You Can't Buy Love - 14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

David woke up before the alarm went off. He laid there looking at Rob sleeping so peacefully. He ran his finger over Rob’s cheek feeling the stubble, smiling. Rob slapped his hand thinking something was crawling on his face. David did it again, which got Rob to slap his cheek since David pulled his hand back fast enough to not be hit again. Rob opened his eyes looking over at David. “You think that was funny?”

“Good morning, Sunshine,” David said laughing.

“Good morning smart ass. That is not a nice way to wake me up.”

“I was just trying to feel your skin, you are the one that hit me and then hit yourself.” David looked at the clock on the nightstand seeing that there was about five minutes before the alarm went off. “Do you want to take a shower first? I can get breakfast started before I get mine.”

“No, I want to take a shower together and then we both can fix our breakfast. I want us to start each day that way, with a smile on our face.” Rob reached over and brought David to him laying him on his chest kissing his forehead. “I love you. I want you to call me if your dad shows up or if you have any problems at work. Talk to Steve, I know he will help you and watch your back if it is needed.”

“I will call you Babe. I already know my dad will show up. My problem is I don’t know what he will say and who will hear it. If I have to quit my job, it is going to set us back on buying a house. I hate apartments. We can always rent a house for a while if we have to, I guess.”

“No, we are going to buy one. We are not going to rent one. We have enough money to buy even if you have to quit your job. But let me tell you this; if you have to quit because of harassment being gay, Dad will hit them with a lawsuit for letting it happen in the work place. Steve is talking to the main bosses this morning so wait to see what he has to say then go from there. Just call me off and on today to let me know you are alright, please.”

“I will, I love you bunches.” David kissed Rob’s cheek, then got out of bed turning the alarm off. He got his clothes ready and laid them on the bed watching Rob do the same. He went to the bathroom to get the water warmed up. They took their shower washing each other, which got both of them hard but they knew they did not have time to take care of the problem. After shaving, brushing their teeth and getting dressed Rob went to start the water for the oatmeal they were having for breakfast. David got his dry cleaning out and put it by the front door. He went in to start the toast to go with the oatmeal Rob was making.

Rob looked over at David, which he was sitting across from him at the table. “David have you had time to think what you are going to do if or when your dad shows up? Do you think your mom will be with him?”

David laid his spoon down. “I don’t know if my mom will be there with Dad but if I have to I will call the police on him. I know now that he knew about the missing money after the way he hung up on me last night. I just don’t know why he let that lawyer steal my money and why I was never told about it. I hope that I can get some answers if he shows up but I think this will be all about Jack and Dad blaming me for the trouble he is in with the cops. I won’t let him walk all over me if that is what you are worried about. With him calling me those ugly names on the phone, I really don’t know what will happen,” David said then got up and rinsed his bowl out putting it in the dishwasher.

Rob did the same and then put his arms around David from the backside. Putting his chin on David’s shoulder saying, “I love you and please be careful. I want you around for a long time.”

“I love you too. I am not going anywhere so you are stuck with me.” David kissed Rob. “Let’s get going so we are not late and I have to drop off my clothes still. My desk is probably stacked with papers since I have not been there for three days.”

They each got in their trucks after kissing each other one more time. David dropped off his clothes and then went to his job. He got to the parking lot looking at his watch seeing he still had fifteen minutes to clock in so he went to Steve’s office.

“Hi Racheal, is Steve in his office yet?”

“No David he is not. He is upstairs; I will let him know you are looking for him.”

“Thank you. Let him know I will be at my desk when he has free time to talk to me.” David got a nod then went to his desk seeing his in box was full. He started going through all the papers and files. He had numerous messages from his parents and other people that he had been helping. He read the ones from his parents first, seeing that they were all on Friday. All of them basically saying for him to call them, so he throws them in the trash.

“Morning, David.” Steve walked up to his desk. “Will you come to my office so we can talk please?” Steve was smiling so David was not too worried.

“Morning, Steve. Sure this all can wait.” David pointed to his in box standing up.

“You can get started on all that after we talk, and I don’t except you to get it all done today either.” Steve raised his eyebrow which David got the hint that Steve was not going to rush him getting it done too fast.

They got to Steve’s office with him closing the door for some privacy. “Take a seat David.”

“Can you tell me what happened this morning and do I still have a job?” David asked sitting down in front of Steve’s desk.

