WARNING: This story is about an affair between a boy and a man. Do not read the contents if it will offend you. If accessing this story causes you to break local laws (village, town, city, county, province, state, or country, etc.), please leave now.

 

Any characters portrayed in this story are fictional and not representative of anyone living or dead.

 

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The well-dressed boy.

 

By John T. S. Teller.

 

Part 7.

 

Morning has broken, like the first morning; Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird. Praise for the singing; praise for the morning; praise for the springing, fresh from the word.

 

That was my alarm call from the bedside clock. 7 am. The moment I opened my eyes, everything came flooding into my mind. Today was D-day in Fordingbridge, or to be more exact, in Salisbury Magistrates Court.

 

**********

 

It was just after eleven when I was sitting in my head office at Maidstone, Kent, that I received the call from Harry. The Magistrates had come down on Aiden like a ton of bricks. His blood alcohol level had been more than three times over the legal limit, but because he'd been carrying two children; one as young as seven in the car at the time of the offence, they threw the book at him, telling him that he should consider himself fortunate that he'd been stopped before he could have had the deaths of two children on his conscience, and facing a sentence that carried many years in jail. His solicitor had pleaded mitigation of him losing his job and probably his home if he was out of work, but the court dismissed that as extraneous considering he was going to lose his job anyway, and then gave him a 26 week jail sentence and disqualified him from driving for three years. Harry said he was crying like a baby when they took him down.

 

After Harry ended the call, the enormity of what had happened really hit home. A family had been destroyed, not only because Aiden had been drinking, but because Harry intended it to happen. I thought about whether I could have done what Harry did, and I came to the conclusion that I couldn't. But just as I was thinking that, the real facts slammed into me. Bloody Hell! It wasn't just Harry! Bill was in on it too!

 

Although I was distracted by the emotions of discovering Joel when I was there, now, thinking back, it was obvious! All the family knew Aiden would not be staying at Manor Hotel and would be driving home, and except for small token gestures from Denise, at no point did the rest of them really try to dissuade him from drinking. In fact, if I recall correctly, he was included in every round of drinks the close family shared. And thinking even deeper about the evening, there had been a couple of occasions when I saw Harry and Bill away from company; chatting together. I remember thinking at the time that Father-in-Law and Son-in-Law got on very well together, which was a good start to Harry's marriage. And when Harry was winking at me to stop protesting when I said that Aiden should have my room, Bill was also quiet. Only the ladies - and that didn't include Rosemarie - put up some sort of real protest. That's because the buggers had been plotting Aiden's downfall. The crafty, ruthless pair of sods! But maybe there were three crafty, ruthless sods? Maybe Rosemarie was in on it too? That put a whole new light on events. Maybe I knew only half the truth about Aiden. When Joel said what punishment he'd taken because of an accident with a piece of pottery, I remember thinking that I hoped Aiden would get ten years. But what if there was much more than that? Things which I was not privileged to know. And I'm sure there would be.

 

My thoughts were interrupted by a call from Brendan in the office next to mine. His first words were, "Have you heard about Aiden?"

 

"Yes. Harry's just phoned me and told me what's happened. Have you got a minute, Brendan? I'd like to have a chat with you."

 

"Can I just speak to Leeds? They have a problem up there with their computer."

 

"Fine. When you've sorted that, clear your desk for thirty minutes and we'll have a coffee together."

 

In sat back in my chair, hands clasped in the prayer position, considering everything. Then my personal mobile phone rang. I picked it up and saw that the call was from an unknown number, not in my address book. That was unusual, and I wondered who it could be. I answered it. "Frank Lee speaking. Who's calling?"

 

My heart leapt when I heard the childish voice. "Hello Frank. It's Joel. You said I could ring you."

 

My first answer had been brusque and businesslike, but now my voice was one of entire sympathy. "Hi Joel. Harry's just phoned me and told me the bad news. How are you and your mum?"

 

"Mum's upset, but I'm OK. I didn't go to school this morning. Granddad said I could stay home. Wendy's gone to school. Aunt Rose took her. I thought about sending you an email, but then I thought it would be best if I phoned you. You don't mind, do you?"

 

I could see the worry on the face of the young man at the other end of the phone, and I made sure he was not feeling worried when I answered, "Of course I don't mind! I'm really pleased you've phoned me. I was just thinking about you and wondering how you were. How are you really? It must have been a shock to you."

 

Again I heard the almost confident voice. "I'm fine. Really! I'm fine. You know I don't like him, so I've got six months away from him now."

