Simply Red

Max’s Perspective

With everything else going on, the beginning of the school year just snuck up on me and before I knew it, I was back at the school for a week continuing education and classroom prep before the school year began. Brody woke up early on Monday morning to make me breakfast and send me off to a my first day back at work… his idea of making breakfast was pouring cereal into a bowl, but I appreciated the gesture. God, I had missed him so much! I was so excited to start year two of teaching. With a year under my belt, I knew what to expect and I felt at home there. Mrs. J and I were both teaching fourth grade again, and Gina was teaching fifth. The second fifth grade class was being taught by a new teacher. Before our first education session I was in my empty classroom drinking a cup of coffee and looking at the bare walls trying to figure out what to do with them before the kids got there the following week. Gina came bounding in “hey sunshine” she said cheerfully. “Have you met the new fifth grade teacher yet?”

 

“Nope. I got here early and you’re the first person I’ve seen” I said back as I jotted down some ideas for the room on the notepad.

 “Stay here, I’ll be right back” Gina said as she left the room. I kept making notes while she was gone, she returned and said, “Mr. H. meet Mr. Harris Daniels, our new fifth grade teacher.” I had my back to the door when they came in, I turned around to see a gorgeous hunk of man standing next to Gina! Harris was about thirty with light mocha skin, beautiful short curly hair, and mesmerizing green eyes. He reached out his hand to introduce himself. “Mr. Daniels just moved here from Boston” Gina said with a grin.

 I didn’t think, I just responded “and why the hell did you do that?”

 His laugh was intoxicating as he responded, “my husband’s ex-wife lives here, we moved to be closer to my two stepsons.” ‘Husband? Damn!’ I thought to myself, ‘A black, gay, teacher, with kids, living in the South?! He’s in for a wild ride.’

“It’s fantastic to meet you” I said shaking his hand. We talked about his husband, his stepsons, the move, where they were living, etc. His husband was an ER Dr. working at the hospital and they were currently living in an Air B n’ B while they were house hunting. They were looking for a place with a little land.

 “Not to just throw this out there, but Gina told me you’re married to her future brother in-law” He said sweetly, I just nodded in response. “That officially makes you the only other gay man I’ve met since we moved here two weeks ago.” I laughed at that and we talked about what it was like being gay living in this small southern town. We talked about my run-in with Mimi Fargus… Willie was in his class, but hopefully Mimi had learned her lesson. I also told him about how much I loved my life there and how most people were more than accepting, and I promised to show him around.

 “C’mon, we gotta get into the cafeteria for our first session” Gina said breaking up our little party. Our first day of continuing education went well. Harris joined the usual crowd of me, Gina, Mrs. J, Laurie, and Sara (along with a couple of other newbies) at our table for lunch. He fit right in and seemed comfortable around us all.

 As soon we were dismissed, I went home to get to work. When I pulled up the driveway, I saw Ricky’s car parked by the old barn. He didn’t start school for another week and had been there all day working. Brody had assigned him an alarm code for the barn and given him a key… he was starting to trust him too. Brody was up in his studio working on his campaign, and Bubba and his crew were hard at work putting the shingles on the new barn. The place was buzzing with activity. Zoey greeted me when I got out of the Camaro and followed me into the house while I quickly changed my clothes. Soon, me and my faithful friend Zoey were headed out to the barn where Ricky was hard at work with the music blasting. I greeted him and made small talk as I inspected his work; he had gotten a lot done. Then I headed up the steps to Brody’s studio. “Hey!” he yelled when I entered. “How was your first day back?” He asked as I kissed him hello. I babbled excitedly about everything, including my new friend Harris.  Brody was tweaking some ideas for the airline campaign he was working on while he listened to me rant. He was heading back to Phoenix the next morning and wouldn’t be home until late Friday. “Why don’t you invite him and his husband out here for Dinner Saturday night?” Brody uncharacteristically suggested… he rarely initiated social activity.

