The Pretender

(so this is my first attempt, and I was unable to find an editor, so if anybody finds mistakes, or has suggestions, be as harsh as you wish... THANKS!)

The Pretender

I'm gonna rent myself a house

In the shade of the freeway

Gonna pack my lunch in the morning

And go to work each day

And when the evening rolls around,

I'll go on home and lay my body down

And when the morning light, comes streaming in,

I'll get up and do it again,

Amen.

Say it again

Amen

*

The song by Jackson Browne resonated in Daniel Adam's head as he packed his lunch for the day. After taking a week off from work to use up his paid vacation time, it was difficult to get motivation to go in. Oh, sure he loved his work, but recently he left without the sense of accomplishment he hoped for, without that feeling that he was making a difference. The fact that he didn't actually do anything on his vacation almost made him more depressed.

"Well," Daniel said to himself. "It could always be worse. Let's just get through the day." He looked at his reflection in the mirror, his lean face staring back at him.

Grabbing his cup of coffee he headed out the door.

The vet clinic was already hopping by the time Daniel punched in, and without hesitating Daniel jumped into the fray and started helping. It was a half hour before he noticed there was an extra person helping out today.

His dark hair was cropped short and he was wearing a blue lab coat.

"Fourth year veterinary student..." Daniel mused under his breath.

The student came back holding a small dog.

The doctor instructed him to put the dog in a cage near the radiograph room, and turned to Daniel.

"You want to set up for xrays? We need some abdomen ones taken on that dog"

"Sure." Daniel replied as he went about turning on the equipment.

"I don't think we've met- my name's Michael, I get to be an extern for two weeks." The student stuck out his hand

"Daniel" he said shaking the student's hand. He made the unfortunate mistake of looking into his eyes. The chocolate brown was mesmerizing, and captivating. He was just about as tall as Daniel, which was actually surprising, since Daniel himself was 6'3. Michael should just a hint of muscle under his coat that teased there was more to see. A slight bit of dark chest hair tantalized at the base of his throat, peeking out from his undershirt. Daniel couldn't stop his cock from reacting. Not wanting to be caught staring, Daniel quickly diverted his attention to the name tag he was filling out for the patient. He couldn't afford to have any rumors starting. In the 5 years he'd worked at this veterinary clinic he'd come to find the area was super conservative and he had a sneaky suspicion that they wouldn't want him to work there if they thought he was gay. He needed to keep up the pretense he was "normal" even though he wasn't convinced about it himself.

Daniel had grown up in a strict household. In fact until he was in high school his mom home schooled him. From an early age on, they attended church each Sunday, and each holiday was divided around church activities. Almost every visit there was some comment on how sodomy was a sin, and homosexuals will burn in hell. Daniel was very shy growing up, mostly due to his isolation as a kid. It wasn't until he decided to go to college that he started to come out of his shell. After college, he'd found his current job, away enough from home to be free from his parents attempts to meddle, but close enough that they didn't insist on knowing everything about his daily life like when he was away at college.

As the weeks went on, the staff fell into a new routine with Michael fitting in well with everyone. The practical jokes and dirty innuendos didn't faze him, and he even joined in. Daniel and Michael worked closely together.

"Thank you for calling, how can I help you?"

"Hi, this is David Jacobson, I have an appointment for next Friday, but we need to move it up."

Daniel spotted the appointment in the computer, and he realized instantly he was talking to Michael's dad, and they were moving the appointment to put to sleep their 13 year old pitbull Mollie, who was a regular at the clinic.

"Mollie's not doing so well?" Daniel asked.

"It's time." David said. "Do you have a spot this afternoon?"

"I do have a spot with Dr. Calder at 430"

"Okay, we'll see you then" David said.

Daniel booked the appointment and debated what to do next. He went up front and told the receptionist, Sara that he'd made an appointment that afternoon so she could prepare the necessary paperwork. As he walked back he spotted Michael in the breakroom.

"Um... I just talked to your dad...." Daniel hesitantly said.

"Yeah, I know. Thanks." Michael said.

Daniel nodded and walked away, to avoid anymore of the awkward conversation. This wasn't going to be easy on any of the staff.

When the time arrived, Daniel spotted David carrying Mollie in. She was hardly able to stand on her own in the exam room. Michael had a stoic look on his face, obviously trying not to cry, his eyes looking a little glazed. Michael's mom was crying softly into Mollie's fur.

