Wednesday Briefs

A Many-Splendored Thing-by Lily Sawyer

Prompts:

"It was a dark and stormy night"  (so it's Bulmer-Lytton, sue me lol)

or the alternative prompts are:

candy, crow, a length of rope

or

"When I saw his/her eyes, I just knew that..."

or

French kiss, French fry, third French object of your choice

or

penguin, ventriloquist, rapier

or

"Are you glad to see me or is that a (fill in the blank) in  your pocket?"

Spending time with family was all good and well, but Ben yearned to be alone with Tom.  When Tom’s sister invited them to her home in Harrisburg for Easter dinner, they couldn’t refuse.  Ben was always ill at ease talking to Cathy.  He felt she didn’t like him much.   She was polite whenever he saw her which, thankfully, was not often.   She wasn’t high on his top ten list either.

“Honey, I know this dinner isn’t your cup of tea.”   Tom’s strong arms wrapped around him.   Ben’s head fell back, onto the familiar place on his firefighter’s shoulder.

“I don’t think she likes me.”

“Not like you? “ Tom kissed his neck, whispered in his ear,  “What’s not to like? You’re the most likeable fella I know.”

“Yeah?”

“In fact…” Kiss.   “You’re absolutely lovable.”

“Tom.”  Ben’s cock twitched, getting very tight in his crotch.  He turned his head so he could kiss his man.

“I’m sorry, baby, we don’t have time for that.”

Tom’s erection pressed against Ben’s buttocks.

“You tease.”

“Rain check.”

“You better!”  Ben wiggled his index finger at him.. His hand was held and the finger kissed.

“I promise.  Now you better finish getting ready. We have to leave in about fifteen minutes.”

                                                                           ****

“Sis, you really outdid yourself.”

They sat together around Tom’s sister’s dinner table, enjoying all the carefully prepared dishes: ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and a small stuffed turkey.

“You always say that.”  Cathy noted her brother’s compliment.  “I just hope you saved room for dessert.”

“Oh gosh, I’m stuffed.” Ben pushed his chair away from the table.

“I’m glad you liked it, Ben.” Cathy cleared the table.

“Here, let me help you.”  Ben grabbed some plates and followed her into the kitchen.

“It really was a great dinner, Cathy.”

“Thanks.” She was focused on wrapping the leftovers and putting them into the fridge.

“Can I ask you a question?”  Ben put the last plate into the dishwasher and turned the machine on.

“Sure.” She started the coffee maker.

“Why don’t you like me?”

“What makes you think I don’t like you?”   Cathy glanced at him as she wiped the counters and opened a box of butter cookies, placing them on a serving dish.

“Well ,first of all you barely look at me, I don’t get more than a few sentences from you when we do talk.    Correct me if I’m wrong but that doesn’t exactly make me think you want to be all friendly with me.”

“I’m sorry, Ben.   I guess it’s just that.”

“Just that what?”

Ben and Cathy both turned to look at Tom in the doorway.

“Tom.”   She smiled innocently at her brother.

“I’ve been curious about why you give Ben the cold shoulder every time we come over here, or why you make excuses why you can’t come over to our home.    Do you have a problem with Ben being my partner?”

“Can’t we discuss this another time? Our family’s waiting out there for dessert.”

“Screw dessert, Sis.   You didn’t seem to have a problem with me coming out to you years ago.   In fact, you said it didn’t make any difference to you.  That all that mattered was I’m happy.”

“Yes, I did say that, and I meant it.”

“So?  Is it Ben?  You don’t think he makes me happy?”

“Maybe I should leave.”  Ben felt this was a private conversation between Tom and his sister.

“No, this involves you.  You asked her a legitimate question and I want to hear the answer.  Do you dislike Ben?”

They both looked at Cathy; several minutes passed.

“Come on, Ben, we’re going home.”  Tom grabbed his arm, started pulling him from the kitchen.

“Wait!”  Cathy stood in front of them.

“Wait for what, Cathy?  It’s apparent you don’t like Ben for whatever reason.  Well, let me tell you something. Ben’s the love of my life.   We’re getting married and if you can’t accept that…”

“It’s not that.  This is so hard. I was planning to talk to you after you told me you got engaged ,but then the kids got sick and things got busy at work, and your work schedule being like it is…  I wanted to talk to you, in private.”  She looked from Tom to Ben and back again.

“Ben, would you please excuse us?”

He looked at Tom, then at Cathy, nodded and left.  

                                                                    ****

“Okay, tell me the truth.” Tom took a seat at the kitchen table,  Cathy next to him.

“You know all I ever wanted you to be is happy, Tom.   With Mom and Dad gone, it’s just Sam and us.  But you know how things are with him.”

“I don’t want to talk about him.”  Tom didn’t want to talk about their errant brother.

“I know, I don’t either.    After meeting Ben, talking to him, I just have to ask, does he make you happy?”

“If you’d really gotten to know him, you wouldn’t have to ask. “

“I know, I guess I was jealous.”

“Jealous? About what?” 

“You and he seem to have a perfect relationship. You know how things are between me and Kenneth.   He’s barely home these days.    Did I tell you we’re seeing a marriage counselor?”

“No, Sis, you didn’t.  I’m very sorry to hear that.”  He put his arm around her shoulder.

“How’d you know that Ben was the one?”

“When I saw his eyes, I just knew. It was like Cupid hit me with an arrow.”

“Are you happy?”

“Very.”

“That’s all I need to know.  I’m sorry about being distant with him.   I promise to do better.”

That night, after things got ironed out between Ben and Cathy and they agreed to get together more often, the two men stood in their living room, hugging.

“Are you glad to see me or is that a banana in your pocket?” 

“Why don’t you unpeel me and find out?”  Tom hugged Ben tighter and ran to their bedroom. Ben quickly followed him. 

Here are my fellow Briefers, we've got some newbies in the group

Ashlynn Monroe    m/f

Michael Mandrake    m/m

Nephylim     m/m

Sara York     m/m

MA Church   m/m 

Victoria Blisse    m/f

AJ Jarrett    m/m

Elyzabeth VaLey     m/f

Julie Lynn Hayes  m/m

MC Houle m/m