Jimmy & Richie - 12. Chapter 12

The next morning, we were all snuggled together. I had to get up to get ready for work.

As I was trying to extract myself from the huddle, Rich rolled away. “I'm sorry if I woke you. I need to get up to get ready for work.”

“That's ok, I had a good sleep. I'll take a shower after you and then while you are getting dressed I'll make us breakfast.”

While I was showering, Rich started the coffee. By the time I was finished and dressed, Rich had the coffee ready and had a breakfast of eggs and bacon. "Thanks Rich, I could get use to this."

He smiled and headed toward the bathroom to take his shower. It didn't take him long when he came back into the kitchen in shorts. He sat down opposite me and started to eat his breakfast. We chatted about his dad, the visit and Nick going to State.

“I need to tell you something.”

“You can tell me anything Rich, that's what friends are for.”

“Last night in bed, when you put your arm around me and pulled me into you. I never slept so peaceful. I was always worried that I'd disturb your sleep, but last night was the best sleep I have ever had.”

“Well, don't tell Nick, but I slept very well also. I don't know what it is about you Rich, I'm very comfortable around you. I've got to go, we can talk about it tonight when I come home."

Rich stood when I got up, came and gave me a hug and a kiss on my cheek. I looked into his eyes and returned the kiss, to his cheek. All the way to work I thought about Rich, sleeping like we did last night and the kiss this morning. Do I like him more than a friend? I did find him attractive, especially when he smiled. I get lost looking into his eyes, but I'm not sure if these feelings are gay or just friendship.

As usual upon arriving at the plant, I was told to go and see Gramps. Walking into his office, Gramps asked me to sit down. “James, yesterday you uncovered a major problem. Bolt checked the total shipment and found that several cases were short. We now have put the supplier on hold. Mrs. Weaver needs your help in sorting though this company's invoices to check against deliveries. Bolt has taken an inventory of all unopened crates from this company and noted the weight on the crate. Mrs Weaver has this information."

I went to accounting and Mrs. Weaver was waiting for me. “James, here is the list Bolt sent up, I need you to go through these invoices and match the delivery to the invoice."

By lunchtime, I had attached the list from Mr. Bolt to the appropriate invoice. Scanning through the invoices, I noted several discrepancies. I took a red pencil and underlined those invoices that did not match the delivery per Mr. Bolt's list.

“Mrs. Weaver, I've attached the invoices to the list Mr. Bolt sent up. I have also redlined those invoices that did not match Mr. Bolt's inventory.”

“Thank you James. Why don't you go to lunch and then stop back here."

I did go to lunch, I started thinking about Rich again. I needed to talk to Brand before he leaves this weekend. If anyone can help me sort this out, it'll be him. I reflected on what I overheard when Nick and Rich were discussing his feelings. There was only one conclusion to be drawn, Rich liked me and would like to have a relationship with me. The question for me, do I like him enough, and an even better question was I gay. This was all confusing to me.

After lunch, Mrs. Weaver told me that my grandfather wanted to see me. When I entered his office, Mr. Bolt was there. "James, have a seat. Mr. Bolt and I have been discussing the issue concerning the discrepancy in shipping weights. I understand that you did an invoice check for Mrs. Weaver.”

“Yes, sir, there were several discrepancies between the invoices and Mr. Bolt's list.”

“In what way?”

“The discrepancies involved weights. On the invoices, the shipment were in kilograms where on Mr. Bolt's list the weight was in pounds.”

“As a side issue, James what would you do?”

“I would discontinue all orders to this company, set up a meeting with their CEO and discuss our findings. It may be an innocent problem of ignorance thinking kilogram and pound where the same or they knew the difference and thought they could get away with it.”

“At this stage James, we have cancelled all orders from this company. My guess is that I'll be getting a call before I leave today requesting a meeting. You can have the rest of the day off.”

“Thank you sir.”

As I left Gramps office, he gave me a smile and a wink. I knew we’ d have a discussion later tonight. Getting home early gave me a chance to talk with Brand. But first I need to change out of my suit. Going up the stairs, I could hear Rich and Nick talking again.

“Nick, last night he put his arm around me and pulled me into him. I almost cried it felt so good. I kissed him this morning and he kissed me back.”

“On the lips?”

“No, on the cheek”

“You got it bad.”

