Page 10 of Unwrapped
“Hey Aiden, good to see you.This is Adam, my partner.Adam, this is my brilliant I.T. manager.”
Aiden laughed and Adam shook his hand.Jack didn’t like the way the man Aiden was with wrapped his arms around Aiden and pulled him away from the touch as soon as possible.
“I’m surprised to see you here.”
Jack chuckled when Aiden blushed, but Jack didn’t take offense.
“Adam and I have been seeing each other for six months, but I almost lost him because I had my head stuck so far up my ass I couldn’t see daylight.I wanted to take Adam somewhere we could relax and be ourselves.”
Aiden laughed and so did Adam, who shifted closer to Jack.When they turned back to Aiden, Jack watched as his face fell and a groan reached him a few seconds later.
“He must’ve followed us.”
“Who?”Adam asked.
“There is a guy at the company, Derrick, who likes to harass me because I’m gay.We were at a restaurant before we came here and Derrick spotted us.We ignored him and left quickly, but he must’ve seen where we were headed and followed us.”Aiden sighed.
Jack sobered at the misery in Aiden’s voice and knew exactly who he’d meant.Derrick was one of the many in sales and thought the world revolved around him.
“Has he been harassing you?”
Aiden looked stricken for a long moment before he nodded.“Not just me, but others and always after he found out their sexual orientation.”
“Have you filed complaints with HR?”
“Yeah, but the HR Director is a friend of Derrick’s and won’t take anything we say seriously.”
Jack nodded.“I’ll take care of everything on Monday and if you or anyone else has a complaint, come directly to me and let me know and I’ll handle it, okay?”
Aiden relaxed and this time he slid into the booth, his boyfriend choosing to stand.At that moment, Jack caught sight of Derrick, who had a vicious look on his face aimed directly at Aiden.Jack could tell by the way he stumbled and shook his head as if to clear it that he was drunk and looking for a fight.
When he arrived at the table, Jack didn’t give him a chance to attack Aiden.
“Hello, Mr. Thomas.”
Derrick jerked, almost losing his balance and falling on his ass but caught himself at the last moment.He focused on Jack and noticed within an instant he had Adam glued to his side.Derrick’s gaze searched over them and when he found Jack’s arm wrapped around Adam and his hand splayed on his hip, he sneered at them.Jack had little hope the asshole would keep his mouth shut, especially in front of two men, he and Adam, who had several inches on him and both sported muscular frames.
“Oh, great.My boss is a fucking faggot, too.”
There was no question, just a loud comment which had people who surrounded their table turning around and glaring at the drunk man.Jack growled aloud at the stupid fucker, wondering why they’d ever hired him in the first place.
“Well, Mr. Thomas.You will no longer have to deal with me or anyone else because you’re fired.And when an employer calls asking for a reference and asks the reason why I fired you, I will tell them it was because of discrimination on your part.Good luck finding something.”
Derrick spluttered, half-apologizing and half-outraged, and still swaying on his feet.He was going to hate himself in the morning.
“And Mr. Thomas, you should really take a look at your surroundings.”
Derrick whipped around and braced himself on their table as he took in most of the club glaring at him.It took him several more seconds to realize that he followed Aiden into a gay club, and when he did, he lowered his head and dashed for the door.
“What a fucking asshole.”This came from Aiden and Jack laughed as chuckles went around the room.Soon, everyone in the club went back to their own conversations and drinks before another performer was set to take the stage.
Aiden stood.
“You can stay.”Adam nodded at his words.
“No, you guys have fun.It’s good to see you happy, boss.See you Monday.”Aiden waved and walked toward the exit and Jack spotted a contemplative look on his face.He didn’t even wait for his boyfriend, who trailed after him.
Jack turned toward Adam and swallowed whatever words were on the tip of his tongue.He spotted the desire in Adam’s eyes, and he wondered if he could resist Adam.
