Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:19:04 +0000
From: hankster1430@bellsouth.net
Subject: Love Is Where You Find It Chapt 9

Love Is Where You Find It
Chapter Nine

Late the following May, Brad received his bachelor's degree in accounting.
The on-line school transferred all his credentials to UCSF and he actually
went through all the ceremonies of the graduating class right along with
them.  Our dads and I must have taken a thousand pictures of the event.

Several CPA firms advertised in a few of the local gay publications.  We
and our dads spent some time discussing the pros and cons of trying to get
employment with a gay owned firm as opposed to one whose politics might be
questionable.  Brad thought that he could do well in a standard firm, but
if there was a hint of homophobia it could hinder his career.  We all
agreed, but felt that in the end, it would probably not make a difference.
Brad decided to try the firms which advertised in the gay press first, and
see what would happen.

He sent his resume to five firms.  At Larry's suggestion, he enclosed one
of his graduation pictures.  Four of them called and set up interviews.
The fifth said that they had no openings at present, but would be happy to
keep his resume on file.


Brad went to all four interviews.  Two firms called back and said that they
were sorry but the job had gone to another applicant.  The other two
offered him employment as a junior accountant.  There was a slight
difference in the salary offered, but not enough to influence Brad's
decision.

"Here's the thing," he said.  "Firm one is well established.  The partners
are about our dads' ages.  I can learn a lot from them.  Firm two is owned
by two young men, not much older than I am.  They're life partners also.
They have been in practice for less than four years, but they are expanding
like crazy.  They said that even hiring me might not be enough.  If they
are still overwhelmed when I start work, they would hire yet another man.
I would be coming in on the ground floor of a growing practice, and I feel
more comfortable with them because we are contemporaries."

"It sounds like you have made up your mind to go to firm two," I said.

"Yes, I think so, but I want to hear your opinion."

"You're young," I said.  "You have room for a few decision making mistakes.
Go for the growth company."  I started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Brad asked.

That's what Larry would say, "Go for the growth company."

"Well," Brad said, "Larry never steered us wrong yet."

In the morning Brad called firm two, Pickler and Underwood, and accepted
their job offer.  They agreed that he would start in two weeks on a Monday
morning and admired his integrity for wanting to give two weeks notice at
his present job.  James Pickler asked if he was free for dinner that
night. He and his partner, Jim, (call me Jamie to avoid confusion) would
like to take him and his partner out to dinner.  Brad accepted for us and
we agreed to meet at our favorite gay owned restaurant at 7 PM.

"They're clients of ours," Jamie said. "I'm pretty sure they will give you
the same discount in the future as we have.  I'll introduce you to the
owner tonight.  I'm looking forward to meeting Aaron," he said as he hung
up.

Brad took a moment to hug me before calling firm one and telling them that
he had decided on a different firm.  They expressed their disappointment
and graciously wished him good luck.  Then he called our dads who wanted to
take us to dinner to celebrate, but when he told them that we were invited
to dinner by the bosses, they took a rain check.

"Where are you going?" Larry asked.

"To Alfredo's on Market Street." Brad answered.

There was only one thing left to do.  Brad went to his computer and typed
up a letter of resignation.  What I didn't know at that time is that he
recommended me as his replacement.  At 9 AM the next morning, he left me in
charge of the store and drove to the regional office to deliver the letter
personally.  There were more expressions of disappointment, but in the end
they wished him good luck.

We got to Alfredo's a few minutes early but Brad spotted Jamie and Jim at
the bar.  He went over and extended his hand, but they both stood up and
embraced him warmly.  Brad was right.  They were about twenty-eight years
old, and exceptionally handsome.  I knew why they were expanding so
rapidly.

Brad introduced me to his new bosses, and Jim said, "If I had a boyfriend,
this young and this good looking, I'd keep him locked up."  I blushed a
deep red.

