Chapter 7
A short one for today.
Ray Branswell may be young but he is already quite an artist. He does oil paintings but he also does pencil drawings with colour highlights that are particularly beautiful. His style is realistic with a bit of an impressionist twist. Rather unusual, but the result is attractive and his work is already catching the eyes of some gallery owners.
Right now, he is studying the print in his hands, it is a print of the shot he took of Aaron and Jackson in front of the Woolpack. He is trying to figure out how he will portray them. They are both beautiful young men, their features are clear, their eyes are piercing and their smiles are most charming.
He settles at his desk with his drawing pad, pencil in hand. The movements of his hand are small at first, he starts by drawing the basic shapes around the heads and along the shoulders and the arms, he then works on the facial features, he wants to capture the essence of these two men. He proceeds patiently, adding shadows around the eyes, on the side of the faces, paying particular attention to Jackson's beard and to Aaron's smile. He finds his smile intriguing. As much as Aaron can look serious, his face lights up so much when he smiles and it makes him even more attractive. His dark hair provides a solid contrast to the lighter shade of Jackson's.
The basic drawing being completed to his satisfaction, he now uses special colouring pencils to accentuate certain details, to add a new dimension to the work. It resembles the old-style coloured photographs of the early nineteen hundreds, but with a modern feel to it. It's almost as if the work was done entirely in colours. When he took the picture, they were seated at the table in front of the Woolpack, their arms resting on it. There were trees on the other side of the road, behind them, and they served as background. He chooses to use the table and the trees to produce the impressionist side of the work. The two styles offer a contrast that is both surprising and appealing.
He was pleased with his work. He wanted it to be as good as he could get it. He took great care in finishing it. While he was working, he kept thinking that if Aaron hadn't been there, he just might be dead, or even worse––brain dead––given the beating that had started by the time Aaron intervened. Maybe he wouldn't be here, doing what he enjoys most, and his family would be mourning him. Who knows how it could have ended. He let out a long sigh, shivering at the thought. He was a very lucky young man, he thought, very lucky.
Sitting in their living room, Mark and Brian were enjoying their pre-dinner drinks, a lager for Brian and a glass of wine for Mark. This was their daily ritual. Both worked a lot and they enjoyed their time together. Mark was the manager of a retail store and Brian was a mechanic at a luxury car dealership.
They met almost seven years ago at Menz Bar, the newest bar in Hotten at the time. Nice place, interesting techno and house music, good pool tables and the crowd was always mixed and intriguing. You could find a few lads wearing leather hot pants, plenty of the denim crowd and the others who didn't want to stand out too much. Well, enough to be noticed, mind you, but they were not there to make a statement of any sort.
Actually, that's why Mark and Brian connected so quickly. Both men were rather discreet. Each was at one of those many high tables where patrons could gather and rest their drinks. There were no seats around those tables. They where what you'd call chatting stations, or pick up spots, if you didn't care about chatting! Their tables were side by side. From the corner of their eyes, they had looked at each other, one making sure the other didn't notice. Mark was checking out the nice abs on Brian and he could see the man was well-built without being a bodybuilder. The shirt he was wearing was accentuating his beautiful chest. After a while, Brian decided that the good-looking lad checking him out was worth a try. Their eyes had done the talking at first, then an invitation to dance from Brian sealed the deal! Surprisingly, Brian the mechanic was the dancer, and Mark the manager wasn't too crazy about dancing, but he knew a few moves that could attract attention, in the right way. So that had pleased Brian a lot. On seeing those moves, he knew he had picked the right guy!
Mark was a clean-shaven kind of guy, wavy black hair kept tidy but not too short, and he had gorgeous green eyes that would always mesmerize Brian. He had a slightly muscular body and he knew how to dress well without going overboard. Brian enjoyed the comfort of casual clothes, he was in fact the epitome of the casual-looking guy, permanent five-o'clock shadow, always well-trimmed, very sexy on him, and a face that should be on a model.
After some dancing, they had picked up their drinks and moved to a more quiet spot, in the back corner. They had spent the rest of the evening talking, getting to know each other more. They took to each other almost instantly. After dating for several weeks, they became serious. A few months later, the two of them were moving in together. A year or so later, they bought a house in a new development on the edge of town. Nice place but nothing extravagant. It was comfortable, they could afford it, and it was a very welcoming place for friends and family.
After supper, they went on the patio to enjoy their coffee. The weather was warm and pleasant, it was almost summer.
"What do you say we invite Aaron and Jackson to come along with us to Liverpool for that Good Things in Life fair," Mark said. "They might enjoy that, getting away from the village, especially for Aaron after the Bar West incident. It'd be nice to get together for the day and relax a bit."
Brian was all for it. He liked them both and he had a few things in common with Aaron. Both were mechanics, enjoyed talking about cars, especially luxury vehicles, and they both loved their lager! But it was more than that. There were some similarities between them in the way they were raised. Like Aaron, Brian was comfortable being gay now, but it hadn't been easy at the beginning. He was someone who enjoyed fast cars, sports in school, he was destined for the trades. In his mid-teens, he realised he was gay and that worried him. How could he be gay and be a mechanic, like cars and all that sort of stuff? Of course, he didn't want to be found out. So he was the quiet type at college. Then, over time, he realised that it was the way he was and he would have to accept it. He came to understand that he could be gay and like cars, be the manly type. That combination was not impossible. All gays were not effeminate, if you wanted to follow the stereotypes, and he was one of those people who didn't fit the mould. That's why he found it so difficult to put being who he was with the fact he was gay. He was atypical, and well, maybe he wasn't the only one.
One day, that realisation came crashing at him as he found out one of his classmates was gay. So he was not alone after all. He had bumped into Aaron Livesy at the local gay bar and, after some awkward seconds, they both started to laugh at the situation. Each one had his suspicions about the other but they had never made a move or done anything to take it further. That night, they had talked a fair bit over several drinks. Well, Brian talked and Aaron listened mostly and he had put in a few words every now and then. With time, Aaron opened up a bit more, but he remained a shy person, always hesitant to make himself vulnerable. For both of them, it was the beginning of their life, they were young, they wanted to play the field and that was enough. They started being friends and they were happy with that. They were also able to provide some support to each other, which they both appreciated and needed.
Was there an attraction between them? Well, there was some, but not enough to lead to something more than the good friendship they had. They both accepted that and were happy like that. They both realised that a good friendship was important. Casual sex is good, but it has its limitations.
With time, they each found the love of their life. They had remained good friends and made a point of meeting occasionally for drinks.
TBC