Puppy for Sale 3.19 - Life After Greenstone - 3. The Kindness Of Strangers

"Hey, should you be here?" I heard a now-familiar voice as I walked over to the bar in Chariots.

"Oh hey Joey, fancy seeing you here, and uh, why shouldn't I be here?" I replied, pulling up a seat in the quiet-looking venue.

"Well, it's just when people come to a club, they usually have a smile on their face, and you? Well, you look like you got mugged just before you came in."

"Oh," I said, trying on my best grin. "I'm fine. Well, actually, I'm not. I sort of ended my car crash of a relationship tonight."

"With Hunter?" Joey asked, a shocked look on his face.

"The very one. Or the 'Pitbull' as he has come to be known by my family."

I looked around, finding it strange a club would be so empty on a Sunday night. "You gonna have a drink or just sit there all night looking glum."

"Sorry, yeah, Vodka and Coke, please. Make it a double."

"That's the spirit. Get it?"

"Haha, very good! So how's yours," I asked as Joey moved around the bar sorting my drink. He took his time as the lack of customers allowed him to be down a gear. I didn't mind, of course. It gave me a chance to be cheap, looking at his ass and defined arms as both flexed with his movements. God, he was beautiful. And had a personality, what a bonus.

"Sorry, you were saying?" He asked, placing my tall glass in front of me, lemon and straw included.

"Yours, as in, uh... Jack, right?"

Joey shook his head. "We're okay. It's just his job; it's changed him. I told you he's a Recruitment Manager, yeah?"

"Vaguely, I think."

"He's just... we're just different people now, I think."

"Sucks, huh?" I asked, taking a sip through my straw. "So, uh, what time do you get off?"

"One am, but if it stays like this, perhaps midnight. Why? Are you chatting me up?"

"Huh? Uh no, I...."

"I'm just pulling your chain. Like joking?" He said as my face filled with molten lava.

"Oh, haha. No, I just wondered. I was going to take you to dinner. I mean, actually, that is so forward of me. I didn't mean...."

Joey placed his hand on my wrist, making my stomach flutter. "Hey, don't talk so much. I get what you mean; you want some company, huh?"

"Yeah, I think that's what I want," I replied, looking into his eyes. Big blue eyes. "Maybe I should go. I don't know why I came here."

"Why would you do that? Look, dinner might cause Jack to raise an eyebrow, but why don't we grab a table. I'll keep an eye on the bar. That sound okay?"

I shrugged and hopped off my stool. Joey looked around, analysing who's drink might need topping up but looking satisfied, he came through the side exit and followed me over to one of the couches.

"I'll sit here; it gives me a good view."

"Won't Jack mind you sitting alone with me?"

"He's soundo. He has done about thirteen hours today."

"Okay."

"So tell me about yourself and why you've dumped your boyfriend."

I chuckled. "Dumped? That's such a lame term. Let's just say I ended our two-year relationship." I sighed, wondering where to begin with Joey's question. "When I first got with Hunter, it was so... he was so, like, everything I ever wanted. I like boys with a bit of attitude. He is tall, strong, somewhat badass, and he worshipped the ground I walked on. We've been through a lot together, you know?"

"Sounds like a mirror of Jack and me," Joey said, holding up his left hand.

"Shit, I didn't see that. You're married?"

"Yep, very young too. Still young, I guess."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one. Got married when I was eighteen. It was the happiest day of my life."

"You say that as if you're disappointed," I said, seeing him almost deflate.

"Nah, but like you, we've been through a lot. Believe it or not, I have a two-year-old son."

"Wow congratulations, It's lovely you and Jack have a child."

"No, you misunderstand. I have a child with a girl. At the time, Jack was certainly not involved."

"Sorry I don't follow."

Joey looked around, eyed the bar and then set his gaze back on me. "I had an affair. It was brief, intense and very wrong. She was gonna get an abortion, but I stopped her. I now see him Mondays and Wednesdays. Or at least my Mum does. She dotes over him.

"Wow, and I thought my life was crazy. Hunter slit his throat right in front of me and had two or three cardiac arrests. I often think getting through that would mean I could deal with anything."

"Fucking hell, that is deep."

"Yeah, and so is having a kid when you're gay and with a guy."

"Tell me about it," Joey laughed. "I'm really glad I have him, though. I mean, sure, having parents to give him to and have them so close is great. So close as in the same building."

"I have to ask, how did you, well...."

"End up being able to have sex with a girl?"

"Well yeah, I mean, you are gay, right?"

"Now, that is a very complicated question. Before I met Jack, I was convinced one hundred per cent I was straight. I liked girls; I really did. Then Jack came along, and we sort of have a past, which I won't bore you with but yeah. So when Emily came to work here, we got close."

"So close you had sex with her?"

"It was so fucking weird, Jensen. I think because Jack was doing such long hours and... well, Emily and me just clicked. We used to do the same shifts at the club. We went shopping together, ate together, got drunk together. Then one night, we got a bit wasted and, well, things happened."

"So if I'm reading all this right, it's about the personality of a person that attracts you and not the gender of a person?"

Joey clicked his fingers. "Exactly!"

"Girls are not for me, but I completely understand. And actually, when I think about it, it's not that strange."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. People have differing opinions. Oh, hold that thought, we have a customer, yay!"

