Date: Fri, 11 Oct 2002 01:41:01 +1300
From: Arthur <rochopa@xtra.co.nz>
Subject: Jomel part 6

					JOMEL

					Part Six

					By Arthur


Authors note:

I must before writing this episode of Jomel Apologise to all his readers
as due to the end of my vacation my time will be taken up by the normal
preasures of earning a living and therefore the follow up after this part
may be a little slow in coming, however I will do my best to fulfill my
commitments to you all and hope you will show your patience for the demands
of my other less exciting life.

				Arthur


Monday morning dawned and I booked out of the hotel anxiously looking
foreward to the relaxed atmosphere of my own accomodation, I had no doubts
that Jomel would have everything ready for my move to the new house and
that the staff would be well organised before I got there.

I did not see my minx at breakfast and assumed (Correctly) that he was
already with Jomel sorting out our new home, Oh well if Jomel and I weren't
able to take it further I knew that there was always a little cat ready to
play his own tune.

I had the doorman call a cab for me to get to the impending meeting in
plenty of time and as I looked over the last of the contract details to
make sure I had all I would need to finalise the agreement for us I thought
of a possible future here with Jomel by my side.

The meeting went smoothly and ended up with a little more than I had at
first expected when I offered them a permanent local maintainence program
that was oncall at all times and they were only too happy to sign on for
the extra cost of the program I put before them for the updating and
continued maintainence.

At last about 1.00pm I was able to leave and get a taxi to my new
accomodation, all my possesions had been sent on from the hotel so all I
needed was a good lunch and enough time to plan the setting up of the new
cafe in the building they had given me plans for.

On arrival at the gateway to the house I was greeted by a man in his
fourties, welcoming me to my new home and ushering me inside, I thanked him
and proceeded to the front door only to have it opened quickly by none
other than the Minx himself.

"Welcome home Mr. Ben"

"Thank you Johnathon, is Jomel in?"

"Yes Mr. Ben, Mr. De Silva is in the office room."

"You learn quick, Minx."

"Yes Mr. Ben, he may be my cousin but first he is my employer, this is a
very serious job, Mr. De Silva would not like me to take it lightly."

"Well said Minx, you'll go a long way."

"Thank you Mr. Ben."

I could see I wasn't going to win this one so I made my way to the room set
aside for the office and study where Jomel was going over the cost of
setting up the house, a ledger opened up in front of him while he very
meticulously entered every peso spent and all receipts noted except the
backsheesh but even they were noted down with only the initials of the
recievers beside them.

"So Jomel how do we look for the house then?"

"Good Ben, everything your accountant will need for a proper balance is
here and can be sent to him when needed."

"Thats great Jomel, but you don't need to be to particular as long as you
have a reasonable accounting it will be acceptable."

"I'm sorry Ben, it must be correct, I would not want to let you down or
have you think I couldn't do the proper job for you or your company."

Have you ever had the feeling that you have just been told off by an
employee?

"Ok Jomel, the running of the house is in your hands and I'll leave it all
to you."

"Thank's for your trust, Ben."

"Who's the gardner, Jomel?"

"That's Jose, he used to work for the American Embassy, he's a very good
handy man and gardner, I think he will look after the house and grounds
very well, he was out of work for three years and has a family to support,
I think you will find him very good."

"Ok, did you also manage to find us a cook/house keeper as well?"

"Yes, Her name is Maria, she has a son going to university and has no
husband so can be available when ever needed to look after us."

"Well I've got to say you've handled everything better than I could have,
congratulations, well done, Jomel, I'm very pleased."

"Thank you Ben, but it's what you hired me for, I hope that I never let you
down is all."

"With what you've done today I doubt that very much Jomel, now time for
lunch and I'll tell you all about the job we have to do for the cafe."

We went into the lounge area and there stood Johnathon, a tray in his hands
with two very large glasses of fresh fruit juice on it, filled with ice, he
was dressed in black light weight trousers with a white loose hanging
philipino style shirt, looking relaxed and happy, a smile from ear to ear.

"Fruit juice Johnathon?"

"Yes Mr.Ben, Mr De Silva suggested it might be better this time of the
day."

This boy was going to go a long way, he knew what to say and how to say it
just at the right time, then Jomel put a dent in his polish by saying.

"Thanks Minx, lunch in 15 minutes, ok?"

Amongst the giggle he managed to say.

"Yes Mr. De Silva,...cousin."

He ran toward the kitchen giggling fit to burst as we both broke out into
laughter.