“Yes David, you still have a job. I got the top bosses to write out a flash memo to every employee about harassment in the work place. It will just basically say that ‘any employee that is found to be bullying, harassing, or nasty name calling, will be fired immediately no second chances from this day forward’ so if anybody finds out about our sexual preference and are caught saying or doing anything, they will be out the door.” Steve had a big grin on his face. “Let me check and see if the e-mail has been posted yet.” Steve pulled up his e-mail box and sure enough, it had been sent out. Steve opened it up and then motioned David to come look at it.

David walked around the desk to face Steve’s computer. He read the e-mail smiling. “That should help both of us if anybody finds out we are gay. I know we have lost a few guys because of the harassment they were getting and their boss would do nothing about it,” David said as he was going back to the chair and sitting down.

“David, do you know who they were? I could call them and see if they would like their job back without losing seniority. I will put them under me so I am their boss.” Steve grabbed a pen to write the names down that David was rattling off to him. “I will call them today and talk to them. I will let Joe know about this too and get it cleared from him before I call them.”

David wanted to know a few things but was not sure if he should ask Steve. He decided to go for it and see what was said. “Steve can I ask you a question? You don’t have to answer it or you can just tell me it is none of my business.”

“Sure ask away. I don’t have anything to hide from any part of my family. Well not all of them yet.” Steve was laughing.

“How can you be married to a woman and not know you are gay?”

“I was in the closet in collage and then I met my wife. I thought I would have to live in the closet the rest of my life so I married her. When I met Heath something just snapped in my head saying ‘you can have a better life with the one you truly love,’ my wife and I had been having marital problems for a couple years so when I met Heath I called it quits on my marriage. Heath is not in the closet but not that many know about him being gay. When his wife died he came out, I was not around when all that happened. I know more about his life but if you want to know, you will have to ask him. I don’t have a problem talking to you about me but I won’t talk about Heath to you, sorry.” Steve leaned back in his chair looking at David to see what reaction he would get saying that.

David smiled, “I don’t want you to say anything about you or Heath if you don’t want me to know. I was just wondering about you being married and being gay. I don’t hear a lot about that happening.”

“It happens more than you think David. Some guys or women never come out of the closet and live a sad and unhappy life. With all the hatred in this world with being gay or lesbian, some just cannot deal with the harassment,” Steve said. Then he heard someone yelling out in the hallway. “David stay here and I will see who is out there. If it is your father what do you want me to do?”

David had a worried look on his face. “That is my father and I will have to talk to him but I need somebody there if it gets out of hand. If you don’t mind helping me I would really appreciate the help.”

“Not a second thought. I told Heath that I would make sure nothing happened to you if your father showed up. Let me call Joe and have him come down to help us. He knows more about the law than I do.” Steve called Joe and told him what was going on and he needs his help. “Joe is coming down, he said for you to stay in my office until he gets here.” Steve looked at David’s hands and saw them shaking. “David calm down, don’t let your father see you this way. This is what he wants; if you show you are afraid of him, he will walk all over you. Be the bigger person and don’t let him do this to you.”

“Ok, thanks for the help.” David got up and walked to the window looking out. He still heard his dad out the door yelling for him to come out. David called Rob knowing he promised him he would. “Babe, Dad is here causing shit….I am in Steve’s office…He and Joe will help me…I am fine…I will call you back when I know…yes I promise…I love you too…I will…bye.” David hung up as Joe was coming in the door.

Joe came in the door looking at David standing behind Steve’s desk by the window. “Hi David.” He walked over to shake David’s hand. “Tell me what has your father all riled up out there. He is saying some pretty rough things about you.” Joe leaned against the desk looking at David.

“You were in the meeting with Steve, right.”

“Yes”

“Well my father wants me to go to the police station and take blame for the drugs they found in my brothers and my apartment. The police know the drugs were Jack’s because they had been watching him for months and when I found out something else, I was not staying at the apartment. I went to get some of my things out and saw Jack was moving out his stuff. I called my lawyer and told him what was going on and that is when the police appeared with what they knew about Jack. My father called me yesterday and left a message, I called him back, with my lawyer there to hear what was said. He told me that he was going to come here and get me fired if I did not get Jack out of jail. So here he is, causing shit for me. I am truly sorry for causing all this. But I am not going to jail for my brother.” By the time David finished telling Joe some of what had been happening he was not himself.