The waiter showed us to our table and Jamie insisted that we order a
cocktail.  Neither of us drank much and I got out of it by saying that I
was on medications.  That was no lie.  The doctor still had me on blood
thinners, but he promised to stop them soon.  Brad ordered a gin and tonic
and as he was sipping it, he kept adding ice from his water glass to cut it
down.

The waiter was just clearing away our appetizers, and cleaning the table
with a little brush in preparation to serving our entrees, when I heard a
familiar voice yell, "Jamie, Jim, imagine meeting you here."

I looked up to see Dad and Pop.  They were ignoring Brad and me, but Larry
was shaking our hosts' hands and saying how nice it was to run into each
other like this.  He took a moment to introduce Jamie and Jim to Chuck.
They shook his hand warmly.

"It's about time we met," Jamie said to Chuck.

"Yes," Jim echoed.  He turned to us and said, "Let me introduce you guys.
This is Larry Reilly.  He's our banker, and this is his partner Chuck
Harrington.

To tell the truth, Brad and I didn't know what to say.  We also didn't know
what to do.  Should we pretend to be strangers and shake hands or tell the
truth?

The decision was taken out of our hands.  Chuck bent down and kissed Brad
on his lips and Larry did the same to me, and then they switched.

"No introductions are necessary," Larry said.  "You are having dinner with
our two sons."

"Well, I'll be damned," Jim said.

Brad was a little upset.  "Did you guys know about this before, and did it
influence you in hiring me?"

"Believe me," Jamie said.  `This is as much a surprise to us as it is to
you.  You were hired because we think you are the right man for the job.
Your track record of hard work, dedication to your employers and your
managerial skills are what we looked at.  The fact that Larry and Chuck
consider you to be their sons is a very pleasant surprise, and just proves
that we made a wise choice."

Jim asked Chuck and Larry to join us, but they declined.  "We four, or at
least we three, know each other well.  Please get to know my sons.  I think
you will be pleased at what you learn about them."  They went to the waiter
who seated them at a separate table.

Jamie and Jim kept the conversation away from business, maybe because of
me.  We learned that they had met in college and in their sophomore year
they took a room together off campus.  Unlike my terrible story, both had
come out to their parents in high school and each set of parents had fallen
in love with their son's partner.  They were fortunate enough to enjoy a
great relationship with their parents and siblings.

I told of my excommunication and of not having seen my parents or my two
sisters since they threw me out.  They all expressed sympathy and I said,
"There is no sympathy needed here, I have my two dads, who are better
parents than my real parents ever were.  Most of all I have Brad, who makes
my life a Garden of Eden."  Brad laid his hand on mine.

"How about you Brad?" Jamie asked.

"There's not much to tell," he said.  He must have been right.  I was
suddenly thunderstruck.  Brad had never talked about his life before I met
him, and stupidly I had never asked.  My life was so full of drama, that I
had neglected the one I loved most dearly in the world.

"Please Brad," I said, "I want to hear.

"My father was an alcoholic.  He deserted us when I was four years old. My
mom was vague about it, but I gather he got into a drunken brawl one night
and almost killed someone.  He ran off to escape the police and we never
saw him again."  I grabbed Brad's hand, but he continued.

"My mother could not care for me so about a year later, she put me into the
foster care system until she could get on her feet.  Every day I looked for
her to come and get me, but she never did, and in a short time, I could not
remember either one of my parents.  To this day, I don't know what became
of either of them.

"The first few years were the toughest.  I had a series of foster parents
who were no better than my father.  I was constantly abused and one of them
beat me repeatedly when I was about eight."  I squeezed Brad's hand.

"Finally I ran away, and when the authorities found me, they put me in
another home.  Most of the places they sent me to weren't bad, but I never
seemed to be in any one of them long enough to bond with any of the
parents.  Yet with Chuck and Larry I bonded swiftly.

"When I was eighteen, I left the system and got a job at Wendy's.  I
started working on my bachelor's degree on line and you guys know the
rest."

We were all silent until finally Jim said.  "That's the past Brad, and
Jamie and I promise you a brighter future."  He raised his glass and we
drank to that.  It was water for me.

