Date: Wed, 28 Jun 2000 20:07:14 EDT From: E D Subject: GM College Archives;'Hold me Tight Part 2'{EDW19}( MM coll rom ) Hold me Tight (Part 2) By EDW19 Copyright 2000 Side note: Thanks to all the guys that sent me comments. I've looked at this part over; so hopefully, all the typos are taken care of. Chapter 4 It's bad enough that butterflies were hovering all around my stomach, but afternoon traffic was going to make me late. I've never been to the Royal Garden before so I underestimated the time to get there. As I pulled my car into the parking lot, I spotted the familiar BMW since there wasn't too many other cars there. "Oh just great," I said to myself while walking under the elaborate pagoda entrance of the restaurant. I walked into the lobby, and the hostess standing behind a podium with large goldfishes carved onto it gave me a smile. "Hi, welcome to the Royal Garden. How many guests are you with sir?" She politely asked. "Uhh, I'm meeting a friend here, and I'm kind of late. I think he's already seated." I said, trying to control my voice. "Are you Jason?" the hostess asked. "Yes,' I replied with surprise. "Mr. Morgan has informed us to expect you. Please follow me this way." She said as I followed her lead. I spotted Bill sitting in a decorative private booth near the back. The booth was covered from roof to floor with exotic dragons and clouds. And it had a large window that looked out to a beautiful water-lily garden. He was sitting there enjoying hot Jasmine tea as he looked at the garden. A big smile formed on his face when he saw me approaching, and got up from his seat. "Hi Jason, I'm glad you could make it." He said with an outstretched hand. I grasped it and could feel a nice firm grip. "Hi Bill." I said as we released our handshake. I sat down and looked around some more; feeling a little awkward and out of place considering the fact that almost everyone was pretty well dressed here. Bill was in a full navy suit like most of the other guests that I saw. I didn't look like I just got dragged from the sewer-khaki and polo shirt. But still, I felt a little out of place. The hostess waited for us to sit down and handed me my menu before excusing herself. "Have you been here long?" I asked. "No, not long. About 10 minutes tops. I though it would be a breeze to get here when I left work, but I guess this area gets a little congested around this time of day." He said. "Sorry for being late. I haven't been around here before so I underestimated the traffic." I apologized. "Don't worry about it. You're here now." He said with pearly white teeth flashing behind his smile. "What do you do?" I asked being a little curious. "I do consulting for KPMG." "Wow, interesting line of work, you must get to travel often then?" I asked. "Lots, sometimes I leave for weeks and that can be tiresome. I guess which is why I don't have a lot of friends in Dover-when I'm back in town, I'm too tired to go out." He said with a somewhat sad undertone. "Would you like some Jasmine tea while you wait for the waiter?" He asked me. "Yes, thank you." I glanced around the place some more as he reached over to get my teacup. I've heard that the restaurant was a great place for Chinese cuisine. I didn't expect it to be so fancy though. With a student budget, you can't exactly go to a lot of places like this, except for Yang's Wok near campus. "This is a really nice Chinese restaurant. . . Thank you," I said as he finished pouring tea from the porcelain pot. "You're quite welcome. It really is a class of it's own. There are few Chinese restaurants in the city that is as decorative. They serve decent lunches too." Looking at the menu, I saw a lot of strange items. Where were the chop suey and lo mein noodles that I usually ordered at Chinese restaurants? "What do you recommend that's good here?" I asked him. "I like just about everything that's on the menu, though I would be careful with anything that's spicy. You can request to have the chef leave out the chili peppers. But the sesame seed chicken is usually good." He said. We looked over the menu a few more minutes before the waiter came over to take our orders. I let Bill ordered the appetizer since he knew exactly what he's doing. "By the way, do you know how to use chopsticks?" He asked as he picked up a pair from the table. "I have tried before, but I always seem to make a mess on the table and never finish cleaning up my plate." I answered. He gave a deep chuckle and said, "Well, maybe we can do something about it tonight. I've been told by my Asian clients that I'm not too bad for an American." I picked up my pair, quickly looked at the instructions on the back, and tried to imitate the pictures. "The instructions are usually not much help. I've seen at least a dozen ways to hold chopsticks-and almost everyone has their own unique style." He said with a cute grin. I've never been around too many people who used chopsticks often, so I was clumsy with the awkward utensil. "You want to place your thumb here and try to move the chopsticks with your index finger." He said as he leaned over to move my fingers with his hand so that they sort of entangled the chopsticks, yet still gave me enough room to make it move. When his hand touched my fingers, I got an