Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:13:15 +0000 From: Chris Salter Subject: How I Met Jake: Chapter 6 You should know the drill. If two men or anything to do with homosexuality offends you don't read (why are you here anyway?) If it is illegal in your country/principality, don't read. If you're under the legal age in your respective geographical question, again go find something else to occupy your mind with. Disclaimer: I don't know Jake Gyllenhaal, nor do I wish to suggest or guess his sexual orientation. What he does in his own life is up to him. This work is entirely of fiction and should not be taken seriously. With that out the way, Enjoy Chapter 6. Chapter 6: Chris quickly bounced over the boxes on the ground and grabbed the phone as Lou was about to begin her second verse, "Hello?" There came a quiet cough, "Hey is that Chris? It's Jake." Chris smiled, he only met Jake a few days before, but he was quickly beginning to think of him as a friend, "Hey Jake, what's up?" "I just got back from a party, how are you, what did you get up to today?" Jake responded. "Yeah I'm good I suppose. Went to Ikea and bought some stuff for my study, now I'm sitting on the floor in Flat-Pak hell." Chris joked. "What was the party for?" Jake laughed at Chris' comment, "Oh, just some launch party. It got pretty boring so I came home and then I remembered I said I was going to call you, so here I am." "That's nice of you," Chris said innocently. He then stood up to close the door to the living area, effectively muffling the sound of Roger Cicero playing on repeat. "Hahaha yeah....so what are you doing tomorrow? Did you wanna hang out?" Jake asked. "Yeah sure, I haven't got anything planned until later in the week. What did you want to do?" Jake thought for a moment but ran dry. "I'm not sure...." Chris thought for a moment too, "What if you come over here, you could help me with this desk; I can't lift it on my own, then maybe we could find something to do after?" "Yeah that sounds great! What time should I come over?" Jake asked ecstatically. Chris thought for a moment, if he said later, the assembly might take too long to do something afterwards; conversely, Jake might be an early morning person and show up at 6am. "Oh anytime is fine, just not too early. I'm on break so I don't want to have to get up at 5..." Chris joked. Jake chuckled on his end and promised not to get there too early. They then said their goodnights and Jake ended the phone call. Jake's alarm woke him up at 8am. Before he went to the party last night he had set it to wake him slightly later than usual, assuming that he was going to be at the party for much longer than he actually was. Slamming his hand on the snooze button, he slowly lifted his face from the white cotton pillow. He then continued to lift his body out of the bed and walked towards the bathroom dressed in only a pair of black cotton boxers. He quickly used the toilet before flushing and washing his hands. Slightly more alert now, Jake turned the shower on and waited for the water to heat up, he then grabbed a towel and discarded his boxers before jumping into the shower. He steadily lathered up his toned body with soap before rinsing off and began the process of washing and conditioning his hair. Shortly afterwards, he switched the water off and grabbed the towel. Jake toweled himself off before stepping out of the shower cubicle with the towel around his waist. He then made his way downstairs and picked up his packet of cigarettes and lighter before heading out onto the deck. He lit up a cigarette and sat on a deck chair thinking about his filthy habit. He knew he had to give up someday, but today was not the day. If he was going to hang out with Chris more often, Chris' aversion to the smoke might be enough to help him reduce the habit to a lesser level. He did take notice that it was incredibly hot outside already, compared to the day before when it was slightly cooler. While sitting on the deckchair he was greeted by Boo Radley, who promptly jumped up on his lap and began licking his face. He played with his ears and kissed him on the top of the head for a while before allowing him to jump back onto the ground. He then extinguished the cigarette in an ashtray and head back inside to the bathroom. Jake pulled out his toothbrush and paste, as well as a bottle of mouthwash. After dealing with his oral hygiene, he then made his way out to the wardrobe. Again going through piles of clothes he decided on a pair of blue jeans, and a white t-shirt. He quickly threw his towel back into the bathroom and pulled on a pair of boxers and socks followed by the clothes. He then picked up a pair black suede shoes and slipped them on before heading back into the bathroom to finish his grooming. It wasn't till