Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 02:19:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: sliders21@iname.com
Subject: ordinary love (adult-friends)

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and any
similarities...............You know how this goes, right? That standard
disclaimer applies.

Note: This is my second work in the archives. My first one was Hidden
Desires in NY in the college section. To everyone who read that and liked
it, thanks. To those who wrote in their comments, thanks again. I hope
you'll like this one.

Enjoy!


********
Ordinary Love
********
Part 1


		It always comes down to eating a sandwich at the deli in
the corner. No matter how many times Andrew Matthews promises to himself
that he'll eat somewhere new, he always ends up at Olivers'. What's worse
is that he always choose the same thing, Ham on Rye.

		"Hey Drew," Gerald Madison caught up with the 25-year-old
advertising executive as he was going out of the deli. Gerald had been
working for Genesis Advertising since it started three years ago. Drew
meanwhile only came on board a month ago.

		"Hey," Drew gave his co-worker a big smile. Though he's
been welcomed warmly by everyone in the company, he still felt out of place
sometimes. Especially during coffee breaks when everyone was joking around.

		"Any plans tonight?" Gerald asked him as they went out to
the sidewalk. "Lisa is throwing a party at her place and she's inviting
everyone." Gerald looked at his co-worker. Standing at 6' even, the blond
hair, blue-eyed guy in front of him can be considered very attractive.
	
		"Lisa Marks?" Drew looked at Gerald quizzically. "She's
head of personnel, right?"

		"Yeah," Gerald looked at Drew strangely. "Didn't she
interview you?"

		"No," Drew smiled at Gerald uncomfortably. "I've been
handling Mrs. Greene's advertising for the past two years when she decided
to transfer her account to Genesis from New Media. I came with the Greene
account so to speak."

		"Maybe you can help me solve a mystery here," Gerald said
to Drew as they began to walk towards the park across the street. "How come
Mrs. Greene stuck with New Media when her son started Genesis three years
ago?"

		"It's a long story," Drew let out a sigh. " Firstly, she
had a contract with us that expired only late last year. She would have
jumped to Genesis as soon as the contract expired but the head of New Media
is an old friend of hers. She decided to wait until her friend retired last
month before left New Media."

		"Ohhh," Gerald nodded his head slowly. "I take it that
you're close with Mrs. Greene."

		"Not really," Drew laughed softly. "We have a very very
smooth business relationship.  She seems to trust me when it comes to how
handle her account."

		"Is it true that Nick has an icy relationship with his
mother?" Gerald asked him warily as they sat down on a bench facing the
artificial lake. They decided to eat their lunch there.

		"That's what I've been hearing also," Drew said to him
thoughtfully. "When Helen introduced me to her son, they seemed to be
fine. But they could have been more affectionate towards each other. Nick
didn't seem to like the fact that Helen insisted on Genesis hiring me."

		 They talked for another thirty minutes about office gossip
before they headed back to their building. Drew immediately proceeded to
his desk and buried himself at work. An hour later, Mrs. Steadwick,
Nicholas Greene's secretary came over to Drew and told him that the boss
wanted to see him.

		Drew followed her and wondered what was up. Ever since
Genesis hired him, he hasn't talked to Mr. Greene. Is he being fired
already? He knocked on the door three times before he opened it
slightly. He stuck his head in. He saw Nick Greene busy going over some
papers. Nick looked up and saw Drew. He motioned him to come in.

		"Drew!" Nick stood up and gave him a very warm smile. Drew
walked up to the desk slowly.

		"You called for me Mr. Greene?" Drew said slowly as he gave
his boss a look of uncertainty.

		"Call me Nick," Nick said as he sat back down. "We're on a
first name basis here at Genesis. Sit down and make yourself comfortable."

		"Okay," Drew said as he sat down on a chair.
	
		"I've been talking with a prospective client these past few
weeks," Nick said to him as he gave him a thick folder. "This one is
big. Very big. I'm going to have lunch with them on Monday and I want you
to be there."

		"Huh?" Drew gave him a surprised look. "Why do you want me
there?"

		"Because your resume said that you speak Japanese and----"
Nick started.

		"I'm not fluent in Japanese," Drew cut him off quickly. "My
dad was stationed in Japan when I was a kid so I learned some basic
Japanese but that was years ago."