“It's no different if you had a girlfriend that you liked a lot. Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I can't have feelings for someone.”

“I know. I've seen Charles and Brandon enough times to understand that. Maybe you should just go ahead and tell him how you feel. He's a nice guy and he won't be angry. Maybe that's what he's waiting for."

Before Rich could say anything I opened the door and walked into the kitchen. “Your home early, what happened?”

“There was a problem at work, Gramps told me I could take the rest of the day off. So what do you want to do?”

“We could go to town and see if there is anything we can do there.”

“Ok, let me get changed. If you see Brand around let him know we need to talk ok.” They nodded and as I went into the bedroom to change, I heard the kitchen door close.

After changing I went downstairs and they were standing by the car. "Let's go.”

Driving to town was a simple drive from Gramps. We decided to park close to the center of town and then walk around. As soon as Nick saw an ice cream shop, we had to stop. There was a cinema, when we checked what was playing, we didn't see anything of interest.

"Let's go to that mall we stopped at the other day."

I drove to the mall, it wasn't too busy but still fairly full. There was a game room and Nick sort of navigated us in that direction. It was next to a book store, Nick wanted the game room, I wanted the book store and Rich said he didn't care. So we agreed to spend an hour in the game room and then an hour in the book store. In reality, we spent two hours in the game room and a half hour in the book store.

On the way home, “Jimmy, I'm sorry we spent so much time in the game room. Next time we'll start in the book store.”

“That's ok Nick, you'll be leaving soon. Rich and I can come back after you leave.” We got home before Gramps, so I went to look for Brand. He was with Charles.

“Brand, could I see you in private for a few minutes?”

“Sure let's go for a ride in your car.” Once we got on the road, "What's bothering you Jimmy?”

“Brand, how did you know you were gay?”

“Well, girls didn't do anything for me. They would practically take my dick out but it stayed soft. When Charles did it, I could drive a nail with it. Do you think you might be gay?”

“I don't know. I know that Rich likes me a lot. I hear him and Nick talk when I'm not around. Like, I’ll be on the steps walking up to the apartment and they would be talking. Last night when we were sleeping, I put my arm around Rich and pulled him into my body. It felt natural to do that. I like Rich, but I'm not sure I love him. I have never felt love for anyone except mom and you. But that isn't being gay.”

“No love for family is very different. How would you feel if Rich went to a different school?”

“I wouldn't like it. Mike was my best friend and when he decided to go to FSU, I was glad for him. I didn't feel bad. But with Rich, I don't think I’d feel the same. I have always kept my feelings locked up, never dated in high school, never been turned on by girls and never looked at any boys with the intent of fooling around. Hell, the only time I jerked off was when I was in the shower.”

“Do you still do it in the shower?”

“Yes, when I have time.”

“When you do it in the shower, what do you think of?”

I looked confused for a minute, “I think of Rich.”

“That's a good sign that you may be gay. I know you don't want to lead Rich on and then hurt him. You aren't that kind of guy. But if he occupies your thoughts, chances are you're gay for him. It could mean you are bi-sexual. Play it by ear, if you need to talk, call me.”

I gave Brand a hug, he always was there for me and now he's my sounding board. He started to laugh. “Why are you laughing?”

“Dad will shit his pants if you show up with a boyfriend.”

Thinking about how dad acted when Brand and Charles showed up, I began to laugh as well. “It almost makes it worth while to be gay.”

Dinner that evening was interesting. Rich sat next to me. I placed my hand on his leg as we ate. Gramps kept giving me a look as if he wanted to say something. I knew it wasn't about Rich and me, so it had to be something about work.

Rich was something else, every time I looked at him, his eyes twinkled and he had this smile on his face. I started to tease him by squeezing his leg, where my hand rested. I knew he was getting a little uncomfortable, and I knew why. He would put his hand on mine and try to push it away. Brand was sitting across from me, he started to smile. He knew I was doing something as Rich began to squirm in his seat. He whispered something to Charles, then Charles started to watch us. Nick was on the other side of me and didn't know what was going on. As we were eating dessert, Gramps looked at me and nodded his head toward his office. I nodded yes and followed him when he headed to his office.