 

My thoughts were buzzing. Would Joel give me answers if I asked some personal questions? I could but ask. "Joel, I know it may be none of my business, but I sense there's a lot I don't know about your relationship with your stepfather. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

 

Joel was silent for a while, and then I wished I hadn't asked the question. I could hear him crying when he burbled, "He said I was a filthy little queer, and as soon as I was old enough, he was going to kick me out."

 

I was shocked. Completely shocked, and I let out a long sigh when I said, "You poor lad. The vile swine! How did he find out that you were gay?"

 

More sniffles. "He went on my computer when I was at school. I forgot to delete some stuff I'd been looking at. He found it."

 

"Does anybody else in your family know?"

 

Joel was really hesitant this time, then he whispered, "Granddad knows."

 

"That you are gay?"

 

"Yes. And what he said about me."

 

"You told him what he said?"

 

"Yes. It was after granddad found out I was gay."

 

"But how did he find out that you were gay? Did you tell him?" Joel didn't answer me, and I had to ask again, "How did he find out you were gay?"

 

The line went dead. Joel had either disconnected or he had a bad line. I waited a short while for him to call me, and when it was obvious he wasn't going to, I did a recall on the last number. It rang quite a few times before Joel answered with a very hesitant, "Hello Frank."

 

"Did you break the call on purpose?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Why?"

 

"I didn't want to talk about it anymore."

 

"It wasn't necessary to break the call. You only had to say so. I'm not your jailor, Joel, I'm your friend. Somebody who loves you dearly."

 

Again the line went dead, but this time I decided to not call back. It was obvious to me that Joel needed a time out. But it put me in a strange position. I wouldn't be able to call him now. I was just mulling this over when a text came in. It was from Joel, and it said simply, I'll email you. Love you. XXX

 

I was just thinking about things when Brendan knocked on the door. Because the office was open-plan, he could see through the window that I was not on the phone, so he walked right in. I pointed to the chair on the other side of my desk. He sat down, and I called reception to bring us coffees. I looked at him. "It's a right mess at Fordingbridge."

 

Brendan nodded. "Were you serious about giving Denise a job, because it looks as though she's going to need one?"

 

I looked him right in the eyes. "I was never more serious. That lad of yours would never forgive me if I let them down now." I grinned. "He's been trouble ever since I met him."

 

Brendan grinned. "How do you think me and Geraldine go on? He's led us a merry dance ever since he was born."

 

I smiled. "But you love him to bits."

 

Brendan nodded. "Yes we do. That's why we've never interfered in his life, and he's not turned out bad, has he?"

 

I shook my head. "You were exemplary parents, Brendan. But that goes for everything else in your life. You've been my greatest asset ever since I got the company on its feet." Then I decided to do something that I'd been chewing over in my mind since my conversation with Harry in the hotel breakfast room. Because of the man opposite me, my life had been fulfilled. He could have kicked my butt when I was first after his son, and having just heard what he said, I realised that it wasn't just the prospect of promotion that made him decide not to interfere with me and Harry. It was mostly because he loved his son deeply, and he didn't think he owned him. The exact opposite of the bastard who'd just gone to jail. Again I looked him in the eye when I said, "I've been thinking. Would you like to become a partner in the business?"

 

Brendan was taken aback. He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. "Do you really mean that, Frank?"

 

I nodded. "I owe you a lot, Brendan, not only on the business side, but also in my personal life. We've worked and socialised together for many years now, and I think it's time for you to really reap the rewards of what you are."

 

Still adopting that puzzled expression, he asked, "How much will it cost me?"

 

I shook my head. "Nothing. I'll have our legal team turn over 20% of the company to you in the next couple of months. You'll retain your current salary, and will have a 20% share in the dividends at the end of the year. We don't need to go into major detail about who does what. You practically run the company now. Everything will stay the same." I chuckled. "I can have a bit more time off then. That's if you don't mind doing all the work?"

 

Brendan laughed. "I bloody well do it all now!"

 

"Good man. I knew I could rely on you. Now what are you going to do about our friends in Fordingbridge?"

 

Brendan became serious. "Denise hasn't worked since she met Aiden. Too busy bringing Wendy up."

 

I noted that he'd missed Joel out, and asked, "You mean Joel and Wendy?"

 

Brendan shook his head. "From what I can gather, Joel was ostracised the moment Wendy was born. Denise's job has been to care for his child." Brendan was hesitant for a moment, and then he added, "I think you've already sussed the situation, Frank?"

 

I nodded. "I think so. I don't know all the intimate details, but I can see how the land lies." Then Brendan was quiet for a while, and I could see that he had something he wanted to get off his mind, so I asked, "What's on your mind?"

