Steve toweled himself off after his shower. The bathroom was hot, steamy, and dimly lit, but mirror was clear enough to see his reflection - he wasn't that tall, a few inches under six feet, and he had a lean build with decent muscle tone, not bulky, but defined. He liked being smaller and lighter. At 26-years-old, Steve thought he looked all right!
It still smelled a little funny from the construction that had taken place not too long ago. Steve owned a photography studio in a complex of warehouses that he rented to local photographers and had recently converted a neighboring unit to live in. He was trying to make it comfortable, but it was still a little sparse and empty, since the ceilings were about twenty feet high. He'd had a few small rooms built - a kitchen, bedroom, office, and a storage room where he put some industrial shelves. He left room in back as a common area he could relax in. He added soundproof tiles to the walls to make the place more interesting and block out the sounds from his neighbors, which was handy since some of them played loud music at every hour of the night and it drowned the sound completely, though he still had to get used to how muffled everything sounded inside.
Once he was dry, Steve moved closer to the mirror. Evening was getting on, but he was expecting a delivery after 8 o' clock, so he got his hairspray and styled his hair into a little faux-hawk. He put on some white sweatpants and a loose gray muscle shirt, no socks or underwear since it was just a quick delivery of some new equipment. He liked wearing light-colored clothes because he always felt he was a little pale.
He walked out of the bathroom and flopped down on his queen-size bed. He liked the feel of the air conditioning on his hot body and nicely made bed. He pressed a button on his phone and when he heard the beep, he said, "Set relax." All the lights in the newly converted apartment shifted on to a dim, warm-colored light. They were one of the things he'd done to spoil himself a little bit when his business started making a profit. He was very into the smart home stuff.
Checking his phone, he saw it was 7:26pm, so he still had some time to kill. He got up and walked over to the storage room. It wasn't incredibly large, but the height was perfect for all the equipment. One side had a big cupboard with a lock for the small, expensive stuff like his camera and lenses. The other side had shelves for the big stuff and his personal items like his exercise mat and weights (Steve was not as shy as he used to be, but still was not a fan of public gyms). Directly across from the door there was a small metal-covered surface that he could use for repairing equipment and stuff like that. This room had thicker soundproofing because of all the heavy metal shelves - Steve didn't want to disturb anyone, even though there weren't any 'quiet hours' in a warehouse park. With one last box to unpack after the move, he started some music on the bluetooth sound system and got to work.
Steve told himself that he needed to buy something to keep the small stuff sorted in. For now, he just tried to arrange things neatly on the shelves. There was the strong black tape he used to secure wires to the ground during shoots, some nylon rope for packing things on top of his car, metal stands for the lights, assorted cases for packing equipment in, some clean rags for wiping dust off items, and more random things he found useful.
Glancing at his watch, it was almost a quarter after 8 when he finished putting things away. He hurried to the door to make sure he didn't miss the delivery when the doorbell rang. Sighing with relief, Steve walked through the office to the front door. Twisting the big automatic lock, he opened the door.
There was a delivery guy there who looked like he spent more time than not in the gym. He looked Puerto Rican as far as Steve could tell. "Steven Wiley?" He asked in a deep voice.
"That me." Steve was very good at not staring at attractive guys. He'd done enough photo shoots in the past to where even if he was very attracted to a guy, he didn't want that to come across. He had a good portfolio of romantic nude and boudoir photos of both men and women and prided himself on making everybody feel safe and comfortable.
"I've got a few packages for you. Could you sign for them while I get them out of the truck?" He asked in a friendly tone.
"Sure thing!" Steve said, accepting the clip board from the man, "Just one second and I'll give you a hand."
"Don't worry about it!" He said, jogging to the rear of the truck, already pointed in their direction. This was clearly a man who enjoyed the physical aspects of his job.
Steve signed the papers where all the red X's were and walked around walked over to him. "Here you go!" Steve said cheerfully, and set the clip board down in the back. "Damn! Am I the last delivery of the night? What's your name, by the way?" The back of the truck was almost empty except for the packages that were being loaded onto two dollies.
"Dak." He answered, shorter than Steve expected with how friendly he had been. He reminded Steve of some of the jocks he'd known in high school and college - very friendly when the conversation was general, but once you started asking about them, they didn't say much. "And yup, you're the last one of the night. Last of my week. Got the weekend off now." He paused before continuing, "Hey Steven, do you mind grabbing that box right there?" Dak asked, motioning to a small box with a piece of tape labeling it 'FRAGILE' across the top.
"Sure thing!" Steve answered. He always liked to sound upbeat and friendly. He was pretty amazed at how expertly Dak was wheeling both dollies simultaneously down the ramp. Steve forgot exactly how much he had ordered. Some of it was for him and his business and the rest was for the studio. His renters liked it when he got new equipment. Every time got got a new toy, all the regulars signed up for shoots.
"Where do you want this?" Dak asked, "Right in the office?"
"Actually, would you mind wheeling it to the storage closet?" Asked Steve, taking one of the dollies from Dak. "It's right inside."
"Lead the way." Dak answered. Steve thought he noticed a slight look of disapproval when he had taken the dolly and was struck by how commanding Dak seemed. Imposing build, tanned skin, shaved head, and just a little patch of hair under his bottom lip. It was difficult not to look.
