Dear reader, ========= We have read a lot of love stories. I wanted this story to be a little different. I thought lets make a trip to India. We will get to read about the culture, people, cuisines, dressing styles, the history and the daily life of the people there. This is still a love story. Not world history and the romance will not be overshadowed. I could possibly take inputs from you guys and gals to see how much is tolerable :) Seriously I thought it would be a good idea. What do you guys think? If I may suggest: Increase the font size before reading. It is easier on the eyes. Disclaimer: ======== This is a fictional story with fictional characters. Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely a coincidence. This story involves love and physical intimacy between two consenting adult men. If you do not want to read this or are prohibited by law, house rules etc, please leave. The is a story about relations and not about sex. So there will be very limited sexual acts and even when it occurs, there will be no graphic details. The story does not intend to preach any religion or culture. It is only an effort to take the readers on a vacation without the hassle of passports, visas, flights, lost baggages etc =) The reader is at the liberty to stop reading if he or she does not wishe to continue. My Blonde Brad - Chapter 02 ===================== I found myself lying on the couch when I woke up the next morning. The thought of being single again hurt like a hang-over. Not that I know how a hang-over feels like. Or may be it was just the aches and pains you get by sleeping on the couch. I was slouched on the couch thinking about how I met Ed and all the good times we had. "He seemed content with our relation. Why did he cheat?" I questioned myself. "No more Ed." I decided. I remembered that I had to work all day today as I had switched shifts with Lori, my co-worker. I dragged myself to the bathroom and started to brush. "Hey, where is Brad?" It suddenly occurred to me that he was missing. I checked the two bedrooms to see if he was in any of them. Nope. He was not there. "Wow, did Brad really help me get back home last night? Or was it just a dream?" The door was unlocked. "May be I forgot to lock it." I was a bit confused. "No. He sure was here last night. I am not crazy." I told myself. I had to get to work. I can't afford not to work. And also, I had to get there in time. My supervisor always made sure he pointed out that someone was like three minutes late or hadn't shaved. What does he know of our problems? I shaved, showered and climbed into my clothes, grabbed an energy bar for breakfast and stepped out of the house. I thought of Ed again as I started walking. Strangely I didn't feel as bad as I though I would, although the thought of being single again after a year was frustrating. "Back in the market" I smirked at myself. The cell-phone rang and it was Ed. I turned it off and continued to walk. The day was a drag and I was not really in the mood to socialize with my co-workers. I kept to myself and excused myself out from lunch too. I ate a sandwich sitting in the park and watching the ducks swim around in the artificial pond. They looked happy just preening themselves or their partners. I wished Jason and Lei were here. They will be back tomorrow. Fortunately the day ended without any emotional outbursts and I returned home. I turned the cell-phone on and there were a bunch of messages from Ed. He had explained why it had happened, apologized that it happened, urged that I forgive him and call him back. He would meet me tomorrow. I deleted the messages and tuned the cell phone off. Even the slightest noise was ticking me off. I ate leftovers and was staring at the television and thinking about why Brad left without a word. There was a knock on the door. I forced myself go open it hoping, for some strange reason, it would be Brad. It was Ed. "Why are you here?" I stood blocking the entrance. "Andy. I am really sorry. It was just an accident. Won't you let me explain?" he begged. I let him in and closed the door, more concerned about creating a scene for our neighbors than being polite. "He is a new friend. We were hanging out. I didn't even know he is gay. It kinda just happened." "I don't want your explanation." "It'll never happen ever again." He tried reaching for my hand. I moved away from his reach. "Save the promise for your future boyfriend." I was apathetic. "Please...give me ONE chance." he tried to be cute. "Ed, please leave." I held the door open for him. He looked at me for a few seconds and stepped out of the apartment. He turned around. "I'll call you tomorrow." "No need. Good-bye." I shut the door. I collapsed onto the couch. I had so much