Exclusive Excerpt

BEARING DOWN BY P.MATTERN

Bear Davis thought it was a damn shame how some women seemed to totally lack ‘gaydar’. He’d hired his Gal Friday Rebecca Lazure three months ago. The animated redhead had seemed alert, attentive, organized, energetic and sharp, all qualities he held in high esteem when it came to an employee he’d be working closely with. She was neither too young nor too old-he’d never asked of course but he figured her age to be in the early thirties range. She’d volunteered during her interview that she’d never been married and had no children, and was extremely career oriented. She’d seemed like the perfect fit for the mid-sized manufacturing outfit that he owned, and so he’d hired her on the spot, pending a credentials check by his personnel department. As he’d expected, her references were outstanding. The first few weeks had been fine. She always had new contracts in order, was able to multitask in the often frenetic, fast paced environment of the business, which involved the manufacture of a high quality brand of niche athletic shoe that had been growing in favor exponentially from the instant it was placed on the shelves of boutique shoe stores across the state. Online sales had become even more impressive recently, and Bear Victor Davis, Chief Executive Officer and sole owner of the company had been notified that their top selling sneaker, a silver mesh and black leather creation called “Silverbody Soma” was up for several design awards. After the first seamless months of working with his new protégée Bear had noticed that her concentration seemed to be slipping. He’d caught her staring at him at odd moments with an even odder expression on her face. Only after one of his frequent buyers remarked on the secretary’s “obvious crush” on him did he realize with a jolt that Rebecca had been making her romantic interest in him known through a series of large and small gestures: bringing homemade cookies into the office, dressing increasingly provocatively, and finally last Friday offering to give him a shoulder massage. Bear loved a good massage-but not on office time, not at the hands of a female-not to mention that the part he preferred to have massaged was located in a southernly direction between his muscular thighs. As a very handsome and masculine looking man in his late thirties, with golden brown hair just beginning to grey at bit at the temples, even features, a chiseled jawline and deeply grey eyes, Bear knew he couldn’t blame his secretary for assuming he was straight. But he was disappointed that despite her adamant assertions that she was totally into her career at the expense of everything else, she’d turned out to be another quasi-desperate man hunter with a ticking biological clock. Most of all, he was disappointed in himself for not connecting the dots sooner. He decided to keep a businesslike atmosphere, ignore her goo goo eyes and her surreptitious peeks at his zippered crotch, and press on. After all, he reasoned, she was still the most capable assistant he’d ever hired. Shrewdly, he also decided to stack the deck by hiring on some very nice looking male floor managers He figured that sooner or later she’d stop banging her head against the wall, lose interest and turn her romantic attentions elsewhere. He was sitting at his desk signing paperwork the next day when the door of his office burst open. Instantly annoyed, he’d looked up with a frown that immediately morphed into a broad grin as his baby sister Elle burst in and , flying around the edge of his huge mahogany desk, threw herself into his arms. “BEAR!” she practically squealed,”I missed you too much!”. Bear closed his eyes briefly as he held the fashionably too skinny body of his only sibling. Ellen or ‘Elle as she preferred to be called these days. She was a Sophmore studying Interior Design at the Provost Institute in New York, and she was home for Spring Break. Bear had looked after his little sister since their parents’ deaths within months of each other-his father in a car accident, his severely depressed bipolar mother a few months later by her own hand. An adult by then, just starting up his own business, he’d taken over legal custody of Elle, who was 15 years younger than he was, and he had been her surrogate parent and guardian ever since. Elle pulled back, brushing her fashionably long blonde bangs out of her enchantingly blue eyes and looking at him searchingly as she perched herself on the edge of his desk. “Hmmmmm,” she said,”I think you have TWICE as much grey above your ears as the last time I was home! Strangely though, I approve. It makes you look more distinguished!” Bear threw his head back and laughed. Somehow he was always in a good mood when he and Elle were together. “And YOU!” Bear answered , pinching one of Elle’s upper arms, ”Way too skinny lady! I’m taking you out for burgers and shakes STAT!” Elle giggled at his assessment. Looking around she asked,”When will you be free for lunch? And who’s the new office wench?” Bear smiled his trademark slow lazy smile. “Her name is Rebecca Lazure-Ms. Lazure to you sweetie- and you just got her fired because she’s supposed to screen anyone who comes to the office before they just burst in on me!” Elle giggled-“She TRIED Bear, but you know me-if