Work and Play Pt. 08

Oh my GOD. That's Harper. The same Harper who used to come to my dorm room at late hours and fuck me senseless. He's two years older than me, so it's been a good four years since I've seen him. This whole story is making my mind spin. Gabriel hasn't even said anything, his stare intense and blank at the same time.

"Well, Miss Williamson, Roderick Tracy has devoted over twenty years of his life to being a positive and influential powerhouse in the OrtegaTech brand. He's a veteran, a war hero—he would never turn his back on anyone and he took the values of his time in the armed forces and put them into his drive as a CEO. Now—don't get me wrong—it's not all OrtegaTech's fault that it has become a money-hungry brand that cares more about its commercial time than the people who work to put those commercials together.

"Roderick Tracy understands that. Roderick Tracy didn't lose a hand in Vietnam to come back a fool who didn't want to work hard. But we have seen waves and waves of the older generation being swept aside and younger, dispassionate, ignorant people being put in their place, and only to make money. Look at it like this: Maurice Ortega and his late brother Rob Ortega worked hard and got good results.

"And then bigshots like Gabriel Ortega come along, and want to change the game. Gabriel Ortega doesn't even want to play. He doesn't care about the disabled, the minority, the elderly—he wants to get his own uncle off the presidential chair. If there's a quota, he's not reaching it. Roderick Tracy feels betrayed and disrespected. OrtegaTech is absolutely unrecognizable. Mr. Tracy has dedicated almost a third of his life to this brand, and they falsely accuse him of fraud. They don't give him disability benefits. They could not care less if he's a veteran, or about the many states he—"

I turn the TV off. Gabriel is still frozen, arms crossed and staring at the screen. After ten seconds of uncomfortable silence, I go over and wrap my arms around his waist from behind. "It won't work," I say softly.

"He's going to sue us for possibly $200 million," Gabriel says, almost a whisper.

"Gabe, that's ridiculous. There's no way it would work."

"It could. They could say we discriminated against him by anything. Not letting him take extended vacations. Not letting him use revenue for company luxuries. Not fucking dusting his shoes or some shit," Gabriel says. I squeeze him tighter. "He could even talk about thing that may have happened before he was put on as CEO. As long as he's worked for us, it's all useable. And I'm just a target." I rub his back gently. "And now we can't even fire him because if they don't have enough evidence, then we're firing him for no reason. Fuck."

"What they said about you isn't true. I know you care for people—all people—and I know you love this company," I try. Gabriel doesn't say anything. He just walks outside. I'm about to follow him when I see our almost-complete plates on my table and frown. Of course we can't have a decent dinner that's close to a date. He's not leaving, because his gym bag is still in the corner of my living room. Unless he forgot about it. I don't even want to look.

I wrap foil over both plates and put them in the lowly heated oven. I cover our drinks and sit in the living room for five minutes. I'm sure he's gone, but I don't want to look. I turn on the TV; the news is done talking about OTech. I can't believe Harper was on screen. What does he even do? He's not a lawyer. I never bothered to ask what he was studying.

I find Gabriel sitting on my porch outside phone to his ear. Through the open screen, I hear him speaking Spanish, so I don't know who he's talking to. It could be a family member. I feel so bad for him. What does this mean? Will he go back to California early, because Tracy could still remain CEO? The thought makes me upset, and I hug myself to keep calm. I'm shivering, so I turn off the A/C. This isn't fair, goddamnit. Gabriel is a great VP, and a great strategist, and the way they talked about him makes him sound like an ageist, money-hungry robot.

Gabriel briefly glances back at me, and gives a small wave. "Hey, estoy en una cita. Tengo que ir. Esto es ridículo. Voy a hablar con usted más tarde." Gabriel puts his phone in his pocket and stands up. "Let's eat," he says softly.

"If you have to go—"

"I want to sit down and eat with you, and I want to spend the night," Gabriel says. He opens the door and kisses me quickly. I walk with him to the table, and his hand is on the small of my back. The food is still warm, probably even hot, and Gabriel seems back to himself, but I can see his disappointment in his eyes. "And what are we eating tonight?"

"Ribs, corn, bacon mac n cheese, and rolls," I announce. We both sit and take in the aroma.

