A Different Love - 11. Chapter 11

Although it was only a week since my last date with Connor, it seemed to be the longest one of my life. Now it had finally reached Tuesday and the time had come to meet him for our second date. My whole body was shaking with apprehension at the prospect of further physical contact, but the urge to make it happen was overwhelming. There was no doubt about it; things were definitely hotting up between us. He’d been sending me suggestive texts all week and I’d been replying with equally suggestive responses. It seemed as if I’d had an erection for most of the week and I was constantly trying to make sure that no one else noticed the huge bulge that repeatedly pressed itself against the front of my trousers. Reading Connor’s texts over and over again and constantly reliving the episode in the park were no doubt to blame, but I couldn’t seem to calm my over excited state of mind.

In addition to that, mum and dad had started asking awkward questions. Like when was I bringing ‘Connie’ home to meet them and where did she live etc, etc. There were only so many excuses I could make before they became suspicious, so all in all it had been a fairly traumatic week.

The bus into town had just left the main street in Dryford and was trundling slowly through the village. Instead of speeding up as it normally did, there was a sudden squeal of brakes and it slowly came to a halt at the last stop in the village. I peered out of the grime encrusted windows and took a sharp intake of breath when I saw who was waiting to get on. My heart sank as the automatic doors swished open and Aiden Thomson, my colleague from work, stepped on board.

He was the last person I wanted to see and I sank down in my seat as far as I could in the vain hope that he wouldn’t notice me. He bought his ticket from the driver and wandered slowly down the aisle towards me.

I quickly turned away and peered out of the window, but a second or two later was forced to look round as someone tapped me lightly on the shoulder. He’d taken the seat behind me and as I turned around he was casually resting his arms on the back of my seat, sporting a wide smile on his handsome face.

There was no doubt about it, Aiden was a good looking guy and had often been the subject of my fantasies. He worked in the same store as I did in the city, so on occasions it was inevitable we were thrown together. We’d both attended the same secondary school in Hamborough and although he was a couple of years older than me, we’d clashed on more than one occasion. His behaviour towards me had always been strange to say the least and I could never understand why he treated me the way he did. If we were alone at work he would chat to me quite happily and act as if we were the best of friends, but the moment his friend Craig appeared he would instantly change and ignore me completely. Due to the fact that Craig was temporarily working at another store, things had improved slightly of late, but I still struggled to understand his odd behaviour towards me. With his usual Jekyll and Hide personality he greeted me cheerfully as if we were the best of friends.

“Hiya Jason, you look smart! Going somewhere special?”

For a second or two I was sorely tempted to tell him to go to hell and mind his own business, but I didn’t particularly want to fight with him. I’d decided some time ago that it was best to avoid him wherever possible, but I hadn’t bargained for situations like this. I found it hard to keep the tone of derision out of my voice as I reluctantly answered him, but realized too late that I should have been much more evasive.

“I’m going to meet someone”

There was an unspoken ‘if you must know’ at the end of my sentence and he was obviously taken aback by the curtness of my reply. As he sat back in the seat, his whole body language shouted defensive and I immediately regretted being so abrupt.

“Sorry I spoke!” he replied despondently “I was only making conversation”

No matter how many times I told myself that I didn’t want anything to do with Aiden, there was just something about him that prevented me from treating him in the same way that he treated me. Despite his tough exterior, there was a vulnerability about him that I secretly found endearing, but it still didn’t change the way he’d behaved towards me in the past. Just to make sure that he was fully aware of the score, I decided to tell him exactly how I was feeling.

“Look……Sorry Aiden. But you and me, we’re never going to be the best of friends, are we?

His brow creased into a frown and a look of disappointment clouded his face “What do you mean?” he answered.

“I mean that one minute you’re talking to me and the next…..” With a sigh of frustration, I left the sentence unfinished and he gazed at me apologetically.

“I know Jason and I’m really sorry” he replied “But it’s mainly Craig. He doesn’t really like you”

I gave an indignant laugh and looked at him in amazement. “Tell me something I don’t know! You’ve got a mind of your own though Aiden. Why let him influence you?”

“I don’t know, but…..He stopped and looked through the window, unable to face me. In a voice loaded with emotion he hesitantly began to explain.

