Eye Opener

Part 4

He'd still been sat in front of the telly when Paddy had come home an hour or so later. The older man plonking himself down beside him on the sofa, smiling broadly at him and saying...

"Rob's alright don't ya think?"

Paddy obviously thought he was, they'd certainly seemed to get on well, which he knew was important them having to work together the next few weeks. Maybe he should just agree with the older man, keep his dislike of Rob to himself but he found he couldn't, "No!"

"Aaron?" He thought he'd sensed an atmosphere between the two younger men, well had sensed Aaron was uncomfortable, but then it always took him a while to warm to someone new so he'd shrugged it off.

"Did you know he was gay?"

"No." Now why would Aaron take exception to that?

"Well he is and he..." Suddenly he felt embarrassed saying it and bit back on his words.

"And he what?"

"You know!" Did he have to spell it out, Paddy was shaking his head helplessly at him but finally a light went on in his head and he had the nerve to smile at him.

"What you mean he..."

"Yeah but I wasn't interested so he...he..."

"He what?" Why was it always so painfully hard for Aaron to tell him something?

"He starts eyeing Jackson up! He's only been here five minutes and he's..." he didn't get chance to finish his sentence Paddy quick to come back at him,

"Oh I see."

He didn't like Paddy's condescending tone, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well that's the real reason you don't like him, the fact he's been checking Jackson out ..."

"No!"

"Aaron come on, you've only just met him, you've got to give him a chance..."

"I'm not stupid Paddy I know Rob is bad news!"

"Jackson's not stupid either; he's a good judge of people so..."

"That's where you're wrong. He fell for me didn't he!"

That comment had earned him a roll of the eyes from Paddy but before the older man could go in to one of his 'little pep talks' he got to his feet and told him he was going to bed, Paddy had heaved an exasperated sigh on hearing that, but the older man really didn't want him around him right now, not the mood he was in, he'd only end up saying something he shouldn't, something he'd regret.

He hadn't really wanted to go to bed, he'd been dreading going, For the first time in a long time he'd be sleeping alone, no Jackson beside him. The bed was unbelievably empty and cold and even though they'd not got within inches of each other the last few weeks, Jackson had still been there. He missed him not being there now. He missed him so much it hurt. In the end he'd moved over to lie on what had been Jackson's side of the bed, resting his head on one of his pillows and pulling the other into his arms to hug it. That's when the tears had started to fall, to trickle endlessly down his cheeks and he'd let them.

He'd eventually fallen asleep but had slept very little, had mostly just tossed and turned and was relieved when the time came for him to get up. He made his way over to the window, wondering what sort of day it was, wet or dry?

The sky was grey, rain laden, and it looked ready to releave itself of its burden any minute, the gloom out there mirroring the mood inside his room. His gaze was suddenly drawn from the sky to a figure stood near the shop, his heart leaping in his chest on seeing it was Jackson. He couldn't see who he was talking to, a leafy branch of the tree opposite hiding everything but a pair of legs. He looked on unashamedly, unable to look away, not wanting to look away. It was a few minutes before a smiling Jackson had turned around and made his way back down to Dale View, only then did the man he'd been talking to come into his line of sight, Rob! He was now making his way over to the B&B, a smile plastered across his face as he twice looked back over his shoulder at Jackson. Why was he looking so pleased with himself? He could hazard a guess!

Tea and toast had been waiting for him on the breakfast table, he'd sipped on the steaming mug of tea but he hadn't wanted the toast, even though it was thickly spread with jam just the way he liked it, he wasn't hungry, he was too miserable to eat. Paddy's voice was determinedly cutting through that misery though...

"There's no need for all this you know, all you two need to do is sit down together and talk, you just need to talk everything through."

He gave Paddy his best withering look. The older man didn't have a clue what he was talking about, maybe he needed reminding of that fact. "What you having a string of failed relationships behind you makes you qualified to give me advice!" He'd just seen hurt flash in Paddy's eyes and was once again regretting opening his mouth. He couldn't bring himself to openly admit to that though, instead he just sat there and watched his friend get to his feet and silently make his way to his surgery.

Finding he couldn't go to work without making amends, he ten minutes later traipsed after Paddy. He opened the connecting door, immediately closing it to on hearing Rob's voice; he was the last person he wanted to see.

He'd thought he was talking to Paddy but it was soon clear he wasn't, that he was on his mobile to someone. He knew he shouldn't be listening but the conversation had suddenly become very interesting to his ears. From the things he was saying it was obvious Rob was talking to his boyfriend, he was telling him now just how much he missed him... yeah missing him so much so he'd already shown interest in two other men! He screwed up his face in disgust on hearing Rob tell the other man that he loved him. He couldn't love him and even if he did just what kind of love was it?

He waited until he was certain the call was ended and then entered the room, Rob instantly flashing him a smile that made his skin crawl, his words adding to its effect,

"You looking for me?"

"Why would I be?" He'd snapped that out, Rob really thought himself something, some sort of a catch. But he wasn't, he was alright looking he supposed, blond, blue eyed but that's all he had going for him, his good looks!

"I thought you might be wanting to take me to that club you mentioned. I'm sure we'd have a good time together."

"Wouldn't your boyfriend mind?" He asked knowingly, he didn't think Rob would like being found out and for some reason expected him to deny he was involved with someone else. He was really taken aback by the older man's matter-of-fact reply,

"We've got an open relationship, me and Jules. We see who we like... 'do' who we like, variety being the spice of life!"

He could only look at the other man as he made his way through to the next room, cringing inwardly as he paused by the door to slowly look him up and down in the exact same way he had Jackson the night before.

Rob had just made it blatantly obvious what he wanted. Well he wouldn't be getting it from him... and not from Jackson either.

TBC