“That sounds good, I’ll ask him tomorrow. Harris told me I was the first gay man he met since they moved.” I responded and laughed. We continued to discuss our plans for the weekend as he kept working. About fifteen minutes later I went back downstairs to help Ricky who was packing up candles for shipping. We were almost done with the initial order for The Resort and had several orders from Stella to fulfill. I was also in initial negotiations with Jordan on orders for his other hotels. We had plenty of work coming in to keep us busy for the next couple of months, especially considering that we were cutting our hours back to part time now that school was back in session. Gina and Mrs. J helped us during the summer but moving forward it would be just me and Ricky after school and on the weekends. I’d probably have to find a more help. Ricky stayed and worked until it was time for him to go deliver pizzas. Before he left, we talked about what needed to be done the next day while I was at the school. Ricky had his plan, and I knew things were in good hands.

 That night after Ricky left, I made sandwiches for dinner and Brody and I ate in the barn. Brody worked in his studio and I poured candles until about 11:00PM. We locked up the barn and then went up to our room and got under the covers naked and snuggled. I fell fast asleep in Brody’s arms knowing that it was our last night together until Friday. We had to get up early so I could drop Brody off at ILM airport before I went to the school. The alarm on my phone went off at 4:30AM and I reached out to the nightstand to shut it off, pushing my ass against Brody as I did. He was still asleep, but rock hard. I decided to take advantage of my good fortune and reached into the drawer of the nightstand to grab the bottle of lube. I poured some in my hand, reached back and stoked his rigid member with the warm gel.

His arms wrapped tighter around my broad chest “g’morning… Day-um, Maxwell. That feels good” he whispered in a gravely half-still-asleep voice. I lined him up with my hole and pushed back against his hard, rigid manhood and he instinctively pushed forward. I grunted as his head breached my tight, pink pucker, I stopped and just basked in the fullness, he felt so good inside me. After a few seconds I pushed back again slowly taking him inside me inch by inch. He was softly kissing my neck as he pushed all the way in until his warm, soft ball sac was resting on my ass. He just held himself in me for a while as we enjoyed the warmth of each other’s bodies. After about a minute, he started to slowly pull out leaving just the tip of himself in me before he pushed forward again… taking it slow. He moved in and out of me several times, my body reveling in the sensations he was sending through me. I was doing my damnedest to enjoy the moment and not think about the fact that I’d be alone in that bed for the next several nights. Brody picked up the pace as our intimate morning wake-up call took on a more fervent intensity. Still laying on our sides, Brody was thrusting into me hard and pulling out fast, over, and over as I clutched my pillow and bit into it. Damn, why I spent my younger years messing around with so many people I will never know… having one person who knew your body was the ultimate.

Brody grunted my name as he warned me of his impending explosion into my guts. Just like that my innards were alive with the warmth of Brody’s seed. Using his cum as lube he kept pounding in and out of me until he went soft. We just laid there for a while, him inside me. When he final pulled out, I rolled over and kissed him good morning, then we headed for the shower to clean up and get ready to head out. We soaped each other up as the water cascaded over us, within seconds Brody was on his knees and I had my back against the wall. He engulfed my entire rod and worked me like an expert. He may have put his massage table in storage a couple of years ago, but the sensual touch never left his fingertips. He massaged my cock with his hands and mouth, coaxing my load forward. It didn’t take long before I buried my fingers in his curly locks, threw my head back and started to fuck his mouth. He grunted, groaned, and gurgled as he pulled my ass cheeks forward egging me on. “Fuck!” I yelled as I shoved my cock as deep into his throat as it would go and gave him every bit of essence I had in me. He did his best to swallow, but my load was just too much and seeped out of his mouth and down his chin. He kept working my cock, cleaning it of my load before he stood up and kissed me, giving me a taste of my own cum. We kissed as we soaped and cleaned each other’s bodies. The warm water was turning cold and our skin was pruning when we finally exited the shower.

