Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 14:08:43 -0700 (PDT) From: T. Chase McPhee Subject: Natures Trail 03 The story below is a work of fiction, set in the format of reality. Any resemblances to real people, alive or in the hereafter, is entirely coincidental in nature. It is not meant to accurately reflect upon persons, in towns, cities, countries, nor governmental areas, which the story is staged. If a sexual scene involving male-to-male relationships offends you, then you should not read this story. Additionally, if you are under 18 years of age, in most state and countries, you are not allowed to read this story, by law. Check with your local laws regarding such. % Sexual safety matters. Remember guys, this is fiction. In real life, use protection. % "Nature's Trail" 03 wriTten by T. Chase McPhee % After working, sticking by Chad's side for the past two weeks, Tom Letterli reports for his first day, running Barr's & Bridges, solo. Before the store opens, at nine, he gathers the employees in the front of the store. "It's been a pleasure working with you all for the past two weeks. Today begins the first day of our `liquidation sale'. Every customer will receive twenty percent off their order. I expect it to be very busy." "Mr. Letterli?" Marco raises his hand. "Yes?" "When do we move into the new store?" "Grand Opening is slated for Saturday. However, employees will begin on Thursday. Wednesday is the last day we'll be open, here at our old location." Antonio raises his hand and after getting acknowledged, asks, "If there's anything left, would you consider making a donation to our church pantry?" "I'll take that up with you on one-to-one, Antonio." He voices his thanks. "Alright, we ready to open?" the twenty-seven year old store manager asks, staring at Kimberly Fairchild, the head cashier. She shakes her head yes, counting out the last cash draw. "Let's rock'n'roll, ladies and gentlemen!" Tom announces, moving to the front doors, keys in hand. "Oh my!" he comments, seeing the nearly full parking lot, citizens at the doors with their carts, ready to shop. Tom's not the only one to take notice. "Looks like we'll be upfront bagging all day," Kevin Letterli tells John Torkelson. "They can't pull both of us," John says. "Right. Somebody's gotta stock the shelves." "You can bet John-from-maintenance," speaking of John Delano, "will be on the front lines," Kevin tells him, as they walk in the stockroom. John says, "Wanna bet they pull Marco out of bakery to bag." "I don't think so. My cousin, Tom... he's fair about the guys in departments. Only us stockers get shoved around!" "Still, in all, I think Tom is a pretty hip guy." "He can be, but he's also always watching out for the business." John kids, "All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy!" "No, dah!" Kevin comes back with, laughing at John's joke. As they case cut some tuna fish and spaghetti sauce boxes, in the recesses of the stock room the two eighteen year olds chat. "So, where you going to school next year?" "School?" Kevin questions. "College, I mean." "Oh. I'm already in college. I just transferred to WRCC. You?" "I'm a senior at West Richlan High," John replies, but I plan on going to WRCC." "Major?" "Undeclared. I'll just take some liberal arts courses the first semester. See if I can find something which interests me." "Sounds like a plan," Kevin tells him. "What about you?" "Art." "Cool. What.... what do you call it? Branch of art?" Kevin found John's means of questioning so cute. In fact, there wasn't much about John Torkelson that Kevin didn't find `cute'. Instead of correcting John, Kevin went right on, saying, "I like to draw." "Cool!" John replied. "What do you like to draw?" Right away, Kevin stopped cutting a tuna case open and scanned John's bod, trying to imagine how he looked without the clothes! When Kevin didn't reply, John, on account of he realized what Kevin was doing, suggests, "Want to draw me sometime?" "What?" Kevin asked, breaking out of a semi-reverie. Point blank and on a gut reaction, John asks, "Are you gay?" "What?" Kevin asks, surprised. "Never mind," John stifles his thoughts. "Um, yeah," Kevin finally comes out with. "Why? Are you?" Kevin hits John with the same. All the blond does is smile, proof enough. "Cool," Kevin says to his gesture. "Of course I want to draw you." "In the buff?" "Yeah and up close!" "Oh shit!" John suddenly says. Looking beyond the three stacks of spaghetti sauce, Kevin can see the reason for John's exclamation. "Yeah, I'm feeling it too. We better get our minds on other things!" Kevin offers the alternative to a growing urge. % "So, what about it, Zach?" "I'm all for it, as long as we both take an interest," Zach Roberts replies to his twenty-seven year old lover. "Do you want to go over to the kennel and take a look?" "Now?" Neil then takes a second look, as Zach lays on the sofa, book keeled over onto his pecs and notebook propped up on his lap. "Never mind. I guess you're busy," Neil says. Slamming the book shut, Zach says, "Why not?" "I've already checked it out yesterday." "You did, did you?" "Yeah. They have a cute little golden retriever puppy that got mixed up with a poodle." "What does that make