by Jerry Cole
“I have,” Jennifer replied. “Hello, Mrs. Walker.”
“Hello dear,” his mother said, looking down at a bottle of rosé. “I’m going to go get this bottle. I think I need some more chocolate.”
Basil watched as she walked away from them, a lump in his throat. He really didn’t want to talk to Jennifer then.
“So,” she said. “How have you been?”
“Since the other day? Totally fine,” Basil replied. “How have you been?”
“Great,” she replied. “I’ve just been wondering why you haven’t called me.”
Basil looked away from her. On top of boring, Jennifer was clingy. Of course she was clingy. “It’s not been more than a few days,” Basil replied.
When she looked at him, saying nothing, Basil sighed.
“I was going to call you,” he said. “It’s just something came up.”
She bit her lower lip then she smiled. “So, can I expect a call from you?”
He swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed in his throat. “Uh, unless something happens,” he said, a little angrily. He hated that she had almost made him reject her outright. He wondered what kind of person did that. He just knew he didn’t want to get married to someone like her.
“That sounds promising,” she replied, winking at him.
Basil felt sick. All he did was nod, ever-so-slightly, and she flashed a huge grin at him. It didn’t make him feel any better.
“Anyway, I’ll see you later,” Basil said. He turned away from her and started to walk away, his hands fists by his side.
The moment he was out in the parking lot, he grabbed his phone out of his pocket. He turned it off. He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to call Trevor. He wanted an answer, he needed an answer soon, but he knew he needed to give Trevor some time to think about it.
He broke into a jog when he got to the parking lot. He needed to get home ASAP.
Chapter Eight
Trevor stood outside the supermarket and watched his breath in the night air. He was tired and he spent all day thinking about his weird meeting with Sage’s brother. He had been so cute, with his glasses and that nervous habit he had of running his fingers through his jet-black hair. If he hadn’t found Basil so fucking attractive then it would have been a little easier to say yes if he hadn’t wanted to have sex with the man who was asking him if he could be his pretend boyfriend. When Basil assured Trevor there would be no sex, he felt a little disappointed. Not much. He didn’t want to be with anyone who was paying him for the pleasure of his company. He just wished Basil was actually attracted to him instead of needing him for something ridiculous.
He took a deep breath as he went inside, hugging himself in the cold night. He didn’t want to be out there but he also didn’t want to go inside. He didn’t want to deal with his manager or with his co-workers. He rarely did any shifts on the floor because he was there so late every night, but he wished he would tonight, just to keep him from talking to all the people he knew. There was something about Basil’s offer hanging over him. He wasn’t sure what it was. He could have just said yes, but something about it felt wrong. He didn’t want to be single—he didn’t want to continue being single. He hadn’t had time to date for the last few years and now that he was going to have time, he would be contractually obligated not to do it. There was something ironic in that.
He walked into the supermarket and toward the bathrooms. He still hadn’t changed, mostly because he hadn’t had time. He was still wearing his theater uniform. Before he could get there, Jo spotted him.
“Hey,” she said. “Are you okay? You look like shit.”
“I’m fine,” Trevor replied. “And thank you.”
“I’m serious,” she said, taking a step toward him. “Do you need to go home?”
“No, I don’t need to go home,” Trevor said, the irritation obvious in his voice. He didn’t want to snap at Jo, but she was making it hard. “Listen, can we talk somewhere else?”
She looked around for a second then nodded. “Step into my office,” she said. They both walked together to the offices at the front of the supermarket, the ones that were rarely used. He waited until she walked around her desk to sit down in one of the uncomfortable chairs.
“You’re sure you’re not sick?” Jo asked.
Trevor was about to reply but the moment he did, a yawn hit him and he found himself covering his mouth with his hand while he shook his head. He held his left hand up in the air as if to tell her to wait.
“I’m totally fine,” Trevor finally said. Jo didn’t look like she believed him at all. He knew he couldn’t blame her for not believing him.
“Okay,” she said. Trevor smiled gratefully at her for not addressing it. “So, tell me what’s going on.”
“I got a job offer somewhere else,” Trevor said.
Her expression remained neutral. “We’ll miss you.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Trevor said. “I don’t know if I’m going to take it.”
“You want to stay here?”
Trevor licked his lips. “I don’t want to leave, if that’s what you mean,” he said. “I like this job. I’ve been working here for years.”
“I know,” she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Just the other day you were telling me you were looking into opportunities for advancement here.”
“Yeah,” Trevor said. “To be honest with you, Jo, this kind of fell into my lap.”
“If you don’t mind me being blunt, why are you hesitating? You don’t like doing the night shift. You’re burning out, Trev,” she said. “If this is a nine-to-five, it might just be what you need.”
Trevor licked his lips. “It’s not a nine-to-five. It does pay better.”
“What doesn’t?” Jo said. “Look, you should go. If it doesn’t work, you can always come back.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Jo replied, smiling at him. “You’re family. There’s always a place for you here.”
Trevor smiled. “You’re the best, Jo.”
“I know,” she said, smiling back at him. “So, is this you officially putting in your two weeks’ notice?”