Joey pulled himself out of the sofa and headed back off to the bar. I got my phone out and lit up the screen. Fourteen missed calls, all Hunter. I kept it on silent, thinking I was enjoying talking to someone else for the first time in ages. Joey was almost a stranger and just telling him about my broken relationship felt like a weight off.

I must admit, I was a little disappointed Joey's relationship with Jack seemed to be holding up. Of course, I could see he was a little unhappy. But with the added baby thing and his marriage, I knew making a move for him was out of the question. My God, what was I even thinking? I was just out of a relationship myself, and I'm having these thoughts. Mum had taught me a valuable lesson in what rebound meant, and I knew I was a perfect example of what that was. I'm a fucking Prick, as Steven would say. I shook my head as if to shake the thoughts about Joey from my head.

He came back with a glass in his hand and set it down in front of me.

"What's that?"

"I'm buying you a drink. Call it a toast to a new friendship."

"Well, thank you," I said, holding up the glass and gesturing it towards him.

"So, what're your plans?"

"Now?" I asked, tilting my head.

"No, silly," Joey giggled. "I mean with Hunter."

I shrugged. "I haven't got that far in my head, to be honest. We have a place, mortgaged. It's going to be complicated. I can see it now."

"You gonna sell it?"

"I guess. But like I say, I haven't got that far. I still have a lot of love for him. He's just got anger issues I don't think I'm cut out to deal with."

"You still in love with him?"

I leant back into the sofa and thought about that question. Then, after a few seconds, I looked at Joey sincerely. "It's upsetting, but no, I don't think I am. I'm trying to think back and find a point in our relationship when I remember I feeling like that, but I can't."

"It's called going through the motions, Jensen. You get so tied up with living your life together, you just zone out and get on with it. Sometimes it's not until someone else catches your eye you realise how you don't feel the way you used to when you're with that person."

"And uh, do you feel like that?"

"Pffft, Jensen, I'm in deep with Jack. Our relationship intertwines into so many other people's lives it's not like I can just leave, or at worst divorce him."

"Have you ever thought about it?"

"Divorce? Separation? Fucking hell Jensen, about twenty times a day."

"Wow." That was all I could say about his revelation.

"I'm like you, though. I still love him very much, and when I think about leaving him, there is no malice or bad feeling in that. I just realised we're different people. We have hardly anything in common as we used to, and If he were honest, he'd probably say I was holding him back."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, he has a good job, lots of friends. He goes out a lot with new clients to swanky bars and restaurants. And then there's me."

"You? What's that mean? You make it sound like you're lower than him."

"Joey, I'm a part-time barman in my parent's club. I just feel we're on different social levels. I'm a family person, close to my brother Roman. Close to my parents. You see?"

"I guess," I said, thinking he was talking himself down. I didn't say anything. "So, are you just going to stay living this life?"

"Yep, because it's where I belong. This is what I was destined to do. I never went to University. I don't have that much of an education. I don't have any contacts like Jack does. So I just do my thing, and Jack does his."

I looked down at a spot on the floor. "I uh, I think you're a lovely person. I wish I had someone like you. Shit, that was so cheesy. I'm sorry. But I think you're great. You're fun, bubbly and hold a great conversation. You're obviously a very deep person. Just like me."

"You are; you're chatting me up, aren't you?" Joey burst into a fit of giggles, bringing his knees up and falling back.

I grinned like a stupid idiot. "No, I just wanted to say...."

"Oh, hang on, here's Jack. Speak of the devil."

"Hey Boy, whatcha doing? Oh, hey...uh...." Jack started, clicking his fingers.

"Jensen. Hi Jack," I said, trying to smile."

"Joey and me were just chatting. I'm good. Did you have a nice nap?"

"Yeah, but I woke up with a headache. I must have slept too long. So what you two been talking about?"

"Oh, well, uh, Jensen has split up with his partner, Hunter. We were just chatting about that, oh and Noah."

"Ahh yes, the child," Jack said, frowning.

"Jensen, Jack dislikes children," Joey announced, looking up at Jack.

"I don't dislike children; I just dislike that child."

Joey rolled his eyes. "Jack, keep Jensen company. I need to serve that guy." Joey got up, allowing Jack to sit in his place. I don't know why but I felt a little on edge, almost uncomfortable as Jack looked at me, not saying anything.

"So uh, Joey tells me you're a Recruitment Manager?"

"Yeah, and you?"

"Well, I'm studying Child Psychology, and I work at a burger joint to top up my bank account."

"Cool, so what're your plans after you complete your course?"

"I plan to take over a children's home."

"Wow, really? Take over? Big plans then?"

"Real big. In fact, not just any children's home."

"Oh?"

"Greenstone."

"I've heard of that place," Jack said, stroking his chin.

"I used to live there. In fact, I grew up there."

"Oh my God, really?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"Hang on, how did you end up...."

"In a children's home? Do you have the stomach to know?"

"Jesus, you weren't sexually abused, were you?" Jack asked, looking shocked.

"No, nothing like that. I watched my... well, stepdad, I guess you could say... Anyway, I watched him shoot my mother in the head. Then he shot himself. I thought he was my dad for so long. But then when I was sixteen, My real Dad found me, and... well, that's the abridged version. But Greenstone is a place I really care about. It was my life."

Jack just sat there looking dumbfounded. "Wow," he finally muttered.

"Wanna know more? Or is this too much on our...hmm, second meeting?"

Jack shook his head and grinned. "No, you carry on, by all means."