Before long, we're talking like regular people, and with every word, I'm just taken by him. It's not like I didn't know how unbelievably handsome he is, or how charming he is when he's not making everyone feel small, or how sexy his laugh really is, or how brilliant he is when every word out of his mouth expresses exactly what he's feeling.

I don't want him going back to California. I don't want him leaving me right now. Even after Clay scared the breath out of me, thinking of Gabriel, seeing him and touching him, calmed me down and kept Clay off my mind. I don't know if part of me is getting used to Clay, or if I'm subconsciously starting to make Gabriel a huge comfort. All I know is, his smile is WRECKING me. Every time he flashes that smirk it's like trying to grasp the marvel of the moon.

"This is going to sound funny, but hear me out: my ex and I used to play this game when we started dating, and since we—"

"We're not dating," I interrupt with a nervous chuckle. I just see the joy drain from Gabe's eyes in an instant, and I start choking on my mac n cheese. Besides my snorting and coughing the room is silent. Gabriel sits frozen with his glass in his hand, and I take a sip to see if I can stop my fit. Then it's silent.

"Right..." Gabriel says softly. "Not... dating." Then he clears his throat and stares at his plate.

Oh god are we dating? I mean I know many people just know they're dating without having to say so—did I miss it? Maybe I missed something major. I'd like to date Gabriel but that's just not a thing, right? He's Gabriel fucking Ortega and I'm the guy with the nice ass that he likes to kiss and fuck and... spend time with...

Gabriel seems to recover from his thoughts quickly, and my face is hot. "So this isn't a date. Got it. I mean, I suppose we can still play. Not a big deal." I think I should say something, but Gabriel seems to think the air is clear, so I just go along with it. Like a coward. "So we'd bring up a topic and then say a bad thing and a good thing, having to do with that topic and our lives. I mean, nobody wins but it's a good way to get to know each other better."

I just nod and smile a little. I know I've hurt Gabriel's feelings before, but it was never about something so personal. I know his face when his feelings are hurt. Gabriel Ortega wants to date me.

Zeke, you idiot.

"Travel," I say with a smile. Gabriel is confused, but only for a half-second. "Travel is the topic. You go."

Gabriel thinks for a second. "So, one time my family was travelling... I was maybe nine at the time, and I got lost at an airport. I'd been sleeping so my family thought I was still in the cab we took over. Big family. So they left to go chase down the cab, and I was at the airport, scared and crying. Two people asked who I was, where I—well, in shortform, they asked if I was an immigrant, which is technically true, but I didn't know what an immigrant was at nine years old. So I said yes, because I thought that it meant confused or young—" Gabriel laughs at himself. "It was the scariest moment of my life. I had three huge guys dragging me around the airport."

"That's awful," I gasp.

"Oh, and my good story... I guess all the travelling I've done in the last five years. Improving the company, meeting amazing people... all that stuff." Gabriel fills his champagne glass. "Your turn. Family."

"Ugh, really?" I groan with a smile. "Absolute horror. I have too many bad stories."

"The first one that comes to mind," Gabriel urges. I think for a second.

"Alright... so this is terrible. I got accepted to Harvard after a shitload of work, and I didn't tell my mother. And so she found my mail one day and immediately started yelling and screaming and all this... for some reason I just knew she'd disapprove even though she never said it outright. So I went to school and I came back home—all the lights in the house were off. The windows were covered in heavy blankets, it was so dark in there. The thing is, I wasn't surprised because my mom had done this before, when my brother Joshua had been caught with a cigarette—" Gabriel's eyes are wide in what could be entertainment or horror, so I stop my story. "Sorry. This is probably a giant turn off... my life is confusing."

"No, no. I want to know. I want to hear what this is," he laughs.

"Long story short, my family is super religious, and every time my mother felt like the sanctity of God or family values were being challenged, she liked to go all Amish on us until she felt the problem was resolved. I was anointed with oil ten times a day and we didn't use electricity for five days. I had to act like I wasn't going to Harvard. I think when she found out I was gay, it kind of overshadowed the Harvard thing, though."

Again, I don't know if Gabriel is scared or impressed or entertained, so I sip my champagne and start tapping my foot.

"That's intense," he says with a laugh. Intense is bad. "Did this happen often?"

I shake my head. "Once every... year or so?" Gabriel nods. He probably thinks I come from a different reality.

"What's your good story?" he asks.