At the end of the meal we sat and chatted for awhile.  Then our dads came
over and asked if we would join them in an after dinner drink.

"Yes, please," Jamie said, and we made room for two extra chairs.

Jim said, "This evening has been a totally unexpected pleasure.  Chuck,
Larry never stops telling us what a great guy you are and we actually got
to meet you tonight.  I was beginning to think you were a figment of
Larry's imagination.  Then the perfect candidate walks into our office for
an interview, and he turns out to be our banker's son.  A little nepotism
never hurt any business."

"I'd like to propose a toast," Larry said raising his glass.  "Here's to
the continued success of Pickler and Underwood, and here's a wish for
continued good health, and good fellowship for all of us."  We all clicked
our glasses (mine was still water) and drank to the sentiments of the
toast.

We chatted a little while and then Chuck and Larry got up to leave.
"Goodnight," Larry said, "to my favorite sons and my favorite clients."  We
all stood up and of course Chuck and Larry kissed Brad and me on the lips,
but in contrast to the formal handshakes at the beginning of the evening,
they embraced Jamie and Jim and kissed them on the lips also.  Their kisses
were returned.

Finally Brad said, "This is great fellas, but tomorrow is a working day and
Aaron and I get up at 4:30 AM so we'll have to call it a night.  We can't
thank you enough for this great dinner."

Pickler and Underwood both groaned when Brad said 4:30 AM.  "Well, you'll
be able to sleep a lot later than that in a couple of weeks, unless you are
a light sleeper, and Aaron wakes you two hours before dawn," Jim said.

Everyone laughed at that, and we all stood up to leave.  We were all a
little awkward not knowing exactly how to part, until Jamie said, "Look
guys, let's have no formalities here.  We're friends."  With that he
embraced Brad and kissed him on the cheek.  I guess he felt that lip
kissing could come later.  He kissed me also, and then Jim repeated the
process.

We didn't get home until 11 PM and we knew that we wouldn't get much sleep
that night, so we reluctantly gave up sex, but we fell asleep wrapped up in
each other's arms with our cocks grinding together.

About 10 AM the next day, one of the executives from our regional office
came in and took Brad into the small office in the rear.  After about five
minutes, Brad called me in.  He introduced me to Mr. Stigler, who shook my
hand warmly.  Then Brad said, "Aaron, Mr. Stigler is your new boss.  On my
recommendation he's promoting you to store manager.  You'll be getting a
substantial raise and I can't think of anyone more deserving, even if you
are my partner."  He said that right in front of Mr. Stigler.  I had to
admire Brad for his openness about being gay.  I was still very reserved
about saying anything to indicate that I was gay.

Mr. Stigler shook my hand warmly and said, "Brad will show you the ropes
and break you in.  Your promotion is effective the day Brad leaves."  He
opened up his briefcase and took out a sheet of paper.

"Why don't you guys post this on the bulletin board?"  He handed the paper
to me and I saw that it was a memo to the staff informing them of my
promotion.  I was suddenly so proud of myself and of Brad also.  I could
almost picture this event a few years down the pike, when I handed over the
reins to some deserving young person.  Brad had started me on my on-line
college career.  I was majoring in education with a minor in math.  My goal
was to teach math at the high school level.  I was nearly finished with my
first two classes.  Brad made sure that we never let our private lives
interfere with my studies, and he kept my nose to the grindstone.  I knew
well enough how his education was beginning to pay off for him, and I
couldn't have had a better role model.

As Mr. Stigler left, I thanked him profusely.  As soon as he was out the
door, the staff that was present surrounded me and to a man they all wished
me the best of luck.  There wasn't too much for Brad to show me.  I had
been assisting him for weeks.  I knew how to prepare all the daily, weekly
and monthly reports.  The only thing I hadn't done was accompany him to the
regional office to see who got what report.  From then on, I followed him
like his shadow, which wasn't a stretch for me at all.

