James pointed at his neck where the dirt was. "You definitely made my day,” James said.
The boy took out a piece of paper and wrote his number down and slid it towards him. "Well, allow me to take you out for a day."
James looked down at the paper and nibbled his lip before sliding it back to the delivery boy. "I'm flattered but I'm not looking for anything right now."
The delivery boy put the paper back into his pocket and smiled. "Thanks for your honesty, I hope to see your smile again though when I return back for another delivery.”
James clocked out at the cash register. He heard his manager yelling about dishes to one of the employees and he wanted to leave before the manager turned to fire something his way. He yawned, and dialed Marie’s phone number. "I'm finally off work."
"Oh good would you like me to pick you up?" She asked.
"No, that's okay. I'll take a taxi," he said.
Marie gasped. “They have taxis around this time of the night?" James waved his hands in the air as a bright yellow taxi passed him by. He leaned over the sidewalk and the taxi slowed down and came to a stop.
“Yes, and I have to go now. I'll be there in a few minutes."
His eyelids felt heavy as he observed the illuminated skyscrapers. Leaning his head against the door until he finally saw nothing but black in front of him. "Wake up kid," said the taxi driver.
When he opened his eyes he saw Marie swing the door open. "No need no need," she said as he began fondling for his wallet. “I already paid the taxi driver.”
He sighed and pulled out a few bills, placing them in her hand as he got out of the taxi. "I don't want you always paying when I have a job no matter how little it may pay."
Marie shook her head. "Your grandma would give me a hard time if she knew you were giving me money." She took his jacket and placed it in a white basket.
"Then don't tell her," James teased.
Marie place the back of her hand on her forehead as if she was going to faint. "Oh dear, what will I ever do with you?" She placed two porcelain plates around a bowl of spaghetti, mixed the salad and set some on his plate. "How was your day?" James explained to her what happened.
After she washed the dishes and clean the table she sat beside James who had just finished pushing the chairs under the table. "Well you've never been photogenic," she teased him. She picked up her cell phone from the counter. "Speaking of photos," she said. She locked her phone and showed James a screenshot of an article. There was a photo of a dark haired girl in a green bikini standing by another man in a suit. His throat became a try.
James stumbled into the kitchen and flipped open the kitchen cabinet. "I need some water." He took a ceramic cup and shoved it under the purifier. His knuckles whitened as he gripped the poor, little cup.
"Slow down," he heard Marie stay from the living room, but her voice sounded distorted, all he could think about was what Nina did to him. He tried it back into the living room and looked at the photo again. Nina’s hair rested over both of her shoulders and he spotted the purse that he had bought for her before they broke up. He scammed the headline it read: Former Lover of the youngest royal is now engaged to young music mogul.
He tugged at his hair and melt against the couch. He felt a hand pressed against his shoulder. "You don't have to look at the photo again," Marie said.
James bit his tongue and placed his hand over Marie’s. "No it's ok. I need a reminder as to why she was not worth it." He stood up and placed the cup in the sink.
"She was never worth it," Marie assured in a low voice. He loosened his hair collar, or at least that's what he was attempting to do. "I doubt she's even telling the truth."
Marie placed a stack of folded sheets and a thick white pillow at the foot of his bed. "Thank you for putting up with my tantrums throughout all these years," James said. She frowned. He showed her his Facebook profile on his cell of an article in the news section. He clicked on a notification on his Instagram, where a noble friend from Ciel Vert directly messaged him an article, and surprise- it was the same bikini photo of her in a different pose, the mogul stood a few feet away from her.
James collapsed onto his bed. "See the articles are everywhere, no matter what I do I can't escape it." Marie rose from the bed and smoothed out the wrinkles on her t-shirt. "Get some sleep."
The room darkened.
CHAPTER 3
Austin
Bella’s ear was glued to her phone as she walked through Austin’s door. She laughed as she handed him a black card and sat down at his dining room table. Her jaw dropped. “Paris really?” He traced his hand over the pink letters that read, Aphrodite’s Mirror. By the time she hung up, Austin felt a heavy knot in the pit of his stomach.
Shit, what was he doing? Trying to succeed in life, he told himself. Bella tapped her fingers over the table. “One of my friends spoke to Bianca-the hair stylist-she was able to set up an interview for you this evening.”
He gripped his hands together. “Awesome,” he said. Honestly, after watching the Ciel Vert royal family on TV with her yesterday. He felt bad that he couldn’t help her meet one of those princes, but he wasn’t the fucking fairy godmother either.
He texted a few of his boxing gym buddies, the ones he would think she would find the most handsome. He sent her screenshots of the guys with their permission. “None of them resemble Prince Bryce, but I think you’ll be happy nonetheless.”
Bella brushed her hair back as she glued her face to her phone. “Later,” she said after drinking the hot cocoa he offered her.
*
As soon as he walked in he was hit with a whiff of chemicals in his nose. He was afraid to inhale. He squinted as the lights from the crystal chandelier hit his eyes. Random photos of people surrounded him. “Is this the Aphrodite’s Mirror?” he asked the receptionist with the green mohawk.
He winked. “Yes, the waiting room is over there.”