Do I have any? Home life was tough. I didn't realize how weird it was until I shared some stories with my friends at school. I sat there thinking everyone had to meditate on the spirit of God for two hours before bed. I thought it was normal having newly slaughtered animals' blood "cleansing" our house. I thought being trapped in a small room with your thoughts for hours was normal.

I guess I've been thinking too hard for a while, and I didn't notice my anxiety ticks kicking in, because Gabriel touches my hand gently. "It's alright," he says softly. "I don't have a lot of good stories of family either."

"Beth," I finally say. "Beth is my closest sibling. She's amazing. She's the light in the family." I fake a smile, and then I realize we're both done eating. "Do you want more? There's plenty left." Gabriel nods. I take his plate to the counter and give him another helping. I don't really want to go into the deep awfulness of my family. "Friends. You go."

Gabriel clears his throat. "Someone I used to call my 'other' best friend stole my credit cards once. It was ridiculous. And, of course, my good thing is Jiao. I can say I'd give up anything for two people in this world: Jiao and my mother. I mean... I think that list could grow, but it'll never shrink."

"I think Beth and Michael are my kryptonite. I don't know Michael as well as I should, but he's my little brother," I explain. "I guess it's my turn."

"College," Gabriel says. I laugh. College was mostly great. The peak of my 'discovering myself'.

"Okay... one time a professor confused me with a different student and proceeded to yell at me while I sat there confused. I was frozen—I mean anxiety, right? Anyway, he finally realized a good two minutes in that I wasn't whoever he was looking for. I was already shaking and scared by then. And my good story... I think when I found out I was one of the valedictorians. I just knew at that point that I was ready to take on the world." Gabriel just smiles. "What?"

"That's an amazing achievement. You definitely know what you're doing," he says.

"Sometimes I don't think so."

"When you doubt yourself, you mess up. That sounds so basic, but it's the truth. I've seen you command a room, head up meetings, I bet you were marvelous working on the commercial."

I just sit there, blushing. Of course he wants to date me. He respects me while still holding me responsible for my actions. We can actually talk now. I'm just afraid I shut him down and can't undo it. "So do you want to watch something? I have some old movies. Or a TV show."

"Do you watch game shows?" Gabriel asks. I blush. I haven't watched game shows in such a long time. I was addicted to them in college. I always knew most of the answers. I'd get really involved. The rush of knowing the answers was a lot for my brain to handle.

"Occasionally," I shrug. Gabriel smiles and offers his hand. "We can eat dessert while we watch," I suggest, taking his hand.

We watch Jeopardy!, and I have to refrain from yelling at the screen. A few times on the harder ones, I guess the answer wrong, so Gabriel doesn't see me as some obsessed watcher. I know he'd only tease me for a second, but I don't want to explain why it's so exciting to me. I have a sense of control with it. Gabriel pauses the TV. "You know the answers to these," he says plainly.

"Some of them," I say with a shrug.

"All of them," Gabe says knowingly. He seems annoyed. I know he can read people easily; I probably look like a fool. "You watch a lot of Jeopardy?"

"Not really..." I answer. That's the end of that. I can't stop thinking about the shit that's going down with Roderick Tracy and OTech. I can't stop thinking about how I must've hurt his feelings when I completely shut him down. Something genuinely made him see us as a couple and I ruined it. We're not casually fucking. We barely were in the first place. After the second time, we started bringing gifts and asking to eat breakfast together. I feel like we're both stressed out. I probably shouldn't be over-thinking how attached I could be, because he's leaving.

Gabriel's arm has been around me while we watched silently, watched while answering questions, watched while eating cheesecake. Then I went to the bathroom and used an enema, which I've only done a few times, but I want to do Gabe all night tonight. I even did the quickest, two minute shower ever just to feel extra fresh.

Gabriel is on his phone when I come out of the bathroom feeling clean and very, very horny. I sit close to him, and without looking, he puts his arm around me like it's nothing. I start rubbing his leg, he starts pecking at my ear—before I know it, I'm straddled onto his lap, kissing him intensely and grinding on him hard. I keep mumbling the questions to Jeopardy! in his mouth, and I know he doesn't understand what I'm saying, so he just mumbles back, telling me how sexy I am.