Steve got David to sit down. “David calm down, this is not your fault.”

“Ok, let me go talk to him first since this is a place of business and I can take care of that part. Do you want to talk to him or not David?” Joe asked.

“I need to so maybe I can find out what he knows about the missing money from my trust fund. Let me call my lawyer and see what he says first. Can you go and see if you can get him in an office so he is not causing the other employees problems?”

“Yes, I can do that.” Joe went out the door and got David’s father to follow him to the conference room. Joe had to do some smooth talking to get the old fart to calm down and follow him.

“David, call Heath and tell him what is going on and find out what you should do.” Steve handed David the headpiece to call Heath.

David called and told Heath what was happening and asked what he should do. “Ok, thanks for the help. I will call you back to let you know.” David hung up. “He told me not to say anything about the missing money yet. He was waiting to hear from the DA and he did not want my father to get wind of what the DA is doing. He just told me to talk to him with a witness about whatever he brings up. He did ask if you could tape the conversation but to make sure that my father knows he is being taped. He talked to Eric this morning about last night and Eric said he would help me if it were needed.”

“Ok, let’s go to the conference room then.” Steve and David walked over to the room.

Steve walked in ahead of David and went over to Joe. “His lawyer wants us to tape what is being said in here. Is there a tape recorder in this room?”

“No, but I have one on me so we will be fine.” Joe looked at Mr. Andrews, “Mr. Andrews this conversation will be taped and you need to keep a cool head or I will have you removed from the premises. You can talk to David here at his job but you have to do it without all the yelling.” Joe was not sure his little speech was going to work or not, he noticed Mr. Andrews face turning red looking at David.

“You little faggot punk. I told you to go down and get your brother out of jail. What the hell are you doing standing here and not doing what I told you to do?”

David walked up to the other side of the table looking at his father. “What are you doing here causing me trouble when it was Jack that did all that crap to himself? Those drugs were not mine and I am not going to take blame for them.” David leaned over the table staring at his father.

His father stood up and grabbed David around the throat trying to choke him. “You are nothing but a queer; I wish you were never born,” he said squeezing David’s neck

David was trying to get his father’s fingers to loosen up when Steve and Joe grabbed each an arm trying to pull him off David. Steve took his elbow and hit Mr. Andrews on the side of the head, which stunned him long enough for David to get away from him.

“Steve, call 911 and have this man arrested for assault with intent to do bodily harm. I will not have this happening to one of my employees, no matter who it is.” Joe made David’s father sit in a chair and calm down. Joe looked over at David to make sure he was ok, and saw he was having problems breathing. “Tell them we need medic’s here to. I want David checked out.”

Steve got his phone out, dialed 911, and told them what was going on and that they needed a medic here, the person attacked was having problems breathing. Steve went over to David. “David medics are on the way. Do you want me to call Rob or Heath?”

David tried to answer Steve but his throat hurt too bad to talk so he just shook his head ‘yes’.

Steve called Heath and told him what happened and that David wanted Rob here. Heath said he would call Rob and be right over.

Heath dialed Rob’s cell phone with shaky fingers. “Rob, there was trouble at David’s work. I am on my way there now. David wants you there, can you leave work?”

“Is he alright Dad? Why did he not call me? I am walking out the door now.”

“I don’t know everything yet. Only that his dad tried to choke him and he is having trouble talking. Just get there fast.”

“Ok.” Rob was almost in tears, worrying about David.

Steve was keeping David calm telling him that Rob and Heath were on their way. The police showed up and walked into the room. Joe told them what happened and that he wanted Mr. Andrews arrested. The medic’s showed up, looked David over and asked him if he wanted to go to the ER to be checked out, but David declined.

David knew he was going to have bruises and a sore throat but since he was breathing better now after he relaxed for a bit he did not see a reason to go.

Rob and Heath came storming in the room. Rob ran over to David, “You ok Babe?”

David still did not try to talk so he put his arms around Rob’s neck shaking his head ‘yes’

While Rob was taking care of David, Heath walked up to Steve to find out what the hell happened. Steve had Joe get the tape out and had the police and Heath listen to it. Heath looked at David’s father with daggers. “You will never lay another finger on David. I will make sure of that Mr. Andrews. You put your hands on the wrong person this time. I will be talking to the DA and I will make sure you spend time in jail for your actions here today.”

