All I Desire is Steven (2 page)

Steven and James walked to the hostess stand.

"Hello, welcome to Scheherazade's. My name is Brittany and may I ask, are you a walk in or do you have a reservation?"

"Hi, Brittany, I made a reservation yesterday under the name Russell," James said. They watched as the hostess looked into her reservation book.

"Ok, Mr. Russell, right this way."

Steven was amazed that James managed to get a reservation in one day's notice. There was something special about the man he was with.

"This is your table, Mr. Russell, and your waitress for the night will be Danielle, and she'll be with you in just a moment. I hope you have a great night."

"Thank you Brittany." James said. When Brittany walked away another woman walked up and began to speak.

"Hi my name is Danielle and I will be your waitress for the night," she said as she handed Steven and James a menu. "Would you like time to order, or do you already know what you would like?"

James nodded. "I know what I would like to order, but for my guest I am not sure he—"

"I am ready as well."

James smiled. "Well, in that case, I will have the T-Bone steak with scalloped potatoes."

"I will have the salmon seafood medley with caper sauce," Steven said putting his menu down.

"Okay, so that is one T-Bone steak with scalloped potatoes and one seafood medley with caper sauce. And what will be your drink?"

James looked to Steven. "Would a bottle of white zinfandel be okay?"

Steven nodded. The waitress took the menus back and submitted their order. 

Steven looked while James took his attention from the waitress and brought it back to him. He could feel the spark already just from the ordering of their food and the wine. There was something about the way James carried himself that made Steven feel attracted. He had such masculinity and power but he was so soft, dignified and distinguished all at the same time. There was a special air about James that Steven hadn’t seen in many other men. He was different.

"So Steven, tell me a little about yourself," James said and leaned forward to listen.

Steven blushed. "Well, there's not much to say. My name is Steven Lorelle, I am twenty-seven and you already know I work at the clinic. I love animals, I have a puppy named Scooby and that's pretty much it. I just spend most of my time at the clinic.

James laughed. "A pup named Scooby huh, that's so cute."

"Oh yeah?" Steven said raising an eyebrow. "Tell me a little about yourself."

"Okay, I was born in Boston but then my parents moved us to Orlando when I was sixteen. I have one brother whom you already know and a sister who moved back to Boston. I am the youngest. I left Orlando to move to New Orleans, but then I moved back to be closer to my parents and my brother. I am a real estate agent, I am thirty years old and I have a pet hamster."

"Really?" Steven asked jokingly. "What's his name?"

James shook his head. "I don't want to say."

Steven laughed. "Come on, I told you mine."

"Ok, his name is… MC Hamster."

Steven couldn't help but laugh and James joined him. They continued their conversation and as they spoke they both felt their guards come down as they got to know each other better.

As the date went on and dinner was finished and a few glasses of wine had been drunk, Steven and James had really gotten a sense of who each other were. They were both sweet, handsome gentlemen who were just lonely and in great need of attention. Steven really felt comfortable around James.

"You know, I feel so stupid," Steven said putting his glass of wine down.

James squinted. "Why?"

"Because of how nervous I was before this date. I can't believe I was freaking out earlier. You really are one of the nicest, sweetest guys I have ever had the pleasure to spend time with, and I am really enjoying myself."

"I'm so glad to hear that because I was just thinking the same thing a few moments ago," James said with a smile. Steven felt his heart flutter as he saw James reach for his hand. He welcomed his hand with a gentle hold as he then looked on at James.

"I love this part," James said with a beaming smile.

"What part?" Steven asked.

"When you look at someone and they don't look away," James said continuing to gaze at Steven.

Steven smiled. "Well, there is no one I would rather look at than you. You have my undivided attention." They continued to look into each other's eyes, until suddenly James's phone started to ring.

"I'm so sorry," James said scrambling around trying to get his phone out of his pocket.

Steven watched as James answered and couldn't help but notice how nervous James seemed to be as he got to his phone.

"I'm sorry Steven but I have to take this," James said while he got up and walked away from the table. Steven stayed in his seat as he watched James walk outside on his phone.

A couple minutes passed by, then five, ten, and then fifteen. Steven wondered what was going on. He decided to get up from the table and walk outside to see what James was doing. As he got up and made his way towards the door, he saw that James was right out front with his back turned against the entrance of the restaurant.

Steven opened the door to hear James talking on the phone.

"I'll be home in little bit, okay," Steven heard James say to someone on the phone. "Okay, I love you too, bye bye."

James hung up the phone and turned to go back into the restaurant, when he saw Steven right at the entrance.

"I'm so sorry about that," James said as he walked up and grabbed Steven's hand.

"Is everything okay?" Steven asked trying to ignore what he just heard. He was hoping it was just the wrong part of the conversation he had just caught, but he couldn't help but feel a knot in his stomach.

"Yeah, everything is okay. That was just my brother calling to check up on me, and see if he could come over. Look I really hate to cut the date short, but I really need to get home."

"Oh… okay then," Steven said as he nodded. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder if what James said was the truth or a lie. Though sweet and kind as James seemed to be, Steven didn't really know him that well. However, because the date had gone so well and they connected Steven tried to block what he had heard out of his mind. He hoped that he was just feeling that way because of first date jitters.

In the ride home Steven felt somewhat uncomfortable about what had happened earlier. He stared out the window looking at the cars and other things while James drove. Steven tried so hard to ignore what had happened earlier on, but he was having a hard time with it. He kept replaying the incident over and over again. He hated that he had grown so close to James so quickly because now he was vulnerable.

They arrived at Steven's home and James got out and walked him to his door. Steven took his keys and unlocked the door. As he went to open it, James moved in front of Steven and pushed the door closed. Steven was caught off guard, but he was quickly overtaken by the look that James was giving him.

