| "NO!" Bernard struggled, screaming, but the cleaner was so much stronger than he was. His shirt came off as he was dragged into the bathroom, kicking out at the mint-green trousered legs of the madman Manny had invited into their home. But it was to no avail. Stepping around him, locking one arm painfully behind his back, the cleaner held Bernard in check as he leaned across to the cold tap on the bath, dropping the plug in place when the water started to pour in. Then he pull his captive to him using the arm he held, reached around and unfastened the fly at the front of Bernard's trousers. "NO! MANNY! MANNY!!" Roughly, his trousers and underwear were removed. The cleaner leaned in, mouth close to Bernard's ear. "Dirty," he murmured, voice repellent. "You're very, very dirty." The bath was still filling with cold water when the cleaner half-pushed, half-dragged Bernard to it and tipped him over into it, unbalancing him with ease. There was an almighty splash as he hit the water and the bottom of the old metal bath almost simultaneously, head cracking against the side. His mind reeled as lights danced in front of his eyes. He pulled in a lung full of water and immediately started to choke, struggling to turn over. The cleaner had backed up and was watching the struggle with an amused smile. When Bernard did manage to get his head above water, coughing and gasping at the same time, he stepped forward with a rough sponge. "Dirty." Crouching down next to the tub, holding off Bernard's weakened fight with one hand, he started to wash the naked man with the other. Manny dumped the papers on the desk and whistled as he stepped into the kitchen. He heard splashing coming from upstairs and frowned. Bernard didn't usually bathe. He showered, sometimes fully clothed, sometimes not but Manny couldn't remember the last time Bernard had had a bath. There was more splashing and concerned, he went to the bottom of the stairs and peered up. "Bernard?" he called up. "Are you all right?" The splashing stopped for a second or two and then he thought he heard something... his name? He felt a cold shard in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong. Casting a hurried gaze around the kitchen, Manny laid eyes on the wooden rolling pin. Grabbing for it, he took the stairs two at a time. "Bernard?" "No, don't, don't!" Bernard was making the job of washing him more and more difficult. Hands, arms and legs slippery from the water, it was almost impossible for the cleaner to hold him still. He'd managed to get a hold of the sponge twice and it had had to be wrestled out of his grip. Getting angry, the cleaner slapped Bernard hard and as he recovered from the shock he thrust the sponge between his legs. Bernard's scream of denial reached Manny just as he peered into the bathroom. "Bernard!" Incensed at the violence being inflicted on his friend, Manny dropped the rolling pin and crossing the bathroom in one stride he threw a punch that connected hard with the cleaner's jaw, dropping him instantly. He collapsed onto his back on the floor and in the moment it took him to get his bearings and plan retaliation, Manny planted a shoe in his stomach. "Get out," he said slowly, "and never, ever step foot in the shop again or I'll take the rolling pin to your head." The cleaner nodded quickly and as soon as Manny lifted his foot, he clambered out of the way and out of the door. Manny watched him go, listening for his footsteps on the wooden stairs. Then he grabbed a towel from the rail and turned to Bernard. "Are you all right?" Bernard stared at him, still sitting in the stone-cold bath, knees pulled up under his chin, arms wrapped around his legs. Manny could see him shivering. "Come on." Manny put one hand under his elbow and helped him up, wrapping the towel around him. He stood still, trembling, arms wrapped around himself. Rubbing him down quickly and as impersonally as he could, he led him through to his bedroom and sat him on the bed. Finding an ancient knitted jumper in one of the drawers, Manny helped Bernard on with it, then handed him a pair of relatively clean underpants and a pair of black trousers. "I'll... put the kettle on," he said, leaving Bernard to finish dressing. He didn't know what else to do. Retrieving the rolling pin from the floor of the bathroom he went down into the kitchen. He could feel the panic starting to well up inside him. Bernard had been attacked, assaulted. Maybe sexually. How the hell was he going to deal with this? Bernard had no defences. He had an innate trust of everybody even if he hated them on sight. For someone to hurt him so completely was unthinkable, someone who previously hadn't even figured in his life. Manny filled the kettle and flicked the switch, turning to the cupboard for the mugs and jumping when he came face to face with Bernard, standing uncertainly at the bottom of the stairs. "Are... are you all right?" He reached out but aborted the touch when Bernard moved away. "I'm sorry, Bernard. It was my fault. I hired him, I brought him here." Bernard swallowed, looking away. "You... weren't to know." For a second, Manny thought he saw tears in the dark eyes but Bernard wiped them with his fingers and the evidence was gone. "Thank you for... stopping him." "I should call the police." "No. No, don't. I don't want... that." "What if he comes back?" His head snapped up. "He won't, will he? You told him.... You said if he came back you'd hit him. He wouldn't. Would he? Would he?" Manny did reach for Bernard then, hands gently resting on lightly-trembling shoulders. "It's all right. He won't touch you again. He won't come back." Bernard's eyes came up slowly to meet Manny's and heart aching for him, Manny stepped forward and enveloped him in his arms. Bernard let himself be held, slowly returning the embrace, clawing his fingers in the brightly-coloured shirt, head on one shoulder, eyes closed. "I won't let anyone hurt you," Manny whispered softly. "If he comes back, I'll kill him." Fran wolf-whistled when she spotted them from the doorway. "Kiss. Kiss. Kiss." But when she got closer, saw the misery on Bernard's face and the flash of anger in Manny's expression, she knew there was something wrong. "What? What happened?" ~ This wasn't going to last forever, Manny knew, but he was shamelessly taking advantage while it did. They were on the sofa, Bernard curled into him with a book, a cigarette and a glass of wine. Manny was assisting customers with one arm resting along Bernard's side, thumb absently stroking his leg through his trousers. Fran almost fell into the shop, grinning from ear to ear. Perching on the edge of the sofa, she presented Bernard with a mop with a folding handle. Manny was the first to recognise it. "Where did you get that?" "Let's just say, Anall Cleaners is now well and truly out of business." She glanced at where Manny's hand was making love to Bernard's leg and smiled to herself. Dropping his book to his lap, transferring his glass to his other hand, Bernard took the mop from her. "What did you do to him?" "I merely ensured he understood that coming anywhere near Bloomsbury again would be detrimental to his life expectancy." Leaning forward, she quickly planted a kiss on Bernard's cheek then sat back before he could hit her. "How about I close up and go get us a takeaway?" ~ Ensuring all the lights were off downstairs and the shop locked up, Manny met Bernard on the landing. "Will you be all right?" Bernard shook his head. "No. Can I... ask a favour?" Manny kissed Bernard's hair as he shifted in his sleep, his head settling against Manny's shoulder. Eventually he knew he'd have to go to the bathroom and do something about the erection that refused to quit. He couldn't shake the sensation of Bernard's heavy dick in his hand, rough balls in his palm, the arousing sounds Bernard had made as he'd struggled to reach an orgasm that had finally exploded from him. It was the most personal favour he'd ever done for anyone but far from the hardest one. So to speak. "I want to be touched by someone who at least cares for me," Bernard had asked tentatively. "And I think... you do. Don't you?" Having spent the afternoon and most of the evening sitting practically cuddling Bernard on the sofa, Manny couldn't really deny it. Yes, he cared. Maybe more than that but he wasn't going to admit it. In the morning everything would go back to normal. This had been Bernard's way of healing himself. But for now, Manny just enjoyed the feeling of having another human being in bed with him. And closing his eyes he imagined taking the mop and reuniting it with the cleaner. Preferably somewhere very dirty. |