“It was just that Craig thought….” He paused and I urged him on impatiently

“Yeah go on Aiden, what did Craig think?”

“It’s just that he erm….he thought you might be.....erm…gay?”

My heart began thudding uncontrollably and my voice rose in an angry response. “GAY!!!” I repeated in a loud voice, suddenly incensed.

At that moment there was a sudden lull in conversation on the bus and my angry response seemed to ring out for all to hear. People turned around and stared at us in surprise and I swallowed nervously before continuing in a low voice.

“And what about you Aiden, do you think that too?”

“No!” he exclaimed, much too quickly.

I looked him directly in the eyes and could immediately tell he was lying. The expression on my face told him I knew what he was thinking and he frowned with confusion and indecision before going on.

“Ok, so maybe I did” he finally admitted.

There was a brief pause and a moment later he sighed heavily and changed his mind again. “Oh come on Jason….After that business with Liam, what was I supposed to think!”

He was referring to our school days and the reason why we’d clashed on so many occasions. Back then Aiden seemed to hate anyone he thought was gay and the slightly effeminate Liam had been an easy target. As far as he was concerned, the fact that I’d tried to protect him meant that I must be gay too, regardless of whether it was the truth or not.

“So where the fuck did Craig get the idea from!” I hissed, becoming more and more angry with him “He only knows me from work”

The power of speech seemed to have temporarily deserted him and I jumped in to answer for him.

“Let me guess” I snarled sarcastically “You told him!”

The look on his face immediately confirmed I was right and a desperate edge crept into his voice as he struggled to justify his actions. “I didn’t know he’d behave like that, did I?”

“Why the fuck not!” I quickly fired back “You did at school”

“Yeah, but that was different” he protested, beginning to raise his voice.

“It’s no different at all Aiden. You haven’t really changed one little bit since then, have you?”

“That’s not true, I’m not the same….”

I turned away to ignore him, but couldn’t help interrupting his vehement reply “You’re still a pathetic little bully!”

“IF THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT TO THINK JASON, THEN FUCK YOU” he shouted, banging the back of my seat in anger.

He stood up abruptly and marched down the aisle to a different seat at the back of the bus. People shook their heads in disgust and disbelief as he walked by them and in another outburst of anger he turned around and shouted down the bus at the top of his voice.

“AND THE REST OF YOU CAN FUCK OFF AS WELL!”

The bus came to a sudden abrupt halt at the side of the road and the driver shouted out to Aiden from his cab.

“RIGHT LAD, OFF THE BUS! NOW!!”

My heart sank and I mentally kicked myself for letting things get so out of hand by arguing with him. As much as he deserved it, if I hadn’t laid into him he would still be sitting behind me acting as if everything was fine between us. Although Aiden was a pain in the backside, I felt just as responsible for what had happened as he was and there was no way I could just stand by and do nothing, whilst he got thrown off the bus in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, I still had to work with the guy and all I’d managed to do was make the situation between us ten times worse.

As he passed my seat on his way to the front he glared at me with an expression of hurt and anger on his face. Trying to speak to him at the moment was probably a complete waste of time but I had to make an attempt. I reached out and touched his arm, hoping to attract his attention

“Look, Aiden…..”

He shoved it roughly aside without even acknowledging me and I knew there was only one thing for it. I would have to make an impassioned plea to the driver on his behalf and hope I could persuade him to let Aiden stay on the bus. I could feel my face burning with embarrassment as I followed him down the aisle, trying to appear calm and unperturbed. People were straining their necks towards the front, trying unsuccessfully to see what was happening. The driver was sporting a heavy scowl on his face as he looked Aiden up and down disparagingly.

“I don’t stand for language like that on my bus lad!” he was saying “You can get off and walk from here”

Aiden’s eyes opened wide with shock when he realized the driver was being deadly serious and a tone of disbelief crept into his voice as he desperately tried to plead with him.

“Please, don’t make me get off here; we’re in the middle of nowhere! It’ll take me ages to walk into town”

“You should have thought about that before you started using foul language and abusing everyone!” the driver shot back, shaking his head unsympathetically

“But I….”

“And now you’re making my bus late!” he interrupted, completely ignoring Aiden’s heartfelt plea.

Realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere, Aiden turned dejectedly towards the door, waiting for it to open. My heart was thumping as I crossed my fingers and stepped forward, knowing that it was now or never. I took a large gulp of air and coughed hesitantly.

“Excuse me”

The driver turned towards me and the scowl on his face momentarily disappeared, confirming that he was unaware of my involvement.

“Yes son” he asked impatiently “What is it?”

Now it had come to the crunch I wasn’t at all certain how to proceed and my voice faltered nervously.

“I…erm…I just wondered….if….erm...”

My stuttering abruptly stopped, allowing a rush of words to come tumbling out of my mouth “Do you have to throw him off the bus?” I pleaded “It was as much my fault as it was his. He doesn’t normally behave like this”

“So, you can both get off then!”

“No!! Don’t make us do that, please. I’ll make sure he behaves himself from now on!”

“I’ve got my other passengers to think about you know. I can’t just ignore them”

“I know and I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again, I promise!”

I held my breath awaiting his decision, but thankfully I could tell from the tone of his voice that his resolve was beginning to crumble and releasing the air from my lungs, I quickly pushed home my advantage.

“He’ll apologise to everyone immediately!!”

We both looked enquiringly at Aiden who was standing in the doorway with a stunned expression on his face. A second later he eagerly burst into speech, sensing the chance of a possible reprieve.

“Yeah, course I will. I am really sorry!” He gave me a cursory nod before continuing “Like he said, I don’t normally behave like that”

There was a genuine note of sincerity in his voice that was hard to ignore and the driver gave a sigh of resignation before shaking his head wearily.

“You’ve got one last chance and that’s only because of your mate. I won’t tolerate that kind of behaviour on my bus, do you understand?”

“Yes, yes I do” he replied timidly

“Right then, sit down. And after you’ve apologized to everyone, I don’t want to hear your voice again!”

“No, of course not. And thank you”

He began backing down the aisle away from the driver and as he turned around, I grasped his shoulder to stop him. His face was red with embarrassment as he stared at the expectant faces of his fellow passengers. In a voice choked with emotion he managed a barely audible apology.

“I…um…I’m….sorry everyone, it won’t happen again”

Most people smiled and nodded their acceptance and I quickly steered him into a nearby seat.

“Go on Aiden, sit there near the window”

I slipped in beside him and he turned away from me, obviously unwilling to talk about what had happened. We travelled in silence for the next ten minutes or so until finally he turned towards me and gently nudged my arm. I was lost in a world of my own thinking about Connor and at first I didn’t respond to his call for my attention. His nudging became more insistent and coupled with a determined whisper; he finally broke through my thoughts.

“Jason!!”

“Yes, what is it Aiden?”

“Thanks” he muttered grudgingly “You didn’t have to do that”

“I know, but I shouldn’t have said the things I did. If you don’t want to talk to me Aiden that’s up to you”

“Jason, it’s not that, I…”

“Look Aiden” I interrupted, raising my hand dismissively “I think it’s probably best if we stay out of each other’s way from now on. I know we have to work together, but apart from that…well I just think it’s for the best, that’s all”

His eyes widened in disappointment and for a second or two I wondered if shunning him completely was the right thing to do.

“I thought we could at least still be friends”

“Aiden, we were never friends in the first place!”

His face dropped like a stone and he made a slight forward movement as if to stand up again. I immediately clasped my hand firmly on his leg and whispered a stern warning in his ear.

“Don’t Aiden!! You know what happened last time. He won’t let you off again”

I felt his body gradually relax and he glanced down at my hand still resting on his leg. I reddened slightly and quickly withdrew it, but not before the ghost of a smile fleetingly passed across his face.

“Don’t worry Jason, I’ve learnt my lesson!”

He turned back towards the window and I expected to spend the rest of the journey in silence, but he clearly had other ideas.

“So who are you going to meet?” he asked in a low voice, suddenly breaking the silence.

For a second or two he caught me completely off guard and I couldn’t believe the first thing that slipped out of my mouth

“Oh, my….erm…girlfriend”

I hated to lie but after what had been said I couldn’t help myself. It was a foolish and idiotic thing to do though. If Aiden happened to see Connor and I in town together he would immediately guess I’d been lying and that would only serve to confirm even further his assumed belief I was gay.

