Read Online Alex & Clayton by John Simpson - Free Book Online Page A

inside. He poured a cup and got the morning paper from his doorstep. Sitting down, he opened the paper looking for his ad. There it was on page two!
    Clayton smiled, and everything felt so right. Seeing his name in the newspaper put Clayton into a great mood that was heavy on confidence. When he finished his coffee, he poured another in a go cup and went to his car. The drive over to his business only took a couple of minutes, but Clay reminded himself that this was fall, and it would take longer come spring and summer with the hordes of visitors.
    He parked, entered the shop, and turned off the alarm system. He made a quick inspection of the store, making sure everything was in its place and that he had unpacked all the most recent magazines and put them out.
    He turned on the cash register, the lights, and even though it was five minutes early, he walked over to his front door, and flipped the closed sign around. He unlocked the door and Clayton’s Rainbow was open for business.
    As he waited for his first customers, he turned on a laptop that he’d dedicated to the business. It would receive any orders that came in over the Internet, and he wanted to make sure the partially finished website was up and running. He smiled when everything worked as it should and laughed aloud when he saw the counter register five visitors. He was confident that time would drive that number way up. He needed to make time to work on the website so that it looked professional but was also appealing to the eye. Except for that, everything was in place. Now all he needed was customers!

Chapter Five

     
    A T 8:20 , the door opened and the first visitor of the day walked in. Clay looked up and smiled at the man standing just inside the shop.
    “Good morning! Welcome to the grand opening,” Clay said.
    “Yeah, I saw the ad in the paper and decided to come on over and see what you got. I was here a couple weeks ago, and it looked like a deserted storefront. I was kinda disappointed, so I’m glad to see that the store has reopened. Is it under what they always call ‘new management’?” Alex asked, trying to figure out where he had seen this man before.
    “Yep. I bought the store when I moved here about a month and a half ago. If you’re looking for something in particular, and I don’t have it, I’ll be glad to get it for you.”
    “Thanks, appreciate that,” Alex said as he turned away to walk through the rows of racks. In between looking at the books, he glanced up at the shopkeeper, whose familiarity continued to nag at him.
    “Have we met somewhere?” Alex finally asked.
    Clay looked up, surprised at the question. He studied Alex’s face and recognition dawned on his face.
    “Yeah, I remember you. We didn’t really meet, though. We just passed one another at the grocery store a few weeks ago. I’m surprised I didn’t remember you right off.”
    “That’s right! We both kinda looked lost, wandering around the grocery, not sure what the hell we were doing.”
    “That was the first time I had gone to that store, and I didn’t know where anything was. It took me a lot longer to shop than it normally would,” Clay said with a chuckle.
    “Same here. I’m kinda surprised that you didn’t have your lover out shopping for you since you’re tied up with getting a business off the ground,” Alex said, poking around for information.
    “First, I’d need to have a lover, and second, I’d have to convince him to do the shopping. I’m quite single, I’m afraid.”
    “Same here. Just retired and moved here from Washington, DC. How about you?”
    “I retired early and moved here when my mother died. There was nothing left to keep me in New Jersey, so I decided to open this store and live here.”
    Alex nodded like it all made perfect sense. He walked over to the magazine rack and picked out a couple that appealed to the more prurient interests of most gay men. Off the shelves, he picked out a couple of books about gay cops,