You never know - 1. Chapter 1

You Never Know Part 1

Cam Paterson was behind the counter in his wee corner shop. You know the type; you find them throughout towns in Britain. Cam's was situated just a stone’s throw from the beach in his home town of Ayr. The shop sold everything from papers to pasties, and because the town was a tourist spot, Cam had a small side room supporting local artists and craftsmen. As he was kneeling behind the counter, the shop door opened with a chime. Standing to see who had entered, he froze. In front of him was a vision in green and tan.

“Hi there. I’m here to pick up a parcel on behalf of Inter Pacs. Can I speak to Cam Paterson?”

Cam felt his body go weak and his cock stiffen at the voice and looks. The guy was his sort of hot, maybe not particularly good looking; Cam started ticking mental boxes, tick, tick.

“I’m Cam. This is my first time. What do I need to do?” He smiled with this said, inwardly groaning at his bad joke.

Cam nearly came there and then when the courier smiled. He had revealed a set of almost perfect white teeth. This coupled with the guy’s five foot ten, hirsute rugby build, tattooed arms, cropped hair and bright grey-blue dancing eyes made Cam drool, from more than just his mouth.

“Ok. Where is the shipment going? First of all, is it domestic or international?”

Cam, still mentally ticking boxes, shook his head. “Oh. Eh. It’s going to Norfolk, Virginia, USA, so I guess international; the person it’s going to left their account details.”

The courier, not having stopped smiling all this time, started to pull paperwork out and explained what needed to be done. Cam stood filling out the documents and glancing every so often at the man in front of him. The whole time his brain was going, tick, tick, tick.

Soon the Courier had packed the painting of Arran the customer had bought, and was saying his goodbyes. “I hope you use Inter Pacs again. My name is Stuart, by the way.” Taking the parcel he left.

Cam watched, smiling, as he departed, tick. 'What an arse, woooooof!'

As he worked, his mind kept drifting back to Stuart, the courier. Normally he would be lucky to post 5 or 6 pieces a year. It wouldn’t be enough to fill his desire to see him, but just enough to tease him and fuel his fantasies before bed.

10 days later, he hung up the phone; another international shipment had been booked. He spent the rest of the day in a half daze.

'Would it be Stuart or someone else?'

Morning and lunchtime passed and Cam was getting more excited and worried. He knew the guy was likely straight, but a fantasy was a fantasy. Cam was busy and dealing with a customer when the bell rang. He turned to see the green and tan uniform, and smiled when he saw it was Stuart. The return smile was warm and friendly.

"Hey there, Cam isn't it? Hear you got another shipment. Where we going this time?"

Cams mind screamed, ‘My place,’ his mouth said, "Oh it's just to London this time." "Ok, not so much paperwork for that. So what we shipping this time?"

Cam lifted a small set of pottery figures: little kilted fat men playing musical instruments.

"Aw cute. We better wrap them to stop any damage."

Cam was just melting inside. He went behind the counter and found some paper and bubble wrap. He reached for the first of the figures starting to wrap it. As he reached for another, his hand brushed against something warm. There was a surge of heat and a small shock; he had barely brushed against the back of Stuart's hand. The only acknowledgement of what happened was a smile that played over Stuart’s lips.

All too soon, the shipment was being carried out of the shop, Stuart's parting, "See you soon," reverberating through his mind.

---------

Cam sat bolt upright. His sheets were a mess and the bottom sheet had come loose. He felt the sticky residue of his orgasm cooling on his torso. He was still hard as a rock. He hadn't had a dream like this since his teens. To have one in his early forties was scary. The only thing he could remember was the piercing grey blue eyes and the green and tan of the uniform---------

Cam was starting to think he would never see Stuart again; all the sales so far had been small stuff that the customers had taken with them. It was now 5 weeks since he had last seen Stuart. Even though it had been so long, Cam still had the dreams to keep him smiling.

Finally on what was the 46th day since he had first shipped, he had the chance again. Cam called the pickup in then went about his daily work a little halfheartedly, distracted by what might be. He was sitting, watching the door when it opened, and in walked Stuart.

"We have to stop meeting like this Cam. People will talk."

Cam was instantly scarlet and started to stutter. "W-w-what? W-w-w-why."

