***
A few hours later, he was groaning while letting his head drop on his desk. He even had his own office. Now he sort of felt for Alex. After having his hair washed, brushed and styled for at least five times until the director shooting the ad was satisfied, he could tell that his scalp wanted to join a union and ask for humane working conditions.
At least the part with the organic cosmetics company had been a bit less demanding. The poor guys had been so scared by the frown on his face that they had decided to accept all the conditions pushed under their eyes by a dutiful and very professional Yolanda.
Now he was just going to wait for his new assistant and then he was free to go.
A playful knock on his door made him raise his head.
“Come in,” he shouted, unsure if that could be easily heard through the metal door. It made him feel like he was in a bunker.
Someone slid through the door swiftly, like he was trying to come in unnoticed. The visitor was a guy in his late 30s, prematurely bald, and, by the size of his belly, the kind who didn’t seem to mind seconds.
“Yes?” he asked, seeing that his guest was busy stealing glances towards the door like he was prepared to see someone walking through it and following him.
“I don’t have a lot of time, but I did arrange ... those for you,” the man spoke, as he began to unhook his belt.
Carter stared at the man’s fatty fingers struggling with the fly. What was this guy thinking? That this was the toilet? When the guy pulled out a flaccid cock, Carter just looked away. Okay, so Alex Ruskin could indeed make everyone lose their pants, but what the hell was this?
The man finally seemed to notice his lack of response.
“Alex, please, you promised,” he began to beg.
Carter was cringing so hard that he thought he was going to puke. His eyes traveled to the guy’s cock and he winced.
“Put that thing away, man, what the fuck?” he spoke.
The visitor stopped, hanging his fingers awkwardly on the edge of his pants. He was now staring at Alex.
“Come on, you promised,” the man said, now more impatiently.
Carter took one deep breath.
“I have no idea who the fuck you are and what you say I promised you. But I’m a married man, so take your dick out of here.”
He hoped he looked menacing enough as he pointed towards the door. The man cursed as he pushed his dick back inside his pants.
“You said you would suck my dick if I helped you with those,” the man pointed a fat finger at him.
Carter snorted.
“Like I would get on my knees for you. Whatever you did for me, undo,” he said nonchalantly.
He had no idea what the guy was babbling about. The man now seemed on the point of choking.
“Really, dude, don’t have a heart attack here. I don’t know CPR,” he warned, again pointing at the door.
The guy finally understood and crawled towards the exit. To Carter’s surprise, another shady looking character sneaked inside as the first one left. He had a hunch this one was also going to wave his naked dick at him, by the look he gave him.
The difference was that shady character number two was a handsome young man, with a swarthy complexion and a sleek air about him, like he was an animal grown for his coat. What was the name of that little critter? Ah, a chinchilla. The truth was that he was not that shady. His eyes were shifty, though. Carter took in the tall man, and his lean build smartly dressed in a designer suit. Was he probably a model buddy or something? He definitely looked the part.
“Seriously, Alex, to get on your knees for that guy. I knew you to have standards,” the new comer pointed towards the door. “And, for fuck’s sake, be a little less obvious. If people are seen coming and going here like from a public toilet, you’re going to have people talking.”
“Duly noted,” Carter said dryly.
Of course, if guys around here were used to visit Alex’s office, dick in hand, the comparison was probably correct.
“Now who the fuck are you, and what brings you here?” he gestured towards his guest with a pointy pen he just grabbed from his desk.
The model buddy looked hurt when his eyes trained on Carter.
“Are you for real, Alex? Don’t pretend you don’t know me! What the hell?”
“I’ve just been released from the hospital. It looks like I have amnesia,” Carter spoke.
It was the easiest way to fend off these creeps. His mind was a blank slate, pristine and untouched. Unlike Alex’s dance card, obviously.
“Oh,” the man spoke, a bit taken aback. “Well, I don’t mind refreshing your memory,” he seemed to bounce back rather quickly and started to walk towards Carter with a sly smile on his lips.
Carter raised his hands in defense.
“How about you stay right there and tell me your name.”
He dutifully grabbed a notebook from the desk and set his pen on a blank page. And then he looked at the guy.
“Wow, you’re serious,” the guy spoke. “You really don’t remember me? Wait, do you remember others, or you simply don’t know a thing?”
Carter swung his head from one side to the other, with a forced smile on his lips.
