Impress Me Not: The Handyman

Chapter 11

He looked amazing during that photo shoot. Niko couldn't keep his eyes off him in every outfit they had him wear. Solomon had the perfect look to him to stand out. His eyes even had a pop to it. The darkness of it made him look mysterious. And the way he looked at the camera with some of the shots made him look like a god.

Angel had left some time ago, as he got caught up in a phone call and had to leave. Niko wasn't sure whether it was business or not, but he let it go. He still had Rico to talk to at least.

"I can't believe you actually found him, Niko!" Rico's smile was big and flashy, much like the rest of him. "He was, by far, the best model I ever had!"

"He really is striking," Niko said. "I'm surprised that he hasn't decided to try and make a profession out of this."

Every now and then, in between photos, Solomon would glance over at them. He wasn't sure if he was wondering what they were talking about, or something else. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel like those hazel eyes were looking at him and only him.

It could just be wishful thinking, though.

"Oh, he's all about music," Rico explained. "The first time I met him was when he was going on the front page of 'Modern Classics' after he won first place in some world piano competition."

"He plays the piano?" What else did this man do? Sing?

"How you managed to hire him without seeing that ad is shocking, Niko," Rico looked at him from above his sunglasses. "That had to be the best-selling magazine that the company had. He looked hot! I swore I saw a bunch of girls fussing over that magazine every time I saw it in a store."

"I just can't believe he does so much," Niko shook his head. "I mean, he's a piano playing handyman, who does modeling from time to time?"

"If I remember correctly," Rico put a hand on his chin. "The man didn't exactly have the best life growing up. The article said something about him having to take on a few jobs to get by before he won the competition."

"How long ago was that?"

"Probably about six years ago, give or take," he answered. "I convinced him to continue modeling. But," he sighed and tilted his head to the ground. "I can never convince him to do it on a regular basis."

"It really is a shame."

"You said it," Rico winked at him. "If only these ads allowed for you to show off more skin. I bet you he still looks great topless."

The way he said that had Niko's imagination going wild. There was no way he could have that for this project. It didn't fit the look that the company was trying to fit with the style. But, if he could convince him to do another photoshoot some other time, he might just be allowed to do something like that.

"Rico, you got me curious," he raised an eyebrow at him. "You and him never did anything, did you?"

"I wish," Rico winked at him again. "The man could even make the straight turn gay without trying. But that boyfriend of his had a strangle hold on his heart. Solomon won't even look at anyone in that way with him around."

"Boyfriend?" he frowned and looked to the man again. He shouldn't feel worried or down just because the man was taken. But, for some reason, it seemed to make his heart sink.

"The guy was crazy," Rico shook his head. "Every time someone would try and flirt with him, that guy would be right there, ready to tear them a new one."

Well, he was glad that he wasn't with Solomon for the interview at least. He'd rather not have to call security over something like that. And, that would have definitely meant that he wouldn't have been able to convince Solomon to do the job afterwards.

"I wonder where he is, actually," Rico said. "He used to always be in the downtown area. He worked at one of the offices there or something."

"I didn't even know he was taken," he said. "With how I messed up on the interview with him, I figured he would have at least mentioned him."

"What happened?" Rico asked. He quickly told him the tale of what had happened just a week before. It was funny to see Rico's reaction to it.

"Oooo," Rico shook his head. "Anything to do with that hair of his, and he'll blow a gasket. Trust me, Niko, I've tried to convince him to change it up a few times."

"I wish you could have told me before all of this happened," he sighed. "It was Hell trying to get him to agree on this afterwards."

"So, you're falling for him, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "I've only ever dated women!"

"Oh, come on, baby!" Rico laughed. "It's written all over your face! You still have good taste if you want someone like him."

"What makes you think I could get him, even if I wanted to?"

"You've always had that charm to you, Niko," he elbowed him.

"But you just said that he was taken."

"I don't see a ring on his hand," Rico whispered to him. "I'm just saying, if you want to have a little bit of fun, and get away from all the same parties for a bit, why not try and see what happens?"

"So, you want me to see if I can steal him from his boyfriend?" he smiled at him. The more he thought about it, the more fun the idea became.

"If they're still together," Rico said. "It's been a long time since I've seen the man."

Niko barely heard the last thing his friend said. He was too busy thinking about this. So what if he thought he was straight? All the rest of the women around here were boring. And, if he didn't get the man, then there was no harm done. Solomon would have his boyfriend still. It might be fun to test the waters.

He had promised him that he wouldn't flirt with him during work, but he never said outside of it.

"I may take your advice on that."