Once there he closed the door. “James, you did a good job the last few days. The CEO called and wants a meeting. I had Mrs Chester check the invoices and determine how much money we paid them last year and this year to date. It was quite significant. Being government contractors we have to bid for our supplies. He came in with a low bid and met our quality specifications. Two things will happen, one, he will reimburse us for the overpayments or two, he will pay a huge fine to the government for fraud. So I think he'll reimburse us for the overpayments. Now I have a policy, and you can check with personnel if you don't believe me, any time an employee makes a suggestion that results in lower costs, we give them a bonus. So you can expect a nice bonus on this suggestion." (I know what he did wasn't a suggestion, but he did uncover a potential fraud)

“Gramps, I didn't do anything special, I just followed what Mr. Bolt told me to do.”

“Never the less, Mr. Bolt should have caught that error and he didn't, you did.”

"You didn't fire Mr. Bolt did you?”

“No, I didn't fire him but I'll bet he'll check out those shipments a lot closer now.”

“I wouldn't want him to lose his job.”

“This will be the last three days when Brandon, Charles and Nick will be here, so take the time off to enjoy some time with them.”

“Thanks Gramps, I appreciate you giving me time to spend with them before they leave. I really miss Brand, he has always been there for me.”

“We love you both and now we need to add Charles to that total.”

I gave Gramps a hug and left the office. There was Gram waiting for me, she put her arm around me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Your grandfather told me about the work you're doing. He's very proud of you and so am I.”

"Thank you Gram, that means a lot to me.” She gave me an extra hug and went in to see Gramps.

As I was getting ready to go to the apartment, I stopped at the kitchen and thanked Miss Marie for the excellent meal. She just smiled and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I remember as a kid when I would thank her, she did the same thing. Strange how little things like that can mean so much to a person.

Brand caught up to me, holding hands with Charles. “You know what you did to Rich wasn't nice.”

I gave him one of those dumb looks kids used when they didn't want to acknowledge what a person was referring to. “I don't know what you’re talking about. I just had my hand on his leg, he was shaking his leg and it was getting a little annoying.”

They both started to laugh. “We know what you were doing. The poor kid had to sit at the table long after dinner was over trying to calm it down so he could stand.”

“I don't need to work the rest of the week. Gramps gave me the time off because you guys will be leaving in a few days.”

“Gramps was always sensitive to our relationship. We are lucky to have him and Grams.” I nodded my head. We really were lucky to have them.

I walked up the stairs to the apartment and made sure they heard me. When I walked into the kitchen I could tell by their faces that they were planning on getting me back for what I did at dinner. I smiled at Nick, reached over and pulled Rich into a hug and kissed him on the cheek. I think what ever they were planning just went out of the window.

“Anyone want to go and see a movie?”

“Don't you have work tomorrow?”

“Nope, Gramps gave me the rest of the week off since Brand, Charles and you Nick are leaving this week-end.”

“Ok, let’s go. You pay Jimmy for what you did at dinner.”

I tried to look innocent, but when Rich looked at me I broke, and started to laugh. Then we all were laughing.

“What's so funny?”

“Hey Brand, Charles, we're going to the movies want to come?”

They looked at each other, then we were in the car. I drove to the mall where they had a multiplex cinema. We looked over what was playing and decided on an action movie. I bought the tickets for everyone, Brand said he would buy the popcorn, Charles said he would buy the drinks.

The five of us took the last row, and set back to watch the advertisements of coming attractions, and the ads for the refreshment stands. Then after about twenty-twenty-five minutes, the main feature started. Rich sat between Nick and I so he had to hold the popcorn. He made sure Nick had plenty and I had only a little. I was paying for the dinner shenanigans. It was ok by me, I'm not a lover of popcorn, prefer my corn on the cob. Rich didn't know this, I let him think he was getting one over on me.

The movie was a good movie, the action was realistic. As we discussed the movie on the way out, Nick steered us toward the game room. Brand and Charles just grinned, "It's the same at home.”

We stopped for ice cream and then headed home. “Guys, I'm going to take a shower and then hit the bed.”

And that’s what I did. It wasn't long after I had been in bed, when I heard the shower. Soon Rich crawled in bed. Then I heard the shower again followed by Nick crawling in bed. We all assumed our positions, Nick's back against my back, Rich's back against my front. I put my arm around Rich and pulled him into me, I kissed the top of his head. I heard the sigh as I dropped off to sleep.