Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2022 12:33:15 -0700 From: Paul Landerman Subject: Stuart and Raj Chapter Eight Chapter Eight Raj asked "Are we a California Cliché?" Stuart looked startled; "What do you mean?" "Well, you know, the `two-income-no-kids' cliché, both professionals, extremely good looking, poster-boy-sexy, well educated, etc." "But we don't have PA's, we don't have a vacation bungalow in Puerto Vallarta or Maui, and we don't have a publicist" Stuart retorted. "I guess you are right." Stuart was still curious; "Why the concern?" "My sister. She said something the other day when I was chatting with her, I was trying to get caught up on her condition and her treatment regimen, and she said something about us like `the California power couple' and it stuck with me." Stuart looked thoughtful. "In one sense, yes we are THE California power couple, but only because of our professional careers, and because we work for the most powerful politician in the state at this moment. But surely, if you take us out of this context, we would be just another face in the crowd." Raj agreed; "And I have been thinking a lot about that; remember when we had that conversation a few months ago about changing careers? I am still concerned about what to do and when." "And, darling, we agreed to wait until the next election season, so that we do not leave Governor Martin without appropriate support." "Yes, and I have no objection to that, but there are two things to consider: do we just announce our exit and say Bon Voyage," Raj tried to imitate the voice of Bugs Bunny at the French phrase, "or do we find some people we want to recommend and train them to get them ready to take over?" "The Governor will have the last word on that one" Stuart argued. "True." "Do you have someone in mind?" "Nope. Just thinking out loud." "OK. So when are we going to our bungalow in Maui?" Raj laughed; "As soon as you buy one" he giggled. "OK, having covered all of that, a couple questions: first, how is your sister Aneth? And second, are you upset that we are a power couple?" "Aneth is great, or at least as good as you can be for post-surgery treatment for breast cancer. My mother is staying with her and the kids, as you know, and they seem to be getting along fine. Her divorce will be final next month, and she has been granted an extension on her sabbatical from the university. She wants to get back to work as soon as she can, hopefully to get her mind off the cancer." "What if we take them all to our bungalow in Maui?" Stuart asked. "Do we have a bungalow in Maui?" Raj was aghast. Laughing, Stuart replied "No, but we know people who know people, so we can make it happen. Just tell me when and I will start the wheels in motion." Stuart parked the BMW Series 500 coupe in the parking garage of the capitol building in their reserved space; it was late Sunday afternoon, so there were only a half-dozen other cars in the garage. They needed to put the final touches on a few details for the Governor's annual state of the State address to the legislature. Who was being invited, who was sitting where, security arrangements, media placements, and after-event refreshments and catering and meet-and-greet venues. By 9 PM, they were exhausted and ready to go home and get some much-needed sleep before returning before dawn on Monday morning. "This is why I want to change careers" Raj muttered sleepily. Raj was momentarily thrown forward and braced himself against the leather dashboard when Stuart suddenly slammed on the brakes; a man had stepped in front of the BMW as they exited the parking garage. The man was holding a gun and pointing it toward them. "Get out of the car" he shouted. Stuart turned off the ignition; he slowly opened the door and took a step outside. The man continued pointing the gun toward Stuart, and then shouted at Raj "You too! Get out of the car!" Raj quickly complied; both he and Stuart were standing on the paved slope leading up to the street level from the underground garage, as the man jumped into the driver's seat and started the BMW and roared away. Both Raj and Stuart reached for their cell phones to dial 911; within a couple of minutes, they were surrounded by Capitol Police, Sacramento PD and an EMT van. By the time they were safely in bed at home, it was nearly midnight; Raj sighed deeply, and Stuart reached for him and just pulled him closer to hold him as they drifted into fitful sleep. It was 8 AM when they were standing in Raj's office at the capitol building, when the Governor rushed in, having just been alerted to the evening's assault. Raj and Stuart had been at work since 6 AM, neither having slept very deeply, but anxious to pull off the annual address to the state legislature as professionally