Mr. Anonymous - 7. Twizted

Chapter 7

The next day was Friday. Percy knew everyone would be excited for the weekend, talking about their plans for the days ahead. All day long, he smiled while listening to his staff cheerfully telling of their adventures for the upcoming weekend.

For once, Percy had plans too. Max was meeting him online after work, but that wasn’t something he was ready to share with anyone, not just yet.

The day just seemed to drag on. Time moved so slowly and then it happened. Percy realized his office had reached that point. It happens in every business. It’s that point when you realize nobody is going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

His staff had worked really hard this week, so as a reward Percy dismissed his employees an hour early. Excited to start their weekend early, it only took seconds for them to pack up their work areas and make a mad dash for the door.

A quick round of, “Thank yous,” and the office was empty. Percy glanced at the time, there was no reason for him to stick around either, so he cleaned off his desk and got ready to leave.

“Mr. Giannopoulos, you have a visitor.” Amanda’s voice buzzed through the intercom making Percy jump.

He clutched his chest as his heart pounded. The office appeared dark and empty when he had looked out the glass window to the offices several floors below, how had he missed the receptionist still at her desk?

“Amanda?”

“Yes, Mr. Giannopoulos.”

“What are you still doing here?” Percy questioned, fighting to keep the tremble out of his voice. He didn’t want her to know she had scared him half to death. Now, feeling silly for her frightening the hell out of him, Percy chuckled to himself.

“I was on my way out when I met Mr. Beckwith coming in.” The woman was always so sweet. Someone else would have pretended to not to have seen the businessman and kept on their way, but Amanda took the time to walk him inside and to page Percy.

“Should I send him up to your office?”

“Yes! Thank you, Amanda, please send him up.”

“Yes, sir.” The muffled sound of her directing Mr. Beckwith towards the elevator could be heard by Percy.

“Amanda?” Percy hesitated, since he knew she had stepped away from the intercom. “Have a nice weekend.”

* * * *

Mr. Beckwith was a big man. His large frame shadowed the office doorway. Percy had only seen the man in expensive tailored suits, so seeing him in khakis and a polo shirt was unexpected. He didn’t strike Percy as the type of man to take the afternoon off to play a couple rounds of golf.

Earlier today, the autumn day was warm with a gentle breeze and would have been perfect weather for a game, but this afternoon it had gotten darker until the sky turned almost black. An evening storm was brewing on the horizon.

“So,” Percy tried to keep his voice steady, “To what do I owe this surprise?”

Glancing back towards the empty hallways, Percy was suddenly worried the man would disapprove of him sending his employees home early right before such a big deadline.

Beckwith remained in the doorway, never actually entering Percy’s office.

“I’m going home, my flight leaves in about an hour.” Beckwith’s eyes were emotionless.

Percy felt like he’d been punched. Home? Did that mean he was pulling the plug on the expansion project? His stomach flopped as sweat beaded formed on his upper lip. Trying to get his nerves under control, Percy ordered his stomach to behave.

If Beckwith crushed the project, he wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of also seeing him puke. He fought the bile in the back of his throat and straightened his shoulders.

“I see…” Percy didn’t know what else to say.

“My son’s birthday party is in the morning and I want to be there when he wakes up.” Turning to leave, he said, “I’ll be back sometime next week to sign the paperwork. You’d better know what you’re doing, Percy. Three new cities mean a ton more work!”

Resisting the sudden urge to jump up and down, Percy bit down on his lip to contain his smile, but the sparkle in his eyes was a dead giveaway.

“Have you thought about who you’ll put in charge of the new publications?” Beckwith glanced over his burly shoulder.

The man’s eyes twinkled. He knew Percy would have thought the deal was off. He wanted Percy to sweat it out a little bit before giving him the good news.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about how I’m going to distribute staff, as well as what teams will be placed in which cities.” Percy hadn’t given it too much thought. He didn’t want to get his hopes up until the deal was final.

“There’re wonderful opportunities with this expansion, new cities and new people,” Beckwith paused, “It could be a fresh new start for someone.”

As the man turned and left, Percy pondered what he said. Sometimes, Percy felt trapped in this city. He was well known and lived the life people expected him to lead. A successful, carefree bachelor, dating different woman, partying and having Fun. Maybe in a new city he could start over and be himself.

Maybe he could be with Max…MAX! Percy’s eyes glanced at the time. How could he have forgotten about Max?

Max was never home from work before six o’clock. Percy blushed. Strange, even after insisting they not exchange any personal information, after talking online to the man for such a short period of time, how quickly Percy had learned the man’s routine.

