Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 04:27:58 +0200
From: kea4ilan ilan <ilan2011@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Make Over

Hi folks! This is a fictional story that I just thought of. This is a gay
romantic story, don't read any further if you are offended by two men
engaging in homosexual situations. Comments can be mailed to
ilan2011@hotmail.com

The Make Over

There was nothing spectacular about this day to begin with. I woke up
pretty early which is an odd thing for me to do on my day off. By habit I
went to bed early the previous evening because it was a weekday. I tried to
go back to sleep when I saw that is was still early in the morning but
sleep wouldn't come so I got out of bed and hopped into my shower. I took
my time showering, letting the hot water wash over my body. I had no idea
what I was going to do. I had treated myself to a long weekend without
making any specific plans. After I was done showering, I applied baby oil
to my body, I have very dry skin so this is a ritual I perform every
morning after a hot shower. I didn't bother to put any clothes on, being
that I am a bachelor living alone. I had done the roommate thing before,
but when my business started to get successful, I felt I didn't need to
compromise anymore so I bought my own loft in the city. It took some time
getting adjusted to being alone, but the perks were great. On my days off I
enjoyed walking around the apartment in the nude, relaxing before my huge
flat screen TV. By now you must be thinking that I don't have much of a
social life. To some extend it is true. I have some friends in the city but
I am the only single guy of the group. Sometimes I feel like the odd man
out being single but for the most time I am comfortable with the situation.
Occasionally my best friend Xander likes to set me up on blind dates but
he's getting cured of that disease. When we first met, he would always
tease me about being single, trying to set me up with all kinds of blind
dates. Thank God he was insightful enough to not only set me up with Black
guys, I am Black myself but I've learned during excessive dating years that
there is more then a common ethnic background to make a connection. I've
dated Black guys, Latino's, black Latino's, Asian men, ranging from Chinese
to Indian to Jewish men. The experience has been varied to say the least, I
can share with you that I don't believe in stereotypes anymore, you just
have to go for the person, one person is not representative for his race
and all the prejudices and stereotypes society has labeled the various
ethnicity's with. For now, I think I've given you enough of my background.
You're thinking: "What about a name, age, height, weight, dick size, job?"
Jackson, 28, 6'2", 190 pounds, none of your bussiness (big enough to let my
neighbors gawk at it when they spy at me, but I'm not a horse), co-owner of
a theater production company. Not bad huh?  I making myself breakfast, in
the nude of course, trying not to feel guilty about letting my partner and
sister Delia taking care of business alone. She is a very capable woman, my
sister, she literally forced me to take an extra day off. We had two very
successful productions running now, things were going smoothly after all
the stress of the previous months of bringing the plays of two budding
writers into production. I will not bore you with all the details of the
endless meetings with directors, castings and logistics. It is very
stressful but the adrenaline flows and it is almost an addictive process
with the best rewards getting good reviews and sold out performances. Life
was good and I felt in a very good mood when I sat down and ate my
breakfast. I felt a little restless though and decided I wouldn't stay in.
I wanted to do something, enjoy the city and its people. I made up my mind
to just go into the city and just do a little sightseeing and just go with
the flow of the day. I thought about calling Xander to check if he had any
plans but decided against it, this day would belong to me and maybe someone
new I could meet. Maybe it was Spring making it's presence known but I
began to get more enthusiastic about the idea of just going out and
wandering around. I finished my breakfast and got dressed. I chose to go
for the sporty, nonchalant look which for me means low riding undies, low
riding Diesels, a tight white polo shirt and a light jacket. On my feet I
went for black Diesel Vega shoes, perfect for walking. I left my apartment
and decided I would walk into downtown.

