Planet Canada Building

"Call center jobs suck, but they're a golden ticket compared to security jobs," Salomon Altidor told himself as he walked out of the Planet Canada Building. The huge brownstone structure stood there, looking more like a prison than a government building. How he loathed the place. The never-ending construction, the maze-like internal structuring, the creepy workers, and the sheer, never-ending tedium of it all. This place is a prison, Salomon thought glumly.

The life of a security guard sucks, especially if he or she works in a Canadian government building. Government workers treat security people and cleaners the way European noblemen once treated peasants, in the olden days. Salomon knows this last bit all too damn well. He'd spent six months working as a security in the most toxic work environment of all. Female bullies, male stalkers, garden variety racists, and creeps he didn't even have a name for. Just another day in the City of Ottawa as far as Salomon was concerned. Thanks but no thanks...

Salomon caught the OC Transpo bus and headed home, wondering what his next move ought to be. As he got on the bus, a young black guy stared at him a moment too long, and Salomon shook his head. The dude with the staring problem was probably gay or bisexual. Not that Salomon has a problem with that. He prefers women, sexually and romantically, but he's been known to have some manly fun in the distant past. That was ages ago, though, and he had other priorities nowadays.

Once upon a time, Salomon was open to dating both ladies and fellas, but not anymore. A creepy, middle-aged Asian dude named Lee turned Salomon off the male of the species for good. Lee, a bed-hopping gay Asian dude with a fetish for black men, became a stalker when Salomon refused to hook up with him. Salomon initially found Lee interesting, but the dude's hard drinking and whoring turned him off. When Salomon dropped him, Lee found himself unable to let go. Salomon had to go to the Ottawa police to get Lee to back the fuck off.

Salomon sat at the very back of the bus, and looked out the window. A big-booty woman sped by, riding a bicycle. Salomon grinned, appreciating the view. Not for the first time Salomon wondered what possessed him to stick around the Planet Canada Building for so damn long. Toxic workplaces are bad for a man's physical and mental health, it doesn't take a workplace issues expert to figure that one out.

Salomon got home, and took a lengthy shower, as though he wanted to wash the stench of the Planet Canada Building off of his body. Exiting the shower, Salomon looked in the mirror. A big and tall, dark-skinned man of Afro-Caribbean descent looked back at him. Salomon could be considered handsome, after a fashion. Still, he'd lost a piece of his soul while working lousy jobs in the City of Ottawa. There's only so much abuse a man can take before he loses it, or quits...

The government-affiliated security company for which Salomon works is one of the worst employers ever. Supposedly, they pay industry-leading wages, and this attracted hopeful security guards like Salomon. After graduating from Carleton University, Salomon looked for work in the government sector. The best he could do was the National Canadian Hotline Service Call Center, and they paid twenty one dollars per hour, which seemed heaven sent to Salomon. After all, as a security guard, Salomon was used to making fourteen an hour.

What Salomon wasn't counting on is the casual racism, the passive aggressive bullshit and the backstabbing that went on at the National Canadian Hotline Service Call Center. Housed in the By Ward Market area of Ottawa, the call center seemed innocuous enough, and at first, Salomon liked it. No more wearing security uniforms, and no more standing on his damned feet for ten hours at a time. Salomon thought he'd made it...and then he got to know the creeps, weirdoes, bigots and freaks that work at the National Canadian Hotline Service Call Center.

Salomon met some cool people, like Mousa, a funny, smart-mouthed African dude originally from Burkina Faso, and Vanessa, a feisty gal of Indian and African descent, originally from Guyana. Mousa and Vanessa became Salomon's pals at work, and for a while, things were alright. They worked under a cool manager named Alexander, who was a decent guy to work with. Of course, that was before Alexander got canned, and Salomon and company got shuffled and went to work for Sedric the Creep.

"Welcome to my team," Sedric told Salomon, three days after the firing of Alexander and the major office shakeup at the National Canadian Hotline Service Call Center. Salomon opted to stay in the By Ward Market office, while Vanessa and Mousa went to work at the downtown location on Laurier Avenue. This turned out to be a major mistake, as Salomon found himself facing much hardship without support...

