Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 19:46:08 +0100
From: Ben Smith <benme_over@lycos.co.uk>
Subject: Determined to succeed - Chapter 8

Determination to succeed!
By Benme_over
Edited by Drew Hunt

Authors Notes:-

This story contains Sex between men.  If you are under 18 in the Uk (or
appropriate legal age in your country) please stop reading here. If such
mentioned material may offend you please stop reading too.  This story is
fiction and any resemblance to reality is pure coincidence.

Though this story may involve unsafe sex (It is only fiction), and I
believe in playing safe (look after yourself and your partner).

Hope you enjoy my story, and of course please email me with your comments
good or bad.  It is always nice for us writers to know other's are reading
our stories, and know what readers think of the stories as they develop.
Benme_over@lycos.co.uk Enjoy!!

Chapter 8

As the opening of the new club got closer, I got more and more excited, I
was going to make the most of this opportunity to move towards my ultimate
ambition of owning my own nightclub.  I continued working in the
cafe/bar with Bill and my beloved Jase.  They were supporting me even
though it would mean changes for them.  Everything seemed to be going to
plan, then out of the blue I got a phone call from my mother informing me
that my dad was close to death, she asked me to come home.  The call left
me in a bit of a turmoil, I knew I'd forgiven Dad for the way he'd behaved
a few years back, but I still had some resentment towards him, but in the
end I decided to go back to England and Jase accompanied me.

"Oh thank god you made it son, your dad seems to be hanging on just to see
you."  She explained.  "You better go up and see him now."

Jase and I went up to Dad.  He was so gaunt, I had to look twice to make
sure the skinny skeleton of a man was really my dad.

"Oh dad I wish we hadn't fallen out."  I cried as I sat at his bedside.

"Son your mum's told me about your new job, I hope it goes well for you.  I
love you Ben I do" Dad said as he faded in and out of consciousness.  "I
can't turn back the clock Ben, but I want you to know I'll be watching you
from above and you'll have my love and protection with you where evvvv..."
Dad faded into a lasting sleep.

"Ooooooooo dad, don't goooooooooo!"  I cried into his chest.  Jase came
over and held my hand.  Mum must have heard me cry out, she came running in
and sobbed her heart out too.

Time seemed to stand still for the next few days as we organised dad's
funeral.  Jase of course held both me and mum together, he was the strength
that I needed to get through my grieving for dad's death.  There was so
much making up that I wanted to do with dad and now I wouldn't have the
chance.  The one thing I've learned is never to leave an argument half
done, always sort things out while you have the chance.

After the Doctor had been and checked dad's body, the funeral directors
came and took dad to the chapel of rest.  The following afternoon the
funeral directors came back to talk about the funeral arrangements.  Mum
and I had talked it through and we decided on a low-key private funeral
with just family and close friends.  The service would be held at the
crematorium, as dad had wished.

Two days later Mum, Jase and I walked into the Crem behind the coffin and
sat at the front.  I tried to be strong for Mum but I couldn't, Jase held
my hand throughout the service apart from when I spoke a few words,
describing dads life.  Mum was crying hysterically.  Whilst I read out my
prepared speech, Jase took my place and comforted mum the best he could.
After the vicar spoke a few words the coffin moved forward and the curtain
came down behind it.  We all went back to the pub, and along with the
regulars we had a drink and a bite to eat.

Two days later Mum was packing to go to her sisters, and Jase and I were
heading back to Salou.  Mum asked us to stay longer but I couldn't, as the
opening of the club was getting ever closer. Jase had persuaded mum to come
over to Salou for a few weeks when she was ready.

When we got back to Salou we crashed straight into bed.  I was really
tired, as I hadn't slept properly since dad's death.  The next morning we
woke up and put on our boxers then went into the kitchen to fix up some
breakfast.  Bill was sat at the kitchen table slumped forward with his head
on his folded arms leaning on the table and going by the noise he was
making, he must have been in a deep sleep.

"Hay Dad."  Jase said as he nudged his dad to wake him.  He had paperwork
all over the place.

"Uh, oh sorry, I must have fallen asleep trying to sort out the finances."
He mumbled in a blurred sleepy voice.

"How are you Ben, and how's your mum?"  Bill asked me.

"Surviving."  There isn't really any words that can describe the hurting
that losing someone causes.

"You look like shit Dad."  Jase said.

"Yes I know son, I've been checking the accounts for the cafe and they
don't look good."

"How bad is it Dad?" Jase asked.

"Well if we don't double our takings, we're in trouble."  He replied.

"Shit, dad what're we going to do?"  Jase asked in concern.

"I don't know son, to be honest I'm thinking about selling up and going
back home.  One of our competitors has made me an offer on the cafe, and
although it isn't a great amount it would clear the debts and leave enough
to buy a small flat back home."  It sounded like Bill had already made his
mind up even though he hadn't said it straight out.  "Oh Jase I take it
that you'd want to stay here with Ben, so I've had a word with Gary, he'd
be pleased to take you on as bar supervisor in his club, he said he'd like
to train you up to become the Bar Manager."

"Wow really!" Jase said excitedly.  "Dad are you sure there's no other way
out of the mess?"

"No Son, and to be honest the long working days and stress have taken their
toll on my health.  I think when I get back home I'm going to find a less
stressful job and let someone else take the strain for a change."  Bill
told us.  "Oh by the way boys, I've paid another months rent on this place
which should take you up to when the club opens.  It'll give you a bit of
breathing space."

