A/N: So far only one reader has mentioned the person they'd like me to write the next story about. Come on, guys! Throw in your two cents! Who would you like to read about next? -DL
Chapter 3
To his delight, Rahul blushed again at his teasing. That faint stain of color was adorably sexy on his brown skin. "Umm..." he began, concealing his eyes with those incredibly long lashes.
Damian wanted nothing more than to drag his lovely new housekeeper off into the linen closet and have his way with him. But instead, he pulled himself together and acted like a rational adult. "Anyway, why don't you get settled in your room? Everybody cleans up after themselves after meals, so you won't be responsible for the dishes or anything. Once you've unpacked, come to the sitting room. You can meet everybody formally. Sound good?"
"Yes, thank you," Rahul replied gratefully.
"Okay, then. Get unpacked, we'll be waiting for you when you're done."
Rahul shouldered his suitcases and walked down the wide hallway toward his bedroom. Damien went back into the dining room, finding the rest of the residents of the apartment building cleaning up the table as they did after every meal. Working together, they always managed to get the table cleared, and the dishes scraped and put in the dishwasher, in under ten minutes.
Damien went into the kitchen to turn the coffee maker on, and start some water boiling for tea. He also pulled a package of English biscuits from a cupboard(he'd turned everybody onto the English equivalent of cookies, and now they had them every night when they gathered in the sitting room), and began to arrange cups and a plate of the biscuits on a tray.
Brandon bounced up to him. "Where's the new housekeeper?" he asked with a leer.
"Unpacking in his room. And no, you're NOT going to go and bug him," Damien added, giving him a stern look. "He's coming to the sitting room after he's finished; you can talk to him then. Got it, Brandon?"
Brandon made a face at him. "Got it, Chief. Geez, you're such a spoilsport, Damien."
"You bet I am. Here, take this into the sitting room," he handed Brandon the tray, which wasn't heavy with only empty cups and a plate of biscuits on it.
Brandon scowled at him, but marched off with the tray obediently. Damien smiled after him, shaking his head a little. Brandon was very cute when he pouted. He turned back to the boiling pot of water, carefully pouring it into a carafe. "Let me take that," a voice said, and he turned his head to see Bill standing just behind him.
"Thanks, Bill. Would you take some tea bags with you, too?"
"Of course," the teacher replied, taking the handle of the carafe. "Peppermint for you, Damien?"
"You bet," he smiled at Bill, as the teacher carried the carafe away to the cupboard where the tea bags were kept.
Isaiah was loading the dishwasher with rinsed dishes. Caleb was gathering a little pot of cream, a sugar bowl, and the other accessories necessary for coffee onto another tray. He'd take all of this, and a carafe of coffee, into the sitting room for everybody to enjoy. Tran was out in the dining room, taking the linen table cloth off of the table. He'd dump it into the laundry basket in the laundry room, and when the tall basket was full Damien would have it taken away to be professionally cleaned. Several of the couples were sweeping the floors while they chatted.
The coffeemaker dinged. Damien poured the rich black coffee into a carafe, and handed it to Caleb. The big man took the loaded tray away to the sitting room, whistling a cheerful tune. Bill followed with a selection of tea and the hot water in the carafe. Isaiah finished up with the dishwasher, and followed after them. Slowly, one-by-one, they made their way into the sitting room and took their favorite seats, whether on one of the comfortable chairs or the plush couches. The couples all chose one of the couches, snuggling up with their significant others. The single folk mostly took the chairs. Brandon clicked on the TV, grabbing the remote and running through the channels so fast it was a wonder that he could tell what each one was showing.
Damien settled into his own personal chair, a large wing-back that he'd bought at an antiques shop. He always felt like the lord and master of a castle sitting in it, and he could lean back easily and rest his head if he were feeling tired. He'd positioned it so it had a great view of the rest of the room, so he could see what the others were doing. He could also see the archway leading out into the hall, and his eyes kept straying there as he waited for Rahul to reappear. Anticipation filled him.
"Brandon! Pick a channel!" Josh barked in exasperation.
"I'm just looking...hey!" Brandon yelled, and Damien looked over to see that the writer had grabbed the remote from Brandon's hand and was holding it up over his head out of the hairdresser's reach.
"I'll give it back if you pick a channel that we'd all like to watch. Otherwise, you won't get it back, and we'll all have to watch the Home Shopping Network," Josh told Brandon, nodding at the television and the channel it was currently on. "Your choice."
Brandon pouted furiously. Isaiah had looked away from them, and his sparkling dark-brown eyes met Damian's. The two men shared a laughing glance at Brandon's expense as they heard him say mutinously: "Fine. I'll pick a channel. You suck, Josh."
"I've been known to, yes," the writer agreed dryly. Damian's lips twitched, and he had to put his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Josh was extremely droll sometimes. Isaiah's teeth flashed white against his dark skin as he grinned widely.
Bill appeared at his elbow with a steaming cup in his hand. "Here you are, Damian," he said, handing him a cup of fragrant peppermint tea.
"Thanks, Bill. This smells great," Damian said, inhaling. "But you shouldn't have to serve me," he added to the teacher. "I can make my own cup of tea. And you're tired. You should let us wait on you for a change."
Bill smiled a little. "I don't mind doing it, Damian. At least you guys appreciate my efforts. Unlike my students," he went on with a shake of his head.
Damian gave him a sympathetic look. The life of a high school teacher wasn't always a pleasant one. Working with teenagers wasn't a fun experience at the best of times...and for Bill, this wasn't the best of times, anyway. He'd broken up with his boyfriend of over two years six months ago, and Damian was pretty sure that he hadn't dated anyone, or even gotten laid, since. Poor Bill was hurting right now. And his job wasn't making it any easier on him. He wished silently that the teacher would find somebody nice soon.
Bill wandered away to make a few more cups of tea for those who drank it, including himself. He always had a cup of chamomile every night before bed to help him sleep. Tran was sitting cross-legged in his chair, reading a textbook intently. He was always studying, which left him little time for a personal life. Sometimes Damian thought he should host a singles night for the building and invite as many single gay men as he could find out on the street, since so many of his tenants didn't seem to have time for a personal life. Isaiah, for example, spent so much time at practice or his schoolwork that he also didn't date much; and Josh sometimes got so wrapped up in his writing that he barely came downstairs for days at a time. And Caleb hated the night life of the Castro District, avoiding bars and nightclubs like the plague. Only Brandon had a vigorous and diverse sex life, going out almost every night after nine to troll the clubs and bars for his next sexual conquest.
He became aware that Rahul had appeared hesitantly in the archway. He surged to his feet and hurried over to the housekeeper. "Hey, Rahul. Did you get unpacked?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Oh, good. Come and meet everybody," he urged, waving at the people in the sitting room. Many sets of eyes were staring at Rahul curiously, as Damian led the way toward them with Rahul at his elbow.
"Hey, guys, this is Rahul Jhadav," Damian said. "Our new housekeeper. Rahul, this is Bill, Brandon, Josh, Caleb, Isaiah, Tran, Frank and Don, Perry and Mark, Stephen and Roger, Jimmy and Greg, Harris and Philip, and Angel and Miguel." he pointed at each person as he introduced them, and each of them conjured up a welcoming smile for their new housekeeper.
"Hello, everyone," Rahul replied softly. "I'm really glad to be working here," he added.
"We're really glad to...have you," Brandon said with a leer.
Rahul blushed, as Josh thumped Brandon on the back of his platinum-blonde head with his thumb and forefinger. The hairdresser yowled in pain and turned on him, like a furious kitten. "Don't mind Brandon," Damian said in his ear. "He's harmless, really. If he hits on you, just turn him down politely but firmly. He'll leave you alone eventually."
Rahul surprised him by smiling slightly. "It's actually kind of nice," he replied just as softly. "I've never been hit on by anybody before this. It's a nice change of pace."
Damian found it hard to believe that nobody had ever hit on this amazing Indian beauty before this. It seemed impossible. Bill spoke up while he was thinking about this, saying to Rahul: "Welcome to the Cuckoo's Nest. That's our informal nickname for this building," he went on with a pleasant smile. "We hope that you're happy here. We were sad when our last housekeeper left, though we understood. He and his boyfriend were getting very serious, and the boyfriend had to move to San Diego for work. So Colin decided to go with him, which nobody blamed him for. You don't have a boyfriend, do you?" he said anxiously.
Rahul laughed softly. "No, I don't have a boyfriend," he replied merrily. "You don't have to worry."
"So, you're unattached?" Brandon asked hopefully, batting his eyelashes at Rahul.
"That's right," the housekeeper replied.
"I'm sure he's got better taste than to be interested in you, Brandon," Josh drawled.
The hairdresser whirled around to glare at Josh. "Shut up! I'll have you know that I'm awesome, and any guy would be lucky to get with me!"
Josh lifted his brows. "I'd think it would be the guy who didn't get with you who'd be the lucky one," he said dryly.
Brandon snarled and punched Josh in the arm as hard as he could, which barely rocked him, and only made the writer smirk a little. Rahul was giggling, a charming sight that did bad things to certain parts of Damian's anatomy. Life was going to get harder for him around here, now that Rahul had arrived. MUCH harder, in certain parts of him that tended to get pinched by the unforgiving material at the crotch of his slacks...
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Chapter 3
To his delight, Rahul blushed again at his teasing. That faint stain of color was adorably sexy on his brown skin. "Umm..." he began, concealing his eyes with those incredibly long lashes.
Damian wanted nothing more than to drag his lovely new housekeeper off into the linen closet and have his way with him. But instead, he pulled himself together and acted like a rational adult. "Anyway, why don't you get settled in your room? Everybody cleans up after themselves after meals, so you won't be responsible for the dishes or anything. Once you've unpacked, come to the sitting room. You can meet everybody formally. Sound good?"
"Yes, thank you," Rahul replied gratefully.
"Okay, then. Get unpacked, we'll be waiting for you when you're done."
Rahul shouldered his suitcases and walked down the wide hallway toward his bedroom. Damien went back into the dining room, finding the rest of the residents of the apartment building cleaning up the table as they did after every meal. Working together, they always managed to get the table cleared, and the dishes scraped and put in the dishwasher, in under ten minutes.
Damien went into the kitchen to turn the coffee maker on, and start some water boiling for tea. He also pulled a package of English biscuits from a cupboard(he'd turned everybody onto the English equivalent of cookies, and now they had them every night when they gathered in the sitting room), and began to arrange cups and a plate of the biscuits on a tray.
Brandon bounced up to him. "Where's the new housekeeper?" he asked with a leer.
"Unpacking in his room. And no, you're NOT going to go and bug him," Damien added, giving him a stern look. "He's coming to the sitting room after he's finished; you can talk to him then. Got it, Brandon?"
Brandon made a face at him. "Got it, Chief. Geez, you're such a spoilsport, Damien."
"You bet I am. Here, take this into the sitting room," he handed Brandon the tray, which wasn't heavy with only empty cups and a plate of biscuits on it.
Brandon scowled at him, but marched off with the tray obediently. Damien smiled after him, shaking his head a little. Brandon was very cute when he pouted. He turned back to the boiling pot of water, carefully pouring it into a carafe. "Let me take that," a voice said, and he turned his head to see Bill standing just behind him.
"Thanks, Bill. Would you take some tea bags with you, too?"
"Of course," the teacher replied, taking the handle of the carafe. "Peppermint for you, Damien?"
"You bet," he smiled at Bill, as the teacher carried the carafe away to the cupboard where the tea bags were kept.
Isaiah was loading the dishwasher with rinsed dishes. Caleb was gathering a little pot of cream, a sugar bowl, and the other accessories necessary for coffee onto another tray. He'd take all of this, and a carafe of coffee, into the sitting room for everybody to enjoy. Tran was out in the dining room, taking the linen table cloth off of the table. He'd dump it into the laundry basket in the laundry room, and when the tall basket was full Damien would have it taken away to be professionally cleaned. Several of the couples were sweeping the floors while they chatted.
The coffeemaker dinged. Damien poured the rich black coffee into a carafe, and handed it to Caleb. The big man took the loaded tray away to the sitting room, whistling a cheerful tune. Bill followed with a selection of tea and the hot water in the carafe. Isaiah finished up with the dishwasher, and followed after them. Slowly, one-by-one, they made their way into the sitting room and took their favorite seats, whether on one of the comfortable chairs or the plush couches. The couples all chose one of the couches, snuggling up with their significant others. The single folk mostly took the chairs. Brandon clicked on the TV, grabbing the remote and running through the channels so fast it was a wonder that he could tell what each one was showing.
Damien settled into his own personal chair, a large wing-back that he'd bought at an antiques shop. He always felt like the lord and master of a castle sitting in it, and he could lean back easily and rest his head if he were feeling tired. He'd positioned it so it had a great view of the rest of the room, so he could see what the others were doing. He could also see the archway leading out into the hall, and his eyes kept straying there as he waited for Rahul to reappear. Anticipation filled him.
"Brandon! Pick a channel!" Josh barked in exasperation.
"I'm just looking...hey!" Brandon yelled, and Damien looked over to see that the writer had grabbed the remote from Brandon's hand and was holding it up over his head out of the hairdresser's reach.
"I'll give it back if you pick a channel that we'd all like to watch. Otherwise, you won't get it back, and we'll all have to watch the Home Shopping Network," Josh told Brandon, nodding at the television and the channel it was currently on. "Your choice."
Brandon pouted furiously. Isaiah had looked away from them, and his sparkling dark-brown eyes met Damian's. The two men shared a laughing glance at Brandon's expense as they heard him say mutinously: "Fine. I'll pick a channel. You suck, Josh."
