Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 113741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113741 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“Buddy, it’s close. Don’t push it. I’m not ready to talk about it, and I haven’t asked you for a dime. You’re supposed to be grateful I’m giving this to you to air, remember? I gotta roll. I’ll see you at the grand opening. We can talk more then,” Gage said, trying to adjust his eyes, and force his mind to remember who he’d brought home last night, and why the fuck he’d brought him home at all.
“I think you just gave me a back handed bribe,” Sid said. Gage could hear it worked and gave a smile.
“You know it was, bye,” Gage agreed, disconnecting the phone with a swipe of his finger across the screen. He continued working the phone using the one finger until he found the number he wanted. With one last run across the screen, he dialed the number and brought the cell to his ear.
“Galaxy Cab,” a dispatcher answered.
“Hi, I need a cab, ASAP to South Halsted and Eighteenth Street, 2100 South Halsted. The ride will be waiting at the front door, no need to honk. I’ll double the fee if you get here in the next five minutes,” Gage said, then listened to the operator confirm his request. The bedcovers moved. He heard the shifting of the blanket as the guy left the bed. The brand new wonder mattress stayed true to its word, he hadn’t felt a stir the entire night.
“I’m guessing that’s my exit. Well… it was a great night. I’ll leave my number for you here on the desk. I would love a repeat to free your willy,” the guy said, his accent thick. He scribbled something on the dresser while laughing at his own little joke. As Gage watched, he thought he might have remembered this one claimed to be a male model from Cuba, or perhaps, Guadalajara. Hell, he really had zero idea. Honestly, Gage didn’t remember much from the night before, but he rarely did much talking in these kinds of situations.
Gage lifted up on his elbows and searched the dark room for the guy’s clothing, wanting to help him along a little faster. Pieces of clothing were plucked off the floor and Gage sat up, pushing his hair off his forehead. As another lightning strike illuminated the room, he got a good look at the naked body standing across the bedroom. That glimpse told him everything he needed to know about this one. Spanish accent guy was a good looking dude with a super tight bubble butt and a long, thick dick…too bad Gage didn’t do repeats. The room shook with the crash of thunder following that thought.
“There isn’t a need to leave the number. I won’t use it,” Gage said, rising from the bed. He stood there, nude, pulling his wallet from the nightstand beside him and handed fifty dollars to the guy who came to stand in front of him, T-shirt in hand.
“This is for the cab ride,” Gage said, and the guy pocketed the money with a smile.
“I live around here. No need for a cab. I’ll be seeing you around, sexy.” He winked, pulling his T-shirt over his head while turning on his heel and prancing out the bedroom door. Gage grabbed his phone, a pair of jeans off the floor, and followed along behind him. The guy was already down the stairs and halfway across the gallery as Gage struggled into his jeans while trying to keep up. Through the big windows in the front of his new gallery, he saw the taxi lights waiting at the curb. The rain poured, drenching everything outside.
“This is going to be a spectacular art gallery, the real deal. Everyone’s excited you decided to open here,” Spanish guy called back as he opened the front door.
“Thanks, are you sure you don’t want a ride? It’s raining pretty hard out there,” Gage asked, coming to stand behind him at the front door.
“Yeah, I’ll take you up on it,” he said and stuck out his hand for more money. Gage fished his wallet out and handed him another fifty dollar bill, which the guy instantly pocketed.
“Adios,” he said, running out into the rain in the opposite direction of the taxi. Gage watched him dart across the road and race down the street under the cover of the awnings until he couldn’t be seen anymore.
Forced to run bare footed and bare chested out into the rain to pay the waiting taxi driver, Gage chuckled at the guy leaving him. He sure had a way of picking them! At the very least, if the guy only intended to take the money, he could have run out here and told the driver he wasn’t needed. Gage had met plenty of guys just like that one throughout his life. He actually preferred them to the many others he came across. With guys like thick Spanish accent there, it never got messy and always involved a quick, gratifying fuck with money usually exchanging hands. Meaning his money into their hands before they were out the door, never to be seen or heard from again.
Gage handed the driver another fifty and ran back inside completely drenched from head to toe. He didn’t look back outside, but slammed the door and twisted the lock in place. No lights lit the gallery. They hadn’t bothered turning any on. He reached over to flip the switch as he squinted his eyes preparing for the glare when nothing happened. No wonder it was so dark! They’d lost electricity or he guessed they had. No way to know for sure in this building. His electrical contractor sucked. A no-show for the last several days and he had avoided all of Gage’s phone calls. It could have just been the electrician’s shoddy work keeping the light off so he glanced back out the front windows and didn’t see any lights down the street.
As if by some sort of cosmic cue, the electricity blazed to life, throwing the entire gallery into light causing him to squint his eyes for real. When his eyesight adjusted, the sight greeting him caused a chuckle as he stood there several minutes looking around his gallery. He’d spent a lot of time in his adult life in the middle of utter destruction, whether it be manmade or at Mother Nature’s hand. The chaos of this remodel reminded him of those places he’d worked in over the years. The only difference was that here he could visualize the final plans taking shape and coming together just fine.