Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 19:11:10 -0500
From: Ross Bolejack <sneezer@midkan.net>
Subject: Prequel Pillow Talk Chapter 8

***  !! WARNING !!  *** Gay fiction about to begin!

If you're not old enough please come back when you are. If you're not
allowed to see this wherever you're accessing it from don't! You should
go now at a run-if not, it's your neck and don't say I didn't warn you
to leave.  And last but not least-if you are offended by the thought of
homosexuality then you're in the wrong place. Please go back the way
you came in or you will be offended.

Also, these characters come from my imagination. I know of no one
like them in real life. Any one who sees himself or anyone they know
should mark it down as a coincidence.

I hope you enjoy the story.

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

Ian came out of the spare bedroom and closed the door. He locked the
door and then put the key in his pocket. He went over and picked up the
ribbon and bow he'd purchased the day before and hung it on the door.
He hoped things worked out well tonight.

Ian glanced at his watch. It read six fifty-two. Jeremy should arrive any
time.

It had been two months since Jeremy had moved in to the Star Shine
Motel. The owner, Milton Harris, owed Ian a favor and was more than
willing to provide one of the three luxury suites the motel had for
Jeremy's use. It did not bother the owner what Jeremy was or did for a
living. In fact, the only thing Milton asked was that Jeremy not bring a
client there. Jeremy had readily agreed saying he never took clients
home anyway.

Jeremy had fallen in love with the place much to Ian's satisfaction. The
rooms were clean and in good repair. After the first week, Jeremy
started talking about staying there permanently. Milton did not have a
problem with it as long as Jeremy honored his one request about his
clientele.

Ian went over to the piano to rehearse a new piece of music when the
phone rang.

Ian answered the phone, "Hello, this is Ian."

"Hello, Ian, this is Owen's brother David. My in-laws really loved the
party you catered for them. Not to mention how it's raised their opinion
of me, so thank you for that."

"You're welcome." Ian smiled. "Always glad to help Owen and his
family."

"Thanks, but the reason I'm calling is to warn you that there may be
trouble outside your place tonight."

"Oh?" Ian asked. "What kind of trouble?"

"Vice is going to arrest a prostitute who has been having dinner with
his clients at your restaurant regularly."

"His clients?" Ian asked struggling to keep his voice calm even as he
felt his heart begin to hammer.

"Yes," David said. "I wouldn't know except that it was Owen who filed
the report."

"Uhm, does this prostitute have a name?" Ian asked hoping he was
wrong. Please don't let it be Jeremy, he prayed silently.

"I think it was Jerry. No, it was Jeremy." David corrected himself.

NO! Ian screamed in his head.

When Ian said nothing, David broke the silence.

"Anyway, because of Owen and the party I felt I should warn you so
you could be prepared. Hopefully the arrest will go down without any
trouble, but we just don't know."

Ian's mind swam with questions. Jeremy was going to be arrested?
Owen reported him? It did not make sense. Then Ian remembered how
he was impersonated when Fred Haversham evicted Jeremy. That had
to be what was going on.

"Uhm, thanks for the warning, David." Ian said. "But Jeremy is a friend
of mine. He helped me paint the office and he's supposed to be my
guest for dinner tonight."

"Oh shit!" David said. "Why would Owen report him then?"

"It wasn't Owen." Ian said. "Someone is trying to cause trouble."

"Who would do that?" David asked. "And why?"

A good question, and as soon as David asked Ian realized who it had to
be. The question was why?

"I'll take care of it." Ian said. "Look, I'm sorry, but I've got to go."

David started to ask a question, but Ian hung up the phone and ran for
the door.

Running down the stairs Ian's mind raced for a way to warn Jeremy
that he was in trouble. Ian ran around the side of the building to the
front of the restaurant before slowing down to a walk.

He looked around for a sign of Jeremy. He knew which way Jeremy
would be walking from so that was the direction Ian watched. That's
when he saw the unmarked van and the man standing behind it. They
had to be the police.

Ian's heart was racing as he searched the street for Jeremy. He had to
stop Jeremy's arrest.

There! Ian saw the top of Jeremy's bright orange, curly head. He was
walking along the sidewalk as though he had not a care in the world.

Ian glanced across the street to see the man come out from behind the
van and head toward Jeremy.

"Shit!" Ian cursed as he started walking toward Jeremy himself. He had
to warn Jeremy without tipping off the police. Part of his telephone
conversation with David gave Ian an idea.

Ian started to wave at Jeremy hoping to get his attention. Jeremy looked
up and saw him and waved back. The plain-clothes policeman kept
walking across the street, but changed his course so that he would be
out of the way. The man stopped under a streetlight and took a pack of
cigarettes out of his pocket. He proceeded to light up.

Ian reached Jeremy within just a few feet of the man.

"Hey Ian." Jeremy smiled. "You didn't have to meet me."

Ian nodded, "Yes I did. Look, I've had a problem come up in the
kitchen. If you wouldn't mind waiting in the office for a few minutes,
I'll take care of the mess there, then I can get you the painting money I
owe you. You did a really good job painting the office."