He closed his eyes, wondering if he should for a second. Even if it didn’t work out, he could come back. That was a huge relief. He opened his eyes again and smiled at her.
“Yeah,” he said. “Consider this my two weeks’ notice.”
***
When Trevor turned his phone on in the morning, he had a voice mail. He had just finished his shift. It was six in the morning, and he was in his car trying to warm up and listening to the radio. The heater always took ages to kick in because his piece of shit car was old and the window on the passenger side was always cracked slightly. He couldn’t wind it up any farther, he hadn’t been able to for months, and he couldn’t afford to fix it.
He listened to the voice mail and smiled as he heard Basil’s unsure voice.
“Hi,” Basil said. “I know I said I would give you some time to think about this, but I really need to talk to you. If you don’t want to do it, you know what, that’s totally fine. I need an answer, though. Something has come up and I need an answer as soon as possible.”
Basil didn’t sound very sure. More than anything else, he sounded annoyed. Trevor didn’t think it had anything to do with him, but he had no way to be sure. He looked at the digital clock on his phone and sighed. It was five minutes past six in the morning and he didn’t think texting a boss right then was a good idea. Then again, this was his pretend boyfriend and as far as Trevor had understood it, Basil wanted him to act like his boyfriend.
That was what his role was.
He took a deep breath as he typed his message then read it, his voice loud inside his car. “I’m in. XOXO. See you this weekend?”
He smirked before he pressed the send button. He had no idea what he was getting into, but maybe that was a good thing.
Chapter Nine
Ba
sil wasn’t sure how he was supposed to prepare for a date with another man. He didn’t think there was anything fundamentally different about the way he was supposed to get ready, but there was just no way he could be sure. He couldn’t exactly text Trevor about that, either. Trevor had already taken the first step and all Basil had to do was his part. He was the one who had contracted Trevor’s services, so he wasn’t sure why he was freaking out so much about this.
All he had to do was show up looking decent, and he was sure Trevor would take it from there. They arranged to meet up at a restaurant near the Walker mansion, one where Basil knew his parents knew people. That was the plan. They were going to date as much as they could, until everyone in the town started to talk about them. Basil knew he was popular in his town, mostly due to his name. He also knew the people in his town couldn’t get enough of any gossip. He smiled as he finished buttoning the top button of his baby blue shirt. The idea that people in his town would whisper to each other about him being gay made him giddy. His parents would get off his back. Not just that, they would get off his back and he wouldn’t have to spend any more time with any of the Burton sisters. God, he hated those girls. They hadn’t done anything wrong and he still hated the shit out of them.
Trevor had pitched a gay club. Basil didn’t know how gay clubs worked, but he thought most people knew how to keep secrets in them. He wanted something out in the open. He needed something out in the open for his plan to actually work.
He was meeting Trevor at a fancy Italian restaurant on the edge of town, and then they would see where the night took them. Basil knew by the end of the night, he would be tired and the last thing he was going to want to do was socialize with Trevor, but maybe Trevor could crash at his place. Basil had a perfectly comfortable sectional and Basil was the one who was paying Trevor a salary, after all. He wondered if he could tell Trevor he had to stay there then he sighed. He didn’t want to be an overbearing, annoying boss, but he was still Trevor’s boss after all.
He needed to keep thinking about it as a business arrangement, not as hanging out with someone who he wanted to hang out with. He leaned into the mirror and bared his teeth to check them. They were fine. He looked fine. That was good enough, he told himself. He wasn’t wearing his glasses. He normally wore contacts when he went out on dates. He couldn’t wear them for too often because they irritated his eyes. He did think he looked better without them.
He took a deep breath and turned around to get out of his bedroom, making sure to give himself one last look in the mirror. He didn’t want anything to look out of place.
***
He got to the restaurant too early. He asked Trevor if he wanted a lift, but Trevor said it wouldn’t be necessary. Since Basil was still working out the details of dating another man, that seemed right. Most of the girls who he went out with wanted to be picked up. Katie had been different, but then Katie had been different from everyone. Basil knew he should stop comparing every other person who he had ever gone out with to Katie. He wondered if he would do the same with Trevor. Dating Trevor, that would probably be totally different than dating anyone else he had ever gone out with.
Trevor was waiting for him outside. He was sitting on a bench near the front, where Basil assumed he was waiting. There was one of those restaurant buzzer things in front of him and he was on his phone. The next thing Basil noticed was what Trevor was wearing. Tight-fitting jeans and a red shirt that clung to his muscles. Basil had always known Trevor worked out, but it was even more obvious because of what he was wearing, the way the sleeves showed off his biceps and the lines in his arms. Basil smiled at him.
“Hi,” he said. “Have you been waiting long?”
Trevor smiled at him. “Just a few minutes. I know it was a bit late notice to make a reservation, but the place is slammed.”
“It’s fine,” Basil said. “The night isn’t cold, so we can just hang out here until they call us in.”
“Sounds good to me,” Trevor said, watching him. He cocked his head and his eyes narrowed. “Are you okay? You don’t look like you’re doing so good.”
