The Man in the Park

Chapter One

It was a sunny day in Huntington Beach, California and the weather was just perfect for budding photographer, Brian Haner Jr. to go out and take several shots. As of late, the weather had been too miserable to even step foot outside to hang up washing. Whenever he’d go out to let Pinkly do her business, Brian would find himself wrapped up snug in the blanket that hung off the back of his couch.

The tinkling of dry food hitting the porcelain bowl resounded through the kitchen. Bending down, Brian grabbed the other bowl, emptying out the leftover food from the night before, he grabbed the can off the counter. Giving Pinkly a substantial amount of feed, he placed both bowls down, making sure that he was out of the white fluff-ball’s way. He made that mistake one day, and he’d earned her claws to his foot.

Chuckling at her energetic nature, he crossed the room so he could walk up the staircase and into his bathroom. He closed the door behind him, knowing that Pinkly would only bound into the shower and claw at his legs if he didn’t. His clothes soon pooled on the floor as the shower began to run. Stepping in only when the temperature was right, the warmth immediately relaxed him, water dropping off his hair and down the taunt skin of his body, dipping into the crevices that his muscles created. Brian grabbed the white shower puff and squeezed his body wash onto it. His eyes fluttered closed as he worked it into his body, the aroma filling his nostrils as he washed the night before away; something which he so desperately needed to do.

The dream that he had haunted his thoughts- teasing him as he tried to recall of it but groaning when he couldn’t, all that he could remember was a strange man following him down an alleyway. It was a stream of unconscious which in fact had been repeated several nights before, and again, he hadn’t been able to recall either.

He stood underneath the spray and let the warm water flow over his body. Once he was finished, he turned off the taps and stepped out, grabbing the towel from the rack and wrapped it tight around his waist before walking through the open door into his bedroom. He picked out his clothes meticulously, wanting to look just right.

When he looked drop dead gorgeous, he chucked the towel into his dirty clothes hamper before padding his way back into the ensuite. Spritzing his body with his cologne, Brian grabbed the hairdryer from on top of the shelf. The sound of the motor running pierced his eardrums as he hummed a random song that he'd heard on the radio. Kneeling down to grab the pot of gel from underneath the sink, he twisted open the lid and scooped out his usual amount, rubbing it into his fingertips before he started to style his hair. Standing up fully in front of the mirror.

It was a long and drawn out process that involved a comb, mousse and hairspray. He was so pedantic about the way he looked. If he didn't look absolutely fuckable by the time that he was about to leave, then he'd refuse pointblank to go.

Only after making sure that his hair was perfectly styled and that his clothes hung just right off of his muscles, did he finally place his professional camera into its bag, slip his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans and walk out of the door, locking it after him.

Before he went out somewhere, he had to make sure he looked good enough to fuck. He knew that he already was, but he loved to accentuate that to his advantage. As conceited as that may be, Brian didn’t care. He loved seeing women and even some men take a double glance whenever he passed by.

Brian just relished in having attention fawned at him. Ever since he was a kid, he always had to make sure that all the parents were giving all of their focus on him instead of their own kids. In pre-school, all of his classmates loved him. All through middle school, he was the person that everyone tripped over their own feet just to talk too and in high school, he was the top jock. The quarterback, the captain of the basketball team, he was hot property, someone that all the girls loved and all the guys wanted to be. He was cocky at best, but all in all, Brian was nice. He was a part of the band as well.