Date: Mon, 06 Sep 1999 08:31:13 +0800
From: Gary Brlow <garybrlow@eudoramail.com>
Subject: "OPEN ROAD"

Author's note and dedication:

I would like to dedicate this story to JONATHAN ANDREW YBANEZ (author of
"SIMPLY WORDS" under the boy bands section) whom after reading his story
sent him mail and became friend though we live in the same city we have not
seen each other yet :P, to RAMUNTXO my ever dearest friend who keeps my
sanity alive and giving me moral support.

To all you readers pls bear with my writng coz this is the first time i
have ever written a story in my life :). And I'm very to all of you for
taking time to read my story.

This story is fictional and does not suggest that GARY BARLOW is gay or
other wise. If you are a minor pls obey the law and wait until your enough
to read this :) or find something appropriate for you there are lots in the
internet.  If you found this story by accident I suggest you your mind and
your heart open.

"Love hath no bounderies
 Timeless, like the passing of the centuries
 As long as your love is TRUE
 There will always be a ME and a YOU"
				-garybrlow 8:13/0906999			


OPEN ROAD
By: GaryBrlow


I The Dream

"Ha ha ha ha", I could hear the sweet laughter of children surrounding
me. Every thing was so vague. A dense mist of the early morning blanketed
my vision. I did not know where I was nor did I know what time it was. Yet
the place seemed so familiar. And then as if by magic the mist cleared and
I was on a beach. The sun has just risen and the tide was just coming in. I
feel the waves caressing my bare feet, the wind blowing on my face, and the
rays of the sun warming my skin. I felt so free, so content. Then I hear
the voices again but this I could distinctively hear two children talking.

"Hey, stop doing that!!! "

"Hey heh he he he he!"

"Noooooo, ha ha ha ha stop tickling me!!"

As I walk on the voices become louder. Suddenly I become the object of what
I have heard. Playing with me was a very beautiful brown haired and green
eyed boy; full of unadulterated joy and laughter and come to think of it, I
became a child as well. We kept on playing a little bit more until twilight
came and we did not even notice because we were enjoying ourselves very
much. Suddenly a lady appeared out of nowhere and told us that it was time
to go. My playmate then came close to me and said "I hope this will not be
the last time that we will be seeing each other....." After which he held
my hand and gave me a warm embrace and walked towards the lady. He then
waved goodbye to me and slowly faded away from my line of sight. All alone
I watched the sunset as it slowly disappeared into the horizon. Feeling
quite sad, I wondered if I would ever see my mysterious friend again.

"Ringgggggggg, Ringggggggg" The ringing of my alarm clock broke my slumber
as it has been doing for the past few years. I slowly crawled out of bed
and started my way towards the bathroom. I passed by the mirror and saw my
haggard reflection that looked like someone from a Dragon Ball Cartoon. I
turn on the shower and slowly stood under it letting the water flow over
me. My thoughts delve on the dream I just had. I have had the dream
before. I have been dreaming the same dream on a regular basis for almost a
month now. What disturbed me most about the dream was fact that it was
true. The exact same thing happened to me when I was still a child except
that there was no conversation passed between the two of us. So I finished
my bath and rushed to my room to get dressed as heard my mom calling me
that it was dinnertime. Quite ironic though, many people disapprove of my
strange working hours. A few months ago I was working as an assistant
manager for a cyber cafe and went on well for quite sometime but due to
office politics and the bosses being the conservative close- minded people
they are sacked me.  I am not really sure if it was a gay issue but I guess
it seemed that way. I ate dinner quickly and said goodbye to my mom and
dad. I ran out of the house to the bus stop and there I sat on the bench
waiting for the next bus to arrive.