electrical charge running through my body and down my spine. I pushed the excited thoughts aside as I tried to concentrate and not make a fool of myself. As the waiter brought over the appetizer, he said, "try picking up the shrimp dumplings with your chopsticks like this." Picking it up like an expert to stress his point. I reached for one of the dumplings with my chopsticks and tried to pick it up. "Try to move it like scissors, it's much easier that way." He said. And he was right, it somewhat moved like scissors. By the time we finished the dumplings, I was a little better using the utensil. Mimicking Bill using the chopsticks was a lot easier than trying to follow the pictures on the utensil covers. Throughout the rest of dinner, I really connected well with him. We had a lot in common and shared so many interests. I tried not to stare at him too much though. Didn't want him to know that I got the hots for him. He seemed like a real nice guy, but I was pretty sure the guy was straight. It was a nice gesture of him to invite me for dinner because I gave him a lift to the gas station; so I tried not to read too much about his intentions for dinner. I didn't want to hope too much and be disappointed later. "Hope you like dinner." He said while opening the door for me. "It was great, thanks for inviting me." "It was my pleasure. If it weren't for you, I would have been behind on my schedule all this week." He replied. "It was nothing really. All I did was gave you a lift." I said. "Well, hate to eat and run, but I still have a lot of work I need to complete tonight; maybe we can do this again sometimes." He asked. "Sure." I replied. "Well, I have to leave tomorrow for New York, but I should be back sometimes next week. You can call me at these numbers." He said as he opened his wallet and handed a card to me. "Feel free to leave me a message if you can't reach me." "Thanks, have a goodnight Bill." I said. "You too, and have a safe drive back to campus." He waved after igniting his BMW. I watched him a little longer as he drove off. Chapter 5 "Good morning guys." "Whoa, someone woke up on the right side of bed this morning." Steven groaned. "I had a good sleep last night. Besides, if you didn't drink so much yesterday, you wouldn't be so grumpy now." I replied. "At least I drank. All you can take is a Sprite little man. And you missed the best part of the game last night, touchdown with a single throw at the end." Steven said. "Well, we have to get to class. We'll see you guys at lunch." Cindy said. She and some of her friends left for their class. I waved good-bye to them and tugged Steven's shirt to point him in the direction of our class-since he's walking the wrong way. "You think you're sober enough to join me for the gym this evening?" I asked Steven when we took our seats. "Probably not man, I'm going to get a long nap after class. Cindy would love to join you, but I over-heard the girls talking about going shopping later. You could join us for a late dinner-around 8:30." "I'll be out of the gym by 6 and would starve to death if I wait that long. Thanks, but I'll have to eat by myself tonight." The professor started lecturing so we quieted down and opened our books to take notes. I've been to the University 4 months now, but have made few friends. It's not that I'm stuck up or like that, but I'm kind of shy around new faces. It takes me longer than most people to familiarize myself with new surroundings and talk to people around me. Some people are talented enough to just walk up to any stranger and start a conversation. But for me, I usually don't start chatting unless someone talks to me first. Being new on campus didn't help either. I was given an orientation during my first week here, but haven't figured where everyone hangs out. I've even thought about joining several of the social clubs around campus, but haven't found the time to attend any of the meetings yet. I usually have classes during those hours or doing something else. I mostly hang out with Steven, Cindy, and their friends. We have several classes together, so naturally, I'd spend most of my time with them. Finishing the essay for my history class, I looked at my alarm clock and noticed that it's only 9:30. Too early to head for bed and too late to go grab something to eat from the dinning hall. I grabbed a soda from the fridge and flicked on the tv--hoping there was something good on tonight. Cable came with the dorm rent, but just basic channels only. Just my luck tonight, it was mostly reruns and old movies, so I shut off the tv and headed for the small shelf of books I kept above my desk. There were a few books that I never got around to finish reading and waiting for nights like these to drown my loneliness. I fingered through the shelf and found a paperback with a bookmark stuck in the middle of it. Flopping on the bed, I nested comfortably with the pillow to read my book. Several pages into the story, I had to put the book down. Someone told me the book was good, but it didn't hold my attention span for long. I pushed the book onto the night stand and noticed the business card that Bill had given me lying on it. I had left it there when I came in last night-I usually empty everything in my pocket on