Jeremy frowned. Ian had already given him money for helping paint the
office. He was about to say something when Jeremy caught the look of
fear in Ian's eyes. He knew something was up.

"That's okay," Jeremy shrugged his shoulders playing along. "I have
the time."

Ian nodded and there was a look of gratitude in his eyes. Jeremy might
not have known what, but Ian was thankful he understood that
something was going on.

"Come on, then." Ian turned and walked back toward the restaurant
with Jeremy beside him. "I really appreciate all your hard work, by the
way. The last painter I hired did a really lousy job."

"Some people take no pride in their work." Jeremy said.

Ian watched out of the corner of his eye as the man waited by the street
lamp. He had stopped there and lit a cigarette. He had heard every word
spoken between the two of them. The man's head nodded slightly and
then looked both ways before crossing the street. The back of the
delivery van opened and the man climbed inside.

Ian breathed a sigh of relief. The immediate problem was over.

The two went in to the restaurant and back to the office. Jeremy kept
quiet until the office door was closed.

"What the hell is going on?" Jeremy asked.

"You were about to be arrested." Ian said. "Someone reported to the
police that you were bringing clients here. The cops were waiting for
you."

Jeremy sat down on the sofa and ran his fingers through his hair. He
looked up at Ian with anger in his eyes.

"Who's doing this to me?"

"Don't worry. It's about to end." Ian declared.

He walked over to the telephone and picked up the handset. He
thumbed through a Rolodex that sat next to the phone. He quickly
found the number and punched in the numbers on the keypad. Ian was
quiet as the phone rang on the other end of the line.

"What're you doing?" Jeremy asked.

"Something I should've done months ago." Ian replied.

Just then the phone on the other end of Ian's call was answered.

"Elliot, this is Ian Shea. I need you to bring both sets of books and meet
me at Helen's office as soon as she opens in the morning."

Ian listened quietly for a second then said, "That's right, I'm going to
press charges. I want that bastard out of my life for good."

Jeremy was curious. He knew who Ian was talking about, but was not
sure why.

"What's Marcus got to do with this?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll see you in the morning then." Ian said in to the phone and then
hung up.

Ian started thumbing through the numbers again. And then picked up
the phone to dial again. As he dialed, Ian said, "Marcus is the one who
got you kicked out of your apartment, and reported you to the police."

The phone on the other end of the line was answered.

"Hi Helen, this is Ian Shea. I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I need
to speak to you as soon as your office opens in the morning. My
accountant will be there with all the books."

Ian was silent for just a second and then nodded, "Yes, it concerns
Marcus."

Another pause, and Ian shook his head again, "Yes, I remember you
told me I should do this. Elliot said the same thing. You should both be
happy now that you're getting your way."

After listening quietly for a few more moments, Ian said, "Thank you,
Helen. I'll see you in the morning."

Ian hung up the phone. He looked down at it thoughtfully for a
moment. He was trying to settle his mind and think of what to do next.
He had been running on adrenaline for the several minutes and he was
finally able to catch his breath.

Ian remembered that Jeremy had come over for dinner. Ian had wanted
to surprise him, but after the scare they just had he thought it would
wait for a few more days until Marcus was dealt with.

Ian looked up at Jeremy, "Are you hungry?"

"In a minute." Jeremy said. "How do you know it was Marcus?"

"It has to be." Ian said. "He's the only one I know who would do
something like this."

"But why would he do it?" Jeremy wondered.

"I'm not sure." Ian growled, "I'd like the chance to ask him though."

"I'd like to 'thank' him for all the shit he's put me through." Jeremy
muttered angrily.

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

Marcus entered his apartment slamming the door behind him. Damn
Ian for coming out to meet the kid! If he had waited in the restaurant
like he was supposed to Jeremy would have been arrested by now.

Marcus' plan had been perfect. Tell the cops that a male "escort" was
regularly having his clients take him to eat at Ian's. Give them a
complete description of him including that new orange hair color he
now had, and let them come up with the brilliant idea of setting the kid
up to face soliciting charges. It was perfectly simple until Ian came
along and spoiled it.

"Well, Ian, I guess I'll have to think of some other way to get rid of
your love toy." Marcus growled.

Marcus went over to the bar and took the lid off the ice bucket. He
picked up a glass and began to fix himself a drink. As he absently put
the usual four cubes of ice in the glass Marcus considered how he was
going to get Jeremy out of Ian's life.

He had to drive a wedge between the two. So far, Ian had rescued
Jeremy from the trouble Marcus had caused the kid. Marcus reasoned
that he had to do something to Jeremy that Ian could not or would not
be able to rescue him from.

The question was what? Ian already knew what Jeremy did to make a
living so how could that be used against them, if at all? Marcus realized
that Ian knew what Jeremy did to get money, but he wondered if Ian
knew exactly the kinds of things Jeremy did to earn his money? In
other words, did Ian know all the details of Jeremy's work, or had he
seen Jeremy earn his money? If he knew Ian at all, Marcus would say
no. Ian would not want to know, or Ian would simply just not ask the
steamy details.

