A Collection Of Short Stories

Peter And Jack

Flinging open the back door for employees to use, Peter hastily walks out into the carpark which was covered in puddles from the light sprinkling rain. The place was almost entirely pitch black except for the odd fluorescent lamp post, only one car sat in the entire lot. After a long day at the local super market bagging items, Peter finally gets to leave his personal hell as he heads straight to his warn down car that sat on the other side of the carpark. As he was only halfway there, it begun to suddenly pour down raining on the unsuspecting, tired worker. He carefully jogged the rest of the way and without hesitation, jumped inside the safety of his car.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Peter flung his bag onto the passenger seat and closed his eyes as he listened to the pelting rain hitting the metal rooftop. He took off his soaking, wet jumper and slicked his damp hair back out of his face. A sudden knock on his window caused the tried man to jump and quickly turn his head. However, because of the heavy rainfall and poor lighting, he could not see who it was. Peter rolled down his window a bit and found a familiar face staring back at him with a pleading expression. Jack, a regular costumer that Peter sees at the store, hesitantly asks if he can sit inside his car to escape the rain.

Peter clears the seat so Jack can get in the car. An uncomfortable silence settling upon the two strangers for a while. He tries to make awkward small talk, asking Jack questions about his day. The other reveals he was meant to be having friends over for dinner and was on his way home from the store to prepare when he received a text saying they had cancelled the dinner plans. The quiet speaking man turns to Peter and shyly asks if he wanted to go over to his house for dinner since he had all the ingredients and no one to cook for.

With a blush madly spreading across his cheeks, Peter declines at first, caught off-guard by the forward proposal. Determined that he would succeed, Jack asks if he could have a lift home in exchange for a warm, cooked dinner at his place. But once more, Peter declined, saying that he will be more than happy to just drive the other home free of charge. To which the quieter male dejectedly agreed as the car started up and they begun to drive.

When they arrived at Jack's place he innocently asks if the other could help bring the groceries up considering it was still pouring down outside. With a reluctant sigh, Peter nods his head. Together they take the five bags of groceries up to Jack's apartment.

After putting the bags down in the kitchen, Jack purposefully asks if Peter would like a cup of water after climbing the couple flights of stairs. This time he accepts and is told to sit down at the small dining table. While he waited, Peter looked around the small apartment decorated with small items matching a colour theme. Jack brings over two glassed of water for them both and as soon as he sits down he proceeds to ask if the other would stay for dinner. His argument this time was that Peter was already there so he might as well stay for a while and wait for the brewing storm to calm down. Peter sat in silence for a while, weighing his options, before he hesitantly accepts. A heavy cloud that had been hanging over the two of them was immediately dispersed, a lighter atmosphere settling between them. With a shy smile on each of their faces, Peter grew comfortable at the table as Jack stood to start preparing the dinner for two.