Calvin
Benjamin almost fell asleep in my arms in our shower last night. I guess yesterday took a lot out of him, so I decided I'd hold him tight last night until I fell asleep along with him. It was a bit hard, considering I napped on my plane yesterday. I wasn't tired, so I watched TV while he snored softly in my neck. Then I fell asleep when his tiredness affected me. Somehow, I still woke up before him, though.
He's so warm and gentle. I can't get enough. The sun is barely rising, giving the room that faint blue glow of dawn. The sheets slide off his back down to the curve of his ass. I roll off my side and lie on my back so I can better admire his skin. I hear Ben's breathing get slightly louder as though he sensed my movement and awoke. When he opens his eyes, he smiles them shut again when he sees me. I smile too and allow him to kiss me softly.
"Good morning," I whisper.
"We died last night, huh?" he asks.
I chuckle, "Yeah, you did."
Ben sighs. "Sorry," he whispers.
"Why?" I ask. His hand, which was rubbing my stomach up and down, travels to my growing erection. I swallow. I take that hand with mine and pull it away, settling for his kiss. At least for the moment, considering he's still practically asleep. His lips and the tip of his tongue cycle into my mouth, and I only hope my breath is as fresh as his. I don't know why or when I began caring about that kind of thing. It's like I'm walking this tightrope, and every little thing can cause this entire good thing to plummet to the ground.
With each kiss, Ben's body inches more and more on top of mine. We're both a bit misty with sweat from the heat of sleeping together, and now doing this. Once he's completely on top of me, sexes pressed together exquisitely painful and fully erect, he bites my lip borderline too hard. I moan and laugh a little, biting his lip in response. I'm so lost in him that I barely notice him reaching for something on the table.
"What're you doing?" I ask him hesitantly.
"Getting ready?" he says as if it were obvious.
"Okay, grab a condom from my suitcase."
"Oh, shit. I almost forgot about it. I just woke up," he says with a goofy grin.
I chuckle. "Yeah, I know."
"Do you... want to use a condom? Or not?" he asks. My mind swirls with the lustful idea of feeling him raw, but I know it isn't safe practice.
"It's a little too spur of the moment for that. Besides, if you end up hating me, you can say you never committed to that much."
Ben's face fills with concern. "You think I'll end up hating you?"
Panic swells for a moment in my chest. "N-no. God. I hope you never do." He looks at me sternly, then grabs my face and kisses me hard.
"How about we save the bareback for special occasions?" he suggests.
"That works," I agree.
"Well, we're in Paris, France. Now. Make love to me," he whispers. I oblige with a hesitant nod, taking the small bottle from his hand and using it accordingly on the two of us. Ben rests his warm entrance on my throbbing dick and engulfs me completely.
"Oh, fuck," I growl into his mouth. He rocks back and forth against me to jostle our bodies. His member is rock hard and dripping in precum. I roam his back with my hands. He rests his entire torso on mine, face buried in my neck. He stifles his moans as well as he can.
"So good," he whimpers. I hold his ass in my hands and squeeze that soft pillowy skin.
"You're so warm and juicy," I mutter in pure sex-crazed lust.
"I'm still so sleepy," Benjamin jokes. "It feels so good and warm that I could go back to sleep."
"You're telling me," I reply. I sit up and turn both of us around to lie him down on the pillows. He is actually putting me in such a state that I'm afraid I'll fall asleep, so I'm taking charge.
"Don't be easy with me," he whispers. I lean in and kiss his quivering lip and thrust into him to my hearts content. He may have never had sex before he met me, but he can take a cock. I love the feeling on his heels bouncing against my back.
"Holy– ah, shit." Ben squirms against the bed, holding himself up on his elbows one minute, and lying down flat the next, letting out the occasional moan.
"You're so gorgeous," I whisper in his ear. I continue churning his insides and causing his quiet whimpers. My hands rub the backs of his thighs as I hold them in the air. I begin feeling that tightening in my abdomen and the tingling in every cell of my body, so I slow down to a stop to edge on the orgasm. I don't want to come before him.
"You getting close, babe?" he asks me. I chuckle and kiss him smile.
"Yeah, to be honest. You've got my brain on fire. And my dick." He laughs into my mouth.
"Wait," he winces as I slide slowly into him. "Do that again."
I move in and out of a one inch area, rubbing the head of my member against his prostate I assume. Ben's hands cover his face as he moans and turns his body restlessly.