about 9 before Jake began to make his way down the stairs towards the front door. He picked up his cell phone and checked to see if he had any new messages. After reviewing several messages from several drunken girls from the night before, he quickly erased them and headed out the front door. He hadn't eaten since the night before so he was slightly hungry, and still slightly groggy from exhaustion. Jake jumped in his car and headed down the driveway en route to Chris' apartment. On the way he turned up the radio to listen to the latest news bulletin. As it was a weekday, there would be some traffic jams from the usual commuters. He got to the bottom of his canyon side street and made a slight detour through Krispy Kreme. He ordered two coffees as well as a dozen donuts. After paying, he returned to the street and slowly made his way towards the apartment. Half an hour of traffic later, he finally arrived at Chris' street. Being a weekday, finding a parking spot in a residential neighborhood was fairly easy, with him getting a parking spot only 2 doors down from the building. He pulled up and jumped out of the car, making his way around to the passenger side to pick up the coffee and donuts before locking the doors and heading towards the gates. As he began to reach for the buzzer a young man in a business suit opened the door making his way for the street. Noticing Jake struggling with keeping the balance of the food, coffee and reaching for the button, he held the gate open for Jake, allowing him access without being buzzed in. Slowly he made his way up the stairs, feeling slightly self-conscious, as he hadn't actually been granted clearance to enter the complex. He reached the third floor landing and walked over to the door 3A. After a slight hesitation, he knocked on the door. There was no answer. Jake knocked on the door again, this time slightly louder. After a few moments he heard a shuffling noise coming from the other side of the door and a silhouette appear in the frosted glass. "I told you, trash day is Friday." Chris said through the door. Jake smiled and shifted his weight from his right leg to his left leg. "It's me, Jake.." "Oh, just a minute." Chris muffled. There was a rattling noise coming from the doorknob and suddenly the door burst open. Chris stood in the open door wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms, his black framed glasses and a serious case of bed hair. "Sorry, come in." Chris croaked. Jake looked Chris up and down and smiled as he walked in, "I didn't wake you did I?" "No no, I was awake, just lying on my bed talking to Fergus." Chris replied as Fergus suddenly appeared at the bedroom door. "What's this?" Chris asked, looking at the coffee and donuts Jake was carrying. Jake looked Chris' torso over once more, noticing the pajama pants sitting low on Chris his hips. "I didn't have breakfast, so I thought I'd bring some over." He handed the box of Donuts to Chris and followed him into the dining area. "I didn't know what kind of coffee you drank, so I got 2 lattes." He continued. Chris turned around and faced Jake, "Oh I don't really drink coffee, but the thought was there, I can make an exception this time." Jake smiled, "Great. Looks like you had a busy night." "Nah, after you called I watched TV until about 1, then went to bed." Chris replied, taking a sip from his coffee and grimacing at the bitter flavour. Continuing to smile at Chris' comic expression, Jake took a sip from his coffee and grabbed a donut. There was a period of silence before Chris finally spoke up, "Were there any interesting people at this party last night?" "It was full of other celebrities, but when you see them at every party, they lose their awe factor really. It gets annoying when you talk to some woman and suddenly you are labeled as a couple though." Chris took another sip of the coffee and took a bit from a donut, trying to mask the bitterness with the sweetness of the donut. "I can imagine it's just like one giant high school...." Chris commented sarcastically. Jake snorted as he took a sip from his coffee, "Yeah it's a bit like that. The only thing I kissed in the past 24 hours was my dog, but I'm sure some story will come out about me kissing Reese or one of the others I talked to." "I'm sure you must love that, have all these lovely women supposedly dating you.." "I suppose, sometimes I just wish people would stay out of my private life, but it's part of the job.." Chris finished the last of the latte before placing the cup back onto the table, "That's the price you pay for being successful I guess, but I can understand what you mean. In my opinion, someone's relationship should only be of concern if you're directly involved." He slowly picked up a chocolate donut and broke off a bit, throwing it in his