***

I had been wandering around the city for hours and had immensely enjoyed
myself. Noon approached and I got hungry and chose to go to Auntie Magda
for lunch. Auntie Magda is the name of the restaurant named after the
owner, Auntie Magda who really is my aunt. Aunt Magda is in her early
fifthies, the prime example of a woman who decided that she wouldn't be
dependent on her husband but chased after her own dreams and made them
true. She is a health nut, working out every morning before she goes to
work, although what she produces in her kitchen is anything but healthy but
oh so tasty and finger lickin' good. With all the work I don't get to see
her enough so I decided to pay her a visit. As I entered the restaurant I
spotted Charlene, one of her most loyal employees and assistant manager
standing behind the bar where patrons could wait if there was a full
house. As it was lunch hour the place started to get packed with people.
Charlene was busy chatting with a man, her big breasts his main focus. I
walked up to her to greet her. I mentally braced myself for Charlene is a
big woman who likes to hug.

"Hi Charlene! How are you?" I said.

Charlene looked at me and her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Excuse me darling," she said to the man she was talking to. " I just gotta
say hello to this gorgeous hunk of a man! Come here baby!" She walked
around the bar and came up to me and gave me a big hug. I could feel her
arms crushing me, her big breasts trying to drill a hole in my chest. Did I
already mention she was big? She is tall too, just an inch shorter than I
am. I let myself into her embrace, knowing that resistance was futile.

"Hello my baby boy! How come we haven't seen you in such a long time? That
theater business of yours is taking too much of your time isn't it. Don't
try to deny it. I can almost feel your bones through your shirt, you need
to put more meat on your bones! I guess we'll just have to feed you while
we have the chance. You are here to eat are you?"

She let go of me and I stared at her. Like my aunt, there was nothing but
love emanating from this woman.

"I'm sorry Charlene, you know how it goes with running a business, you want
to be everywhere at the same time. I got almost no time for myself. Delia
kicked me out for today though. I am not allowed to enter the office for
today and the whole weekend. I've just been wandering around town, doing
nothing and now I am hungry so I decided to come to my favorite restaurant
for a bite. You know, to fatten up a little."

I gave her a mischievous smile. Charlene knows me like few people do. She
put her hand on my forehead.

"Now, that sister of you is very smart for giving you the day off and by
what you just told me you really needed it. You wandering around town doing
nothing? Mr. Busy Busy himself? You're not sick, your temperature is
normal, is this a new you?"

She was looking at me quizzically. I couldn't help but laugh. She was
right, my doing nothing was a bit uncharacteristic for me.

"I'm fine! I just thought of doing something different for a change. Maybe
it's the spring time or something."

"Mmmhhhh, maybe you're coming out of your shell you call work and feel like
getting a little loving?  When are you getting yourself a man and enjoy the
tastier side of live?"

I felt the heat going to my head. You think Black people don't blush? Thing
again. You can't see it when they do, with the exception of very light
skinned Black people, but we do blush. And I was definitely blushing after
her remark.

"You're always putting me on the spot Charlene! You know I don't have time
for a relationship, I barely have time for myself. I don't think I can give
what I want to receive in a relationship right now."

I was aware that we were standing in a rather crowded area but I always
felt free to speak openly with Charlene about my love life or lack there
off.

"Boy! I'm not talking about relationships in particular. When was the last
time you got any?"

By now, you must have guessed that Charlene is a very forward person, one
of the reasons I like her.

I sighed. "I don't exactly, I think it was a couple of months ago."

"Months ago? Jackson, you need to keep the motor running and oiled or
you're gonna get rusty. Such a fine man like you and you're denying another
man what you have to give? You're still young baby, get it while you can,
but you got to play safe! If the right man comes along, you'll find time to
give what you want to receive, trust me on that. I don't want to keep
having this conversation with you eveytime we speak. At the least I want to
hear that you get your freak on once in a while, once in a while meaning
more the one every couple of months. You got to make priorities, you can't
be married to your career Jackson, have a little fun on the side too!"

"Understood! I am taking your words to heart. Where is aunt Magda by the
way?"

Charlene smiled. She gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"That's what I want to hear. Now, let's get you fed. You want your regular
table? You're aunt had an appointment this morning, she could come in any
minute?"