it--keys, wallet, pens, etc. After ruining several of my clothes with chewing gum and ink stains, I learned that it's best to empty everything before you take your pants off. I looked at the card more carefully. William Morgan, in bold letters right smack in the middle with his title below it. There were several numbers to reach him, including his cellular number. I sat there staring at the card and resisted an urge to call him. He would likely be in New York by now and probably busy with clients. I'd like to talk to him, but don't want to bother the guy. The rest of the week was kinda monotonous. Class, gym, sleep-pretty much the same stuff day after day. I was in the library doing some research when I heard someone calling my name. "Jason, there you are. Man, what's so interesting in the book that you're glue to it?" Steven said. "Must have lots of pictures of naked women in there to keep your nose hidden in there." He said grinning as he pulled the book over to have a look at it. "Sorry to disappoint you Steven, but it's just maps and facts about Alexander's conquest of Asia Minor." I said. "The report for our class is due next week." "Please, don't remind me. I still haven't found the books needed to start mine." He said. "If you actually hang around the library more often, maybe you can actually find some." I said with a wink. "Well, it's Friday and you don't need to be all coup up in here. The guys are thinking about heading for the Rez later tonight. Want to join us? Who knows, maybe we could find you some hot looking chick." He said with a smile. "Sure, I'll join you guys." I replied, as I gather up the books to place them on the return cart. The Rez was one of the larger clubs that's dominated by college students. Almost everyone that attends the University hangs out there on the weekends. It was always packed on Fridays though, which I don't mind. I could hear the music blasting away as I pulled my car into the parking lot. The guys volunteered me to drive them tonight. Since I don't drink, I usually ended up being the driver anyway. There were four of us; Steven sitting next to me in the front, and his two buddies in the back-Ken and Dave. I've hang around them before since they have classes with both Steven and me. "You guys can go in ahead if you want. Cindy said she'll meet me in the front." Steven said. "That's alright, is she bringing her roommate along?" asked Ken with an excited look. "Yeah, I think so. Said she'll bring along a couple of her girlfriends too." Steven replied. We stood around the front and chatted awhile before the girls showed up. "Sorry guys, did you have to wait long?" Cindy asked as she got out of her car. There were two other girls that came with her that I did not recognize. "We just got here a few minutes ago." Steven replied as he came over and put his arms around her. "Let me make the introductions." Cindy said. "Guys, I'd like you to meet Meg and my roommate Kelley. Girls, this cute one is Jason, the blond one is Dave, and that's Ken." Ken came right up to shake Kelley's hand. And I saw the reason why Ken had asked Steven if Cindy's bringing her along. She was a very pretty girl. Meg gave me a smile as she shook hands with me. The inside wasn't as packed as I had thought. I guess we were a little early. But there was a crowd hovering around the dance floor and lights were in full swing. "Would you like something to drink?" Steven asked Cindy. "We just got here and you want me drunk already?" Cindy replied with a sly grin. "I'll have a bloody mary thank you." "What about you Meg and Kelley?" Steven turned to ask them. "I've got Kelley's drink." Ken hollered. "And I'm getting Meg's." Dave jumped in. "What would you like to drink Meg?" "Thanks Dave, a bloody mary sounds good." Meg said. "I'll be right back with your drink," said Dave as he join Steven and Ken to the bar. The girls spotted an empty table and pulled me toward it. "Cindy, you were right when you said I'm going to meet three gorgeous looking guys tonight. They are such cuties." Kelley shouted through the music. "Especially Jason here. I hope you're not taken Jason?" I know Kelley's comment brought a red shade to my face. "uhhh, no. I'm still single." I replied. "Awe, you made him blush Kelley. Isn't he even more cute with some color." Cindy laughed. Thankfully, the guys didn't take too long to get their drinks and joined us. The girl's mischievous comments were starting to make me a little nervous. We all sat around and chatted for awhile to get to know one another. "Well, are we going to sit here all night?" asked Steven. "Let's move to the dance floor." Everyone followed Steven and Cindy as they navigated through the crowd onto the dance floor. By now, there were more people piling into the club. We all danced together, and had a blast. Kelley and Ken got along well and paired off a little later. Steven was glued to Cindy; so that left Meg with Dave and me. Meg didn't seem to mind dancing with two guys, especially when Dave and I almost sandwiched her. She was cheering and leading us on. Chapter 6 I was stirred awake by the phone. Who could be calling me this morning? I know it can't be Steven since he was wasted last night. It was almost 4 in the morning when we left the club. I thought