The New Guy

(Part 1 from 4. Fiction.)

I made up my mind to dislike him the moment I met him. Arrogance, self-importance and conceit are not qualities that I admire in any person and Julian Knight, that was his name, overflowed with all of the above. On top of all that, he was straight and far too good looking for his own good. No-one, apart from the odd angel or two, should look like he did.

About thirty, tall and broad shouldered, with a body to die for. Slim but well built with a butt that should never have been given to any one man. The entire office was a-buzz the moment he walked through the door. He sauntered in as if he owned the place and looked around with a small supercilious smile on his face. And what a face! Rugged but smoothly elegant with unbelievable red-brown eyes. High arched eyebrows underscored his intelligent forehead. And his nose, oh God, what a nose.

Narrow, straight and finely sculpted, with a very slight bump on the bridge. One’s eye was drawn to that little bump and then led down to the tip, which ended neatly in a blunt point. Then you could not help but see the crafted lips beneath that extraordinary nose. Not too thick and not too thin, with a small cleft in the bottom lip. His chin finished off the picture with a very noticeable dent in the middle of it. All of this was capped by an untidy pile of dark honey-blond hair that gave off the impression of carefully studied casualness.

Mr. Carter, our Head of Department, bustled forward and greeted Julian Knight with a huge smile on his ugly mug. The rest of us sort of gathered at the water cooler to discuss this new paragon.
“Oh God, he looks like a movie star!” Lisa, my best friend and confidant whispered breathlessly.
“Hands off him sweetie!” Jane, our resident nymphomaniac, berated Lisa quickly. “He’s mine!”

Lisa glared at Jane and snorted prettily.

“And what makes you so certain that he’ll even be remotely interested in you?” She growled softly.
“Unlike you honey, I have tits!” Jane said and pushed her chest forward to accentuate her over-large carriage. Lisa crossed her arms over her meager breast and blushed.

“Not every man likes big breasts.” Lisa said tartly. “I know quite a few men who find over-endowed women quite repulsive.”
“And I know a whole lot more who don’t!” Jane remarked with a smirk.

The other two men listened to this interchange fascinated. Being the only gay member of the staff, I’d been half listening because my entire attention was fixed on Julian Knight. My first impression of him was:- gorgeous, hunky and very, very sexy. On a scale of one to ten; he was an eleven.

“He might be gay, sweetie.” I whispered to Lisa. “Then he’s all mine!” She glared at me and snorted.
“You wish!”

Then he glanced across the room at our little gathering and smiled smugly. I knew immediately that he’d guessed that we were discussing him; he was that arrogant. My estimation of him dropped a couple of notches along with his rating: eight! I snorted contemptuously and his eyes met mine. His smile slipped slightly and his face suddenly changed, as if he had seen something that annoyed him.

Then Mr. Carter led him over to our little group. Close to, he was breathtaking and my guard immediately went up. I knew his type well and I’d made a point of avoiding men just like him.

“Everyone, this is Julian Knight, our new Graphics Supervisor.” Carter said. “Julian, that’s Lisa and Jane and the guys are Malcolm, Sebastian and Rory.” He finished, indicating each of us in turn. Malcolm stretched out his hand and Julian shook it solemnly. Then Rory followed suit and finally it was my turn. I held out my hand and he took it in a firm grip. He raised his eyebrows slightly, gave my hand a quick shake and then let go. I stepped back, numb. His touch had been electric.

It felt as if I had stuck my finger into an outlet and thrown the switch. Bolts of charged ions ran up my arm and through my body and settled in my groin, making it tingle alarmingly. My arm hung, useless at my side while I tried to gather my scattered wits. Julian stepped back, shoved his hand deep into his pocket, his eyes still on me, a small frown crinkling his brow. And then he smiled, a slow secretive grin, revealing unbelievable dimples in his cheeks. I felt as if he had dropped into my head and read my every thought.

Then he diverted his attention to the girls. Jane, of course was blatantly flirting with him while Lisa watched on helplessly. Julian laughed at something Jane said and another charge ran through me at the sound. My reaction to him was beginning to get out of hand so I pulled myself together and resolved to dislike him from then on. One thing that made it a little easier was the fact that by the way he was flirting with the girls, he was obviously as straight as a flagpole so his rating dropped several more notches: five.

