The Beard - 14. Chapter 14

“My god they’re noisy.” Cole said lightly to Dale, who was resting comfortably against his chest. He liked this, sitting between Cole’s legs, his bare back resting against Cole’s bare chest, and with Cole’s arms wrapped around him. It was nearly six in the morning, and they’d woken a half hour ago when Glen and Jer had started to go at it again.

“Don’t you feel… weird sitting here and listening to them?” Dale asked. They were in Cole’s bedroom on the other side of the suite and they could hear Glen’s moaning and swear words as Jer fucked him again.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve been subjected to the sounds of Glen having sex, although he’s usually on top even when it’s a guy.” Cole said lightly. They’d eventually gone to sleep, and nothing more than a lot of kissing and groping had happened between them, but it was a lot more than Dale had ever dreamed of happening with Cole. It felt right to be here, leaning against Cole like this.

“I wonder if Jer has any idea about Glen’s tendency to just use people.” Dale stated softly, suddenly feeling some concern for his friend.

“You can get him alone today and warn him.” Cole said gently. “We really should start getting ready. Breakfast with Mom and Dad is in an hour.”

“I don’t feel like moving.” Dale groaned. “This is nice.”

“Yes, it is.” Cole agreed. “You call Dad and tell him we can’t make it to breakfast.”

“Uh, no, you do it.” Dale replied.

“No.” Cole asserted in a teasing tone. “It’s your damn idea, you do it.”

“You sure are cussing more, Cole.” Dale said, taking the tack of changing the subject.

“Only around you.” Cole said with a little chuckle. “Seriously, we better get moving. You take a long time getting ready.”

“Me?” Dale snorted. “What about you? You spend nearly an hour on your hair alone!”

“It takes a lot of work to look perfect.” Cole said calmly as he began to push Dale away from him.

“One night and already you’re trying to push me away from you.” Dale teased and then yowled as Cole slapped his bare back.

“Take that you heathen!” Cole laughed as Dale jumped out of the bed and headed out of the room.

“Oh, here it comes.” Cole started laughing as the moaning reached a crescendo in the other bedroom. With the door open now they could hear it even better.

“Don’t you mean ‘here Glen comes’?” Dale asked him, saying it loud enough that they should be able to hear him in the other bedroom.

“We heard that!” Jer’s voice was the only response they got besides Glen’s continued moaning.

“God he is loud.” Cole said as he shut the bedroom door in Dale’s face.

“That’s the second time someone’s done that in the last twelve hours!” Dale shouted and then shook his head as he was answered by Cole’s laughter from the other side. At least from the bathroom he was no longer an unwilling witness to the sounds coming from the room he’d originally taken, or at least he wasn’t once the shower was on.

That was probably why he didn’t know they’d finished until he heard the bathroom door open. He hadn’t thought to lock it, and now it was too late. Given the timing, that he’d barely started taking care of the ‘problem’ that came from a lot of contact with Cole and no real action, he was quite certain fate would ordain who it was that would walk in right now.

“I’m in here!” He shouted.

“My aren’t you the king of the obvious!” Glen’s obnoxious reply only made Dale very happy there was a very dark shower curtain between them. “You almost done in there?”

“No!” Dale replied. “Get out until I’m done.”

“Not bloody likely.” Glen said loud enough for him to hear. “Hurry up, I need to get clean too.”

“It’s my damn bathroom.” Dale said in a much lower voice. Then he squeaked when the shower curtain was flung open.

“Damn, all that working out is paying off.” Glen said with a malicious grin as he looked Dale up and down. “Still, that looks about average. Tell me, did my coming in here cause that erection or is Cole still on his virginity train?”

“That is none of your business!” Dale shouted, grabbing the curtain and shutting it. “Get the fuck out of the bathroom until I’m done!”

“Fine, be a spoilsport.” Glen laughed as he turned and left the bathroom.

Unfortunately, Glen’s interruption meant he was completely out of what he’d been doing before, so now he just finished getting clean. He really hadn’t had this problem before, mostly because he had thought it was just acting with Cole. Now that he knew the whole story, a lot of things made a lot more sense.

Like how Cole had been so calm about showing affection with him, and kissing him.

“It’s about damn time.” Glen growled as soon as he saw Dale walk out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Dale was not surprised in the least that Glen was standing there fully nude. Unlike Cole, he had a slight layer of fat over his middle, and was not as well defined. He was surprised at the equally nude figure of Jeremy who was behind Glen, with arms wrapped around Glen’s waist and whispering something in his ear.

