Date: Sun, 18 May 2014 19:00:17 -0500
From: Ed Louis <Elouis1915@yahoo.com>
Subject: Weekend Fishing Trip - Return to St. Louis 8

This story is completely fictional.  Any resemblance to any real person (s)
is purely coincidental.  The story contains consensual sexual behavior
between adult men.  It depicts unprotected sex, which I do not endorse for
anyone, even partnered couples.  Safe sex practices are always in order.
If you are underage or object to the subject matter, please leave now.  I
URGE YOU TO DONATE TO NIFTY TO KEEP THIS SITE UP AND RUNNING.

Later in the evening Gordy called to say goodnight.  "I miss you Greg.
This weekend was so much fun, spending time with you and getting to know
your family."  I told him I had enjoyed it, too.  I told him what David
serif about listening with the heart and not the ears.  "He likes you,
Gordy and Anne likes you, too."

Silence.  "You ok?" I asked.  He said he was and that meant a lot to him.

After a few more moments of silence, he said, "You never asked about what I
did all afternoon."  I told him I assumed he was with his mother and that I
had not called the hospital; that I knew I would talk to him later.
"Aren't you the least bit curious?" he asked.  "Well, now that you are
pushing the issue, yes, where he hell were you?"  He started laughing.

"I was at the hospital.  Mother was very alert and asking tons of
questions."  "She is speaking much better and her strength is definitely
improving."  He told me Fr. Jacob came to see his mother.  "She was just as
surprised as me that he was a priest now."  I asked why so.  "Jake was
another very popular boy in HS, tons of girls after him, I guess he was as
popular as Jerry."  "He decided in his first year of college that he wanted
to be a priest and now he is."

"How interesting, probably broke a lot of girl's hearts."  I said.  Gordy
said he supposed so, but he, Jake, was happy with his decision.  "He asked
how I knew the Smith's?"  "I told him you and I had a chance meeting, liked
each other immediately and have become fast friends."  "He is very
intuitive and picked up on it, that you and I are more than just friends."
I probably was glowing in the dark, was quiet, then Gordy said, "It's ok,
Greg, he does not have a problem with it."

"Well, that is good." I said with some hesitancy.  I was thinking to
myself, how am I going to face Fr. Jacob again, but I did not say anything
to Gordy.  Rather, I said, "I love you, Gordy, I wish I was with you right
now, I could use those big arms around me."  He asked me what was wrong.  I
told him I was anxious about tomorrow and how everything was going down.
"Well, babe, try to get some rest and not worry about anything, what will
be will be, and no amount of worrying about it will change it."

"Ok, Doris Day, how about a chorus of 'Que Sera Sera'!"  He burst into a
few lines of the song.  I was dying laughing, "Who told you that you could
sing, that was awful, sweet, but awful."  He acted indignant, "You think
you can do better?"  I said I could.  "Ok, prove it!"  I thought a minute
then started singing:

Love, look at the two of us
Strangers in many ways
Let's take a lifetime to say
"I knew you well"
For only time
Will tell us so
And love may grow
For all we know

Gordy was amazed, "You do have a beautiful voice, please promise me you
will sing to me often, God! That was perfect."  I could hear him trying to
stifle a soft sob.  "Hey, no crying, no matter how unconventional our
meeting was, our love is growing, I am sure of it."  We exchange tender
goodnights and disconnected.

The next morning, as I entered my office, I saw Patrick in his cubicle,
which was surprising, he was supposed to be in Omaha with Tony.  I called
him into the office to find out why he was here.  He said, "I tried to call
you a couple of times over the weekend, but you never answered and I did
not feel comfortable leaving a voice message."  I asked what was up.  He
closed my door, took a seat, "Greg, I have had all weekend to think about
my situation, discussed it thoroughly with SaraLee, and this is difficult,
but, I am giving you my two weeks notice."  He handed me his formal letter
of resignation.

"I guess the job offer was good then."  I said.  He said it was very good,
too good to turn down, more money than he ever hoped to make here.  "I did
not give them an answer, I wanted to talk it over with my wife first."  "it
is a bit scary, since I have no experience with the oil industry, but my
accounting background is what they are looking for."  "Usually, they
consider many candidates, but I was one of two they interviewed, and I
guess my qualifications outweighed the other person's."