As he sat on the black couch, he brushed off his shoulder. Insecure about his outfit. He cursed himself for not asking Bella what he should wear for the interview. The light from the back door highlighted the black walls, and he saw a young man with light brown hair step in front of him. Austin found himself touching his hair, wondering if he should have used mousse.
He wondered if he looked like a slouching beast compared to this man, who looked around the same age as him.
“Hi my name is James,” he said. Austin reached out to shake his hand, it felt like silk. He immediately straightened his back. “Please follow me.” James’ back was defined, and he couldn’t help but stare at the smooth beige skin. The subtle blonde streaks in his hair glistened with the light in the room bearing down on him. James leaned over the table to give Austin a few papers to sign. “Bianca wants you to sign a few papers before she sees you.” As he spoke, Austin watched his small yet plump lips open. The dimple on James’ chin made Austin grab his thigh and squeeze. Why was this guy so fucking hot? James folded in his lip. “Are you okay?”
“Yes why?” Austin asked, clearing his throat. He saw James turn his head toward his right arm. Shit. Austin was gripping his thigh as if it was the last thing on Earth. He quickly loosened the death grip on his thigh. “I’m fine.”
“Let me know when you are finished, I’ll be right over there,” James said, pointing to the open closet near the salon chair.
He filled out the application, he even scratched out a letter when he managed to misspell something in blue ink. He should’ve asked Bella if he needed to go for the wet hair look like those high fashion models in those black and white ads. He hissed. Why the fuck did he even care about those things. He needed to get this job, not play Ken. He called James back and handed him the finished paperwork. The guy left again for a short period of time, leaving Austin to touch his hair one more time in annoyance and worry.
When James returned he asked him to stand up. “The stylist asked me to tell you to do some facial expressions before she sees you.”
A lump was caught in his throat. “Sure I need to practice in a mirror first,” Austin said.
James’s blue eyes lit up, and Austin felt his jeans tighten. James blocked his path. “I’ll be your mirror instead.”
He was close enough that Austin wondered if he could hear his heartbeat racing. Austin opened his mouth and let out what sounded like, “Okay,” at least to him.
Remember you’re doing this to pay for your last semester so you can graduate, he told himself. He pouted his lips in an attempt to imitate a pouting mouth move. He could tell by the faint marks under James’s eyes that he was tired, and his lips straightened as he created different facial expressions, yet still James’s face remained blank. “Don’t laugh,” Austin said. He raised his arm, posing it awkwardly. James’s blue eyes widened and he burst out into laughter. Austin wished he was invisible, yet at the same time, his body felt less tense hearing his laughter. James covered his mouth, which is something he wished he wouldn’t do, but maybe it was a good thing since he was already having thoughts about using him for more than just a mirror.
James calmed into a chuckle. “When you say don’t laugh, it makes me want to laugh.” He thought of all those episodes from The Face that Bella use to make him watch. When the judges would comment on their poses Austin couldn’t help but laugh right there and now.
James was obviously trying to smear off the giggles as he left him briefly to return with a few shirts. “Bianca wants you to try on a few of these shirts to see which size you are.” James looked away from him. “I didn’t mean it that way...”
Austin stepped closer to him, James’ cheeks were pink, and it was cute. James stepped back. “Um I just want to get the shirts,” Austin said.
James laid them on the couch. Was he that flustered? “R-right, you can change over there.”
Austin took off his shirt, wishing he wore a wife beater under his plaid shirt instead of nothing at all. James had his back to him. Shaking his head he slipped on the first of the three, too big. Then he managed to put the tightest one on and sighed. Pulling it off. The third one was the charm, fit like a glove. “As much as I like looking at your backside… Don’t you wanna see that the shirt fits?”
James turned with that blush and Austin felt it awfully hard not to pop a boner right then and there. “Y-yeah… great, that looks like it fits…” He scribbled something down on a notepad. “Bianca will see you now.” Austin followed James into a bigger room. Was this place a maze or something? How many rooms did it have?
A middle aged woman with pink hair and an orange dress approached him. He looked down at her pink shoes. Her voice chimes like a bell. “Chin up, I want to see your face.” He lifted up his chin and held his breath. “Now turn around,” she said. “Every now and then I fall apart,” he heard her sing as he turned. She placed her brush to her mouth as if it were a microphone. “You’re hired. Come tomorrow, Saturday at four p.m.”
Wait what? That was it?
James led him out the salon. “It was nice meeting you,” Austin said.
James nodded at him with a small smile and opened the door for him. “See you soon.”
*
Later that night, Austin was showering off the sweat from the earlier interview. The hot water sprinkled down over his body and his head fell back. His hand wrapped around the thick girth of his cock as he pulled and tugged, squeezing quiet groans from his throat. All he could see was James’ lips wrapped around his throbbing cock. Sucking and taking him down his throat until those beautiful blue eyes watered.
Austin shuddered, his muscles flexing beneath his skin as he came with a low groan. Shooting thick strands of his release to the bottom of the tub he stood in. As the length of him began to droop and his heart began to beat regularly he sighed. What was wrong with him?
