change of heart

14

So that's how it went- Jacob and Troye went their separate ways. Jacob wasn't happy about it, he moped around for a few days. Made Brett promise to swear off contact with Troye and after a couple weeks he had Troye's room completely cleared out. He then vowed to be done with the "dom bullshit" and focused on nothing but his work.

The good thing about Troye was that they came from such different backgrounds that he never had to worry about running into him. Part of him felt a little badly about how things went. He wondered about if he should have opted to take more responsibility, maybe even just sending a check every so often. But, he reminded himself that he didn't want this and therefore decided it was best to stay away from it all.

But of course, the story doesn't end here.

No, nearly two years passed before Jacob experienced his first Troye sighting.

The thing that Jacob probably loved the most about Los Angeles, was the fact that there were always new gay men to meet and befriend. This is how he found himself agreeing to a "holiday celebration" with a couple new friends and standing outside of a gay strip club.

Jacob laughed, "I can't fucking believe you convinced me to come here."

"I know the owner," Max replied.

Jacob rolled his eyes, but followed Max inside. And Max wasn't kidding, he led Jacob and Jasper past a bouncer and down a hall that appeared similar to what you would see in any old office. It was much different than the atmosphere in the actual club.

"Hey Max!" A man said coming up the hallway.

"Hey Brandon, this is Jacob and Jasper," Max answered.

"Nice to meet you both," Brandon smiled.

"Brandon owns this place," Max explained, but Jacob had already figured that piece out on his own.

"First time here?" Brandon asked looking at Jacob and Jasper.

They both nodded.

"Great- you'll have to let me know what you think," Brandon started, but stopped as they heard a raised voice at the end of the hallway.

"Again?!" The voice boomed, "You're late afuckinggain."

Brandon frowned and looked down the hall where a taller man was standing and gesturing wildly as he must have been scolding the person in front of him, though Jacob couldn't see anyone past the man nor could he hear their responses.

"I don't fucking care if your kid was sick or not, you have a set schedule here, if you can't fucking keep it then you can't work here," the man continued.

Jasper and Jacob both looked to the ground as the anger in this man was so unbearable.

Finally Brandon took a step forward and called out, "Auggie, lighten up, would ya?"

Auggie groaned and turned to look at Brandon, "You pay me to manage this place, Brandon and I can't do that if pricks like this think it's ok to come to work late all the time."

"He can't help it if his kid is sick," Brandon frowned. He then moved to where this man named Auggie was standing. Jacob smiled towards the interaction as Brandon seemed to be quite a caring boss.

"Go, check that everything else is ready, I'll handle this," Brandon said placing a hand on Auggie's shoulder, Auggie rolled his eyes and walked away.

"Is your baby ok?" Brandon asked loudly but kindly.

"Yes, just a fever. We went to the doctors and they were running late and then my sister stopped to pick up medication for my kid before she came to babysit and I really tried to get here as fast as I could," a quiet voice that Jacob swore he recognized, explained.