Curious Beginnings

by M. A. Innes

  The ringing phone saved him from having to look at what he was doing too much. When the caller ID came up Sebastian Phillips, Mark took a deep breath and answered as professionally as he could.

  “Mark speaking.”

  “Hi, Mark. Sebastian here, I just wanted to let you know that I still haven’t found the receipts you were supposed to be given yesterday. I have no idea what I’ve done with them.”

  “That’s okay, Mr. Phillips. Just let me know when you find them. Oh, and I wanted to let you know that I’ve got the paperwork for…the online store sorted out and ready for the accountant. I’ll be sending it off later today.”

  “Wonderful. I’m glad that’s one thing off my plate but for the life of me, I can’t figure out how they got mixed up or where the other box ended up. I’m probably going to find it in the freezer or something.”

  Mark laughed—he knew it wasn’t polite but the image combined with the confused frustration in his voice was just too cute.

  “Laugh all you want, boy. It’s not you that’s going to have to search high and low for the darn thing.”

  Mark tried to stay focused as Sebastian continued to talk about a couple of other projects that he wanted Mark to work on, but he lost all concentration when Sebastian called him “boy.” Sebastian didn’t even seem to realize he’d done it because he just kept right on going, the teasing, almost flirting comment seemingly escaping by accident.

  He should have felt offended that Sebastian thought of him that way. Right? When people teased him in the past about his size he’d always been offended and frustrated. With Sebastian being so tall and broad it should have felt even worse but the way Sebastian said it just didn’t seem the same. If he didn’t mean it in a negative way, how did he mean it?

  Sebastian had been married to a woman before, so Mark shouldn’t assume that he was flirting. Could he be? A better question was probably, did Mark want him to?

  After a quick and awkward goodbye, Mark just stared at the phone. Sebastian seemed to be able to tell that Mark was distracted but thankfully didn’t say anything. Just hung up after letting Mark know he would call tomorrow with an update on the search. If it had a bit of a teasing flirting tone to it, it was probably just Mark reading into things.

  Was he really hoping Sebastian was flirting with him?

  ****

  “Okay, I need your help.”

  “Nice to talk to you too Bastian, thank you for asking about my day. It’s actually been kind of long. I’m looking forward to the weekend so we can relax. I hate having to work Fridays.”

  “Lucas! I do not have time for the sarcasm. He’s almost here and I don’t know what to do.”

  Not bothering to take Sebastian’s briskness to heart Lucas just laughed, “Who’s coming and don’t know what to do about what? You never call this worked up.”

  “Well…well, it’s actually Mark coming over. He’s stopping by to pick up the paperwork for The Mailspot.”

  “You finally found it? Where was it?”

  “That’s not the point!”

  “It may not be the point but you’ve been looking for it for days. Where did you find it?”

  Sebastian sighed, he would never hear the end of this. “The garage if you must know.”

  “I’m not even going to ask how they ended up in the garage.” The laughter in Lucas’s voice told Sebastian that while Lucas might not ask now, he was going to ask later. It was just as well that he was never going to tell them because he had no idea how the receipts had ended up there. They would think he’d lost his mind.

  “Thank you. Now back to my problem. Mark is on his way over, and well, I have a question for you.” He paused, trying to collect his thoughts. Any way he phrased it Lucas was going to have a thousand questions that he didn’t have time to answer. He’d tried to work things out himself but he’d finally given up.

  “How do you know if someone is gay? If a man is gay and into you?”

  “Mark? Why does it matter if your personal assistant is into you? Or if he’s gay? We both know you're not prejudiced.”

  “Of course, I’m not. I’m trying to figure out my chances.”

  “Chances of what? I’m confused?”

  “Chances of him saying yes if I ask him out. Aren’t you paying attention?” Sebastian didn’t think the conversation was too hard to follow.

  “Asking him out? You aren’t gay!”

  “Why does that matter?”

  “Cause he’s a man, duh.”

  “Well, to be honest, the outside packaging isn’t my biggest issue when finding someone I’m interested in.”

  “Outside packaging? He has a dick, Bastian. That’s not just a bow to decorate the package.”

  “Don’t be crude. I realize that he’s a man but I’ve always been more interested in finding someone I have chemistry with and who’s into the same things I am than what they look like. Before Ally, I dated a lot of different kinds of women. I’ve never had a type.”

  “Not having a type when it comes to women is totally different than not having a type when it comes to gender, Bastian.”

  “I don’t think so. Besides I didn’t call for unsolicited advice on my sexuality, thank you very much. I just need to know how to tell if he’s gay and interested. The internet gave very conflicting information.”

  “You Googled it?”

  “Of course.”

  “Lord, Bastian. Okay, we’re going to talk about this later. Got it?”

  “Lucas, stay on point, please. He’s going to be here in just a few minutes.” Seconds probably. Sebastian had been trying to avoid having this conversation with Lucas but he was more interested in figuring out things with Mark than his pride.

