The Promise

Nichole couldn't help herself. She had been setting the table for lunch when Jacey had found his way into the kitchen. He had come around the corner in the satin robe and pajamas looking so shy and sexy it made Nichole's heart race. He even paused in the doorway in the perfect pose, with his thighs tight together, one foot a little ahead of the other, so that the snug sash of the robe have him a hint of hips as he stood nervously nibbling at his bottom lip while looking at her with large eyes.

"Oh my," Nichole gave a small, happy cheer as she hurried over to give Jacey a hug.

He hugged her back out of reflex, and a the small fear that we might fall over from the way she was suddenly pressed against him.

"Isn't this much better?" Nichole asked. "Feeling clean and fresh is wonderful."

"Yeah," He tried to nod, but his chin was resting in her cleavage.

"And you smell good too."

"Thank you. You do too." He knew he was blushing. He couldn't help but notice how good she smelled, and how soft her skin was against his face. He was also aware of how hard he had become in almost an instant.

"Aren't you sweet," Nichole loosened her hug without completely letting go and leaned back to smile at him. Her change of pose let his face escape her chest, and let them see each other. It also let her get a feel of his sudden erection pressed against her thigh.

Jason was aware of two things in that moment. He was aware of how happy Nichole was, and how his member was pressed against her. He was blushing so hard his face felt like it was in front of a fire.

"You are just in time for lunch," Nichole gave a little pivot in place, rubbing her thigh against hos swollen groin, before stepping back out of the hug. "Come and join me, Jacey."

"Yes," He managed to mumble. Nichole held a seat for him and he sat down quickly. I wanted to try to hide is lap under the table as quickly as he could.

Lunch featured flour tortilla wraps of Tuna Salad. Each wrap was about three inches long and little more than finger thick. There was a serving platter of them on the table, and four of them on Jason's plate when he first sat down. Also on his plate were four small saucers of different things to dip the wraps in. Also provided were melon balls and iced tea. For utensils, there was only a small fork on a napkin beside the plate.

"I hope you like lunch," Nichole said as she sat down. She immediately took one of the wraps from her own plate and dipped it in a yellow-brown sauce. "I don't know how you feel about spicy foods. The yellow is regular mustard. The darker yellow is a hot mustard. The green is wasabi mayonnaise. And the dark brown one is soy sauce."

"Thank you," Jason started with with a taste of the first wrap without anything on it, just to see what he was starting with.

"So how did your sales end up going yesterday?"

"Good," Jason nodded between bites. "It went really good. Thank you. I sold out."

"That's excellent," She beamed. "That is what a little preparation can do for you. When you left, you were standing taller and looking more confident and happy."

"That's because I had fun with you yesterday," He was quick to give her credit.

"Thank you, Jacey, so did I." She reached over and patted him on the knee. "I hope we can do more fun things like that again."

"I would like that," he agreed with a smile and a nod.

Nichole felt another happy rush at his words.

"So, was your sister happy with what you accomplished?"

The darkness that crashed down on Jacey almost made Nichole cry to see. He had gone from bright hand happy to bitter and brooding in a second. Nichole moved her chair next to his and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Jacey," She said in a gentle voice. "You said you made it home safe, but I didn't even ask if she came back to pick you up. If I had known, I could..."

"She came back," He answered leaning into her embrace. "She was in a hurry because she wanted to go to a party, in her new high heels, and was angry because I didn't answer my phone so she could tell me to take the bus home." He emptied his hands and turned in his seat to hug her back.

"But wasn't there something about her..."

"She lied!" his voice came out filled with pain and anger. "She lied and when I called her on it I was told I was being rude." The tears started flowing.

Nichole was at a loss for a moment. Jacey just started crying, his body shaking, as he spoke about how everything had happened from the moment his sister had arrived to pick him up. It all came out of him. He had been so angry and hurt over how he had been pushed into doing something, and instead of getting even a little thanks for doing a good job, he had been talked down to for complaining about it had all been because his sister had lied.

Jacey talked about how his family had made everything turn around to be his problem. He talked about having to hide from them, and having to hide his feelings from them. Then he pulled hard on Nichole's heart strings.

"I don't know what I wold have done if I hadn't met you," Jacey sniffled. "If you hadn't helped me... I don't know, but everything would have been worse."

Nichole felt her own emotions come together in a rush. She had lost friends to suicide and drugs because they had been left feeling lost and unwanted by their families. She had a friend, so desperate for affection, die of AIDS because she would sleep with any man that showed her even a little kindness.