it?" Zach asks, putting his books in his college bookbag. "A mutt?" "Oh. I thought they had a special, hybrid name for it." "Nope," Neil says with an ounce of whit, "we get to name it!" "Ha-ha, funny. Seriously, which does it look more like?" Because he was sitting on the back porch window, the sun streaming in had heated up both the room and Zach's skin, so he was slipping a tee shirt back on, over his head. "Umm," Neil says, scratching his head, "I'd have to go with the retriever." "Golden? Wait! Where'd ya go?" "Here," Neil says, handing Zach his jacket. "Is he a golden color?" "Mostly. He's got a little black splotch on his belly." "I'd say that's close enough." Walking out the side door, Neil formally holds the passenger side of his rust-colored mustang open. A `thank you', disappears inside, with it's closing. Neil gets in behind the wheel. "Are you sure you want to do this, Zach?" Neil makes sure. For the last few months, with his part-time job, at West Hills Kennels, Neil has been searching for the perfect dog. Zach knows how much Neil loves animals and has wanted a dog. "Of course. Let's roll!" All excited, Neil revs up the engine and pulls out of the driveway. "Are you sure Gary will be alright with a dog?" "I spoke to him and Mike about it. They are fine with it. Mike has even offered to walk him... her... it?" "It's a she." "Then we have to think up a girl's name!" "Zach honey, thanks for doing this for me." "For us," Zach says it, as if a toast of cheer. "Yeah. For us." Turning left, out of the drive, the two head off in the direction of the kennel. % Sure enough, at the end of the nature walk, Barry started to get hit by a barrage of questions, until a most welcome surprise occured. "Hey Dad, we've got something to talk to you about," Denis confronted Barry and Steve, Mark next to him. "Sounds mighty important," Barry said looking at the two. Given the opportunity, Barry coaxed the quartet, him, Steve, Dennis and Mark, over towards the van. With his sons at his side, talking, nobody else bothered with them. They get inside. "Now what's this about?" "You're not mad at us for interrupting?" Mark asks. "Are you dad?" Denis asks, too. Barry looks across the seat at Steve and smiles. "I think," Steve replies, "your father is rather grateful." "Oh?" Denis asks, "How's that go?" "Never mind," Barry says. "What's on your minds?" "We met up with Coach Hollister today." Barry showed signs of question, replying, "He's not one of ours," meaning the high school. "No. He's the swimming coach at WRCC." "Oh right," It occurs to him now. Mark intercedes, "Coach invited us to swim with the team." "Yeah," Denis continues, "says we have talent." Steve says, "I'd rather think of it as searching out talent for his team next year?" "Whatever," Barry says, "I think it might be good for them. When would practice take place?" "After school," Denis speaks for the two, "and it's great that we'll be right there." "While school is being held there, yes," his dad reminds him of the temporary measure. Mark says, "We thought about after we return to our regular building and one of the guys on the swim team can give us a lift." "Seems like you have all the angles worked out!" Steve replies. "We really want to do this, dads," Denis tells them. "How about a trial basis?" Both boys agree. They'll take whatever they can get, as eager as they are. After their little discussion, the boys hop out of the SUV, Barry and Steve wanting to make their get away, but have the children to think of. Just then Berk happens by. Steve unrolls his window to make some small talk. They talk of the lawnmower, Steve working his way around to taking the boys home. Berk more than gladly agrees. "Pretty slick," Barry says, starting up the van. "Yeah. I do have some hidden talents." "So, I've found out." "Stop it before you make me horny, Beary." "Too late for me!" "Cool!" Steve says, as one of his students would react. "Remember, you have lesson plans to write and I have a few phone calls to make." "Yeah, sure Beary." "I mean it!" Smiling, Steve reaches across the seat, places his hand on Barry's thigh. "Owch!" He says, as Barry slaps it. "I betcha I know why you did that!" "Why?" Barry questions. "Because you're already hard?" "Am not." Steve demands, "Then prove it!" Pulling in their driveway, Barry unfastens his seatbelt and gets out. "Hey! Where you going in a such a hurry?" Turning, looking back over at Steve, already exiting the van, he replies, "to the bedroom?" He wiggles his eyebrows. % "Um, cuzz, you going to take all day with that tuna?" "Be right out," Kevin tells Tom. Tom Letterli leaves the two teens. "I thought you said your cousin was a nice guy?" Kevin explains, "What would you do, if you came in the back and found two gay guys goofing off?" "Two gay guys? He doesn't know," John defends them. "Takes one to know one!" Kevin smiles. "You mean your cousin... Tom is gay?" John acts totally surprised. "Ever hear of gaydar?" "Sure I've heard of it." "Tom says he has a clear perception of it. He can pick a gay guy out of a crowd." "Wow! Really? So he knew I was?" "Yeah and we better get rolling before we're out of jobs!" "Your cousin would fire you?" Smartly, Kevin says, half-jokingly, "Let's not