Home between six and six thirty, shower, and online close to seven. Percy glanced at the time. It was well after five o’clock already. He would have to hurry if he was going to make it home before Max.

* * * *

Trembling with anticipation, Percy rushed home as fast as he could. Traffic was already heavy and the city streets had ground to a halt. A cab would trap him in one place while his mind whirled with the exciting possibilities of tonight. It was a gamble, but with Friday night rush hour being so unpredictable, it was better to walk than take a chance at getting stuck.

“I might not make it home as fast, but at least I can just keep moving,” Percy muttered to himself as he dashed past the long line of yellow taxis.

Tonight, his normal pace just wasn’t fast enough. Athletic shoes and jogging pants would have allowed him to run, instead of the brisk awkward walk he was limited to in his constricting dress clothes and expensive leather shoes. People were bound to stop and stare at him if he moved any faster, so he was forced to confront those weird looks speed walkers always get swishing their hips, racing up the street.

Faster! The long fluid strides of his legs moved him along the busy sidewalks as he rushed towards home. It felt like it took forever, but Percy finally reached the lobby of his building.

Elevator…front door…computer…Max!

Percy couldn’t slow down the erratic beating in his chest. He wanted Max and he wanted him right now. Normally, he would have jumped in the shower before getting online, but his need was too strong. The strong masculine smell of sweat and cologne seeping from his body was intoxicating, making him lust after Max that much more.

Every cell in his body was on fire. Typing too fast caused an error on the login page. A red X flashed across the screen. His fingers flinched as if they had been smacked.

“Damn it!” Swearing under his breath, Percy slowed down and pecked out the proper keys. The username and password were accepted. It was a few minutes before seven o’clock. His triumphant cheer was followed by squeals of joy when he noticed a new message from Max.

Holding his breath, Percy bounced around in his seat waiting for the message to open. He checked the time stamp; it came in this afternoon. “Max was probably just as excited about tonight as I am,” Percy’s words suddenly echoed in his ears.

“What?” A big frowny face was inserted at the start of the message. No! No! No! This can’t be good. Feeling like a lead weight had just dashed his hopes, he reread Max’s words over and over.

Message: I’m sorry, Binx, but I have to work tonight. It wasn’t planned or anything, I just found out. You have no idea how sorry I am! I would much rather spend the evening with you. I will make it up to you, I promise! Don’t know what time I’ll get home. XOXO Love, Max

Percy felt deflated. The brown paper wrapped box sat on the table beside his computer. It had been hard to ignore the package when it was screaming open me every few seconds.

“Well,” he pouted and pushed the box away from him, “what do I do now?”

The perfect porno had been downloaded and the file link was loaded and ready to share. Percy wanted to watch it with Max. It was sexy and erotic and he thought it could be their appetizer to whatever dessert was in the brown box. Now, not only had the entire meal been cancelled, he was still starving for Max.

Percy got up and paced around the living room. He didn’t want to go out, but he didn’t want to stay in. The television would be a welcome distraction, yet would he be able to enjoy any programs without thinking about Max? Probably not, worse still, the hard-on he’d been sporting ever since he found out about the gift, was still painfully engorged.

Max had given Percy specific orders. “Don’t touch your cock.”

“I need a shower,” Percy grumbled. If he couldn’t relieve himself then maybe a deluge of icy cold water would dampen his raging lust.

* * * *

The boom of the bass could be heard a block away from the club. After Percy featured the nightclub a few months back, Twizted became one of the hottest places in town.

Velvet ropes kept the partiers orderly while they waited their turn to get in.

A little drizzle had started to fall. Percy shoved his hands in his front pockets. It might be chilly outside, but inside would be a whole different story.

Walking along the outside of the roped off line, he noticed the entrance up ahead. The bouncer was a big man, his arms folded over his wide chest as he silently stood his ground, daring someone to step out of line.

His hard face didn’t change expression as Percy approached. Percy knew everyone called him Comic, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember the handsome man’s real name. The rainfall dampened the guy’s tight black T-shirt, stretching the fabric over the swells of his pecs, leaving little to the imagination of what was underneath the material.

Worried he was overstepping his boundaries, Percy contemplated just walking on by. If the guy didn’t recognize him then maybe he could act like he was casually passing through.

“Mr. G?” The deep voice rumbled like the thunder interrupting the night.

Percy suddenly stopped and smiled. The guy remembered him. It would have been embarrassing to try to use his notoriety to get into the club, only to have the guy not remember him.

“Hey, Wayne, how’s it going?” Thank goodness Percy remembered his name at the last second.

