many different areas of the country and get an idea of, if and when I wanted to settle in one place or another, where I might like to locate. Like I said, Uni seems perfect to me in so many ways. Oh, and the building looks fantastic. It’s got to be one of the nicest dorms we’ve ever looked at. It would be an honor to be able to partner with you guys to operate Stoney Hall,” Logan replied. I smiled.
“Well, maybe you just might be lucky enough to get a chance to partner up with us and see how you like this town,” I told him, getting him excited. “Where are you headquartered now, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Our headquarters is in New Jersey right across the river from Manhattan. I hate the traffic there, but the Newark airport is convenient, and you can pretty much get to anywhere from there, so that part’s okay. Still, I’d love to get out of my shoebox apartment that costs an arm and a leg and actually have some space and fresh air someday. Like I said, a place like Uni is just the right place to be. I’m sure you guys enjoy it here,” Logan replied.
“We do, and when we get tired of the winter occasionally, we fly down to Key West where we have a resort there and spend some time soaking up the sun, eating and drinking well. In fact, we’re building a new resort and renovating a Victorian mansion down there as our next big project, with a first-class hotel and restaurant in the Victorian when we’re done. Come to think of it Will, we’re probably going to need a company like Logan’s to run that facility for us also,” I mentioned, getting Logan all excited.
“Oh, wow, we’d love an opportunity to help you out there. That would be a fantastic location to operate a facility. We’d very much love to talk to you about that opportunity as well as this one. I promise you, we’d do a fantastic job,” Logan stated. I smiled.
“Well, if we had you involved, we might just think very seriously about both opportunities for your company. Let me ask you this. Are you happy with your company? Does it follow through with what you represent it to be? And, are you personally satisfied it has treated you fairly for the time you’ve worked there?” I asked.
“Wow, those are some great questions, Josh. No one ever asked me about my thoughts about working for the company I work for. I can say I can truthfully answer ‘yes’ to all the questions you asked. It is a reputable company and the company treats our employees very fairly. It’s an enjoyable place to work. We work hard, but we get a lot of satisfaction in what we do, so it’s worth it. The compensation is adequate and competitive, I’d have to say, although I haven’t checked out the market all that much, because I never felt the need to. I’m happy, I guess you could say,” Logan replied.
“Good to know what you think about your own company, not just what you want us to think about it,” I told him. He said he couldn’t agree more, although no other potential clients had ever asked him those questions but he was glad I did, and was proud to be able to answer them truthfully. He said he was proud of his company and their operating policies and track record. I told him we’d check out his references and partners of theirs in other facilities they managed. Logan said he gave a list to Will of similar properties to ours. I thanked him for that.
“Well, I’ll get out of your hair, as Will said you guys have a senior management luncheon meeting at noon, then you have classes this afternoon and I guess you’re the swim team captain also?” Logan asked. I told him he’d been properly briefed by Will for sure. He chuckled as did we. We shook hands with him. I told him if he was in town later, he was welcome to come back in his jeans and sweat shirt and have dinner and beer with us this evening if he’d like to. I told him that would give us an opportunity to talk more. Logan said he’d make it a point to be here at 5:30 then. I patted him on his back and told him we’d look forward to it. He said he would also. Out the door he went.
“Well, what did you think of his company, Will? Tell me you were impressed, because if you weren’t we just wasted a whole hell of a lot of time on this sexy looking guy,” I chided. Will smiled, chuckling.
“Josh, you tear me up. Actually, I’ve got one more potential operator to interview this afternoon, but Logan’s company looks to be the best and most fair so far, as far as profits are concerned. Ken and Noah gave me some guidelines as to what we need to get out of the deal, percentage wise, to make it work well for us, and according to his proposal, we’re much better than what we expected. I guess they know what they’re doing and how to make it all work. We just have to get a certain amount of rent off the property to take care of our financing. It looks great so far,” Will told me. That made me happy.
“So we didn’t waste our time by inviting him to dinner then?” I asked. Will rolled his eyes.
“Just don’t rape the poor guy with your eyes at dinner. We don’t want to scare him off just yet anyway,” he chided. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him. “Please tell me Jules is not out there waiting for me. Sorry I wasn’t around to help you last night, but, Josh, I just couldn’t deal with the guy. Hopefully you threw him out after dinner. I was concerned he’d invite himself to help tend bar last night and be stuck with him, which is the last thing I needed or wanted to do. I apologize for not being here, but you know how much I dislike him anymore. I just couldn’t handle having to deal with him last night. I just couldn’t,” Will told me.
