Confounded: Part I - 1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1 --==Mitchell's POV==--

From the moment Taylan Slattery came to work for my company, or rather from the moment I actually met him, I felt curiously attracted to him. Which is quite strange, since I usually am drawn to more reserved and conservative men, myself being one of them.

Taylan is the exact opposite; short (I prefer someone closer to my own height, which is 6'6), feisty, a fast talker and rather feminine. And quite...umm, what's the word here...'cute,' probably, as they say these days? I'd say attractive, physically and exciting, personality wise. Fine; cute is shorter.

He had the gift of gab, spouting one-liners so fast that most of the people he helped were still shocked long after he had solved their problems, and then would just laugh and not realize they were laughing about themselves and their own stupidity.

Respect for superiors was mostly non-existent with him, which sometimes led to embarrassing moments; he actually spoke his mind, and quite colorfully at that. Refreshing, yes, but not always the smart thing to do. If one of my assistant-directors purchased a laptop without his consent? He'd simply refuse to help the man; computer equipment was purchased by him, or no one at all. The argument that ensued had been quite a show, and I had to intervene myself so as to keep the bloodshed to a minimum. But he did win the argument.

According to his file from human resources, Taylan was 32, four years younger than me. He'd been hired as an internal CSE for my company; at the time of his arrival it had been quite a mess in that department.

When I started this company, back in 2000, we just bought stuff and went with it, not really keeping an inventory to register computer systems, monitors, accounts, and such. At first I had only three employees, counting myself among them; now I've got 150 and BSL Communications has become a medium-sized distributor of computer hardware and software.

As said, I didn't meet Taylan on his first day, or even at his interview, the latter being handled by Human Resources. I'd been abroad at the time, at a convention in Madrid, Spain. You might imagine my surprise then, that upon return I was greeted with ‘Watch where you're going, you walking tower', when I bumped into him in the hallway.

I remember staring after him, open-mouthed; the only thing I'd actually registered was neon-blue hair, and poison-green eyes. I followed him out of pure curiosity, and then watched him dress down an employee so expertly (but nevertheless comically) that he could have been on the cast of SNL, and no one would think it strange.

It was amazing what the other employees accepted from him in the way of oral dirt, and I felt myself immediately drawn to him; my heart, which had been in slumber for quite some time, suddenly started pounding again.

It's been that way ever since, whenever I see or just even hear him down the hall. And lately, he's been appearing in my mind very often, and frequently in the privacy of my bedroom.

I, Mitchell Gilmore, was in love. For the first time in years, a man occupied my thoughts again.

I don't lead, what you'd call, a celibate life; I just haven't fallen in love in the past few years. I never met the right guy, and having a son, my most prized possession, doesn't really help sell me as a catch.
Kit, my son, shouldn't have been here, for all intents and purposes, but he was, and I love the kid to death.

Physical satisfaction, coming back to the not being celibate comment for a moment, I got from a purely sexual friendship I had with a younger man I met on a trip, years ago. We'd been seeing each other ever since, every other month or so. It wasn’t perfect but it did the trick. We both got satisfaction without strings and we even agreed to remain monogamous until one of us met someone else. It was a safe, honest, but definitely not entirely satisfying. Physically, yes. Mentally, no.

The past few months, though, I hadn't called to invite him over; Taylan Slattery occupied my mind. And quite a lot at that, since I heard a rumor in the company cafeteria that he had gotten himself a boyfriend. Attractive and gay. Perfect!

Once I knew this, he began to invade my dreams, which had become a lot more erotic lately, and even brought me to once having a wet-dream. I hadn't had one of those since I was sixteen.

But, he was, unfortunately, taken.

The keyword here is ‘was'. Because, according to the latest round of company gossip, he's been a free man again for about a month now. And if I had anything to say about it, that wouldn't be his status for very long.

When I see something, I go for it. And last night, after hearing this bit of gossip on my way out, I'd made up my mind. I was going after Taylan. How, I didn't know but he'd be mine.

Soon.