Nodding his head towards the packed line, the guy said, “Oh man, I can’t complain. I get to crack someone’s bones almost every night.” Comic liked the physical aspect of his job way too much. It was almost frightening.

Letting out a chuckle, Percy shook his head and smiled. The guy might have an adorable nickname, but nobody would be crazy enough to want to call this guy cuddly. It was like when a big guy was called Tiny or a fat dude was only known as Slim, Wayne was anything but funny. The man was good looking, but he was also super serious.

“Are you getting Twizted tonight?” Comic asked, playing on words with the club’s name while he unclipped the velvet rope and stepped aside giving Percy a view of the open door.

Hesitating only a second, Percy stepped over the threshold and into the packed nightclub as loud groans sounded from the jealous patrons watching him ushered out of the cold, wet rain.

* * * *

Hot was an understatement. The club was sweltering. Percy didn’t know what the occupancy limit was at Twizted, but this massive crowd was well over maximum capacity.

The moist air was thick and enveloped the dancers as they pulsed to the beat of techno-colored strobe lights and loud music. Percy pushed his way through the people. Perfume, sweat, and the smell of alcohol tingled his nose as he continued towards the bar.

He was here, so he might as well be drunk like the rest of them. Maybe a few drinks would get his mind off of Max. “Rum and Coke,” Percy shouted as he squeezed into the standing-room-only space at the bar.

A glass appeared, but before he could pick it up, someone grabbed it first. Prepared to argue for his drink, Percy noticed the long, slender fingers with bold red fingernails circling his glass.

The woman was striking. Her long blonde hair cascaded over her bare shoulders. The red sleeveless top matched the shade of her dangerously long nails. The woman was arrogant.

Percy could tell by the way she looked at him, like he was her new play-toy, and that was just the kind of girl Percy liked to avoid.

“How about I buy you a drink?” She leaned in closer to keep from having to shout. So sure of her feminine prowess, she swirled the dark contents of his glass, before downing his drink it in one swallow. Rich and beautiful, always used to getting her way, Percy chuckled at how unattractive he found her.

“No thanks.” Turning his back to her, he shouted to the bartender, “Another rum and Coke.”

“Oh, I see,” the woman snarled instead of taking the hint and moving on. “You’re seeing somebody, how sweet.”

Irritated with her, Percy just nodded his head, trying to search out the bartender. His black hair was still damp from the rain outside. He shook his head, trying to keep the wet locks from dripping into his eyes.

The woman didn’t go away, nor did she take no for an answer. “Nobody has to know about us…”

“I would know.” Percy’s body was rigid when he turned to her. He was upset Max had cancelled on him. His cock was aching and this woman wouldn’t leave him alone. Percy was ready to shout at her to go the fuck away when the bartender tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a fresh drink.

“Thanks, man.” Looking up, Percy recognized the bartender. The guy was gorgeous. Percy met him a few times when he was preparing the write-up on the club. Somehow the guy always looked as if he’d just gotten back from vacation.

His sandy blond hair was slightly overgrown and his sun-kissed skin looked warm and delicious.

Percy watched the man move. His long fingers grabbed a glass tumbler and poured up a blue concoction for the next customer. “No problem, Mr. G., management was so pleased after you featured this place, I figured it was the least I could do.”

The bartender winked as he handed the drink across the bar top. His smile was breathtaking. Felling his pulse quicken, Percy’s mind raced. Seeing this guy made him think even more about Max. He wondered what Max looked like. Was he long and lean like this guy or was he strong and muscular like Wayne standing out front?

Going out suddenly seemed like a bad idea. Percy wanted to get his mind off of Max, but Max was all he could think about. Pulling a couple of bills from his pocket, Percy held them up to the bartender when he realized he didn’t know the guy’s name.

“Are you leaving so soon?” The bartender frowned.

Percy nodded, trying to hand the bills to him, but he shook his blond head, refusing to take his money. “It’s on the house.”

Before Percy could thank the bartender, he stepped closer, “If you’re around later, I get off work at one.” The guy waggled his eyebrows making Percy’s entire body shudder. It was so very tempted. Walking would be virtually impossible now, not only was he sexually frustrated, but he was so incredibly turned on.

“I’m flattered…” There was that awkward pause for the guy to fill in his name.

“…Russell, my name’s Russell, or you can call me Rusty.” The bartender’s smile beamed.

“But I’m dating someone.” Percy couldn’t believe he was actually going to turn and walk away from such a sexy man, but as much as he wanted to fuck Rusty, he wanted Max more.