I said I was happy for him, stuck my hand out to shake his.  He was not
smiling, almost regretful for having to take this big step.  I said,
"Patrick, you will do well, I am proud of you, you certainly deserve it."
"I guess SaraLee is over the moon about going back to Texas."  He said she
was.  "I also forgot to mention, this is a VP level position?me a vice
president, unreal."  This was the first time I saw him smile.

After he left, I called Nathan to see if I could meet with him before we
went to Bill Shillings office.  He came right over.  I showed him Patrick's
letter of resignation.  He immediately wanted to call Patrick in, offer him
the management position and see what we could do to keep him.  I said, "
Nathan, it is a done deal; they offered him a huge salary and his position
is VP level, can we offer that?"  Nathan looked shocked.  "No, I didn't
think so; his position will be equal to Shilling's."

He looked dejected, "So, what do you think you should do now, who are you
going to recommend to replace him?"  I pulled out my staffing charts I had
worked on last Friday.  "This one is moot, since Patrick is leaving; this
is my secondary chart, you and Shilling are not going to like it, but I
insist it is the best alternative."

He looked at the chart, "Matt, really?  He was on our chopping block."
"Yes, he was, but if you recall, I was not happy with that and as you so
deftly reminded me, it was my show, this is what I want and is the only
solution that is acceptable."  He then asked if maybe we should keep Bob or
Carl?  "No, I can't imagine a good working relationship with either of
them, jealousy that I was promoted rather than either of them, no, the
original plan to send them packing is the only option."

"Well, it is your show, all you have to do is sell Schilling on it." he
said.  I said that was not a problem for me, "Shilling can either support
me, let me run my department as I see fit, or he will be looking to replace
another person."  "You are serious?" he said.  "Absolutely, without any
hesitation." I answered.  "Ok, let's go to his office, he is expecting us."

The presentation went without a lot of problems, a few questions, then Bill
said, Ok, Greg, it is your ball game, make it work."  He said since we
would have an open position, with Matt moving up, who did I see assuming
his position.  Without hesitation, I said, "Kathleen."  "She is not the
strongest player, but I think with the right encouragement and direction,
she could be excellent."

"What about Richie?" Nathan asked.  "Personally, I like Richie, but he is
just a good ole boy, more concerned about hunting and fishing than he is
with work."  "I have walked by his cubicle many times and he is on the
phone talking about boats, guns, fishing?you name it."  Carl let him get
away with that for years.  "If he had worked for me, well, he would already
be gone."

Bill said, "You surprise me, Greg, I always thought you were too easy on
your people, appeared to be their friend, rather than a boss."  "I want you
to know, I had serious reservations about promoting you to Nathan's job."
"However, I see you have put a lot of thought into this plan and are
strongly confident in the people you want working for you; I admit I was
wrong about you."  He stuck out his hand to shake.  "Nathan, you can go
now, I need to speak with Greg alone."

After Nathan left, Bill related his expectations and dropped the bomb, my
salary would be more than doubled.  "Don't you say anything to Nathan, you
will be making considerably more that he does presently." I was totally in
shock, but I did my best to conceal it, when what I wanted to do was
cartwheels all over the office.

My next question was, "When is this all going to happen?"  "Most likely
today, but I want you to present this to Matt and this is the salary you
can offer him." he said as he pushed a note with an amount written on it.

"After you have done that, I will have Bob, Carl and Richie come in
individually, lay the news on them, give them their severance papers, then
escorted out."  "Then we will have a general departmental meeting to
announce the changes."  "You ok with that?"  I said I was.  I went to my
office, called Matt's extension, told him to casually come into my office,
I needed to talk to him privately.

Matt came in, I told him the plan, offered him the job, which he readily
accepted.  "Now, Matt, keep a lid on this until it is announced this
afternoon."  He said he would, then he asked, "Why not Patrick?"  I told
him Patrick had tendered his resignation and would be leaving to accept a
job in Houston.  He was surprised.  "He has told me many times he wanted to
get back to Texas, so I guess this is a good thing for him."

"Greg, I owe you so much, you have no idea."  I said he owed me nothing but
hard work.  "Make me look good, Matt, I wouldn't have made this move, if I
did not believe you could handle it."  He stood up to leave, I reached to
shake his hand, but he pulled me into a hug "Thanks."  I said that he and I
would talk about the job and his professionalism later.  He looked at me
blankly.  "Elliot."  I said.  He shook his head in understanding, then
left.

My phone rang, it was Gordy.  "Mom has been transferred to the rehab
facility."  I am just leaving there, heading over to interview for the
counseling job."  I wished him good luck and told him I loved him.  He
asked how things were going.  "Not as bad as I thought, Patrick resigned
this morning."  "The bomb is about to be dropped on 3 people, so I am
laying low, bound to be some hard feelings."  I told him about the meeting
this afternoon, but I chose not to mention the huge salary increase.  No
need to make him feel inferior and he would feel that way, I was sure.  I
told him to call me after his interview.

The afternoon meeting was tense, but everyone accepted the changes, at
least on the surface it appeared so.  There were a lot of questions about
job security, to which I replied, I had no answer.  "Things these days
change in a millisecond, so I suggest we all work hard, make ourselves
indispensable."  I smiled, but few smiled back.  I asked Patrick and Matt
to come back to my office.  "Patrick, sit with Matt, tell him where you are
on your work."  "After he is satisfied, go ahead, pack up and leave, you
will be paid your two weeks and any accumulated vacation, etc."

"I will call HR to let them know to start the process, they will call you
at home as to when you need to come in for your exit interview and sign the
proper paperwork."  "Any questions?"  Neither of them had any, we shook
hands and they left.  I put my head on my desk, exhausted emotionally.  My
phone rang, Gordy again.  "I got the job if I want it, it is really not
very good money, but the benefits are good."  I asked him what he thought.

"Well, I need to move back here so I can take care of Mom, but just as
important, I need to be near you."  "I am going to call my boss to set up a
meeting with him, to tell him of my issues and hopefully, I can get a
transfer here, if not, then I will probably take the job."  I said I was
sure he would make the right decision, but to please, take me out of the
equation.  "We can work something out, but your decision has to be what is
best for you."  He said he knew that.  "You are in the equation, no matter
what, I can't take you out of it."

I asked what time I would see him.  He asked if I could stay the night with
him.  I said I would, but I had to go home, check on things, then I would
see him later.  "Why don't you come for dinner, I am sure the family would
love seeing you."  He hum hawed around, but finally agreed.  We
disconnected.  I called Mother.  She was delighted.  "When are you going to
have him stay the night here, Gregory, it's not like we don't know you two
are fucking each other."  "Mother, cut it out, it's comments like that make
me not want him to stay over."  "You really have to stop this behavior,
it's not funny and it's beginning to get on my last nerve, so KNOCK IT
OFF."  I said emphatically.

"Well, truth is truth, and it is not like we can hear you, your bedroom is
on the main floor, at the opposite end of the house, ours are upstairs."
she said.  "Mother it is not something I am going to discuss further."
"When I am ready, you will be the first to know, quit pushing me!"  She
said I frustrated her.  "By the way, you know David has a game tonight."  I
thanked her for reminding me and I definitely would be going.

Oh, that woman!  She is going to be the death of me.  I swear, if she
could, she would be in my bedroom directing us like we were in a porn
movie.  That ridiculous thought made me burst out laughing.  Looking at the
clock, soon it would be time to leave, but first I had to call Tony, I am
sure he had already heard about the changes, however, he still needed to
hear it from me.  And, I needed to know if he wanted someone to come out to
Omaha to work with him.

After talking with Tony and him saying he could handle everything by
himself, I packed up to leave.  I said good evening to everyone, then left.
I think tomorrow I am going to order lunch for everyone.  The company would
probably not pay for it, but I did not care, it would be my treat.  I would
spend most of the day speaking with everyone individually to let them know
my vision of how the newly restructured department would function, and to
hear their views.  I wanted everyone to feel they were an important part of
this well-oiled machine.

I could not wait to get home.  This had been such a stressful, yet
productive day.  I was still amazed at the salary I was going to be paid.
"Dear God, please don't let me fuck it up."  I prayed.  Walking into the
house, Mother said Gordy had called and was on his way.  David was watching
TV.  I gave him a squeeze on his shoulders, asked about his day, then said,
"Do you have any homework?"  "All done."  he replied.  He is such a good
kid, I don't know why bothered to ask, I already knew the answer.  "Do I
have time for a quick shower, Mother?"  She said I did.

I went to my bedroom, stripped, put my clothes away, got in the shower and
i suddenly felt relaxed?the first time today.  I knew I would have to
hurry, Gordy was on the way and Mother would be mad if I wasn't present
when dinner was on the table.  As I was bending over to dry my legs and
feet, I felt a little breeze from behind me, a big hand grabbed my ass, and
felt a finger run up my ass crack.  I was startled, turned around to kiss
my man, a long, passionate, tongue battling kiss.  I was instantly hard.

