Chapter Two
Even though the night had been uneventful, despite the temptation to take the pretty dancing boy home, he had a call, waking him from a restful sleep.
“’ello?”
“Lee, what were you thinking?”
It was his father, so Lee sat up, leaning back on the tall mahogany headboard. “Dad? What was I thinking when?”
“Running around all night like some frat boy? Silas Jenkins saw your car in a part of town you should never travel. What were you thinking?”
In DC, there was always someone looking, always photographers, especially amateur ones with smart phones, waiting to snap a compromising photo. “We were looking for a place to eat. It was nothing, really.”
“You have got to watch yourself! If you’re so much as seen in certain places, there will be rumors flying and your name, our name, splashed all over every two-bit media outlet online!”
He’d have a stroke if he didn’t stop worrying over Lee’s reputation. “Dad, the only place they manage to get me is coming off the senate floor and heading into church on Sundays and Wednesdays.”
“Keep it that way. Merle Lang is coming for dinner tomorrow night, and I told him he’d have an audience with you over that proposed insurance cap. Be there and assure him that it’s a socialist scheme and won’t get past committee.”
Another donor salivating to control him. Wonderful. “Dad, we never give into the socialist agenda. You know that. Now, I’m hanging up, with respect. I haven’t had my coffee as yet.”
“Fine, fine, son. I’ll tell your mother you send your love.”
“Of course, do. Goodbye, Dad.”
Pushing the button on his nightstand, he hoped Fredrick Mars, Mars to him and most everyone else, would be by the buzzer. Like always, he was. “Yes, sir. I’ll bring your coffee expeditiously,” he said over the intercom.
Letting his head fall back on the headboard, Lee let out a long groan that came from deep in his chest. It was tedious, frustrating, having to hide himself constantly. Reserved to never have a real relationship he, at the very least, wanted to get laid.
His ultra conservative family and worse, his conservative donors, would never allow a gay man to hold their seat in the senate. He’d gone all his adult life without being outed, and on his upward climb to the presidency, he had to keep the status quo.
That beautiful man that danced for them the previous evening, he was someone Lee would enjoy, he knew. Firm flesh over nice muscles, tight ass, and handsome face. Those eyes that searched around in the shadows for the men he was dancing for, they were so dark, but bright, nonetheless. Exquisite young man.
When Mars came in, carrying the silver tray with his coffee and bagel, Lee was just coming back from using the toilet. He climbed on the bed under the smooth covers and Mars placed the tray over his lap.
It smelled delicious and he was about to take a sip of the coffee, but Mars stood quietly. If he didn’t start laying out his clothes right away, Lee knew there was something happening. “My father?”
“Yes, sir, he phoned this morning, quite concerned.”
“I heard. I put his mind at ease, Mars. Don’t fret.”
“If I may, sir, make a suggestion?”
Without waiting, Lee sipped coffee and then spread the strawberry jam on his perfectly toasted bagel. “Certainly.”
“I understand how precarious it is for you to leave your home to…search for companionship. Why not get someone who could be here for you?”
“I can’t have a live-in boyfriend, Mars.”
“Not boyfriend, sir. An employee. Say…a personal assistant? He could be here, helping you with your duties and…he’d also supply you with companionship without the worry of prying eyes.”
Laughing quietly, Lee’s eyes rose to meet Mars’ and he saw there, in that creaseless, plain face, ideas forming under the guise of service. “And correct me if I’m mistaken, Mars, but you have someone in mind?”
“Well, sir, Jerry, your bodyguard, told me you were fascinated with a young man last evening at the entertainment club you visited. I took it upon myself to ask about him to the owner of the establishment, gaining his name, address, email, and phone. I also took the time to have someone look into his history.”
The laughter was no longer silent. He let his out and then took a bite, using his hand to gesture for Mars to continue.
“His name is Elijah Nathaniel Bloom, a good name, if I say so. He graduated from Georgetown with a bachelor’s in philosophy.”