“Well, I do know and remember the important stuff. And people. Like Yolanda.” He was such a huge liar. “And Aron.” Not an equally big liar here.
“Aron? Your cheating husband?” the man threw him a look like he couldn’t believe a word.
“He’s not a cheater,” Carter protested.
“Well, I don’t blame the guy. If he knew how much dick you get on the side ...”
Even Carter was taken aback by how the pen in his hand flew like a projectile. He had apparently squeezed too hard. The guest looked at him surprised.
“What?” he asked innocently. “It’s not like I’m going to tell,” he glared. “I don’t want to be at the receiving end of your wrath.”
“Well, until I get the hang of everything around here,” he said slowly, “how about we, ahem, suspend our little arrangement?”
The man looked at him pensively.
“Are you kicking me at the curb?”
Carter pondered for a couple of seconds. On one hand, Aron didn’t deserve to be cheated on like this. Well, not like this. Not at all, actually. On the other hand, he had the time travel slash body swapping rule of not intervening. What was he to do?
“You know what?” he told the guy, smiling widely. “I just realized that I’m happily married and that I want to stay this way.”
“Really? After Aron cheated on you?”
“He didn’t cheat,” Carter said slowly.
“How can you tell?” the guy snorted. “Come on, you’re a catch, Alex, but it’s not like Aron is not a looker. He can make a lot of guys drop to their knees and show their appreciation. And you know that.”
“I had a recent head-on with Miss Death. I think it was a signal for me to mend my ways. So this is what I’m doing. Plus, I took a vow when I got married. I’m not going to sully that by sleeping around. Well, at least not anymore.”
“I’ll be damned,” the guy whispered. “Are you sure? What about me?”
“What about you?” Carter shrugged.
The man’s frown deepened. There was something in the way the guy looked at him that told Carter that the guest was pretty shaken by the change in what he knew. He was too young to hide his feelings well.
“All right, Alex. I’ll give you a few days. You’ll come around. And think whether Aron is really the faithful husband you think he is. He could have anyone.”
“Ah, well, he has me, and I have him,” Carter said sharply. “Now, I believe you have plenty of other things to do.”
“I freed my schedule so I can see you,” the guy protested, and his sweet brown eyes turned pleading.
Ugh, he could not stand the puppy eyes look. When some girl did that to him, he somehow always ended up buying something expensive for her.
“Too bad,” Carter reigned in his temptation to give in to the temptation to comfort the guy. “See you around.”
The man left without a word. Funny, he hadn’t mentioned his name. That was pretty rude. Plus, he hadn’t even cared to ask whether Alex was all right after that freakish accident he had been involved in. Ah, well, chinchilla slash puppy eyes guy could go fuck himself.
He let his head rest on the desk again. So Alex was a huge jerk, sleeping around and keeping his husband on a tight leash at home. What if the guy was engaging in risky sex behavior on a constant basis? He could feel cold sweat on his back. Maybe the guy had some STDs or something. Damn it! And Aron had no idea! He needed to get this stupid body tested. What if the guy didn’t even care about using protection?
Another knock on the door made him groan. He shouted for the new comer to come in. Without lifting his head off the desk, he just raised his hands, exposing the ring finger on the left with the wedding band and pointing at it with the right.
“Married! Happily married!” he yelled, hoping that the new guy was just going to leave without additional explanations.
“I know, boss,” a young voice said brightly. “I know everything about you.”
Carter raised his head and took in the new apparition. A young man in his early twenties, with a messenger bag thrown casually over one shoulder, wearing a plaited shirt and washed out jeans, was smiling at him from the door. He wore thick rimmed glasses and seemed to have done that before it was cool, and his preppy chestnut hair was perfectly glued to his head.
“Hello, Mr. Ruskin. I’m Mark Williams, your new assistant. Pleased to meet you,” the young man hurried to him, keeping one arm stretched.
Carter stood up and shook the guy’s hand, surprised that it wasn’t another man wanting sexual favors from him.
“Hi, Mark. And welcome. Sorry if I’m a mess. I just got back from the hospital.”
“Yes, I heard,” Mark kept his hand in his.
For a second, Carter thought he saw the assistant’s eyes flickering in kaleidoscopic colors. But the next one, they looked just an ordinary brown. It had been, probably, just a trick of the light.
TBC
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