Date: Sun, 07 Nov 2004 14:52:05 -0800
From: Pok Bepxtep <pok_bepxtep@fastmail.fm>
Subject: Taken for Granted - chapter 11

TAKEN FOR GRANTED
written by Pok Bepxtep

E-mail me if you liked the story.  I can be found at pok.bepxtep@lycos.nl

Chapter 11 for all of you to enjoy. I always end up putting off writing
this, that's why it always takes so much time till there's something fresh
on the site. I'm still enjoying it, I promise. I'm gonna continue, even if
it takes me years and years.

Greetings
Pok Bepxtep

P.S.: With any luck, I can get sponsorship for this chapter... You'll find
out why when you read this.

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Chapter 11:

A little past one o'clock, Martin rang the bell to Liam's appartment. Never
had he thought he'd be standing there again so soon. But rest assured, he
was more than happy to be there.

That morning he'd been thinking a lot about the previous night with
Liam. He'd been worrying quite a bit. He was uncertain of having handled
the situation correctly.

On more than one occasion, that friday evening and the morning after,
Martin had been touching his new young friend in many different ways. The
friendly pat on the boy's buns had been just that: a friendly gesture to
break the ice between the two of them. But there'd been two times where
Martin had not known how to act rightly. Both when rough housing with the
kid on the carpet and when caressing the boy's back whey lied together in
bed the morning after, the boy had clearly shown he'd appreciated those
little affections.

Knowing boys could get excited like that pretty easily, Martin wasn't
exactly sure if Liam's little pecker had in fact reacted to the touching,
or if it'd just been Mother Nature playing tricks on him. Hence, Martin
didn't know if the boy'd actually felt comfrotable about the situation or
not. On both occasions, Martin had done what had seemed to be the best at
that time: quit the touching.

Of course, now he wasn't entirely sure if that had indeed been the right
thing to do. The boy would be 10 years old next December, so it wasn't
unlikely that Liam junior had in fact reacted to the excitement the boy'd
felt. This is why he thought that he'd hurt the boy's feelings, that Liam
felt bad about how his body had reacted.

Luckily, the message on his answering machine proved that all this hadn't
done any damage to there friendship. Martin was more than pleasantly
surprised that Liam had taken the step he himself hadn't dared taking. This
afternoon he might get a chance to find out if Liam actually really liked
all the affection. Martin knew that in time, he'd venture goin' even a bit
further.

A few minutes later, Liam sat next to Martin on the car's passenger's
seat. It being quite a pretty nice afternoon for November, they'd decided
to go to the park for a little walk and a bit of kicking the ball around.

The ball Liam had brought along only hung together by the stitches. Martin
thought this through for a while and then decided to drive to the shopping
mall, instead of the park. No boy should be playing with that crappy a
ball, and certainly not a boy as nice as Liam, he thought to himself. He
knew he took a great risk by wanting to buy Liam a new football. He meant
it as a simple treat to his newfound friend, and not as a token of sympathy
for a someone who clearly wasn't living a life in luxury. Martin hoped Liam
would not be insulted by this action.

Martin lead Liam through the mall to this big sports sotre. They entered
the shop and went straight to the rack where all types of balls were
stacked. Of course Liam knew what Martin's plan was. And he liked it. Not
cause he'd soon have a brand new football, but because Martin never really
asked him if he wanted his old one replaced. He actually did want a new
one, but he wouldn't have accepted it if he'd been asked. Liam turned to
Martin, smiling in anticipation, waiting for the man to make his offer.

Martin was glad to see that smile appear on the boy's face. He now knew he
hadn't done any harm by bringing him here. "Take your pick, kiddo," he
smiled.

"Really?" Liam stilled wanted to make sure.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead! My treat!"

"Cool, thanks." Liam smiled gratefully. He approached the rack where the
soccer balls were. He didn't really know which one to choose. They were all
nice, of course, but the prices weren't. The ones with established names
like Umbro or Adidas, were obviously a lot more expensive then the
others. Liam didn't quite know how much Martin wanted to pay for his new
toy. Playing it safely, he decided on one of the inferior, cheaper brands.

The boy'd barely touched the probably fake leather when Martin said: "Nah,
you don't want that one. It'll look worse than yours within the hour."

Liam wasn't in the least surprised by Martin's reaction, but he still
wanted to make sure he could really get one of the more expensive ones. "I
know," he said nervously, "but the other ones cost so much money."

"So...?" Martin smiled. "Quality costs money. Which one did you really
want?"

Liam pointed at the one at the top of the rack, which was about 5 times
more expensive as than the one he'd first chosen. "That one," he
practically whispered.

"Good choice, my boy," Martin nodded. "Take it, it's not gonna bite you."

"But..."

"No buts, Liam," Martin reassured the boy. "Now get it, or I'll put you
over my knee and have some fun with YOUR butt." Immediately, Martin noticed
the shock in Liam's eyes this remark had caused. His bluntness had been out
or order and he regretted saying that. "Oops...  sorry, Liam! I didn't mean
that, you know. I was just kidding," he apologised, patting the boy's
shoulder. "Now grab that ball, kiddo, it's yours."

The boy relaxed again and a bit later, they were back in the car, on their
way to park. Liam held his new ball close on his lap as if it were the most
precious thing on Earth. In fact, it was, cause no one had ever given him
something so out of the blue. Martin could read nothing but contentment off
of Liam's face. Martin himself felt like he'd just conquered the world.

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