“You are going defend a faggot? They need to rid all of them from the world. What are you one of them too? Do you like being a cocksucker like that faggot?” David’s father was spitting his words out since he was in handcuffs and angry. He looked at David, “You are no longer my son. I don’t have sons that are faggots.”

“Get him out of here. I have heard enough hatred from this man,” Joe was telling the cop. Mr. Andrews was still yelling as the police hauled him away.

Joe walked over to David to make sure he was ok. “David, are you breathing better now?”

David squeaked out, “Yes” then rubbed his throat. He looked at Rob, “Water” almost in a whisper.

Steve went to get David some water.

“David, since I know you are going to have problems talking for a few days, take some of them sick days you have and relax for a few days. Your job and work will still be here when you get back. And I will not take ‘no’ for an answer young man.” Joe was looking David in the eyes waiting to see if he was going to take him up on the time off.

David saw that Joe was not going to play around and decided to take a few days off. “Ok thanks,” David said after Steve gave him some water to drink which helped his sore throat. David looked at Rob, “I need to go home.”

“Ok, let’s get out of here. Do you need to go to your desk first?” Rob got up and helped David up.

“Yes.” David and Rob went to his desk and got David’s phone and jacket, and then went to Rob’s truck.

“We can get your truck later, or I can have one of the guys at work come and get it for us.” Rob knew David hated leaving his truck, but he was not going to let him drive himself.

“Call one of the guys, I don’t want to leave it here just in case Dad gets out and does something to it,” David said as best as he could.

Rob called Bruce at the shop and asked him if he would help. “Babe, Bruce is on the way here. Are you doing ok?” Rob was caressing David’s cheek looking him.

“I will be fine Babe. I just want to go home and lay down.” David smiled at Rob hoping that he would stop worrying, but he knew it did not work.

“I will get you there soon. I just want to lay and hold you while you rest. We don’t have to talk since I know you are forcing yourself to do it. So there will be no talking from you, if you want to say something you have to write it down on a piece of paper. I want your throat to get better and talking will not help it. Ok?”

David looked at Rob with tears on his cheeks. “Why did he try and kill me. Am I that bad of a person for him to do that to me?” David crossed his arms dropping his head.

“David, he is the bad person, not you. You did not do anything wrong. He is the one with the problem and now he is going to pay for what he did to you.” Rob took David in his arm’s looking out the window seeing his father walking up to the truck.

“David, are you doing ok?” Heath asked looking in the open window.

Rob let David go. “Ya, I just want to lay down and see if it will help me feel better,” David said looking at Heath.

“Ok, why don’t you two get out of here then and I will let you know what Eric says about your father.” Heath looked at Rob.

“Dad we are waiting on Bruce so we can get David’s truck home. He is afraid that something might happen to it if it stays here.”

“Ok, you know Steve can drive it and then I can bring him back here. Call and see if Bruce left yet.”

“Ok.” Rob called and just caught Bruce walking out, since he had to find an extra person to go with him so he could get back to work himself.

“Ok, all set. David, give Dad your keys and Steve can drive the truck to the apartment for you.”

David handed over his truck key to Heath, “Thanks for the help Heath. I am sorry for being such a pain in the ass.”

“This is not your fault David and you are not a pain the ass. You are part of this family and this family sticks together through all the good and the bad. You feel better and call me if either of you need me for anything.”

David and Rob said ‘ok’

“We will have your truck there in a bit. Get some rest and don’t worry about your father, he needs to deal with his problems.” Heath patted David on the shoulder and then walked back into the building to get Steve to help him with the truck.

Rob drove to the apartment; David was laying down on the bench seat with his head on Rob’s leg. David still could not figure out what made his father do this to him. When he came out to his family in his senior year of high school, his parent’s accepted his lifestyle with no problems. His life did not get that bad like some of the other guys at the school that came out to their parents. This is the first time that his father had shown him what he really thought of him being gay. David was thinking how his father would react when Jack finally let them know he was gay too. His father would probably go off the deep end.

Rob parked the truck and then ran his fingers through David’s hair seeing if he was awake. “Babe, were home. Let’s get you inside so you can stretch out and relax.”

David sat up and got out of the truck. They went inside and David went straight to the bedroom, took his shoes off and laid down on the bed. Rob came in with a big glass of ice water. “Here Babe, take a drink. Do you think you could get down an Alieve? It might help with the soreness.”

“Ya, that might help. Thanks.”