I have a very low tolerance of most straights; ‘Them’, as I call them; and here was a man who was so hetero, it was funny. He oozed charm like oil over the girls who got more coquettish with each passing second. Even Lisa threw in a few flirty remarks while blushing furiously. Malcolm and Rory joined in the banter while Mr. Carter watched, smiling stupidly. I turned and went back to my drawing board. Because of my new resolve, I had lost interest, deciding that work was a lot more captivating. I sat at my board and glanced in their direction. Julian was watching me and his gaze met mine. He winked quickly, a small knowing smile on his face and then he diverted his attention back to the others.

Then Mr. Carter broke up the group and led Julian to his new office. The others all went back to work.

Julian’s office was enclosed by glass paneled dividers and over the top of my board, I could see Mr. Carter settling Julian in. I watched as he bustled about, talking animatedly while Julian stood by with his hands in his pockets. Then Mr. Carter shook his hand and went back to his own office. Julian looked around and then moved behind his desk. Then he suddenly looked up, straight through the glass panel and his eyes met mine.

He winked at me again and smiled broadly and I quickly diverted my attention back to my art work. Damn those dimples!

Lisa came over to me and leaned against the edge of my board.
“He’s stunning!” She whispered. “And so nice.”
“Who?” I asked, knowing full well to whom she was referring.
“Don’t be obtuse.” She grumbled. “Julian, of course.”
“I hadn’t noticed.” I lied.

“Come on Bastian, you of all people would have noticed.” She berated. I looked up from the design I was working on. Her gaze was steady and uncompromising.
“I saw the way you re-acted to him.” She finished.
“Really?” I said. “And how was that?”
“Oh I don’t know.” She said. “Sort of . . captivated, I guess.”

“To you captivated, to me distanced wariness. I have no interest in him whatsoever.” I said. “He’s one of them!”
“I know. Tough luck sausage!” She giggled. “Good for me though. That’s if Jane doesn’t get her man hungry hooks into him, of course.” I laughed.
“Take it from me, Lisie, she’s already ordered the cake!” I said.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “With her around, I haven’t a chance in hell.”

She glanced over at Jane and snorted.
“What is it with her?” She asked. “Is there not a man alive that she hasn’t got her claws into yet?”
“Me!” I grinned. “Although when she first started here, she did try.”
“Really?” She laughed. “That must have been interesting.”
“Oh it was, very!” I said. “I asked her if she had a dick and when she replied that she certainly did not, I told her that the day she managed to grow one, she could come and talk to me again. She’s left me alone since.”

Lisa gurgled merrily at this.
“I wonder if she’s had a go at Malcolm or Rory yet?”
“Trust me, she has.” I said. “I’ve had to listen to each of them describe it to me, in lurid detail.”
She sighed heavily.


“I just know I’m going to go through life alone.” She said.
“You and me both, sweetie.” I replied.
“Yeah, right.” She said heavily. “I can just see it. You and me sitting on some porch at sunset in rocking chairs, old and decrepit. Just like Dick and Mable.”
“With cats!” I laughed. “Hundreds of smelly cats!” 

Fraternizing with the Enemy.

“You don’t like me much, do you.” Julian said softly.

I looked across the table at him. We were in the staff bar downstairs. As is the unofficial custom, the design staff gathered there on a Friday evening after work for an ‘end of the week drink’ as we called it. Malcolm and Rory were both at the bar flirting with the girl from reception. They had a bet on as to who got to lay her first. Lisa had not come as she had gone to her parents for the weekend and Jane was nowhere to be seen. So here I was, alone with a man that I had vowed to hate.

Julian had been with us for one week now and I had spent most of that time avoiding him.
“Frankly, no I don’t.” I replied.
“Why is that?” He asked.
“No particular reason.” I said airily.

He smiled slightly and his dimples flashed at me seductively. Damn him!
“I got the job you were after, didn’t I.” He said.

I looked across at him. His face was unreadable.
“To be perfectly candid, yes you did.” I said. “As senior designer, that position should have been mine.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that.” He responded. “But if you want to blame someone, blame head office.”

I kept silent because he was right. It was hardly his fault. Head office had decided to bring in someone new instead of promoting from within.
“Look.” He said and leaned forward over the table. “I’m new in town and it would be nice to be friends with the few people that I do know so let’s try to get along, shall we?”
“Why?” I asked. “We have to work together and as far as I’m concerned, that’s quite enough. Besides, I have plenty of friends.”