Sedric, a tall, slim young African guy with a ponytail seemed like a cool guy at first. Salomon was impressed to see a young African guy working as a manager in a place like the National Canadian Hotline Service Call Center, a place where most managers are old white dudes. Sedric, whom a lot of the ladies at work liked, but who never seemed to have a girlfriend. Sedric, who was awfully chummy with Jason Paolo, the effeminate older white dude with the bad haircut whom Salomon simply could not stand.

"Dude, I am just here to work and I don't like being stared at," Salomon told Jason Paolo, on the very same day when he joined Sedric's team. Jason, who looked, acted and sounded like Jack from Will & Grace, is the sort of fellow whom Salomon found supremely annoying. While Salomon is out as a bisexual man to family and close friends, he prefers to act like a regular guy in his day to day life. The outrageous, annoying, over the top behavior of effeminate dudes turns Salomon off, and he prefers to avoid the breed. Thanks but no thanks.

"Um, I was just saying hi," Jason Paolo retorted before snapping his fingers and returning to work. Salomon rolled his eyes, and continued taking calls. What Salomon didn't know at the time is that Sedric, the cool black manager whom a lot of the girls at work fancied, is into men. Sedric isn't bisexual like Salomon. Nope, Sedric only likes dick and is allergic to pussy, and not only that, but he was having an affair with Jason Paolo at the time. It took Salomon a while to find this out.

Salomon Altidor, who was born and raised on the island of Haiti, leads a very unique life. The brother prefers the ladies, and is polite but distant when he encounters fellas who like fellas. Several of Salomon's close friends like his buddy Danny, formerly of Ghana, and his other buddy Wilson, formerly of Cape Verde, are also bisexual. Salomon doesn't fuck his friends, but he is happy to have buddies whom he can be himself with. Bisexual men have to navigate different worlds and it can make for a lonely existence, which is why it's important to have like-minded friends.

Salomon was there for his buddy Danny when the latter nearly got outed as bisexual by Candy, a transsexual diva whom he made the mistake of hooking up with. These days, Danny has learned his lesson and completely turned his life around. The tall, handsome Ghanaian brother now lives in Toronto with his wife Elise and their daughter Miranda. Salomon is happy for Danny, and a little envious. He just can't find the right lady, and continues to be lonely.

Salomon's other buddy Wilson is still out there living it up, hooking up with girls and guys left and right. As for Salomon, he's been celibate since the end of his relationship with a certain South African gal named Fiona Lesiba. Salomon smiled in a reminiscent manner as he dried himself with a towel. Fiona was something else. A tall, dark-skinned and athletic young black woman with a sharp mind and a brash, no-nonsense mindset. The two of them met during Salomon's last year at Carleton, and Fiona simply took his breath away.

"Can I help you?" Fiona asked Salomon in a smart-ass tone as he approached her, one fine day in the campus library. Salomon had been checking out the fine-looking black woman for quite some time. Smiling, Salomon introduced himself, then inquired about Fiona's lovely accent. She stood there, hand on her hip, dripping with attitude and hotness. Salomon most definitely wanted a piece of Fiona, and the bisexual Haitian scholar tends to be persistent when he really wants a lady.

"Yes, my fine sister, I am Salomon, and you can help me become a better man by telling me your name, I seek knowledge," he replied, all smug and corny at the same time. Fiona looked Salomon up and down. He was tall, handsome and well-dressed, and he somehow managed to be smug and corny at the same time. Fiona was about to tell off this smug brother, when she noticed a certain ex of hers, a brother named Oscar, walking around with Adele, his favorite fat white chick.