“I’m fine,” Basil replied, licking his lips and looking away from him. “I just…I guess I’m just a little bit nervous.”
“Why are you nervous?”
“Because I’ve never done this before,” Basil replied. He sat down next to Trevor and tried to smile at him, but his face muscles obviously didn’t feel like responding. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Yeah, you just said that,” Trevor said. He put a hand on his shoulder, which Basil knew was meant to be reassuring, but it stung. Basil knew he shouldn’t jerk away from his touch but it took everything in him to stop himself from moving away. He wasn’t sure why. When Trevor left his hand there and it didn’t seem like he was going to move it, Basil started to get used to his touch. He liked the way Trevor’s hand was pressing on his shoulder. He liked the way Trevor was looking at him, a mixture of concern and amusement on his face.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about liking it. All he was sure of was he liked it.
“Relax,” Trevor said. He dropped his hand to his side and Basil exhaled. He didn’t realize he hadn’t been breathing until Trevor had stopped touching him. “You’re way too nervous about this.”
“I’m sorry,” Basil replied. “I guess I am. I’m just…I’m still not sure if it’s a good idea.”
Trevor’s eyes widened. They looked dark because there was no light outside except for the lights hanging off the wall outside of the restaurant. Something about him made him look like he was a work of art, a statue or something. He was made entirely out of angles and he hardly seemed like a human being. Basil wanted to reach out and touch him just to prove to himself that Trevor was in fact human, but he didn’t think that he should.
“You better start thinking it’s a good idea very quickly because I quit my full-time job for this,” Trevor said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It was a good job, Basil. Sure, it paid me less than you, but it had benefits, health insurance, a 401k, dental…”
Basil felt a stab of guilt in his heart. “I haven’t changed my mind,” he said. “Even if I had, I would still pay you for the year.”
“You would?” Trevor asked.
“Of course I would,” Basil replied. Then he smiled. “You shouldn’t have to pay out-of-pocket for cleanings if you’re not making twice what you were making at your last job.”
Trevor’s eyes narrowed again. Slowly, he smiled back at Basil. “You’re a jerk,” Trevor said, shaking his head. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Listen,” Basil said. “You’re going to have to talk me through this, okay? I need you to walk me through it. I need you to hold my hand, so to speak. Because I have no fucking idea what I’m doing.”
Trevor smirked. “I don’t think any of us do.”
“No,” Basil said, dropping his voice so that no one but Trevor could hear him. “You know, about the gay thing.”
Trevor leaned in. “Yeah, I don’t think any of us know shit about that either.”
“So, you’re not…this is just a normal date?” Basil said, relief flooding over him. It was instantly followed by guilt. “Like any other date.”
Trevor twisted his lips. “I don’t know. What do straight people do on dates?”
“Talk, I guess,” Basil said, shrugging. “Decide if they like each other.”
“Oh, it’s not like that in gay dates,” Trevor replied. “Halfway through, we go suck each other off in the bathroom. Or jack each other off in the car.”
Basil paled. Was that really what was expected of him? What had he gotten himself into? When Trevor saw his face, he laughed, clapping him on the back.
“Oh my God, I was just fucking with you,” he said. “We do what straight people do, don’t worry. We go in, get to know each other, and decide if we would be compatible. Find out if the other person is racist. You know, normal stuff.”
“Oh,” Basil said. “Right.”<
br />
Trevor exhaled heavily. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I feel a little bad.”
“You shouldn’t feel bad,” Basil said. “I am just really nervous, that’s all. I’ll get over it. I expect you to tease me, honestly. That’s what, uh, my boyfriend would do, right?”
The moment he said the word boyfriend, his heart started beating faster. He probably still wasn’t used to the idea. It scared him. But he was there and he was doing what he had to do.
Trevor watched him intently, saying nothing. Then the buzzer started to make a noise on the table in front of them. “Oh,” Trevor said. “That’s us. Let’s go.”
***
Once they had both been seated and had spoken to each other about their food preferences, Basil started to calm down a little. He didn’t need to be so nervous about this, he realized. Trevor was also doing his best to put him at ease. Trevor was nice, and Basil could tell why his sister was so fond of him. Maybe this wouldn’t be a bad idea after all. He would spend some time with a guy who he liked enough, as if they were friends, except everyone else would think they were a couple. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get that to happen but that was what he had hired Trevor for.
“Are you sure you’re doing okay?” Trevor said, cocking his head.
“I’m fine,” Basil said, smiling at him. “I guess I’m just letting all this sink in. It’s still a little weird, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Trevor replied. “It is a little bit weird. I don’t mind, though.”
“You don’t?”
“I really don’t,” Trevor said, smiling back at him. Trevor had a beautiful smile. His green eyes shone every time that he did. “This has been more fun than I thought it would be.”
“I’m glad,” Basil said. “I didn’t think this would be—yeah, I guess it’s kind of fun.”
Trevor winked at him. “Stop being so enthusiastic about it.”
Basil chuckled. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m just not really sure how to act right now, I guess.”
“Just act normal. Have a normal date, dude. Like, I don’t know, we can talk about our pasts or whatever. Where are you from?”
