"Not interested," Faustin Owusu said to Mr. Priebe, after the slender, pale-skinned and purple-haired fellow asked him out for a drink, following a brutal day at work. The phones were super busy at the call center, and the operators were beyond exhausted. Faustin's stress levels were already high, but a certain creep simply had to add to it. Mr. Priebe, a fellow who claims to have a wife and family but hits on all the manly hunks at work, is a serial harasser of men. The creep was obviously not prepared to take no for an answer. Mr. Priebe glared at Faustin Owusu angrily, and scoffed in a rather dismissive manner. Someone is clearly not used to getting rejected...
"Whatever, bitch," Mr. Priebe said, and he walked away in a huff, moving with more bounce in his step than the average woman. As usual, Mr. Priebe cornered Faustin Owusu when there was nobody else around. The little fucker knew better than to harass him in front of other people. Faustin Owusu sighed as the annoying bozo walked away. From the moment Faustin began working at the Ontario Government Services Call Center, located in the By Ward Market area of Ottawa, Mr. Priebe had been on his case. The creepy old white dude simply wouldn't quit...
Male on male sexual harassment is real, but it's not taken seriously. Men are expected to man up when challenged or mistreated by other men. The issue of male on male sexual harassment is poorly understood. It is politically correct to bring it up, since a man who rejects unwelcome advances from another man at work may be accused of homophobia or such. Women and men alike make light of male on male harassment, which is a pity. Faustin Owusu, a big and tall, dark-skinned and masculine young man originally from the City of Accra, Ghana, knew how the game was played. In the Canadian Capital, it's not about right or wrong but about power.
Mr. Priebe knew exactly what he was doing when he began ogling Faustin Owusu at work. When a white man sexually harasses a black man, the Powers That Be will always side with the white man. It's simply the way things are done. In the Canadian workplace, there is a certain order of importance. It's all about the rights of white women, and then come sexual minorities, and racial minorities. As usual, individuals who happen to be black and male rank lower than dirt on the order of priorities, even though the Canadian workforce screams loud enough to wake the dead about its growing diversity.
After making sure that Mr. Priebe was gone, Faustin Owusu gathered his belongings and went to the nearby washroom. After taking a leak, he washed his hands and his face. Looking in the washroom mirror, Faustin admired his reflection. A big and tall, dark-skinned and bearded young African man stared back at him. Not for the first time, Faustin wondered what made him a magnet for creeps like Mr. Priebe. Faustin is a regular, masculine-looking guy with a normal voice and normal mannerisms. Nothing about Faustin's presentation should make him a magnet for weirdoes, but he's still a prey item for the likes of Mr. Priebe...
Faustin Owusu walked to the nearby Rideau Shopping Center, and took the Train. From there, he rode it to distant Tunney's Pasture Station and then switched to the OC Transpo bus lanes. Catching a bus going to Kanata, Ontario, Faustin began the long trek home. Faustin finally got off at Kanata Business Park, and walked to his residence. The three-bedroom townhouse which Faustin purchased a while back didn't come cheap, and the mortgage was high but the brother managed just fine.
For a time, Faustin worked for the globe-spanning Ericsson Corporation, and had a good time as one of their tech guys. Ericsson paid way better than the Canadian government. Of course, after Covid hit, Ericsson began reducing its workforce in the Capital region of Canada. some folks got to work from home. Others got let go. After being let go, with a generous severance package, Faustin put a serious down payment on the home of his dreams, and then looked for other jobs. The gig at the Ontario Government Services Call Center sounded okay to Faustin when he applied for it. Faustin got hired by the Canadian government, and then he caught Mr. Priebe's eye. That's when everything started to go wrong...
Faustin sighed happily as he entered his home, and his dog Harrison, a black and white Jack Russell Terrier greeted him. Patting the dog on the head, Faustin leashed him, and after setting down his backpack, he took Harrison for a walk. Taking the dog for a walk around his peaceful neighborhood in the west end soothed Faustin's somber mood. After walking for an hour, Faustin and Harrison returned home. Seated on his couch, Faustin ordered some food via Uber Eats.
"Thanks for the tip, mister," said the deliverywoman, a tall, curvy young South Asian woman named Veerpal Kaur. Faustin smiled and thanked her for a delivery, and then took the bag. Veerpal drove away, not believing her luck. The Chinese food delivery cost twenty eight bucks, and most people usually tipped Veerpal about three dollars maximum. Faustin, feeling generous, tipped the young South Asian woman ten bucks. Why did Faustin do that? The call center operator knows what it's like to deal with shitty clients and creepy coworkers.
"Drive safe, now," Faustin told Veerpal as he watched her go. Faustin smiled to himself, for Veerpal reminded him of Mala Chuttani, a tall, dark-haired and brown-skinned, beautiful young Indian Canadian woman whom he dated a long time ago. Faustin and Mala knew each other when the former was trying to convince himself that he was heterosexual. During his first year at the University of Ottawa, Faustin was trying to repressing his emerging bisexuality and played it straight. A rather unfortunate choice which led to confusion and pain, to be sure...
"I can't accept your being bisexual, I think it's disgusted," Mala told Faustin, on the day he came out to her. Faustin was crushed by Mala's words. At the time, Faustin was only nineteen years old, and he'd never even been with a man yet. In fact, Mala Chuttani was the only person Faustin had sex with at that point. Faustin looked at Mala, the young woman he'd lost his virginity to, and loved so much. The horror and anger that Faustin saw on Mala's face would hunt him for the remainder of his days on earth...
"I am sorry you feel that way, Mala, I never wanted to hurt you," Faustin told her, and she spat at his feet before walking away. Faustin watched as Mala ran from him as though the Devil himself were after her. Feeling angry and betrayed by Faustin's revelation of his bisexuality, Mala exposed him on social media. Overnight, Faustin watched his social life dry up. Once upon a time, Faustin was a well-liked person on the University of Ottawa campus due to his good looks and intelligence. When Mala outed him, Faustin became persona non grata...
