Date: Sun, 2 May 2010 17:45:42 +0000
From: John Barnes <bigg89@hotmail.co.uk>
Subject: Dirty Laundry Part 2

DISCLAIMER:
1.)	No one is to steal this story under any circumstances.
2.)	This is a story about relationships and not sex. If
you are looking for a story about sex then go
elsewhere.


Previously on DIRTY LAUNDRY:

*************************************************************

"I need a guy in my life so badly," Eric said dreamily.

"We know," everyone said, laughing.

**************************************************************

Frank was furious and threw things off Justin's desk. Justin
walked towards the photocopier and wondered why he was even
with Frank.

*********************************************************

"I don't envy you. Long distance relationships must be
impossible," Eric said.

"They're a bit... difficult," Nathan said, hesitating as to not
reveal the truth about his non-existent love life.

**************************************************************

"Oh my god," Scott said, "This note is awful."

"What does it say?" Eric pressured him for a reply.

"It says," Scott read out, "Jordan is never coming back. You
will never see him again."

"Oh Jordan," Eric said in despair, "Where are you?"


**************************************************************

Episode 2: Secrets

*************************************************************



"So, let me get this straight, Jim" Justin said, when
approaching the server, "it was a woman in sunglasses and a
hat, and that's all you know?"

"Yes, it was," Jim said, annoyed, "I've already told you this
on the telephone. She then left and nobody knows where she
went."

"I just don't understand it," Eric said, puzzled as they
walked out of Matty's, "why did some woman give us a note
saying Jordan wasn't coming back?"

"It doesn't make any sense at all," Tyler replied, confused,
"I mean, surely this woman must know something about where
Jordan is."

"Well, apparently Jordan is now a missing person, so I guess
we'll find out soon enough," Scott added.

"I'm just so confused as to why someone would kidnap Jordan or
even why he went missing," Justin said, drinking coffee, "He
had no enemies as far as we knew, and we knew him very well."

"Maybe he was hiding something secret all along," Nathan added
quietly, "I mean he must have had some secret if he's gone
missing."

"That's wrong, dude," Scott said laughing as they sat down in
a park, "no one in our group has secrets."

"Right," Nathan said unconvincingly as he thought of Joe.

"So what are your plans for today?" Tyler asked the group who
were lying around.

"Well, I've got work to do then I'm going to video call Joe in
Australia in the evening, which will be nice," Nathan said
dreamily.

"Oh look at lover-boy!" Justin laughed, "well I'm going into
work unfortunately, and then I'm having dinner with Frank,
which will be dire."

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Eric asked curiously.

"Oh well, we just spend... so much time together it can be a bit
difficult," Justin said hurriedly and looking at Scott. They
shared a knowing look.

"Interesting," Eric answered unconvinced and confused, "well
I'm going out to find a man tonight and refuse to go home
until I've officially slept with another man."

"Woah," Tyler said laughing, "that's very forward and
upfront."

"Well, it's not like I have any luck just sitting around, is
it?" Eric questioned, "I may as well try a new strategy.
Anyone want to join?"

The group looked around at each other to find out who was
available to join him for this no doubt terrible experience.
Justin had his dinner and Nathan had his video date. Tyler was
working and so...

"I'll go with you," Scott said reluctantly, "I guess," he
mumbled to himself.

"Well, I'll be working so I guess I'll see you if you come to
Fusion," Tyler added later, "but today I've got some stuff I
need to do."

"What's that?" Justin asked, sipping his drink.

"I'm going to go to see Mike and see how he's getting on
without Jordan," Tyler said gazing at a tree to the side.

"No you're not," Eric said to him, "you're obviously just
going to get some information about Jordan."

"Well of course I am," Tyler chuckled, "but what's wrong with
that? Mike may need some company, but he hasn't talked to any
of us since Jordan's disappearance and I want to know what he
knows."

"Well good luck," Scott said apprehensively, "that's not going
to be a comfortable visit after what we've seen from Mike in
the past."

"Indeed," Nathan added, "the last time I spoke to Jordan was
before Hawaii and apparently Mike was trying everything to
stay at home."

"I've never understood that man," Justin said and they all
agreed.

"Well, I better go, I'll be late to the office otherwise,"
Justin added, and they all got up and went on their merry
ways.


*************************************************************


"Thanks for coming with me tonight," Eric said gratefully as
he passed a cocktail to Scott, "you're a life saver!"

"Don't worry, man!" Scott said, taking a bit swig, "you've had
a hard time recently and I think for everyone's sake you need
to get laid!"

"Sorry," Eric said apologetically, "you must be frustrated by
me talking about men and sex all the time."

