The colour of collars

THE COLOUR OF COLLARS
Part II

“Max…” I groan as the voice penetrates my sleepy state. “Max… Max wake up.” I blink disoriented shielding my eyes from the bright light. I groan again at the audacity of the morning sun trying to blind me. I heard a soft giggle and the bed dips as someones sits beside me. “You really aren’t a morning person are you?”

I shift my hand from before my eye to reveal Niko looking at me. He’s fully dressed and smells freshly showered. “No.” I answer with a grunt. I mostly definitely am not a morning person. I struggle to sit a little upright “Why are you dressed?” My voice comes out in a whine. I have no emotional filter in the mornings what I feel is what you get and right now I don’t want to see Niko’s body covered up. Trust me it’s a crime to hide what I found underneath.

“I have to check in with Kevin about todays schedule before heading over to your office.” He explains his hand sliding over my bare shoulder as I grunt back into depths of my bed in defeat overing myself completely. He chuckles at my obvious displeasure with current situation.

I peek up at from under the duvet. “Lunch?” I ask.

“Yes” he smiles a great morning smile that makes me want to smile in return.

“Dinner?” I slowly pull down the duvet revealing my face. He nods trying to keep his grin under control. “Then breakfast?” I push up onto my elbows I can just imagine my tail waging if I had one.

The mattress shakes a little with his laughter as he bends over to kiss me. “Anything you want.”  I quickly reach up to prevent him leaving and the kiss deepens.

“Max, I really have to go.” He tries to plead but doesn’t move an inch.

“Then go.” I mumble bucking up against him. He groans gently untangling himself.

“Trust me it’s killing me leaving you all naked and wanting in bed but I need to get your workplace safe again.” This sobers me up a little and I release him. “Coffee’s made, breakfast’s in the kitchen.” He informs me with one last peck.

Reluctantly I slip from under my lovely warm covers and head to the bathroom for my wake up shower. This mostly only gets me 70% awake, fresh coffee adds another 15% and breakfast 10%. I blush at the welcoming sight of my kitchen. I’m a deep sleeper so he could have made a racket down here and I’d never have heard it.

An hour later I arrive at work in the best of moods. Men do that to me.

Men and great heart stopping fantastic sex. 

“Morning Gilles!” I practically sing passing him by and hum as I set up my desk. Gilles slides into my office and quietly closes the door.

“I don’t need to ask what’s go you in such a good mood.” He says dryly.

“Oh?”

“You’re wearing your dark red tie which means you got lucky last night.” He comments straight-faced.

I stop what I’m doing and stare at him incredulously. “Last time you wore that particular tie was four months ago when you had that thing with that bar guy. But it’s not him cause you’re obviously happy and that guy didn’t make you happy. Time before that it was after new years and I don’t think anyone needs to hear the details about that one. Before that you were with Andy and Andy… no need to say more.” He rattles off at high speeds sitting down on his accustomed chair notepad at the ready. “What? You know I’m linked to your sisters there is nothing I don’t know.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.” he confidently states. 

“What underwear am I wearing?”

“I don’t need to know your laundry schedule to know your freestyling it today.” 

Ok, this does kind off shut me up cause I am letting it swing so to say and suddenly I feel very exposed although I was certain you couldn’t tell by just looking. 

“There are already a million rumours going on about yesterday. What happened.”

“Niko found why the coffee machines haven’t been working.”

He cocks his eyebrow at me mouthing Niko? “Since when is that cause for the police to practically come guns blazing?”

“Sabotage.”

“Are you serious?” Gilles faces drains his normal aloof dry manner vanishes.

“Niko thinks so.”

Work that morning was strange, stressful and confusing. The workload itself was normal, the police visiting wasn’t, the worried section chiefs knocking on my door every ten minutes and the outrageous rumours flying around had everyone tense. Also glimpsing Niko around the office floor every so often wasn’t helping things. I’ve never been stressed, worried, scared and deliriously happy all at once.