"I'm... gonna..." he whines. I thrust progressively harder and cause his hard, tired member to spray seed all over our stomachs. The feeling of his cum on my body and the heat inside him pushes me over the edge. "Come inside," begs Benjamin.
No convincing needed. I release deep inside him and let my essence drain completely. My dick throbs intermittently, widening his entrance over and over. He gets really sensitive after coming, so I pull out slowly so I don't make him uncomfortable. I fall against the bed next to him, arm stuck to his chest, face in the sheets.
"God, I love you," I mumble into the bed. He giggles.
"I love you."
He kisses me on the arm multiple times, rolling into my side and throwing a leg over my ass. I look over at him and smirk. "So how do you feel knowing you're the one to make me fall in love?"
He blushes, somehow making him redder than he already is. "It makes me feel pretty damn good, I guess. I'm really lucky to have you."
"Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you."
"Stop making me smile, you're so corny!" I laugh with him and snuggle up close to his very warm body. We just showered last night, and now we have to again. How rude sex has to be to the cleanliness of the body.
"Go hop in the shower and wake yourself up before you fall asleep again," I say, pushing his butt with my knee.
"Fine, but if I'm grumpy because you forced me out of bed so early, it's on you."
I scoff. "You got solid sleep, babe. You'll be fine. Besides, we have a plane to catch at eleven."
"Damn," he sighs from the bathroom. Once his shower starts, I follow him in and rinse off with the hot water and a little body wash on my dick. Ben trues getting time to stay longer, but I escape with an evil laugh. I grab a fresh towel after I exit. I then slip on some underwear and black track pants so that everything isn't all hanging out anymore. I grab my phone and check my notifications. Missed calls from Ross... He's probably fine.
I swiftly cram everything back into my bag, and even pick things up around the room and begin neatly folding Ben's clothes for him. I couldn't give a shit less about my clothes, but him, I care about. Before Ben, I never catered to a single human being, except for maybe my aunt. I'd give anything to pamper that woman one last time. Ever since she passed away, I've never lifted a finger for anyone but myself.
Selfish, she'd call me.
"Calvin, can you order room service?" Ben asks me, patting his hair dry as he walks in the room. "Sweetheart!" he gasps sarcastically.
"Yeah, I know," I say with a grin. He grabs a shirt from his suitcase and unfolds it.
"T-shirts roll, formal wear folds." My eyes widen at him.
"Excuse me for trying to do something nice?" He smiles and kisses my cheek.
"Thank you. I'm just giving you packing tips. Rolling changed my life. You can fit so much more."
"Yeah, rolling changed my life, too. A different kind of rolling, that is."
He scoffs. "You smoke?" he caught on.
"I did about a decade or so ago. Only good shit, too. It was a coping mechanism, sure, but it did it's job."
"I've never done any drugs."
"We can get legal marijuana."
He brightens. "Can we?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can even go to Cali next Spring or Summer and have a nice week vacation. Whatever you want. And there's plenty of legal drugs and illegal drugs we can get into."
"No, no, no. Nothing illegal."
"Well aren't you lawful-good," I tease, grabbing his ass with my hands as he pulls a shirt on.
"And you're chaotic," he jeers, turning around and lying his forearms on my shoulders. It's weird, how hard he has to look up at me, yet I feel like I'm hardly looking down. "And a nerd for using D&D alignment to insult me."
He pecks my lips and slips past me, leaving me struck with the realization that if he didn't know before, he knows now that I'm a serious fucking geek. I fix his luggage, grab mine, load it onto a dolly, and park my ass on the bed waiting for him.
After we eat a divine breakfast, courtesy of one of the best hotels I've ever been to, we take a short limousine to the airport. Ben still hesitantly allows me to hold his hand, as if the public eye could bother me and my desire to be affectionate to my boyfriend.
Once we've boarded the plane, Ben quietly sighs and holds a hand to the window. "Plane rides. They are seriously losing their charm already."
"How many planes have you been on?" I ask him.
"In high school cheer, two for competition. Those were awesome. Then a one way to New York. That one was nerve racking. And now my plane rides with you."
"I remember when I received your resume. Since you were applying for my department, I got to review you among a handful of others. You are outstandingly talented. Top notch student, experience through internships with executives I personally knew, and an award winning smile on top."
He blushes. "I remember our Skype interview— you were very handsome, by the way— when you told me to get my ass to New York because I had the job. You were the first person to ever interview me and not have a period before decision. So unorthodox."
I chuckle. "But I knew I wanted you to work with me. I wanted you to, honestly, be my friend. You kind of swept me off my feet in a way."
He giggles. "So, in a twist of events, the average white guy made the Scottish Superman fall for him first. Sounds completely backwards."
"You made a bisexual man who has almost no business being with another man fall in love with you. I'd say you're far from average." I hear the chime of the plane to indicate our departure, so I slip one earphone into my ear and offer Ben the other.
"If you keep making me blush, they'll have enough hot air to fuel the plane ride," he says. I kiss his cheek, to which he turns his lips to mine for a second on the lips. "You're lookin' at me like I'm see-through..." he sings along and kisses me once more before slipping down against me to get comfortable. This is going to be a decent flight.
• • •
The rest of our week was spent moving Ben's belongings into my home. We didn't tell anyone our plans, so when Sarah came to visit with Shelly, let's just say they should've called ahead.
Besides that, things have went smoothly. I know people always say living together is taxing on a relationship, but for Ben and me, we've never been better. It feels so right to be close to him as much as I am. It's been really cute to see Ben worry over things he no longer needs to. Just this morning, he was frantic that he hadn't done laundry or went to the dry cleaners, until I informed him it was done for him already.
I think he has guilt about his sudden change of class, going from a one bedroom apartment to my exquisite home in a flash. I get it, I guess. I felt that way when I was transitioning from my hometown to living with my aunt and cousins. Ever since then, I've been used to big houses and luxurious amenities.
Benjamin and I gave Ross a couple of calls to make sure he was okay. He didn't really answer though, he just texted me that he was fine now. I have a feeling he's not, but I don't know why. He knows Benjamin and I are okay again, so there may be more going on with him. I asked Ben to check up on him at work and make sure.
With the dawn of the new week, going into work together was, in the most mundane way, a very intimate thing to do. The majority of couples don't have the same job, so it's a nice feeling. Sitting in my office knowing hundreds of people watched me walk in with my boyfriend today feels great.
Today is slow. It isn't often a slow day happens here, especially for me. The last few weeks have been really busy, so I suppose things had to slow down eventually. I wonder what I should do today for lunch. I'm sure Ben will want to use that time to catch up with Ross, so I might wriggle my way into that.
My door opens and a woman peeks in. "Mr. Reid, Ms. Connors is requesting your presence immediately," Jane, Sarah's secretary, tells me.
"Uh, yeah. Okay, thank you." She leaves quickly, and so do I. On my way to the elevators, Ben passes me.
"Hey, whatcha up to, handsome?" he asks.
"Sarah sent her secretary to request me to come to her office." Ben frowns.
"Doesn't sound good. Check for traps, and ready a dodge before you walk in." He goes to kiss me, but quickly retreats, blushing. "Sorry, force of habit. Go. See you later."
I smile apologetically, lifting his hand in mine to kiss it gentlemanly. "Love you," I say, booking it to make up lost time. Every second counts for Sarah. She better not prank me.
The lift chimes, and I get off on her floor. Knocking on her door feels wrong, assuming I never knocked on her door when we were kids. God, did that irk her. Sarah opens the door for me in two seconds flat, face full of worry. She was waiting for me.
"We have a Skype meeting with Agatha and the Board." I feel my chest fill with anxiety, but I push it down. As confident as I always am, meetings with that many higher ranking people would give anyone worry. I walk in with stiff posture and make my way to Sarah's computer. She pulls a chair next to hers and motions me to sit. The call comes in, so she clicks 'answer' and throws on the best smile she can. I guess it's that kind of meeting.
"Good morning, Sarah, Calvin," Agatha says to us. I smile at her and wave. That's the only genuine smile that'll be happening during this meeting.
"Good morning," we say in unison.
"Mr. Reid," Alexander, the Board of Supervisors president begins. "This meeting has two matters of discussion. Let's begin with whom you've chosen as your department co-head."
"Of course," I mentally sigh. "I have chosen an employee."
"As expected. Who might that be."
I hold back a smile just at the thought of his name. "Mr. Benjamin Lionheart."
"Mr. Lionheart, yes," he says.
"Outstanding resume, impeccable attendance, and quite a collection of accolades within his first year of work here. He is definitely deserving of the position," Kimberly, vice president of the board points out.
"It was his resume that piqued our interest when hiring him," Agatha mentions.
