Ok so this is sort of sequel to another story I wrote called "one less lonely man" (yeah not the best title, I know)
But you don't really have to read it to get this story. Although It may help if you now a little about WCW (but you again don't have to)
Enjoy :)
He knew it had to have been one of the stupidest things he had ever agreed to. A drink with the man who had been the biggest thorn in his side for well over a decade now, what was he thinking? Just a six-minute phone conversation and boom here he was, feeling like the world's biggest moron as he walked up to his ex-boss's new house.
Jeremy Borash stood on the small concrete steps of the house for what felt like an hour trying to decide whether or not to knock. He glanced over his shoulder back toward the sizable lawn and other middle class suburban houses that sparingly dotted the long and now empty road. Street lamps and stars made the darkness of the late night sky lighten a bit as a cold wind blew through it.
The fact that he had worn a blazer didn't help much from the cold which seemed to be even harsher than he remembered from back in Minnesota. With eyes closed tight he finally knocked on the dark wooden front door. Immediately after those few sharp taps he regretted it.
He could hear the sounds of heavy footsteps behind the door, coming closer. The thought of just leaving and calling back up the cab company for a ride flashed through his head. Maybe spending the night at the hotel bar with ODB and Eric young would be better. But, being a man of his word and he had said he would be here, he just bit the inside of his cheek.
The door opened and there he stood, face to face with Eric Bischoff. The two had some history, including their little spats in TNA. Eric had given him his first job in professional wrestling at the ripe old age of 19. Since then Jeremy had begun to see "Mr. Bischoff" a bit differently. He saw Eric as the power-hungry boss he always was.
However the man standing in front of him now seemed like he had ever had any sort of power. He barely looked like the same man aside from the gray hair and light brown eyes. This man had a slouch to him; he looked relaxed but also worried with his mouth set half way between a faint smile and a frown. Dressed in a pair of jeans, a long white tee-shirt and a pair of worn out looking brown boots, he looked more like a third generation farmer than the boss of anyone.
"J.B" Eric greeted Jeremy and extended his right hand.
Jeremy took it for a shake and felt the warmness of a sweaty palm. Was Eric Nervous?
"Hey" he said faintly before removing his hand from Eric's. His fingers swept over Eric's longer ones before quickly being shoved inside his pants pocket.
Eric stepped to the side and joyfully said "come on in."
"Wait I thought we were going out? For a drink?" To be honesty J.B. didn't want to go inside the house. In fact he didn't want to go out of a drink either. Really he would have rather been back in his hotel room reading or watching TV or hell even just sitting alone. Anything was better than being with Bischoff.
"Yeah, Yeah I got some booze in the kitchen."
"Listen Eric, I-"
"Come on, just one beer" he ushered J.B. inside and shut the door behind the younger man. Was Eric really this lonely? Jeremy didn't really want to know the answer.
Once he stepped inside the narrow front hallway J.B. looked around. To the left was a small dining room with a plain wooden table and four chairs. J.B. guessed that even if Garrett wanted to come over he wasn't welcome. To the right was a living room right beside which was a narrow set of stairs at led up to the second floor. Even though this house had to have been much smaller than what Eric was used to it was huge compared to Jeremy's little apartment in Tennessee.
Eric started into the dining room motioning for J.B. to follow which he did. Passing by the table and chairs, they enter the kitchen. Appose to the rest of the rooms so far this one had black and white checkered title floors which were on the dirty looking side. The walls were the same peachy-tan color as all the rest though. Eric opened the plain white refrigerator and pulled out two dark brown bottles. He handed one to Jeremy and cracked open his own.
With an awkward smile now plastered on his face J.B. opened his bottle, placing the top onto a nearby counter before taking a long swig. Maybe being with Eric wouldn't be so bad if he got lit. Eric also took a long drink of his beer before leaning against the island counter and crossing his feet.
"J.B." he suddenly said "was I a bad boss?"
"What?"
"When I was your boss" he took another sip of beer "for all those years."
Jeremy clenched the glass bottle in his hand. What was Bischoff trying to say?
"Nothing, I just wanted to know what you thought about me."
J.B. realized that he must have asked the question out loud. He glanced down at the tile floor wondering what had gotten in to him. Not just for asking the question out loud but for also even coming here. A quiet night back in his hotel room alone was looking like a better and better idea with every silently pasting second.
The two nursed their drinks without talking for a minute or two before Eric suddenly posed another question "So you married yet?" J.B. almost coughed up the beer he had been drinking. What was with these questions?
Looking over to Eric he cleared his throat "W-why areā¦.why do you want know?"
"Just asking"
Shaking his head Eric downed the last few drops of his drink. He put laid the now empty bottle behind on the counter and smiled over at Jeremy "Still not much of a drinker, are ya?" J.B. glanced down at the bottle in his hand which was still half full before retorting "So what if I'm not?"
Again Eric shook his head. He walked over to the refrigerator but this time opened a cabinet right beside the freezer. He pulled out two large bottles and put them on the bar right beside J.B. As Eric walked over to the other side of the sizable kitchen Jeremy looked at the bottles.
