Catering with Benefits (2) - Second Course - 7. IT’S NOT GARBAGE NIGHT

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As Thomas let himself into the house he heard Jared call out, “Is that you Thomas?”

“Yes, my love, you’re home early.”

“Don’t ‘my love’ me. Andy told me you were out all night. Where have you been?”

“I had a meeting at the caterers we are using for Mrs. P’s next party. We had a few drinks and when I was going to leave I realised I was over the limit for driving.”

“What sort of business gives you that much to drink and lets you stay overnight?”

“Craig and Justin run their business from their home. They invited me to stay for lunch after the meeting and we drank too much, that’s all.”

“And you stayed all night with these two guys?”

“Yes, it was safer than driving home.”

“You could have got a taxi, you could have called Andy to pick you up or you could have at least fucking called him. He thought you must have had an accident when you did not answer your phone.”

“Sorry Jared, I’ve no excuse for not ringing. I was just zonked out by the wine and a few too many tequila shots.”

Then as Thomas moved towards Jared he said, “Give me a big hug I missed you and I’m home safe now.” Jared was not convinced but let Thomas hug him.

“You’re not hugging me back.” said Thomas.

“I’m too busy sniffing the strange smells on you.”

“What do you mean strange smells?... Oh, I’m wearing the same close as yesterday and did not have a shower, so I probably smell a bit whiffy.”

“It’s not that sort of smell; it’s another man’s after shave.”

“They did give me a man hug when I left.”

“It’s not just your clothes, I can smell it on your neck and head. How hard did you hug each other?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I want you to strip, right now in front of me.”

“How about I shower first and then we can have some fun.”

“It’s not about having fun. STRIP NOW.” yelled Jared.

“Why?”

“Just do it.” Thomas did as ordered and stood there naked before his man, thinking this was some sort of kinky punishment that would lead to make up sex. Jared then put his head to Thomas’ chest and sniffed deeply. Thomas misunderstood this as well and put his arms around Jared’s shoulders to pull him closer.

“Stop that!” Jared ordered, “I can smell various perfumes on your body. You didn’t get that from a goodbye hug.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been sleeping with someone else. Who was it, where did you go last night?”

“I told you I stayed at Craig and Justin’s house.”

“So who did you sleep with? Wait...” He sniffed again, “You slept with both of them, didn’t you?”

“You can’t tell that just by sniffing me.”

“I can, I was trained to recognise various smells of different men. Sometimes we only had our sense of smell to guide us through the process of determining between friend and enemy.”

Then Jared grabbed Thomas’ cock and balls, sniffed his own hand and rubbed his fingers together.

“Ah, a sticky dick and the smell of lube and cum.”

“But...”

“Yes, go on.”

“Nothing.”

“OK, give me your phone.”

“Why do you want my phone?”

“So I can check your numbers and call these caterers.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I told you I didn’t sleep with them.”

“But I’m not convinced, so let me call them and clear it up.”

“No you can’t have my phone. You have to trust me.”

“If you were trustworthy, you wouldn’t have anything to worry about and you would let me call them.”

“No!”

“Give me the phone or get out now, and don’t come back.”

Thomas thought for a moment and realised he was in deep trouble. If he didn’t let Jared call them he would be presumed guilty. Then on the other hand, it was unlikely Craig would admit he and Justin had slept with him. Especially when they knew who was calling.

“OK, here’s my phone, their number is under ‘Catering with Benefits’, call them.

As Jared found the number he added “Catering with benefits, that says it all.”

Thomas did not reply, he just said “I’m going to the bathroom. I don’t want to see you embarrass yourself.”

Thomas had not thought this through properly because he had not mentioned Jared at all when he was with Craig and Justin so they did not know he had a boyfriend.

“Hello Thomas, this is Justin, did you forget something?”

“Hello Justin, no this is not Thomas, I’m just using his phone.”

“He is not injured, is he?”

“No, nothing like that; I’m Jared, Thomas’ flat mate. I want to thank you for taking care of him, it was better that he did not drive in his condition last night.”

“Yes, he did put away a few glasses.”

“Apparently so, he’s just been telling me what a wonderful time he had at your place last night. He says you guys really know how to have a good time, if you take my meaning.”

“Yes, we had fun too.”

“You know, he has led a somewhat sheltered life, so last night was an eye opener for him.”

“What do you mean Jared?”

“He told me he has not had a threesome before but really enjoyed it. Thanks for broadening his education.”

“It was our pleasure as well. I hope he does not have too much of a hangover today.”

“He’s coping, but don’t be surprised if he comes over for more sometime in the future.”

“Yes, he did mention that before he left, but we didn’t make a commitment. It’s not our regular thing to do.”

“Me neither. Well thanks again Justin and pass my thanks on to your partner. My mate arrived home safely and happy thanks to you two.”

“Our pleasure Jared.”

“Oh I’ve no doubt about that, bye.”

Jared hung up and pressed the ‘stop record’ icon on the phone. He put the phone on the table and waited for Thomas.

After his shower, Thomas returned to the living room, assuming he was now in the clear, and asked, “So, are you happy now you’ve spoken to them?”

“Yes, I had a very friendly chat with Justin; he seems a very nice guy.”

Jared went to the cupboard under the kitchen sink and found a pack of large garbage bags which he gave to Thomas.

“What are these for it’s not garbage night, tonight?”

“Oh, I think it is. You are garbage and I want you removed from my home. You can pack your stuff into these.”

“You can’t be serious. Why?”

As Jared handed Thomas his phone he said “Just press ‘replay last conversation’ then you will know why.”

Jared went into his pain studio, Thomas packed, wrote a note for Andy and left. He never did play the phone recording.

***

Thomas moved back into his old room at the Prices’ but missed Jared enormously and thought constantly about him. He also realised what a fool he had been, but how was he to know Jared would be home earlier than expected.

Monday morning he called Andy to talk through it. “Hi Andy, have you got time to talk?”

“Yep, it’s Ok, are you going to tell me what happened between you two?”

“I’ve been a complete fool, Andy. I have lost the man I love. After so many years avoiding relationships because of my job, I finally find a man that loves me and I stuff it up big time.”

“Thomas, I feel a bit responsible for that, but I was worried about you all night and the police weren’t much help with all their mumbo jumbo about privacy. I also checked at the Price’s, Carol was sure you were not there. So when Jared came home I asked him, hoping he might know where you were”.

“Andy mate, don’t think like that. You’re not responsible. I understand that you were worried about me and I should have called or at least left my phone where I could hear it. I’m just not used to having people care about me. It’s entirely my stuff up. I had so much to drink, they are a hot couple and Jared was away. I didn’t think it would be a problem. At least I didn’t think I would get caught.”

“Is that all you’re worried about, getting caught?”

“No, I don’t mean that, but that was how I was thinking on the night. Have you two spoken about it, what has he said about me?”

“We haven’t spoken much about it, he just said you were unfaithful and how important that is to him, so he had to ask you to leave. But I think he misses you as much as you miss him”.

“What should I do to get him back Andy?”

“Right now, probably nothing; give him some time to process it; after all he broke up with you, so only he can ask you back.”

“Yes, you’re probably right, but I fuckin’ miss him.”

“I know, just give it a bit of time and sometime in the future you can use me as an excuse to visit and see what his reaction is.”

“Hey good thinking, when can I come visit you?”

“Slow down, it’s not time yet.”

“OK, I’ll file that idea away.”