We dried off and dressed, then Brody finished packing and we jumped in the car. I dropped him off at the airport on my way to the school and gave him a goodbye hug that I never wanted to end. I hated being apart. “It’s only for a few days, then I should be home until after Thanksgiving” Brody said trying to reassure me. It didn’t help much, I just wanted him to stay home. He got out of the car and I watched him walk into the airport before I drove off and went to the school. I wasn’t the first one in that day, in fact I was the last. Everyone was gathered in the cafeteria drinking coffee, eating donuts, and talking. I joined my little group and chatted until they called us to order. Harris sat with us at lunch again and I extended a dinner invitation to him and his husband for Saturday night. He was over the top excited and texted Terrance (his husband) who promptly responded with a thumbs-up. As we talked, I realized Harris was in the same mindset I had been when I moved here. He moved for his husband and didn’t have a life of his own yet. BA pulled me out of my funk then, and I was determined to pull Harris out of his now. The rest of the day went fine and I headed home to find Ricky working in the barn and Bubba and his crew finishing up the new barn.

“Hey Boss” Ricky said when I walked in. Zoey was jumping up on me begging for attention and Jimmy was out in the pasture breying away.

“Hey Ricky, how’s it going?”

“Great. I clipped the wicks on the candles you poured last night and packed them up. We got The Resort order completed and ready to ship, UPS is on their way. We have three extra cases made to handle any online orders that might come in, and I started the wax melter so you can pour some of your own candles tonight” Ricky said, then continued to update me on operations. This kid was pure gold. He knew what to do and did it without me having to push. He did more than just work, he thought. He thought through the process, next steps, future needs, etc. I could not have done this without him. He was always two steps ahead… I kept forgetting he was just a kid. “Hey, I know The Resort order is done, but we’ve got a bunch of orders from the rep and you said you might sign a contract for more hotels” Ricky said, “now that school’s back in session and it’s just you and me, we’re gonna need some more help.” He wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah, I know. We’re probably gonna need two more part timers working every night” I replied.

“What about T-Dog?” Ricky offered up sheepishly knowing the kid annoyed me.

“Nope.”

“Max, he aint a bad guy, and he’ll listen to me and do a good job” Ricky pleaded. “Will you please just talk to him? I promise if you hire him, I’ll take responsibility for him.”

Ricky was my right hand and I trusted him, but damn, T-Dog? Ugh! His name alone annoyed the fuck out of me. “Fine. I’ll talk to him, but I’m not calling him T-Dog. He’s Timmy when he’s here.” Ricky smiled and laughed a little at my rant. We finished our conversation, went through Ricky’s to-do list for the next day, and I agreed to meet with Timmy.

After Ricky left for the day, I called Brody in Phoenix. I missed the hell outta him and it made me happy just to hear his voice. I told him that Harris and Terrance had accepted our invite for Saturday night, that we had finished The Resort order, and Ricky wanted me to hire T-Dog. “Max, it’s your decision, but I don’t trust that lil’ varmint. If you hire him, he doesn’t get a key or an alarm code… got it?” Brody stated, putting his foot down. He was finally warming up to Ricky, but T-Dog was still a redneck punk in his mind (mine too). I agreed to his terms.

The next few days were a blur of continuing education sessions, classroom prep, farm work, and candle making. I talked to Elliot and Zach and finalized all the stuff for the incorporation. They told me I needed to pull together a board meeting so I could put it on the books and file our first annual report at the end of the year. I talked to Brody about it and we decided to invite everyone for Thanksgiving and then have the board meeting on Friday. I emailed them all and was shocked that they were all not only willing, but excited to give up their holiday plans to come to North Carolina. It was a very productive week, I even met with Timmy and decided to give him a chance (with some trepidation).

