Drugs, Sex, and Money (boyxboy)

9

Mack stood there as Dominic stirred his coffee. He threw away the small stick then sipped his beverage.

"What do you know so far about us?" Dominic asked.
"Well...I uhh...y-your company has won awards, you inherited the company from your...um...y-your f-father after he worked for tw-twenty y-years, and uh...your j-jobs come with the most benefits at great pay in the country."

Dominic just stared at Mack as he finished the rest of his coffee.

Mack held eye contact. He thought this was a test but...he also thought Mr. Miller's eyes were pretty so it was easy.

"What?" Dominic asked.
Mack woke out of his daze and looked away. "Nothing."
"Come on." Dom instructed and led the way.

...

As Dominic showed Mack around, he also explained his role at work. It sounded easy enough to Mack so he relaxed a bit, at first he was afraid it would be a job out of his league.

"You'll be expected to give me a weekly report on what you got done during the week previously every Monday."
"Okay..."
"You know how to email, right?" Dom asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, good."

"I...um...I-I...I d-don't..." Mack grew frustrated with his sentence and just gave up. He was embarrassed and thought he was making a fool out of himself.
"You don't?" Dom asked for him to finish his sentence.
"Nothing...i-it's f-fine."
"No, it isn't. If something's wrong you gotta tell me." Dominic insisted.

Mack was too afraid that when he'd start his sentence he'd just stutter again. It was embarrassing and he hated it. He believed that since he was a grown man, he shouldn't speak the way that he does.

Dominic saw his frustration and they stopped walking. Dom just looked at Mack with his hands in his pockets.

Mack looked everywhere but at Dominic.

"We're gonna stand here until you finish what you were gonna say, Watts." Dominic stated. "I got all day."

Mack could feel his hands trembling. He still refused to look at Dominic.

"I-I..." he gave up again. At this point he wanted to go home. It would only get worse now because he was nervous.
"Deep breaths. I'm not gonna bite you." Dominic promised. "Breathe in and breathe out."
Mack did as he was told.
"I don't...know...my sch-schedule. S-So...can I...receive that...today?" he finally asked.
"Yea, I meant to ask you about that at the end of the day but I guess you don't know when your lunch break is for today either."
Mack shook his head.
"Your lunch was at 1 but you got here pretty early so you can take it at 12 and leave early at the end of the day if you feel like it. I don't really care."
"Okay..."

"You have something to do right now?" Dom asked.
"No...not really."
"Alright, follow me to my office so we can discuss a schedule." he instructed.

They turned around to head back.

____________________________________

"I give Saturdays off because I don't want to be here then so why the hell would I make you be?" Dominic stated as he looked at his computer. "Sundays are off."

"Uhh...Let me think." Dominic sniffed. "You get a month worth of vacation days but not at once unless it's an emergency. You get paid paternity leave if your wife or girlfriend ends up pregnant..."
"Oh...I don't really have to worry about that." Mack accidentally said aloud.
"I'm sorry?" Dom asked.
"I-I'm...gay...so...I don't really need that..."

Fun. Dominic thought.

"Alright." he said out loud.

That was unnecessary. Why did I even tell him that? What if that hinders my work experience here? Wait...isn't he gay? So maybe not. Still completely useless information. Why do I just blurt things out?! Mack wondered.

"Do you have any specific day you can't work?" Dominic asked.

Mack thought about it.

"Can I do Wednesdays?" he wondered.
"Sure."
"Do I need to tell you why?"
"I don't really care, Watts. So no." Dominic answered as he clicked through his computer.
"O-Oh..."

Dominic looked at Mack, who just observed his surroundings, and he realized what he said might have been harsh. He sighed to himself.

"You work from 9:30 to 4." Dominic explained in a kinder tone. He wouldn't apologize, he'd just try to change his ways. "Half an hour lunch at 12:45."
Mack nodded.

"You have any questions, comments, concerns?" Dominic asked.
"No...I don't think so..."
"Alright, well..." Dominic checked his watch. "You know where your desk is, should probably go attempt to create your space and get everything situated for today."
Mack nodded and stood up.

"Watts." Dominic called as he leaned back in his seat.
"Yes, sir?" Mack answered.
"I'm not gonna force you to make friends with anybody. I don't care enough. But relax a bit. I'm not gonna attack you. You have a question, I will answer it as long as it isn't personal. I'm your boss, not your warden." Dominic stated.
Mack just nodded.
"You can go." Dom permitted.
Mack left the room without another word.

Unbelievable. It's like a shy 13 year old switched bodies with Superman. Dominic thought.

Every time he looked at Mack he was surprised at the way he spoke. Mack's voice was deep like a grown man's, and he carried himself like one, but he stuttered like a shy little boy during show and tell. Dominic believed life probably kicked Mack's ass about that so he promised to himself to try to be as patient as possible when it comes to Mack's nervousness and speech impediment.

Mack appreciated that. He could tell that deep down Dominic was nicer than previous bosses. When his other bosses would experience Mack's stuttering, they'd tell him to hurry up and spit it out or just say they didn't have time to put up with it and walk away from him. They'd tell Mack to talk like a grown man. This is why he didn't like to speak to many people. Once he's comfortable with you, the stuttering stops but until then, it takes a lot of courage for him to start a conversation and it takes even more luck and focus to try and go the whole thing without a single stutter. But Dominic handled it well. Mack would remember that.