Both had been open and one was almost empty. That one had its label took off, the other had "Jack Daniels" on it. Still looking at the two liquor bottles, he mumbled "I can't really stay much longer Eric."
"Ah come on" EB returned with two glasses which he filled each with ice from the door of the freezer before pouring half of the remainder of the label less bottle in to each. He handed one to J.B. with a smile that the younger man hadn't seen in years.
"You drink scotch right?"
"Yeah" Jeremy hesitantly took the glass of light brown scotch. He did usually drink scotch but right now all he wanted to do was get out of that dirty kitchen, out of that depressing house, and out of Eric's stare.
Eric looked down into his own cup of scotch and swirled it around. J.B. just looked around a bit more. There was a sink not too far from where he was standing with a couple of plates stacked up inside it. Three or four forks with scattered on top of them. The bar he had been resting on was at least a bit cleaner. It still wasn't clean per say but it wasn't filthy either. In fact that was the way the whole kitchen seemed. Not nasty but just sad. For some reason that was the feeling Jeremy felt in the house.
One of the most power men he had ever known, his boss, the one he had even been afraid of back in his younger days was now living in this place. Sure most of the people he had known didn't have great looking houses but not like this.
Eric closed his eyes and downed the whole drink at once. After words he loudly put it back on the bar, snapping J.B. out of his thoughts. Quickly without really think J.B. downed his glass and placed the empty cup next to Eric's.
"There you go" He said excitedly.
Jeremy quietly cleared his throat and wonder just why in the he had done that.
"So you're not married, right?" The older man asked as he cracked open the bottle of Jack Daniels.
The alcohol seemed to suddenly all rush straight to Jeremy's head. He knew he wasn't a light weight but still he already felt like lightheaded. "Yeah I'm still single." He slurred slightly as he answered.
Eric walked back over to where he had gotten the two glasses early as he asked "No Girlfriend?'
"Yeah I have a girlfriend and all." J.B. rested against the bar as the room went slightly shaky for a moment.
"Just not married?"
"Uh-huh"
"Great cause marriage is for chums." Eric plopped two shot glasses down next to the now open bottle of whiskey. He poured the two slap full and handed one to J.B.
Without any hesitation he threw his head back and took the shot. He was already buzzed and Eric was becoming more tolerable as he drank.
Eric did the same and poured them both another and then another. After the third or many it was the fourth J.B. held up his hand.
"I-I can't take another one."
"Oh come on just one more."
"No Eric"
"Come on J.B. What are you still a light weight?"
"No I'm just not a sorry alcoholic like you are." J.B. laughed a bit before notice Eric's stern look. His light brown eyes had turned dark and where staring straight at him, his mouth in a deep frown. "What did you just say?" He asked with a single note of neither kidding nor drunkenness.
"W-well I um" J.B.'s words slurred as he mumbled trying to think of a way to not only get Eric to stop looking at him like a murderer but also how the hell to get out of there.
"I'm Not an Alcoholic" Eric snapped.
"S-sorry" J.B. answer back no louder than a whisper.
"Excuse me for drinking more now that my whole life's in the shitter." He grabbed the bottle of whiskey and pressed it to his lips. Throwing his head back he took a big gulp before slamming it back on the bar. Jeremy took a step back.
Eric's shoulder dropped and he clenched his fists. Jeremy took another step this time toward the dining room. He knew where this was going. He had to get out of there. Sure on TV Eric had just humiliated him with a cheap low-blow but, this time they were alone.
Suddenly Eric lunged toward him. J.B. was just able covered some of his face with his arms and closed his eyes before he felt the first punch. It landed on the right side of his face, right beside his mouth. He stumbled back against the wall right next to the dining room. The next blow landed right below his ribs. After those two punches Eric grabbed his jacket's shoulder and pulled him away from the wall before slamming him back against it.
After a couple seconds of nothing but waiting for the next strike J.B. slowly moved his arms. His eyes met Eric's which had returned to their normal light brown, in fact looking at them now they had an amber glow to them. Eric's hands gripped the slightly smaller man's shoulders a bit tighter. J.B. winced and Eric released all the tension, still leaving his hands there.
J.B. let his arms fall to his sides, still in the back of his mind knowing that there was going to be another blow. Eric broke eye contact first, looking down at the line where the wooden floor of the dining room met the tiles of the kitchen. Jeremy stood frozen; he was just beginning to feel the numbing pain from Eric's strikes. He tried to look Eric in the eye when he finally stopped looking down at the floor. The older man stubbornly wouldn't look J.B. in the eye. What the hell was going on?
Eric once again tightened his grip of J.B's. blazer. The younger man held his breath, whatever was gonna happen he knew wasn't gonna be good. The older man pulled Jeremy out of his thoughts of doom by running his hands up from his shoulders to his neck. J.B. looked at him, a confused look on his face.