Before she knew it, she was starting to cry too. A lot of old pain and fear and anger bubbled up. Without letting go of Jacey she started stroking his head with one hand.

"Don't worry, Jacey, you're not alone. Things will get better." She continued to hold and to sooth him until he started to calm down. When it appeared that he was back in control of himself, she eased back a little so she could look him in the face.

"Jacey, I want you to promise me something," Nichole said with a serious voice and a worried face. "I want you to promise me, if you are ever hurting, if you are ever feeling alone and nobody cares about you, promise me that you will call me before you do anything rash. Jacey, can you promise me that?"

"Yes," He sniffed and nodded. "I promise."

"I'm serious, Jacey," She insisted with tears shining in her eyes. "I've had friends hurt themselves because they didn't believe anybody cared what happened to them. I don't want that to happen to you. You can call me any time, if you need me."

"I promise, Nichole," Jacey said as solemnly as he could with a wet, puffy face and red eyes.

"Thank you, Jacey," Nichole said with a relieved smile as she hugged him tight again.

It was a few more minutes before they composed themselves enough to sit up normally again. Nichole reached for her iced tea, wishing she had served wine with lunch. Jacey started eating again, slowly. He wasn't big on comfort food, because if he showed a preference for something, history had shown him that his sister would try to keep it from him in some way. But he was hungry, and eating was a normal thing, and after his emotional moment, he wanted something normal to help ground him again.

Nichole watched Jacey eat while she pecked at her own lunch. She could tell he didn't have much of an appetite by the slow way he was moving. While they were taking their time over lunch in an awkward silence, she noticed a smudge of makeup on the side of his face. Without thinking, she took her napkin and reached to wipe it away. When he flinched away from her, she felt a stab of pain in her chest.

"I'm sorry," Jacey said. "You surprised me." He took his own napkin and wiped his face, then looked at it. "Where..."

"It's my fault," Nichole offered.

"Huh?" He looked at her face. "Oh, I didn't realize you had makeup on."

"Puh-lease," She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Do you think I look this good naturally?"

"Yes." He answered, and then started to blush.

"You're too sweet," She reached out and patted his cheek. She was happy to see that he didn't move away that time. "But I must look a mess right now."

"You look good to me," Jacey protested.

"Thank you for saying so, but I still want to touch up my makeup."

"Can I watch?"

"Huh" Nichole blinked in surprise. She had not expected that. She didn't realize that Jacey just didn't want to be left alone right then. "Really?"

Jacey just nodded.

"Let's put the leftovers in the fridge for now," Nichole smiled. "They will be good for a snack later if we want them, then we can go to my bathroom and put our faces together."

Matching actions to words, that is what they did. Once in the bathroom, Nichole quickly and expertly touched up her makeup. She made a point of explaining what each step of her actions was, and why she did it. Then, when she was satisfied with her work, she turned to Jacey.

"So, what kind of look would you like today?" She asked him.

"What?" He blinked in surprise. "But I'm not dressed as a girl today."

Nichole very deliberately avoided showing any amusement at his statement. He may not realize it, but he was very much dressed like a girl just then. The robe had worked open enough to show the lacy elements of the tanktop, along with some extra skin of the neck and upper shoulders. Jacey looked like a girl trying to by flirty.

"You don't have to be a girl to use makeup," She said in a calm and casual voice. "We use makeup to adjust the way we look, to effect the way people see us and think about us." She flashed him a bright smile. "Can I show you a trick?"

"Um, alright," Jason nodded. At the word 'trick' he was feeling on guard. But before he could say or do anything else, Nichole went into action. The first thing she did was turn him by his shoulders so his back was to the mirror., so he could not see what she was doing. After that, he found himself subjected to a lot of touching on his face.

Nichole left the room twice to get things. Except for those two times, she had almost constantly had a hand on him. She rubbed his face with her fingers, sponges, and things he didn't know the name of. She used brushes of different sizes and shapes to apply powders and wet stuff. The hardest part had been to hold still with his eyes open as she used pencils of some kind right next to his eyeballs.

"Alright, close your eyes," The instruction came. He did as he was bid. "Now turn around." With her hands on his shoulders, he turned with his eyes closed to face the mirror. He felt a small thrill of excitement, knowing some kind of reveal was coming.

There was a pause as Nichole moved in close behind him. Without opening his eyes, he was aware of her arms reaching past him, and her body being so very close behind him. Then he felt a very light touch of something against the tip of his nose.

"Alright," Nichole said in a quiet voice in his ear. "Open your eyes."