"Okay, I'd like to have my regular table if you don't mind. Will you let
her know that I am here when she gets in?"

"Sure darling, I will. Now, let's get you settled and I'll bring you the
menu and a cup of latte okay?"

"I know the menu by heart, I don't think I'll need it," I said.

Charlene pinched my left cheek.

"You really haven't been here in a while have you? We've changed the menu,"
she said smiling.

"Really? I guess I'll have to get reacquainted with the menu." I said
smirking while we walked to my table.

As I said down in the back of the restaurant facing into the crowd I saw a
guy entering. He looked to be about 26, 6'1", around my weight, black but
light skinned with a big mob of curly hair, looking freaky and unkempt on
his head. He was too far away to see what color his eyes were but I could
definitely see his huge glasses which were outdated for a very long time.
The thing besides his big hair that stood out was his outfit. It was a
concoction of different styles and too many colors. The clothes weren't
dirty or whatever but they just didn't carry him. He had a shirt on that
were too many sizes too big, jeans that had a snit that was out of fashion
for at least a decade and white sneakers. As I stood taking his appearance
all of a sudden he locked eyes with me. I still couldn't see what colours
his eyes were but I could feel him checking me out as well. There was
something about that guy that just captivated me.

"Hello? Jackson? Are you listing to what I'm saying?" Charlene asked,
snapping her fingers before my eyes.

It was now very obvious that I was staring at this guy. I cursed Charlene
silently, feeling embarrassed about the situation but the guy didn't seem
to care, he just kept his gaze upon me. I pried my eyes away from him and
looked up at Charlene.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I tried, but Charlene saw right trough it.

She spun around and saw the guy looking at me. She appraised him for a full
10 seconds and turned back to me.

"You've got a strange taste in men, Jackson. That guy looks like he got
stuck somewhere between 1989 and 1991."

I nodded in agreement, turning my gaze back at the guy.

"You're right, he is a fashion victim, but I see potential. I can already
see the after, if he ever has a make over. He really needs a make over,
Oprah and her staff would have a blast with this one."

"Hhhhmmm... he is a fashion victim for sure. I would love to get my
scissors in that hair."

"You can do a lot of things Charlene, but cutting hair is not one of them,"
I said, recalling a now funny, but then very embarrassing encounter of my
hair with Charlenes scissors.

"That hairdo wasn't that bad," Charlene pouted.

"Hahaha," I laughed, "tell that to the kids at my junior high who thought I
had a blind barber!"

"Yeah well, it did get you noticed."

"Hah! The gay black kid with the freaky hair! I survived though. I'm still
here."

"Yes you are," Charlene snickered. "I'll go and check with our freaky guy
what he wants, I know that Tina won't dare go near him. I'll be back with
the latte and your menu shortly."

"Sure! See you in a few!" I said.

Charlene walked towards the bar and started talking to the guy. Of course I
couldn't hear what they were talking about. He looked shyly at her but
apparently she put him at ease because at one point I could see him smile
at her. He had a nice smile. Charlene walked away from him and he stood
waiting while I was guessing she prepared my latte and fetched a menu for
me. She came back from behind the bar and motioned him to follow her. My
eyes got big when I saw them approaching my table. Charlene put my latte on
the table and handed me one menu, holding another one in her hand. He had
light brown eyes, bordering on green, standing looking a bit
uncomfortable. I looked at her questioningly wondering what he was doing at
my table.

"Jackson, this is Matthew, he is here for lunch also but we are fully
seated right now so I offered him to share your table," she said.

I looked from Charlene to Matthew. He looked a little lost, almost as if he
was embarrassed at the situation. I felt for him, it was kinda strange but
I didn't mind sharing a table with him. He was looking sort of freaky, but
hey, I am in the theater business right? I've seen more eccentric types
before.

"No problem! Come and sit down!"

"Are you sure it's no problem? I can just wait for a free table. I don't
want to cause any inconvenience to you," he said.