"It's okay," Scott replied, "you know, we all have our needs."

"What about you then?" Eric pressed Scott, "don't you have
needs?"

"I guess," Scott said thoughtfully, "I've just been so busy
with my job I haven't had time to even consider it much."

"You're lucky," Eric said nodding as they surveyed the club
for cutties.


*************************************************************


As Nathan prepared for his video chat with Joe, he couldn't
help but be excited about what was happening. Maybe he would
get back together with Joe? Maybe Joe would tell him
everything that he wanted to hear and he could come to the
USA?

All Nathan really wanted, however, was to hear Joe's voice.


**************************************************************


"This was a good idea to go for dinner, right?" Justin said
hopefully as they just ordered their starter course.

"Right," Frank said distantly, "listen maybe we could make
this not go to long, because you know I have stuff to do."

"Oh," Justin said, "well that's okay. But you know," he added
sexually, "I was hoping we could end it soon to go back for
other things." He winked at Frank.

Frank, however, just looked flustered.

"You know, maybe tonight wasn't the best night, I mean, I have
to go back and organise all my things for the business trip
this weekend and next week."

"Oh," Justin replied deflated. However, he was determined not
to give up hope.

"I just need to go to the bathroom quickly," Justin added,
running quickly away.

As he approached the bathroom, Justin ran into one of the
servers.

"Hey... Carlos," Justin said, reading his nametag, "I have a
huge favour to ask you."

"Um, okay," Carlos said, confused, "but I gotta serve these
drinks first."

"Oh, no no no," Justin said, blocking him, "I mean afterwards,
yes. But now, I need you to go and take the bottle of water
that we have and add a small bit of vodka to it."

"I dunno," Carlos said, unsure, "I mean I could get fired for
that."

"Oh nonsense," Justin tried,  "It'll be fine, I know... Pedro.
He owns this joint, right?"

"Er, he's the cleaning guy," Carlos added, looking less
hopeful.

"Ok, listen Carlos," Justin added impatiently, "I'll give you
whatever tip you want if you go and do what I ask of you."
Justin began to walk away, "Oh, and you need to flirt with him
a bit, you're his type," he added, much to Carlos' surprise.


*************************************************************


"So, what would you give him out of ten?" Eric asked Scott
about a passing larger man, "I'd say six."

"SIX?!" Scott said incredulously, "Eric! Get a grip on
yourself! You can't be serious, that guy was so hairy and I
know that's not your type at all."

"I guess," Eric conceded, "I'm just... really desperate," he
admitted.

Scott put his arm around Eric, "We'll get you a guy tonight,"
and looked him in the eye, "I promise."

Eric smiled and sipped his drink, while Scott looked around.
After a second, he pointed to a group dancing and said, "that
guy there. He's hot!" He was pointing to a blonde, tall and
handsome guy who was dancing with friends.

"Wanna go introduce yourself?" Scott asked hopefully.

Eric winced awkwardly, "maybe I'll just stay and see who
approaches me."

"No," Scott said forcefully, lifting Eric out of his seat and
walking towards the group, "you're taking risks tonight." He
promptly marched with Eric towards the blonde guy until they
were right in front of him and pushed Eric in front of him,
leaving Eric with no choice but to introduce himself.

"Hi, I'm Eric" Eric said nervously.

"Hey," the blonde guy said, smiling and winking, "I'm Kent.
Wanna dance?"

"Sure," Eric said gratefully, and they walked off towards the
dance floor.

"Thank goodness," Scott thought to himself as he ran to the
bar for another martini.


*************************************************************


"How's your meal, baby?" Justin asked sweetly.

"Um, you know it's good," Frank said, coughing a lot.

"Oh," Justin said, confused, "maybe you should sit for a
moment."

"I'll just have some of this water," Frank said as he filled
his glass and took a huge sip. Much to his shock (and even
Justin's shock), the bottle wasn't partially filled with
vodka. It had been completely replaced by it.

"This is alcohol!" He claimed, furiously.

"Hey!" Frank tracked down Carlos, who was passing, "why is
there VODKA in my water pitcher?"

"I'm sure it was just a mistake," Carlos said, "no big deal."

"It's a big deal alright," Frank spluttered furiously, "I want
the manager here right away."

"Okay, okay," Carlos pleaded quietly, "please don't get the
manager! I need this job to pay for my college degree. It was
him," Carlos pointed at Justin.

Frank turned slowly towards Justin. "Justin? What? I don't
understand."

"He did it to try and get you drunk and take advantage of
you," Carlos said running away quickly.