I’m on my way wild horses ,etcetera! Anyway I can see you’re in the middle of a paper chase-can we meet at Pink’s in an hour? I am starving but I wanted to check out that new boutique that opened up next to Pink’s first.” Still talking, Elle had grabbed the Luis Vuitton designer bag that Bear had gotten for her as a Christmas gift that past holiday and then stood stock still with her hand on the knob, as if she’s suddenly thought of something. By the time she’d whipped around, her long hair floating about her shoulders, Bear had already fished in the back pocket of his Dockers for his wallet and was holding out four crisp one hundred dollar bills toward her. Running back she planted a large fushia kissmark on his broad ,finely planed ,cheek. “Best brother EVER!” she exclaimed waving and disappearing through the office door. Bear sighed contentedly to himself. Because he was single and gay, he found it hard to imagine having any kids of his own. But Elle was so much younger, and being her only family and mentor had given him so much satisfaction over the years that he felt he’d already had at least a taste of that very unique experience. He loved Elle deeply, was fiercely protective of her, and was proud to be able to afford her the luxuries that he’d never remotely conceived of having when he was her age. For her part, he knew Elle had a work ethic, a drive to excel and ,( most importantly as far as he was concerned)-she wanted him to be as proud of her as she was as him. Rebecca knocked -he could see the auburn of her hair through the stylish dippled smoky glass of the door. When he told her to come in he realized with a start that he’d forgotten about an intern that he was scheduled to give a Final Interview to that afternoon. To make it clear through to Bear’s office for the Final Interview candidates had to pass first a preliminary phone interview done by his Personnel Staff that was basically a screening interview ,and then an in-person interview with his Head of Personnel. If an applicant made it through those two demanding procedures, then and ONLY then were they granted an interview with the CEO himself. Bear glanced at the time on his Rollex-he figured there was just enough time to get the applicant interviewed, out of his office and then arrive at the restaurant in time to make sure his fashion forward little sister didn’t waste away . When he glanced back up again he was momentarily taken aback. The young man with his secretary wearing a dark blue suit, grey shirt and a Jerry Garcia tie had too-long-for –the- office straight black hair that fell almost to the tops of his shoulders, glacial blue eyes under straight black eyebrows , a straight nose, and lips a modicum too full to fit comfortably on a masculine face. The young man seemed barely of age, and as Rebecca chatted along charmingly and got the young man settled in one of two leather chairs on the opposite side of Bear’s massive desk, Bear quickly glanced over the resume Rebecca had passed over to him and found to his surprise that the youth was 27 years old, with some impressive credentials and work experience. Bear dismissed Rebecca and for the first minute or two maintained a stoic silence as he casually perused the young man’s resume. He’d found that waiting to start the interview took many of the applicants offguard and made them lower their defenses and forget the canned self-promoting speeches that they’d rehearsed beforehand. That was fine as far as Bear was concerned-he had no time for polite bullshit, and he knew that what the young man would learn, under HIS tutelage would be absolutely invaluable. Reaching forward on his desk to retrieve his Perry Ellis reading glasses, he continued to ignore the applicant. Unlike most of the young bucks that came to him seeking an internship, he didn’t fidget in his chair, but continued to stare in Bear’s direction with an air of cool appraisal. Bear took that as a challenge, and decided to ask the hardest questions first. Raising his eyes to those of the young man, and feeling dismayed that his stomach did a flipflop as he looked upon the young man’s model-handsome face, he said gruffly. “I see you did a year at Wharton School of Business in PA.-why only a year? That’s the best our country’s got for a business school!” Bear was astonished when the young man didn’t hesitate. “The school and I agreed to amicably part company because of an incident at the end of my freshman year. You can see by my attached academic stats that I was aceing every course I took, and I had also gotten permission to carry an increased course load.” The young man ceased talking but continued to look directly at Bear. Bear noted with satisfaction that the guy didn’t go into too much detail, which he considered a sign of professionalism. He liked the control the young man seemed to have –he was extraordinarily self possessed, having maybe the best demeanor of anyone he’d interviewed so far. “Okay…” Bear glanced down at the young man’s name and got another surprise. “Absolam-do you go by your full first name or do you have a nickname you use?” The young man gave a slight smile, the first nervous gesture Bear had seen him make. “It’s ‘Ab’ actually. Or you can refer to me by my last name ,’Grant’-I’m actually comfortable with either.”