“The bathroom’s all yours.” Dale said in a near-whisper, trying not to stare at his old friend.

“Thanks, Dale.” Jer said with a smile on his face as he pushed Glen towards the bathroom. “C’mon, party boy, let’s get you clean.”

“I am not a party boy!” Glen protested, but there was a smile on his face as he let Jeremy herd him into the bathroom. Dale just shook his head as he headed towards Cole’s bedroom.

“That is just freaky.” Cole said from where he stood in the doorway.

“What?” Dale asked. “Don’t tell me it’s freaky that your buddy would walk in on me while I’m taking a shower.”

“Hell no, I’m not saying that.” Cole laughed. “He probably pulled back the shower curtain too.”

“He did.” Dale said, somehow not managing to blush as he went to the dresser where he’d taken over a drawer for his clean underclothes. He was very conscious of Cole’s eyes on his body as he changed, and the ‘problem’ he hadn’t been able to finish taking care of in the shower began to resurface.

“Sorry about Glen.” Cole said with a sigh. “He has no respect for normal boundaries of decency.”

“I’ve noticed that.” Dale said dryly, earning a single laugh from Cole. At least the tight underwear would help keep his problem from being immediately noticed. The t-shirt went on next, followed by the dark socks and he crossed to the closet where a clean suit waited for him. “So what was so surprising?”

“First off, this thing with him and Jeremy.” Cole said as Dale got the suit out, removing the plastic dry-cleaning wrapper so he could put it on.

“Why is that surprising?” Dale asked. “I’ve only known him a little while and I could see why he went to meet Jeremy. He wanted to know if Jeremy was a threat to you. He can be real protective of you, I’ve noticed.”

“Yes, that’s why he’s always trying to seduce whoever I’m dating.” Cole said with a long sigh. “He thinks if they fall for his advances that I should know they’ll cheat on me.”

“He doesn’t actually have to do it with them to know that.” Dale said with a great load of sarcasm in his voice. “As soon as they are willing to take their clothes off he could stop and then tell you.”

“Why should he stop when he’s got sex in front of him?” Cole asked with a dry laugh and Dale looked back to see him shaking his head. “No, if Glen’s gets a shot at someone’s ass, he’ll take it without hesitating. That’s the way he is.”

“So, like I said, it’s no surprise he and Jeremy hooked up.” Dale said as he stepped into the pants.

“That’s not a surprise to me either.” Cole said with a loud sigh. “What is a surprise is that Glen is still having sex with him.”

“Why is that a surprise?” Dale asked as he pulled up his pants and started on his shirt. Cole made that tsking sound he always did about the order in which Dale got dressed.

“It’s easier if you button the shirt first and then…” Cole began to repeat yet again and Dale cut him off with a stare. “Fine, do it your way, but you always complain that I look perfect and you don’t…”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Dale said crossly. “Now, you were going to answer why it is a surprise Jeremy and your best friend are still fucking.”

“Glen doesn’t date, he just fucks.” Cole said.

“Yes, you warned me about that the first time I met him.” Dale said as he paused in getting dressed. He really hated it when Cole was right.

“Here, let me help.” Cole said as he stepped closer to Dale and began adjusting his shirt. That caused a whole other sort of problem. “Like I told you, Glen fucks ‘em and then he leaves ‘em. Only thing is he hasn’t left Jeremy yet.”

“They’ve probably gotten together all of two or three times.” Dale said. “What with Glen going to that private school, he isn’t likely to see Jeremy except on weekends, and we’d have known if they were meeting at the school.”

“Still, that’s more than one time.” Cole said as he finished tucking the shirt into Dale’s pants and making it look every bit as perfect as the clothes he wore. “I think I can count the number of times Glen’s gone out with the same person more than once on one hand.”

“As long as it’s not the hand you use to jerk off with.” Dale teased.

“Stop that.” Cole said with a light slap to Dale’s shoulder as he grabbed Dale’s tie and began to fix that too. “I’m having the same problem you are.”

“Jesus, how big are you?” Dale managed to ask as he looked down and saw the bulge snaking off to Cole’s left. “No, don’t answer that.”

“I’m not about to answer it, you size queen.” Cole said as he yanked the tie so that it nearly choked Dale.

“Hey!” Dale complained. “Careful with that.”

“Well maybe your blood needs to go back up to your head instead of down there.” Cole said.

“I’m not the one who has a cock about to shoot off the end of his hip-bone.” Dale muttered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“I could let you look like a slob instead of fixing you up.” Cole threatened.