The next two weeks went really fast, and I was glad for Brad's sake.  He
was so anxious to begin work at Pickler and Underwood, CPA's, PA, that he
could hardly sleep.  The abused little foster care boy had come a long away
and his future was really looking bright.  By the time he left I was
comfortable with my new job, but sad to realize that Brad and I would be
separated all day every working day.  Well, such is life and we would get
used to it.

For his part, Brad was really starting at the bottom rung of the ladder.
On the very first morning, Jim took him to a client and started him on the
first job every budding CPA begins with, the dreaded bank reconciliations.
With that done, things got more interesting.  Jim showed Brad how to verify
accounts receivable by checking the receipts subsequent to the audit date.
Similarly with accounts payable, Brad checked the cash payments subsequent
to the audit date, and actually found a duplicate payment.  He brought it
to Jim's attention, who then informed the owner of the business, who
thanked both men.  "The guy I double paid would never have informed me or
credited me with the extra payment," he said.  "Rest assured."

Each day, Brad came home more excited at all he was learning.  He was
particularly grateful for the patience shown by Jim and Jamie.  One
evening, he came home particularly excited.  He, I, Chuck and Larry were
invited to a barbeque at Jim and Jamie the following Sunday afternoon.
They had also invited a few of their gay clients.

As if that wasn't enough, Jim had told Brad that they had a brand new
client.  He was small and just starting out but he had great potential.  He
was opening a small boutique, and Brad was going to handle the account
solo.

I was so excited for him, that I made him turn in early.  It was one of
those nights where I wanted to do all of the love making and let him just
lie back and enjoy himself.  I don't think my tongue missed a square inch
of his body, front and back.  Certain orifices received particular
attention.

I teased him unmercifully until I zeroed in on his balls and cock.  I
almost brought him to orgasm several times but always stopped before the
point of no return.  Finally, I stopped to lubricate his cock and my ass.
I squatted over him and gently lowered myself on to his cock, which was
jerking in its desire for attention.  When I had him all the way in my ass,
we began a dance of love until he exploded inside of me.  I sat still on
him until his limp dick fell out.  Then I scooted down and ate my cum which
was dripping from his luscious ass.

He desperately wanted to return the favor but I told him that he was to
just go to sleep.  Tonight was my treat.  We lay together as close as we
could get and I felt his hand fondling my cock.  I wanted to tell him to
stop, but it felt too good and I eventually came in his hand.  We fell
asleep, too tired to change the sheets.

The barbeque at Jim and Jamie was spectacular.  They actually barbequed
filet mignon steaks.  I must admit a weakness for filet mignon.  They
served this with corn on the cob which they barbequed in tin foil.  There
was plenty of soda and beer.  I was off the blood thinners and I enjoyed a
couple of beers.  As you can see my Mormon days were far behind me.

Besides us and our dads there were two other couples, all clients of the
firm.  One of the couples was the owner of Alfredo's.  Brad already knew
all four of them, and he introduced them to me, Larry and Chuck.

I was making small talk with one of the couples when I suddenly felt a hand
squeezing my ass.  I panicked for a moment and then decided to ignore it.
As soon as I could, I excused myself and left.  Immediately I told Brad
what happened, and he started to laugh.  "They're harmless," he said. "They
do that to me all the time.  They are totally devoted to each other, but
flirt all the time."  That did make me feel much better.  By the end of the
barbeque we were making arrangements to socialize with the other two
couples, and with Jamie and Jim, of course.

On the morning after the barbeque, I was in my office working on a report,
when one of my staff knocked on the door.

"There's a guy out there says he's a friend of yours and would like to see
you for a moment."

Did he give a name?" I asked.

"I'm afraid not."

I walked out to the store and there standing to the side of the serving
counter was Carl Gilmore.  I had to grab something to keep from falling.
It was not the scrubby Carl I had last seen, but a healthy looking young
man.  He looked like the Carl I knew from the hospital bed.

"Can we talk privately for a minute?" he asked, and I led him into my
office and closed the door.


To be continued........