Sipping his drink, Marcus smiled at having decided his next course of
action. There was only one question left on Marcus' devious mind and
that was where had he put his camera?

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

Ian walked out of his attorney's office feeling very satisfied with
himself. Marcus would never bother Jeremy or Ian again after today.
Before Marcus had set up Jeremy, Ian was certain he would never have
used the doctored books against his former lover. The biggest reason
was that it would have gained him nothing. The cost of bringing
charges against Marcus would have been more than redecorating the
restaurant. The restaurant's reputation would also have suffered when
the details of how Marcus had stolen the money were made public.

But whatever reason had caused Marcus to attack Jeremy personally
was not something Ian would allow to continue.  He knew Marcus
would try again, but he did not know what the man would do next.
Instead of waiting, Ian was putting a stop to it now.

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

Marcus was just about to leave the apartment when there was a knock
on the door. He frowned wondering who it could be. No one visited
him. Whoever it was had arrived at a bad time as Marcus was on his
way out to find Jeremy and put his plan in to action.

Opening the door, Marcus was surprised to find Ian standing in the
doorway.

"We need to talk." Ian said flatly.

"Sure." Marcus shrugged outwardly. Inwardly he was nagged by a
question. It was not what Ian wanted to talk about. Marcus was certain
he knew the topic Ian wanted to discuss.

"May I come in?" Ian asked.

Marcus stepped out of the way allowing his former lover in to the
apartment. Ian entered the room and Marcus closed the door.

"How did you find me?" Marcus asked giving voice to the question that
was nagging at him.

Ian went a few steps into the apartment and then turned around. There
was a cold hardness in Ian's eyes. Marcus would have sworn he felt a
sudden chill in his spine.

"That's not important. What is important is that I know you've been
causing trouble for Jeremy." Ian said. "I want to know why."

"Oh?" Marcus said nonchalantly. "I didn't know your boy toy was
having problems."

"Cut the innocent act. I know you too well." Ian snapped angrily.
"You're the only person who knows about Jeremy and I who would
have a reason to cause us problems."

"And why would I want to cause trouble for you and the kid?" Marcus
tilted his head to one side bemused.

"I don't know." Ian replied. "Trying to ruin my chance for happiness is
my guess, but you know what I really don't care why because it stops
right now."

"I'm scared." Marcus wrapped his arms around himself and shook in
mock fear. "But for the sake of argument, if it was my doing what
would you do to stop me?"

"Turn the doctored books over to the police and have you arrested for
embezzlement." Ian said smugly.

"Ha!" laughed Marcus. "You don't have stones enough for that."

"Are you willing to bet your freedom on that?" Ian asked raising an
eyebrow.

Marcus was silent. There was a time when he would have done just
that. He had already made the bet in fact; and won since he was not
now in prison. Now, Marcus found he was not so sure.

Marcus realized what Ian was doing. He smiled and said, "You're
bluffing."

"Try me." Ian said matter-of-factly. "If any more misfortune happens to
Jeremy or myself my attorney has instructions to do just that. My
accountant is ready to testify to finding your doctored books."

"You wouldn't do this. You can't do this." Marcus could not believe
Ian actually had the nerve to go through with what he was hearing.

"Why not?" Ian said. "If I had done it in the beginning, Jeremy would
not have been kicked out of his apartment, nor had the police trying to
arrest him on solicitation charges."

Marcus shook his head. This was not the Ian he had known. Ian had
changed; grown hard. The Ian Marcus had known would never have
done this.

"You will leave Jeremy and I alone for the rest of our lives, Marcus."
Ian stated coldly. "Otherwise I will turn everything over to the police
and you will be arrested and sent to prison."

Marcus realized that Ian was not playing poker, or bluffing. He was
fully intent on turning Marcus in to the police if that is what it took to
protect Jeremy.

Marcus sighed. There was the sound of resignation in his voice when
he said. "Okay. I'll leave you two alone."

"You better." Ian warned.

Ian went to the door and Marcus moved out of the way to let him leave.
Ian stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked around.

"One last thing." Ian said. "What did you hope to gain from hurting
Jeremy?"

A sneer formed on Marcus' face. "I figured if I could get him out of
your life I'd be able to get you to take me back."

Ian nodded, "So you could steal more money from me."

"Nah, but I figured I could get those books away from you." Marcus
admitted. "But I can see it would never have worked now. You're not
the same man I knew."

There was a knock on the door. Ian smiled. His attorney had done her
job well.

"You're right about that." Ian said. "And you have yourself to thank for
it."

Ian turned the doorknob. "Oh, and Marcus, one more thing."

"What?" Marcus asked.

Ian opened the door to reveal three men standing outside the door. Two
of the men wore police uniforms. Marcus' eyes went wide.

"I gave the books to the police two hours ago. I wanted to be here when
they came to bust you." Ian said coldly with no trace of a smile.