Blank Document

It had been two months since Alex’s short story on romance, and he was still getting letters from satisfied readers saying how good it was. Alex had used everything he had learned from his ‘date’ with Jack, and even some of the fantasies that followed after half hour of having returned from the restaurant. Jack and Alex’s little fling didn’t stop there though, no they were still going strong, and Jack had continued to take him on cute little dates to various restaurants on their lunch hour before finally asking Alex to be his boyfriend sometime within the second week (and if Alex remembered correctly, which he most certainly did. Jack asked him on the fifth date at 12.46, just as their lunch had arrived.) Luckily for the two lovebirds, nobody in the office had found out about their daily get-togethers and both men intended to keep it that way for as long as they could.

Alex had finished writing out his latest article, it was something about dogs and how they should be treated and his own personal opinion about what the best breed was. Jack had been giving Alex a random topic to write about, and each week they seem to be getting stranger and stranger; Alex is sure that it’s because Jack just wants to get to know him a little better, but Jack insists that the topics he gives Alex to write about are everyday topics which everyone is interested in. Alex was right. Alex printed off his draft and made his way to Jacks office, a small spring in his step with the thought of being able to go to see his boyfriend. He gave a small rap at the door before walking in and going to place the paper down on Jacks desk before pulling the man and his chair out slightly and placing himself down on his boyfriend’s lap.

“Hey Jacky” He spoke slightly shyly, despite his boldness of just going to sit on Jacks lap, he was still shy about talking with his boyfriend and just acting like a couple, but he put that down to his total lack of experience.

“Hey, baby” Jack muttered in return, tearing his eyes away from the pages and resting his head on his beaus back. “How’re you doing?” He spoke through a yawn and wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist. The whole magazine was being changed, the name, the design and the stories were now going to be completely different, and the only thing staying the same is the staff that run it. It was all a part of a new scheme to advertise and to get more people read the magazine, and honestly it was sending Jack over the edge with stress, he had been spending long nights designing and drafting and then re-drafting and re-designing; the only thing pulling him through right now was Alex.

“I’m okay” The shorter boy spoke, clear concern lacing his words. “But you’re not” He moved so that he was sitting sideways in Jacks lap, wrapping his arms around his neck and holding himself close. They may have only been together for around a month, but Alex knew what Jack liked and he knew the younger liked to be held when he was feeling a little under the weather. “You need to take a break and stop working so hard. This whole new issue isn’t being released until two months’ time, the deadline for the designs isn’t until three weeks’ time. I know that you just want to get everything done and ready and be organised, but you’re wearing yourself out. It’s not good for you Jack, it’s really not.” He kissed his cheek gently.

“I know” Jack breathed out and moved his head so that it was resting on top of Alex’s. “It’s just hard and stressful. I don’t want the magazine to change, it’s been like this for years and it’s been selling perfectly fine, in fact it’s been doing even better since you wrote that article of yours.” He smiled a little and kissed his boyfriends cheek. “I just want everything to be as close to the original as possible, but I still want it to have that flare of newness and refurbishment.” He rubbed circles into Alex’s hips, “It’s just….hard” He sighed and looked to Alex.

“I know it is” Alex mumbled and kissed him gently “But I know you, and I know that you can do hard. You can do anything which is a god-awful and hard task and still make it look easy.” He knew it sounded like something you would say to a child, but Alex really wanted to cheer Jack up. The younger man really hadn’t been right since he had to start designing and brining in new writers and getting rid of some of the old ones.

Jack smiled and looked up to Alex, “You’re sweet, you know that right?” He rubbed Alex’s side and kissed him gently. He sighed and looked at all the work he had all over his desk. “You should get back to work baby” He whispered and pushed him a little bit. Alex only sighed and nodded and stood up, kissing Jack quickly.

“Try not to overwork yourself, okay?” He whispered before leaving the office and making his way back to his desk.

As soon as the office door closed, Jack groaned to himself and put his head in his hands. He wasn’t stressed because he had to design everything for the new magazine, he was stressed because he had lost his job; he had made up the designing story so he had something to say to Alex. He didn’t want Alex to worry about him, god knows the older boy has problems of his own and Jack didn’t want to add to that. He knows that he should tell Alex, but he was too scared. Jack Barakat, the stone faced man of business, the stone faced well respected man of business was terrified because he lost his job and he had no idea where he could get a new one. Jack had been working for the magazine since he was 19, the job was practically handed to him on a silver platter; he’s never had to work for his job, and he didn’t really have to work his way to the top either. Things were about to get very hard for Jack and he didn’t know how to cope or where to turn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Jack was sat at home with a glass of whiskey in one hand and his head in the other. He had finally come to terms with the fact that he was going to have to tell Alex and that he really needed his boyfriend’s help, but the thing that was bothering him was how he was supposed to tell him. He was worried about what Alex would think of him, would Alex really want to be with a man who has no job? Would he really want to be with someone who wouldn’t be able to take him out on amazing dates because he just couldn’t afford it? Would he want to help out a sorry man who has never really had to work for anything that he has?