"So ben, how did the meeting go?"

"Very well Jomel, in fact better than I hoped, with you being here we've
been able to sign them up to a two year maintainence contract as well, so
that's going to be your baby, as well as anything else that we come up
with."

"Do you think I'll be able to carry it out for you, Remeber I'm not
qualified?"

"Jomel, you're a part of my company, you're in training and your marks at
school say that you know what will be needed to look after this system,
besides it's all new gear and there will be very little to do, if anything
comes up that's a bit difficult you'll have instant access to our data base
in New Zealand to call on."

"Well ok Ben, if you really think so."

"If I wasn't sure you could handle it Jomel, you wouldn't be sitting here
now."

"Well thank you again, Ben"

"Don't worry, you'll earn it, now lets eat."

Lunch was a perfect blend of fresh fruit and salads, just the right thing
for the humidity and heat of the tropical climate of the Philipines, the
cook knew what she was doing and how to offer the best without over loading
your stomach at the same time, she was definately going to be a treasure.

After lunch we set about getting the drawings for the cafe sorted and
checking the list of equipment on hand for the installation and testing of
the new systems, also the type of programs we were going to load for the
users so as to keep it as simple as possible for general use.

Jomels computer knowledge as well as local knowledge made this so much
easier and we had finished the schematics earlier than I had planned for so
we had an early afternoon to sit around the house doing nothing but
relaxing, if this kept up we were going to do this one with time and money
to spare, Jomel was proving to be one of my best investments.

Dinner proved to be one of the best I'd had in a long time, traditional
dishes but made with a blending of herbs and spices just right for my
palate, this cook was a wonder, I only hoped she was here to stay as this
type of meal could seduce me to return more often than I should.

I asked Jomel to bring the cook in after the meal, she was a rather thick
set woman in her fifties, short but with a light in her eyes that spoke of
a very strong maternal instinct, over the years I got to know here very
well and we became her boy's, even our own mothers could not have looked
after us better.

As we didn't have to start the installation until Wednesday, tomorrow was
an off day so we were a little late retiring to bed, but just as I was
beginning to fall asleep a soft knock on the door brought me back to the
here and now.

"Yes?"

Expecting to see my little Minx enter I was surprised when Jomel came into
the room.

"Hi Jomel, what's up?"

"Ahh, Ben,... Ahh, can I ask you something?"

"Of course Jomel, anything."

"Ahh,...Ben,...Ahh, I hope you wont be upset with me?"

"No, Jomel, you can ask anything of me, if I don't like it all I can say is
no, so go ahead."

"Well,...Ahh, this is ...ahh, embarrassing for me, you see,..ahh, I would
like to stay here..  ahh, with you... if you would, ahh,.. like me to that
is?"

"Jomel, you dont have to do this, you know to keep your job, It's not what
I would want you to do."

"Oh no Ben, It's not because of the job, it's...well,...I've wanted
to,...since the, ahh,...bus since that first time I ....saw you, you know ,
that first day, I'm sorry, really, it's just I can't wait any longer,..but
If you would rather, then I can tell Johnathon it's ok,...ahhm, if you
would rather, I mean he likes you a lot,.. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said
anything, I'm sorry, I'll go back to my room."

He turned to leave, and as the words sank in the feeling of being frozen in
time left me.

"Wait, Jomel, wait, please come back."

Jomel turned back into the room to look over at me as I sat up in the bed
and held out my hand toward him.

"Jomel, come sit down here on the bed, I would like to tell you something."

Jomel entered further and sat on the edge of the bed facing me, a hint of a
tear in the corner of his eyes.

"First, your job was given to you on your ablility and your school marks,
when I said you'll earn your salary believe me you will, and your position
in the company will depend on the quality of your work, as to your
feelings, mine have been the same from the moment I saw you that day, at
first on my part it was just lust, but after talking with you and being
around you it has developed into a lot more, that's not to say that you'll
not be subject to the same rules that apply to all my employee's during
work time, but when it's our time I would like to take it as far as you'll
permit me too."

"Ben do you really mean that, I mean for you and I?"

"Yes Jomel, with all my heart."

"Oh thank you Ben, this is all I really wanted from the moment I saw you,
just to be with you."

"Then you will be happy with it, work is work, ok, but our time is our
time, can you handle the difference between the two?"

"Yes Ben it's all I ever wanted, I'll never let you down, I promise."

With that he leaned over to me and I felt the soft caress of his lips on
mine.


To Be Continued: