Okay gang, you know the routine: This entire story is a work of fiction (much to my dismay!) and is not intended to imply anything about the sexual orientation of the real, in-the-flesh Jude Law. Yes, he's one hot stud, but I don't know which team he plays for; I'm just wishing!
Also, if you shouldn't be reading this for whatever reason - legal, moral, parental - then please don't. And if you have a problem with man2man sex, then what the heck are you doing this deep into the Nifty Archive?
This is my first attempt at writing erotic fiction, after having been an avid reader for over a year of stories posted in the Nifty Archive. It is intended to be the first of a series of installments, the total length is unknown right now. Feedback, both positive and negative (or, as I like to think of it, constructive), is greatly appreciated; flames will be read, laughed at, and discarded immediately. I can be reached at carravaggio2000@yahoo.com. Please indicate the name of this story in the subject line, as I will be filtering your messages into such a folder; any email that comes to my in-box and is from someone I don't know is automatically deleted.
Jude and I by AngelGabe
At a young age, the acting bug had already bitten me. My family is fond of recalling how, starting around the age of four - when my vocabulary was getting wildly out of control - I had demanded absolute attention whenever I performed. I was known for shooting withering glares at anyone who dared to speak if I thought I was center stage; which, according to family, was 24/7. It was of no surprise to anyone, then, when I finally got tired of the bug biting and decided to do something about it.
When I was eighteen, I dropped out of college (after a semester) and started auditioning for stage shows. It didn't matter where - Denver, St. Louis, Kansas City, DC - I just wanted to work on stage. Thanks to a father who had impressed upon me the need to be judicious with money, I had enough socked away in savings to afford to not have to work for about a year. And so I packed a few bags of clothes, my CDs and portable stereo, and a few books, loaded them all into Ethel, my trusty car, and headed out on the road.
I spent four years going from city to city, landing roles in production after production. Some were good and some were drivel; some roles were major, others minor; sometimes the pay was next-to-nothing, sometimes I could afford to take a break after a run because of the pay I'd received. I was in two plays Off-Broadway in New York in the space of eight months - both with short rehearsal periods and short runs - and with one production out in Seattle in between. I garnered great notices for both of my Off-Broadway performances, with high praise coming from no less than Ben Brantley of 'The New York Times'. When I was in New York the second time, word got out somehow that I pretty much lived out of my suitcase, having chosen not to put down roots anywhere but rather to canvas the country in theatre, and 'The Village Voice' decided to do a piece on the Wandering Thespian, as I was dubbed. I was surprised when the article became the talk of the town, and pretty soon I was asked to come audition for a revival of "Sleuth" on Broadway. I landed the role, shared the stage with Tim Curry (an acting idol of mine), and basked in glowing reviews across the board. Both Tim and I were nominated for Tonys for Best Actor in a Play; not surprisingly, Tim won for his tour-de-force performance, but the nomination opened doors. I was courted for further New York productions, but had a title to live up to - the Wandering Thespian headed back out on the road.
I was finally ready to head for Hollywood. I had a great resume built up, and the Tony nomination was a nice perk. I was well aware that, outside of New York, I was pretty much a nobody, but the resume did all the talking for me in La-La Land. I got small roles in small films that often disappeared shortly after they opened, but my name started to get around town. The big break came when I was cast in a film that was being financed by one of the major independent studios - and no, it wasn't Miramax.
The plot was a twist on "Dangerous Liaisons." In our version, a bisexual young man enters into a bet with an older woman who was his one-time lover. The wager was that he wouldn't be able to seduce one of the straightest young men in their upper-class world. I was a bit skeptical when the script first came my way - I shuddered at remembrances "Cruel Intentions," a teenybopper take on "Dangerous" - but was highly impressed when I read through it. Like the novel it was based on, "A Delicate Balance" was highly erotic, but in a cerebral way: this would be a semantic seduction rather than a soapy melodrama. I read for, and landed the role of, Jackson Tremaine, the bisexual character.
I was excited when I showed up for the read-through, and was chatting with the director-writer, a first-timer named Joshua Jenn, wondering who the other main actors were, when he walked through the door. Jude Law.
My heart leapt up into my throat and began pounding rapidly, my face became rather hot, and I felt that familiar tingle in my groin.
You see, it wasn't going to be difficult for me to play Jackson: I was straight-acting and straight-appearing to be able to play a bisexual character, but I would have no difficulty at all in having to seduce another guy. I am one-hundred percent all-American gay. Yes, I am proud of that, but professionally I was in the closet. I kept my sexual preference to myself, knowing it was better for my career.
Jude crossed the room to where Joshua and I were talking and shook hands with Joshua.
"Jude, I'd like you to meet Russell Stark," Joshua said by way of introduction. "He'll be playing Jackson in "Delicate"."
Jude smiled that dazzling smile of his, flashing his pearly whites. "Ah yes, Russell. Good to finally meet you."
<Likewise a thousand times over,> I thought. "It's good to meet you as well, Jude," I said, smiling back and shaking his hand. "I must admit, I am an admirer of your work."
"Admirer? That's a switch," he said. "Usually, I get 'Ohmygod, Jude Law, I am your biggest fan ever!'" he screamed in perfect imitation of teenybopper girls, which I laughed at.
"I admire your work as one actor to another," I said by way of explanation.
He suddenly looked rather serious. "Thank you very much, Russell."
We heard the door open, and I turned to see Annette Bening. She caught sight of us, and came over.
"Mr. Stark, you must get that fixed," she said to me, putting her finger under my gaping jaw and pushing it shut. I turned several shades of red, and Jude and Joshua chuckled at my reaction. Then it hit me.
"You know my name?" I asked, astonished.
"Oh yes. I read that article 'The Village Voice' wrote on the Wandering Thespian," she said, smiling. "I must say, I was quite intrigued. I wanted to come out to catch you and Tim Curry in "Sleuth," but my shooting schedule simply wouldn't permit it. I'd like to say I'm a fan of yours, but since I haven't seen any of your work, I don't know what that makes me."
I stood there shell-shocked. Here was Annette Bening, whom I considered one of the greatest actresses, telling me that she was a quasi-fan of mine. And I was going to be shooting my first big movie costarring with her. I couldn't believe it.
"There it goes again," she laughed, once again pushing my mouth shut. Jude and Joshua were practically on the floor, hysterically laughing.
"Oh...ah...sorry, Ms. Bening," I said, finally finding my tongue. "It's a great pleasure to meet you."
"Please, call me Annette," she said, shaking my hand.
"Well, now that my principles are here, we can start this read-through," Joshua said, bringing us back to the business at hand. The three of us immediately became professional, heading over to the ring of tables that had been set up. There were only six other actors and actresses in the film, all of whom were working in a film for the first time.
Two and a half hours later, the read-through was complete. Joshua gave us a break, and I leaned back in my chair and sighed, rubbing my sore neck. Annette excused herself from the table and headed out of the room. The other actors and actresses talked amongst themselves, leaving me with Jude's undivided attention.
"So what's this Wandering Thespian business?" he asked me.
"A couple of years ago 'The Village Voice' did a piece on me, and that's what they dubbed me."
"I kinda guessed that by what Annette said. Where'd they come up with that one?"
"Well, for five years I didn't take up residence in any city, preferring to go from place to place and auditioning for roles. Strictly theatre work. Someone at the 'Voice' got wind of the fact that I had done an off-Broadway show in New York, then a play out in Seattle, and then was back again in New York for another off-Broadway production. For whatever reason, they found that intriguing, and decided to do an article on me, and crowned me the Wandering Thespian."
"Wow," he said, somewhat wide-eyed, "you really were always on the road for five years?"
"Yeah. It was a lot of fun, actually. Too many people think New York is the end-all and be-all for theatre, and I wanted to see the country by stage, so to speak. So I'd get into town, audition for whatever, get a hotel room for the duration, then move on to the next city. I realized that there are a lot of people out there who are hungry for good live theatre, and I don't mean just in the big cities. I spent one summer as part of the repertory company at the Arrowrock Lyceum Theatre in Arrowrock, Missouri. It's this little theatre in an old church in a tiny town, and people come from all over Missouri to see shows there."
"That is amazing. Sounds like you're really dedicated to acting."
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be pursuing it."
"I think this is going to be a great shoot, working with an actor of your dedication," he said sincerely. I started to fumble with the pitcher of water in front of me, trying to think of what to say, when Joshua called us all back together. Annette had already returned to the room, and took her place next to me.
Joshua addressed all of us. "Okay, this was an excellent read-through. I've already got a number of ideas, which we'll work through during rehearsal. A lot of movies don't provide much rehearsal time, but I insisted on four weeks, which the studio was generous to give us. My background is in live theatre, so get ready for grueling rehearsals. That way, we'll hopefully be able to shoot the movie in three weeks, which is what I promised the studio. I know all of you are good actors, and we're graced by three great actors, Annette Bening, Jude Law, and Russell Stark." I was a bit surprised that he included me in the 'great actors' category.
"We'll be shooting the film in sequence," he went on, "which I know is unusual. That was another area of insistence on my part. All the action takes place in five locations, all of which are interiors, so all of which are sets that we have built on one sound stage. We'll meet back here tomorrow morning at seven to start rehearsing. Any questions?" No one had any, as we were all rather tired and ready to clear out. Joshua chuckled. "I expected as much. After you all go home and rest, if you think of some questions, we'll discuss them in the morning. See you then."
Everyone began gathering up their stuff and heading out. Annette told us that she had to get home to Warren and the kids, and excused herself. Jude and I headed for the door together. When were we out in the parking lot, he spoke.
"You heading back to your place immediately?"
"Yeah, I'd planned on it."
"Well, would you like to join me for dinner? It'd give us a chance to get to know each other a little better, which would be good, since we're going to be working together."
"Sure, I'd like that," I said, smiling.
I followed him to a local seafood restaurant. We soon were deep in conversation, talking about anything and everything. The food was great, as was the company. Three hours later - though it certainly didn't seem like three hours - the waiter came with the check. I began to pull out my wallet to pay for my share, but Jude stopped me.
"No no, I've got it."
"No way, I can't let you do that."
"Tough. I'm the wealthy actor at this table, so I'll pick up the check." I started to protest again, but he handed his credit card to the waiter, who whisked away.
"I owe you."
"Don't worry about it. Since I've sat here and picked your brain for the past three hours, I ought to shell out the cash for the dinner."
"It's not been a one-sided conversation."
"I know, but I think I got more out of you than you out of me. You seem to have one heck of an intellect."
I blushed and fumbled with different items on the table. "Yeah, well, maybe."
"No, I'm serious. I've never been so exhilarated by a conversation in a long time. So dinner's my 'thank you.'"
The waiter returned with the credit card slip, which Jude signed with a flourish. We were soon on our way out of the restaurant.
"Thank you for dinner, Jude."
"No problem. And thank you for the conversation. See you tomorrow at the rehearsal."
He got into his hunter green Ford Explorer and drove away, waving as he left the parking lot. I got into my black Ford Taurus SHO, and headed out myself.
On the way home, I mulled over the past three hours. I had had my gaydar on, of course, and tuned high, but Jude was impossible to get a reading on. What was even more frustrating was the fact that he had played gay quite brilliantly in "Wilde," but at the same time had played straight equally well in "The Talented Mr. Ripley". I had been utterly convinced that he was Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde's beloved Bosie, and utterly convinced that he was Dickie Greenleaf, the spoilt, occasionally cruel American playboy. And it wasn't like I could tell from the flow of conversation; he hadn't dropped any hints.
When I pulled into the parking lot at my apartment building and killed the engine, I decided to put Jude Law's sexual orientation onto the back burner. I even felt a bit guilty that I was so concerned about it; I had greatly enjoyed dinner: was the only thing I could think of was whether Jude Law was gay or straight? I shook my head and went into my apartment, got undressed, and collapsed into bed.
Rehearsal the next day was, as Joshua promised, grueling, but at the same time highly stimulating and rewarding. We spent four hours that morning discussing characters, motivations, the plot, the dialogue; very little time was spent on going through scenes. I was quite happy with this, as it gave all of us a chance to talk things out and think things through out loud, a rare opportunity on a film. The afternoon was spent in going over scenes, with rudimentary blocking beginning. A constant refrain of Joshua's was that "nothing is set in stone," and he encouraged us to do what we wanted with the text, and he would keep up focused. It was exhilarating and exhausting, so that, when 5:30 rolled around and Joshua decided to call it a day, we were all relieved.
This was the basic routine for the first week of rehearsals: discuss in the morning, block in the afternoons. One evening after rehearsal, Annette joined Jude and me at a local watering hole for a few drinks. One of the nice things about LA is that people are, for the most part, used to celebrities, and don't harass them.
On Friday at the end of the week, Joshua decided to give us the weekend off. We were a bit surprised at this - time is money in Hollywood - but no one grumbled; we were more than happy to have a few days of leisure time. I found myself alone with Jude in the parking lot that evening after we got done rehearsing.
"We have an important scene to rehearse on Monday," Jude said nonchalantly.
I screwed up my face trying to remember what we were rehearsing on Monday: while Joshua was going to film in sequence, we jumped throughout the script when it came to rehearsals. He thought it beneficial to drop us into scenes and see what we did with them. Jude must have noticed the look on my face, as he laughed and said, "Monday we'll go over the Conquest scene."
I remembered now: the Conquest scene. That was the name that we used to refer to the scene in which Jackson's seductions finally pay off, and he and Lewis have sex. So far in rehearsals, we hadn't even discussed any of the seduction scenes, of which there were quite a few. I though it odd that Joshua wanted us to go right into the Conquest scene on Monday, but he was the director, so I went along with it.
"Oh yeah," I said. "You think you're up for it?"
"That's the thing, I don't know." He paused. "Sometimes when I would do stage work back in England, some of the cast would get together on our own time to do rudimentary rehearsals. Usually it was if a difficult scene was going to be rehearsed in the near future. I was wondering if you'd like to go over the Conquest scene tonight."
My mind started to race with possibilities, but I told myself to get a grip: this was a professional proposal, not an indecent one. "Sure, if you'd like. Do you want to come over to my place?"
He shrugged. "Makes no difference to me."
"Well, follow me back to my apartment."
"Sure thing."
He got into his Explorer and I into my SHO and we headed out. Fifteen minutes later, we were pulling up in front of Appleford Apartments. The digs weren't quite posh - I wasn't making enough money for posh - but they could at least pass for swanky, with a strong dose of bohemian thrown in: many of the residents were a bit eccentric, which suited me just fine. I led the way up to my fourth floor residence, unlocked my front door, and waved Jude in ahead of me.
"I know it's not much, but..." I trailed off, turning on lamps and tossing things around trying to tidy up a bit.
"Man, this place is fab," he said enthusiastically.
"Fab?" I arched an eyebrow. "How veddy veddy British."
He laughed and punched me playfully on the arm. "I'm serious, this apartment rocks. It's so...eclectic."
I surveyed my own territory, and had to agree with him: wall hangings consisted of a black and white poster of Oscar Wilde lounging in a famous pose, a poster advertising the original Broadway production of "Sweeney Todd", a poster for the film "Dark City", a print of Georges Seurat's "Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte," and a poster with a wide-eyed baby with "Feelin' Groovy!" printed across the middle. As to furniture, there was a beat-up old recliner that screamed 1960s, a deep-purple air-chair, and an overstuffed couch that people just sank into. Two bookcases were crammed with titles ranging from Stephen King's "It" to "The Lord of the Rings" to Robert Fagle's translations of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". A third bookcase housed my movie collection, my CD collection, and my stereo.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" I asked, heading into the kitchenette.
"A glass of ice water would be wonderful," he replied.
I returned a short time later with two tall glasses of ice water. I chuckled as I handed one glass to Jude, and said, "My my my, you big-time movie stars sure know how to get down and party."
"Shut up," he said, laughing. "If we're going to be working, the last thing I need to do is be drinking. And besides, I'm rather parched after today's rehearsal."
"Well, here's to rehearsals - both official and otherwise," I said, smiling, as I raised my glass of ice water.
"Here here," Jude replied. After we both drank deeply from the ice water - I didn't realize just how parched I was as well - we picked up our scripts and began rehearsing the scene. We started to really get into the characters, starting and stopping when need be to discuss different aspects. After about an hour, we were starting up again after a brief pause. My heart began to hammer when I noticed that this section of the scene would lead directly into the kiss that began the sex scene. I tried to stay calm and cool.
"You realize, don't you, that a man has never kissed me before?" Jude asked in character, our faces practically touching, as it called for in the script.
"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," I replied as Jackson. I hesitated slightly, then leaned forward and kissed Jude on the lips. He froze - in character or as Jude? I wasn't sure - then gave into the kiss. I raised my hands and put them on either side of his face, holding his mouth against mine. Jude relaxed even more, and opened his mouth; I immediately slid my tongue in. He stiffened ever so subtly, but relaxed once again, reciprocating the hot tongue action we were sharing. His body pressed against mine, and I inadvertently began to grind my crotch against his.