“Jules has left the building and gone back to the City this morning. He’s no longer able to bug you, and I have a feeling he’ll be leaving you alone from now on,” I replied, getting a nervous look from Will.
“You didn’t kill him, did you? I mean if you couldn’t help yourself, I’d understand completely, and even help you bury the body,” Will replied. I had to laugh at that one, picturing Will and I digging a hole and burying poor Jules.
“No, actually it was a little awkward at first, but then he seemed perfectly normal and was very helpful last night, and even thoughtful and considerate,” I replied, getting a crazy look from Will.
“I felt bad leaving you to deal with him, Josh, but I just couldn’t do it. I really couldn’t. He shows up early, then pushes his way into our business, then has the gaul to show up at dinner time last night. I took one look at him and hit the door. Sorry to run off on you, but I couldn’t deal with him then. I just couldn’t. You say he left this morning?” Will asked. I smiled. “He actually stayed over last night? What, he thought he’d catch me this morning or something so he got a motel room?” Will asked. I almost laughed.
“Don’t get mad, but he stayed with us last night. He was too drunk to drive anywhere, and we were too tired to dump him someplace. We were kind of stuck with him, I guess you could say,” I told Will to his disbelief.
“OMG, he invited himself to stay? The nerve of that guy. Honestly, he’s such a dick, a real dick,” Will replied.
“He did have a nice dick, now that you mention it. We did get to see him naked as he took a shower with us,” I confessed, getting an even weirder look from Will. “Hey, we were trying to sober him up some to make sure he was okay. The boy had a boner the entire time he was in the shower with us. I can understand you liking the sex you two had. He was certainly decently equipped for sure,” I told him. I thought Will was going to lose it.
“Please tell you me didn’t fuck him. I couldn’t handle the thought of that ever happening,” Will said, now totally concerned.
“No, Jake and I didn’t have sex with the boy. But,…..,” I started to say, with Will holding his breath, “Garth and Dylan fucked him. Hell, Will, they couldn’t help themselves. He spent the night with them,” I confessed. Will was almost beside himself.
“Unbelievable! I told you he was no good. Look what the hell he did all on his own. He managed to work his way into our world over here despite not being invited. Not only that, but he gets drunk and then gets treated to sleeping with some of our guys. You might as well make him a shareholder, as he’s halfway into stock ownership, the way I see it,” Will replied, noticeably upset. I was debating in my mind whether to tell Will what Jules believed in his heart, that Will didn’t want him anywhere near our world and intentionally excluded him from our friendship. I decided maybe now wasn’t the right time, and we’d have a more in-depth conversation in that area at a later time. “I can’t believe you guys. You should have thrown him out when he showed up uninvited yesterday, told him to come back when he was supposed to,” Will said, still upset about Jules. I wasn’t quite sure what to say for now anyway. I had plenty to ask him about later when he had a chance to calm down.
“Hey, we need his help for this investigation. I feel a little guilty about sending him into the devil’s lair, not having told him what we were really after. We figured the worst that could happen was for the bank to throw him out. But, we weren’t totally honest with him about what we were asking him to do. Ignorance, on the other hand, might prove to his benefit. I’m not sure, but I do feel bad about not filling him in on the full story,” I confessed.
“Fuck him, Josh. Oh that’s right, Dylan and Garth welcomed him into their bed and did fuck him. Wonderful, just wonderful,” Will replied still somewhat upset. “You know, as much as I love you and know where your heart is most of the time, I don’t think you owed him any explanation as to what you were setting him up to do. What he’s about to attempt on our behalf is the way he likes to do business anyway. I think it’s just as well he doesn’t know. Not that I wish him any ill will, I just wish him far away from me and out of my life, but it seems he just can’t let go, and continues to jump back in when uninvited,” Will stated, as he paced the floor. I stopped him and hugged him.
“Hey, I don’t think he’ll bother you again. Jules got drunk after I told him you had a new boyfriend and were very happy now. You had started over with a new life here and a new boyfriend. I told Jules it was over between the two of you and to let you go so you could be happy. That really hurt him to think you had a new boyfriend. I don’t know how many shots the boy drank after I had that conversation with him,” I explained.
“So, do you really think he’ll leave me alone after what you told him?” Will asked. I smiled.