Stuart flashed his trademark smile and all thoughts fled Cams mind except one.

"So, where to today?" As Stuart waited for the answer, he looked around. Really noting his surroundings for the first time to be honest.

"Sydney this time, wish I could go with it. I need a holiday."

As Stuart checked the paperwork they chatted away.

"Must be hard getting time off to get a holiday when you run your own business."

"It is, but I usually get time at the end of July, start of August and February. My nephew helps me out then."

"Not long then till your August break. You got plans?"

"Just to relax and chill I may head into the city or up north. No plans just yet.”

"Well that's us; this should be there in three days. Enjoy your day." Stuart finished labelling the parcel.

Again the smile, again the racing heart. This time Cam followed him to the door to see him out. "Thanks for helping with the paperwork, Stuart. I’ll have it ready next time, now that I know."

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Cam was organising the shop and getting the last of the orders done before his holiday. He was just waiting for his nephew to arrive so he could go over a few things.

Kal, his nephew, walked through the door. "Hey Uncle Cam, how’s tricks?" Kal was 20, and was often mistaken as Cam's son.

"I'm good Kal, thanks for coming in. How about you, you ok? How’s my ugly-arsed brother doing?

"Dad's good, but on ma case to get a girlfriend. You know what he can be like. Otherwise all's good; glad I'm gonna be here the next few days. I get out of the house and get paid."

"Kal you are great kid, you'll be dating soon enough, don't worry about it. So let’s get started. You know the till, you know the basic orders. The gallery is going great; I have even started shipping the items worldwide."

"Wow, Uncle Cam. Cool."

"Well I got a great deal with a company called Inter Pacs; I'm going to show you what to do if you get asked to ship stuff. I got a shipment for New York; that butt ugly urn. Someone bought it."

Kal just smiled, the urn was ugly. Cam then showed Kal how to fill out the paperwork, pack the goods and organize the pickup.

"If you’re not sure, call the pickup in. The guy that comes in is really helpful and will help you sort out things if you have problems."

Kal knew his Uncle well enough to now there was something else, but kept quiet. They carried on sorting out the shop and reacquainting Kal with the job. Cam was in the store room when he heard the door go.

"Uncle Cam, there's a guy here to see you,” Kal shouted.

Cam came through the door to see an older man standing.

"Hi, I'm here for the parcel."

"Oh right. Kal can you get it, please,” then turning to the courier, “here's the paperwork."

After a quick check the courier, who had by now been handed the shipment, finalized the details and sealed up everything. With little conversation, Cam explained what was going on to Kal. Just as the courier was about to leave, Cam spoke.

“So what’s up with Stuart?”

“Not too sure. Think he might be on holiday. I’m from a different centre and only helping out.”

This said, the courier left and Cam and Kal carried on sorting things out.

-

Cam sat at his desk putting the finishing touches to his last order before he finished. This was his last day before he was on holiday. Everything was going great. Kal had shown up to help out and it let Cam finish up on time.

Cam hit send on the order page and sat back. He heard Kal, polite and businesslike, talking to someone.

“Uncle Cam is in the back, can I ask who you are?”

Cam started to get up, it was then that he heard the voice. Coming through the door, he almost knocked his nephew over.

“Sorry Kal, I'll deal with this gentleman.” Smiling, he spoke to the man at the counter.

“Hey Stuart. What brings you here?”

“Oh I’m down here wi' some mates; we came down for the Races. Thought I’d pop in and say hello. That and get some hints for places tae eat and drink. Hey better still, if you’re finished for the day why not show me the places to go? Don’t you start your holidays today?” Cam felt the heat rise in his face; too late he also noticed Kal watching him, a smile playing over his face.

“I can close up. Uncle you go have……fun.”

Cam gathered his gear together and as he walked out the door, shot a smile over his shoulder at his nephew and mouthed, “You will pay. “

“Ok where to. Lead on McDuff,” Stuart said smiling.

Cam indicated with his hand the direction then headed off. “Where are your mates?”

“Oh they’re in that chippy along the road.”

Cam and Stuart slowly walked along the street chatting. “Hey thanks Cam, for this. Was that your nephew? Seems like a good lad.”