  “Okay. Well, have you guys been flirting or talking more than normal lately? Did he say what he thought about Novelties or about the idea of littles in general? No point in even thinking about it if he was completely horrified. What makes you think he might be interested? You had to have some kind of hint to even be considering it.” Lucas kept talking until he had to take a breath.

  “Well, because of the missing paperwork we’ve been talking and texting quite a bit lately. And yes, I think there has been some flirting. He’s very cautious and shy when it comes to personal things but every once in a while I can hear something in his voice. Something that just makes me think he might be interested. I can’t really explain it. As for the age-play aspect, he’s had nice things to say about the website but nothing too opinionated one way or the other about the lifestyle. I actually took that as a good thing considering how shy he is about personal things.”

  “‘Talking a lot’, like daily as a quick text to let him know you’re still a moron who lost the paperwork or ‘talking a lot’ as in a couple of times a day for made up shit that’s just an excuse?”

  “The second.”

  “Okay, well it sounds like he might be interested then. If he weren’t interested and at least a little curious about the lifestyle he would have avoided you like the plague or something. Why is he even coming over anyway? You said he always goes to the store to pick up the paperwork.”

  “He volunteered to come over when I called him earlier to let him know that I’d found it.”

  “A sexy cutie like that volunteered to come over to your house on a Friday night to pick up work papers?”

  “Yes. I didn’t think of it like that, though.”

  “He’s interested. Probably very, very confused. But he’s interested.”

  Sebastian paused as he heard a knock on the door, “You’re sure? Because he’s here.”

  “As sure as I can be. Just keep it casual; let him ask questions about Novelties and the lifestyle. And if all else fails, offer to show him the nursery. His reaction to that will let you know either way if you stand a chance.”

  “The nursery might be a good idea. He told me he thought that it must look nice.”

  “How would he know?”

  “The work orders and receipts from
the renovations.” Lucas really seemed to be having a hard time following things because Sebastian thought that it was obvious.

  “Okay, we will definitely move him to very curious with a chance of obsession.”

  “You’ve been watching too many kids’ movies with Gavin lately.”

  “You’re just jealous. Go catch your cute little assistant before he escapes.” The teasing tone had a serious undercurrent to it. Lucas might tease him mercilessly but he knew what a big step this was for Sebastian.

  “Okay. Have to go. I’ll talk to you later about dinner this weekend.” If he didn’t answer the door soon, Mark would leave. No chance he’d say yes to dinner then.

  “Damn right. I have a lot more questions.”

  Chapter 4

  Standing on the wide front porch of the country-style house Mark couldn’t decide if he should knock again or maybe he’d gotten the time wrong? He thought he’d told Sebastian that he would be over right before dinner but maybe not?

  The waiting wasn’t doing his stomach any favors either.

  “You’re just picking up papers. It will be fine. Just picking up papers. It’s not a social call and it won’t be weird. Just because you know what he likes now and what he’s interested in doesn’t mean that it has to get weird. You're both adults, just ignore it.”

  Mark wasn’t sure if he would be able to ignore it because he had a feeling that the elephant in the room was going to be wearing a diaper and calling for “Daddy.” Yeah, they could totally ignore that.

  “It’s not a social call, just business.” Maybe if he repeated it enough he would believe it.

  No one would have guessed that it was just business if they’d seen him obsessively trying to figure out what to wear and checking himself out in the mirror to make sure he looked okay.

  It was the first time in years, possibly ever, that he wished he had clothes that looked better on him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had paid any attention to what he wore. As long as it was big enough to cover his problem he usually didn’t care what he was wearing.

  “It’s just—” His ramblings to himself were cut short as he heard footsteps coming toward the door.

  As Sebastian opened the front door, his broad shoulders filling the doorway, Mark couldn’t help the blush that swept over him. How do you talk to someone when you know what they want? When you know what they’ve been doing in the bedroom? When you know what their fantasies are? He was finding this more awkward than he thought it would be.

  It was one thing to know in an abstract kind of way that some people were…well…kinky. Now there were all kinds of shows on TV about any kind of kink you could think of. However, it was another thing completely to be standing in front of someone that you knew was well…kinky. Especially when you were standing in front of someone who looked like Sebastian Phillips.

  “Hi, Mark, sorry to keep you waiting.”

  “That’s okay, sir. I’m just glad that you found the papers.”

  “Me too. Come on in I have the papers in my office.”

  Walking into Sebastian’s large home Mark thought that by the sheer size of it that it would be overwhelming and showy. But the homey touches and lived in feel made it warm and inviting. The office was just off the front foyer. So unfortunately, he didn’t get to snoop too much.

  The room was just like Mark thought it would be. Not that he’d given Mr. Phillips’s house a lot of thought. An oversized antique desk with bookshelves surrounding it took up a lot of the room but there was space for an overstuffed leather loveseat and chair in one corner and what looked to be a kid’s toy chest in another. The toy box was sitting on a primary colored area rug that looked fluffy and soft.

  He must have been staring for longer than he thought, because as Sebastian walked over to his desk to grab the box that was sitting in the middle of it, he looked over at Mark and smiled.

  “A lot of my friends are in the lifestyle too. If they come over in their respective roles, I want to make sure that they’re both happy and comfortable.”