"My pleasure, and you can call me Fiona," she replied, shaking Salomon's hand. That's how Salomon and Fiona met. The two of them exchanged numbers that day, and began hanging out. As it turns out, the South African dame and the nerdy Haitian brother had a lot in common. Fiona came to Ottawa, Ontario, from Johannesburg, South Africa, to study civil engineering, and she had ambition to spare. Salomon wanted to be a big shot lawyer, hence why he studied criminology at Carleton. They were a match made in the Pan-African Sky...

Salomon and Fiona became inseparable, going to the Rideau center, the Saint Laurent Mall and local movie theaters and restaurants together. He couldn't get enough of her, and the feeling seemed mutual. Fiona was smart and sexy, and she was surprisingly sensitive at times. Salomon was delighted when Fiona regaled him with tales of her old life in South Africa. Indeed, the country was trying to move forward, but there was strife between black and white, black and coloured, over there.

"One of these days, you must show me RSA," Salomon said to Fiona, one night as they walked home after watching The Turning, an epic horror flick at the movie theater. Fiona grinned and playfully grabbed Salomon's ass, causing him to laugh. Salomon pulled Fiona into his arms and kissed her. They made love in the bushes behind the local Walmart, under cover of darkness.

"You taste great," Salomon told Fiona, as he sat her down on a bench, pulled down her skirt, and buried his face between her legs. Fiona sighed happily as Salomon ate her pussy. The Haitian brother was quite passionate, and she liked his spontaneity. Salomon teased Fiona's pussy with his tongue and fingered her, causing her to squeal in sheer delight. The South African gal was in for a treat...

"Go for it," Fiona murmured, caressing Salomon's shaved head as he ate her pussy. Afterwards, Fiona found herself on all fours, face down and ass up, as Salomon took her from behind. He rolled a condom on his hard dick and entered her with a swift thrust. Fiona moaned as Salomon gripped her hips and fucked her with deep, passionate strokes. They fucked passionately, the thrill of getting caught spurring them on. It was a great time.

Salomon and Fiona went home, and fucked for hours until the morning. He found himself falling in love with her, which complicated things, to say the least. Salomon struggled with the decision of whether or not to reveal his bisexuality to Fiona. He decided against it...with a catch. Salomon hadn't hooked up with a dude in over a decade, preferring to watch bisexual porn, gay porn and transsexual porn instead of going out to hook up. There's a method to Salomon's ways.

Salomon prefers to think with his head, instead of his dick. The majority of men who are bisexual can't say the same, and gay men definitely can't say the same. They are ruled by their sexual urges. Salomon had seen too many bisexual men lose the women in their lives because of casual hookups with shady men. He decided he would stay faithful to Fiona, rendering his bisexual past a moot point. This was the best decision that Salomon could make under the circumstances. At least that's what he told himself.

"Move in with me," Salomon begged Fiona, a year after they met. Fiona giggled, and threw herself into his arms. They embraced, and thus began another exciting chapter of their lives. Fiona moved in with Salomon, and redecorated his place, making it hers, essentially. Life was good. Salomon had his degree, and Fiona had hers. She began working for Shared Services, while Salomon continued to work security. Fiona kind of thought Salomon lacked ambition, but refrained from saying so out loud. One day, Salomon's slacker ways proved to be too much...

"I am leaving you, I cannot stay with a man whose work I don't respect," Fiona told Salomon, one day as he came home from work. Salomon, still wearing his security uniform, looked at his beloved Fiona, wondering what brought this on. The proud Haitian brother begged his darling lady to give him another chance. Fiona refused to heed Salomon's pleas. The South African diva packed her bags, and went to stay with her cousin Catherine in Gatineau, Quebec. Salomon called her incessantly for weeks, and Fiona blocked his number. Thus ended their relationship.

"I hate Ottawa, I hate working security, I hate being bisexual, I hate Canadian government workers, and I hate myself most of all," Salomon said aloud, as he lay in bed. He grabbed his laptop, and went on Indeed, resuming the thankless task of applying for various jobs. Admin support positions in government offices. Tech support jobs. Call center jobs. Whatever it frigging takes to get out of the security industry before I self-destruct, Salomon thought, sipping his beer as he typed away on his computer.