“He said he would. He was very upset about it, but this morning he said he was happy for you if that’s what you wanted,” I explained.
“Really?” Will asked, very suspiciously. I shook my head yes.
“He was in tears, Will. He was hurting emotionally. I really think he loved you, but then, who couldn’t help but love you?” I replied. Will seemed to calm down some.
“Don’t we have a senior staff meeting to go to?” Will asked, looking at the clock in the office, noticing it was lunch time, time for our luncheon meeting, acting like he didn’t want to talk about Jules anymore.
“Yes, Will, we do. Are you okay?” I asked, as I gave him another hug.
“I’m good, Josh. Thanks for sharing what you did. Jules just has a way of getting under my skin, and he just doesn’t seem to want to stop. It’s like he has something to prove. It sounds like everything he did yesterday was to prove to me that he could get to you with or without me. Seems like he made that happen from what you told me, up to and including showering with you and Jake, and having sex with some of our guys. Damn him anyway, but I’m over it now. I’m done talking about it. He’s finally gone, and we have a lot of work to do. I don’t have to see him or think about him anymore. He’s yours to deal with from now on,” Will said, rather emphatically. I just smiled, patted him on the back and pushed him out through the office door to go have lunch with the others. Everyone was already at the table waiting for Will and I to join them.
“Gees, we thought you two were having sex in the office, you were in there together long enough,” Jordan chided. I gave him a look.
“We had an issue to discuss, plus I got to meet what promises to be our new partner in the dormitory management scheme of things. Logan’s his name and he’s not bad looking at all,” I told them. Jordan shook his head.
“Please tell me you didn’t select him just on looks, that he actually has the best program for us,” Jordan requested. “Will, you recommend who we use and keep dick and ball measurements out of it, please,” Jordan pleaded, making me laugh.
“Hey, dick and ball measurements are just the icing on the cake. I’m sure Will understands what we need, but I really am impressed by what I saw. I’d say his age is more in line with you guys, you old farts,” I teased, getting heads shaken at me.
“Tell me you wouldn’t do him if you had the chance,” Jordan replied, making me smile. I told him ‘in a heartbeat’, driving Jordan crazy.
“You should bring the team up to speed on Cam, Josh,” Blake suggested, trying to keep the meeting moving along before he and I had to leave for Real Estate. I told them about Cam talking to his father last night, and how upset he was, but seemed okay. I didn’t see any signs of him slipping back into depression at this point. I also told them about my discussion with Dr. Wayne, leaving out the fun parts of that conversation. I told them Dr. Wayne seemed hopeful, given what we had observed so far, that Cam would do fine through this, but we all needed to show signs of support. I told them about my conversation with Kyle this morning saying that Cam slept well last night and got a good night’s sleep, which was encouraging. I left out the part about Kyle and Cam sleeping together and making love. The whole group was relieved that Cam was okay and not suffering from depression. I also told them about him passing all his flight tests and achieved his ratings necessary to be a multi-engine commercial, instrument rated pilot now so we now had two fully rated pilots. They were all glad to hear that.
“Hey, Jord, as we all know, Jules showed up a day early, I would assume wanting to crash our party and torment Will to a certain extent. Thank you guys for briefing him yesterday, hoping he’d go home. He didn’t exactly do that, and ended up here last night. We put him to work tending bar, for which he got drunk and ended up having to spend the night. But, it all worked out, and he’s gone home now, eager to do our bidding in Chicago. I almost feel bad about what we set him up to do, but we’ll see what happens,” I explained.
“Don’t feel bad about anything adverse to do with him, Josh. Believe me when I say he’d do the same to you or much worse. The boy is a user if there ever was one,” Will chimed in. I kind of expected that.
“Well, we’ll see what happens and if he gets us what we’re looking to get. He just might make it happen. More power to him if he does,” I replied. Will looked a little miffed.
“Well, he’s armed with everything he needs along with the questions bordering on illegal banking activity. If they’re into what we think they are, they might just bite, or they might get scared and back off. Depends on how convincing Jules can be,” Jordan replied, with Nate agreeing. “Kind of made Nate’s and my butt pucker when we put together the list of what we’d like to do. Not used to asking for things we know are not on the up and up as far as banking regulations are concerned. My guess is that they’ll study the requests Jules presents to them, then tell him they’ll get back to him. They’ll want to check us out some before they start giving away their illegal secrets. We might just get shut down immediately. If they’re totally legit and squeaky clean, then that’s what will happen. They’ll tell us to go pound sand, and rightly so. A lot depends on Jules and how much they think they can trust him,” Jordan replied.
