Just a Trim - 11. Chapter 11: A Year Later...

Friday afternoon. Jim glanced out the window of his office. The project was almost done. A few more lines of code, and the set of programs would be done. Wow! A good feeling. He pushed his seat back, and stretched out, running his fingers through his hair. His hair was a few inches in length now, but neat and nicely layered, it looked nice. The phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID, he picked it up.

“This is Jim,” he said into the receiver.

“Hey, handsome.”

Jim gave an audible chuckle, having been caught off guard. “Who is this?” he asked, in a mock questioning tone.

“Your secret admirer.”

“Aha,” he said, looking around. “Where are you calling from?”

“Just outside.”

“Can we meet?” asked Jim. “You do have a sexy voice,” he continued softly.

“I think that can be arranged. Meet me outside in 5 minutes.”

“But this project I’m working on…”

“It can wait. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…”

“Hmmm…,” replied Jim. “Guess I shouldn’t blow it, huh? Be right down…” And with that, he shut off his computer, closed his briefcase, and headed out the door with it. Not having to wait for the elevator, he was outside in 5 minutes, where a car was waiting at the curb.

Jim peered into the car window. “Are you my secret admirer?” he asked innocently.

“I am,” replied the admirer, with a mischievous leer. Jim gazed into his blue eyes, mesmerized momentarily.

“Wow,” replied Jim, with a bit of a sigh. He got into the car, and sat back in the passenger seat, with a glance at the admirer. The admirer then reached over, and gently loosened his already loosened tie a bit more. Then he ran some fingers deeply through Jim’s hair, starting at the front, taking his time going along the side of his head. While he was doing this, Jim gave out a pleasurable moan. Then the admirer looked into Jim’s eyes with the blue eyes that had mesmerized him initially, and gently pulled his face towards his own; they gave each other a sensual kiss, taking their time. Then they slowly pulled, looked at each other dreamily for a moment, and then burst out laughing.

“Who says you can’t keep romance alive!” exclaimed Ken. “Are we are two hot guys, or what!”

“Whooeee!” returned Jim. “A weekend in the country. I can’t wait!”

“You said you wanted to stop by Home Outlet on the way out of town?” asked Ken, pulling away from the curb.

Jim paused, and reflected a bit. “Yeah, if it’s ok. Just wanted to see if Chris still works there.”

“Sure, that’s fine.”

They drove to Home Outlet, where Ken parked. “Did you want me to wait here?” he asked.

“Doesn’t matter. Whatever you like,” replied Jim.

“I’ll wait here,” said Ken. “Just don’t be too long,” he said, looking at Jim, with a mock warning look.

“I won’t,” said Jim. “Back in a jiff…”

Jim got out of the car, and went into Home Outlet, and proceeded to the plumbing section. Going up to the cash register, he saw two guys talking, one of which he vaguely remembered. The other, unmistakably, Chris. As Jim walked up to the register, the two guys stopped talking, and Chris looked towards Jim. As soon as he saw him, his face broke into a small smile, which grew as he walked from behind the register and up to Jim.

Chris was as good-looking as Jim remembered him. His hair was a bit longer than when Jim had last seen him, about a year before. Almost completely covering his ears on the side, and just over his eyes in the front, it still had the silky shine Jim remembered. With no real part, it still gave Chris the boyish look which had attracted Jim to him in the first place. Jim gave out a small sigh as Chris came up to him.

“Hey, stranger!” cried Chris, shaking Jim’s hand. “Long time, no see! How’ve you been?”

“Great!” returned Jim, beaming. “You?”

“Not bad,” replied Chris. “So, what brings you to Home Outlet?”

“Just heading out of town, and was curious to see if you were still working here, since we hadn’t been in touch lately.”

“Yeah, lucky you caught me, this is my last week. Taking another job, and heading back to school for a bit.”

“Great,” said Jim.

“So, you’re headed out of town. Big weekend?”

“Yeah,” said Jim with a bit of a pause. “I think I mentioned my barber friend Ken briefly when we first met?”

“Yeah, I think I remember,” said Chris.

“Well, we’re heading for the country. Hiking.”

“Hmmm… Sounds romantic,” said Chris, with a definite teasing sound in his voice. “Anything serious? If that’s not too forward of me.”

“Well, yeah maybe,” admitted Jim. “So far, it’s looking good.” He paused, and looked at Chris. “How about you? When I saw you last, you had met someone here. I think his name might have been Greg?”

Chris gave a chuckle, looking down, and then back at Jim. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, Greg and I have been seeing a lot of each other, too. Actually, this weekend, we’re celebrating our first anniversary. Got a nice dinner planned at a French restaurant downtown. Should be romantic.”

Jim looked at Chris’s hair. “I see you’re growing your hair out a bit. Looks nice, sexy,” he said a little softly.

“Yeah,” replied Chris, looking down, and rubbing his chin with two fingers, then looking back up at Jim. “Greg likes my hair longer. Seems like, whenever I mention getting a haircut, he finds something fun to do to distract me… Hmmm…. I don’t know about that guy.” Then he chuckled, and thought a bit. “Come to think of it, I guess we’re both guilty. I kind of like his hair longer too, so when he mentions getting a haircut…” Chris seemed to be thinking about Greg for a moment. “Yeah, you should see his, if you like mine. Anyway…”

Jim looked at Chris, nodding approvingly. Then he looked at his watch. “Well, I’ve got to run, just wanted to stop in to say hello. Ken is waiting in the car.”

“Gee,” said Chris. “He should have stopped in to say hello. It would have been great to meet him.”

“Well,” replied Jim. “He said to invite you to dinner at his place, if I saw you. And ask Greg, too. He’d love to meet you guys.”

“It’s a date!” said Chris. “Give me a call next week. I’ll check with Greg, and we can set something up.”

“Will do,” said Jim, as he turned to go. “See ya,” he said, looking over his shoulder, with a wink.

“Thanks for stopping by,” called out Chris. “Have fun this weekend!”

Jim went outside, and got back into Ken’s car.

“Any luck?” asked Ken.

“Yeah,’ replied Jim. “He was there. Really happy to see me. Gladly accepted your dinner invitation, and will bring his boyfriend Greg.”

“Nice,” said Ken, as he pulled away. They pulled out onto the street, and eventually the highway.

“You know?” said Ken. “Your wife Chris has been really nice. I think the divorce seems to be going really smoothly. And she really seems to want to be friendly to me.”

“Yeah, that’s the woman I married. I was also glad to hear, there was a guy at her workplace, who had given her a lot of emotional support when we first split up. A single guy. They have seemed to taken a liking to each other. Who knows?”

“Yeah, that would be nice, if something happens there,” said Ken.

Jim and Ken had reserved a room in a small lodge that catered to its share of gay people, so its customers were gay-friendly, if not gay. They had a romantic dinner in the dining room the first evening, got a good night’s sleep, after a bit of playful celebration of the weekend. The next day, they started out on an easy hike of ten miles, culminating in a beautiful view of the nearby river, from an overlooking cliff. They sat down with the lunches they had prepared, looking out on the view. The weather was beautiful, the height of Indian summer. After finishing their lunches, they continued to look out at the river, sitting closely together.

“Man,” said Jim softly, “this is beautiful.” He turned to smile at Ken, and then stroked his arm.

Ken chuckled, and returned the gesture.

“You know?” asked Jim. He paused. “I was thinking, maybe it’s time to move in together.”

Ken looked at him. “Seriously?”

Jim looked out at the river again. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it lately.” He paused. “We’re over at each other’s places so much as it is. Heck, if I’m missing a favorite shirt, I’m pretty safe in assuming I left it at your place… And then the next time I see you, you’re wearing it. I don’t know… I guess it’s just lucky we’re both the same shirt size” Jim continued, with a laugh. He chucked at a thought. “You’ve given me a couple haircuts at your place.” Another pause. “Have the guys missed me at the barber shop?” he quipped.

“They did mention that they wondered where you were,” admitted Ken. “I just changed the subject.”

“Yeah,” replied Jim, with a laugh. “Anyway, if you think it’s a good idea, it’s just a matter of whose place. And given my apartment, and your townhouse, I don’t think there’s much question.” Jim looked at Ken. “What do you think?” Another pause. “And if you’re not ready, don’t worry. It’s no big deal. Just thought I’d mention it.”

Ken thought for a minute. “Well, I didn’t want to pressure you. I wanted us to take our time, mainly because of you, but it sounds like you’re ready.” He looked at Jim, smiling. “Let’s do it!” he said softly. And with that, he leaned over, ran his fingers through Jim’s hair, and they gave each other a long, sensual kiss.

That evening, with the wine of the day at dinner, they made a toast.

“Here’s to the day I walked into your barbershop,” said Jim, as they touched glasses and then each took a sip of wine.

“Hear, hear,” replied Ken, laughing. “A lot has happened in the year or so since.”

“I’ll say,” replied Jim, with a mock laugh.

That Sunday, Jim and Ken returned to the city, and started making plans for Jim to change his residence. A few weeks later, after the move, Chris and Greg visited, to help celebrate the house warming.