"Gordy, we can't do this now, dinner is almost ready."  "God, I want you so
badly."  I said breathlessly.  He stopped, looked all up and down my naked
body, "I want you, too, how soon can we leave after dinner?"  I explained
about the soccer game and that I had to go, never missed a game.  "You have
to go with us, too."  I said.  He said he wasn't sure about that.  "Wait
and see, I guarantee you David will ask you to go."  He smiled, "I really
like that kid."

By the way, I asked, "What did he say to you when we picked you up
yesterday?"  Gordy said that was between him and David.  "Oh, come on, I am
dying to know."  He just laughed.  "Hurry up, put on your clothes and
control that monster, don't want to have that poking out when you go to the
kitchen to eat."  "Fuck you, you made me hard, I should make you blow me to
get rid of it."  He roared, "In your dreams, GAS man, now get a move on
it."  He walked out of my room, leaving me standing there naked and
frustrated.  I dressed and started saying Hail Mary's, anything to lose
this erection.

Dinner was wonderful, as usual.  If I keep eating like this, I am going to
have to buy new clothes.  I needed to start working out and running again.
I asked if anyone had talked to Anne today.  Mother said she had, "She is
ok, glad to be back at school." "I still think is is stupid for her to live
away from home, when Wash U is not that far."  I said that is what she
wanted, to be independent.  David got up to get ready for the soccer game.
Gordy said he guessed he would go home.  "Thanks for dinner, Marian."

He headed for the door just as David came back down stairs.  "Where are you
going, Gordy?" he asked.  Gordy said he thought he would go home.  "Fuck no
you aren't, you are going to watch me play!"  he said, then quickly putting
his hand over his mouth, realizing he had just said 'fuck' in front of me
and his grandmother.  "Oops, sorry!"

Mother looked at him very sternly, "I will let it slide this one time,
young man, but if I so much as get a hint you are using that kind of
language again, you will be taking a bite of that awful hand soap your dad
uses to clean grease off his hands."  "Sorry, Grammy, I won't do it again,
I promise."  "Come on, Daddy, Gordy, I don't want to be late."  "Can I
drive?" We all piled in the car, I sat in the back seat, since I am smaller
than Gordy.

The game was exciting, but ended in a tie. Andie was indeed a very good
goalie.  Gordy walked over to speak to the coaches, while I talked to some
of the parents.  Everyone wanted to know who the big guy was.  I said he
was a family friend and dropped it at that.  I said goodbye to everyone and
headed to the car. "You know the coaches?" I asked.  He said they went to
the same HS, "It was good to see them; this weekend has been like a HS
reunion, first Jerry, then Jake, now Logan and Chuck."  He had a big smile
on his face.

On the drive home, David asked Gordy if he was staying the night.  Both
Gordy and I were caught off guard.  Gordy said, "David, I don't think so,
why do you ask?"  David thought a minute, "Why not, you know you want to,
so why not?"  "Look, how can your relationship grow if you are always
apart, especially at night, missing the important things, like does he
snore, is he a restless or a sound sleeper, how does he wake up, happy or
grumpy, does he sleep naked other than when we have sex."  "If I were old
enough to have my girlfriend stay over, I would, without hesitation, so why
not you."

I pulled over, turned around to face him, "David, you make some valid
points, but our situation is entirely different."  "When we are ready, we
will take the next step, until then, this discussion is closed, ok?"  He
hesitantly said ok, "But, just FYI, it is ok with me, all of us."  I pulled
back into traffic and headed home.  I was still rattled about David's
comments, but proud of him at the same time.  I still had a lot of things
to sort out.  Sooner or later someone was going to notice we were together
a lot and put two and two together.  I did not know how to handle that,
yet.

In the garage, David hopped out, started for the door, stopped, went to
Gordy's side of the car where Gordy was standing.  "Gordy, I really like
you, but I warn you, he is a tough nut to crack, maybe you should run for
your life!"  He quickly gave Gordy a hug and disappeared.  I was watching
Gordy's body language and could see, now was not the time to talk.  "Come
on, babe, let's have a beer."  I said.  He refused, said he was going home,
he had an early day tomorrow, needed to arrange for his Mother's things to
be moved from Richland Woods back to the house, take the house off the
market and call his boss.

I said ok, I would see him in about an hour.  "No, Greg, not tonight, I
need some alone time to work some things out."  "It is not all about you,
you know, I need to think about myself for a change; I am not running away,
just need to take a step back and decide what is best for me, for both of
us."  "You need to do the same thing, so I will call you tomorrow."  He
turned to walk away.  I was momentarily lost for words.  "Hold up, Gordy."
I said.

He stopped, looked at me, no smile on his face, "So what brought this on?"
I asked.  "Greg, I don't want to talk about it tonight, I may say things I
don't mean and I don't want to do that."  "You know when you say things
that you really don't mean, the words are out there forever, and no matter
how sorry you are, you can't take them back."  "I do love you, always know
that and believe it."  he said then walked away.

I was too stunned to speak.  What brought all this on?  Was it the refusal
to ask him to stay the night, what?  I was wracking my brain.  Inside, I
sat in my recliner, thank goodness it was quiet so I could think.  The
light bulb in my brain came on?we had been together at the game, surrounded
by parents of kids on the team and I did not introduce him to anyone,
hardly talked to him, virtually ignored him.  Shit!  He thinks I am ashamed
of him.  Was I?  I know he must have felt I was, that he was not in my
social set, he mentioned that once before.  Damn!

Suddenly, I was a little boy again, I needed my mommy!  I went to her room,
knocked on her door, "Mother are you still awake?"  She said she was, to
come in.  I fell into her arms and started crying.  She asked me what was
wrong, but I couldn't talk.  I really did feel like a little boy again.
After a period of time, I told her what was wrong.  "What am I going to do,
Mother, should I go over to his house and try to work things out?"  She
said I should leave him alone to his own thoughts and maybe in the light of
day, things would be clearer to both of us."

"Gregory, you have to prepare yourself for things not working out as you
want them to."  She said she really liked Gordy, but there were major
differences.  "He has always been blue collar, you are an executive, quite
a difference, even though you many not feel it, he does."  "Did you tell
him of your promotion and the big salary you now command?"  I said he knew
of the promotion, but not the money.  "Good, don't tell him, that would
really make him feel he is beneath you, why I bet on a good day, he
probably doesn't make 30K per year and even without your raise, you are
already making 3x more than that."

"But Mother, it should not matter, money has never been an issue."  "We
came from humble beginnings, you did not have the resources to send me to
college; I paid every cent the scholarship did not cover."  "I could not
even come home for the summers, I had to work."  I was sobbing again.  She
said she understood, and she was very proud of me.  "You have such drive,
ambition, such commitment to your work, but Son, you know nothing about
having a personal life."  "Outside of your love and devotion to your
children and to me, what do you have, nothing; you never put yourself out
there."

"Then along comes someone you are attracted to, you jump in with both
feet."  "You think you are in love, which you may be, but most likely it is
not there yet." "You want to be in charge, call all the shots, but, baby
boy, it doesn't work that way, it's a 2 way street." "My comments to you
have been shocking, you even said it yourself, 'Who is this woman, who has
taken over my mother's body', right?"  I laughed.  "But honey, the comments
I made were to rattle your cage, to make you think and prove to me, it's
not all about sex."  "From your reactions, I think you realized it wasn't
and it did make you think long term."  "That is what's bothering you, you
don't know how to fit Gordy in your life, other than the bedroom."

She asked me if Gordy was my first.  Usually, I would tell her to mind her
own business, but I felt I needed to tell her.  "No, he was not the first
and I am not going to tell you any more."  "Did you think you loved this
person?"  Oh my God, she is reading my mind.  I softly said, "Yes, but it
was different, an impossible situation."  She asked if it was over, or did
I still have some feeling for this person.  "Yes to both questions, but it
is over, I promise you, it is over, I can't revisit that part of my life
again."  "And, no more questions, please, Mother."

She said she was done.  "Now, you came in here, seeking comfort and
advise."  "Let Gordy have his time, he will decide what he needs to do and
when he wants to talk, he will call you."  "I love you, Son, always, it
kills me to see you so unhappy, but be patient, Que Sera Sera."  I started
laughing, which puzzled her, but I did not explain.  "Thanks Doris Day!" I
said, kissed her and went to bed.  Mother had helped me, at the same time
had me questioning everything I had done, everything I had said first to
Patrick, now to Gordy.  God!  What a fucked up mess I am!

Comments and suggestions are always welcome, keep 'em coming!  A big shout
out to my very furry friend, for your insightful comments and the big bear
hugs you send.  Smile.

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