My eyes shot up when I heard his voice. I was a deep melodic voice, rich in
texture. I am a sucker for deep male voices, it is a definite major plus in
my book. And from this little sentence he just spoke he seemed very well
spoken too. I am not a particular fan of Ebonics, maybe it is my middle
class upbringing. I just don't think that it is a part of my Black identity
although I've learned to master it because it can come in handy some
times. I shot a quick glance at Charlene who was suppressing a smile but I
could see the twinkle in her eyes.

"There is no inconvenience at all, I'd be glad not to eat lunch
alone. Please, take a seat."

"Okay! Thank you very much!" he said and sat down.

"Here you go honey," Charlene said, handing him the other menu. "Can I get
you something to drink?"

"Thank you. I would like a latte please!"

"Sure thing hon! I'll be back shortly to give you your latte and take your
orders. Okay?"

"That will be fine, thank you very much," he said.

Charlene walked away to the bar. We sat in silence for a while, studying
the menu and stealing glances at each other. His eyes were
amazing. Although his presentation had much to be desired about, there was
definitely potential. Just the right haircut and a change in wardrobe and
this guy would be truly handsome. I already started to like what I saw and
in my fantasy the make over would make him truly hot. I have a lousy gaydar
and wondered if this guy was gay or not. His current state of dress made it
very difficult to make an educated guess.

"Thanks again for putting up with me," the beautiful deep voice sad, coming
from his mouth.

"Why would you think I'm putting up with you?" I asked.

"Well... we make quite an odd couple don't you think?"

He was straightforward too. Another plus in my department. Forget about the
looks, this guy was getting more interesting by the minute.

"How so?" I asked, looking him straight in the eyes.

"We don't really match in styles," he answered, looking straight back at
me. "You look like a brother with money and taste, I look like a brother
with no taste."

He was really straightforward. I couldn't help but smile.

"Hhhmm, I don't know about the money, but I am glad you like my taste in
clothing. You don't look too bad, I've seen worse."

He smiled at me, showing a perfect row of theeth.

"Not too harsh, not too diplomatic either. I guess I did put you a little
on the spot with my remark."

Matthew responded.

"Yeah, I guess you did, but I don't mind people being straightforward with
me, it makes it easier to know who you're dealing with."

"That's true," Matthew said, "it has gotten me into trouble at law school
though. I thought that lawyers had to be very straight to the point but I
guess I stepped on peoples toes when I was just being me."

Another plus! A college educated man. Law no less!.

"Did you just get out of law school?" I asked him.

"Yup, graduated last summer, went travelling around the world for the past
9 months and now I'm here."

Could it be, that someone who didn't meet my visual standards could still
be interesting to me? I had always dated men, who had the perfect style but
who eventually lacked the characteristics I valued.

Here I was, barely five minutes talking to someone who was a fashion
victim, someone who would have never been set up with me on a blind date
purely because of his presentation and I started to feel a connection that
I've never felt before. Was five minutes all it could take?  "Do you
already have a job?" I couldn't resist asking.

"What? A job? With me looking like this? You must be kidding!" he laughed.

"Hahaha, maybe this is your style, if you are the right man for the job,
should it matter how you look?" I said, smiling.

"It shouldn't matter but it does. I don't know why I stuck with this," he
said gesturing to his attire, "I never was much of a fashionably type, I
just stuck with this through high school and college. Now I don't know
where to begin to change all of this."

I saw Charlene coming with the latte. A crazy idea formed in my head. I was
remembering her words earlier. As she approached I thought that since today
was already unusual I might go all the way and step out of my box.

"Mmmhh, I know we just met and all, but today is my day off, I have a long
weekend without any plans.

Would you care to take the advice of a stranger and get you started with
your make over?"

Matthew looked up at me in suprise...


To be continued?

This is the end of this chapter. I will be posting another chapter but I am
also working on my other story meeting at the lake, posted in the boybands
section. I hope to post another chapter within 4 weeks.

Comments, nasty or nice can be mailed to ilan2011@hotmail.com