At half passed twelve Gilles strolled into the office.

“So when is Wonder Boy picking you up for lunch?” I hadn’t told him about our lunch date but I’ve stopped being amazed at what Gilles seems to instinctively know.

Secretaries. You've got love and respect them. The shits.  

“I guess we’ll see when he gets here.” I forgot to stipulate a time for our lunch date.

Thirty minutes later I get a text from Niko asking to meet me downstairs. I’m out of the door in a flash hearing Gilles audibly rolling his eyes behind me.

Blue

He looks so damn fucking happy stepping out of the elevator. I haven’t seen that smile before. I’ve never really realized how many smiles a person has. The polite smile, the get out of my face smile, the impatient smile, the freaked out smile, the irritated smile, the annoyed smile… this one though I’ll caption as the fucking happy smile. His step is light and bubbly as he walks over to me, taking my hand as we walk out of the building.

I’m shocked as we stand on the sidewalk like this. He’s holding my hand! Me in my stained work outfit and him in his pristine pressed pinstriped suit. Seemingly completely oblivious to the stares we’re getting he drags me to a small dinner he raves about and for the next hour runs his mouth. He’s talking like he’s trying to catch up for lost time or something.

It makes me wonder as I sit there contently listening to anything he has to say. Does he perhaps remember me now?

“Damn, I really want to kiss you.” I sigh as we’re paying the bill before I can catch the words and put them back in my mouth.

“What’s stopping you?” he grins. I frown giving him an obvious ‘we’re in public you fool’ look. All he does is plant a kiss on my cheek and walks out of the dinner. Shocked for the second time that day I notice no one in the dinner even looked up at this and the waitress behind the till just winks at me giving me our recite. Flushing I rush outside after him.

He has changed since high school.

White

Cassiopeia!

I remember it well cause I used to start at it every gym class in the showers. It’s a constellation I’m very familiar with thanks to Nik's butt.  Those five little dotted birthmarks forming a double-u are imprinted like a brand on his behind.

Nik Keegan.

Nikolas fucking Keegan.

Or Niko as he now seems to prefer.

As a 17 year old he was far from bad looking although he’s really grown into his own over the year. The name had been familiar in a back of the mind nagging kind of way but it’s the second I saw that small series of birthmarks on his butt, I knew who he was.

I can’t remember many other male body parts I ogled in my high school years but Keegan’s butt had been seared into my brain. I watch out for that constellation to appear every year during winter with great anticipation.

Cassiopeia! Ha!

His butt hadn’t been the only thing I remember about Nikolas Keegan. 

You see Nikolas Keegan was nice. Nice to me anyhow. He could be a clown in class one minute and fade away in the shadows the next. He was aloof and non-committal to most, with a few friends scattered here and there as far as I can remember.

To me though he’d always been nice. Nice through the small things of life. Giving me a ride home when my tires had been slashed on occasion. Never hounded me in gym class like many of the bulky build guys would do. Easy prey skinny me.

One small act of kindness one day had me crush on this guy for the remainder of our last year in high school. The day he spend a whole class period scrubbing my locker door. I’d seen the word someone had scribbled on it that morning. It had made me hide on a toilet until the bell rang. I slipped into class pretending I hadn’t noticed it but saw Nikolas wasn’t there. It was one of the few we shared together.

I knew he was in school cause I’d seen him arrive in his car. Feigning illness I wandered the halls toward the bathroom keep an out for him. I’m unsure why I did this maybe some kind of telling feeling or something.

I stopped in my tracks before he saw me and hid behind the corner. There he stood scrubbing my locker door. He’d almost managed to erase every letter scribbled on the metal before a teacher caught him questioning what he was doing.

I didn’t hear their conversation but the teacher smiled, picked up an extra sponge and helped with the remaining letters. Words can be so hurtful especially at that age but that day it was an action that moved me to tears.

“… Max?” Gilles voice brought me back to my desk in my office at work. He stood somewhat nervously by the door, which was very out of character. I beckoned him in.