mouth, "The way I see it, a relationship should be a private thing, you know, the one you're involved with, friends and family. I don't see the point when people you've never met judge you just because of who you're involved with.." "Like being in a gay relationship?" Jake asked, finishing his coffee. Chris nodded, "Exactly, there's too much hate in the world at the moment, people need to focus more on their own lives rather than meddling in the lives of people they never have and never will meet." "I see what you mean, that's such a good outlook on life." Jake replied. "I suppose you have to keep a fairly positive outlook in life with your job." Chris stood up and picked up the two empty coffee cups, he then walked over to the trashcan and threw them in, "Yeah, you either gotta stay positive or become completely morbid." Jake laughed at Chris' comment as he watched Chris shuffle back towards the table. "I'm going to shower quickly, if you want to watch TV or raid my music collection or something.." Chris commented as he pointed to the stereo and the lounge area. "Okay, I'm sure I'll find something to do." Jake said as he admired Chris' back walking into the bedroom. As Chris disappeared into the bedroom, Jake finally got up. He picked up the 1/2 eaten box of donuts and walked over to the refrigerator. He quietly opened it to place them inside. While it was open, he made note to snoop quickly, noticing a few vegetables, bottles of water and various sauces. Obviously, Chris hadn't had time to go on a proper shopping expedition in a while, or he didn't spend much time at home. However, the presence of vegetables in there suggested the former. Jake closed the door and walked quietly towards the stereo and the shelf containing a large collection of CD's. He stood about a foot away from the shelf, examining the various artists that Chris had in his collection. He found some of the obligatory albums within the collection, but also a few artists he hadn't heard of, Kenan Dogulu for example. He then decided to sit down on the couch and see what was on TV. He picked up the remote and began flicking through the stations, arriving at E. As soon as he noticed a new gossip report was coming up, he quickly changed the channel again, arriving at on the Disney Channel. "I give up," Jake muttered to himself as he put the remote back down and looked back up at the cartoon on the screen. "What was that?" Chris asked as he came through the bedroom door, putting his hair into place. Jake turned around to see Chris standing barefoot in dark blue jeans and a black collared shirt. He was still wearing his glasses. "Oh, there's nothing on, that's all." He quite liked the look of Chris wearing his glasses; they suited his face and made him appear more intelligent. Chris laughed, "Well, it is daytime, if I'm home during the week I usually end up watching old shows like I Love Lucy or Green Acres or The Golden Girls, in a completely stereotypical gay manner." He finished buttoning up his shirt before continuing, "Did you want to help me with this stupid desk?" Jake bounced to his feet, much to the surprise of Chris, "Sure! I love furniture building." Chris led Jake towards the spare bedroom and opened the door, "So do I, my dad used to do it for a living before he retired. I was always quite good at working with machinery, but I don't have the space or the time to do it here." As Jake walked through the door he noticed one shelf completed, box still unopened and what resembled a natural disaster sitting on the rug in the middle of the room. "Look's like Ikea exploded in here." Jake commented snidely. "Something like that. It took a while to get this stupid desktop in here. I should have paid for delivery." He stepped softly onto the desktop to get to the other side without having to step on the various screws and Allen-keys on the rug. Jake looked around the room for a bit while Chris examined the instructions on how to piece the unit together. On the white walls he noticed a few of Chris' belongings on the floor in the corner, the newly constructed bookshelf was still empty and on the wall were various frames containing Chris' degrees and photos of friends, family and schoolmates. Chris finished getting a general idea of how to construct the desk and looked up to see Jake standing in front of the photos. He walked over towards Jake and began to point a few people out. He pointed towards a photograph of a group of people in what appeared to be a club. "The girl in grey there is my best friend Sarah; we went to high school together." Jake nodded, "Where was this taken?" Chris grimaced as he remembered his 2 seconds of television fame. "A couple of years ago, my friend worked for a television station and they needed a rent-a-crowd for a commercial. It looks like