As Daniel held off a blood vessel, Dr. Calder injected the overdose of anesthetic into Mollie's vein. She passed quickly and peacefully. As her head slowly drifted down to the table, a tear drop landed near Daniel's elbow. Michael had lost the battle with the building moisture in his eyes, and was now crying quietly. If Daniel hadn't seen the tear, he would have never known. He reached out and put a hand on Michael's shoulder. Michael's body started to shake a bit as he locked eyes with Daniel's. Daniel was sure he could see the compassion in his eyes as they too, started to well with tears. It was always hard to loose a close patient, especially one as special as Mollie, and it was even worse when it was someone you were close to.

"Thanks..." Michael mouthed, and then he broke eye contact, hugged his mom. Dr. Calder and Daniel took this as an opportunity to leave the grieving family alone for a few moments to say their goodbyes.

Michael and his family left shortly after that, and Dr. Calder, with Daniel's help, placed Mollie's body gently into a body bag, affixed her paper work to the outside of the bag and put her body into the large chest freezer that served as the clinic "morgue".

The clinic closed before long, and Daniel grabbed his coat and wallet from his locker. As he left the clinic, he spotted Michael sitting in his car, staring off into space.

After a brief moment of deliberation, he knocked on the driver's side window. Michael jumped as if startled, then rolled down the window.

"Hey..." He said quietly.

"Do you need a ride home? You okay to drive?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, just debating if I want to go home." Michael said with a sigh.

"Yeah..." Daniel said. He paused, then without thinking twice, said

"You want to go get a drink or something? There's a bar just down the street..."

Michael looked at him, but without too much thought, said,

"Yeah I think so. I just can't imagine going home without her goofy face to greet me at the door."

"Come on, I'll drive." Daniel motioned to his car.

Michael stepped out of his car and got into the passenger seat of Daniel's little Ford. The drive to the bar was silent. No words were needed to relay the seriousness of what the two men had just been through.

Daniel motioned to Michael to grab a table as he went to the bar and ordered two local microbrews and paid for them. He arrived back at the table, and slid one to Michael. As he sat down, Michael finished a phone call letting his parents know where he was.

Daniel raised his glass as Michael hung up.

"To Mollie- the best dog a man could ever want"

"To Mollie- she will be missed more then she will ever know." Michael said, choking on his words a bit. They both touched their glasses together and drank deep.

Michael sighed profoundly.

"At some point I'm going to have to go home and face the emptiness, and I just can't stand it." He said staring at his drink.

Daniel watched him carefully.

"Well, the way I see it, you can either get drunk, so you get home and pass out, or you could sleep on my couch and avoid reality tonight, or you can combine the two..." Daniel said half joking.

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Michael said, looking up into Daniel's eyes. He'd chugged his entire beer already.

"Okay. You want to stick with beer or switch to hard liquor?"

"I am kinda a Jack guy...."

"No problem. Let's head to the bar then." Daniel said, draining the rest of his beer.

Motioning to the bartender he asked

"Can we get two shots of Jack Daniels? And you can leave bottle." Daniel said. The bartender shrugged and left the bottle near them. Daniel stopped after two shots, figuring he'd need to drive home, but not sure how long Michael would take to get stinking drunk, and he didn't want to call a taxi.

After loosing track of time and shots, Daniel was surprised Michael was still able to sit up, much less hold a coherent conversation, but he was trying.

"Daniel..." Michael started. Daniel waited, but there was a long pause.

"I, jus, was wondering..." Michael slurred a bit.

"Yeah?"

"I jus was wondering, do you got a girl?"

"No Michael, I don't really date."

Michael leaned over closely- invading Daniel's personal "bubble" of space, and whispered into his ear.

"Got a boy then?"

Daniel froze, and quickly shook his head no.

"You interested in boys or girls Daniel?" Michael's lips were almost touching Daniel's ear, and Daniel's body had no chance but to react.

"Girls...." Daniel stuttered.

"Prentender..." Michael slurred sleepily. "Daniel.... I think home now." He slumped a bit on the stool.

Daniel paid the tab, and helped Michael to his feet. He was able to get Michael into the car without too much trouble but once he got to the driver's side, climbed in and turned on the car, Michael was out cold. Daniel had no idea where he lived and it was too late to call his parents for directions since he was staying there while doing the externship. Daniel shrugged and drove to his own apartment.