//Author's Note: Howdy everyone! My name is Arkan Two-Worlds and this is one of my one-shots inspired by a certain fantasy of mine. It features two adult men in sexual situations, so, if you shouldn't be reading this, don't. Other than that, please enjoy, and
please
send me feedback to me via the CONTACT tab on my profile to see if I should continue this story. Thank you and enjoy! //
Summer meant higher electricity bills. Especially in the city of Adamsville in North Texas where the sun just happened to be particularly restless during the summer months between May and November.
And right now, in June, it seemed that the sun shone the harshest. The conditions were made worse by the fact there was nothing to do in Adamsville over the summer break. It was a hybrid college and farm town. Most of the students attending the prestigious Adamsville State University were gone for the summer break back to fresher climates; a few remained in the surrounding areas doing chores around their family farms.
For Daniel Garcia, it meant for a pretty lonely time, time that was dragging on and on. Even his two summer classes were advancing at one-half their normal speed. But he was a freshman and freshmen were encouraged to take summer classes because it "would make the four-year college experience more fulfilling" which is administrative-speak for "we want more money".
As the anthropology professor droned and Daniel half-assedly took notes, a little icon flashed at the corner of his screen. New email! One click, and it was a reminder that rent was due in three days. That would be a problem. Tuition checks haven't been sent out for students attending the summermesters. He had emailed them a week ago, but no reply. After an eternity went by, the professor let the students out. Daniel slammed shut his laptop and headed straight for the university's financial aid and scholarship office, hoping that they hadn't decided to take a three-hour lunch as was the custom.
Luckily, they hadn't.
Unluckily, they weren't very helpful.
Daniel walked in and right away realized it was going to be a losing battle. Still, he pressed on. Walking up to the student-worker at the desk, he asked to see one of the financial aid gurus on staff.
"Sure, she'll be right with you, please have a seat," the girl, a cute petite blonde who clearly had as much desire to be there as Daniel did, said.
"Right with you" is administrative-speak for 20 minutes later, as he would find out, and when he walked in the office, his patience was tested almost immediately.
"What do you mean, you can't send out checks yet?"
"We have to make sure that everything is in order."
"It's the first of the month coming up, some of us have rent to pay."
"If you're living in-campus, we offer stays of rent payment until the checks clear."
"I don't live in campus."
Because I don't want to pay 800 bucks to be in a student dorm a mile away from my classes when I can pay 400 to live 2 miles away in a nicer place,
Daniel wanted to add.
"Then you need to talk with your landlord."
"And if I get kicked out?"
"Well, hopefully your check clears and we can look at some temporary arrangements in the dorms until the next semester starts."
"Would that room be guaranteed?"
"It depends on how many applicants decide to opt for in-campus housing."
"That's a no."
You bitch.
"I'm sorry we can't help you, but, sometimes things like these happen."
"At our expense," Daniel said and stormed out.
Three days to come up with $200 dollars. Parents were out of the question because the conversation would turn into Benjamin Franklin quotes and inquiries as to where the carefully allotted rent money had gone. Daniel knew that "whiskey sours" was the honest answer but not the best one.
Social networking could help, maybe.
The walk back home to the apartment was brutal to the point where as soon as he set foot in the apartment, Daniel passed out in a sweaty mess on the living room carpet. As soon as he woke up, he started calling up favors and hitting people up on facebook. But nothing solid. The people that owed him favors conveniently decided to be very broke at the moment, or were in vacation in Europe, or were simply not answering urgent phone calls, text messages, emails, or facebook messages.
The next day, a Thursday, was more of the same. With T-48 hours and counting, the "Save Daniel's Ass" fund was at half-strength. Daniel headed to the landlord's office to speak with him. Luckily he was there and there was no wait. The sun still beat down, hot enough to make him sweat in the short walk between his apartment and the landlord's cushy lobby and office. "Come in!" the landlord, Mason, said behind a half-shut door. Daniel walked in and sat down, sizing Mason up. Mason was in his forties, close-cropped hairs like Daniel's, solid, thick, muscle build, with strong arms. He wasn't too happy with the news about the checks.
"Look, Daniel, you've been a loyal tenant for these last six months, I don't want to kick you out but word will get around that I gave you a stay. A hundred bucks, you can get that in two days. But if I don't have it by noon on the first, we're going to be in trouble."
"But—"
"No buts," he held up a beefy hand. "Get that money."
Dejected, Daniel left and got online. All of a sudden all the "Make $537.23 a week online from home for free for fun!" posts were very tempting, but destitute or not, Daniel was not in the mood for getting his identity stolen by Nigerian princes. A friend of his suggested live webcam shows. That one was slightly more tempting. Going through the sites, he realized two things, one, the PayPal donations thing would take two days to set up. Two, there was a heavy male population in those webcam shows and some of them might want to see a face. It didn't bother him that men got off to him, it was something he had been occasionally curious about, but never went for it and he was fine with that.
"You're latino, and kind of cute. They'll go for that," the friend had said. Not an inaccurate statement. He was 21, short at 5'8", but fit. "Fine."
He registered an account and sent the information out, hoping that it would clear before deadline day. At the bookstore, he had only netted $15 selling used textbooks. Textbooks that were originally purchased for five times that money. It took a superhuman effort not to scream in frustration.
On Saturday, the fund had only gone up by $20, from a friend who had just returned, but he was still short of the necessary money. Mason was going to come by at 2 p.m., he had said in an email, and the check or cash better be on hand. Check or cash would have been the only options anyway, as Daniel didn't have a credit card to his name.
Maybe Mason would think differently today.
Daniel showered, threw on a shirt and shorts and shaved. He was going to pitch the idea of his new job prospect to Mason. At 2 p.m. on the dot, there was a knock at the door. Daniel went up to the door and sure enough, it was Mason, dressed in polo and jeans and sandals. I opened the door and he made himself right at home, kicking off his sandals and sitting down on my couch. "Want some water?"
"Yes," he said. "Do you have the money?"
"No, but,"
"I said no buts, get me my water."
I got him a bottle of ice-cold water from the fridge and handed it to him.
"I will have a new job tomorrow that can pay up to sixty an hour."