“Max, I need to tell you something.” He started, his fingers squeezing the paper he held in his hands. This wasn’t the usual confident Gilles. Where's that cocky eyebrow? Where is his aloof manner I've come to love and hate?

“What’s wrong?” I asked concerned.

“Well, nothing hopefully but I have to tell you something.”

“Yes?” I can’t help but be tense. Could this have to do with wiring saboutage? Has Gilles been hiding something from the company? From me?

“Well, I have a date tonight.” He confessed and I’m about to open my mouth before he holds up his hand. “With Amelia…?”

My mouth stays open as I process what he’s said. Then I sigh in relief. “Gilles you shit, you had me scared there for a second.”

“So you don’t…?” he hesitates leaving his sentence unfinished. To be truthful this is somewhat amusing. Gilles was never the kind to be out of sorts, not in all the years I’ve known him. Yet there he stood. Tongue-tied!

“Don’t what? Mind?” I ask to his answering nod. “Hell no, when did you ask her out?”

“I didn’t... I wanted to I really did but I didn’t know if that would be appropriate or ... er.. and…” He stopped himself taking a deep breath once again. “She asked me out.”

That’s my Amelia! 

The youngest but a girl with a mission when the need arises. “Well all I can say is; be prepared. You know where’s she’s taking you?” He frowned. I chuckled. Poor Gilles. “Oh boy, if Amelia did the asking she’s doing the planning believe me.”  I can’t decide if it was a look of dread or excitement that flashed across his face.

Probably both. 

Blue

The little shit does remember me.

He held me to my agreement for lunch and now dinner but the appetizer seemed to be our high school yearbook instead of soup of salad. I cringe at the hair and style we sported back then. Not that it was so long ago but still. Cringe worthy all the same.

Max seemed to really get a kick out of it though. I soon quieted his laughter. The only sounds he made while I had him on his couch wasn’t laughter yet they weren’t complaints either.

With significantly tussled hair and some rearrangement of the clothes we finally worked our way to the kitchen. He wanted me to grill the meat but I’m not great fan of grilling –so boring watching something cook- so I put together the remaining side dishes.

We cook well together.

It’s odd that this would strike me so but it did. In-between the touches and telling grins we worked around the kitchen seamlessly. I found it a comforting experience. I’m unsure why but I felt as if this was the first of many nights like this to come. I certainly hoped so. 

I can tell you one thing Max has firmed up some since high school. After dinner dessert was taken care of on the hall floor cause the bedroom had been too damn far.  Those goddamn lips, no wonder they’d drawn my attention 10 years ago. I was probably remembering the future.

I’ve been with a few men before. I’m not a hole hopper but I know my way around a man. The contrast of our skin tones is mesmerizing to me. It’s so beautiful and again that seeping feeling of comfort is simmering right there under the surface, as if that’s just how it’s supposed to be for me. I’ve always been more attracted to darker skin mine being as white as snow. Maybe that had been Max’s influence too.

Damn had I always been looking for a Max in the men I pursued?

Had I?

He pushes and pulls and grabs me, his passion and intensity so unlike the shy Max I remember but then again, still waters … He also gives as good as he gets which for is just the cherry on top. Though he’s passionate it isn’t as if it’s just physical, I…

Well, it isn’t just sex.

Not to me anyway. I’m hoping, hoping this isn’t wishful thinking, not after last night.

Pink

I’m there every day. 

I watch over him. I help him with his job.

Why would he choose someone else when we’re already in a relationship?

Cheater! Bastard! 

I thought you were prefect…

He smiles at me every single day. 

Every day!

It’s me he loves. 

ME

SORRY THIS HAS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO POST GUYS! I had some deadlines to meet and with the holidays there was just no time for any creative writting. Next won't be so long I promise.

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This is a piece of fiction. My piece of fiction which may not be borrowed, altered, taken or copied without my explicit permission. These stories are registered under my name.

A. Sonky