Rainbow Shorts ( my LGBT Short Story Collection)

A Mammoth Adventure

Martyn had hoped for a romantic evening, a little foretaste of what he hoped the week away would bring, but Rory had rung, full of apologies. His older brother, Ben was in town. Martyn knew Ben disapproved of him, he was always dour and frowning in his presence and he'd told him to his face that he thought Rory was too young for him. As if it was any of his damn business!

Out of breath, Martyn finally arrived at TimeLabs and was ushered down a corridor towards a closed door.

"Your friend is already here," said the salesman. "I'll just introduce you to Marcella, your guide, and she'll take it from there. The package includes transport in one of our deluxe time machines, complete with meals, though beverages are extra, of course, plus the latest in light-bending suits for you to wear when you leave the machine."

The salesman opened the door with a flourish.

Martyn's eyes were drawn immediately to the large blue box in the middle of the floor. A young woman stood next to it. And next to her stood—Ben. What the fuck was he doing here? Where was Rory?

"Ah, here is Marcella with your time machine," burbled the salesman, oblivious to the sudden tension.

"What are you doing here?" interrupted Martyn.

Ben was frowning, as usual, but a flash of startled surprise crossed his face. "Didn't Rory tell you? No, I can see he didn't! Something came up and he sent me in his place."

"He what?" cried Martyn, outraged.

Ben looked incredibly uncomfortable. "He swore to me that he'd tell you himself, so that you had time to let me know if ... this wasn't okay... for me to come instead."

Hurt and furious, Martyn could only glare in silence.

"Er..." The salesman looked from one man to the other. "I don't mean to rush you, but are you going to take the Tour or not?"

"Oh we'll take the Tour," said Martyn, viciously. "After all, I've paid for it."

Marcella ran a nervous hand over her shaved head. "Um, welcome to TimeLabs Guided Tours, gentlemen," she said. "I'll be your guide for the next week. Please call me Marcella." She glanced at the time machine and smiled tentatively. "And by the way, it's bigger on the inside."

"I hope Rory told you I booked a single room," hissed Martyn as Marcella shut the door behind them. The look of dismay on Ben's face almost made up for the debacle.

Ben stood in the doorway to their room, taking in the single large bed covered in soft white furs, a bottle of champagne chilling in an ice bucket to one side. Martyn had evidently planned a romantic holiday, not the adventure tour Rory had described to him. He ground his teeth. He was going to kill Rory when he got home.

"Rory sent me to take his place." A scarlet tide washed up the back of his neck and flooded his cheeks. No wonder Martyn had been outraged.

"I'm sorry, Martyn." He cleared his throat. "I was expecting an adventure tour... not... Rory told me—"

"It's all right," Martyn interrupted gruffly. "I can see you didn't know. It's not your fault. But why didn't he just tell me if he didn't want to come?"

Ben held his gaze bravely, seeing the hurt in Martyn's honest face. "I'm sorry," he said again. "Rory's an idiot!" Now where had that come from?

Why have I never noticed what lovely hazel eyes Ben has? thought Martyn. When he wasn't frowning. Martyn took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "Well, we're here now. Let's open that champagne! And we can put some pillows down the middle of the bed, later."