about letting the answering machine get it, but it could be mom. "Hello," "Good Morning Jason, are you still asleep? It's almost noon." Said a voice I could recognize in a heartbeat. "Hi Bill, went out last night, and I didn't get back until kind of late." I said in a slightly more awaked tone. "Well, she's a lucky lady than. Did you guys have fun." He asked in an almost questioning voice. "Uh, it's not like that. I went out with some friends." I explained. "Sorry that I always seem to catch you at a bad time. Do you want me to let you go back to bed?" He asked. "No, it's alright, I'm already awake." I replied. "Are you still in New York?" "I got back late last night." He said. "Just wanted to call and see if you'd like to do something tonight. Maybe dinner and some conversation?" "Sure, that sounds like fun." I replied. "That's great. Do you like Italian cuisine?" He asked. "I feel like dropping by the Italian Island." "Haven't been there before, but I like just about any cuisine as long as it's not too spicy." I replied. "Alright, I think you'll like the place. Let's meet there around 6:30 tonight, do you have a pen so that I can give you directions?" He asked. "I have an idea where it's located. Thanks though." I said. "Okay, I have some chores to do around here, so I'll see you at 6:30 then." He said. "See you then." I said with a smile. I had just taken a shower and walking toward my room when I almost bumped into Steven. "Hey, excuse me Steven." "Morning, or is it still even morning?" He said in a tired tone. "It's about 1 past noon. But there's still time for lunch at the dinning hall. You think you can join me without having to hull you over there." "Let me go piss and freshen up first though." He said. "Alright, I'll be down in the laundry room then." I said heading toward my room to put my toiletry bag away and get my laundry basket. There were actually a lot of students in the dinning hall. I guess a lot of us sleep in late on Saturday mornings. Steven and I were looking for an empty table to sit when we spotted Dave and Ken sitting at a table near the windows. "Hey guys, seem as if you've managed to get up alright." Steven said as we sat down. "Man, I had to get up to fill my empty stomach after drowning it with all that alcohol last night." Ken replied. "It was a blast last night. Meg is such a hot chick. I'm glad you invited me Steven." Dave said. "She's not as hot and slick as Kelley." Ken jumped in. "Well guys, you'll get to see them again tonight if you want. Cindy asked me to come over for dinner tonight at her place and told me to bring you guys along." Steven said. "No kiddin," replied Dave. "Nope, she's invited Meg as well." Said Steven. "Oh, Cindy asked you and I to come over early Jason so that we could help them cook." "I'd like to go and help, but I already have other plans tonight Steven." I replied. "Oh? A date with some other chick? Jason, man, smooth guy. How did you manage to meet some other girl when you were with Meg for most of last night?" Steven asked. "Uhhh, I don't have a date tonight, just some other plans." I said. "Thank Cindy for inviting me and tell her that I'm sorry for not making it. I really didn't want them to know that I was having dinner with a guy. After we had lunch, I went back to the laundry room to get my clothes. We were pretty lucky to have a dorm that has a snack bar, computer room, and laundry room. By the time I finished folding my clothes and put them away, I needed to get ready for dinner. I looked in the closet, but couldn't figure what to where. I had to try on several outfits before deciding on some plain khaki and a dark shirt. If I couldn't look nice, I could at least try looking decent around Bill. I got to the restaurant early-didn't want to be late like the last time. The Italian Island was another nice restaurant located in the more prominent section of town. Steven had taken Cindy here before and said the food was good-except for the price. I stood in the lobby and watched as the valet drove my car off to park it. It was a nicely decorated lobby with roman design. Columns that supported vine-covered arches. I was admiring the water fountain that stood at the far end of the lobby when I felt someone standing next to me. "Isn't it a neat fountain? I like the way the waves are formed as the water falls along the side." "It does have a mesmerizing effect." I replied and turned to look at Bill. "When did you get here?" He said. "Just got here a few minutes ago." I said. As with the Chinese restaurant, the menu was something new to me. There were some items I recognize, but they also had some strange ones too. Bill was helpful, and pointed out a few things about the items. Throughout dinner, I don't think I paid much attention to what I was eating though. I was mainly focusing on Bill and his smiles. There was something to it. I could feel a strange sensation every time his blue eyes grazed at me. "So what did you do the rest of the day after I had awakened you?" Bill asked. "Oh, nothing much. Just cleaned up my room, and did the laundry. What about you?" "Same here. With my kind of work, I don't get to spend too much time at my place so there's only so much that I can mess up around there. It just gets dusty a lot." He