All Work and No Play - Frerard

2

Gerard sat quietly as exhaustion washed over him. He desperately needed sleep, but he hadn't managed much more than a couple of hours shut eye the night before, and he now struggled to keep his eyes open and concentrate on the task at hand.

He thought he could manage this. And in all honesty, he had done pretty well, considering he was one of the few 'mature' students in his class. Being such a student however, meant he had all the responsibilities that go along with that title, i.e. home to run, bills to pay, car to maintain. That's why he'd taken the job in the first place. But what choice did he have? He needed something that had hours that didn't clash with his studies and that actually paid a somewhat decent wage in order to keep up with his ever-increasing debts.

He had tried other jobs first. However, none of those were particularly suitable: he could hardly forget the gas station where he'd been fired from for falling asleep at the counter and allowing multiple vehicles to drive away without paying.

He'd seen an advertisement for this pasted to a few street signs, and on a whim, he'd ripped one off and taken it home. He kept picking it up to read and re-read, convincing himself that there was no way in hell he could 'perform' in front of sleezy men. Yet he kept going back to it – the promise of good money and ideal hours making him consider it more and more each time he looked at it.

Gerard had always been told he was pretty. He used to get fucking annoyed at it. But as he'd gotten a little older, he'd begun to see it as somewhat of a compliment. He liked pretty men, so why would he not want others to like him for the same reason.

Having had a couple of drinks one evening, he decided to go and check the place out for himself. He headed down the grimy alley and felt instantly uneasy. He forced himself on however, and nervously entered the establishment.

Once inside, it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. He headed to the bar and nervously asked for the manager.

As he waited, he watched. Only a few men sat in plush velvet seating here and there, chatting amongst themselves and barely taking any notice of the goings on around them. There were two side podiums and one main stage. There was no-one on the main one at the minute, but there were two burly guys stripped down to their tiny pants swinging off poles on the two side platforms. Gerard instantly felt inadequate and was just about the get the fuck out of there, when in front of him stood a tall, handsome guy who smiled kindly at him.

"Hi" he greeted, offering his hand to Gerard. "I'm Andy. You wanted to see me?"

Gerard gulped and weakly shook Andy's hand.

"Yeah. Um no. I.....uh.....I. It doesn't matter. I got it wrong. I.....I......"

"Hey" Andy said. "Settle down man. Tell me what I can do for you?"

"Well" Gerard began, settling himself somewhat. "I did come about the job. But I can see now" he gestured to the two dancers, "that I'm not what you're looking for."

He turned to leave and was stopped by Andy's hand on his shoulder.

"Why d'you say that?" he asked.

Gerard simply lolled his head to the side and grinned. "Come on man. I don't exactly have the attributes required, do I?"

He again looked over at the two muscle-bound, tanned men writhing around.

Andy followed his direction and instantly understood.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Gerard" he answered quietly.

"Well listen Gerard" Andy began to lead him over to a table where they both sat. "I think you might be exactly what we're looking for."