Chartreuse (3 page)

Chapter
Four

     “Cool
Kasey on the line, playing only the coolest tunes; now what is it you want to
hear?”

    
“Hey, Kasey! This is Deena.”

    
“Hey, Deena. How’s the late shift going?”

    
“Horrible.  I just want to go home but I’m closing tonight.  We had another one
quit.”

    
“Aw, that sucks. I’m sorry, Dee.  Is there anything I can play to make you feel
better?”

    
“Actually, good sir, I would very much enjoy hearing Safety Dance.”

    
“Ah, there’s nothing like a little Men Without Hats to cheer you up.  I’m on
it.”

     “Thank
you, Doll.”

     As
soon as the conversation ended, the line was already blowing up again.

    
“Cool Kasey on the line, playing only the coolest tunes; now what is it you
want to hear?”

     It
would go on like that for forty five minutes or so, and Kasen would have enough
requests to last until his shift ended.  He was doodling against his jean leg
as he answered yet another call.

    
“Cool Kasey on the line, playing only the coolest tunes; now what is it you
want to hear?”

    
“Hey, Kasey.” 

     Kasen
blinked, quirking a brow, “Hi there,”  He didn’t really recognize the voice,
and from the way the guy said his name, it sounded as if he was really happy to
talk to him.  But not like everyone else; there was just something different
about this.

     “I
was hoping you’d have room for one more request.”

    
Kasen bit his bottom lip, grinning a little to himself, “I always have one more
spot for a request.  What can I play for you?”

    
“Well, I’m fixing up some fantastic pasta salad, and nothing gets me into the
cooking mood like People in Planes.  Do you have any of their songs?”

    
Kasen rolled his eyes to himself, “Do I have any of their songs?  Of course I
do.  Which would you like to hear?”

     He
heard the quiet chuckle from the other end.  Was that flirtation?   “Vampire.”

    
“You got it,” Kasen said as he hunted down the file, quickly transferring it
over onto the playlist.  “I’ll play it next.  Just for you,” He bit his lip
again.  Not that he’d ever actually flirted with someone before.  Or maybe he
was just perceiving the conversation in the wrong way.  Maybe it was just a
really friendly guy. Or a drunk guy.  Everybody was flirtatious while drunk,
right?

    
“Thanks, Kasey.  I’ll talk to you later,” And then he hung up.

---------------------

    
Rowan hung up the phone, gazing at it for a moment before he placed it back
down on the base.  Had he really just done that?  Was he flirting with a
complete stranger?  He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and
forefinger before sighing, and then he shook his head as he turned on the stove
to let his water begin boiling.

     He
was really out of shape with flirting.  He’d probably sounded stupid and now
Kasey probably thought he was a creeper.  Perfect.  But wait…it wasn’t like he
knew him.  He didn’t know his name.  He definitely couldn’t identify him from
his voice, right?  Exactly.  Maybe he was safe.  Maybe.

    
“All right, Guys.  We’ve got a really special request going out to, we’ll call
him Pasta Salad,” There was that cute laugh again.  Jesus Christ.  “So I hope
you’re listening, and I hope that salad tastes superb,” Rowan couldn’t help but
to smile as his song began playing.

     It
seemed that his dinner was fixed within no time. Napoleon lounged beside of him
on the floor while Rowan enjoyed his meal.  Though really, it was quite lonely
with no one to converse with.  Sure he could talk to his dog, but his dog
didn’t exactly talk back.  Sometimes, he liked that; but not all the time.

     He
contemplated hitting redial on his house phone, but perhaps that would be a bit
too much.  Maybe he just needed to take a shower and go to bed.  But really,
showers were better in the morning.  They helped him wake up.  He just had to
find something to do to keep him from calling that number again. 

     It
wasn’t as if anything would happen from it anyway.  Cool Kasey probably had
someone waiting for him at home, and Rowan was just being irrational about the
entire thing.  He wasn’t looking for anyone anyway, right?  Not after last
time.  He settled for a glass of wine, sitting on his bed as he kicked off his
work shoes.  He didn’t even bother undressing.  He once again turned on the
radio as he listened to Kasey’s calm voice coming out of the speaker.