give him cause to do it?" John smiles, agreeing. Suddenly both look alert as they hear Tom page over the loudspeaker system, "Mr. Letterli and Mr. Torkelson up front to bag!" "And you thought we weren't expendable!" John tells Kevin. "He's doing it just because he saw us talking," Kevin says. "Last time I'll talk to you!" John jokes. Before he rolls his tower of tuna out on a cart, Kevin steals a fast kiss from John's cheek, then keeps on going through the double doors. % "What do you say it's time to go, sport?" Callan asks Diego. "Okay, dad. Let me get Seth and say goodbye to the guys." Callan smiles. "What are you all smiles for?" Alonzo asks. "Oh, just thinking about how lucky I am." "Any way in particular?" "I suppose walking into the situation of being a dad, then getting blessed with another son." "On both accounts, we're both blessed!" "We're ready to go," Diego says, with Seth by his side. "Dad?" "Yes, son," Alonzo, the first dad to jump to it, says to Diego. "How come Freddie isn't here?" "I'm not sure." Callan says, "Maybe he doesn't know about the brunch, after the walk." "He makes good pancakes," Diego says, adding, "I bet he can make a lot of good stuff!" "I don't think my waistline can take it, so I hope he's not too good a cook!" Alonzo says, walking towards the exit of the park, eventually leading to their street. "You want him to be a bad cook, dad?" "No, that's not what I meant, Seth," Alonzo says. Softly, Callan says, "Nothing wrong with your waist!" Alonzo smiles at Callan, before answering the boys, "What I really meant is I hope he knows how to make some lite meals." "Light?" Seth inquires. "Right, as opposed to heavy." Even though the boys still don't get it, they make like they get it! Also on their way out of the clearing, Jeremy walks between Chad and Matty. "That was the bestest breakfast I've ever eaten!" Jeremy exclaims, rubbing his stomach. "You think so?" Chad says to Jeremy, but turns his head to say to Matty, "I don't think this is working out with Marco." "Race you to the fence!" Jeremy calls out, running ahead. "Right," Matty replies. "His housekeeping is stupendous, but he's never around to prepare meals." "C'mon dads!" the two hear from the distance, seeing Jeremy coax they on with waving of both hands. "To be continued," Chad says, as they hustle towards the exit between fences. % "Whew!" "Come on, let me have the pack for awhile," Christian tells his mate. Passing the environmental center, the two started uphill. Fifteen minutes of trekking, Justin is running out of wind and sweating. "No, I've got it. I'm just way out of shape," his twenty year old counterpart says of his Kelty backpack. "Let's stop and rest." "Sure." Removing the backpack, Justin unzips one the netted compartments, removing a Nalgene bottle. "Drink?" "Sure." After taking a gulp, Christian hands it back, saying, "Looks like we need to join a gym or something." "Yeah right. Money doesn't grow on trees!" "You have a point there, although Michael tells me there's a raise in store for me after the grand reopening of Birdy's." "That's nice of him," Justin says, capping the water bottle, placing it in the backpack. "Ready?" "If you are." The two get to their feet, Christian insisting on taking the backpack and they continue their ascent. % Like Tom Letterli predicted, shopping carts filled up quickly, as well as the cashing out stations. Kevin and John stood there, tossing food into sacks, standing at the end of checkout counters, two stations apart. Whenever he could, Kevin would steal a glance at John. More into his work, John paid attention to the flow of goods, putting like items together, though once he caught Kevin eyeing him up and smiled. `God, what a gorgeous smile', Kevin thought. All it took was the trip from the stockroom, to the front registers, to declare to himself, `I'm in love!'. He paid more attention, after he dropped a can of corn on top of some plums. % "Dads! Come quick!" "Yeah!," Aidan yelled out, too, "Come see the new lawn mower Berk bought!" Max smiled, bringing in the few assorted foodstuffs he purchased while Berk and the kids shopped at the hardware store. Upstairs, the two lay together in bed. "Couldn't they have taken longer to choose?" Steve said, jovially. "C'mon," Barry said, with one leg already out of bed. Going to the door, Barry opened it slightly, hiding his bare bod behind it and yelled, "Be right down!" Ascending the stairs, the two boys stop. Aidan says, so only Philip can hear, "They're doing it again!" "I thought they are only supposed to do it at night," Philip returns. "I guess not, since this is like the fourth time we've caught them doing it during the day!" About facing, the two skip down the stairway. Within minutes, the dads have slipped on jeans, tee shirts, socks and sneakers. "I wonder how much this is going to set us back?" Steve asks. "Depends on how thrifty a buyer Berk is." Steve frankly says, "Well, look how much Berk saved us with the barn remodel." "Yeah, I can't believe he got us the pool and hot tub installed so cheaply." "It pays to build up favors," Steve comments. "I know this isn't the right time to bring this up," Barry goes on to say, "but how would you feel about looking around for some