{ #1 } I Was Shooting For The Moon, I Hit Two Stars (MxMxM || 18+)

Chapter 37 - A Conspiracy!

(Mark's POV - Fri. 7 November 2014)

It's slightly after 5:30am when I wake up – way before the alarm I had set on my phone – and although I had only four hours of sleep, I feel fully rested. I cautiously disentangle from Shannon's grip, drop a light peck on his shoulder and quietly get out of bed. My boy grunts a little and I can't help a smile when he grabs my pillow to hug it. He can be so adorable... especially when he sleeps!

After a quick stop by the restroom, I get ready and head out for a session at the gym. As usual, it's rather empty at this time of day so I can enjoy as many machines as I want. While on the rower, my thoughts stray back to the beautiful angel I left in my bed and the weird impressions I had last night when I picked him up from the club.

I believe he really loves his new job at the Black Diamond, and as long as he is happy, I am happy too. It's true that I was a bit upset when he broke the news on Tuesday, but it's mostly because I wasn't expected this, and I got caught off-guard. I resented Aaron for not warning me in advance of this little change in Shannon's contract, and it earned us a tense conversation while Alex waited in the corridor. Nothing bad, though. We discussed it again in the evening when I picked up Shan after his shift, and as it's often the case with Aaron, we just blew our respective reproaches in each other's face and it was all over.

I told him he could have mentioned this to me beforehand because he definitely knew I wouldn't really like seeing Shannon work at the Black Diamond. And he struck back with rightful arguments, proving me that Shannon was less at risk there than at the Black Moon where customers are more numerous, more prone to flirt and don't necessarily know anything about the collar's significance. I still can't help worrying about Shannon, but at the end of the day, all that matters is that he is happy in his job.

And I think he is! Except that when I picked him up last night, I found him a little off. Oh, he did try to dodge my questions, blabbering on and on about another great shift, the twins getting fucked on stage and many other gossips he heard in the Subs' room. He also mentioned he had a good time over lunchtime with Alex and that they enjoyed a nice walk in a park. They have apparently planned to meet again today to do some shopping for Alex. It makes me think that I should transfer some money to Shan's bank account and talk him into offering the young man outfits for the club. I already paid for his membership and I think he would accept clothes more easily if the present came from Shannon instead of me.

Shannon also tried to shoot me with tons of questions regarding my day of work and my progress between the new chef's training or the works at the brasserie. That little minx actually succeeded as by the time we were ready to go to bed, he said he had a terrible headache and needed to sleep.

Yes, right...

It was almost 1am and I didn't want to push him too far, but I can't help wondering if everything went really well at work or if something happened, because his blabbering did sound weird. Come to think about it, Alex also acted eerily yesterday. He looked nervous. The boy has made huge progress over the past two weeks and he did another perfect shift last night, but there was some sort of stiffness in his posture and whenever I got closer to him, the tension would only grow while his voice sounded strained. Maybe he was just a bit tired, I don't know.

Anyway, I'm not going to let paranoia rule my life, so I'd rather let these matters rest for now.

Unfortunately, my stupid brain drags my thoughts to my parents and it's no less stressful topic. Their doctor advised my father to make some exams and see a specialist, but it took some convincing for the old mule to accept! He will see a cardiologist next week, though, which is good news since Mom finds him more and more tired and his breathlessness is not getting any better. When I visit them in December, I will have a serious conversation with my father and talk some sense into him. I hate that my mother worries so much for him, so I want to convince him to retire.