Before he could ask what Eric was doing he knew. The stronger man pushed him into the wall one last time, closed his eyes and then kissed him. Both men's lips were wet from the drinking but J.B.'s felt warm to Eric. Jeremy ran his hands up to Eric's shoulders and pushed him away .His eyes where still open when Eric opened his.
The room had finally stopped spinning for J.B. but, now his knees felt weak. Could he have actually liked it? He let out a few ragged breathes before slowly closing his eyes. He rested his head against the wall behind him. So what if he had enjoyed it a tiny bit? It didn't mean that it was right. He was cheating, with a man who hated his guts.
Suddenly Eric kissed him again. When their mouths met this time however J.B. didn't push Eric away instead he pulled him closer. As Eric pressing up against him J.B. couldn't deny it. This was more than just enjoying it a bit. He pulled at Eric's tee-shirt neck with one hand and ran the other one through the older man's gray hair.
Jeremy let out a groan; he pulled the hair at the back of Eric's head breaking the kiss for the second time. Eric opened his eyes this time to see J.B.'s were tightly closed. He smiled for just a second before Jeremy's eyes popped meeting Eris's gaze.
Silence fell over the whole house; the only sound was coming from outside. It was rain. Jeremy bit his lower lip. Eric cleared his throat, he let go of J.B.'s jacket before stepping back.
With his hands up he looked at the floor "Y-you know that I'm not" his voice trailed off "r-right?"
"Yeah"
"Are you?"
"No!"
"Good"
"Good"
Again silence filled the house, outside the rain picked up. As the two men tried desperately not to look each other in the eye Eric ran his hand through his own hair and let out a tired sigh. J.B.'s chest rose and fell rhythm as he pulled himself away from the wall. He took a step toward Eric but he just took another one away from J.B.
Wyoming rarely had a rain storm and the ones they did have didn't last ever long. Eric knew that and prayed that this one would end quickly so that Jeremy would just leave.
"Well um. I'd better get going." Jeremy said as he slowly turned to walk into the dining.
"Yeah, well bye." Eric called as he walked back over to the alcohol and picked up the Whiskey bottle. After a quick drink, he heard the front door slam close. He closed his eyes and cursed himself for even inviting J.B. over.
He walked through the dining room and out into the front hall, whiskey bottle in hand. Maybe he could just go to bed early tonight. Starting up the first step of the creaky staircase, Eric found himself looking back at the front door. With a groan he walked over and locked it. Afterword's he glanced through the peep hole.
On the sidewalk in front of the house, standing there in the rain was J.B. he was on his phone, probably trying to call the local taxi company. The rain had softened and the light of a nearby light pole gave the numerous puddles that Eric saw a bit of a yellowish glow.
Eric turned his back to the door and took another big gulp of whiskey before turning back to the peephole. This one burnt more than all the rest.
Outside J.B. got off the phone and began to walk down the street. "Don't tell me that little moron gonna walk in this weather." Eric said to himself as he shook his head.
Jeremy pulled his jacket around him with a shrug and started to walk faster. Unable to see someone especially someone he had just 'had a moment with' make such a stupid decision Eric unlocked the door and stepped outside. He hurried down the front steps and called to J.B.
He didn't turn around. The whole night had been horrible and awkward and well confusing. J.B. never wanted to see Eric again. All he wanted was to get to back to the hotel or maybe somewhere where he could get a cab to pick him up. He heard Bischoff yelling something from the front yard but, he didn't turn around. After what had happened J.B. didn't know what he wanted but he surely wasn't going to turn back. So, he kept on walking.
Bischoff grumbled to himself as he started after the younger man. Down the sidewalk, pass the other suburban houses on his street, to the corner. There he finally caught up to J.B. He called to him again, this time Jeremy turned around.
Jeremy's eyes widen as the older man took ahold of his arm. The rain had stopped completely now. Water dripped off the street lamp the two were standing under, Eric placed a hand on Jeremy's shoulder which he shrugged off. Puzzlement covered J.B.'s face.
His baby blue eyes however had a much different look. A look of doubt, of worry, of sadness.
Without a moment's hesitation Eric wrapped his still bare arms around J.B.'s wet blazer clad waist and pulled him in close. Jeremy wrapped his arms around the slightly larger man's neck and fell into the embrace with a sigh.
Maybe it was the scotch or possibly the whiskey but something about the way Eric's arms felt around him felt good. Jeremy didn't even care if it was the alcohol. All he cared about was the way he could feel Eric's chest rising and falling as the older man breathed.
Eric closed his eyes as he felt J.B.'s hand entangling into his hair. With another sigh the blonde raised his head from Eric's shoulder and pressed his lips against Eric's.
After finally prying their lips apart Jeremy mumbled something.
"You-You were a great boss, Eric"
For some reason Eric couldn't help but laugh at the fact that J.B. would bring that back up.
For the second time that night Jeremy thought that the meeting was the stupidest thing he had ever done. Only now as he watched Eric laugh he smiled. Both men found themselves asking the same question to themselves. Why hadn't it happened sooner?
I know I'm a freak for such a weird pairing but I always thought these two had sort of love/hate relationship.
Please reviews and say if you actually like this pairing.