"Mr. Reid, he's a wonderful choice, really. But that brings us to our next matter." Alexander adjusts in his seat and folds his fingers together. "If you appoint Mr. Lionheart as your co-head, it violates company policy."
"Um, how exactly?" I ask.
"Your romantic relationship with him implies the decision was based on feelings. Problems arise with this, such as the two of you having troubles and breaking up could cause conflict at work. It just cannot be allowed, for it could cost too much in the grand scheme of things."
I stay silent, knowing every word he said is purely company policy and liability. I want to say he's wrong, and say there was no influence on my decision other than Benjamin being a good employee, but I can't. It will only look bad for me.
"So, what do you suggest?" I ask after a moment. Sarah squeezes my wrist comfortingly.
Alexander speaks. "We don't want you to break up with him." I mentally sigh. "However, you cannot appoint him. You'll have to choose someone else."
I scoff. "I appreciate the sentiment of allowing me to date who I please, but this shouldn't cost an employee his chance for a higher position. Agatha, can't you do anything about this."
"I've already spoken my mind, Calvin. I tried making changes, but our Board has unanimously voted against my petition to make an exception. It makes sense, I suppose. If we make an exception for you, everyone will want exceptions to rules."
"I understand." With that statement, I've exhausted my efforts for now.
"Calvin," Alexander inquires me by name, "I'll call you at seven o'clock, New York time. Have a decision, please. Thank you for taking time to meet with us."
"Thank you," Sarah and I say in unison. The Board's line ends the call, leaving us in a Skype call with Agatha.
"Sorry, Calvin," Agatha says.
"This isn't fair, and you know it. It's coincidence that we're together. I chose him for this job practically a month within his initial employment. I told you that!"
"It's a matter of how it looks on paper, Calvin. Even if he was your co-head, he wouldn't be allowed to date you anyways. It's a good thing this is happening before and not after. Imagine if you weren't allowed to be with him because he was already promoted."
I cross my arms like a grumpy toddler. "I'm hearing you, but I'm still upset. I don't want Benjamin to miss the opportunity."
"Choose someone else, Calvin. Benjamin will understand. Just give him the full explanation and he'll be fine."
"How did they even find out?" I ask no one in particular.
"You know how the grapevine works," she says.
"No, Agatha. I don't know. Do grapes know how to fucking talk? Are grapes fuckin' snitches?"
"Do not get an attitude with me, Calvin Reid."
"I'm sorry," I sigh.
"I've got to go. I love you both. Goodbye."
"Love you, Ag," Sarah says. She smiles and hangs up, leaving Sarah and I alone in the stale office.
"What the fuck?" I mumble.
"I know..." she sighs.
"Who snitched, seriously?"
"I have no idea, but does it really matter? We pretty much knew this was coming."
"I thought I could avoid it," I admit. "I've avoided worse. Far worse."
"So, how are you breaking this news to Ben?" Sarah asks me. I scoff.
"I don't want to have to. Sarah, he really deserves this. Hell, he deserves my job." We sit in silence, Sarah patiently waiting for me to accept the inevitable, me wracking my brain for a better solution to all of this. I grumble. "Fine, I'll break it to him. He's getting a raise regardless, but I'll have to revisit who will be my co-head."
"Good luck. Sorry this happened the way it did. Could've been better, and could've been a hell-of-a-lot worse." I roll my eyes at her and leave the office, embarking on my journey to Benjamin.
I slip through the halls, avoiding any and every employee and successfully making it to Ben's new personal office. I turn the doorknob and enter quietly, my eyes landing on him. He sits at his desk, firing away at his keyboard and taking notes on a notepad on the side. His glasses are slipping down on his nose cutely. He's so focused, I could only dream of having his work ethic for work so boring.
"Hey, babe," I chime. He perks up and eyeballs me from behind his computer.
"Hey!" he smiles. "How was Sarah? Everything good?" Wow, take me right back to Panicville, Ben!
"Uh, y-yeah. Everything's fine. So you want to get lunch together today. I've got some things to talk to you about."
"Oh, yeah? Okay, that sounds good. I emailed you a couple of things, by the way. Please get on that as soon as you can and send them back?" I smirk, walking up close to his desk.
"You're so good at your job, you busy bee," I compliment. I lean over the desk, over his monitor, and steal a kiss from him. "I will get right on that. Lunch at 12:30?"
"12:30 it is," he agrees, not looking up from his dual monitors.