“Yeh that was Kal and he has is moments.” Cam watched Stuart as they walked, chatting about their days. When they got to the chippy, Stuart offered to buy Cam something, but he refused.

Looking in the door, Cam could see a group of regular guys dressed in jeans and shirts. They were laughing at something that had been said as they waited for their order. One of them noticed Stuart in the doorway and the conversation stopped dead.

“Stuarty, boy, where wi goin? I plan ti git pished. Oh this him?” Cam had moved into sight seconds before. “Hey mate, Stuart here says yir gonna show us thi sights. A’m John.” He offered a hand to Cam who took and shook it.

“Hi John, yeh Stuart asked me to show you some of the bars. What you looking for? Drink? Drink and dancing?”

“A’m happy long as ah can git bevvied and the burds are nice. Got a good win or two at the Horse’s.”

There was a mumble from the rest of the group all agreeing with John. Cam thought John was nice; not his type, too clean cut, but pleasant, until he spoke. He was pure Weegie, as they say, a nasally sounding Glaswegian Ned.

Stuart, now with food in hand, started to introduce the rest of the guys. All were pleasant and shook hands with Cam.

“Well, if we carry on down this street, it leads to a few bars. Then we can walk up the High Street. MacArthurs or the Four Cats sounds like what you’re looking for. Though it might be a little early yet.”

John had now squeezed into the gap between Stuart and Cam.

"Want a chip Cam, am sure Stuart here willnae offer yi a bean, greedy basturt. He aweways eats seconds. Dinnae ken wir he pits it. So whir wi goin. Ah need a beer."

Cam looked at John and smiled. "We can try Billie’s, then move on."

Cam liked Billie’s as it was a man’s bar. Well to be honest, it had a reputation as "friendly" for a straight bar. The guys trooped in and ordered and all too soon they were standing around joking and laughing. Cam stood to the side taking it all in, watching them; he noticed John watching him and then spotted Stuart stealing glances.

They ended up having three more rounds in Billie’s. Cam, not being a big drinker and having not eaten, felt lightheaded.

He had now gotten to talk to all the guys. The one thing they all agreed on was that Stuart was a great guy. At first, Cam wondered why they were telling him this. John spent a lot of time talking to him. Turned out, John was Stuart’s best mate. They had grown up together and gone through school as well.

Cam was suddenly aware that John was quizzing him. Why? All the questions had been about how he knew Stuart. Cam answered them truthfully. He didn't really know Stuart; he had come along tonight because he had been asked to help, least that's what he told himself.

As they chatted, Stuart came over with two beers.

"John, leave him be. I'm a big boy. Cam, sorry. John can be....protective."

"Why, what do you mean?"

Stuart turned slightly and lent to whisper in John’s ear. Then turned back to Cam.

"Am aff tae point Percy." This said John moved through the crowd heading to the toilet.

Stuart took his place by Cam’s side.

"I think I should explain, Cam. John and I go way back; he knows everything about me. I.....I...God how to put this? I sort of told him I met someone I liked."

Cam, having almost finished the fifth pint was now feeling relaxed and happy. "Ok, so?"

Stuart started to fidget. It was kind of cute watching this guy struggle with what he had to say. There was a tenderness, a sweetness about him that his look and general demeanor did not hint at. Cam noticed John stomping back from his trip.

"Jesus man, a thought yi said this pub was a straight yin. A'm in thir pissin an some bloke comes up and asked mi if a wantit a blow him." John stopped and took in the scene, Cam’s smiling face, Stuart's look. He paused. "Oh. Sorry ti butt in. Stuart yi tolt him yet. Naw. Need a hawn."

Stuart blushed a deep red and shook his head. Cam thought this was the most heartwarming thing he had seen in a while. He had a suspicion now as to why he had been asked out, but thought he would wait. If he was right, it would be unbelievable. Cam watched the silent interplay between the friends. Stuart all rough looking and shy. John, your classic handsome, but rough as a badger, arse. The contrast made Cam smile.

He was lost in thought when he heard someone say his name.

"Haw Cam yi listenin? A wiz sayin Stuarty here wantit tae get you out wae us. Wantit tae let us check yi out."

Cam turned to face John, Stuart at his side, head down his mouth giving a great impression of a fish as it opened and closed.

"Our Stuarty here, how can a pit this polite, he likes blokes."