"I wasn't trying to take advantage of anyone, bastard!" Justin
yelled out afterwards, attracting the attention of the entire
restaurant.

"You know what, I'm leaving," Frank said angrily, "I'm so fed
up of this."


*************************************************************


"Wow, are they still kissing?" Tyler asked from behind the
bar.

"Yup, they've been at it for a while," Scott said chuckling
and looking at Eric and Kent.

"I'm happy for Eric," Tyler said as he polished a glass, "he's
so desperate it's kind of embarrassing."

"Yeah," Scott said laughing, "but the guy there is hot."

"You bet," Tyler said as he watched them.

Meanwhile, on the dance-floor, Eric and Kent were dancing
sexually and kissing.

"You're a good kisser," Eric said as he approached Kent again.

"Thanks," Kent said as he kissed Eric, "You've got a great
body and you dance well."

"Ha!" Eric laughed, "You should ask any one of my friends,
they'll tell you I'm the worst dancer alive."

"I'm sure they would," Kent replied, kissing Eric again. They
danced and grinded together for a while before Kent reached
for his pocket.

"You know," Kent said quietly and seductively, "I have some
pills we can have. You know, just to get us in the mood."

"Pills?" Eric said, confused, before realising. "Oh," he
paused and hesitated slightly before replying, "you know, I'm
pretty chill right now, thanks, I'll pass."

"Come on," Kent said, grinning and looking at him in the eye,
"We'll have lots of fun together, I promise."

"Nope," Eric said again and smiled, "I'm pretty okay as it is,
thank you."

"Eric," Kent shouted firmly, grabbing his arm with a strong
hold, "take some of these pills."

Eric began to get a bit afraid, "No, Kent, I'm not taking
anything."

Kent paused, before suddenly grabbing Eric and pushing him,
"Come on," he said strongly, "We're leaving."

"What?" Eric shouted, surprised, "we can't leave yet, I'm
staying here!"

"I said, let's go!" Kent yelled, attracting the attention of
others on the dance floor.

"No, Kent," Eric tried to push him away but he wouldn't budge,
"leave me alone!"

"What's going on over there?" Scott said to Tyler, "it looks
like there's some commotion over there."

Tyler glanced over momentarily before moving quickly, "It's
Eric," he yelled to Scott, "he's in trouble!" They began to
run towards Eric and Kent.

"Let go of me!" Eric yelled, trying everything as they
approached the door, "stop!" he pleaded to Kent, who had
stopped talking to him and was just dragging him mercilessly
out of the club.

"You!" Tyler said, approaching Kent quickly and confidently,
"let go of him now!"

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Kent said menacingly at
Tyler.

"I work here," Tyler said strongly, "so unless you want a
lifetime ban, I'd suggest getting out right now!"

Kent paused. There was a small crowd and no music. Scott was
standing behind and watching it all.

"Ok... fine," Kent spat at Eric and Tyler, "but you both need to
lighten up!" He stormed off out of the club and out of sight,
leaving the others shocked and confused.


*************************************************************


Outside, it was raining. That unfortunately summed up the mood
of the night for Frank and Justin.

"Frank!" Justin cried out, following him out of the
restaurant, "I'm sorry okay!"

"You tried to get me drunk, Justin, by forcing servers to give
me extra vodka. What the hell?" Frank yelled.

"Okay," Justin said running ahead of Frank and stopping him,
"I know it was a dumb idea, but listen. I did it because our
relationship isn't working."

"What do you mean it isn't working?" Frank raged, pushing
passed Justin to his car.

"You're always angry," Justin yelled causing Frank to stop,
"and you never listen to me anymore. We used to be in love,
but you've been pushing me away for a while."

"Justin," Frank sighed, but Justin cut him off.

"I may have been stupid," Justin said tearing up, "but I'm
just trying to save us and our relationship."

"Justin, come here," Frank hugged him, "I guess I appreciate
it, but you're right. We're not exactly the couple we used to
be."

"No," Justin agreed.

"When I get back from my trip," Frank promised, "We'll work
our issues out, k?"

"Okay," Justin agreed and they kissed for a while in the
pouring rain.


*************************************************************


It was sad, then, that despite the timing they'd arranged, Joe
failed to call or respond to any of Nathan's calls, despite
Nathan waiting up all night to get them.

"How could you do this to me, Joe?" Nathan exclaimed out-loud,
"we had so much fun together in Australia and now you're
ignoring me out-right?"

Now stuck in a rut, Nathan went to bed, incredibly frustrated
by Joe and his life and vowed to forget that his ex-boyfriend
ever existed.