I clear my throat at his subconscious act of ignoring me. "Okay, bye."
"Luh' you, bae!" he calls as I'm heading out the door, making me smile. Then I frown, remembering what I have to tell him later.
–––––––
"Do you like the restaurants in the building, or is it just the convenience of it being onsite that makes it appealing?" Benjamin asks me out of nowhere.
"I think food tastes good pretty much anywhere. I'm not picky. There is a charm to the restaurants here, though."
"And what would that be?" he asks.
"Fuck if I know," I reply, making him giggle. "It's funny to think, floors below where we get all our work done, there's an entire world of restaurants happening? I don't know."
"Sorry I forced you to get philosophical," he jokes. I stab my salad and take the bite. I completely feel off track with healthy eating and working out since I began dating Ben. I stared at myself in the mirror for five minutes this morning just looking at how my overall physique looks, and seeing the excess fat filling me out where I used to have deep contours in my muscles. It's not out of control, but it's definitely not helping my mental body image.
"You want to start exercising with me?" I ask, for him probably, out of the blue.
"Uh, sure?" He grins.
"Sorry. I've been meaning to start my regimen again, but I've been so caught up in... you. Anyway, you don't have to lift or anything crazy, just cardio and things like that."
He crosses his arms. "What if I want to try weight training?" he asks. I shrug.
"Sounds good. But your diet is going to have to change a lot," I say. He holds his sandwich in his hands, hesitantly hovering his mouth.
"Is this– is this unhealthy?" he asks. I laugh out loud at him, shaking my head.
"Not really, but there are other things that you eat that I'm just as guilty of eating. The misconception is that you can't eat good food, but when you get to load on protein and carbs, it's rewarding as hell." He shakes his head at me.
"I never thought you were such a gym rat."
I furrow my brow. "Did you think I was just naturally this muscular?" I ask. He chokes on his water.
"I hate you," he jeers. I stick my tongue out at him playfully, and we finish our lunches. Benjamin talks about the holidays and visiting Agatha in Seattle, but mainly visiting Seattle itself. I tell him all the time that it isn't that phenomenal, but he always finds the magic in the mundane. He brings such vibrancy to everything I once saw in greyscale. Life is truly in technicolor since falling for Benjamin.
"I have something I have to break to you. And I don't want it to break your heart." Ben finishes his water off and gives me a worried look.
"You aren't in love with another average white nerd, are you?" he asks me. I shake my head. "Okay, what is it?"
I don't want to tell him. He shouldn't be losing this position. He deserves it. My mind spins quickly from telling him the truth to telling him something completely different and probably stupid. "I'm quitting my job."
"What? No, Calvin. That's crazy. You can't... I mean..." he struggles to recover. So do I. I don't know what I'm trying to accomplish with this.
"Ben, I had a meeting with Agatha and the Board this morning. They said... I had to deny you the position of co-head because of our relationship. How they found out about us, I don't know. But I refuse to jeopardize what you genuinely deserve, so I'll be resigning."
"Calvin, that's not happening. You don't have to guilt trip me, I'm going to give up the position. It's not a hard decision for me at all. I'd rather keep working with you than accept a promotion. I don't want you to leave the company."
"I'm not guilt tripping you, babe. I'm serious. You deserve to excel, and I don't want to get in the way of that. In fact, now that I think about it, I kind of want to quit. I've been doing this for the majority of my adult life. I'm bored. So don't worry about me."
"I... I guess I can't argue with you. All I'm saying is, Cal, if you seriously don't want to lose your job, I'll sacrifice my promotion. It's okay."
"I've made up my mind. I'm happy with this conclusion. I've been thinking about quitting for a little while now, maybe not seriously, but the thought lingered. Besides, I'll probably never truly be gone. My family runs the place, eh?" Ben nods.
"I'm sorry. I feel like I've ruined everything." I take his hand, concerned.
"Baby, why would you feel that way?" I ask. He lifts his face.
"If you weren't caught up with me, you'd have no problem keeping your job." I shake my head.
"If we weren't dating, I still would've given you this promotion. And with that, I would've inevitably fallen in love with you. It's better this way. Imagine the nightmare it could've been. That's what Agatha made me realize." He chuckles, I guess feeling a bit better about the whole thing.
"You think you'll be able to get another job?" he asks me. I shudder at the idea of having to work someplace else and establish new connections. I have existing connections I can probably use. Yeah... this isn't the worst idea.