and perfectly as possible, despite the drama of the evening before. The Governor was shouting: "Are you OK? What happened? Who was this jerk? Did they catch him?" Stuart grabbed the Governor's arm, and guided him to a chair, as Raj in as a calm a voice as possible said "We are OK Governor, and the Sacramento police are still looking for the guy, but we gave them as much information as possible, so we just have to wait." The Governor seemed to calm down slightly, and then said "Shit, what a thing to happen on this day." Raj and Stuart glanced at each other and smiled; of course, the Governor would try to twist it to be an assault on him, not considering how much stress it put on his employees. When the evening ended, Stuart and Raj were at home relaxing after a very long and stressful day; they both simply sighed deeply and did not even engage in conversation. They held each other in their queen bed, secure in the knowledge that they loved each other and grateful neither of them was hurt. Mrs. Martin called in the morning while Stuart was fixing the coffee; she said "Now you must go to Palm Springs and use our bungalow; I do not care what is on your agenda for this week, I want the two of you on an airplane by Thursday night. The Governor can look after himself for a couple of days." Stuart was laughing when he clicked off the phone; he related the order to Raj and said "Well I guess we better go shopping for new bikinis." Palm Springs is one of those places that is more legend than reality; it is surreal, it is diverse, it is constantly sunny, and there seems to be an over-supply of calendar-quality sexy guys either lounging in or cleaning the million or so swimming pools, all wearing thongs or Speedos. Stuart was intimidated by them; Raj thought it was funny. "Why are you shy all of a sudden?" Raj asked. "You have the biggest package in Palm Springs that I have seen so far." "So far?" Stuart retorted. "Have you been ogling all of the packages in Palm Springs?" "Of course; it's what we do. We are gay, remember?" He laughed; Stuart wanted to laugh but was also still fuming, partly because he was embarrassed at his own shyness, and partly because of the centuries-old Victorian attitude among Americans toward public sexuality. He had to get over this childish attitude; he asked Raj "What do you want for lunch? Do you want to order room service or do you want to go out somewhere?" The Governor's family bungalow was in one of the most expensive gated communities in Palm Springs; the amenities included room service, maid service, numerous swimming pools, movie theatres, racquetball courts, tennis courts, and a nine-hole golf course. Its streets were filled with senior citizens in various stages of early skin cancer driving electric golf carts. Groceries were delivered, as were the full menus of any of the restaurants in town. "I want to stay here and keep watching the pool boys" he giggled. Stuart was about to allow his anger to overflow; he realized he was being slightly crazy. They were here to try to relax after the drama and stress of Sacramento and their jobs and the recent assault; he just needed a moment to calm down. "I'm going to go for a swim while you are perusing the menu" he tried to smile as he jumped into the pool. After about five minutes in the cool water, he realized three things: he loved Raj deeply, he felt stupid and childish at his own anger and attitude, and he was jealous of the men around them who looked super sexy in Speedos, which he had been reluctant to ever try. When he got out of the pool, he walked past Raj and said "I will be right back. Can you please order me some lunch and a pitcher of margaritas?" He found his sandals, walked to the main cabana of the pool, and found the department he was looking for: he picked out three Speedos, one gold lame', one bright red, and one black, each with matching sandals, and after being certain the gold one held his huge cock and balls snugly, marched back to the chaise where Raj was lounging. Raj could not speak when Stuart approached him; his mouth fell open and at first he wanted to laugh and then just began stuttering "OH MY GOD." Stuart modeled for his lover; he did a pirouette, showing off his perfect ass and his perfect package, and when a couple of pool boys whistled in their direction, Stuart bowed deeply. "Not bad for a 36-year-old farm boy from Idaho Falls, huh?" Stuart smirked. "Oh my God" was all Raj could seem to say. "And what's for lunch?" Stuart asked, still smirking. "You of course" Raj was still stuttering. When the waiter brought the tray of food and the pitcher of margarita, he did not attempt to disguise staring at Stuart's crotch. He actually smiled, and said "You gentlemen may want to try a hotel in town that