CHAPTER 4
James
There were so many voices around him that he had a hard time thinking. The voices grew louder as he hung up the clothes that the hair models piled on top of the salon chairs. As he took off his apron he heard the receptionist speaking to Bianca. The receptionist tapped his pen against the desk. "Did you hear on the news? They say that the King of Ciel Vert might be distantly related to the British Royal family."
James stuffed the hair supplies into the clear bag. He made his way towards the door until he felt a hand tap his shoulder. "The other employees are going to get some dinner; would you like to come with us?" Bianca asked.
James picked up his jacket. "I'm flattered that you would invite me, but I have to attend my online class."
Bianca jiggled the keys. "Well that's too bad, maybe next time."
He opened his car door, grateful that he didn't have to listen to more of the receptionist gossiping about the Ciel Vert royal family. Besides, it wasn't as if he didn't hear it enough. That boy Austin had a nice smile, but so did Nina when he first met her as well.
He stepped into his room, it was silly how he was comparing a guy he had just met to Nina. Austin had made him laugh, and as a bonus he had chiseled abs as well. It didn't seem to him as if he was trying to show off. He wasn’t too awkward, except for the fact he kept making him blush. Was he doing it on purpose? He wondered. Liking someone, he hadn't thought of that as a possibility in a long time. He was hoping that he wouldn't allow Nina to change him, but he did. She wounded him deeply and now he questioned every desire within his heart, turning people away, refusing himself happiness out of the fear it’d bring that dreaded sadness.
As he waited for his parents to show up on his laptop screen, an image of Nina’s white teeth beaming at him played in his head. He learned the hard way that appearances can be deceiving. He did his best to look happy when the laptop camera showed the smiling faces of his parents. His mom and dad waived. "Hi, how are things going in Ciel Vert?” James asked.
His mother picked up a porcelain cup. "Well other than your cousin getting married here in a couple of months nothing really has happened."
His father took off his glasses. "The popular talent show here had an obnoxious man setting himself aflame while singing. It was dreadful." James smiled. His father snapped his fingers. "I knew I could get a smile out of you. I can sense when something is askew. You can’t fool me, boy.” A concerned look grew on his mother's face. They were right, they were his parents after all and they knew something was wrong before he even knew.
"So how do you like your job in America so far?” his mother asked.
James fiddled with the plush toy next to the laptop. "It's a lot of work."
His mother gave the porcelain cup to the servant. "So have you decided what you want to study yet?" His father asked.
James nodded and squeeze the plush toy until its eyes popped out. "I want to study languages. Specifically, Portuguese, Japanese, French and English. I want to teach one of those languages.”
His mother outstretched her arms, hugging herself against his father's chest. "That's delightful," she said.
Bryce rushed into the frame squeezing himself in between his parents. "You look scrawny,"
"Oh yeah? Well you look like a frog. Perhaps a princess will come along and kiss you one day… if she’s desperate enough." James said.
Bryce kissed his parents on their cheeks. "Bring me something from Las Vegas loser," Bryce demanded.
James threw the plush toy at the screen. "I'm not even in Nevada, you disaster prodigy.” As he waved goodbye to them he felt a pang of longing for his family return. He wished he were there with them.
CHAPTER 5
Austin
He adjusted his boxing gloves. "One of the Prince’s girlfriends started speaking French to the Queen of Ciel Vert, how rude," Bella said. He put on his tennis shoes and faced Bella. She clipped her hair up. "Pay attention I'm talking about the second oldest prince of Ciel Vert. She was speaking French to the queen, and then she kept on going." Bella moved her hands around as if to illustrate a never ending cycle of words.
"Do you think you can fix my hair for me for
my new job?" Austin asked.
Bella smiled. "I'm happy for you, but I'm not a hairstylist. Besides, the hairstylist and her assistant will help you with your clothes in your hair that's the entire purpose of being a hair model."
The receptionist winked. "You don't have to sign in." He wanted to tell Bella that the truth is, he wanted to impress James, but at the same time he didn't want to hear her talk about relationships all day, especially while he was boxing at the gym. Boxing was his time to relax. Even through listening to Bella talk. Because he wanted to achieve a balance of listening to her and enjoying his hobby, but that was his limit.
*
And now his limit was about to be tested. As soon as he saw James arranging clothes in the stylist room he felt his heart palpitate in his chest. He asked Bianca what he was supposed to do today she squeezed her chin and ruffled her fingers through his hair. "Don't worry I won't bite hard," Bianca said as he squinted his eyes. She touched his chin and caressed the rubble on his face. "James, shave him." He grabbed his throat and coughed; he was trying to look manly if they took away his beard he wouldn't look as manly…
"Are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost,” James said.
Austin traced the lines of James’s jaw with his eyes. "I am now." His chest warred with satisfaction once he saw James blush again.
“W-well that's good to hear," James said, looking awfully sheepish.
Austin couldn't help but sink into his chair as the cool cream spread across his face. The lights bugged the shit out of him, but following James' eyes made it much easier to bare. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you aren't too happy to get your beard shaved,” James mused.
"Am I that easy to read?"
James raised the razor. "Not sure, I don't know you well."
Rough Daddy Dirty Page 94