“Like you’d allow yourself to be seen with a slob.” Dale countered

“Exactly.” Cole said smugly. “Now, what were we talking about?”

“I forgot, but it had something to do with my friend and your friend.” Dale muttered as Cole stepped back, pleased with how the tie looked. He sniffed as Dale put the jacket on, and did it again until Dale started to fix it the way Cole had showed him earlier.

“Right, I remember now.” Cole said as he reached and fixed the shirt collar a bit. “Glen doesn’t see people more than once or twice.”

“We don’t even know how often they’ve seen each other.” Dale said with another sigh.

“You need to work on your hair some more, or better yet, come in the bathroom and I’ll take care of it.” Cole said with a frown. Dale just sighed and followed him to the bathroom.

“What does it matter?” Dale asked. “As soon as I can get him alone, I’ll let Jer know not to get his heart broken and that will be that.”

“I think maybe you should hold off on that talk.” Cole said as he took up the brush and began to fiddle with Dale’s hair. “It’s almost time for you to get another haircut.”

“I just got one!” Dale protested.

“Yeah, well, I’ve got another idea for how to style it and it needs to be cut, and maybe some color done as well.” Cole said as he sprayed some gel or hairspray or something into Dale’s hair.

“I am not your personal Barbie doll to dress up!” Dale protested.

“You are now.” Cole informed him. “Remember, we’re not playing at boyfriends anymore. This is for real.”

“That does not give you the right to totally make me over!” Dale protested, taking the brush out of Cole’s hand. Then he looked at Cole’s face and saw the smirk there, along with twinkling eyes. “You’re teasing me!”

“A little.” Cole said with a smile as he leaned in and kissed Dale’s cheek. “Besides, you’d better be my Ken doll, not Barbie.”

“Gee, thanks.” Dale said with a laugh. It took them another few minutes to finish getting ready. By the time they’d gone up two floors and reached Cole’s parent’s suite, they were running ten minutes late.

“You boys are running late today.” Cole’s mother said as she let them into the room. One of those mobile tables had been delivered to the room and set up with breakfast for all four of them, including Cole’s favorite steel-cut oatmeal.

“We had some unexpected visitors last night.” Cole said with a slight grimace.

“Oh dear, not some protestors I hope.” She said with a frown on her pretty face.

“Glen and one of his friends.” Cole answered.

“Hey, Jeremy’s one of my friends too.” Dale said in defense of his friend.

“One of your friends is friends with Glen?” She asked him with a look of surprise on her face. “I do hope he knows he’s swimming in dangerous waters with that boy.”

“If he doesn’t, he will before the day’s out.” Cole told her.

“It’s about time you lazy boys got here.” Congressman, soon to be Senator Pritchard said as he hung up his Blackberry. “Let’s get started before the food gets cold.”

“How are you this morning?” Cole asked his father as they sat down at the table.

“It was a long night with all the phone calls.” His father said, grimacing as his phone rang again. He didn’t pick it up; just hit the red button to send the call to voicemail.

“Would you believe that greedy bastard Headley sent a letter of protest to the Governor before dinner was even served?” Cole’s mother said with a shake of her head.

“What the hell does he have to protest?” Cole asked with wide eyes. “He’s getting the Congressional seat handed to him on a silver platter.”

“Just more of the same old crap about diluting the voice of the people by making an appointment when it could wait until the election.” Cole’s father said with a sigh.

“How did the governor respond?” Dale asked.

“She didn’t.” He answered.

“We just let the statement stand?” Cole asked with a frown.

“Not for a second.” His mother answered with a proud smile. “We released a statement reminding Headley that there are four votes scheduled in the senate on bills that they support, all of which are going to be very close and that a vote from the new junior senator from California just might make the difference in at least three of those votes. You can read what the journalists are saying in this morning’s paper.”

“I think the word ‘inexperienced’ was the kindest they had for Headley.” Cole’s father said with a chuckle. “If he’s not careful the Republican is going to cream him in the November.”

“The idiot’s Chief of Staff even called Trish this morning asking if we’ll campaign for Headley in the general.” Cole’s mother added with a laugh.

“You’re kidding.” Dale said with wide eyes.

“Nope.” Cole’s father answered with a twinkle in his eyes. “So, you boys ready to discuss our day? There’s been a few changes.”

“Sure.” Cole said after swallowing a bit of his oatmeal. He’d already cut up the sausage links and spread them in the bowl, along with the blueberries.