It seemed as though he had already made his mind up to jump ship before it
sank so to speak. Both Jase and I knew that although he was saying he was
just thinking about packing up and going home, the fact that he had
arranged a Job for Jase in Gary's nightclub and paid a months rent for us
on the apartment, made it obvious that Bill was already on his way home,
and he was only kidding himself.  You see Bill was a very proud man and
never liked to fail at something, and he was looking for a way out of
admitting defeat but of course there wasn't a way out.  The cafe just
wasn't working, probably because there were just too many of them in Salou.

Three days before Bill left Salou Jase and I organised a big farewell bash.
All the locals that frequented the cafe came along with Gary and a few
others that we had become friendly with.  With Bills calm and friendly
personality he always had friends around him.  He was like a human magnet
the way he could walk into a crowd and you could guarantee he would've made
a friend or two by the time he left.

Bill's departure was quite emotional for me.  Bill had been a father figure
to me since I moved in with Jase.  Now it was only Jase and I and we had to
look out for each other.  We all had tears in our eyes as we said goodbye.
Bill was especially tearful.  He was like a wounded animal licking his
wounds.

After seeing bill off we both had to head off to the club as it was now
only a week before we opened the doors for business, I had to play about
with the DJ equipment which included computerised systems as well as the
traditional turntables etc.  Jase was being trained up so that he would
soon become Bar Manager.  There were still Joiners fitting out the club and
decorators putting the finishing touches to the place.  Gary had employed
only gay and lesbian staff, he was very keen to keep business within the
family.  Even the joiners and decorators were from the gay community.
Sticking to his policy usually meant that it cost him more, but Gary had
the money and was a strong believer in sticking to his principles.  At the
time both Jase and I thought Gary was mad to have such a policy, but we
soon admired the policy and adopted it in our private lives, not as
strictly as Gary did, but he had the money to do what ever he wanted.  We
found out fairly early on that Gary had been a winner in the lottery over
here in Spain.  He hadn't won the jackpot, but came away with the
equivalent of two million pounds.  He had invested most of it wisely until
he decided to open up a gay club.

On the Wednesday before the Friday opening night, Gary called in all the
staff he had recruited.  The club looked grand not only in the size of it
but also in the elaborate decor.  It was on three floors and like
Flamingos in Blackpool you could look down on to the main dance floor from
floor two. All the railings and handles and light switches were made of
shiny brass.  Floor one would be where I would be doing my DJ-ing, and
floor two would be a place where you could talk or eat.  The third floor
would be more of a pop sound with a second DJ looking after things.

"Thanks for coming down here."  Bill said to the assembled staff.  "this is
a chance for you all to get acquainted with one another, unfortunately
Steve our second Dj was unable to make it today, he sends his apologies."

The staff seemed like a nice bunch, easy to get on with.  After Gary had
shown us round the club he asked me to test out the equipment on the rest
of the staff, well of course with all those gay guys and 5 lesbians, a
total of 35 staff in all, you can imagine how it soon turned into a kind of
indoor beach party.  Gary even got Jase to open up one of the bars and
bought our first two drinks.  It didn't take long before there were five or
six couplings forming as you would expect on the gay scene.  I must admit
that there were a few gorgeous Spanish guys, with their nice olive skin, us
Brits just can't get that same shade of golden brown skin, no matter how
hard we try.

We all had Thursday off to relax before the grand opening the next day at 7
pm.  Apparently a well-known Spanish film star was coming for the official
opening.  Gary had told Jase and I that he had slept with the film star who
after sleeping with him found out that the star was actually married with
two kids. Gary confessed to using a bit of arm-twisting to get the guy to
open the club.  Luckily the guy had always had a liberal view about being
an idol for the Spanish gay community, so his wife wouldn't suspect
anything.  That was another moral that Gary believed in "you never out
anyone."

Jase and I decided to go to a restaurant and have a romantic meal that
Thursday, we both fancied Chinese.

"Welcome Gentlemen."  The Chinese waiter said in a broken English dialect,
which had a mix of Chinese and Spanish in it.  It took great effort on Jase
and my parts to keep from laughing, don't ask me how we did it but we
managed to hold our laughter in.  The waiter showed us to a table and asked
us if we wanted to order.  We looked at the menu and decided that we would
have beef and green peppers with black bean sauce, we also ordered a bottle
of wine.  We both enjoyed our meal and took a slow walk home along the sea
front.

"I love you so much Ben."  Jase said in a silly drunken way.

"I love you too Hun."  I replied.

"I do you know I really do Ben."  He added.

"Yes I know Hun.  So Jase what do you think the club will be like when its
open?"

"I think it'll be great, but only because it has the best DJ and barman."
he said as we reached our apartment.

It felt strangely weird without Bill around the place.  We were both really
exhausted, so we went straight to bed, after all we wanted to be on top
form for the opening the next day.

"Jase are you still awake?"

"Yeah Ben why?"

"I'm just thinking our life reads like a book, one chapter has just ended
with your dad packing up the cafe/bar, and the club is the start of a
new chapter in our lives."  I explained.

"Yeah I sort of see where you're coming from Lover-boy" he replied.

I don't know why he always called me LOVER-BOY?  Probably because he knew
it wound me up.


We both drifted off to sleep fairly quickly even though we were extremely
excited about the grand opening.  This was a move in the right direction
for me to fulfil the ambition I had of owning a club just like Gary's, so I
was well pleased that this opportunity had come up.


End of chapter 8

To be continued

Please email me your comments on this story at benme_over@lycos.co.uk