"I had an amazing time with you," James said grabbing Steven's hands. "I hope you will let me see you again."

Steven stared at James and his eyes just seemed truthful. Maybe he was lying, but Steven would have to risk it. He felt something in his heart for James.

"I would love to see you again," Steven said forcing a smile. James pulled Steven closer to him by his hands and gently kissed his lips, a kiss so passionate yet gentle that it took Steven's breath away. His heart raced as he became lost in the sincerity of it. There was no longer any doubt in his mind. James was not a bad guy.

When their kiss ended, James wrapped his arms around Steven and just held him close. Steven felt safe and secure, as if he was bonded with James's muscular frame, and felt protected by his essence.

"Goodnight, sweet heart," James said kissing the top of Steven's head. When the hug ended, Steven felt refreshed and back to how he was feeling earlier.

"Goodnight," Steven said as he unlocked his door and walked inside.

Once inside Steven went straight to the window to see James. He looked outside to find James dancing his way to his car. James had as good a time with him as he had with James. It made Steven feel incredible to have a guy like that return his feelings.

After Steven took his clothes off and got ready for bed, he felt like something had been fulfilled. The feeling of something missing was gone. It was companionship. As he reflected on the new romance in his life, he got into his bed and went to sleep.

The next day Steven woke up with a cheerful disposition that even he wasn't used to. He walked outside to see it was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun shone so brightly and there was a fresh snap in the air.  Steven thought it would be a good day to run some errands.

He would start by going grocery shopping. Steven pulled up to the store and made his way down the aisles with his buggy. There was a newness he felt in his life. He just felt happy for the first time in a long time and he enjoyed the feeling.

After about a half hour of shopping, Steven had grabbed everything he needed except for some coffee. As he made his way to the coffee aisle he was surprised to see who was there scanning a can of Folgers.

"James!" Steven called out as he rolled his buggy down the aisle.

"Hey there," James said putting down the coffee and went to hug Steven. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"It was just such a beautiful day, I felt like doing some things." They once again locked eyes as they looked at each other and people continued to browse through the aisles, only losing focus as someone reached between them to get some Maxwell House coffee.

"So," James said, coming back to reality. "I am planning on making dinner tonight, would you like to come over and share a meal with me?"

Steven smiled as he nodded. "I would love that."

"Okay then, be at this address at six." James pulled out a piece of paper and pen. When Steven got James's address and they bid good bye to each other, Steven walked away with an even happier feeling than he had earlier. Sunday was shaping up to be a great day.

Later that afternoon Steven was getting himself ready for dinner at James's house. He took a nice long bath and put on some of his nicest casual clothes and sprayed on some cologne. Although he knew it was just dinner, he felt like something could happen tonight. He wasn't in a rush for anything, but he just wanted to be prepared if anything was to happen. He wanted to look his best and impress James.

Steven arrived at James's house, and was amazed at how big and beautiful it was. It was a lovely three story white and black brick house with a matching garage that housed James’s BMW. It was in a very wealthy neighborhood; James had money by the looks of things.

Steven got out the car, and shook off the nerves as he walked to the door, and gave a knock. He heard the rustling from inside the house as James quickly made his way to the door.

James opened the door. "Hey, come on in," he said opening the door wider. "Dinner is almost ready."

Steven walked in to see that the house was amazing on the inside as well.

"You have a beautiful home," Steven said, making his way to the living room and sitting down.

"Thank you, I do what I can." Steven and James gave each other a quick glance of affection as James walked back to the kitchen and continued to cook the meal. Steven looked around admiring the beauty of the house, and he couldn't help but be overtaken by the delicious scent of the meal that James was preparing.

"Wow, that smells so good," Steven said walking to the kitchen. "What are you making?"

James stirred the pot. "I am making some jambalaya. It was a recipe I learned from a friend when I stayed in New Orleans. It's just about done, I just need one more ingredient."

"What's that?" Steven asked looking at the pot.

James pinched Steven. "A pinch of sugar," he said and they laughed. James continued to stir the pot of jambalaya as it slowly simmered. Steven looked at James and leaned on his tiptoes and kissed him. James smiled at Steven as he wrapped his free hand around him and continued to stir the pot with the other.

After a nice dinner, and a full belly, Steven and James curled up on the couch and decided to watch a movie together. A horror flick, which James loved but Steven hated. He watched the movie with his hands on his face, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see James looking at him.

"I'll protect you," James said. He then put his arm around Steven pulling him closer to him on the couch.

The warmth of James's arms and the heat from his body did something to Steven. He looked at James watching the movie and he went in for another kiss. This kiss however, was different. It wasn't gentle nor sweet, but full of passion and lust. Steven could feel James's body quiver as their lips met.

Steven felt his body tense up as he continued to kiss James, his hand slowing sliding down James's chiseled frame.  His other hand soon joined as he began to unbutton James' shirt, but as soon as one button came undone, James quickly pulled away.

"It's getting kind of late, I have to go to work in the morning," James said buttoning his shirt, turned the TV off and turned the light on.

"Oh." Steven looked around trying to figure out what just happened. "I will just go then," he said getting up. James opened the door, and looked everywhere but at Steven's face.

Steven felt so much awkwardness as he got up and walked towards the door. He couldn't understand what had taken place, and he felt uneasy as he stepped out the door.

"Steven," James said as Steven walked outside.

"Yeah?"

"I'll call you tomorrow," James said closing the door.

Steven stood outside standing in the same spot looking at the closed door, wondering where he went wrong.

The next day at work, Steven was in a daze. It was Monday morning and the clinic was hectic but Steven was barely able to pay attention to anything but last night. The phone next to him rang and rang, but he was in such deep thought that he couldn't hear it. Continuing to reflect on last night he felt a nudge on the shoulder.