*************************************************************


"Thanks for walking me home, Scott," Eric said gratefully,
"You and Tyler are the best friends ever."

"It's all good," Scott replied, smiling, "all in a day's
work."

"It's not everyday that some psycho tries to give you drugs
and drag you out of clubs," Eric refuted, to which Scott
nodded.

"I suppose you're right," Scott agreed, "but still, I'd never
have let you go like that."

"Thanks," Eric smiled sincerely as they approached his
apartment.

"Do you want to come in?" Eric asked him, "We're really far
from your apartment here."

"Thanks, do you mind if I crash here?" Scott asked, "I'm not
working tomorrow."

"Go ahead," Eric said, "after tonight I owe you and Tyler
one."

As they got out the elevator and into Eric's apartment, they
settled on the sofa and chatted for a while.

"I'm interested in the scoop that Tyler will find tomorrow
with Mike," Eric said, sipping some coffee.

"Me too," Scott replied distantly before telling Eric, "I'm
sorry I forced you to approach that guy. I had no idea he was
bad news."

Eric laughed, "It's not your fault at all! In fact, if it
hadn't been for you I'd never have done anything. Which would
have been probably better in that case," Eric conceded, "but
still, I need to be more confident to get a man." He laughed
some more before putting his head on Scott's shoulder. "You
know," Eric continued, "I vowed I'd not come back to my
apartment until I'd slept with a guy. I guess I failed."

"You did," Scott laughed, closing his eyes, "better luck next
time."

It was then that the numerous cocktails they'd consumed that
evening finally hit them. Feeling a lot more drunk, and thus a
lot more horny, Eric realised that Scott, a very hot guy, was
right there. He could even hear Scott's breathing as he lay on
his chest.

Sitting up slightly, Eric moved towards Scott and so their
faces were very close. Scott opened his eyes, and didn't move
away even though he looked shocked.

Although he couldn't really believe it, Eric moved even
further in and kissed Scott. Scott didn't back away, and in
fact started getting far more into it. They two began making
out furiously for a long time before heading towards Eric's
bedroom.


*************************************************************


After last night's events, there were many confused faces in
the morning. Firstly, there was Justin, who woke up after
spooning all night with Frank. Unfortunately, in the morning
he had a less than pleasant discovery.

"Frank?" Justin shouted, looking around their apartment for
him, "Frank, where did you go?"

After finding a piece of paper that said "see you soon" and
some money, Justin quite understandably was furious. "I can't
believe that son-of-a-bitch left without saying goodbye to me!
What a horrible person!"

After what they tried to resolve the night before, Justin
realised that his relationship with Frank was falling apart
rapidly.


*************************************************************


There were more confused faces at Eric's house, where the
blurry happenings of the night before began to come back to
Eric, as he woke up lying next to Scott. Moving away slightly,
he winced as he realised how much his head hurt from his
hangover, and then looked down to find out he was naked, as
was Scott.

"SCOTT!" Eric said, jumping out of the bed and taking one of
the sheets, "what happened?"

Scott woke up suddenly, and covered himself quickly with some
pillows, "I don't know," he said, grabbing another sheet and
pulling it around himself, "I guess we must have slept
together."

"SLEPT TOGETHER?" Eric said, dumfounded as the reality set in,
"we can't have done!"

"Why not?" Scott chuckled, rubbing his tired eyes, "I mean you
were desperate and we were both drunk as hell. I guess it
just... happened."

"It can't just happen," Eric replied, still shocked and
throwing clothes at Scott, "we're friends! Friends! And
friends," he said, pointing at the two of them, "don't sleep
together like that! Friends aren't supposed to have sexual
feelings like that!"

"Hey, I guess we have a complicated relationship," Scott said,
putting on his pants, "but you know, you were the one who
vowed you needed to have sex. And you put the moves on me, as
far as I remember."

"Don't try blaming this on me!" Eric said, throwing a shirt on
quickly, "you didn't back away."

"I didn't see a need to," Scott said laughing, "besides, you
may not admit it, but the sex was good, right?"

"Scott!" Eric said flabbergasted, "we can't be discussing this
type of thing." He moved towards the door, and pushed a still
dressing Scott with him. "We need to forget this ever happened
and go back to being friends."

"Okay," Scott said puzzled, moving out the door, "but I don't
see what the big deal is."

"The big deal is that I don't want to destroy our friendship
by doing something stupid like that again," Eric said, as he
stood in the doorway. "Oh," he stopped Scott, who was walking
away, "if anyone asks, we spent last night having a guys night
in watching movies and going to bed late before having some
breakfast today."

"Alrighty," Scott said, "if you feel as though you need to
lie, I guess we could do that."

"Good," Eric said awkwardly, "well, see you later." He closed
the door.

"Bye," Scott said, still smirking and a bit dazed.


*************************************************************


Jordan always told his friends how much he loved his
apartment. He loved interior design, and everyone loved his
oak floors, his mahogany bookcases, and his bathroom tiles.

Now, someone was going back to that apartment, but instead of
marvelling at the new wallpaper, he was there for another
purpose: to find out the new whereabouts of Jordan.

Ringing the doorbell, Tyler stood patiently at the door. It
was a few moments before a tall man came to answer it.

"Tyler," Mike said without smiling, "what a... surprise."

"Hello Mike," Tyler said smiling, and motioning towards the
inside, "is now a good time?"

"Well actually," Mike began, but he was too late, for Tyler
had already began to walk straight into the apartment. Mike
was not happy with this sudden visitor.


*************************************************************


"Jordan always loved these mugs," Tyler said abstractly,
"didn't he buy them from Washington?"

"Yes," Mike said as he poured tea, "they were some of his
favourites."

"Indeed," Tyler nodded as he drank some green tea, "did you
enjoy Hawaii?"

"Yes," Mike said simply, "it was good to get away for a while.
Unfortunately now things are a bit hectic."

"Yes, I can imagine," Tyler said obviously, gazing into space.

There was an awkward pause where neither of them said anything
at all. Tyler quickly moved away from small talk and towards
more important topics.

"Look," Tyler said, making eye contact with Mike, "I know this
is a difficult time for you, but Jordan is now a missing
person. He was all of our friends and we are really worried
about him, as you must be. I want to propose that we all help
you find him and where he is. I want nothing more," Tyler
added sincerely, "than for us all to be reunited again."

"Tyler," Mike began, sighing, "I appreciate your offer but I
think I'm going to carry out the search with the police
myself. You know what they say," he added without smiling once
more, "too many cooks spoil the broth."

Despite this rebuff, Tyler was determined not to give up.

"I know you are suffering terribly," Tyler started, "but do
you have any idea where Jordan might be?"

"All I know is what you know," Mike said impatiently, "we had
a bit of a fight in Hawaii and Jordan ended up getting another
ticket to come back a day later. It's not nice," Mike added as
an after-thought, "to know that Jordan and I ended things on
bad terms."

"He's not dead, Mike," Tyler said firmly, looking at Mike and
standing up, "One thing I know is that Jordan is still alive."

As Tyler walked to the door, he noticed some papers on a
table.

"Is this your flight tickets?" Tyler said picking them up and
glancing at them.

"Don't touch my private documents," Mike started, reaching
over quickly, but Tyler was too quick for him.

"Wait a minute," Tyler said, reading the document, "It
confirms here that you left Hawaii last Sunday," Tyler
continued reading, "and also... that Jordan left Hawaii as well
last Sunday. On the same plane..." Tyler trailed off and looked
at Mike.

"Mike," Tyler said quietly, "What's going on?"

Mike paused for a while before reaching for the door and
opening it. "I think you should leave now," he said
threateningly and firmly.

Tyler walked out quickly and approached his car. When he got
there he realised that something sinister must have been going
on, and Jordan's life was obviously not as simple as he made
it out to be beforehand.


*************************************************************


Everyone has secrets in their lives. And even among friends
there are those who try and hide the things they've done and
the mistakes they've made. There are those that hide from the
truth and there are those who confront their problems head on,
sometimes with negative effects. But one thing is definitely
for sure – those that mask their problems may think they've
succeeded. But there is a secret in everyone; hidden
underneath the oak floors or mahogany bookcases lies something
that we keep from others.

As Mike approached his mahogany bookcase that evening, he
found a box filled with pictures of Jordan as well as him and
Mike and him and his friends, he glanced through all of them
for a few moments considering them all and what they meant to
him.

Finally he picked out one from the pack, the picture of Jordan
and Mike from their one-year anniversary holiday to Lake
Tahoe. Looking at the picture thoughtfully, he sighed.
"Jordan," he said to himself, alone, "I hate you."


*************************************************************

Thanks everyone for reading! Sorry about the delayed post,
I've been on vacation for a few weeks. But I hope you've
enjoyed the new episode. I promise to write more soon! Next
time: find out what happens in the aftermath of Eric and
Scott's one-night stand. Plus, new stories for Tyler and
Nathan! And, we'll find out more about Jordan's disappearance.

Thank you for all your comments and feedback. That's
definitely kept me going and inspired to keep writing. Any
more comments or thoughts should be sent to
bigg89@hotmail.co.uk.