With these thoughts swimming around his head, Jack downed the last of his whiskey and picked up his phone; he figured that he should get this over and done with sooner rather than later. He took a deep breath before dialling Alex’s number and holding his phone up to his ear. “Okay” He mumbled to himself as he waited for his boyfriend to pick up. The second he heard his boyfriend’s voice though, his slightly calm composure was ruined and he turned into a stuttering mess. He really felt as if he was going to lose his boyfriend and he wasn’t sure how to cope with that.

“H-hey, Lexy” He mumbled, closing his eyes as he spoke. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad idea.

“Hey” Alex’s voice chimed from the other end of the phone. “You seem a little off, Jacky” He stated “What’s up?”

Jack didn’t bother answering the question, he wanted to tell him in person. Maybe that way he could provide some comfort towards him. “Could you maybe come over tonight? I have something I need to tell you something and it’s kind of urgent.” He bit his lip softly as he waited for Alex’s reply.
“I’ll be over in ten minutes” The older boy whispered, and hearing that tone of Alex’s made Jack want to beg the older to not to come over because he really couldn’t bear to see his boyfriend right now.
“See you” Jack mumbled before hanging up and returning his head to his hands as he tried to plan out what to say to Alex.

Ten minutes later Alex turned up knocking on Jacks door just as promised. Jack took a deep breath before standing up and going to answer the door. He couldn’t help but to notice the feeling of his chest tightening at the sight of his boyfriend standing there with that cute shy look on his face, the same one he had on his face on the day he came into his office on the day they went for their first date in the little Italian restaurant.

“H-hey, sweetie” He whispered and kissed his head gently, “Come in” He stepped aside and watched as Alex walked in.

“What’s wrong?” Alex got straight to the point and turned around to face Jack as soon as the door was closed.

“Please sit down” He whispered and took his hand and pulled him to the couch. Alex only nodded in response and sat down, looking up to Jack expectantly. “Right” Jack started and bit his lip and looked down to his boyfriend. “I really don’t know how you’re going to take this but I really need to tell you because I think I’m gonna need your help, but I totally get it if you don’t want to help me, but yeah.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“What is it, Jacky?” Alex reached out and took Jacks hand.

Jack sighed and shook his head before sitting down next to Alex, keeping their clasped together. “Look, Alex” He whispered and looked at the older man’s face for a while before looking down with a sigh. “I-I don’t really know how to say this, but…” He took a breath before finishing his sentence “I’ve lost my job, Alex” His voice was cracking as he spoke and he was sure he looked such a pitiful sight. “I’ve lost my job and I have no idea what I’m supposed to so.” He held Alex’s hand a little tighter. “That’s why I’ve been so stressed lately. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get a new job and how to cope and how to get money” He whimpered slightly and shook his head.

Alex nodded and shuffled closer to Jack, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders and kissing his cheek. “It’s okay” He whispered “It’s okay” He repeated and kissed his temple. “I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up over this. I’m sure you can get another job” He kissed his cheek and rubbed his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He mumbled, feeling a tiny bit hurt.

“I didn’t know how to” Jack mumbled while hanging his head down, too ashamed to look up to Alex. “I was scared. I didn’t know what you would think, I didn’t want you to leave me because I couldn’t take you out on expensive dates, or buy you really nice things.” He looked up to Alex. “I was terrified because I need you more than ever right now, but I was so scared that you were going to leave.” There was silence between the two men for a few seconds before Alex finally looking up to Jack.

“Do you really think that I’m that shallow? The eldest of the two said in a whisper. “Do you really think I’m with you just because I want you take me out on expensive dates or for you to buy me amazing little gifts?” Jack shook his head quickly in reply, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to think of something to say.

“Wha-no, of course not” Jack shook his head as his eyes grew wide. “N-no” He shook his head again and wrapped his arms around Alex and pilled him close.

“Th-then why would you think that?” Alex whispered, unsure of how to react around his boyfriend at this moment.

“I just…I was scared” He sighed. “I just want to be able to give you anything and everything, but without a job how am I supposed to do that?”

Alex shook his head and sighed, looking down. “Jack, just being with you is more than enough for me, okay? I don’t need you to buy me things and take me places.” He looked up to him and kissed him gently. “Don’t ever think that you need to give me the best things, okay?”
Jack nodded and returned the kiss. “I’m sorry” He whispered and looked to him “I’m just scared” He sighed and pulled Alex into his lap.

“I know” Alex whispered and hugged him “And that’s totally understandable, but you should have told me sooner” He cuddled up to Jack. “We could have fixed this or done something to make everything a little better.” He kissed Jacks jaw. “Things are gonna be a little hard for you okay? You’re not gonna be able to afford some things for a while and you might have to move in with me for a bit, but that’s not a problem at all. I still have my job so I can help you out, okay?”

Jack nodded and looked to Alex. “Okay” He whispered and bit his lip gently.

“You’ll get though it and we’ll get you a job, even if it’s working in a coffee shop or whatever” Alex smiled a little bit and kissed his cheek gently.

Jack nodded and looked to Alex with a small smile “Thank you, Lexy” He whispered and kissed him gently.

“You just have to be careful with your money okay and you’ll get through this. Just remember that I’m always here for you okay?”

Jack kissed him again and nodded “I love you” He whispered and held him close.

“I love you too” Alex replied with a grin.

And for the first time in weeks, Jack actually felt as if everything would be okay.