I'll Wear the Makeup

Patience was an art Jack had mastered long, long ago. From his older brother's hockey games, to his sister’s dance recitals, and his mother’s many shopping outings to his dad’s excessive business trips, Jack had learned to take every event second by second. Hours went faster than days, and minutes went faster than hours, but seconds always went the fastest. Second after second, Jack would stand idle, amusing himself in other ways.

At the current moment, Jack was busying himself on his phone, a tool he could only wish he had when he was younger. He ignored the plentiful amount of unopened emails and texts on his phone, in favour of playing games, instead. His eyes flicked up every few seconds to keep track of his girlfriend, Melanie’s, progress. She was still floating about the makeup store, which Jack still did not know the name of, occasionally talking to the people that worked there. Melanie was a pretty girl, with pretty dark skin and pretty dark hair. She was only twenty-two, a bit of a leap down from Jack’s own twenty-eight years, but Jack liked having her around. He knew their relationship was nothing serious, but Jack never minded taking her out, spending money on her, and keeping her happy. It did not put him out in the least to do so, and she was a sweet girl who definitely deserved it.

Jack had lived on his own ever since he was twenty years old. His parents had an excess of money, so they had no problem with providing for him. He went to school for a while in business, but it was already known his father would take him under his wing once it was time. For now, though, Jack kept himself busy with his moderately sized group of friends, and whatever person he fancied at the moment. His parents would probably find it funny to know their son followed his significant other’s around at malls all day, so Jack preferred to keep these people private, until one relationship became a bit more serious.

Looking up again a few moments later, Jack could see Melanie waving him over. He stood up straight from the wall he was leaning against, smiling at the girl as he walked toward the counter. He pulled out his wallet when he met her there, looking down at his phone still as the employee rung up his girlfriend’s purchases. He did look up, though, when he heard a voice ask him to insert his credit card into the machine, and he sure was he glad he did. Jack was surprised to see a boy behind the counter, a boy who looked younger than both he and Melanie. He had multi-toned hair, shades of caramel and chocolate entwined together, in an almost messy, but intentional, way. Jack wondered if he just worked the cash register here, but the belt of makeup brushes around his small waist and the tiny bit of makeup which flattered his face proved his thoughts false. He was definitely one of the cutest people Jack had ever seen, so he threw him a grin as Melanie thanked the employee, before thanking her boyfriend. The cashier boy had no name tag, but Jack did not need a name to remember his face over the next few weeks.

Three weeks later, and Jack was woken up one morning by Melanie, who was poking him in his side.

“Mm, what’s up, Mel?” Jack asked, rolling over to face the girl who was sat beside him.

“Jack, I need to talk to you about something.”

Sitting up and rubbing his eye, Jack nodded, ready to hear the inevitable.

“Well, my parents are moving to Wisconsin, and they want me to come with them. I mean, you can totally come if you want, but I’m not really sure if you’d want to do that.” Melanie sighed, not wanting to have to suggest breaking up just yet. She liked the things he bought her, but she liked Jack as a person even more.

Wisconsin? No, thank you. “I think we should break up, then.” Jack yawned, not even taking a second to think about leaving his precious New York.

“Alright,” Melanie nodded, getting off of the bed to gather up her things. It was obviously sad to her to do so, but she tried to keep it together, because she really did not have a bitter time with Jack.

“Hey, if you ever come back, call me. Yeah?” Jack called out to Melanie, as he followed her to the door a few minutes later. She was a sweet girl, and he definitely would not mind seeing her again at another time. Melanie nodded with a smile, and with one last hug, she was off, never to be seen again.

Jack went about another three weeks before he decided to do something about his loneliness. Sure, he hung out with his friends almost every day, but it was different. Especially because he had someone in particular on his mind. He had no idea how to go about his feelings, though. There was absolutely no point for Jack to go into the store alone, but he knew he had to eventually, if he wanted to be happy. So, one afternoon on the same day of the week that he had last stepped foot into the makeup store, Jack did so again. He was alone, and he felt incredibly awkward, but his nerves were soothed just the least bit when he noticed the boy from almost two months ago was actually there. He looked the same, except his hair was just a bit more blond now, and he was walking around the store, instead. Deciding to bite the bullet, Jack walked straight up to him, waiting patiently as he waited for the boy to finish talking to another customer.

“Hi, can I help you?” The employee turned to Jack, smile on his face. Jack could see a look of recognition flash across the boy’s face, before he gathered himself up once again. It almost made Jack feel triumphant, but he still found himself with a rare absence of confidence.

“Uh,” Jack mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Are you here for your girlfriend again?” The worker tried, and this made it obvious to Jack that he definitely remembered the couple. Jack shook his head, deciding to take the opportunity.

“No, actually. We broke up, but I don’t suppose you could help me with that?”

The blond boy giggled at that, and Jack was sure it was one of his favourite sounds he had ever heard.

“Not right now, sadly. If you want to talk when my shift is over, though, I’m off at four.”