"I'll be fine."
"Okay. So, assuming you have told neither Sarah nor Agatha about your plan to quit, how well do you think this is going to go?" he asks me.
"I don't fucking know..." I grumble. I have the means to disappear from society and live off of my life's savings, so I don't have to deal with any of this drama. That's absurd though. Do I take an early retirement and live off of what I have plus my 401k? Do I get a new job and continue building my retirement fund? Do I even want to work anymore? Maybe I should take a break and focus on studying something new...
"Hey, are you alright?" Ben asks me. I snap back to the reality that is him and my bowl of depressing salad.
"Not really. I don't know what the future holds. I had never thought about everything that came with quitting this job. It's going to
be more work quitting than actually working here!" Ben sighs, rubbing my hands with his thumbs across the table.
"I will help you through everything. Promise." I kiss his hand softly as thanks. The act develops a smile across my boyfriends face, and I remember why I love him so much. It's the way his smile makes me feel.
–––––––
I've been sitting in my office, lazily doing unimportant tasks for the past few hours, counting down the minutes to seven. Benjamin is in town getting us some food, so I'm just waiting here for the phone call. I want to be here when the call happens. If it's my last time in this office, it'll be me quitting my job.
The phone rings, so I answer.
"Hello?"
"Calvin, it's Alexander Pena calling. I hope you've made a decision."
"I have. It's a doozy, that's for sure."
"Let me hear it," he says.
"I've decided to resign. If I'm getting in the way of Benjamin's opportunity to excel, then I'll simply have to remove myself. Any good boss would do what they must in order for their employees to succeed."
Alexander scoffs, then scoffs into a laughter. "That's hilarious, Calvin. What angle are you playing at here?" he asks me, much less humorously.
"No angle. I'm literally quitting."
"You can't quit. Your cousin owns this company. She would never let you."
"She doesn't decide what I do."
"Calvin, am I going to have to state the obvious here?" he asks.
"Please do," I reply, tapping a finger to my temple.
"Okay. This Benjamin you're so willing to quit your job for could possibly loathe you at any moment. You can't bet your job on someone you have hardly dated. He could easily be using you to secure his spot as the new CFO of the company, for all we know."
I swallow every urge to yell at this motherfucker. I'm really struggling to keep my cool.
With gritted teeth, I state, "I appreciate your concern for my job security, but I do not appreciate your defamation of an exemplary employee and my significant other." I think I snapped.
Alexander goes quiet for a moment, then speaks again. "I apologize. I have no insight on the depth of your relationship with Benjamin. I've re-evaluated. A man of your stature and prowess surely has thought the consequences of quitting your job through."
"Maybe I haven't thought if every single consequence. But I know my resume is beefy and I don't need this job to survive. Besides. I'm bored, Alex. Maybe this is my out. Maybe I want to do something else with my life."
He goes silent again, this time a bit longer. Then he returns. "You'll have two weeks to continue working. When that time is up, Benjamin Lionheart will take your position as CFO. Use the two weeks to train Mr. Lionheart your job in full, and you will be paid full severance."
I stammer, in awe of how well this went, and how generous he's being. "That sounds great. I'm all set, but we should probably have another Skype meeting with everyone tomorrow morning to clarify everything?"
"Sounds good. It's been a pleasure all these years, Calvin. Sad to see you go, but I support your endeavor to move on."
"Thank you. Talk tomorrow, bye." I hang up. Fuck. That was heavy.
"I DID IT!" I yell as loud as I can. "Oh, my God, I quit my job."
–––––––
Benjamin invited Sarah and Shelly over to the house to hang out. They both live a lot closer than Ben ever did, so it's no big deal for them to hang out. I haven't even told Ben what happened over the phone, so I hope he isn't mad. He should be pretty stoked to learn he'll be the new CFO. That is, if Agatha doesn't ruin the whole situation with a tantrum.
Ben said this was our last night to eat junky food, so he got us some of the most delicious burgers and fries in New York. Just biting into this thing makes me want to let it all go and become the fat man I truly am on the inside. It's so nice to be so domestic with Ben like this. It also warms my heart to see Sarah so happy.
When we are pretty much all finished eating or full, Benjamin shocks me back to the real world with a question: "So how did your phone call with Mr. Pena go?"
I cough. "Ben, seriously?"
"Yeah, let's hear it," Sarah says with somewhat of a frown.
"You aren't going to be happy," I break it to her. "I... I put in my two weeks notice."