“Ok I will get one for you. You get undressed and get in bed and I will be right back.” Rob went and got what he needed and came back in the room seeing David was just pulling the comforter up. “Babe, get under the sheets, that way you will not get to warm. You don’t need that big comforter on in the middle of the day.” Rob helped him get back up and get in between the sheets. Rob folded the comforter at the end of the bed. “Here sweetheart take this then you can relax for the rest of the day.” Rob handed him the pill.

David took the pill, “Are you going back to work? I will be fine here by myself if you need to go back.”

“No, I will call and have the office girls call me if something comes up. I am going to lay here with you for a while. Now, no more talking, buster.” Rob smiled. He took his shoes off and laid down next to David giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Rest Babe, I will be here when you wake up. I love you.”

“I love you too Rob. Thank you for being here for me,” David said then closed his eyes laying his head on Rob’s shoulder and his arm across Rob’s chest.

Rob was laying there thinking all kinds of things he wished he could do to David’s father for what he did to him. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment, no matter what they have done or who they are. He decided to make sure Eric throws the book at him and anybody else that treats David in a bad way.

Rob must have dozed off when his cell phone woke him up. He looked at David to make sure he was still asleep. He looked at his phone seeing it was his dad. “Hey, Dad.”

“You both doing ok?

“Ya, David is still asleep and the phone woke me up. I did not think I was that tired.”

“I will not keep you long then. I called Eric to tell him what happened and he is going to push it through with three counts against him.”

“What are the three counts?”

“Assault with attempt to do bodily harm, use of a deadly weapon, and the third one is iffy, don’t know if it will stick yet.”

“What is it?”

“Attempted murder.”

“Really?”

“Ya, he threatened to kill him and with him saying it on the tape, that will be the proof. Besides Steve and Joe as witnesses, still could stick as a count against him. Hold off on telling David about that one if you will till we know for sure.”

“Dad, we don’t keep secrets so I have to tell him that one along with the other two. He will be ok, I will be here for him and he knows it. Have you heard anything about his mother yet? I am sure the old goat has called her by now.”

“No, I don’t know anything yet. I will let you get back to taking care of David. Call me if you need me. I love you son.”

“I love you too Dad. I will talk to you later.”

Rob hung his phone up. He looked at David seeing he eyes were closed but they were fluttering as if he was dreaming. He pushed David’s hair back off his forehead, giving him a kiss. Rob looked at the clock seeing it was almost noon. He needed to get up and fix something for lunch. He shook David’s shoulder waking him up. “Babe, it is almost noon, let’s get something to eat then we can lay on the couch. You can sleep more or watch some TV, that way I can sit up for a while. If I lay here to long my back is going to start hurting.”

David rolled back to his pillow so Rob could get up. “Babe, put some lounge pants on and come out to the kitchen. I will fix you some soup for lunch. Is your throat still hurting like it was before you went to sleep?”

David shook his head ‘no’

“Good then the Alieve is working. Get dressed and I will be in the kitchen.” Rob gave him a kiss and left the room.

David got up and put on his lounge pants and a t-shirt. He was wondering if Rob was going to tell him what his dad said. Ya, he was awake, Rob’s phone ringing woke him up. He went to find Rob and to get something cold to drink. He made himself a soda with ice. Rob was at the stove fixing some chicken noodle soup. He also had made some tuna for sandwiches.

Rob dished out the soup, mostly broth for David and handed it to him. “Eat this and then maybe tonight you could try something more solid. This will sooth your throat and also keeps up your strength.”

David took the bowl, went to the table and sat down. Rob came in with his soup and sandwich. David kept looking at the sandwich but he knew his throat hurt too bad to eat it.

“Thanks Babe.” He got up, rinsed the bowl out and put it in the dishwasher. He went to the bathroom to see what his neck looked like and to go to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror, he could see his dad’s fingerprints and a few scratches but it did not look to bad.

Rob looked in seeing David standing at the counter looking at his neck. “They don’t look that bad Babe.”

“I know I just had to see for myself.” David turned and looked at Rob. “Do you still want to watch TV? I could lay back in the bed if you need time to yourself.”

“No, I want to be near you for right now. This morning scared the crap out of me and I need you next to me, if that is ok with you.”

“That’s fine; I just did not want to crowd you out if you needed your time alone.”

“Nope, let’s go find something on the TV and you can lay back down.”