By this time, of course, Jackson had receded to the back of my mind, and Russell was fully enjoying the experience. I began to frantically fumble with the buttons of his shirt, trying not to rip it right off of him. Jude's hands were soon over mine, helping me in my lust-filled endeavor. Underneath he was wearing a ribbed 'wife-beater' tee, and my already rock-hard cock throbbed even more at the sight. I leaned down and began to kiss and lick at his neck.
Finished with the buttons on his shirt, I began to undo his pants, eager to get at his dick. It was a clasp instead of a button, and I soon had his pants open and his zipper down. Jude was running his hands through my thick black hair, and I ran my hand over his boxer-enclosed member, which was fully engorged and starting to leak precum.
I knelt down, intent on having him in my mouth. Just as I started to pull at the elastic band of his boxers to free his cock, Jude suddenly jerked and pulled away from me. I fell backwards onto the floor, shocked and dismayed. I looked up at him, and could see from his eyes that he had gotten carried away; I was the one who wanted this to happen, not he.
"Oh God, Jude, I'm so sorry..." I began, stammering through the beginnings of an apology. I began to mentally berate myself for being such an idiot. "I just got carried away by the character, I'm sure you don't want to do this." I was rambling idiotically.
Jude, who had zipped and clasped his pants and was now buttoning up his shirt, looked at me and spoke. "Are you kidding? Of course I want to do this." I sat there dumbfounded. "Just not right now."
"Huh?" was all I managed to get out.
"I'm gay, Russell. When I first set eyes on you the day of the read-through, I wanted to drag you to some private place and ravage you like an animal. See, I have a history of doing that - conquer and depart. But since we were going to be working together, I knew that would be problematic. So instead, I started to get to know you, and you became an actual human being instead of a piece of meat." He was done buttoning his shirt, and came over to sit next to me on the floor.
"To be perfectly honest, Russell, I found myself actually falling in love with you. But I wasn't sure if you were gay or not - I mean, I couldn't get much of reading on the old gaydar when we had dinner last week." I smiled to myself, considering I'd been in the same predicament. "Part of the reason I wanted to come over and work on this scene tonight was to see how far I could get with you." He grinned. "As we just saw, that would be all the way." I smiled back at him. "I was perfectly ready to let it go all the way, then something in the back of my mind reminded me that you're not a conquest, you're the guy I'm falling in love with. So I stopped."
I was still confused; since Jude obviously saw this on my face, he went on. "I don't want us to tumble into the sack this soon. If you're willing to wait, I want to be your boyfriend, and let this develop as a proper relationship." I was somewhat stunned by what I was hearing: Jude Law wanted to be my boyfriend, and wanted a relationship.
"Jude, I would love to be your boyfriend. And sure, I'm willing to wait on the sex front, if that's what you want."
He flashed his melting grin at me. "Awesome. And yes, that is what I want." He leaned in conspiratorially and said in a husky whisper, "Don't worry, big boy, you'll get the full-meal-deal when it's time; tonight was just an appetizer." I laughed at this, and Jude joined in my laughter.
"Now, since we have the weekend off, why not a first official date tomorrow evening?" he asked. I more than readily agreed.
"Why don't you come over here again and we can watch one of my movies together," I told him. "I feel like staying in, and I have a pretty varied collection of films."
"Sounds great to me," he said, smiling. He leaned over and kissed me, sucking my tongue into his mouth. Just as my head was beginning to spin with pleasure, he pulled away.
"Damn, if you keep that up, I'm going to drag you off and ravage you," I laughed, slightly out of breath.
"Just wanted to give you a sneak peek of what's to come," he said. We both got up off the floor, and I led Jude over to the door. He stepped out into the hall, then turned back to me.
"Thank you for this," he said quietly.
"Consider this to be my way of repaying you for dinner," I said, and we both laughed. "Good night, Jude."
"Good night, Russell. See you tomorrow."
As he headed down the hall, I closed the door to my apartment, and fell back against it, sliding to the floor. It was all too much to believe; I pinched myself lightly to make sure I wasn't dreaming, even though I knew I was wide awake.
Tomorrow evening was going to be interesting.
To be continued ...