Sarah stares blankly at me for a solid ten seconds before screaming, "WHAT?!"
"Don't freak out, Sarah!" I yell back.
"Don't freak out? You quit your job! How can I not freak out? That wasn't the plan! You were supposed to give someone else Benjamin's job, not quit!"
"Listen!" I interrupt. She crosses her arms and scowls at me, nodding. "I've worked the same job for, what, nearly a decade? Benjamin has shown more heart, work ethic, ability and talent than I have in ten years. He deserves to have my job. I want him to have it. You and Agatha probably want him to have it, if you think about it. I have enough experience and savings to not have to worry about getting another job, so that doesn't matter to me. In the end, I looked at my career and realized... I'm not happy anymore. I want to do something new. I know you can relate."
Sarah sighs, touching her temples with her fingers. "I get it. It's not that crazy, when you put it that way. It's going to be undoubtably weird not having you around, though."
"Wait, Calvin," Ben says. I look over to him and his wide eyed expression. "How am I supposed to become the Chief Financial Officer of the company without the adequate experience? I don't think I can do this..."
"Alexander has given me two weeks to continue working alongside you, teaching you everything I know. You'll do amazing, I'm sure of it."
"But today, just being your second-in-command was nearly impossible work."
"Baby, it was your first day..." He looks down at his lap. "Look me in the eyes." He does as he's told and meets my stare. "You have it all, Benjamin. The brain, the drive, and everything else you'll need to do this. You're going to do better than I ever have. Trust me. By the end of these two weeks, you'll be teaching me."
Ben chuckles, hugging me tight. "Thanks. For saying all of that. And for believing in me enough to give up your job for me."
"I wouldn't want to leave it to anyone else."
"That's great and all, but who is Benjamin going to choose as his co-head?" Shelly asks.
Ben groans, "I have no idea!"
"Well, let's not dwell on that. Besides, it's getting late. We should probably get to bed soon."
"I live closer, so do you wanna stay over at mine, Sheila?" Sarah asks Shelly. Shelly blushes and nods shyly. "Great. Well it was nice hanging out boys. We'll head out. Love you, Cal." She kisses my cheek and waves to Ben, walking to the hall. Shelly waves goodbye to us, still shook that she's spending the night with Sarah. It's adorable, really.
"So... now that they're gone..." I say, insinuating the worst. Not for me, but for Ben.
"I'm too tired. I'll suck you off, but that's it." I laugh at him and quickly straddle his lap. He smiles really big. "Well, this is different."
"I figured I'd put my huge ass to use and sit in your lap for once."
Ben laughs, placing his hands on the top of my butt below my lower back, pulling me closer into him. It's a very vulnerable feeling to be the one in the lap. He looks up to me, nose brushing against my beard due to our close proximity, and kisses me gently.
"It's so nice to have someone to kiss finally. I'm... really glad it's you, Calvin."
I smile against his smile. "I'm glad, too."
• • •
Ross
I knock on Timothy's door after deliberating for the longest time I've ever taken to make a decision in my entire life. On the inside, I'm ashamed of what I've chosen, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that it's what I fucking want.
"Hello?" he answers the door, all six feet of gorgeously tanned skin barely covered by his underwear. His entire torso is visible and his bulge is maddeningly erotic. "Ross? Uh, hey."
"What the fuck am I doing?" I mumble under my breath, then look him in the eyes after raking them all the way up his body. "Please fuck me."
Tim coughs. "Excuse me?"
"I've thought a lot about it, and I'm ready to give in. Re-evaluating my entire life and sexual journey, I realize I've always had an interest in men as well as women, and now that I've accepted it, I'm horny out of my goddamn mind for one specific person. You..."
"I said I don't want to do something you regret... Will you regret this?" he asks me.
I shake my head almost immediately. "We haven't even been speaking for the past week, and we've hardly been friends for two. If this ruins our dynamic, our mediocre friendship, who gives a fuck?" Timothy's stern face turns into a clenched jaw kind of frown. The look he's giving is sending me. Suddenly, he's leaning into me for a heavy kiss, one that I have been waiting days to experience once again. I hike one leg up, which he catches at the bend of my knee in his hand, wrapping it around his waist. He lifts me entirely from the ground. His left hand glides down between my now spread ass and palms the area there. I hesitantly open my eyes to see his are closed in lust, so I shut them again and completely give in.
. . .
No regrets.