I was up late every night working trying to keep ahead of the candle orders… but mostly I was avoiding being in bed alone. I was so anxious for Brody to come home on Friday night… I needed him. It was mid-afternoon Friday and I was leaving the school. I had just said goodbye to everyone and solidified our plans with Harris and Terrance for the next evening. I was driving home when I got the call from Brody “Hey, babe” I said as I answered the phone, “I can’t wait to see you tonight!”

“Well you’re gonna hafta’” he said in a somber voice. “The client moved the meeting up a week and we have to present on Wednesday” he paused and let out a heavy sigh, “I hafta’ stay in Phoenix and work over the weekend. I won’t be home until after the presentation.”

‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!’ I thought to myself, but I didn’t verbalize it. I tried to think of something supportive to say, but instead it came out as a whine “But Harris and his husband are coming tomorrow night” is all I could think to say.

“I’m sorry, Maxwell. I know you were looking forward to our weekend together, but this is really a big deal. It’s our first campaign for this client and we gotta knock it outta the park” Brody said. Although I understood, I didn’t like it.

I felt like a whiny little bitch when I said, “but I miss you.”

“I miss you too, baby. BAD!” Brody said. “I was so excited to come home tonight, but I have to do this.” It was then that I realized that he wanted to be with me too, but duty called. He was the new guy and he still had to pay his dues and prove himself. “Please don’t make this harder than it already is.”

I took a deep breath, then exhaled. “I’m sorry. Do what you have to do. I’ll reschedule with Harris for next weekend.” When the initial shock wore off, I was able to think more rationally and we had a good conversation. I reluctantly said goodbye. When I hung up, I called Harris to reschedule, he made me feel better about it by telling me that Terrance (an ER Doc) gets called in all the time and he’s gotten used to canceling plans “the cancellations and anticipation just make you appreciate your time together even more” he said sagely.

When I got home, Bubba and his crew were packing up to leave, the new barn was done and looked fantastic. “I just got a couple of things to finish up, some caulkin’ around the windows, and stuff like that. I’ll do it this weekend. You can move the critter in and start paintin’ the outside whenever yer ready” Bubba said as he locked the tools up in the box in the bed of his pick-up. I thanked him for everything and said goodbye.

When I entered the old barn, Ricky and Timmy were hard at work with Zoey and Jimmy laying in the stall supervising. The music was loud and they were preoccupied, neither of them even heard me enter. I looked around and was seriously impressed, the two teenagers had put in a solid day’s work. Ricky was showing Timmy how to properly clip the wicks on their newly-poured creations, and Timmy seemed to be focused on doing it right. “Hey guys, it looks like you got a lot done today” I said startling them both.

“Everything on my to-do list plus I poured a couple extra cases of mint-sage because stock was low” Ricky said.

“Damn. Great work” I responded as I approached them and looked over their work. “How are you liking the job, Timmy” I asked. He furled his brow when I called him ‘Timmy,’ he was not happy about that stipulation of his employment.

“There’s a lot to remember, but I’m catching on” Timmy responded. I looked at Ricky who nodded in agreement. “I really like it so far.” Ricky who was brimming with pride as he shot me an ‘I told you so’ look. I further inspected their work, then we talked about the schedule for the following week when the two of them went back to school. We’d just have afternoons and weekends to get the work done for now on, so we’d need to be organized. Ricky would probably get there an hour or so before me every day, so we worked out a system. He would pour candles based on the list I left him, then go to work on packing and fulfilling any Stella orders from our already finished stock. We had enough candles made that we should be able to do this part-time and still stay ahead of things… at least for now.

After the guys left, I worked out in the garden until it was too dark to see, then I packed up everything for the market the next morning. Finally, about midnight, I went to bed… alone…  again. The farmer’s market was a good diversion from missing Brody. At lunch I told Gina and Mrs. J I was going to start painting the new barn when I got home, and when I got home that’s what I did. We had enough paint left over from repainting the old barn and I went right to work. About two hours into it, Dylan’s truck pulled up to the barn with Mrs. J’s truck right behind (Mr. J was with her). The four of them jumped out of the trucks with Roscoe. Zoey and Roscoe started to wrestle while Dylan and Mr. J unloaded a couple of ladders. We exchanged greetings as they all went right to work painting the new barn. I couldn’t thank them enough… I had my own little village and I was so fucking appreciative.  By sundown, we had the first coat on Jimmy’s new home. My unexpected paint-crew loaded up and left as quickly as they had shown up. I was so appreciative and damn lucky to know such great people. I planned on moving Jimmy into the new barn the next day and working on a second coat. I went in the house to make myself a sandwich and then go to bed.

As I was walking into the lonely old farmhouse, my phone rang. I was hoping it was Brody, I hadn’t heard from him since he told me he wouldn’t be coming home. He had told me they’d be working twenty four seven so not to worry if he didn’t call.

I looked at the phone, it wasn’t Brody it was Harris. “Hey, Max. Terrance got called into the ER and I’m alone and bored. You wanna hang out tonight?” Hell, YES, I did! I was missing Brody so much and not looking forward to being alone.

“Yeah, but I’m too tired to go out. You just wanna come over here?” I asked. “We can order a pizza and watch a movie or binge something.”

“That sounds awesome, text me your address” I did. About a half hour later I heard him driving up the long gravel driveway. I was happy to see him, hell I was happy to see anybody. I loved living in the middle of nowhere with Brody… I hated being there alone at night. I went outside with Zoey to greet him when he got out of his car. “Damn, this is nice” Harris said as he looked around. Almost instantly he dropped onto one knee to pet Zoey and let him cover his handsome face with kisses.

“First things first” I said. “What do you want on your pizza?” I called in our order and then showed him around the place. I told him the history of Grammaw’s place and how Brody had rehabbed it. Zoey followed us as we walked around the new barn, the garden, the beehives, and introduced him to Jimmy. Finally, we ended up in the old barn, he was impressed with my little candle operation and our plans for expansion. I told him about Gina and Mrs. J helping me out during the summer and how Ricky jumped in to keep things rolling while I went back to school. I even told him about how we met Ricky when he and his buddies tagged our barn.

“That’s what scares me about living here” Harris said. “I’ve met some great people, but I think there’s a lot of ignorance lurking, and I feel like we’re always being watched and judged, I never felt that way in Boston.” I realized he was dealing with a lot of the same stuff I was a year ago. We had a great discussion about the good, the bad, and the ugly of being gay in the South. He also added another dimension by talking about being gay and black. Harris was a smart guy and I liked talking with him… he was perfect friend material. We were in the kitchen and I had just uncorked a bottle of wine when the doorbell rang… Pizza time!

I answered the door and let Ricky in with the Pizza. I introduced him to Harris, the looks they exchanged were interesting to say the least. I think Harris was seeing Ricky as the punk that tagged our barn, and Ricky was seeing Harris as a strange man encroaching on Brody’s territory. I paid and tipped  Ricky, and told him I’d see him Monday, then we took the pizza inside. For the next several hours we ate, drank wine, watched stupid TV, while we laughed, talked, and got to know each other. After a couple of bottles of wine, Harris was In no position to drive and we fell asleep on the couch before he could text Terrance.

I was awoken by some weird noises in the house, I saw Zoey standing by the front door and assumed the noise was her scratching to go out. Harris was sitting next to me fast asleep with his head resting on my shoulder. I nudged him off me and got up to make coffee. A few minutes later the phone rang, it was Brody. I was so fucking happy to see his name on my phone, but a little surprised, it was only about 4AM in Phoenix. “Hey baby, I miss you so much. What’s going on?”

He said in a sleepy, somber tone, “you tell me.”

“What?”

“Bubba just called me and said he came out to finish up the barn this morning before he went to another job and snuck into the house to use the bathroom. He said he found you sleeping on the couch with some guy. What the fuck, Maxwell.”

To be continued…