Gabriel and I both are shirtless, and I roll myself onto him like he might disappear. I cup his hardness and squeeze gently. Gabriel has both hands firmly grasped onto my ass, and he's kissing my neck in the most sensual way possible. When I feel his lips sucking at my neck, I accidentally say, in a pretty exasperated voice "What is pandemonium?", and Gabriel stops moving. I'm frozen, thinking of a way to cover this up. He probably thinks I'm not into this because I've been answering Jeopardy! for the last five minutes.

"Are you asking?" Gabriel says, and his voice is soft, forgiving. I think he's getting used to my weird.

"I promise I'm not—"

"You can keep answering questions," Gabe says, kissing my neck between each word. "I'll just see if I can distract you." Then he winks at me.

I take that as a challenge, and Gabriel and I start making out pretty hard, paying no regard to the half-open curtains. I say "What is the Soviet Union?" and Gabriel flips us over so he's on top. I gently drag my fingers down his chest, keeping one finger on each nipple. He kisses me roughly and humps into me. I bury my hands in his long hair and deepen every kiss, every touch. I brainlessly answer another Jeopardy! question, and Gabriel laughs at me.

I decide to shut the TV off and put all my focus into us. I have him memorized; when his arms hold me tight around my waist, I know he wants to kiss my neck. So I tilt my chin up and lightly rake my nails from the middle of his back, across his shoulder blades, and then eventually up the back of his neck to lace my fingers in that soft head of hair again.

We've peeled our clothes away quickly by the time my brain starts to nag at me. I want to do this for a long time. Not just the kissing. Not just the touching and fucking. I want to do dinner and movies. I want to have him stay the night whenever he feels like it.

As soon as I open my mouth to tell him that, I feel him edging at my hole, and I close my eyes. For a few seconds, I don't know if I'm ready, but my body accepts him like it's nothing within the minute. I feel him trying to hold back, and I decide not to say anything about it. I'll let him have tonight however he wants. If it makes him feel good to make me feel good, then that's the double standard I'm going with.

Gabriel pulls out and kisses me thoroughly, easing in slow with his lips and tongue, making sure to give my lips the full experience of his. As he pulls away, I feel the string of saliva connecting us, but I don't open my eyes. Gabriel takes my face in his hands and kisses me again, the same way. He knows what I'm feeling.

"Switch me," Gabriel says quickly. My eyes pop open. I've never topped before... does he really want— "Ride this cock until your legs hurt," he says into the side of my mouth. I kiss him quickly and we get into position. Actually lowering myself onto him is always an unreal experience, but I can't help getting an extra rush as I watch him under me. He looks at me with admiration as I adjust my legs in the most comfortable way. I toss my glasses to the side and close my eyes. I keep one hand around my cock and the other on the slightly defined sculpt that is Gabriel's abs.

That's when I feel him grab my waist and breathe out a desperate "Zeke", which makes me smile briefly before I start up and down his shaft. God, it always feels so different from this position. Thicker, maybe. Harder. He's so solid under me, he doesn't even move as I feel my legs smack against his thick thighs. Then I slow down, making sure he feels me just as much as I feel him. I tighten the muscle that was already tensed around that fat Latino cock, and Gabe lets out a happy groan. "I'm already close," he says with a light chuckle.

"Then blow it; we have all night," I reply. Gabriel pulls me down for a lengthy kiss, and then we're right at it again.

Until Gabriel hints again that he's really close; then we hurry off to my bedroom and I grab a towel for cleanup. It's not uncomfortable when he places his hand around my neck this time, and I easily lean back against him as his slick cock glides in and out of me. I lean forward onto my hands and knees while he gives me all he has, and we both moan while the hot streams spray inside me.

It's 12:17 a.m. when I hear Gabriel mumble—half asleep—"Don't wanna leave." I pretend I'm not going to read into those three words. I just grab his hand and interlock my fingers with his.

I don't want him to leave, either.

--

WEDNESDAY

We don't necessarily have an 'activities crew', but there are a few people who volunteer to plan things for us. And we just got a mass e-mail saying that our barbeque is cancelled due to not having a place to host it, or people to cook it.

I am particularly unhappy about this, because I love barbequed food, and I love catching up on at least a few of the good movies I missed throughout the year, which is something I was looking forward to. I also love getting to talk to Shannon throughout the day; she said the barbeque always made her happy.