  “Oh.” Okay, that makes sense. Was it weird that he could picture Sebastian sitting with his friends while one of them played on the floor? Part of him still thought the whole idea was…weird. But a bigger part of him was struggling with the feeling that it was kind of cute. He liked that Sebastian had made an effort to make his friends comfortable.

  The way Sebastian was staring at him, he felt a little bit like a bug under a microscope.

  “I’m glad you found the paperwork.” Had he said that already?

  “Me too. It gets frustrating sometimes keeping track of all the paperwork and keeping everything between the businesses separate.”

  “I didn’t realize until the mix up that you owned another business. Is this one run like the others?” Sebastian didn’t have much of a role in the day-to-day running of the other local businesses. He seemed to handle a lot of the paperwork side of things but he had other partners and managers who ran the everyday side of them.

  “No, with the other businesses those were always the brainchild of someone else. I’ve always been more of an investor in those and not really that active in it unless something comes up. Novelties was an idea that my late wife and I had together.”

  Mark was curious to know more but he didn’t know where the line was between professional and personal curiosity. He just stayed silent hoping that Sebastian would keep going. Sebastian must have understood because after a short pause he continued.

  “We were always in the lifestyle. But when we first met it was incredibly hard to find things for our particular kink. So after we were married for about a year, we started playing with the idea of a company that catered to people in alternative lifestyles and those who had more unique desires in their relationships. S and M Novelties grew out of that. It’s actually grown substantially since we started the company.”

  “I’m assuming that the name is related to the lifestyle items on the site?”

  “You’d think so, but there isn’t much traditional S&M stuff on the site. It’s actually an inside joke. Ally’s first name was Michelle. So it stands for Sebastian and Michelle. She thought it was hilarious even if she went by Ally to everyone.” Sebastian smiled but Mark could tell the memories were bittersweet.

  Mark thought that it was probably time to change the subject. He wasn’t sure if Sebastian liked talking about Ally or if the memories were still painful. He just couldn’t imagine what Sebastian had gone through.

  “I was impressed at how well designed and thought out the website was.” Sebastian seemed surprised at that, so Mark rushed to qualify his statement. “I wanted to make sure I had the categories and things organized right so I went through the website. To organize the papers.”

  That didn’t sound weird at all.

  “Thanks. I appreciate all the extra work you’ve done. And your patience for me this week.”

  “It’s not a problem, honest.” No, getting to work with Sebastian more was not a problem. He was a wonderful client to work with.

  “I hope this doesn’t seem weird”—never a good start to a sentence was all Mark could think of as Sebastian continued—“but would you like to see how the nursery is turning out? Since you’re working on the papers and all.”

  Oh yeah, it came out weird in a come-see-my-playroom-said-the-sexy-guy kind of way. Did he want to see the nursery? He had a pretty good picture in his head already but that was because of the work orders. Seeing it in person though, that seemed different somehow.

  The polite thing to do was to say yes, right?

  If anyone else had asked him to see their home remodel he would have agreed just on the principle that it was polite. So saying yes was the socially acceptable thing to do, right?

  “Yeah, that would be interesting. Since I’ve seen so many of the work orders and all.”

  “Let me show you then.”

  Sebastian led Mark back into the foyer where they went up the large staircase that framed the
front entryway. Just up the stairs to the right Mark caught a glimpse of what must have been the master bedroom, before Sebastian led him further down the hall. Stopping at a closed door just down the hall and to the left, Sebastian paused for a moment before he opened the door.

  The room looked just like Mark imagined it would. The dark wood that framed the window matched the hardwood floors perfectly. Combined with the beautiful wood dresser, changing table and crib, the room might have been overwhelming and dark if it wasn’t for the large windows, oversized throw rugs, and the soft pastel colors in things like the drapes and pillow around the room. The overall look was warm and cozy.

  If you ignored the fact that everything was designed for an adult-sized baby, the room would be an incredible nursery.

  “You’ve done a great job. The room is beautiful.”

  “Thank you.” There was a slight hitch in Sebastian’s voice as he continued. “It was time for something new. Ally wouldn’t have wanted her favorite room to stay as a museum forever. With the renovations, I can still have the memories of our time while hopefully making new memories in here someday.”

  “Hopefully? So you’re not seeing anyone?” Okay, not professional and not what he meant to ask either. “I mean…I apologize. It’s not my business, sir.”

  “No, it’s okay. I don’t mind answering.” Something flashed in Sebastian’s eyes as he answered. It wasn’t a smile but something pleasant and hopeful, Mark thought.

  “I’m not seeing anyone right now. I just knew that changing the nursery was the final step in becoming ready to start dating again. I just couldn’t picture bringing someone home to Ally’s nursery. If that makes sense.”

  “It does. I understand. A clean slate to help make new memories.”

  Sebastian nodded, smiling at him thoughtfully. “Yes.”

  Okay, now or never. Although, it should probably be never. “So I’m assuming that by the renovations and how the room is currently set up to be used”—way to be smooth—“you’re looking to date someone in the…lifestyle?”