 

Before he could answer, we were brought coffees. I thanked the young lady from reception, and sipped at my drink until she left. Brendan sipped at his. Then he put the cup down and stared right at me. "Is Joel another Harry?"

 

I almost laughed. This man who had been with me for many years, knew me inside out, just I did him. I should have known that nothing would escape his attention. I looked into his eyes, and said, "That's up to Joel, just as it was up to Harry all those years ago. I don't make those sorts of decisions, Brendan: they do."

 

Brendan smiled, because he knew that nothing would become of the situation unless Joel wanted it to, just as his own son had done. He nodded. "I know that, but I needed to know before I started sorting Denise out. It's going to be very difficult for you two if you're living so far apart."

 

I laughed. "That's what Harry said."

 

Brendan looked puzzled. "Harry knows?"

 

I tilted my head. "You don't think this would have happened without his machinations, do you?"

 

Brendan looked amazed, and then he drank his coffee and got up. "I'm out of my depth with you lot! I'll just go and sort the minor details like employing somebody who hasn't done any work for at least seven years. I hope she's got a bloody driving licence!"

 

Just as he was going through the door, I shouted after him, "See if you can find me a flat on a short term rent down there while you're at it."

 

Brendan didn't answer, and neither did he look at me when he shook his head as a gesture that he didn't want to know.

 

**********

 

I'd been checking my emails all day, but nothing came from Joel. I was getting worried. I left the office at five and drove home. Nobody from Fordingbridge had contacted me, and I felt as if I was spare to requirements. I wasn't too pleased with Harry. Of all people, he would have known how worried I was. I snacked for dinner, and then took a hot bath to relax. Afterwards, I poured a large Scotch and switched on the TV. But I wasn't watching it. My mind was elsewhere, wondering what Joel was doing. I got up and got the photo of him from the bedroom, and on the way back, I looked at myself in the mirror. What did Joel see in me?

 

I looked younger in the face than I was, but the tell-tale grey hairs on my temples gave the game away that I was in my forties. I recalled an afternoon in Paris. Harry was almost seventeen, almost at the end of our sexual life together. We were in the hotel, and he was waiting for me to get ready to go out. He was watching TV, and he shouted to me in the bathroom that I looked like Richard Gere. I wondered what he was talking about, and when I went into the room where he was sitting, he chuckled and pointed at the TV screen. "There. You look like a sort of version of him." He watched the film for a while, and then added, "Well, not quite like him, but there are similarities. I bet he can't fuck as well as you." I told him that he was a dirty, disgusting, filthy-minded little sod, and he giggled and said, "That's me, Old Man." So, despite me feeling shit about what was happening in Fordingbridge, I was smiling when I walked away from the mirror.

 

Old Man. When I met Harry, I was thirty two. There were nineteen years between us. But now there was thirty years between me and Joel, and compared to him, I really was an old man. What on earth could he see attractive in a bloke thirty years older than him? Even if this affair lasted, if it went along similar lines to me and Harry, I would be almost fifty by the time Joel upped and found pastures new. I felt depressed. Maybe it would be better if Joel's attraction to me was a boyhood crush.

 

I sat on the sofa, staring at Joel's photo, completely lost in my reverie. Then the phone rang and shocked me. I picked it up. It was Harry. Because I was pissed off, I said, brusquely, "It took you long enough."

 

I expected a sarcastic remark from Harry, but all he said was, "Sorry, but as you can imagine, there's been a lot going on here today."

 

"Here? Where are you now? No, don't answer that. You're at home. You're using your home phone. You meant all the stuff around you. I spoke to Joel earlier, but he broke the call. He was upset. He told me that Bill knew he was gay. I asked him how Bill knew that, and he hung up on me. He said he'd Email me, but he hasn't up to yet. How is he?"

 

"Mixed up. That's why I'm ringing. He told me about the phone call. There are some things I need to explain to you."

 

I sighed. "Fire away. I'm all ears."

 

Harry's voice went very quiet when he began to speak again. "I told Bill that he was gay. We'd been out for a pint together, me and Bill, and we were talking about Aiden. Then he started talking about Joel and how he hated his grandson to be in the same house as him. I happened to mention that it could be worse. He asked me what I meant. I asked him what his thoughts on gay people were. He said he had no problems with them. Then I told him that Joel was probably going to turn out to be gay. It didn't seem to bother him, and he just shrugged his shoulders and said Joel was still his grandson, and he'd always love him no matter what he was. He said he'd have a word with him to clear the air."

 

I butted in. "So he did, and that's when Joel told him what his stepfather had said to him about him being a filthy little queer, and that he would boot him out as soon as he was old enough."

 

"You've got it one, Frank, so you can easily work out why Aiden is in jail now."

 

Again I sighed. "I'd already worked out that the two of you were in this together. Was Rose in on it, too?"

 

"Yes. She wanted to go and put a knife through Aiden's ribs when she knew what he'd said."

 

"Does Denise know what he said?"

 

"No. Well, she might by now."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"They're having a pow-wow now at Bill's place. Rose is over there now. Joel's here with me. Bill thought it best if he stayed here tonight and Rose is taking him to school in the morning. He's in the other room writing you an Email. That's why I'm talking quietly. He knows I'm calling you, but I don't want him to hear the shit stuff we're talking about."

 

"You mean stitching Aiden up?"

 

"Yes. Exactly that. He's not to know. But I told him I would explain things to you about how Bill knew he was gay so he doesn't have to do it. The reason he wouldn't tell you is that he thought he'd get me in trouble, because it was me that first outed him, and he thought you might take it the wrong way."

 

"I wouldn't do that!"

 

"I know that, but he doesn't know that you and I have no secrets."

 

Harry was quiet for a few moments, and I gave him time to think before asking, "And you have something else to tell me?"

 

"Yes. Joel did some practicing on me."

 

At first, I was sickened by what Harry told me, but I began to realise what a fucking complicated affair it was over there, and all I could think of was Joel's state of mind. He was a gay person trapped in a boy's body, just as Harry had been. He would have needed an outlet for his frustrations, and his future uncle just happened to be fully versant in the ways of boy needs man. But I needed to know, and I asked Harry, "Was it simply to educate him?"

 

"No. It was to prepare him. I'd made up my mind that he was going to be yours. Well, let me rephrase that. He was already struck on you, and I'd already told him what you meant to me, and I needed to be sure that he knew what it was all about. The last thing I wanted was to throw him right in at the deep end. He isn't like me, Frank. I was absolutely sure what I wanted, and that's why it worked out with us. Joel is a mixed up kid, and you're going to have to treat him accordingly. If you want to take my advice, just love him for at least a year. I'm not saying you shouldn't go to bed together, but keep it simple. He needs to grow up a bit and find his own feet."

 

"You mean you just taught him the basics. I understand. Thank you for telling me. But it wasn't necessary. You know I would have let him do only what he was comfortable with." Then, after another thought, I asked, "Do you think it would be better if I kept things at long-distance for the time being? I was thinking of getting a flat down there to be near him. Would that be the wrong thing to do?"

 

"Yes, it would. Stay where you are and I'll try and wangle things so he can accompany me when I visit you. That way nobody will know what's going on. Bill might be liberal minded, but I don't think it would stretch as far as his thirteen year old grandson sleeping with a bloke in his forties, do you?"

 

Again I sighed. "No. You're right. I'll do exactly as you say. I've been thinking, too. Joel might just have a crush on me, and it won't be like you and me."

 

Harry's voice was a little louder when he said, "Nothing will be like you and me, Frank! And that's not me being jealous. That's me wanting to protect you. I don't know what will happen between you and Joel, and I know you've fallen for him big time, but lightening rarely strikes twice. I hope it does. Nothing would make me happier, but nothing would make me sadder than to see you unhappy."

 

I smiled to myself. My boy was still my boy. The sex side had passed, but what we had now was even more beautiful. I would never be a lonely old man as long as I had Harry. And that's why I said, "I love you."

 

I could tell that Harry was smiling when he replied, "And I love you Frank. I always will. But make sure you phone and Email Joel as often as you can. I don't want to see him hurt."

 

"I will. I'd better be off and wait for the one he's writing now. Take care of him for me, and don't make it too long before you bring him over."

 

Harry laughed. "I'll guarantee that he'll be with you within four weeks. And then I'm going to invite you to spend Christmas with us down here, and Joel will be staying overnight a couple of times. How does that sound?"

 

"Sounds good. Now sod off and make him a hot chocolate or something. Give him an After-Eight with it and tell him it's from me."

 

"Will do, Frank. Goodnight."

 

"Goodnight Harry."

 

**********

 

I'd almost given up when I heard the familiar note from the laptop that told me a mail had arrived. I took it from the table beside me and looked at the header. It was from Joel, and it said, Sorry. I took a deep breath, and opened it. 

 

To be continued...

 

You can find my other stories on Nifty here. If you wish to comment on this or any of my other stories, just drop me a line to john.thestoryteller@gmail.com Genuine comments will be appreciated. All flames will be extinguished in the trash bin.