"John shut it, shut it now." Stuart’s growl had Cam turning. Just in time to see him turn and storm out.

"Fuck. Sorry Cam. Ma big mouth, wish a hudny had that voddie and shot. Ah better go after him."

Cam was left standing. He felt weird, Stuart obviously liked him. But he was embarrassed. A big guy like him, shy. Who would have thought?

As he watched John walk out the door, the other guys moved to crowd him. Questions were fired at him, asking what had happened. Cam tried to tell them, and got responses from, "oh fuck" to, "bloody John".

The guys started chatting amongst themselves, letting Cam slowly slip out of the crowd. Shortly, he was out the door. He stood looking to see we're Stuart and John where. Not seeing them, he decided to head on. They couldn't have gotten far and the street was clear both ways.

He heard them before he found them. Stuart’s voice was angry.

"John what the fuck are you on? I told you I didn't know if he was gay, straight or whatever. So you go and out me to him. Fuck….. fuck, fuck."

John’s voice had sobered. It now matched his look.

"Stuart, I'm sorry, you know what a’m like when I'm drunk. Christ man, I love yi as a brother. I just want ti see you happy, man. Talk to him."

"John, how can I? Jesus, he is what I dream of. I can't go and talk to him now. John, what can I do?"

"Stuart, I'm sorry man. I shouldnae have opened ma mouth. Come on, let's head back."

Cam couldn’t believe his ears Stuart liked him, wanted him. Before he had a chance to move, Stuart and John came round the corner.

"Shit, Cam how long you been there? Fuck". Stuart turned just as Cam reach to stop him.

"John, can you give us a minute?" Then as John walked back to the bar, "Stuart, please stop and listen to what I have to say."

Stuart placed his hand over Cam’s, originally to remove it, but held it there as he turned back.

Cam could feel the heat off the firm flesh of the arm along with the slightly sweaty palm now covering the back of his hand.

"Stuart, I'm sorry I listened in. But to be honest, I'm glad I did. Can we walk a bit; I feel the need to talk."

Stuart just nodded then removed his hand and crammed it into his pocket. Cam led him back past the pub, seeing John at the door.

"John we are going for a walk. If you want to move on, head along the way you were and at the crossing you will find the West Kirk, text us if you move on. We will get you there shortly."

They then headed back towards the shop. Passing it, they came to a small square where Cam indicated a seat. "Stuart, you said to John you weren't sure about me. Well....no let me say this please." Stuart had opened his mouth to talk, but Cam knew he had to say what he was going to say.

"Right, first yes I'm gay so do not worry, second from day one I've thought about you. But I never thought you would have similar feelings or thoughts. Stuart, you are my wet dream waiting to happen and it has. You’re attractive, fit, and.....well you’re lovely. I also now know you’re shy as well. A guy like me wouldn't have a chance to date a guy like you. "

“Cam from the first day I came into your shop I knew you were special. By the third I was having to leave just for decency’s sake. Your voice is amazing. Your eyes are the most beautiful grey You have so much to offer. You’re handsome and I love a bit of beef on my bears. I like guys Cam. I want to be with a guy I can throw around, if I want to, and not worry about him breaking.”

Cam by now was smiling. He had slid round on the bench to face Stuart. “Stuart, why did you ask me to come along tonight?”

Stuart looked at his feet and Cam smiled at him wringing his hands. The fact that this grown man now looked like a teenager on his first date was endearing. “I wanted to get to know you; I hoped you would be gay or bi and single. Christ. You are single, aren’t you?”

Cam, with a smile and a laugh in his voice, said, “Yes.”

“Oh good. Anyway, I just wanted to get to know you and John wanted to meet you. He is pretty good at working guys out. If he likes you, you’re in. He’s saved me from bad dates a few times.”

“Well I’m glad you did, because I would not be sitting here now talking to you. I’ve enjoyed myself; the guys are great and John loves you so much. Oh and for the record, yes I like you. So can we say this is a date?”

Stuart lifted his head and smiled. Standing he pulled Cam up to his feet and hugged him. “Let’s get back to the guys, bet they moved on. Yup John sent a text to say they were in the West Kirk.”

Cam put his hands in his pockets and the two men walked off to the pub.