When The Rich Son Falls

Twenty Three

There had been a few times when Topher casually thought about what would happen if he were to meet James for the first time at a bar or a club; and each time, his conclusion would always change. Now that a similar scenario was currently afoot, he still didn’t know what his final answer would be. In fact, he wasn’t even sure why he left a perfectly good-looking woman in the middle of the floor, just to go running after someone who was most likely, but not entirely surely James. In addition to that, he also didn’t know what exactly he was setting out to do once he had caught up with him.

But he learned the answers to those questions soon enough.

After a few seconds of losing and finding a masked James in the sea of other masked people, Topher finally spotted him and his companion going out through a backdoor. Topher followed them without a second thought, and opened the door quietly before finding himself in a dark alleyway beside the building.

Billions of thoughts ran through his head at that time as he looked left and right, but they suddenly stopped when he finally spotted movement at a dark corner a few meters away. Topher quickly hid behind a broken lamppost, and squinted his eyes as if that would help him see better in the dark. He could vaguely make them out, but it was clear with the sounds that he was hearing that they were heavily lip-locked.

“Can’t we just do this at your place?” Topher heard one of them whisper; and given that he had basically spent most of the week tailing and badgering James, Topher could unmistakably recognize his voice.

“Yeah, we’ll go after,” the other man said. “But first…”

Topher’s eyes widened as he heard the sound of a zipper being undone. As his eyes adjusted in the dark, he could see James close his eyes and let out a small moan as the other man trailed kisses from his ear down his neck. Things escalated faster after that. Topher’s hand flew to his mouth when he saw the man slowly lowering himself down to kneel on the dirty concrete floor, while James ran his fingers through the man’s hair.

Topher knew what was about to happen. He had been on the receiving and giving end of it countless times before; only, this time, he was neither.

Two thoughts ran in his mind at that moment. The first was that he couldn’t believe James was not as vanilla as he thought he would be. Topher had admittedly previously thought that James was either a virgin saving himself for marriage, or someone who would only have intercourse with someone he was in a relationship with, while calling the deed “love-making” instead of just “s*x”. But it turned out he was wrong on both accounts—the man was in a bar called Mystique, a long way from home, wearing a domino mask and about to get his jollies off in a dark corner from someone Topher could only assume was a stranger, for goodness’ sake!

The second thought that ran through his mind was how quickly things were happening. Topher did not mean to witness any of “that”. All he wanted was confirmation that he was following James; not become a peeping Tom in the process. So, thinking that his time there was done and that he should at least give them some privacy, Topher slowly and carefully turned around. But on the very first step he took, he managed to step on an empty plastic bottle of water that made a crackling sound.

“f**k,” Topher muttered under his breath. There was no way they didn’t hear that.

Topher made the mistake of turning around to check if they heard it, only to see James and the other guy rush to get themselves together and look at him. With Topher’s face illuminated by the glowing red Exit sign right above him, James’s eyes widened as the recognition quickly set in.

“You,” James couldn’t help but mutter as a clear wave of panic came crashing towards him. Meanwhile, the man next to him approached Topher before Topher could even make a quick escape.

“Jonathan, you know this guy?” the man asked, as if he was delightedly surprised.

“Jonathan?” Topher echoed, looking wildly at James, who remained standing there in shock.

The man ignored both of them and stood right in front of Topher, blocking his view of James, and gently fixed Topher’s collar. “Hey, since you two know each other, do you want to join us?” the man asked with a wink. “There’s always room for more,” he added, much to Topher’s horror.

“He will not be joining anything,” James interrupted, finally having the strength in his knees to walk towards them. “Excuse us a second,” he said, quickly grabbing Topher by his sleeve and pulling him towards the other end of the alleyway.

“Oh, come on,” they heard the man loudly complain. “Jonathan!”

But James didn’t stop walking and dragging Topher behind him until they turned the corner to the main street.

“You’re wrinkling my blazer—” Topher was saying to make the situation a bit lighter, when James finally roughly let him go.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he hissed at Topher, looking like he was still in a state of panic.

“I could ask you the same thing, Jonathan,” Topher shot back, pointing at his own mask. James rolled his eyes and threw his mask to the ground, finally freeing up his face for Topher to see how incredibly red his face had become—but it was apparently out of anger, and not of panic.

“You were just about to get your jollies off, weren’t you? Look at you sporting a halfsie,” Topher teased with his eyes trailing down to James’s pants. It wasn’t true, of course, but it still made James instinctively look down and proceed to cover his crotch with his hands. Then when he finally realized that Topher was just messing with him, he let out a groan and balled up his hand like he was itching to punch something or someone.

“We’re going back,” James growled under his breath before he raised a hand to call a cab about to pass by them. “Right now.”

“But I haven’t even—” Topher was protesting when James shot him a death glare as he opened the cab’s door.

“Now,” he firmly commanded. “Or I will lock you out of the house.”

That effectively shut Topher up and made him get in, but not without narrowing his eyes at James to let him know that he wasn’t happy about it. James looked like he couldn’t care less, and simply got in after him. After he had given the driver the address, James sat with his body half-turned towards the window, and with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Feeling the dangerous aura that was coming off the man beside him, Topher decided to keep his mouth closed as long as he could—which wasn’t too long.

“So, back there,” Topher had barely begun when he was immediately countered with a firm “No.”

So, he tried again.