is clothing optional." Before they could respond, the waiter leaned in a little closer and said in a lower voice, "Try the Santiago; there are actually three or four gay hotels, but the Santiago is my favorite." Stuart signed the room service charge slip with a very generous tip and smiled. "We sure will, thanks." Raj was still stuttering, but managed to say "We should go there for dinner." Stuart agreed. The afternoon was a slow leisurely bake in the warm Palm Springs weather; Stuart fell asleep after consuming half of the pitcher of margaritas, and was gently awakened by Raj shaking him. "Babe, you need to take a swim" he was instructed. Stuart glanced down at his gold Speedo and saw that indeed, he needed to cool off; his dreams had made him hard as a rock, which you cannot hide in a Speedo. He dove into the cool water without a splash and was immediately joined by Raj. Around 8 PM, they found themselves in the huge swimming pool of the Santiago hotel, surrounded by at least a hundred gay men of all ages and descriptions: chubby men, bears, twinks, muscle-guys, chasers, and the occasional Clarke Kent-look-alike. They were standing in the middle of the shallow end of the pool hugging, and kissing, when a middle-aged man with a trimmed grey beard approached them. "You guys look like you are in love." Stuart thanked him, and Raj agreed, saying "Yes we are, totally." "Are you married?" he asked. "Yes, for about four years now" Stuart answered. "That's cool, and its really nice to see the flame has not burned out" the man continued. "I'm a movie producer, and it would be really nice to see you guys on camera." Raj- dear sweet innocent Raj- smiled and said "Wow that might be cool." Stuart had a hunch where this was going, but he thought he would let Raj take the lead: "What kind of movies?" Raj wanted to know. "Well, adult films, you know, gay..." Raj was perplexed at first, and then slowly drew in his breathe and replied "Oh, I see. Uhm, yeah..." Stuart said "That is very kind of you, but can we talk this over? Give us your contact information and we will get in touch with you." The man was a little upset, it appeared, but he said "Well I have a business card in my wallet over there on that chaise lounge, so when you are leaving, stop by and I will give you one." After they were alone again, Stuart laughed quietly: "Babe, do you know what just happened?" "Well I think this guy wants to see us fucking and wants to film it." "Exactly, and if we do that, then we are going to be in a lot more trouble than Chris Martin was after the Reno disaster." "Of course. Maybe we can just have him film us for our own use and keep it private." Raj needed to know the realities of what happens in Hollywood, Stuart realized. "Babe, if someone has a video or a recorded event of any kind, there is no guarantee that it will stay private. More often than not, people's careers and reputations have been destroyed by stuff like that `leaking' out. Remember the Donald Trump interview about `pussy grabbing'?" "Oh yeah." As they were leaving, Stuart did not try to avoid the Hollywood producer; in fact he walked up to him boldly and said "It was very nice to meet you; please give me your card so we can contact you once we get back home." The producer could not make eye contact with either Stuart or Raj; he was constantly staring at the two magnificent cocks in front of him, dripping pool water, and especially the `goat balls' and hooded Cobra on Raj, made obvious by the `clothing-optional' pool. He almost licked his lips while Stuart was talking. After they had dressed and were starting toward the exit, another man approached them; he introduced himself as the hotel manager and said he would hope that Stuart and Raj had not been uncomfortable while in the pool during the interaction with the Hollywood producer. "He is well known around here, and I hope you are careful in your interactions with him" the manager said, smiling. "Thank you" Raj replied; "We were a little surprised by his offer, but I guess in a setting like this, clothing optional, you have to be careful." "That is always true, no matter where you are" the hotel manager replied. "But here, we try to take special care that our guests are not uncomfortable for any reason. For that reason, among others, we do not allow public sex in the pool area, for example." He smiled. "Damn it" Raj laughed. They shook hands with the hotel manager and made their exit. Their valet parking attendant, another of the dozens of golden boys in Palm Springs, handed them their keys and gratefully and gracefully accepted the tip which Stuart handed him. When he was seated in the driver's seat and starting the rental car, Stuart laughed; he showed the receipt to Raj, with the valet boy's cell phone