He was silent for a moment and then he stood up and looked down at me.
“Okay, if that’s the way you want it.” He said softly.
I stood up and faced him squarely.
“Yes it is.” I said unfairly. “I have to work with a bunch of straights so I’m hardly going to socialize with them as well.”

He stared at me and then smiled.
“Of course.” He said. “Goodnight, I’ll see you on Monday.” He turned on his heel and walked out of the bar.

And so it went. In the office I kept my distance as did he but even so, I actually began to like him a little. My first impression of him might have been a bit off. He was a little arrogant, yes; and maybe a bit conceited but he was always polite and treated the staff with respect. As for me, he treated me with charm and friendliness while I gave off an aura of reserved iciness. By Friday of the following week, we had settled into an impasse.

In the bar that evening, Lisa and I got into yet another discussion about him.
“He really is a nice guy.” She whispered to me. “Real friendly.”
She was sitting close to me, watching Julian and Rory across the table talking.

“Lisie, do we have to discuss him?” I breathed.
“Yeah.” She said. “And I have a bit of office gossip for you. Jane’s pissed because she’s bent over backwards to get a date out of him but he’s just not interested.”
“Really?” I said and laughed.

“Yeah.” She replied. “I just might have a bit more luck. Although I’ve dropped a couple of hints which he hasn’t seemed to pick up on.” She leaned closer to me. “Maybe he’s gay and you’d have better luck.”
I looked across at Julian.
“I doubt it.” I said. “He’s definitely one of ‘them’!”
“You should try a little experiment.” She said. “Ask him out and see what happens.”

For some obscure reason, the idea intrigued me. I looked across at him again and watched as he talked quietly to Rory. No doubt about it, he was interesting and unbelievably good looking. I especially liked the way a couple of stray locks of honey-blond hair fell down onto his forehead. No, I berated myself; let’s not even begin thinking like that about him.

I shook myself and resisted an overwhelming urge to lean across the table and brush his hair off his forehead. Then he looked up across the table at me, almost as if he knew that I was watching him. He smiled disarmingly and a sudden thrill ran through me and settled in my groin. I quickly diverted my gaze back to Lisa. She was watching me carefully.

“You do like him just a little, don’t you.” She said softly. “So ask him out for a drink.”
“Damn it Lisie, stop it.” I growled. “I can’t, you know what my biggest fear is.”
“Yeah.” She said. “To fall in love with a straight guy.”

I nodded.
“Well, I’m not asking you to fall in love with him.” She continued. “One drink never killed anyone.” She paused and smiled wickedly. “Go on, I dare you!”
Lisa knew exactly how to get to me and what buttons to push. She knew damn well that I could never resist a dare so I thought about it for a moment. What harm was there in it and besides, it would be interesting to see what his reaction would be.

She nudged me and grinned evilly.
“Go on.” She whispered again. “I dare you!”
“Okay, you’re on.” I said at last. “I’ll do it out of interest’s sake, but you must come with.”
“Don’t be silly, that would defeat the whole object of the exercise.” She said.

“Okay.” I said and looked across at Julian. “How about I suggest that he and I go grab a bite to eat; sort of casual like.”
“Yeah.” Lisa said. “That would do the trick.”

A little later, Lisa said goodnight and left, the group broke up and I made my way over to Julian. He saw me coming and turned to face me. I stopped in front of him and gave him a small smile.
“Sebastian.” He said. “How are you doing? I’ve been meaning to talk to you, in private.”
“About what?” I asked and shifted awkwardly. What did he have to discuss with me that required privacy.

“As I said, it’s private.” He reiterated.

I nodded abstractedly my mind on my mission. I wasn’t quite sure how to phrase what I wanted to ask him. I mean, I’d hardly spoken to him over the last week. Then I thought, what the hell, the worst he could do was say no. And now I could use the fact that he wanted to speak to me privately.

“Um . . well then I have a suggestion.” I began. He raised his eyebrows slightly. “I’m going to grab something to eat and if you like . . ”
I broke off, now convinced that the whole idea was stupid and if he wanted to speak to me privately, he could do it in his office on Monday.
“Um . . never mind. Goodnight.” I finished and turned to leave.

“Sure.” He said and I stopped and faced him. “I’d like that.”
“I’m sorry?” I countered.
“Well you were asking me if I’d like to go along with you, weren’t you? Like a dinner date?” He smiled disarmingly.

Pages : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Post your review/reply.
Allow us to process your personal data?
Hop to: