It all started that Monday morning at 8 am. John Gage overslept. He was supposed to be up at 6:30 so he could get all the errands and chores he had to do that day done. He muffed it.

Roy came out of the bathroom just as Johnny shouted. "SHIT!"

"What's wrong, Johnny?" Roy asked. He knew that Johnny had plans, but he also knew that Johnny needed his rest.

"What's wrong? He asks. I over slept Dammit. You knew I wanted to get up early." Johnny went into the bathroom to take a shower. "Shit! ROY!!!! You used up all the hot water!"

Roy stuck his head into the bathroom. "Sorry." Roy went away shaking his head.

Johnny came downstairs after having taken a cold shower. He hadn't bothered to shave. He poured himself a cup of coffee then looked out the window at his horses. "Thanks for taking care of the horses." He turned to his lover and brushed a kiss on his cheek.

"Anything for you, Lover." Roy put his empty coffee cup into the sink. He then went upstairs to gather laundry. "You gonna leave soon? I thought the appointment with the bank was at nine-thirty."

"I'm out the door now." Johnny grabbed his jacket and headed out the door. He jumped into his Rover and drove towards town. He had an appointment with the loan officer at his bank. He needed a loan to get some work done on the house and barn.

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Johnny arrived at the bank at nine twenty-eight. He shrugged off his jacket and ran his hands through his hair. The wind outside had really kicked up and Johnny had had to park three blocks away.

Mr. Pepper of the 1st Bank of California, was sitting at his desk getting ready to cross Johnny off his list of appointments when a whirlwind of a person came into the bank.

Johnny approached the loan officers desk still trying to bring his hair into some semblance of order. He held out his right hand in greeting as he reached the desk. "Good morning, Mr. Pepper. I'm John Gage. We talked last week on the phone."

"Good morning, Mr. Gage. Yes, you would like a loan for your house and barn, right?" Mr. Pepper asked.

"Yes, that's right. My barn is in dire need of a roof and the house needs to be resided and the windows replaced." Johnny was as nervous now as he was when he first bought the house.

"Okay. I looked over your papers and I noticed that you have a savings account with the Fire Department Credit Union. Why didn't you go to the Credit Union to get the loan?" Pepper gave Johnny a look that made the man's stomach lurch.

"Well, because, I only have a savings account with them. I do all my other banking here at 1st Bank. I didn't think I'd have to go to them to tell you the truth." Johnny just knew he didn't get the loan.

"Well, Mr. Gage. Maybe some other time we at 1st Bank of California can help you, but I am afraid at this time I am going to have to deny your request." Pepper had that smug look on his face that bankers around the world have worked for centuries to perfect.

Johnny stood and headed back to his car. The wind was blowing even harder, if that was at all possible. He sat in his car and thought about what he was going to do.

He glanced at his watch and started the engine. He had exactly forty minutes to get to his eye appointment. He was due for his annual eye exam and didn't want to be late. He figured that he'd do the exam and then eat at the restaurant down the street while the medicine used to dilate the pupils wore off. He then had another appointment, this one at Headquarters.

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Johnny made it to the eye doctor on time and went through the exam. He was then told that he would need reading glasses as he was slightly near-sighted and if not corrected at least when he read then he'd need glasses on a permanent basis before to long. Johnny sighed and sat through a fitting hoping that the frames he chose looked good to his lover. He then shelled out nearly a hundred and fifty dollars for the glasses just to be told that it would be a week to ten days before they were ready.

Johnny then headed off to HQ. He was to meet with Chief McNickels on the paramedic program. For some reason, McNickels actually liked one of Johnny's ideas. At least that's what Johnny thought.

In reality, all McNickels wanted to do was tell Gage what he really thought of the idea and the paramedic.

Johnny left the office totally pissed off. He slammed through the door as he left the building and once again braved the wind. He slammed the door of his Rover and started the engine.

Johnny stopped at the Safeway on the way home to get the groceries Roy had wanted him to get. He pulled the list out of his pocket and headed down the aisles. He finally made it up to the register just to have the checker tell him that she was closed. He moved to the next checker. He was reading a magazine while waiting for the two people in front of him when a cart rammed right into his butt pushing him into his cart. He gasped as the carts handle came awfully close to his most privateist of parts.

Johnny turned and looked at the person behind him. He saw a kid of maybe nine years old grinning at him. "Where's your mother?" Johnny asked in a tight voice.

"She went to get some diapers for the baby. What's your problem?" The kid sneered.

"Nothing. Stop banging that cart into people. You could hurt someone." Johnny then turned around and pushed the cart forward. The lady in front of him didn't have a lot in her cart but she did have a lot of coupons, then she had to count out all her bills and change to pay for the purchases.

Johnny finally made it to the conveyor belt and started putting his items on it. He then pushed the cart forward and headed for the table to pay the bill. He pulled out his check book and found that he had one more check left. He sighed and made out the check.

Finally done shopping, Johnny loaded the bags into the back of his car and headed on home.

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Johnny got home a little after two that afternoon. He felt like he'd been out working the horses all day. He unloaded the groceries and put them away. He wondered where Roy was.

"Roy? Where are you?" He called as he walked through the house. He came to his bedroom and pushed open the door. He heard water running in the bathroom. He thought that maybe Roy was cleaning in there. He went in not expecting what he found.

Roy was sitting on the side of the big round tub that Johnny had put in the bathroom the year before. It was a whirlpool/hot tub and Johnny loved it after a hard day at work or at play. Roy was filling the tub as he sat there naked. "Hi Junior. It's about time you got home."

"I have had the most terrible, rotten, no good, very bad day." Johnny said, punctuating each word with an article of clothing coming off. By the time he got to the end of the sentence he was standing by the tub with just his socks on.

Roy helped him into the tub then listened to all Johnny had go wrong. The warmth of the water helped the man relax and talk with ease about all the bad things that happened.

"Johnny, you poor man. I wish I'd been with you. Maybe then it wouldn't have been so bad." Roy kissed Johnny gently then joined him in the tub. He washed away Johnny's aches and pains and helped him feel better.

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Johnny lay in Roy's arms that night. He was feeling better about his day.

"By the way, Roy. I need to go back to the eye doctor next Thursday." Johnny said quietly. He had left this bit of info out of his tale.

"Why?" Roy asked as he slowly kissed his way around Johnny's face and neck.

"I have to pick up my new glasses." Johnny said.

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the end. :>) have a very good day

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