cheap wheels for the boys?" "What brought this on?" "Well, I'm sure whoever is offering them a ride, is not going to be wanting to make round trips from WRCC everyday." "True." The two are silent, shy of two minutes. "Well?" Barry asks. "I'm thinking." "Got an idea, Steve?" "If I remember correctly, I think Bernice was saying something about getting rid of Matty's old mustang." "Perfect!" Barry calls out. "Steve, you're a genius!" "I am?" He replies, all smiles. "Sure. We could offer her a hundred bucks for it and.." "Oh, she wouldn't take anything for it." "No, I suppose not," Barry reconfigures. They stop after the last downward step of the stairway. "Nah. She'll just be glad to get rid of it from the garage." "Nice." "Oh, and I want to thank you." "For?" Barry says. "For `up there'," Steve motions in the direction of the upstairs bedroom. "Well, after we see this new contraption, I have to seriously get on the phone and you better get on your lesson plans, before the principal checks up on you!" "C'mon dads," Philip grabs Steve's hand, while Aidan takes Barry's. "You should hear how it sounds." "I can hear it," Barry informs them. Aidan says, "Berk says it sounds like the purr of a kitten!" "Sounds more like growl of a lion," Steve jokes. "Nice!" Is Barry's comment, when they reach the backyard, seeing some nicely manicured rows of grass chopped off. "Oh, Berk said to give you this," Philip says, handing Steve a pink slip of paper, then scooting away. "Sure," Steve says, "he didn't want to face us with the bill!" Barry steals it away, looking at it. As if his brow was dripping with sweat, he wipes it with the back of his hand. He hands is to Steve, who smiles, looking at the bottom line. % "I used to come up here all the time, growing up," Justin says of the picturesque view. "Funny, I don't picture you the rugged type!" "Only in bed," Justin jokes, turning to Christian, as they sit there on the mountainside, kissing his lips. "Yeah, I think I'm starting to... oh, whatever you call it." "Bottom out?" Justin says, half-joking. Christian smiles, replying, "Yeah. I don't know what it is, but after you fucking me and me fucking you, I feel it more satisfying having you inside me." Sitting there with a smile on his face, looking out onto the surrounding hills of forrest, Christian turns to him, asking, "What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking of how glad I am you came to that conclusion," Justin replies "Oh? Why's that?" "Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy sucking you off, but there's a certain sense of great pleasure forcing myself deep inside of you." Christian laughs. "What?" "I don't know what took us so long," Christian says. "Does it matter?" "No." Then suggestive of happiness and contenment, Justin's twenty-three year old lover states, "We've got the rest of our lives to work out our differences. Leaning back on the flat rock, Justin pulls on Christian's shoulder. Moving the backpack out from between them, they engage in kissing. % Business flowed nonstop until about two-thirty. By that time, the cash stations looked abandoned for the most part. Kevin and John wandered away, reporting to the employee's lounge. "Are you sure it's going to be alright with Tom, that we take a break?" "You kidding, John? After working through our lunch, he owes us! Soda?" Kevin asked, depositing eighty cents in the vending machine. "Sure, I'll have a Pepsi." Kevin thought, `too bad there are other employees in here'. On his mind was capturing John for a `real' kiss, but as they sat down at a square table, over in the corner, the nineteen year old had an alternate idea. "Thanks for the Pepsi." "No problem." Then softly, he asks, "Remember what I asked you about before, in the stockroom?" Knowing where this was headed, John decided to play dumb. "No, what?" Looking around first, Kevin reveals, "About posing for me?" "Oh right." "Well, how would you like to get together after work?" John had some questions first, asking, "Where?" "Well, if the art studio at WRCC is not being used, we could go there." "Not too private, is it?" John asks. "Um, there's a chance somebody could walk in on us." John shrugged his shoulders. "We could use my dorm room?" "What about your roommate?" "He's working. He won't be in til late, besides, he's seen me sketch guys before." "In the buff?" John asks, all wide-eyed. "Mostly. Either nude or barechested, at least." "Any of them... you know..." John suggests. "Gay?" "Yeah." "I've only sketched three guys. One of them was gay." "Did you...." Deciding the question he had on his mind wasn't any of his business, he decided to bail out. "Um, never mind." But, Kevin didn't mind being outspoken, entertained by personal matters, so interjected, "Get it on?" Smiling, John wouldn't have put it that bluntly, but replied, "Yeah." "Kissing, that's all." Quickly thinking about it, Kevin says, "I'm really saving myself for that special man in my life. Know what I mean?" John knew the score, but then questioned in his mind what happened before; the kiss on the cheek when Kevin left the stockroom. % Copyright 2007 T. Chase McPhee This story may not be sold, nor made part of any collection, without prior consent from the author.