    
“It’s almost bedtime for most of you Chartreuse beauties, and I bid you all
sweet dreams.  As for me, I’ll hang out here for a few more hours, daydream a
bit, and then I’ll head on back to mine for a little downtime with my best pal.”

    
Best pal.  That had to mean he had a girlfriend, right? Or a boyfriend.  But
more than likely a girlfriend.  Rowan honestly hadn’t come across anyone who
seemed to be like him.  Which was slightly discouraging, but at the same time,
it was reassuring that he wouldn’t get hurt again.  So why in the hell was he
even thinking about Cool Kasey in such a way?

    
Maybe it was just because he was lonely.  Everybody got lonely.  Especially men
who had been hurt before; and were used to having someone to come home to at
night.  He’d been so good to his ex.  He would have done anything for him.  But
that was just the type of guy Rowan was.  He was a hopeless romantic of sorts.

     But
it still didn’t give him an excuse to be thinking about someone he didn’t know,
and he couldn’t even put a face with the name!  What if he wasn’t Rowan’s type?

    
That was dumb.  He didn’t have a type.   Rowan had never gone after a certain
type of person.  It had always been about personality, heart, and he went with
his gut feeling about people. Though he had been wrong about his ex, hadn’t
he?  So maybe he shouldn’t be too quick to trust his instincts any more.  Then
again, what was life without a little risk?  Those were his last thoughts as he
drifted off to sleep.

---------------------

      Kasen’s
eyes finally opened around ten o’clock.  Houston was staring at him with those
big blue eyes of his, whimpering a bit.

    
“Mm. Give me just a second, Boy,” Kasen mumbled tiredly as he rubbed the sleep
from his own baby blues.  He slowly sat up, stretching his arms out as his back
popped.  He probably slept like the dead, when he finally fell asleep, that
is.  He had come home, fixed himself a warm cup of tea, and then sit at the
table for a long while as he thought about the guy who’d seemingly had such a
flirtatious tone with him.

    
People in Chartreuse; they just didn’t do that.  None of them.  Not the men, at
least.  It wasn’t uncommon for a girl to flirt with him; though he paid no mind
to it.  But for a guy?  This was a big deal to Kasen.  But he wasn’t sure that
he’d ever figure out who it had been.  He didn’t associate with too many people
and he was
positive
he didn’t recognize that voice.

     As
he walked Houston to the park, he shivered from how low the temperature had
dropped.  It was almost time for Halloween, so of course it was going to get
colder.  It wasn’t that he even minded the chilly weather; he just preferred a
very comfortable sixty five to seventy.  He could see his breath in the air
every time he exhaled, and he was momentarily amused.

     Houston
was happily bounding about inside the security of the park, and Kasen found his
spot on the bench as he pulled out his cigarettes.  He lit one up, taking a
drag as his eyes scanned the park.  Hardly anyone was here today.  But he
couldn’t exactly blame them.  It was pretty damn cold.  Anyone would be smarter
to risk an accident in the house rather than freezing their butt off.

     As
his cigarette shortened, he glanced over to see the same guy from yesterday
entering the park with his dog leading the way.  He gave a nod of recognition
to him as he flicked his cigarette to the concrete and then pressed the toe of
his shoe onto it to extinguish it.

    
“Good morning,” The man said cheerfully, giving Kasen a warm smile as he nodded
in return.  “Bit chilly today, isn’t it?”

    
“Yeah,” Kasen nodded as he glanced up at him.  There were those eyes again. 
But Kasen didn’t need to be staring so hard.  He quickly averted his gaze back
to Houston, who had wandered over to sniff at the other dog curiously.

    
“Hey there,” The man nodded towards Houston.  “This is Napoleon.”

     “Oh
yes, I remember from yesterday,” Kasen replied with a shy smile.  “That’s
Houston.”

    
“Houston, huh? Does he have a problem?”

     Kasen
blinked, “Excuse me?”

     The
man chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck for a second, “Sorry. That was
movie humor.  Apollo Thirteen, you know?”

    
Oh.  Now he felt like an ass.  He should have known that.  Kasen’s face heated
up with a blush as he laughed nervously and then looked back down again, “Oh,
right.  My bad.  I’m not fully awake yet.”

    
“Not a problem,” The man replied as he motioned towards the bench.  “Mind if I
have a seat?”

     “Oh,
uh. Please, go right ahead,” Kasen nodded as he scooted over a bit.  He chewed
at his bottom lip, feeling his stomach knot up.  This was not the time to be
checking out a guy he didn’t know, and more so, he wasn’t supposed to be
checking out
anyone
in Chartreuse.  That was a sure ticket to get his
ass kicked.

    
Chartreuse was a very small town, and no matter how much the outside world was
changing and becoming accepting of a person’s sexual preference, Kasen knew
that Chartreuse would never be able to accept him, or anyone else like him. 
They were too southern, for one thing.  Not to mention the fact he was certain
there were members of the KKK who resided in his very own town.

     He
only knew about that because his mother had spoken of them when he was
younger.  He wouldn’t be surprised if someone he was related to was involved,
or someone his mother had dated was in it.  Either way, he didn’t like the
thought of what the KKK stood for, nor did he respect it.  Anyone who could
have that much hate in their heart was bad news.  Anyone with that much hate,
needed to be shipped off to a separate island so that everyone else could
attempt to live in harmony.

     He
continued to bite on his bottom lip as he glanced down at Houston, who was too
busy getting to know his new found friend.  They took off through the park,
leaving Kasen with no legitimate excuse to avoid the other man.  Shit.

     It
was awkwardly quiet for a few moments, but then the man spoke up again, “I’m
Rowan,” He offered, sticking his hand out towards Kasen from the side.

     Kasen
nodded, glancing down at his hand, before he reached out to shake it, “Kasen,”
He replied.  “Kasen Reed.”

    
“Kelly,” Rowan added.  “Rowan Kelly,” He grinned.  “I like your accent.”

    
Kasen looked down again, feeling the heat rush to his ears this time as he
laughed lightly.  He hadn’t really ever thought about his accent before. 
Everybody around him had that accent.  But he also realized that Rowan didn’t
talk like he was from anywhere near him.  The accent did seem familiar though. 
It was as if he’d heard it somewhere before.  Perhaps on the television once?

    
“Thanks,” Kasen said with a nod.  “I like yours, too.”

---------------------

       Rowan
finally felt like he was getting somewhere.  Just conversing with the younger
fellow beside of him was making him feel better.  He hadn’t had much contact
with the males in this place.  He’d really only had Natasha, Mrs. Birmingham,
and a few other local women who’d brought their pets in for check-ups. 

     But
Kasen seemed like a nice enough person.  At least he hadn’t stared at him
strangely, or worse, ignored him.  So Rowan already had some respect for the
guy, though he seemed a little nervous.  Maybe he was just shy.  He licked his
lips, watching his breath escape into the cold air as he hugged his jacket a
little more tightly around himself.

    
“So, Kasen,” He said, “Have you lived here your whole life?”

     He
watched as Kasen nodded his head, “Yeah, born and raised.”

    
“That’s not a bad thing,” Rowan said, giving him a friendly smile.  “I’m from Boston,
originally, but I moved here for a new start of sorts.”

     He
was certain that Kasen wasn’t interested in his story, but then the boy smiled
a little bigger, “Ah, yeah! I knew I knew that accent from somewhere. 
Definitely thought you reminded me of the guy from The Departed,” He laughed.
“It’s a cool accent though. Better than what we’ve got around here, huh?”

     “You
mean Mark Wahlberg?”  Rowan grinned.  “I think your accent is really great,” He
insisted with a chuckle.  He watched as Kasen shook his head, though his grin
remained.  He was quite pale, and it was easy to tell when he was cold.  His
nose was red and his cheeks were getting there.