“Dale, first of all, don’t get upset but we have a family television interview in an hour and you won’t be with us.” Cole’s mother said with a smile. “It doesn’t mean you aren’t a part of the family, but we wanted to save you for a later interview we’ll do next week for one of the news magazines instead of a cable news channel.”

“Why would I get upset about that?” Dale asked with an answering smile. He really wasn’t upset, or at least he didn’t feel too upset.

“We do have something for you to do this morning while we’re doing the interview.” Cole’s father said with a smile. “I understand you missed the Young Democrats party to go to the Leadership Foundation’s reception.”

“He got the invite, not me.” Cole said quickly.

“Yes, Mr. Jones made that quite clear when we talked late last night.” Cole’s father said with a little smile for his son. “He also said you impressed him a lot more than last time. Congratulations on that.”

“Thanks, dad.” Cole said without any hint of sarcasm.

“Dale, they’d like to talk to you again today about a position they have opening up soon.” Cole’s father said. “They knew you were working on my campaign and wanted to know if I intended to switch you over to the Senate campaign that is ramping up now. The truth is, we need someone who can do more than a part-time student in your position. From what they tell me they have some work for you over the next two years that will take you through the end of your senior year, if you’re interested.”

“I’d… I’d like to think about it.” Dale said honestly after thinking it through.

“That’s good.” Mr. Pritchard said. “The Foundation does a lot of good work and they are very picky on who they hire. Even their interns are hand-selected by their founders. Mr. Jones said if you’re interested you should be downstairs in about forty-five minutes from now. He’ll have one of his assistants meet with you to discuss the position, salary, and time requirements.”

“Thank you, sir.” Dale said.

“Don’t thank me.” Cole’s father said with a laugh. “I’m just the messenger on this one. You’re the one who impressed them. Now, if you have time after that, you can always make your way into the exhibition hall. The Party’s finishing up their convention today and you might enjoy watching things. I’m told to have a five-minute speech ready towards the end of the proceedings. You and Cole can meet up for lunch after that, if you want.”

“Sounds good.” Cole said.

“Fine by me.” Dale added.

“Good, then, Cole, would you care to tell me why you chose last night for leaving hickeys on your boyfriend’s neck?” Cole’s father asked, causing his son to cough as he swallowed his oatmeal wrong. For his part, Dale turned a bright pink and tried to slide under the table as the two adults laughed.

“Dear, Glen showed up last night.” Cole’s mother said to her husband. “Cole was probably marking his territory. You know how that Glen can be.”

“Mother!” Cole exclaimed in horror as Dale started laughing.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” Cole’s father said with a shake of his head. “I still wish you hadn’t picked now for leaving marks. At least it should shut up those who keep insisting your relationship is just for show.”

“You boys better finish up; we need to get going soon.” Cole’s mother said to break the silence that followed that comment. Dale’s first reaction was to protest that their relationship was real, but he couldn’t trust himself not to add the word ‘now’ at the end of such a statement. Instead he just finished eating silently.

“Dale, you should meet the person from the Foundation in the hotel’s lobby.” Cole’s father said when they were getting up from the table a few minutes later. It was the first time anyone has spoken in several minutes, and he knew there would be some discussion between them and Cole, but that was none of his concern.

“Thanks, sir.” Dale said simply before making his way out of the room as quickly as possible. The door was barely shut before he could hear Cole’s mother asking him some very direct questions. He certainly did not want to be around for that.

He left the suite in a hurry after that, heading down the hallway towards the elevators. It seemed like forever that he waited, something he was coming to expect with this hotel during the convention. When the doors opened, it was empty, but it had traveled only two floors before it stopped, and four people got on, all wearing their credentials for the convention around their necks. By the time they reached the lobby, the elevator was packed and he’d been squished into a back corner to make room for everyone.

When they’d first arrived at the convention, he’d been surprised at the wide variety of attire. Like Cole and his family, Dale had worn suits the entire time, and certainly there were plenty of other people wearing suits, but the majority of attendees were dressed far more casually. There were even a few people that looked like they’d never left the sixties behind, as well as a family that looked and smelled like they hadn’t taken a shower in years. As soon as he saw them in the hotel lobby he made sure to take a detour so he wouldn’t get cornered by them again.

The first time had been more than enough.

After his slight detour, he made his way to the lobby and began to look for the man he was supposed to meet. He’d met Mr. Rule at the reception the night before and found him easily enough sitting in an armchair near the main entrance. When Dale approached him, he stood up and held out his hand.

“Glad you could make it, Dale.” said the man with dark blond hair said as Dale shook his hand. He was shorter than Dale, had freckles on his face that made him look years younger than his forty-plus years, and was dressed in a pair of dark slacks with a dark green dress shirt.

