Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:55:22 GMT
From: Pok Bepxtep  <pok.bepxtep@lycos.nl>
Subject: Taken for Granted - 5

TAKEN FOR GRANTED
written by Pok Bepxtep

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

This story will most likely contain some provocative contents about a
loving and later on sexual relationship between a young boy and a man.  If
you find those things offensive, then don't read them...  But I don't think
you do, cause you wouldn't have bothered checking out nifty's adult-youth
section.

It's been a very long since I've written chapter 4. For the few people
still remembering 'Taken for granted', I'm sorry for not continuing in the
past 4 months or so. Some personal problems got in the way of my will to
write more of this story. But, as people always tell me: 'Life goes on'.
And so does this story.


Greetings
Pok Bepxtep

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Chapter 5: Small talk

The next morning, Martin woke up earlier than usual for a Sunday
morning. Sundays are holy for the man. No, not for church or the anything,
not that kinda holy. But Sunday's the only day he can really sleep in and
spend the whole day doing nothing or having nothing to think about.

The latter, the think part, will be a very big problem today, after
yesterday's encounter with that boy at the bowling. It left him full of
doubt of what he should or how he should be feeling. But in the end, he
pretty much found a way to put the whole matter out of his mind. 'I
probably won't be seeing that kid anymore, so why bother,' he thought to
himself as he switched on the shower.

A few toasts, eggs and a glass of fresh pineaple juice later, Martin tied
his Adidas running shoes and jogged towards the park to his usual Sunday
morning 8-mile's run. It was still a bit cold this early in the morning,
but the rising sun promised this Sunday to be a very pleasant one.

After his refreshing jog, Martin set of to his favourite coffee stand to
get a warming cup of Java. He walked towards one of the benches near the
entrence of the park and sat down to relax and enjoy his coffee.

Not three minutes after sitting down, he saw someone familiar entering the
park. The moment Martin spotted that familiar person, the thought that he'd
consoled with the very morning vanished like snow melting in the sun.  The
young boy from the bowling alley was strolling about, wearing the same
outfit as the day before, with his head down and a seemingly thick book
under his arm. One glance into Martin's direction stopped him in his
actions and froze him on the spot. At that moment, the two were still over
20 feet away, but Martin could clearly see that the boy was as surprised as
he was.

Martin didn't know what to do and the fact the boy remained standing where
he was, watching in his direction, he knew the child didn't know
either. Part of him was awfully curious to get a closer look and find out
who that kid was. But doing that usually isn't a very smart move, as people
might mistake it as Martin being one of those creepy adult men going to the
park to pick up children for sex. And, even worse, the boy might see it as
that too.  The last thing Martin wanted to do was scare him off.

So, instead of being brave, he stayed where he was, sitting on the bench,
not bothering to finish his already cooled off coffee. It was still quite
exciting to be wondering about what the boy would do. Martin didn't know
what to hope or wish for. He realised that he was clearly attracted to the
youngster. But, just like the night before, he doubted if he really wanted
to be in love with a boy again, and to get attached to someone he would
probably lose after a certain time. That... fear... was what kept him most
from actually daring to address the young boy.

But, as the irony of life always turns out, the most surprising thing of
all happened. The life returned to the boy statue and slowly, like a
predator sneaking up towards his pray, the child came walking towards
Martin. When he'd finally reached the bench Martin was sitting on, he
simply nodded and sat down, opening the book he was carrying on the page
where the indicator was.

'Is this kid challenging me, or something?' Martin wondered. 'Is he
expecting something?'

After a few minutes of sitting there next to the him, it was pretty obvious
that the boy wasn't there beside him to read his book. Martin was watching
him closely, but descretely, and noticed that the reading speed was very
slow. It seemed as if the boy kept reading the same paragraph over and over
again.

He still doubted if he should do it, but it was pretty clear that the boy
wanted Martin to make the next move. Martin liked boys, that's for sure,
and if a young kid was giving him signs that he wanted to get acquainted,
then he couldn't go and disappoint the child, now, could he. So, he turned
towards the boy and spoke the most common word of them all to get his
attention:

"Hi," Martin said.

The boy looked up from page 93 and turned his head to Martin, trying his
best to look disturbed, and replied: "Hi."

Of course, Martin saw threw the boy's act and decided to go on with small
talk topic number one: "Nice day, isn't it?"

