Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 01:23:10 -0500 From: Gary Brlow Subject: OPEN ROAD 2 OPEN ROAD by: GaryBrlow Author's note and dedication: First of I would like express my sincerest apologies to those who have been following my story. Due to my being busy with work and my ocassional fit of depression (everyone get's depressed you know :P) I was unable to write the continuation of this story for quite some time. I would like to thank JONATHAN ANDREW YBANEZ (author of "SIMPLY WORDS" under the boy bands section) for his never ending support and now that we've met we have become good friends. :P, RAMUNTXO my ever dearest friend who keeps my sanity alive and giving me moral support. To all you readers pls bear with my writng coz this is the first time I have ever written a story in my life :). And I'm very thankfull to all of you for taking time to read my story. To those who have written to me I thank you for your kind words to which I am forever greatfull. To Yuli (author of "BUSTA" under the boy bands section) thanks a million for your encouragement. This story is fictional and does not suggest that GARY BARLOW is gay or other wise. If you are a minor pls obey the law and wait until your old enough enough to read this :) or find something appropriate for you there are lots in the internet. If you found this story by accident I suggest you keep your mind and your heart open. "Simple words my hands write, A story of a young man's journey... From lands end to wuthering heights, Cupids arrow through every page carry..." -GaryBrlow 11161999 III Where It All Began Soon enough I arrived at the cafe. I saw Bruce on the counter entertaining some customers. "Evenin' Bruce. Any one looking for me?" I smiled as I asked him. "Heya Gary. No, am afraid not." Smiling as he responded. Killer smile alert!!!! Duh darn Bruce and that killer smile of his. Even before, looking back to our first day on the job he always had the killer smile. He was kind of aloof and withdrawn at first but he was always eager to learn. A quick learner that he is :). From being a newbie to a spiffy net addict that's Bruce for you thanks to me that is :). Aside from having a killer smile Bruce is someone you could describe as cute. Jet black hair, a pair of very expressive eyes, and a very nice personality to go with it as well :(. But he is as straight as they come :(. Oh well, he's quite nice nevertheless. I proceeded to deposit my bag under the counter. Since the counter housed most of the cafe's equipment including the server, tidbits etc. So I went to my favorite computer in the cafe aside from the server which is computer no. 15. I sat down and spared no time in opening my e-mail,ICQ, and MIRC. Even though it was already my shift, Bruce always stays for 2 hours more. Chatting of course, what else :_. Well at least I get a little extra time to do my stuff before really working since the person on the counter usually entertains the customers. So I went on chatting with my online friends and stuff when suddenly someone nicknamed G^Barlow entered the channel where I was currently chatting. The nick immediately caught my eye then I went on to perform a /whois on the nick and it turned out the he was from the UK. "Definitely not a local.." I muttered to myself. My curiosity got the best of me, so I initiated a chat session with the person. >> hi... hi :) how r u? me? Oh am quite fine :) u? oh well... a tad depressed but fine nonetheless :) may i know ur a/s/l? am 27 / M / Fordham, Cheshire England :) u? 22 / M / Cebu City, Philippines nice. How is the Philippines btw? oh tad rainy but quite sunny most of the time :) umm what do u do for a living? well I work in the entertainment business. and u? kewl :) umm I am a jack of all sorts I suppose. I do graphic arts, web design, cooking, etc. and a bit of singing as well; though I mainly work as as an asst. mgr and part technical support for a cyber cafe :) hey gary :), I hate to say this but I really need to go :(. I have to attend a meeting in an a few minutes. btw can I have ur e-mail address? if u like to keep in touch my e-mail address is gb90@daemon.co.uk sure mine is garybrlow@eudoramail.com hey I really have to go :) see ya later chap :) goodnight n sweet dreams :) :) ---end--- Wow. :) who on earth was that? Quite an intriguing chap isn't he?. Oh my that Britt accent is beginning to rub on me he he he he. Wonder when will we get to chat gain. Oh well :). When looked at the clock it was already 12 MN and Oliver was now getting ready to leave. So I said goodbye to all whom I have been chatting though I promised to be back as always :). Oliver got his backpack and put on his favorite cap and proceeded to the door. "Hey Gary I'll be going ahead. Take care and goodnight." He said smiling as he went out the door. "Take care and goodnight to you as well. See ya in the morning" I answered back cherfully. As the night wore on my thoughts went back to the events that ocurred in the past hour. "Could that person really be Gary Barlow? Not!!! Duh, in my dreams most deifnitely." I muttered as I kicked myself mentally. At around 2:00 AM, the cafe surprisingly got full and I had to say goodbye to my online friends to give way to the customers. With the memmories of the past hours temporarily forgotten, I hastily got on with my usual work. It was already 6:00 AM when the last customer finally left the cafe. I let out a sigh of relief, finally I'm alone again. I quickly went on making my daily reports, printed them out, and filed them. Now with all that work done, the first thing that came to mind was that intriguing person I chatted with a few hours ago. I decided to write him an e-mail. When I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to note down his e-mail!!! "Arggggh!!!!" I screamed. How on earth could I have forgotten to write down his crummy e-mail address?!? Knowing fully well that I have a tendency to forget things!! "Arggggh!!!" I screamed again. How utterly stupid of me. Stupid, stupid, stupid. :( After a few minutes of self remorse and condemnation. I finally decided that it was probably for the best.. What was I t hinking .? He and I are both worlds apart in more ways than one. Tsk tsk. Why am I so affected by him anyway? Simillar situations like this have happened in the past and well I just forgot about them. What is with this person and what makes him stand out from the rest? With a sigh, I went on and checked my mail, and sent some as well. I suddenly yawned and I immediately stood up and donned a stretch :). Sleep was getting to me and I was quite exhausted from all the activity earlier. I glanced at the clock on the wall and it was almost 8:00 o'clock. A few minutes more and my shift ends. I went to the bathroom and proceeded to fix myself in readiness for my departure homeward. I then prepared my things and eagerly waited for the arrival of the second shift. Amidst my rationalization I still could not forget that intriguing person. At the back of my mind there lurks anticipation for something big. But what? Strange, never have I felt something like this for any one let alone some stranger who could be some crazy lunatic or someone worth fighting for. Still, the reality of it being so nil and quite far fetched if I should say so myself. But nothing is impossible. Even dreams have a chance of becomming true. It's just a matter of trying make something out of Destiny's cryptic ministrations as to where your life's journeys begins and ends. Hit or miss we try to interpret the best way we can. The decisions we make prove essential or determental to the success of each situation we face in life. We either move forward or as the saying goes " go back to square one". But the bottomline is that we will never know unless we try. Mistakes are unavoidable and one should always learn from them; especially those done by others for they provide insight. If not one will always be subjected to learning the hard way. TBC... for comments/suggestion or anything else pls send them to garybrlow@eudoramail.com... till next time :)