number. "Wow, we are really popular in Palm Springs" Raj smiled. After a light dinner of chicken marsala and a bottle of rosé wine, they were ready for sleep; the warm weather, the sunshine, and the alcohol throughout the day had pushed them to the edge. Stuart wanted to drive up into the mountains in the morning and thought it best if they got some sleep before that trip. On the road toward Idlewild in the morning, Raj threw a proposal to Stuart: "What if we treat this weekend like Puerto Vallarta?" "Do you mean get a rent-boy for one night?" "Sort of; what if we call the valet parking boy and invite him over when we get back from the mountains and see where he likes to park his machine?" Raj laughed at his own joke. Stuart smiled. "Sure; it might be fun." The air at the top of the mountains was cool and breezy; it was refreshing to be above the desert, and by the time they returned to the bungalow in the valley, they were starving and horny. Both had been thinking about the valet boy; both were anxious to get into some sex that would get them out of their married habits for a night. The valet boy, Tyler, was 22, tanned-everywhere-no-lines, mildly sexy, blonde and blue-eyed as it seemed every service boy in Palm Springs was; he had a pretty normal cock, grower-not-shower, which stretched to about 8 inches when hard, with about a mile of foreskin, which Stuart loved to play with. The hardness occurred as Raj got on his knees in front of Tyler and pulled down his cargo shorts and exposed the cock- no underwear/commando style- and sucked it into his mouth immediately. "Oh fuck" Tyler moaned; Stuart stood in back of him and caressed his chest, kissing his ears and neck, and flicking his ass hole with his free hand. Tyler's moaning grew louder; this suddenly felt like an audition for a porn flick, Stuart thought, but what the Hell, he was going to enjoy every minute of it. Or every inch of it. Whatever. Together Raj and Stuart guided Tyler to the bed and positioned him so that Tyler was sucking Stuart's farm boy cock 69-style with Stuart sucking Tyler's wonderful foreskin, Tyler kneeling over Stuart, while Raj was plowing Tyler's lovely twink asshole with his tongue. Tyler pulled off of Stuart's cock long enough to shout "Spank me"; the resounding whack on bare skin made Stuart jump. Tyler loved it, and showed his enjoyment by taking the full length of Stuart's cock in his mouth, something that almost no one had ever done, including Raj. Within a couple of minutes, with several more well-placed spanks on Tyler's ass, Stuart signaled to Raj that he wanted to trade places; Stuart slid out from beneath Tyler and took a position kneeling on the edge of the queen bed, the one where Governor Martin and his wife Elsbeth had made love many times, where Governor Martin and Elsbeth had created babies, including Chris. Stuart was grinning like a fool as he contemplated that, shoving his cock into Tyler's waiting winking warm pink asshole, fully lubed up by Raj. A couple of spanks, and Tyler was now moaning in a different key as Stuart twisted, pushed, pulled, plowed, and fucked his way into the twink's interior; Tyler was not one of those ultra-skinny runway model-types of twinks you fuck and expect to hear their ribs crack when you shove a hard cock into them, but he was nearly that. His appreciation for Stuart's monster cock was whimpering and low moaning, almost like crying. Raj and Stuart had never compared their cocks; they were compatible, both loved fucking, both loved being versatile, both had healthy sexual appetites and healthy balanced egos, and appreciated and respected each other as lovers, partners, and husbands, and had no reason to be jealous or envious of cocks or balls or lips or six-packs. Raj clearly had the more dramatic cock, with a glorious foreskin that Stuart had christened the `Cobra', but Stuart's own cock was nearly as long but had much more girth, the kind you worry about if you are taking it up your ass for the first time. The kind that probably inspired the original invention of lube. As that thought wandered through Raj's brain, he remembered the offer from the porn movie producer at the swimming pool. He actually got harder as he though of watching Stuart in a porn movie, with a half dozen Bel-Ami-style twinks all moaning while getting fucked by the farm boy. He would file that away for later, when he had Stuart alone and could ask him his feelings. For now, Raj realized, with his mind wandering, he wanted Tyler's cock in his ass, and pulled off the sucking he had been enjoying. Raj was not as enamored of foreskin as was Stuart; almost no Indian men are circumcised, so foreskin was not as fascinating to him as it was to his lily-white lover from the farm country of the Snake River valley