It was currently two fifty-five, so Jack just simply nodded, winking at the boy and letting him know he would be back at four o’clock.

Since the makeup store employee, which Jack had learned was named Alex, had to get somewhere else after his shift that day, he and Jack did not get to talk for long. They exchanged names and phone numbers, though, and Jack made Alex promise he would let him take him out that Friday night. Alex agreed, and the next time they saw each other was at the restaurant they were currently at, now.

“So, do you usually walk into makeup stores to pick up dates? Or is this a one time thing?” Alex asked over their dinner, and Jack chuckled in reply.

“It’s the first time, actually. I’m sorry about having bothered you at work, but I couldn’t resist.”

“It’s fine,” Alex smiled, “It’s just a funny place to find boys, though, don’t you think?”

Jack shrugged in response, saying, “I don’t look for genders.”

Alex simply grinned even wider in reply, and the conversation soon moved on to other things. Alex learned all about Jack’s background, his big family and his wealthy parents, while Jack learned quite a bit about Alex’s life, too. He was twenty years old, still lived with his mother and father, and was going to cosmetology school. When Alex had mentioned his age, Jack almost choked on his meal, and Alex frowned.

“Is that a problem?” Alex cocked his head to the side, disappointed their date might be cut short so soon.

“Um, no, not for me,” Jack said, “But maybe for you. I’m twenty-eight.”

“Oh,” Alex hummed, “I think that’s fine.”

Fast forward six months later, and it certainly was fine. They had gotten along very well for the last six months, that both Alex and Jack decided it would be appropriate for Alex to move into Jack’s apartment. They enjoyed each other’s company, and both of them could definitely see a future in each other, even though Jack was Alex’s first serious boyfriend. They never had serious fights, either, but they did have small, silly arguments, like the one they were in right now.

Alex had just gotten home from school, and it was around nine in the evening. He worked earlier on in the day, and then attended his classes later on in the evening every week day, before he finally went home to Jack. It bothered Jack, more than a little bit, that Alex had to do this every day. Every time he would voice his feelings, though, Alex would strongly disagree.

“Y’know, baby,” he’d say, as he pulled Alex into bed with him like he usually would every night, “I really don’t like it how you come home so late. I understand why you would want to go to school, but you don’t need to be working, and you know that.”

“That’s selfish, Jack,” Alex would scoff, “I can’t always rely on you. What if we break up? Where will that leave me?”

“You know I’d never let anything like that happen to you,” Jack would try, but Alex would simply huff and roll over, his back facing Jack. Jack would end up spooning Alex, and neither would go to bed truly angry, because they both knew Alex was right.

Today when Alex got home, though, his attitude was much peppier than it usually was. Jack was glad, because maybe Alex would be up for something other than sleeping when they were to head to bed, but that was not what Alex had in mind.

“Jaaaaack,” he sang, climbing onto his boyfriend’s lap, “I have an idea!”

“And what might that be, sugar?” Jack asked, pressing a short kiss to Alex’s lips.

“You should let me put makeup on you.”

“No fucking way.”

“Why not?” Alex pouted, staring straight into Jack’s eyes.

“I already buy the stuff for you, isn’t that enough?” Jack sighed, but Alex shook his head.

“I never ask you to.”

“Alright, fair enough. Why can’t you do it on yourself, though?”

“Not the same.”

“Someone else?”

“No, Jay!” Alex urged, leaning in to hug his boyfriend. “Please? You have the prettiest eyes ever, and it’d be so fun. Plus, I can’t think of any other male faces I could practice on, besides my own. It’s different!”

Letting out a breath, Jack mumbled, “Fine. But no pictures.”

“Okay!” Alex chirped, getting off of Jack’s lap and running to the bathroom to fetch what he needed. He was grateful that Jack put up with him. He was positive the older man was in it for the long haul with him, but it still surprised Alex how much he went out of his way for someone he had not known for that long of a time. He bought Alex whatever he wanted, went along wherever Alex wanted to go, and did anything Alex wanted to do. He never expected anything but love in return, not even sex when Alex was not even the slightest bit up for it.

Coming back with copious amounts of stuff, Alex set his things down on the couch beside Jack and set to work. He reclaimed his spot back on Jack’s lap, and Jack massaged his sides as he focused.

“You look so good, y’know,” Alex said, as he was nearing the end of his job. He had not gone too far out, not wanting Jack to have to deal with washing too much makeup off of his face. Jack had sat silent throughout the entire session, patient as always, but he finally spoke up once he felt something touch his lip.

“Wait, don’t do that yet.”

“How come?” Alex asked, staring down at the pink lipstick in his hand, and then back down at Jack.

“Kiss me first.”

Alex laughed in response, but he did as Jack asked, leaning forward and pressing his lips to the taller man’s. After pulling back, Alex completed his creation, before handing Jack a mirror.

“Great job, babe. Now, get this off of me, please?”