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production if we invested more in our staff. I have
some ideas about programs and training, even
fitness, which would reduce the number of sick
days people take in the long run.
I haven t heard that amount of excitement in
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your voice since you first got your driver s
license. His father chuckled.
Then we can give Special Projects to Charles?
Your first job is to find Charles the right
assistant. He s overworked already. I don t want
him to end up like my father.
Me neither, Robert said. Thanks, Dad.
He nodded. Now, can we please prepare for
this meeting? I need you in there.
Okay. But I m not wearing a suit today.
Robert, I think--
Dad, no.
He shrugged. As long as you act like you
know what you re talking about. And the report
was well done, by the way. Even Charles couldn t
find a flaw in it, and you know how he is. He
actually grinned at him.
Thanks for that.
Anything else I should know?
Yeah, I m gay.
You re what? he choked.
Gay. He looked him in the eye.
Gay? Are you sure?
Oh yes, he nodded, very sure.
What are we going to tell your mother?
That I m gay, he said with a grin and walked
past his father. I guess you ll all have to deal with
it. I already told Charles. And, Dad, we better get
going. We do have a meeting to go to, don t we?
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Fantasium: Dirty Dreams
Chapter Four
hat night, Robert slept like a baby. He didn t
T
need aspirin or any sleep aids. He woke up
feeling refreshed. He didn t feel the emptiness
until he turned over on his side and looked at the
empty place in his bed. Dylan.
He gave himself a mental slap. He had to let it
go. It was a great dream, but it wasn t real. As he
showered, he wondered how it had happened.
One minute, he d been hearing voices and the
next, he was transported onto some strange plane
of existence. He figured that he must have been so
tired, he d fallen asleep. But what was that voice
he heard? And Tab. He could have sworn that guy
appeared to him in the office.
Maybe it was a sign. He d changed his life just
before he d bought the farm, so to speak.
On the way to the office, he thought about
Dylan. Of course, it was pure fantasy that a guy
like that could exist, a man who had everything
he d ever wanted. God, what a turn on. If he was
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going to be happy, he needed to find someone to
be with, but he d sure as hell have to lower his
expectations.
At the elevators, Robert said hello to all the
people waiting, addressing them by their first
names, if he remembered them. On the top floor,
he stopped to talk to Harriet, then went into the
small kitchen and poured her a cup a coffee. He
set it on her desk with a smile.
She smiled back.
In his office, he called the guy in maintenance
and told him to come up and change the sign on
his door. When he arrived, Robert said, Keep the
name, but put, Director in Charge of Employee
Morale Improvement.
Is that a new position, sir? He smiled.
Robert narrowed his eyes, came closer. Kit?
Who?
Is your name Kit? My God, he looked just
like him.
No. My name s Pete, Pete Hart.
Oh, sorry, he shook his head.
I ll get working on your door right away, sir.
Thanks, Robert said.
Charles stopped by suddenly. What s going
on?
Didn t Dad tell you?
He said you created a new position. We
already have a staff party committee for Christmas
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Fantasium: Dirty Dreams
and such.
It s not that, Charles, Robert slapped him on
the back. I m going to create programs and
incentives for our employees.
Do you have budget for that?
We ll find the budget. We ll save money in the
long run.
You ll have to run it by the board and
Charles, Robert interrupted, do you want to
go out for a beer after work?
Well, the kids have a
Charles, just a beer, to relax, to talk, to
remember that we re brothers?
He nodded, smiled. Yeah, okay. You re on.
He lifted his hand and slapped Robert s palm.
The rest of the day, Robert worked on his new
program and Pete repainted the sign on his door.
No more headaches or stress attacks. Now, the
next order of business was to go out and begin to
have a social life again, call up some of his old
friends, find someone to share his life. Dylan. He
had to keep reminding himself that Dylan was a
dream. There was someone out there for him and
he was determined to find him.
His reconnecting time with Charles was good.
Charles was laughing and joking with him. It felt
like they d gone back ten years.
When they were ready to leave the bar, Charles
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said, Rob, listen, the gay thing, it doesn t matter
to me. Just be happy, okay?
Robert hugged him. I will. Kiss the wife and
kids. I ll come and visit soon.
Maybe we can all get together and go on
holiday this summer, rent a cottage?
That s a great idea.
Does Mom know? Charles asked on the way
out.
I ll tell her at the family dinner.
Dad seems all right with it.
So far. He waved his brother off and got into
his car.
Tonight, he was going out and he was going to
have himself a real good time. Maybe he d even
bring someone home to fill that empty space
beside him in the bed.
He d seen the advertisement for the club in the
newspaper. It was brand new and he chose it
because its name was Celestial Passage. Given that
he dreamed about a Celestial Passage, he figured
it was a sign that this was the place he should be.
There was line-up, but that was okay. He was
surrounded by a bunch of hot looking men, and
there was nothing else to do but chat each other
up. There was one guy just in front of him who
looked familiar. Robert was trying to figure out
where he d seen him before when he turned
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Fantasium: Dirty Dreams
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