“Just to be clear, you like—” only, this time, he was cut off by a warning glare. Topher shut up once more and somehow managed to remain silent throughout the rest of the drive. All the while, he could sense James sitting so stiffly beside him. Was he really that embarrassed? And which part was he even embarrassed about?

Topher, in an attempt to make the air lighter with the use of humor, began to open his mouth once again the moment they walked into the house.

“So, is he your boyfriend that gave you your hickey?” he asked with a wide, teasing smile, which turned into surprise when James suddenly spun around and faced him.

“Stop talking about it,” he said through gritted teeth. “You won’t ever speak of this to anyone, or I swear to god, I will kick you out and report you to—to twitter or something.”

One issue at a time, Topher thought to himself, choosing to bury the fact that James sounded like a caveman just then. “I was kidding, alright?” he said with a chuckle as he made his way to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. James stayed in the living room, staring him down.

“It’s just fun to tease you, because honestly, dude, what’s the big deal? I don’t understand why you’re so ashamed of this, when there’s nothing wrong going to clubs,” Topher said as he casually drank. He stopped midway as something crossed his mind. “Unless, that’s not the part you’re worried about… are you… are you not out?”

James’s annoyed expression did not change, but he did mutter, “Just don’t say a word to anyone,” before he turned to open his bedroom door.

Topher’s eyes went wide, then he rushed to hold onto the doorknob to keep James from going in. “Okay, I get it, I get it,” he said, much calmer and kinder now. “I won’t. I’m not that kind of a douchebag anyway. You come out of your closet when you want to, but go drink some water for now, because I’m guessing you drank alcohol back at the club.”

James suspiciously narrowed his eyes at Topher, but then let go of the door. When James walked to the kitchen, Topher continued, “You know, in fact, some people don’t even have to announce it. Whether or not you do it is entirely up to you. In my case, I’ve been making out with basically everything good-looking ever since I hit puberty, and I have a gay brother, so it didn’t really come as a surprise to anyone.” Topher was about to take a seat on the back of the couch, when he suddenly remembered that his pants were previously stained. Without hesitation, he unbuttoned them and pulled them down, just as James had finished drinking a glass of water.

“What are you doing?” James asked when he turned around and saw Topher pulling his foot off the garment, now left in his shirt, blazer, and boxers.

“I’m taking off my pants because your friend spilled a drink on it,” he answered, seeing no problem with it. He even held the pants up and took a whiff before knowingly nodding. “Yup, it’s an amaretto sour, I knew it. I could smell it in the cab. Did you smell it?”

James looked at him like he was out of his mind. “Put some clothes—at least, go into the bathroom first!” He turned around and busied himself with washing the glasses that they had used.

Seeing his reaction made Topher’s little devil horns pop up on the sides of his head. “Oh, why?” he smugly asked, draping his pants over one shoulder. “Are you threatened or attracted?”

“Disgusted.”

Topher lightly scoffed as he made his way towards James, who was wiping his hands on the kitchen towel.

“That’s not how you seemed to be in the gym bathroom. Even when severely dehydrated, I saw how red you were and how you tried your best not to check me out,” Topher teased. “There’s nothing wrong about it. I know I’m an attractive specimen. Nice muscles, relatively well-hung.” He snickered to himself at how ridiculous he sounded, then straightened his face when James gave him a deadpan stare.

“I’m tired, and you’re delusional.”

James intended to pass by him, but Topher placed his hands on the wall and the countertop to obstruct his way. “Am I, really?” he dubiously asked.

“What are you doing?” James let out a tired sigh. He already had enough of the man for one day.

But Topher didn’t move away, and instead, took a step forward that forced James to take a step back. “Come to think of it, I was also about to get some, too, with a very stunning woman, in fact.”

“Then go,” James said, clearly making an effort to seem unbothered by the proximity. “What’s that got to do with me?”

“Seeing you distracted me, but anyway…” Topher slightly leaned his upper body forward, making James take another step back. He could feel his heels already touch the bottom of the sink, letting him know that there were no more backward steps he could take if Topher were to move closer.

Thankfully, Topher kept still when their noses were about a hand’s width away. “What about a quid pro quo? Now that I know you can get funky with guys—even those you meet at a club—it kind of makes me…” with a sly smile, Topher purposefully let his eyes momentarily travel to James’s lips for a second. “Kinda wanna tease you more,” he ended with something that sounded like half a whisper. He could see the way James involuntarily swallowed as his face slowly began to turn red, making his thoughts transparent.

That was all Topher needed.

Finally achieving the affirmation he wanted, his smile grew until he couldn’t help it anymore and laughed. “Ha! See? I knew it!” he exclaimed, waving a finger at James, who just realized he’d been played.

“You…” James gritted his teeth; his face, now red from annoyance. “You are full of it,” he said, only for Topher to respond by ruffling his hair while fondly chuckling at him. James shoved his hand away and stomped to his room. He turned around and pointed a finger at Topher, saying, “Not a word about tonight, you hear me?” before he went in and slammed the door behind him.

With James out of sight, Topher’s laughter faded into a smile.

The night didn’t turn out as he had planned, but it did become interesting and somewhat amusing. From being a lifeless robotic butler in Topher’s eyes, to being a Tim Drake kind of Robin from the comics, the night showed that James was something much more intriguing.

Topher thought about the question that had previously run inside his head: What would have happened if he were to meet James in a bar or a club for the first time?

The images of James closing his eyes in the alley, and then his face becoming flushed in the kitchen entered his mind, and this time, it was he that involuntarily swallowed. At that point, he knew his answer had changed.