The heat was a long ways off though and Cal was starting to think that maybe he should have said he’d meet the guy in a coffee shop instead of in the freezing cold. He was trying to read while he waited, some text that he needed to review by the end of the semester, but it was getting harder and harder to concentrate on the page. Mostly because of the cold seeping through the thick pea coat he’d picked up over Christmas break, but also as doubt was starting to niggle in his brain again.
This might not have been the smartest plan but he was smart and he was being smart. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before. Public place, emergency number on speed dial in his pocket, Harry knowing where he was and who he was meeting. Smart. Except he didn’t feel smart.
Footsteps slowed as they went past. Again. The same scuffed Doc Marten’s that had walked past a couple of times in the last twenty minutes. This time they stopped, walked over, and the bench creaked as the owner sat as far away from Cal as they could.
Cal sighed, smiling a little at the nervousness emanating his way, but also getting it. He felt a little unsure himself. Closing his book, he placed it on the bench between them as he leaned back. And waited. It paid off.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I just…”
Cal smiled and adjusted his glasses. “It’s okay. Really.” He turned slowly to face his companion and was pleasantly surprised. A thousand things had gone through his mind since answering the guy’s email. They hadn’t talked about looks. In this situation it didn’t really matter. Cal had been prepared for some middle-aged, fat, bald guy with bad skin and bad breath. But what he was looking at was…okay. Better than okay. Dark hair with a little gray around the temples, dark eyes with long lashes, something Italian in the complexion and the mouth. He was dressed for warmth, in a worn jacket over a clean hoodie. The jeans were worn too, but not fashion wear; good, honest degradation.
The only thing mildly troubling about the guy was the anxious look on his face. He looked like he was tearing himself up inside. “Should I…do I…?” He started to pull a thin roll of twenties from his pocket, wincing when Cal grimaced and held up his hand discretely.
“Not here.” He thought about just walking away. The guy could be a cop. And even if it wasn’t, the poor man looked kind of conflicted about the whole thing. “Look, why don’t we go somewhere a little warmer? Talk things over?”
There was a beat while the guy thought it through, only giving the slightest nod of his head when he was done. Cal nodded back, then got to his feet. He didn’t look behind him as he walked away, trusting that his nervous companion would follow.
It wasn’t far enough to Harry’s place to catch a cab but far enough that Cal was feeling warmer even before he opened the door to the apartment and strolled in.
“This your place?”
Cal was a little flattered that the guy thought he could afford somewhere so expensive and smiled to himself at the compliment. That and the fact his date’s voice was warm and deep and genuinely curious. Unfortunately for him, all Cal said was, “It is for the next hour. You wanna a drink?”
The guy shook his head. “No, I—No, thank you.” He’d slipped off his outer layers and was clutching them to his chest as he stood in the center of the open plan space. There was something totally adorable about it, something deliciously innocent and awkward and Cal prayed to god it wasn’t an act and that the guy wouldn’t turn out to be a serial killer.
He shrugged and walked slowly to his strange new friend, gently taking hold of the coats and drawing them from his hands. “Well, in that case, you wanna get started?” The was no answer, only eyes wide as saucers. “Why don’t we start with something easy? What would you like me to call you?”
“B-Ben is fine.”
“Okay, Ben. I’m Callum. My freinds call me Cal. You can call me Cal if you like. Unless you’d prefer something else?”
The question seemed to leave Ben confused, until embarrassment superseded it. “Cal is fine. I like Cal.”
“Let’s hope so.” Cal hoped it would lighten the mood but if anything Ben seemed more nervous so he tried a different tack. “Why don’t you tell me what else you like and then we can see about making that happen?”
Ben’s head dropped. “Jesus.” His voice was breathy and surprisingly emotional. “I-I’ve never done this before.”
Cal stepped a little closer, hoping the expensive cologne he was wearing would ease the guy’s mind, or get his little brain with the program. “I’ll take good care of you, I promise.”
“No…I mean…I mean with a…” His eyes stayed fixed firmly on the floor. “A guy. I’ve never…”
“Oh,” Cal said. Then, “Ooh…” His brain fizzed like he’d stuck his finger in a socket and hoped the shock didn’t show in his face. The guy must have been almost forty and was only now taking time out to experiment or…what? “Not ever? Not even a kiss? A drunken fumble?”
Ben took a step back, his eyes still plastered to his shoes. Cal didn’t need to see his face to see the flush of embarrassment, or shame maybe, that had come over him.
Cal reached out, taking one of Ben’s hands that were clenched at his side, and gently worked his fingers into the fist that immediately opened like a flower. Cal liked the feel of them immediately. The thick fingers were calloused and rough, a stark contrast to his own slender, soft ones. He wanted to ask if Ben was in construction, a carpenter maybe, but erred on the side of something safer as he drew Ben towards the large leather couch. “Come on. Come sit with me. We can start with something easy. I meant what I said y’know?” He ducked his head and succeeded in catching Ben’s reluctant eye. “I’ll take very good care of you. We’ll go slow. Just talk for a while. How does that sound?”
This Work In Progress is unbeta’d and unedited. Feel free to leave corrections in the comments.
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CC0 Image by Jonathan Knepper via Unsplash.
All trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
72 seasons – ©Alex Jane 2018 – All Rights Reserved
No, guys! Don’t take it slow, gimme more!
<3 Lol...71 more installments to go...I’m going to pace myself : ) Thank you for reading x
Sounds promising. But agree with Mina, get to it!
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More on Friday <3 xx
I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!
Coming on Friday! <3
It looks good to me…..