II The Recollection

I suppose these things happen to most of us but you never expect to happen
to you. I usually report to work at 9:00 a.m. and get off at 5:00 p.m. but
being on my first job ever since I graduated from college I forced myself
to really get my hands dirty and get into the nit and grit of the
job. There were three others who were hired by the company and being the
asst. mgr. I had to orient them and teach them what they would do. My first
meeting with them went well, they seemed to like and after that all of us
became friends. A few weeks later we were all on routine work. The cafe
being on it's maiden operation, I had to establish everything myself. They
had no technical personnel so I had to do everything myself since I have a
decent computer background. (Talk about straying from a job description
duh. And I wasn't even paid extra). As time went on, everything was running
smoothly. I had excellent office rapport with my co-workers and the bosses,
I also had time to relax and dilly-dally like exploring the net, chatting,
and of course reading stories for the NIFTY EROTIC STORY ARCHIVE which I
accidentally discovered from the cache of one of the computers in the cafe.

Everything functioned like clockwork and it was getting a bit boring as
well. But bless the net, it makes my job quite interesting. ? Here I am
being paid to do something that I enjoy very much. 23 years old, single,
not bad looking with dark brown eyes, black hair, 5'7.5" tall,
Spanish-Chinese-Filipino mix to some attractive even but if you ask me I am
just ordinary looking, and last but not the least gay.  Quite in the closet
though. I love music especially boy bands like the BSB, Boyzone, Worlds
Apart, Caught in the Act, 2B3, React, 911 Take That particularly Gary
Barlow and singing. No one knows I am gay though except for my parents and
a few friends. I have a few friends and I am not really into nightlife. I
don't smoke, I don't drink alcohol; I am your basic goody-two-shoes. Most
of the people I know consider my life boring. Hmm I guess it is, but well
it works for me :P. I have known since I was about 10 years old that I was
gay, though I had 13 years of denying that I was not. It was only until
recently that I have fully accepted my being gay and well it felt like a
huge burden being lifted from your shoulders. It eased some more when I
came out to my mom. I was kinda surprised when she told me that she already
knew and I just confirmed it. She also said that she loved me very much and
I am still her son and will very much support me no matter what. She also
to my dad whom I dreaded the most to be told but surprisingly had the same
reaction as she did. My coming out brought my family closer than before
although my parents have become more interested in my personal life
compared to before I came out to them.

Then the unexpected happened.It was a normal working day, dragging even and
suddenly one of my bosses together with his drop dead gorgeous son who was
about 17 by the way made a surprise visit to check the cafe's server which
I have been configuring since yesterday yesterday. Unfortunately for me, a
few minutes before prior to his arrival I was kind bored and decided to
read a story to while away the time since there were only a few customers
in the cafe at that time. I was lost in my reading and just as I was
starting to read the bed scene.(arggh!!!) a customer called for
assistance. I immediately went and helped her. Moments later, the boss
arrived, I greeted him and watched as he went to the Server located behind
the counter. Then it hit me.I FORGOT TO CLOSE THE WINDOW WITH THE NIFTY
STORY ON IT!!!!!!! And much to my dismay, it was on the highly orgasmic
part of the story.the bed scene. I was frozen as I saw my boss tinkering on
the server. I felt like hiding, I was having cold sweat, and my heart was
pumping really hard like it was ready to burst out of my chest any
moment. Then my boss got up and was ready to leave. I immediately ran up to
him to say good bye. He looked at me rather strangely and said good bye as
well. After that I want to the server and saw that he actually read the
whole page for the scroll bar was now at the bottom. I felt like wrecking
the whole place down. I was about to get into trouble because of my
carelessness and stupidity. Now the cat was out of the bag so to speak.
The day after, I dreaded reporting. But surprisingly when I came in; he was
there but he did not act nor treat me strangely.