Again, the youngster faked his being annoyed. "Yeah, it is," he said.

'Okay,' Martin thought to himself, 'I've got his attention.' "D'you come
here often?"

This time, the boy no longer faked being bothered. He closed the book, with
his finger between the pages he must have known by heart by now.  "Not
much," he answered. "I just felt like it, today."

"Cool," Martin smiled, glad to see that the boy was willing to chat a
bit. "I come here every Sunday morning to run a few miles. I've never seen
you here, before."

"Uhuh... But you've seen me before, no?" the boy asked, looking a bit shy,
this time.

"I believe I have," Martin confirmed. "And actually, I didn't really expect
to see you again."

"Oh," was the only thing the boy said. He looked down a bit, seemingly
disappointed. Apparently that last remark was a bad one.

"Hey, hey," Martin hushed. "I don't mind seeing you again. I'm quite glad
to have you sitting next to me." Martin didn't lie, there. The longer he
was with the little one, the more he enjoyed the company. There was no
point in denying...  He liked this lil man. This seemed to please the young
lad. He looked up again, right into Martin's eyes, with the most
hypnotising smile on his face. Martin was glad the ice was somehow cracked
(too soon to really call it broken). It was now time to get to know a
little bit more about young Mr. Cupid next to him. "So, what are you
reading?"

The child seemed to have been expecting that question. He turned the cover
of the book to Martin to let he see what it was about. 'Lord of the Rings'
it said. "Well, well!! So you're a Tolkien fan, then?"

The boy smiled again, and said: "Not really! I just wanted to know what
it's about. Everyone tells me the movies are so cool, but I haven't seen
them yet."

"You haven't?"

"No. The movie theatre's too far away," the boy explained, "and I never
really bothered renting them."

"Why not?"

"I'd have to watch them all by myself," he continued, his smile fading and
looking a bit downwards.

"Never anyone home, huh," Martin hushed the boy. "I know the feeling. Would
you like to see them?"

"Yeah. The book's nice, but I don't really like reading all that much."

This was perhaps the best and only chance for Martin to invite the boy to
his place, some day. He remembered what he'd promised himself not to grow
attached to another boy again, but this one beside him was special. His
heart told him to go for it, so he would. 'Besides,' he concluded, 'this
kid must have thought the very same thing I did when he came over to me and
sat down next to me.' "What if someone invited you to go and watch the
movies at his place?"

"That'd be cool, but no one ever invites me," the boy shrugged.

"There's always a first," Martin smiled. He dove into his pocket and
grabbed his wallet. Out of his wallet, he took one of his business cards
and offered it to the boy. "Got anything planned for next Friday eve?"

The boy curiously glanced at the card for a split second and then stared
right at Martin's eyes, not believing what was happening. "Errr...  no...,
not... errr... really," he stammered. "Why?"

"Cause I'm inviting you to come over to my place to watch the first two
Lord of the Rings movies, that's why."

"Huh? You mean that?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Cause you don't know me," was the boy's logical explanation.

"Well, then, let's change that," Martin smirked. "If you take my card here,
you'll know my name, which is Martin. May I be so kind to ask you what your
name is?"

The boy hesitantly reached for the plastic coated red and white card and
took it from Martin. "Liam," he said briefly, while turning the card's text
to him to read it.

Martin reached out his hand to the boy who'd just introduced himself:
"Pleased to meet you, Liam."

The boy turned to the man beside him again, grabbed his hand and shook it
lightly: "Likewise," he smiled.

"So, does this mean you're coming over, next Friday?"

"Dunno. I'd love to, actually. But I'd better ask my mum first."

"No problem. Already glad to know you're interested. Let me know if it's
okay, okay?"

Liam just nodded his agreement. "I'd better go home, now," he said while
getting up.

"Sure thing," Martin smiled. "Glad to have met you, Liam."

Liam just smiled and left, waving the hand with the card at Martin. Martin
followed Liam's every move till he turned around the corner. Hoping to see
Liam again soon, he also left the bench, threw the cup of now cold coffee
in the bin, and strolled back home. When he got back home, he sat down in
his couch, replaying the whole thing that'd just happened. At the end, he
knew two things for sure: first, he'd fallen in love with Liam; second,
that boy had one cute little butt!