we're in the middle of a concert, but we were really standing in the middle of a park. Only about 10 of us. It was fun, but not something I'd want to experience again." "Ah, I see." Jake replied as he smiled gently. "And these guys?" He asked as he pointed towards a photograph of two men hugging each other. Chris pointed at the photo, "Well those guys are friends of mine, that's Terry and that's Will. They were a client of Danny's and we eventually became friends. They got married in Amsterdam about a year ago and now they've just finalized an adoption." "That's really nice. They look happy together." Jake replied, still smiling. "Are they your parents?" He asked as he pointed to a group photograph of Chris and an older couple. "Yeah that's them. My dad ran his own kitchen business and ended up doing a lot of work for places like Shell and BP, my mum's a photographer." Jakes eyes widened when he heard the word photographer, leaving a gap of white between the iris and his eyelid. "Like a photographer for a magazine?" Chris laughed when he saw Jakes expression. "No no, she's mainly a nature photographer. Quite good at it too. It's all freelance though." Jake then looked down and saw Chris holding the instructions. "So, any idea where to start?" Chris held up the instructions and pointed, "It looks like the easiest thing to do would be to build the legs and base first, then put the top on." They then crouched down and began to put the legs and base together. The whole process took about fifteen minutes of tightening bolts and locking it into place. "I guess we just flip it over now." Chris exclaimed as he dragged the desktop back with his foot. The pair then flipped the base over and centered it in the middle of the room. Jake then leaned down to pick up the instructions that Chris had left on the ground. As Jake bent over Chris took a quick glance at his backside before quickly looking away, reminding himself that Jake was straight. "So, it looks like we just dump that on top," He said as he pointed at the desktop on the ground. "Then we just have to line it up and secure it in place." Jake looked down at the bright white desktop and squinted; the direct sunlight from the window was shining straight onto it. "Do you mind if I close this?" He asked as he pointed towards the blinds. "Yeah sure, go ahead; the sun is a bit strong today." Jake slowly closed the blinds as Chris made his way over to the light-switch. He turned it on and then made his way over to one side of the table, with Jake on the other side. In unison, they lifted the desktop onto the base. Chris then quickly ducked under the table to fasten the desktop to the base. After he finished he slid back out and stood up. "Well, one down, one to go." Jake laughed and looked over towards the other box. "This one looks fairly easy, it shouldn't take too long." Chris then squatted on the ground and sliced the box open, spilling its contents onto the floor and throwing the packaging onto the pile. He then began to sort through the pieces in order to lay them out in a specific order. Jake was about to kneel down when he suddenly realized he needed to use the toilet. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" He asked. "Sure, no problem." Chris replied as he got to his feet. "I'll show you where it is." He then fluttered out the door and down a short corridor with Jake following close behind. At the end of the corridor Chris quietly opened a door and flicked the light switch, "There we go." Jake passed Chris and entered the bathroom, "Thanks," He replied as he shut the door. Heading back to the room, Chris once again squatted over the bookshelf pieces. He was assembling the bottom of the unit when Jake reentered the room. Jake helped Chris in the assembly and shortly after, they were done. Chris looked over at the clock and noticed it was now just after 1. "What did you want to do now?" He asked. "I kind of just feel like chilling out actually." Jake replied as he stretched. Chris walked out of the room and back into the living area, "Could always hang out here, camp out on the couch and order Chinese food." Jake followed him out and towards the couch; he slowly sat down and looked over towards Chris. "That sounds like fun actually. I'm pretty exhausted still." "It's a date then," Chris joked. He laughed as Jake laughed nervously at his comment. "There's a place here which delivers great food. I had it the other night." He then proceeded over to where the menu was located and brought it back for Jake look through. Jake took the menu and looked through it for a few minutes, "What's good here?" "Just about everything, but yeah, can't say much about the fish as I haven't tried it." Jake continued to look through the card, "What are you getting?" Chris thought for a moment