Well 4 months has passed since the incident and nothing has changed except
that the bosses seem to be avoiding me and if I request to see them about
the affairs of the cafe, I am usually referred to his executive secretary
the reason being busy and unavailable. Then the day that I dreaded
came. Out of the blue I was told to go to the company's office by the boss
and when I arrived he spared no time and told me, that my services were not
needed anymore. I was dumbfounded but was able to recover quickly from the
initial shock. He went on to explain that the their investment was not
doing well and they needed to cut costs and me being the highest paid
(duh!!! Considering that we were all underpaid w/ no overtime pay and that
I have been doing the financial reports for the sales and despite the huge
expenses the cafe would still have a 5% return of investment. I found that
hard to swallow.) they had to let me go. So he gave me my walking papers,
severance pay, and told me to pack my things from the cafe. I went home in
a daze. I told my parents about it and they tried to console me, telling me
that with my skills and talents I'll find another one soon enough. With
that I went to my room still a bit depressed with the turn of events.

I grabbed my Gary Barlow CD and played it on my CD player. I close my eyes
as I listen to his vibrant soothing voice.

"Ohh Gary, whenever I am feeling lonely and depressed you're the only one
that soothens my soul and heal my aching heart.." I said to myself as I
held the CD case close to my heart and imagined him being there right in
front of me. I slowly drifted to sleep with Gary's singing as my
lullaby. Then I begin to dream. it the same dream as before but.

It started the same but as the fog cleared I suddenly find myself sitting
on the sand and watching the horizon. The wind blowing on my face and the
tide kissing the soles of my feet. Strange enough I could no longer hear
the two children talking

"Hello."

I spun around quickly to see who was talking to me. There I saw a man
wearing a blue ensemble (turtleneck, denims, and rubbers all blue) and the
most beautiful smile I have ever seen. I stood up to face him, only to find
that he was much taller than I was and his features were quite clear
now. He was absolutely breathtaking. Rich golden brown hair and he had the
most expressive emerald green eyes I have ever seen in my entire life. Like
an angel there he stood as the first rays of the sun outlined his face like
a golden halo. To top all that, his face looked so familiar. I was
mesmerized by what I saw before me. I could only stare, dumbfounded and at
loss for words.

"Hello..ummm anybody home?" He asked once again but this time he waves his
hand in front of my face trying to wake me from my trance.

"Wha..? Ummm, oh!! Hi." I blushed as I desperately tried to regain my
composure. "How could such a person affect me like this?" I said to myself
as I pasted a smile on my face and quickly looked away towards the horizon
where the sun was slowly rising to bring on the new day.

"Are you okay?" He asked. His face reflected genuine concern

"Err.. I'm fine. It's nothing. It's just the wind I suppose." I
replied. "Duh.. So original. Where ever do I get these crummy answers? Just
one meeting with a brown-haired Adonis and here I am going bonkers." I
mentally scolded myself. Suddenly he looks straight in to my eyes.

"Do u still remember me?" He asked gently.

"Dear.Wake up.. It's time for dinner." My mom's voice and gentle nudging
awakens me from sleep and ending my dream.

"Mmmmm.Hi Mom." I said groggily. "Darn! Just perfect mother. I was off in
Dreamland with a potential prince charming and drop dead gorgeous at that."
I muttered to myself as I hastily got up from bed and made my way towards
the dining room.

"Beep! Beep!" The loud beeping of the incoming bus jolted me back to
reality from my reminiscing. I quickly got on the bus and sat near the
windows and thought about the recent events that happened. Come to think of
it, I could certainly say that my being laid off was a blessing in
disguise. There I was depressed, down, and out and put of the blue came a
phone call from a long time e-mail and IRC pal of mine telling me that he
will open an Internet Cafe and asked me if I would like to work for
him. Who would have thought it would turn out this way. I readily accepted
the job and much to my surprise the job came with a better compensation
compared to what I had before plus the boss had no problem with my being
gay for I have already told him about it way back and yet he still remained
my friend. Destiny works in strange ways and everything will be revealed in
time. Leave it to Fate to direct you to where you're supposed to be. Little
did I know what my future would bring. My life was about to change, and
with it a new beginning.


TBC... for comments/suggestion or anything else pls send them to
garybrlow@eudoramail.com.. till next time :)