		"That's good enough," Nick said to him. "You can greet them
in Japanese, can't you?"

		"Yeah," Drew nodded his head. "But---"

		"I'm going to assign this account to you anyway so you'd
best be there on Monday also," Nick said to him.

		"You're giving me an account this big?" Drew looked at Nick
as if he was insane.

		"Actually, We'll both handle that account," Nick gave him a
sweet smile. "Besides, you're the one person in this whole company that I
trust."

		"Huh?" Drew looked at Nick like he was crazy.
		
		"My mom is a very good judge of character," Nick said to
him slowly. "There's no way anyone can put one over her. You must be very
good at what you do for her to trust you to handle her account." Drew just
looked at his boss silently. He didn't know what else to say.

		"I guess I'll go over this immediately," Drew said as he
stood up and showed Nick the folder.

		"I'll just see you later at Lisa's party," Nick stood up
and gave him a smile. "You're going, right?"

		"I..ummm....had sort of made some other plans tonight,"
Drew said to Nick slowly.

		"I see," Nick nodded his head. Drew left the office and
went back to his desk. He dropped the folder on his desk and sat down
heavily. He sighed out deeply as he opened the folder and began to read the
countless papers within. He was lost in his job for god knows how long when
he felt someone calling out his name. He looked up and saw Gerald.

		"Hey!" Gerald gave him a lopsided grin. "It's quitting time
already or haven't you noticed?"

		"I've got some more work to do," Drew groaned out to him.
	
		"See you later at the party then," Gerald said as he gave
Drew an odd look. Drew just focused his attention back to his work. He
heard his officemates talking loudly as they left the office. Thirty
minutes later, Drew was alone in the office.  He stood up and went to the
employee's lounge and got himself a cup of steaming coffee.

		He went back to his desk with the cup of coffee and
returned to his work. He was lost in what he was reading when he heard
footsteps coming closer to him. He looked up and saw Nick looking at him in
surprise.

		"You're still here?" Nick asked him. Drew stood up and
looked at his uncomfortably. He knew Nick didn't like him because Helen was
the one who got the job for him. And Nick didn't seem to be that fond of
his mom.

		"Ummm," Drew said slowly. "Work."

		"I know that," Nick laughed softly. "But work ended an hour
ago."

		"I'm just finishing reading these papers you gave me," Drew
said to him rather stiffly.

		"Read them over the weekend," Nick said to him. "Right now
we have a party to go to. You'd better ride with me."

		"I'll be done in an hour," Drew said to him. "I'd rather
finish this today. I'm moving into a new apartment tomorrow and might now
have time to read this."

		"Getting into a bigger apartment?" Nick asked him
quizzically.

		"Actually I'm moving in with someone," Drew said to him
uneasily.

		"Girlfriend?" Nick said in a soft voice.
		
		"No," Drew laughed nervously. "An old friend of mine back
in high school. He got a job here in the city and asked me if he could move
in with me. My old place was small so we went hunting for a bigger
apartment we can share."

		"I see," Nick nodded his head. " I'll just get something in
my office."

		"Goodbye sir," Drew said to him.

		"I told you to call me Nick," Nick said to him. "Calling me
sir is too formal. I'm 26 and you're 25. We're practically the same age."

		"You're still older," Drew said jokingly.

		"So that's how it's going to be, huh?" Nick laughed
loudly. Nick then went to his office and returned a few minutes later. He
saw Drew had gone back to reading the report. He approached him slowly.

		"You're more of a workaholic than me," Nick said loudly as
he grabbed the papers from drew and put them back in the folder and placed
them on top of a pile of papers. "These can wait till Monday. I've already
ironed out most of the details anyway. Now we have to go to the party. Just
drop by for a minute or so. You can do that, can't you?"

		"I guess so," Drew said slowly. He saw Nick looking at him
expectantly so he got his things quickly and the two went out of the
office.  They rode down to the parking lot. Nick led him to a red corvette.

		"You didn't attend the last office party," Nick commented
to Drew when they were on the road towards Lisa's apartment.

		"I was busy," Drew said to him simply. Drew couldn't help
but look around the car in awe. He had never ever ridden a car this fancy
before. Nick saw Drew and he laughed softly.