before replying, "I'm kind of in the mood for Garlic Beef. I'd have killer breath, but that doesn't matter with a friend." "I might get that too then.." Jake replied as he smiled at Chris' comment. "Great, I'll place the order; you find a movie to watch." Chris replied as he pointed towards the shelf of DVD's. He then scuttled off to find the phone. "Sure," Jake then stood up and began to look through the assorted DVD's. A few peaked his interest and when he noticed October Sky in the collection, he smiled proudly. He finally narrowed it down to either Gone in 60 Seconds or The Family Guy Movie He picked them up and headed back towards the couch. A few minutes later Chris padded his way back towards where Jake was sitting, "It will be about ten minutes." Chris said as he looked at the DVD's sitting on the coffee table. "Wow I haven't seen either in a while." Jake leaned forward and picked up the case containing Gone in 60 seconds. "I quite like this, but I haven't seen The Family Guy Movie before." Chris picked up the Family Guy case, "How about we watch that then?" "Sounds good." Jake replied as he made himself more comfortable on the couch. Chris quickly loaded the DVD player and took a seat further along the couch. He began the movie and not long after the buzzer rang, signaling the arrival of their meals. Jumping up from the couch quickly, Chris made his way over to the door and paid for the meal. He then headed back into the living area. "Did you want to use the chopsticks, or a fork?" Jake looked over from the TV, "I'll try the chopsticks." "Good boy" Chris said as he unloaded the bags onto the coffee table. He handed Jake a pair of chopsticks and one of the boxes. "Did you want something to drink? Beer? Coffee? Coke? Water? Scotch on the rocks, with the rocks made out of baby aspirin?" "What?!" Jake asked as Chris' last statement sunk in. Chris smirked, "A Karen Walker moment, I was joking fool." Jake laughed and decided the play with Chris, "I'll take that, with the rocks made from Vicoden........" He paused for a moment to see Chris laughing, "A beer is fine." Chris then padded his way over to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of beer. He pulled the tops off and made his way back to the couch. "Here you go." "Thanks man." Jake replied as he took the bottle from Chris. The slowly ate their meals and drank their beers as they watched the movie. As the movie finished Jake picked up the remote and began surfing through the different channels. >From where Chris was sitting the afternoon sunlight was beginning to shine directly into his eyes. He stood up and walked over to the windows, closing the blind and leaving the room fairly dark. As he sat down he noticed Jake had stumbled across the Food Network. "You going domestic goddess on us now?" Jake smiled, "I love cooking, it's fun and a good way to de-stress." "Yeah, when you can get the time. I love cooking too." He then brought his attention to the show on the television. After the show was finished, Chris yawned and went to stretch his arms. As he extended his arm, he turned to see Jake slumped in the chair with his eyes clothes. Obviously the night before had worn him out. He smiled as he noticed Jake's upper lip twitch slightly. Slowly and quietly, he stood up from the couch. He looked over at the clock and noticed it was just after four. Chris then softly picked up the remote and turned the volume down on the TV. The air- conditioning was making it fairly cold inside and as Jake was wearing a T-shirt, Chris guessed Jake would be slightly cold. He softly padded his way over to the front of the coffee table and picked up the fake fur throw. He then gently dropped the throw on Jake's sculpted body and then quietly made his way into the spare bedroom. He decided, now would be as good a time as any to finish decorating the room. Chris wheeled the chair so it was at the desk before heading back to the wall to pick up his laptop. He then placed it on the desk and set to sorting out the books and various trinkets. By the time he was finished he noticed it was fast approaching six. He was about to log onto his computer to check his emails for the first time since Saturday, when he heard a rustling noise coming from the living area. ---Chapter 7 to come soon!--- Hope you guys enjoyed it! It's fun hearing from all you people who seem to enjoy my work. The next chapter should be online in a few days. A few things happened at home involving a home invasion, so there could be a slight delay. I will promise it won't be long though! I love to hear from you guys, if you wanna drop me a line I'm reached on chezmoi_ou_cheztoi@msn.com so drop me a line, say hello, but if your purpose is to abuse, then really don't bother. It will not be tolerated. Thanks for reading guys! Chris.