said with a smile. "It must be fun to travel to different cities often. How often do you get to be away?" "It usually depends on the project. Sometimes I am away for two weeks and sometimes for a month or two. But it does get real tiresome after awhile." He said. "Do you have other plans tonight?" Bill asked as we were walking out of the restaurant. "No," "Would you like to see a movie?" He asked. "Sure." "I've heard that this movie is not too bad for an animation." I said to Bill as we were waiting for the movie to start. We had decided to see Titan A. E. "I haven't seen a movie in awhile." Replied Bill. "Last time I was in a theater was when Episode I of Star Wars came out." "You're a fan of them too? That's awesome. I love Star Wars." "I've been a fan of them since I was a kid." Bill said with a warm smile. "This may sound personal and you don't have to answer, but are you seeing anyone right now?" Bill asked. "No, what about you?" I replied. I was a little surprised by his question, but it gave me a perfect opportunity to find out more about him. "I've been single for awhile. It's not easy to have a relationship with anyone when you work awful hours and out of town all the time." He said in a subtle tone. "Oh, when was the last time you were with someone?" I asked with curiosity. "It was before I moved to Dover. He--He didn't want to move here with me." He said in a sad voice. But quickly added when he saw the shocked expression on my face. "Oh, I should mention that I'm gay. I hope that doesn't bother you or make you feel uncomfortable around me." I was completely surprised. Bill was gay! I could have sworn that I felt my heart skipping several beats. "Really? I would have never guessed. So are you out?" I asked. "You mean do my co-workers and family know about me? No. I'm pretty confident about my sexual orientation, but I'm not flamboyant about it. With the environment I deal with at work, I don't think they need any more distractions." Bill said with slightly dry humor. "What about you? When was the last time you dated someone?" Bill asked. "I've dated a guy in high school, but we didn't last. We just mostly fool around, so I really wouldn't call it dating." I replied. "He was the only guy that I've been with." "Are you bisexual?" "No, I get turn off with just the though of seeing a naked woman." I replied. "I assume than that you're still in the closet too?" He asked. "Yeah, no one in Dover knows about me except for you now. It's been something that's hard for me to deal with. I never understood why I felt an attraction toward guys growing up. It was really difficult to hide those feelings throughout high school. After I fooled around with that one guy, I just accept the fact that I like guys. Still, it wasn't fun not knowing any friend who's gay. I even thought about going to the gay clubs to meet some people a few times but just didn't had the guts to try. " "Sorry to hear about that." He said with a warm smile and gave my hand a light squeeze. I gave him a squeeze back, but didn't let go of his hand. The movie started so we ended things there. But throughout the entire movie, he didn't let go of my hand- gave it a squeeze every now and then. It was a nice feeling. He had a really nice firm grip. His hand felt smooth, but I could tell he had some hair on his arms- especially when my arm brushed against his every now and then. I could hardly pay any attention to the movie, and I think I looked more at him than the screen. We would glance at each other, smile, and turned back to the screen. The theater was dark enough that I wasn't too worry about the other guest seeing us. I noticed that there wasn't any car left at the restaurant except for mine as Bill turn into the parking lot. We had decided to go in one car after dinner and he insisted on driving. He parked his car right next to mine. A cool breeze hit my face as I got out of the car. "I hope you liked the movie." Bill said with a smile. "I had a great time, thanks again for inviting me to dinner and the movie." I returned his smile. "I'm glad you were able to come since it was a last minute thing." He said coming closer to me. He wrapped his strong arms around me and slightly tilted his head. I hugged him back and looked right into his face. I could feel what was coming as I closed my eyes and our lips brushed against each other. Sparks were flying all around me as blood rushed to every part of my body by the single contact with him. His tongue traced around my lips before entering my mouth to meet mine. It was a long passionate kiss that sent me over the edge. Finally, we pulled apart. "Will I get to see you again soon?" Bill asked. "Of course, are you free tomorrow?" "I just have a few things to do in the morning, but how about meeting me for lunch?" He asked. "I like that." "Alright, I'll give you a call when I get home tonight." He smiled as he gave me one more hug before leaving. "Drive safely back." "You too Bill. Have a good night." Chapter 7 My weekend was turning out better than I though. After the wonderful dinner and movie with Bill Saturday night, we met again for lunch on Sunday. He had to go to New York for the week, so we decided to meet again next Friday. I spent Sunday evening in my dorm and tried to catch