in Idaho. Tapping Stuart on the shoulder to get his attention, Raj knelt on the bed next to Tyler and smiled at him, and Stuart helped to choreograph the moment, lubing Raj's asshole and Tyler's mile-long foreskin with the Swiss Navy lube on the lamp table. Both appreciated the lube: the cock and the asshole, that is. Raj was accustomed to being plowed by Stuart's cock without lube, as they had been lovers and husbands long enough to enjoy bareback fucking, but to have the twink inside of him, Raj enjoyed both the physical as well as the mental feelings engendered in that moment. Being fucked is a wonderful, confusing, chaotic, painful, pleasurable, memorable experience for a man; it is the moment when a man is the most vulnerable, and if given willingly, it is the moment when he can achieve the greatest physical as well as emotional pleasure. Surely there have been a million movie scenes and bad jokes and prison anecdotes about taking it up the ass; those jokes all seem to infer the man has to suffer great humiliation and pain. Raj and Stuart had actually discussed it several times, and agreed that the most manly, macho moments in their lives had been when they were taking it up the ass with both pleasure and pain. Deliverance; Lawrence of Arabia; Papillon; Boy Erased; Oz; Midnight Cowboy; the list goes on, and in spite of the probability that most of Hollywood's writers and producers are gay, the male-on-male rape culture is still played for laughs, which is sad and untrue. Raj suddenly realized he was about to climax; his mind had wandered so far from the cute twink cock plunging into his ass that he had momentarily forgotten where he was and what the assigned task was. Tyler slipped his cock out of Raj, and began flooding his back with cum, the first volley hitting Raj in the back of his head, the gobs of cum clinging to hair, and then followed by a river of cum down his spine. Raj's climax inspired Stuart's; he pulled his cock out of Tyler's mouth and began to cum on his face and chest. Within another minute, Raj joined them, jacking off his own cock to cum on Stuart's face. Exhausted, the three wandered into the shower, and soaping each other up, brought all of the cocks to attention once again, with Stuart taking Tyler's cock into his ass and Raj plunging his cock back into Tyler once more. When Tyler roared away on his Ducati at three in the morning, Stuart had set his alarm clock feature on his iPad for 8 AM, so they could enjoy the breakfast buffet at Santiago along with the marvelous food on the menu. Palm Springs in mid-winter is the gay Mecca in southern California; the gay and gay-friendly hotels and resorts in California's most popular desert location had to compete fiercely to attract the crowds of men with fat wallets and fat cocks. The pool-side brunch buffet on Sunday morning was a circus of gorgeous men; it seemed they were even more beautiful in the bright morning sunlight than the night before in the dimly-lighted pool. Everyone was stylishly dressed for breakfast in Speedos, thongs, sandals, and shorts, with a few un-initiated in Sunday church dress with expensive trousers and silk shirts, usually unbuttoned down two or three buttonholes. Raj was impressed; he and Stuart were seated pool-side, with an excellent view of the comings-and-goings along the buffet tables and the bar, which were crowded and busy with a million twinks, rent-boys, bears, chasers, chubbys, muscle-guys, runway types, beach boys, military types, the occasional pony-tail-wearing hippy, and leather men. There must be a law somewhere, irrevocably decreed before the foundations of this world, that every Sunday brunch buffet must be accompanied by Bellini's, margaritas, bloody Marys, and mimosas. The brunch atmosphere was just as festive and enjoyable as any Pride celebration; Stuart made a mental note to take Raj to the upcoming Pride festival in San Francisco, followed by the uber-bizarre Folsom Street festival in the fall. At that moment he realized that Raj had been trying to get his attention; Stuart smiled in embarrassment at having been so distracted by the flesh in front of them. Raj was saying "This is what I want to do." "What?" Stuart clearly needed to back-track on this line of thought; he could not connect the idea of hundreds of men wandering around in the sunlight with only wisps of clothing covering their nakedness, into some type of career aspiration for Raj. "What?" he asked a second time. Raj laughed; "Are you distracted?" Stuart blushed; "I want to blame it on the bloody Mary, but yeah, this is amazing, this place is even better than Puerto Vallarta. Now, please, start over; what are you saying?" Raj explained how he wanted to be in a consulting firm, one that catered to high-end gay men, and