“It’s nice to meet you again Mr. Rule.” Dale said as they finished their handshake.

“Please, call me Sean.” The man said as he sat down and motioned for Dale to sit in the chair next to him. Dale sat, and tried to adjust his posture to look professional, something not easily accomplished in the over-stuffed chairs. “I take it that Mr. Pritchard shared our interest in your working with us?”

“Yes, he mentioned you might have work for me to do.” Dale said with a nod of his head as he gave up on sitting upright and copied the older man’s posture, leaning forward slightly and resting his elbows on his knees.

“The Foundation has a number of retreats and research centers spread out through the country.” Sean said in a voice that was somehow quiet but quite audible over the buzz of the busy lobby. Around them people were milling about, talking or heading over to the convention center for the morning session. “Recently, we realized that while we have a retreat in Southern California and Nevada, we need one in Northern California. We decided on a location just north of where you live. Now that we’ve picked a location for the facility we need to begin the process of getting permits and begin actual construction. I will oversee the project and that means I’ll need a staff in Hill Valley to help with research and getting the project cleared through the county government. That’s where you come in.”

“I don’t know if I’m qualified for something like this.” Dale told him.

“Oh, don’t worry, what we need you to do will vary depending on your school schedule.” Sean said with a smile. “For the next few months most of what we need from you will be research that can be conducted over the weekends and some during the week after school. Once summer arrives, we should be ready to schedule the hearings with the county boards that will make the decisions on approval. You’ll act as my assistant on that process. By the time fall comes around, most of the work we’ll have for you will be in the evenings and weekends again.”

“If you’re sure…” Dale said cautiously.

“Oh definitely.” Sean said. “Davey was quite taken with you and Trish has nothing but the best to say about you. The salary will be monthly, not hourly. Don’t worry, you’ll make up any lack of hours during the school year with the work you’ll do over the summer, and of course we’ll need you through next summer as well. As for after that, well, you shouldn’t have any problems getting full Foundation scholarships for your college.”

“How much will this pay?” Dale asked.

“Twenty-five hundred per month will be the base salary with bonuses at the end of the year based on performance.” Sean told him.

“Wow, that’s a lot.” Dale said as his eyes went wide.

“Yes, but we will expect a lot from you.” Sean said. “First among what we expect will be full confidentiality. You are able to keep secrets aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Dale said, thinking of how he’d managed to not tell his secret to anyone, even his mother, that his relationship with Cole was fake. Or had been fake. He still didn’t know what to think about the changes that had happened last night. Part of him wanted to shout for joy every time he thought about it. The other part was waiting for a shoe to drop and crash everything down.

“You done yet?” Another male voice asked and Dale looked up to see a tall man with brown hair holding three cups of coffee.

“We’re just waiting for Dale to accept the offer.” Sean said to the man with a smile as he took one of the coffee cups. “Dale, this is my husband, Brandon.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Dale said as he started to stand. The brown-haired, handsome man shook his head and held out one of the coffee cups.

“Four sugars and skim milk, right?” Brandon asked him as Dale took the cup.

“Yes, how did you know?” Dale asked. Did they do this much research into him? The thought was kind of scary.

“Same way I know you’ll accept.” Brandon said with a smile.

“I’m tempted to say no just because you said that.” Dale joked as he took the cup of coffee. Brandon sat down on the arm of Sean’s chair and chuckled.

“Why me?” Dale asked Sean as he took a sip of coffee. “Is this because I’m dating Cole Pritchard?”

“In a way.” Sean answered with a shrug. “There’s an old cliché about opportunity being more about who you know instead of what you know.”

“There’s another cliché about being in the right place at the right time.” Brandon added to Sean’s statement.

“True.” Sean said with a smile to Brandon. “Both of them apply to your situation. You came to our notice because of your relationship and the publicity you have received over the last few months. The offer of work is based on the qualities that we see in you, though, not because you are in a relationship with Cole Pritchard.”

“You happened to know the right person, which put you in the right place at the right time.” Brandon added to Sean’s statement. “Over the years you’ll find that particular formula is a part of everyone’s life.”

“The biggest difference between those that succeed and fail is their ability to make the most out of those moments.” Sean said, giving Dale a very direct look.

“Fine, I’ll take the job.” Dale said after thinking over their statements for a few minutes. His life really had changed ever since Cole came into it. A little voice in the back of his head told him that Cole’s life had changed too.

Would it be enough? He wasn’t sure, but he was going to do everything he could to make it work.