“If she turns up that is!” I quickly went on, scrambling to exercise some damage limitation. “It was only a casual arrangement. She might not be able to make it”

In a futile attempt to stop him asking further questions, I hastily continued to justify my meeting with Connor.

“One of my mates is in town as well though. If she can’t make it I can always meet him for a drink instead”

He gazed at me inquisitively and I was dismayed to realize that he was curious to know more.

“I didn’t think you had a girlfriend Jason?” he asked tentatively.

My stomach flipped over but I tried to appear calm and unflustered, hastily making up an excuse in order to make it sound more plausible.

“We haven’t been together very long” I countered nervously “Only about a fortnight or so”

“Ah right!” he remarked, clearly surprised “And where did you meet her?”

His seemingly innocent questions were beginning to feel a bit like an interrogation and I was desperate to change the subject.

“Oh, just in town” I answered casually “On a night out”

I didn’t particularly want to make idle conversation with him, but before he could ask for even more details I dived in with a question of my own in an attempt to change the subject.

“What about you Aiden, where are you going?”

“I’m meeting my girlfriend as well. At the railway station” he confirmed “She’s been away for a fortnight visiting relatives”

“You must be really looking forward to seeing her again”

“Yeah, I am”

He winked at me and gave a low chuckle before leaning over to whisper in my ear. “I can’t wait until tonight though” he said suggestively “If you know what I mean”

I certainly did know what he meant and thinking about Aiden making love to his girlfriend made me instantly hard. At the moment I would gladly have swapped places with her, knowing it would make all my long held fantasies come true. After all, Aiden was extremely easy on the eye and it wasn’t difficult to imagine him naked. I’d often admired his muscular body if I happened to catch him changing his shirt in the staff room at work and dreaming of physical contact with him was one of my guilty pleasures. In reality there was as much chance of it happening as hell freezing over and the reality of a relationship with Connor was much more tangible.

He fell silent for a while and I slowly began to relax, hoping there wouldn’t be any more awkward questions. Refusing to answer in anything but a natural way would only make him suspicious and I could do without any casual rumours being spread about at work.

The first lights of Hamborough were beginning to break through the darkness of the bus windows and I heaved a sigh of relief as we drove slowly into town. I just wanted to get away from him before he had a chance to ask me any more questions about my imaginary girlfriend.

A sudden shocking thought crossed my mind and the nearer we got to the bus station, the faster my heart began to beat. What if Connor had decided to surprise me and was waiting at the bus station? Although we’d arranged to meet in the pub again, he knew what time my bus arrived and might possibly have decided to change his mind.

A few moments later we reached the bus station and people slowly began to alight. Thankfully, Connor was nowhere to be seen and as Aiden and I stood on the pavement together he seemed almost reluctant to go. The driver scowled at him before shutting the door and despite all that had happened, I couldn’t help feeling slightly sorry for him.

“There goes another member of my fan club” he said with a wry smile

“Look Aiden” I said, unconsciously pointing in the direction of town and taking an involuntary step backwards “I’ve got to go”

“Yeah, course you have” he smiled “See you at work”

I’d almost turned away when he continued to speak. “And thanks again for what you did on the bus Jason. I really appreciate it”

“It’s ok Aiden. No need to thank me”

He raised his voice slightly as I continued to back away “Hey, maybe we could go out sometime. You know, as a foursome?”

The deep frown that swept across my face like gathering storm clouds was more than enough to convey my feelings and I stared at him incredulously, unable to determine if he was being serious or not.

“Aiden!! What did I just say?”

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled again, obviously fully aware what my reaction would be.

“Oh well, maybe not then”

His downhearted expression and tone of dismay made me realize he was actually disappointed and I was momentarily taken aback by his attitude. As hard as I tried to, I couldn’t work him out. We’d almost come to blows over his strange behaviour towards me, yet here he was still wanting to be friends. It was unbelievable!

“I’ll see you around then Jason”

“Yeah, see you Aiden”

We walked away from each other in opposite directions, but for some strange reason I couldn’t help watching his retreating figure as he walked towards the railway station. Before disappearing around the corner he turned and waved, almost as if he knew that I’d still be watching him. I shook my head in puzzlement, unable to understand how seemingly complex my relationship with Aiden was becoming.