		"Go ahead and touch anything you want," Nick said to Drew
in amusement.

		"Ohhhh," Drew looked at Nick in embarrassment. "Sorry about
that Nick. I didn't realize I was that obvious. No one in Dayton owns a car
like this."

		"Dayton is where you grew up?" Nick asked him softly.

		"It's a small town in Maine," Drew nodded his head. "My
grandparents lives there. My dad decided to quit the army some years ago
and put up a small business up there. It's a very quiet, peaceful town. In
short, very boring."

		"Living here in the big city must be very exciting for
you," Drew said to him slowly.

		"Yeah," Drew sighed out deeply. "I like the freedom and
having the chance of living my own life. But I guess Dayton grew on me
because I miss it every now and then. I take it you grew up here."
	
		"Guilty as charged," Nick laughed loudly. "I was born and
bred here in the city."

		"You're one of those guys, huh?" Drew laughed too.

		"What guys?" Nick just grinned at Drew for a second before
he looked back on the road.

		"The guys that make fun of guys like me who grew up far
from civilization," Drew said jokingly. "Though I'll have you know that we
do have a K-Mart in our town."

		"I'm supposed to be impressed by that?" Nick joked back at
him. They reached Lisa's place thirty minutes later. Nick found a space to
park some blocks away and they walked the rest of the way.  When they got
there, the party was just starting.

		"Hey!" Nick said to Lisa when she opened the door. Nick
gave her a hug before giving her the wine he bought earlier. "This is from
me and Drew."

		"Drew?" Lisa looked at her friend in surprise before she
looked at the new guy who was looking at her nervously.

		"I found him in the office still working so I dragged him
here and he didn't have time to buy anything," Nick explained to her as
they stepped inside and Lisa closed the door.

		"You keep that up and you'll replace Nick here as the most
uptight person in the office," A guy behind Lisa spoke up. Drew looked at
the guy and recognized him as Joseph Carson though everyone calls him
Joey. From what he heard, Joey, Lisa and Nick were friends back in
college. Nick hired them when he started his business.

		"I heard that you actually spent a night in the office back
at New Media working on some project," Joey added to Drew slowly. "Tell me
it's not true."

		"My immediate superior will literally skin me alive if I
didn't finish my work immediately," Drew said jokingly though he was still
very uncomfortable around them. "I think she idolizes Hannibal Lecter."
Drew then saw Gerald by the window, talking to a girl. He excused himself
and went over to him immediately.

		"Hey!" Drew said softly to him. Gerald turned around and
saw Drew. He gave him a huge smile.

		"You made it!" Gerald said to Drew. Then he gestured to the
girl. "You know Rinoa Howards, right?"

		"Yep," Drew nodded his head.
		
            "We have the same coffee break," Rinoa said to Gerald. "You
wouldn't believe the amount of coffee Drew drinks." They talked for a
while. Then Drew excused himself and went to the phone in the kitchen. He
called his apartment to check up on his friend.

		"Hey!" Drew said in a whisper.

		"Drew!" Shawn Masterson greeted him happily. "Working
overtime again?"

		"No," Drew said softly. "I'm in a party someone from the
office is having. I'm leaving in a few minutes. I could drop by a
restaurant and bring you something to eat. Italian or Chinese?"

		"I'd like to eat some lasagna now," Shawn said to Drew.

		"Italian it is," Drew said to him. "Bye." Drew put down the
phone and turned around. He saw Rinoa looking at him quizzically.

		"Girlfriend?" Rinoa gave him an amused look.

		"No," Drew said very softly. "An ex-boyfriend actually."

*************** To be continued ***************

E-mail me your comments at: sliders21@iname.com


Note: As you can probably guess by now, this isn't a story about the
hardships of coming out. I plan on writing a story about experiences of two
guys in a relationship.  I haven't really been in a relationship before so
this one isn't going to be as realistic as my other story.
		
Note: I'm not going to name the city where this is set because I've
received some comments that my description of New York City sucked. This
takes place in a city in New England. Let's leave it at that.

Note: To all those FF8 lovers, Rinoa came from that game. I couldn't come
up with any more names so I borrowed that first name. And if anyone is
wondering, I just finished the game already and the ending totally blew me
away! It's much better than the ending of FF7.