up on weekend homework. I was typing an essay on my computer for the English 102 class when I heard an almost muffled bell ringing out in the hall around 8pm. I got up and opened the door to have a peek. Students were running left and right in the halls and hurrying toward the stairways. "Hey, what's going on?" I said to one of the guys in the hallway. "It's a fire alarm. Yeah, it doesn't sound like it. This building so freaking old that I'm surprised it still works." He said. "You better start heading out too." I put on a pair of sneakers and grabbed my keys before heading out. Everyone gathered around the lawn in front of the dorm. It wasn't until then that I noticed most of the guys were in their boxers and t-shirts-including myself. I'm in an all male dorm, so it was pretty common to see everyone roaming around in boxers. I spotted Steven-clad only in boxers without a shirt. "Hey Steven, is this a prank or real?" I asked him. "It's real man. I thought it was a prank when I heard that stupid bell they call a firm alarm. I've heard Ken talking about other dorms having lots of fire pranks lately, so I didn't bother to get out until the RA came banging at my door." He replied. There was a column of smoke rising from the east wing of the dorm. By this time, we heard and saw two fire trucks heading toward the dorm. I was glad that Steven and I were in the west wing. A few of the students started walking closer to the east side of the lawn to have a better view of the fire that's apparently blazing from one of the rooms. "Good grief, someone's going to be paying major liability for this." Said Steven. "Wait a minute, you're telling me, if someone burned down the entire dorm, they have to pay for it?" Said Dave as he joined me and Steven. "Yep, you don't remember that liability waver they made you sign when you first got here?" Answered Steven. "That's why things like toaster ovens and incense aren't allowed in the dorms. And that piece of paper said you're liable if you burn down the dorm with such items." "I feel sorry for the little guy who's getting his room blazed then." Dave said. We had to hang around the lawn for almost four hours before the fire-fighters got control of the situation and said it was safe for everyone to go back to their rooms. When I got into my room, I saw my answering machine blinking. So I went to retrieve the message. "Hey Jason, this is Bill. Just thought I would give you a call before heading out to the airport. Anyways, take care, and hope you have a good night. I'll see you Friday." I hit the stop button, picked up the phone and started to dial his number before I noticed that it was past 12. It's too late to give him a ring. What a thoughtful guy-- giving me a call before he left. I will have to remember to call him tomorrow. "Morning Jason." Steven said as he grabbed a seat next to me. We barely made it on time to our first class of the day. "Hey Steven. The fire fighters too long enough to extinguish that smoke last night. I had to stay up til 2 to finish my essay." "Tell me about it. I didn't get started on the weekend homework until 5 minutes before the alarm rang. So I just threw together whatever crap I could muster and grabbed whatever sleep I could get. I tell you, these professors just don't want us to relax during the weekends. You would think they get bore grading all the work we hand them daily." "I guess they want us to stay away from clubs, alcohol, and girls." I said with a grin. "If it wasn't for clubs, alcohol, and Cindy, I would go nuts and couldn't focus on anything else." He replied with a smile. "I don't know how you manage to stay sane when you don't drink, and still haven't found someone yet." I just smiled to his comment. "Can I borrow your homework again? I didn't get to the part last night." He asked. "Sure, let me get it out of my bag." I said. "So, did they ever found out what cause the fire last night?" "I heard that some guy left a candle burning in his room while he was out. His curtains feel on it and things went out of control then. Four rooms were destroyed before the fire trucks could stop it." "Wow, so where's he staying?" I asked as I took my homework out of my bookbag. "He's staying in one of the guest rooms. Poor guy, everything in his room was torched." Students began to lower their voices as they saw the professor and his assistant entering the auditorium. They came in with an arm-load of instruments and placed them on the lab table next to the podium. While the professor got his notes our of his briefcase, his teaching assistant started to put the pieces together. "Looks like the old geaser actually remembered to bring in the stuff to show us the experiment he had talked about doing all last week. Guess I'm going to have time to do my homework for our English 102 as well." Steven whispered to me while copying from my homework. "Anything else is better than his boring lectures." I said softly to Steven. It was actually a neat demonstration. The professor asked us to raise our hands if we think water can be cooled to a certain point that it will boil. No one dared to raise their hands. I think some of us knew the answer but too timid to respond. The professor pointed to an oddly shaped glass pipe on the lab table. It