"I've been known to, yes," the writer agreed dryly. Damian's lips twitched, and he had to put his hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Josh was extremely droll sometimes. Isaiah's teeth flashed white against his dark skin as he grinned widely.
Bill appeared at his elbow with a steaming cup in his hand. "Here you are, Damian," he said, handing him a cup of fragrant peppermint tea.
"Thanks, Bill. This smells great," Damian said, inhaling. "But you shouldn't have to serve me," he added to the teacher. "I can make my own cup of tea. And you're tired. You should let us wait on you for a change."
Bill smiled a little. "I don't mind doing it, Damian. At least you guys appreciate my efforts. Unlike my students," he went on with a shake of his head.
Damian gave him a sympathetic look. The life of a high school teacher wasn't always a pleasant one. Working with teenagers wasn't a fun experience at the best of times...and for Bill, this wasn't the best of times, anyway. He'd broken up with his boyfriend of over two years six months ago, and Damian was pretty sure that he hadn't dated anyone, or even gotten laid, since. Poor Bill was hurting right now. And his job wasn't making it any easier on him. He wished silently that the teacher would find somebody nice soon.
Bill wandered away to make a few more cups of tea for those who drank it, including himself. He always had a cup of chamomile every night before bed to help him sleep. Tran was sitting cross-legged in his chair, reading a textbook intently. He was always studying, which left him little time for a personal life. Sometimes Damian thought he should host a singles night for the building and invite as many single gay men as he could find out on the street, since so many of his tenants didn't seem to have time for a personal life. Isaiah, for example, spent so much time at practice or his schoolwork that he also didn't date much; and Josh sometimes got so wrapped up in his writing that he barely came downstairs for days at a time. And Caleb hated the night life of the Castro District, avoiding bars and nightclubs like the plague. Only Brandon had a vigorous and diverse sex life, going out almost every night after nine to troll the clubs and bars for his next sexual conquest.
He became aware that Rahul had appeared hesitantly in the archway. He surged to his feet and hurried over to the housekeeper. "Hey, Rahul. Did you get unpacked?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Oh, good. Come and meet everybody," he urged, waving at the people in the sitting room. Many sets of eyes were staring at Rahul curiously, as Damian led the way toward them with Rahul at his elbow.
"Hey, guys, this is Rahul Jhadav," Damian said. "Our new housekeeper. Rahul, this is Bill, Brandon, Josh, Caleb, Isaiah, Tran, Frank and Don, Perry and Mark, Stephen and Roger, Jimmy and Greg, Harris and Philip, and Angel and Miguel." he pointed at each person as he introduced them, and each of them conjured up a welcoming smile for their new housekeeper.
"Hello, everyone," Rahul replied softly. "I'm really glad to be working here," he added.
"We're really glad to...have you," Brandon said with a leer.
Rahul blushed, as Josh thumped Brandon on the back of his platinum-blonde head with his thumb and forefinger. The hairdresser yowled in pain and turned on him, like a furious kitten. "Don't mind Brandon," Damian said in his ear. "He's harmless, really. If he hits on you, just turn him down politely but firmly. He'll leave you alone eventually."
Rahul surprised him by smiling slightly. "It's actually kind of nice," he replied just as softly. "I've never been hit on by anybody before this. It's a nice change of pace."
Damian found it hard to believe that nobody had ever hit on this amazing Indian beauty before this. It seemed impossible. Bill spoke up while he was thinking about this, saying to Rahul: "Welcome to the Cuckoo's Nest. That's our informal nickname for this building," he went on with a pleasant smile. "We hope that you're happy here. We were sad when our last housekeeper left, though we understood. He and his boyfriend were getting very serious, and the boyfriend had to move to San Diego for work. So Colin decided to go with him, which nobody blamed him for. You don't have a boyfriend, do you?" he said anxiously.
Rahul laughed softly. "No, I don't have a boyfriend," he replied merrily. "You don't have to worry."
"So, you're unattached?" Brandon asked hopefully, batting his eyelashes at Rahul.
"That's right," the housekeeper replied.
"I'm sure he's got better taste than to be interested in you, Brandon," Josh drawled.
The hairdresser whirled around to glare at Josh. "Shut up! I'll have you know that I'm awesome, and any guy would be lucky to get with me!"
Josh lifted his brows. "I'd think it would be the guy who didn't get with you who'd be the lucky one," he said dryly.
Brandon snarled and punched Josh in the arm as hard as he could, which barely rocked him, and only made the writer smirk a little. Rahul was giggling, a charming sight that did bad things to certain parts of Damian's anatomy. Life was going to get harder for him around here, now that Rahul had arrived. MUCH harder, in certain parts of him that tended to get pinched by the unforgiving material at the crotch of his slacks...
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