anger, frustration and pain pent up inside me. I had handled the situation much better than I thought I would. I lay there and the thought of Brad came back. "I must ask him why he helped me." I decided to myself. For the second night in a row, I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up the next day feeling much better. I engaged myself completely in cleaning the entire apartment to keep my mind off Ed and Brad. Lei and Jason's flights were about an hour apart with Jason arriving first, a little after 4 pm. So around 3.30 pm I showered and called Kevin. He is the only friend of ours who had a car. For ten dollars he offered shuttle service to and from the airport. It was cheaper than taking the cab and a lot of students used his service. "Hey Kev. How are you?" "Hi there. I am already at the airport. I'll bring them home. Don't you worry." He answered even before I asked. I was glad. I was not ready to meet anyone other than Lei and Jason. "Thanks buddy. See you later." I hung up. About an hour later the front door banged open and Lei dashed in. I rose from the couch and she gave me a big hug still holding the shopping bags she was carrying. "Hey sweet heart. Missed you sooooooo much. How the heck are ya?" "I am sure he enjoyed the peace without you." Jason followed her with both their bags. Kevin was behind him. "Something is wrong. You are telling me everything after Kev leaves." she whispered into my ears before she let go of me. "Welcome back. I missed you guys too. Hey Kev. Thanks for picking them up. You want something to drink?" "Sure. You've got beer?" "Yea, help yourself." I pointed him to the refrigerator. We all sat down and made small talk while Kevin finished his beer. Jason paid him and he left. "So how was your vacation?" I asked looking at both of them. "What's wrong?" Lei questioned. "I broke up with Ed." I could never hide or lie to these two. "You...Ed, what?" Jason was surprised. "I caught him cheating on me." I sighed. "That asshole. You wanna break his neck? I've got connections you know. One phone call to..." Lei was furious. "Would you let him explain?" Jason calmed her down. "What happened buddy?" "I found him fucking some guy on Friday and its over." I didn't want to talk about it. "Are you alright?" Jason asked. Lei was still panting too heavy to talk. "Yea. I am OK. Brad helped me get back home." "What?" It was only natural that they were both shocked. I quickly described what happened that Friday night. "Wow." Lei couldn't believe what I had just said. "Did you ask him why he did that?" Jason asked. "No. I will when I meet him next time." "Well, this is a strange turn of personalities." Lei had calmed down enough to construct complete sentences now. "How can I face Ed in the class? I am sure he is going to be in one class or the other. How am I going to face Brad for that matter?" "You will handle it. Just ignore Ed. We are going to be with you all the time anyways." Jason consoled me. "You are going to be fine." Lei gave me hug. "Let's cook dinner. I am sure you guys are starving." I rose and walked towards the kitchen. I fixed sandwiches for all of us while they filled me in with the stories from back home. These two are the best pals I have had in my life. They can make me forget anything that ever bothered me, missing my family, for example. We all were tired and we had classes starting the next day, so we retired to bed early. Monday arrived. It looked like even the sun did not want to rise early on a Monday morning. It was cool and cloudy. Jason, Lei and I all were in the same class. We walked into the class room and I saw Ed. He had seen me before I saw him. I thought I was going to have to put up with his barrage of apologies and explanations. He did not even care to smile at me. I was glad. At least this one chapter was closed. After class we went to the cafeteria for lunch, and as you might have rightly guessed, there was Brad. He was sitting alone on a table sipping cola and fiddling with a Rubik's cube. I never imagined he would do anything that required the use of his brain. But after Friday I was not going to judge him. "Guys. Wait here. I am going to go try talk to Brad." I left Lei and Jason at our table and approached him. "Brad..." I called out and gave him a friendly smile. He looked up at the intruder. "Hey...what up...faggot?" he asked sarcastically. My smile faded. I was more confused than angry. I recovered quickly and said, "Nothing, just wanted to thank you for helping me the other night." I got back to my friends without waiting for his reply. I saw that his friends had joined him and they were laughing their guts out. I assumed it must be on a joke about me. It is nothing unusual, is it? My friends comforted me and I let it go. We quickly got into a routine. Classes and jobs took most of our time during the day. Jason, Lei and I spent all our evenings together. We always have a lot of fun together. Certainly in the kitchen, with Lei and I taking turns in cooking something exotic. It was, at least to Jason. A week had passed. I was working at the front desk in the Biology laboratory. There was no one but I had to stay until 8 pm and lock up. I had 15 more minutes to go. I was working on my homework when I heard footsteps. It was a creepy place with cadavers inside the anatomy section. I raised my head and looked around. Someone was coming towards the lab. The glass door opened and Brad walked in. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt with the sleeves fitting tightly against his biceps. He was wearing black trousers that went well with the shirt. And no cap. His hair was all groomed and it looked like he was dressed for a date. And then I saw the white sport shoes. "Straight guys" I thought to myself and went back to my homework. "What are you doing here?" he questioned. He was standing near my table, with his 6 foot frame towering over me. From his tone I was not able to say if he was picking on me or just being curious. "I am working." I answered patiently. He did not leave. He looked a little nervous. "And thanks for taking me home the other night." I said trying to fill the silence. "Sure." I was surprised to get a reply. "Brad, why did you help me?" My curiosity got the better of me. "I saw you leave the dorm. You looked all upset. I figured what had happened. I didn't know you guys are in love." So he CAN hold a conversation. I had never heard him finish a sentence without the word faggot in it. "We were. Not anymore." I made it clear. "I would have done it for anyone." He made sure I did not read too much into his gesture. "I appreciate you doing it for me. What do you know about Ed?" "What?" "You said he is not good enough for me." "He is fucking someone new all the time. You don't deserve that." "Are you telling me you care about me?" I was getting a little bolder. "Don't push it Roman." Wow he knows my last name. "How do you know where I live?" I changed the subject a little bit. "You live with that asian chick right." What's that feeling in my chest? Jealousy? "Lei is her name." I said fiddling with my pencil trying to cover up whatever I was feeling. He still looked a little nervous but was answering all my questions. So I decided to clarify a few more things. "Why do you always bother me?" I wanted to know. "'Cos you are a faggot." His friendliness was gone. There was contempt in his face. He had gone from zero to asshole in less than a second. "Why, what's wrong with us?" I was not going to take any more of his shit. "Everything. You guys are sick. You are all going to die and burn in hell forever. You guys need to be fixed." He pushed me to the floor and stormed off. I managed to get back on my feet. I was not sure if this was a planned encounter or it was just a coincidence. It didn't look like he needed to do anything in the lab. I was glad that this little meeting happened, even though it did not end very well. I locked up at 8 and reached home. Jason and Lei were waiting for me for dinner. We always tried to eat together. I considered this chance a gift. Eating alone is not healthy. So we sat down for dinner and I told them about my encounter with Brad, including how it ended. They had no comments. None of us knew what to infer from his strange behavior. "He helped you. You thanked him. You got your questions answered. Story over." Jason was always so logical. "He called me a chick? How did he know where I lived?" Lei was concerned he might be stalking her. "I think he is not as bad as we thought he was." I was thinking aloud. "Yea the homophobe has a heart." Jason smirked. "...and a body to die for." Lei winked. We all laughed at it. We continued chatting and gossiping about our day, quickly drifting away from the topic of Brad. After we had cleared the dishes, I excused myself to bed. I lay there unable to sleep. I heard Jason come in much later and get into his bed. Finally the sheer exhaustion, both physical and mental, from the long day, took over and I drifted off to a dreamless sleep. ============ Andy First of all, I would like to thank one of our readers, Romeo, who suggested and helped me set up a Yahoo group to post all stories. The group is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gay_love_fiction. Please send comments, suggestions, questions, please email me at gay_love_fiction (at) yahoo (dot) com. When you write, please mention the name of the story as part of the subject. Thank you for all those wonderful emails. I love reading them.