was about a yard in length and looked like a glass shovel, except it has spoons on both ends. He poured water in one end and liquid nitrogen in the other. The hollow glass tube fogged instantly with crystal forming on the sides as the liquid nitrogen flowed to the other end with the water. In less than 5 seconds, the super-cooled liquid caused the water to boil, due to the reaction of differences in extreme temperatures. "Pretty neat eh Steven?" I asked as I turned to look at Steven. "Yeah, but I think I would enjoy it much more if he hadn't given us so much homework to do. If it wasn't for you, I think I would have already dropped this course." He complained. I smiled at him. "I doubt it. You're doing okay on the exams. And you didn't do that by copying from me either. Actually, I think you would do even better if I'm not here." "Either that or I would just borrow someone else's homework." He said with a wink. There wasn't anything else that's out of the norm for the rest of the day. By the time I got back from the gym with Steven that evening, I was a little drained out. But I still managed to give Bill a ring, but didn't catch him- and had to leave him a message on his cellular phone. It wasn't until Wednesday that I got in touch with Bill. He called me and apologized for not returning my call sooner. He was pretty busy with his clients. He also told me that he might be returning to Dover earlier than scheduled and would give me a call to let me know as soon as he could. Chapter 8 "I can't believe it's Friday already." I said to Steven as I punched in the search option on the computer to look for a few books I needed. "Yeah, and I am so glad man. It's a good thing the old geaser let us out early today after the exam. I was almost afraid he was going to lecture some more when he went over to the podium to dismiss us." Steven said. "And our next class is cancel. I'm suppose to meet my group for my last class to do a project, but one of the guys called me last night and rescheduled the meeting. So I guess I'm done for the day. Are you going to your last class?" "Man, you're one lucky guy. I have to go to my last afternoon class. We're also having an exam today, and I could use the extra time to study some more for it. You sure you don't want to join us tonight?" He asked. "No, thanks. I wouldn't know what to do with myself in a bar since I don't drink hard liquor." "Well, you don't have to drink, but maybe hang around and meet someone." Steven said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Yeah right, meet someone in a bar. How many girls are going to be there besides Cindy? And if I remember correctly, she's already taken." "Well, Cindy and I are just going to hang around there a bit before heading for a movie or something. You can join us for the movie." "Naah. You guys can use the privacy. Thanks though." "Alright, just want to make sure you don't get coup up here all night in the library." He said with an exaggerated smile. "I'll talk to you later this weekend than." "I'm going to leave after I get these books, so don't worry about me. Good luck on your exam and have fun tonight." I said. "Thanks. Bye." I checked out the books I had found in the library and decided to drop them off at my room before heading for an early lunch. There was a light blinking on the answering machine, so I dropped the books on my desk and listened to the message. "Hi Jason, this is Bill. I finished early and just got back into town. Would love to meet you for lunch today if you can. Give me a call at home whenever you get in. Thanks and I'll talk to you later." I picked up the phone and dialed his number. "Hello." Said a deep voice. "Hey good looking. How are you today?" I said. "Hi Jason. I'm fine, thanks for asking. And you?" "Doing well. Don't have class for the rest of the day, so I get to have an early weekend." I said. "Are you playing hooky or are all your professors sick?" He asked. "I always play hooky on Friday." I joked. "My class got cancel, and my group decided to meet another day for the group project. And I would love to join you for lunch." "I'm glad to hear that. I know a great place to take you. Wear something comfortable and good walking shoes. I want to surprise you this time, so no questions. Pick you up in an hour?" He asked. "Yeah, that's fine." I replied. I gave him directions to my dorm before hanging up. "Surprised eh? Good walking shoes, where are we going?" I thought to myself as I changed into my hikers. I already had on blue jeans, so I didn't need anything else that's more comfortable. It was less than an hour before Bill arrived. I was waiting in the front of the dorm parking deck when the familiar black BMW drove up. Instead of heading for the inner city as I had expected him to, he drove in the opposite direction and headed toward the country side. "Are we having lunch at some authentic southern place?" I asked and hope to have some clue to his surprise. "Wait and see, I think you'll like this." He said with a big grinning smile. He drove far out into the outskirts of the city. The road narrowed from four lanes to just two. And before long, he pulled into a nature conservation reserve. There were hardly any cars around where Bill parked his car. He opened his trunk and inside were a picnic basket and a dark green plaid blanket. "So this is the surprise." I said with a grin. "Yeah, and I know the perfect little place to eat here too. Come on, let's get going. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry." He said while picking up the basket. I carried the blanket and followed him up the steeping trail. We made small talk while he navigated through the path they called a trail. If you didn't see the broken twigs, you would never know that it was a trail. There were marks here and there that showed signs of human destruction, but other than that, the whole area was covered with trees, bushes, and vines. Bill knew exactly where he was going. After a little walk, he grabbed hold of my hand and led me off the trail into thicker bushes. It was nice walking through the forest and holding Bill's hand. There was no one around except for us, so I really enjoyed it. Before long, we reached an area that opened up with less bushes. We were on a flat slope that over-looked a river below. Bill handed me the picnic basket and spread out the plaid blanket. I put the basket down on the blanket and help him with the corners. Then he took off his brown leather shoes and sat down to unpack the picnic basket. I took of my hikers as well, and sat next to him. "Wow, where did you find time to get all this?" I asked in surprised as I watch him pulled out some croissant sandwiches, fruit salads, and a bottle of wine-with glasses too. "Well, I would love to say I packed it myself. But I picked up the entire basket at this little Deli shop. You just tell them what you'd like to eat, and they pack it all for you." He said with a sheepish grin. "It's a great idea. I'm impressed." I smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry about this Jason. I know you don't drink, so I had asked them to include a Sprite for you. I had rushed them since I didn't want you to wait long, and they must have forgot." Bill apologized as he handed me a plate with ham croissant and a fruit salad. "It's okay Bill, I hardly drink any alcohol, but I've had wine before. A little sip won't hurt." I said. "Are you sure? I'll run and get you a soda if you want?" "I'd rather sit here and enjoy a cup of wine with you." I reassured him. After we ate, we spread out on the blanket--enjoying the wine and catching some shut-eyes. There was hardly any cloud in the sky, so the sun was shining bright. Luckily, Bill had chosen a spot under the shade of an oak tree, so it wasn't too warm. Once in awhile, a breeze would flow by and autumn leaves of green, orange, and yellow fell onto the ground. The river was too far below to see clearly, but I could hear a hint of rushing water. Bill laid on his back and used his arms to support his head. I had borrowed his shoulder and rested my head there. Being so close to him, I could smell a light scent of his cologne-one of the Calvin Klein brands. Mixed with the cologne was his incredible scent. I'm not sure how to describe it. It's not odor, but something sweet and very masculine. A cool, and sexy scent. I was getting very aroused by just his scent alone. His eyes were closed so I got to look at his face more closely. He had strong cheekbones, a smooth define face, and a handsome smile. I ran my hand across his polo shirt and could feel his define, trim body. It stirred him awake as he opened his eyes and looked at me. Two jewels of blue marble peering right into mine. He stretched his arms and pulled me closer to him. With half my upper body almost on top of him. He moved his head closer and his lips met mine. My body was shivering with delight as I could feel his arousal through his khaki pants. We kissed for several minutes, his tongue probing slowly into my mouth. As I moved lower and kissed his neck, I heard a low pleasing sound coming from within his throat. I kissed his smooth skin and licked to taste his scent mixed with the cologne. I was in pure heaven as I heard him moan softly while I nibble on his ear lobes. He rolled me over, with his body on top of mine. And kissed me with a sense of urgency and passion. Licking, sucking, and tasting every inch of my lips and neck. He unbuttoned the upper part of my shirt to get more assess to my adam's apple. He licked it and sucked on it to send me almost over the edge. Every fiber of my body was tingling all over with his every touch. I pushed him back on his back and licked from his lips to his Adam's apple. I roam my hands over his chest and flat stomach, trying to pull his shirt up. I was about to untuck his shirt when he grabbed hold of my hands and whispered to me, "I've love to continue this but we're not exactly at the right place for this." He gave me a kiss before looking into my eyes to see my response. I kissed him back to let him know I understood. We made out a few more minutes before deciding to pack up and head back to the car. Bill had to return to his office and finish some last minute reports, since it had to be submitted to the overseas office before midnight. But he said he'll give me a call tomorrow morning as he dropped me off in front of my dorm. To be continue . . . I will have part III posted soon. Please feel free to send me comments, suggestions, etc. at edw19@hotmail.com