“Well, if that’s the case, it’s kind of like birds of a feather, as Jules can be as underhanded as those crazy bastards. Maybe he is the right guy for the job in that case,” Will suggested.
“I get the feeling there is no love lost between the two of you,” Nate chimed in.
“You think?” Will replied, rather aggressively. “I will tell you, there is no love between us whatsoever. He can drop dead as far as I’m concerned,” Will replied. Jordan shook his head in disbelief.
“Okay, that settled, and in progress, what else needs any of our attention at the moment?” I asked. “Oh, Will, have you heard anything at all about Joseph, and his possible whereabouts?” I asked, curiously.
“Oh shit, Josh, I forgot to tell you. I did talk to the PI yesterday, but as upset as I was that Jules was crashing our world, I completely forgot. Yes, I do have some information. The PI was able to locate the mother in one of the state penitentiaries in California. Apparently she’s still alive, and still incarcerated. Don’t quote me but I think he said she was doing twenty years to life for some drug thing that she participated in that went bad and caused the death of some undercover agent. Anyway, she’s not going to get out anytime soon and maybe never,” Will explained.
“Was he able to find out anything from her, as to where she lost her son and if she knew his whereabouts?” I asked.
“He’s trying to get the prison chaplain to talk to her and see what he can find out. No word on that just yet, but he’s working on it. I promise to tell you just as soon as I hear back from him. My bad. Damn Jules anyway for fucking up my day yesterday. I just didn’t need that,” Will replied. I patted him on the back, reminding him that Jules was gone now, so to get over him. Will still seemed worked up some, but was starting to relax.
“So, do you think that Logan’s company is our future partner in the dormitory project?” I asked Will, trying to change the subject from one ex-boyfriend that seemed to drive our buddy crazy.
“Looks pretty promising. His company seems to have all the answers we’re looking for and he’s seems pretty interested in working with us, maybe because you were flirting with him,” Will teased, getting his sense of humor back again finally. I shook my head smiling. “I need to do an analysis of several of them that are bidding for our business, but from what I’ve seen so far, they seem to be the best organized and their margins fit our needs better than the rest. In short, they seem to have their shit together, and we should make a lot of money out of the deal. I’ll let you know if that changes when I finish interviewing the rest of the candidates. I have my last two this afternoon,” Will replied.
“Oh, with Jules gone, you can come back to the office and interview them in the conference room if you want,” Jordan told him. Will smiled.
“You know what, I think I’ll stick to the bar office here, as that’s where I’ve told all of them to come, and the bar seems to impress all of them so far,” Will replied, getting looks of approval from all the others. “They have asked what the CNB stands for. I just I tell them it’s some kind of an anacronym, something near and dear to our owners,” Will said smiling proudly, making us all smile.
“You know that name sounded so cool at the time we came up with it, but now it makes you wonder if we didn’t kind of go overboard on that before we became a big conglomerate. Oh well, it’s ours for sure,” I commented. They all agreed.
“We need to start planning some kind of open house for the opening of the office building. We’re just about done there. It’s down to the point we’re putting ceiling tiles in, and getting ready for carpeting in the areas designated for that floor covering. We’re probably a couple of weeks away from being open for good. We have the building maintenance staff hired now and are even interviewing a building manager of sorts. I thought we could do that on the side, but I think it’s important that we get a building manager to handle maintenance and deal with the tenants,” Jordan commented. Buzz said he definitely agreed, as there was much more to managing a building than just signing leases.
“Do what you think we need to do, Jord,” I replied. “We need to do this right and not go in there with our heads up our asses as if we really know what to do. Steal the one from the building you’re in if you have to,” I suggested. Jordan and Nate smiled, as if that might be what they had in mind.
“You need to get Garth involved with moving the servers when the time comes to move. Although, I think he’s talking about a whole new system, as we have a new server room set up over there that’s supposed to be state of the art. He’s already ordered a bunch of stuff he says we absolutely have to have to take care of our business for the next year or so before we have to add on,” Jordan commented. I told Jordan to get with Garth to make sure he had what he needed.
“Guess we’re going to have to get Malachi over here with your desk for your new office,” Will suggested. We looked at each other and smiled.