provided financial, life-coaching, career coaching, and therapy services. "You may know Mickey, Sam's husband, is already doing that; he moved into Ross's firm, and they are sharing resources." It suddenly occurred to Stuart that his husband was light-years ahead of him; "You already have a plan, don't you?" Raj smiled shyly; "Yes" he muttered. "Share." Stuart was smiling but was being assertive, although he wanted to keep this conversation as low-key as possible. Raj related how he had had a long conversation with Ross at their condo during the party after the prayer breakfast and had discussed Raj's future goals and ambitions as well as what possibilities he had if he chose to leave politics. He disclosed to Stuart that Ross had made an offer, one which Raj had requested a six-month time frame for; the plan was that Ross, Mickey, and Raj would be able to combine resources, client lists, and skills and boost the marketing presence of the firm in Beverly Hills. "I have just been waiting for the appropriate timing to share this with you; please don't be angry with me, I was not hiding anything from you, but it had to be the right time. For both of us." He reached across the small wicker patio table and took Stuart's hand; he smiled apprehensively. Stuart said "Well, if you think I am angry, then you are mistaken. Congratulations! I think that is a wonderful idea. When do you want to make the move?" "As soon as possible, but remember that we sort of promised the Martins that we would stay until the next election cycle?" "Yes; but I also think that they need some lead-time in order to find appropriate talent to replace us. You are going to be a very difficult act to follow." Stuart smiled broadly at his lover; Raj had accomplished things in his short fourteen-year-career that many others would take a lifetime to emulate. The following morning, two things happened: Stuart received a phone call from the insurance agent, and then the Governor asked him and Raj to come to a closed-door meeting. The insurance company wanted Stuart to go to the BMW dealer and pick up his new car. The Governor wanted to negotiate a graceful surrender to both Raj and Stuart. The car was easy; same model, same year, same leather everything, same new car smell. The Governor was difficult: he had always wanted to be treated by Raj and Stuart as if he was the King of the Known Universe, and his world view and his values were constructed around that model. The Governor was ready to begin an exploratory committee for a presidential campaign; Raj saw this as the perfect moment to inform the Governor that he could not be a part of that campaign. When Governor Martin asked Stuart how he felt, Stuart said "Well, sir, not simply out of solidarity with my husband, but also because I find it difficult to imagine being in this job in Washington DC, I am going to allow you to take the time needed to find a replacement for me as well." The Governor was obviously deeply deflated; he had expected his most trusted staff members and long-time right-arms to stay with him no matter what the future portends. It is always deeply deflating to super-egos to learn that there is a brick wall out there in the Universe somewhere with your name on it. It is even more deflating to run into that brick wall nose-first at 90 miles per hour. Governor Martin marched out of the office as if he had just given an order, more to preserve his ego than for any other reason. Raj said "Well it's a good thing the U-Haul store is close by so we can go buy boxes." They both laughed. It is said that good things come to those who wait; that may or may not be true, but Stuart knew that his life had been filled with great things, perfect moments, times of trial and challenges and times when the horizon was glowing with possibilities. Standing on the balcony of their new beach house in Hermosa Beach, watching the giant Argentina shrimp sizzling on the grill, holding Raj with both arms around his waist and enjoying the cool breeze off the coast, he knew this horizon was glowing with possibilities. Stuart had just started his new job as a corporate attorney with Baylor, McLean and Garza, the law firm in Santa Monica where Mario Garza was now the surviving senior partner, the man whom he liked to call `Uncle Mario', the widower of his Uncle Mason Taylor. Raj was working in Beverly Hills at the consulting firm with Mickey and Ross; the three of them had a new marketing plan that had already produced remarkable results. "Are you happy?" Stuart whispered in Raj's ear. Raj merely moaned and turned in Stuart's arms and embraced him around the shoulders. He kissed his husband, stared into his blue Idaho farm-boy eyes, and whispered in reply "More than ever before. Don't let this ever end."