Taste Test: Shades of Autumn

Excerpt:
The Straggler
by Addison Albright

Blake Renner breathed in the crisp autumn air and took a few practice swings before addressing the ball he’d placed on the tee. He was a straggler at the Towering Pines Golf Course and was killing time at the driving range, hoping to hear a page calling for him to join a threesome.

Unfortunately, none of his friends liked to golf. He often found himself showing up at the course, hoping to be able to join a group that showed up short a player. He usually managed to get in after a brief wait.

Blake was the brand manager for natural powdered drink mixes at Jensen’s Natural Beverages, Incorporated. He’d been promoted from marketing analyst over the summer and was working his ass off these days trying to build his credibility within the JNB organization.

Autumn was his favorite season and he’d awoken this morning with a desire to spend the day outdoors. He loved the blaze of colors in the trees and the freshness of the air, so driving out to the golf course this morning had been a no-brainer.

He stepped up to the tee and swung his driver, connecting solidly with the ball. It landed about two hundred and fifty yards out. Not bad. He’d hooked it slightly, though. He reached into the bucket and placed another ball on the tee.

After going through about ten balls with his driver, he traded his club for the three wood. He practiced a while with that and then reached for his seven iron, but didn’t get the chance to use it.

“Jacobson threesome on deck for number one tee,” announced the starter over the loudspeaker. “Renner single join Jacobson threesome on tee number one.”

Sweet, he was in. Blake picked up his golf bag and hiked over to the first tee. He spotted the trio on deck and walked toward them. As he approached, one of the men turned to look at him.

Damn, it was Frank Miller, the Chief Financial Officer at JNB. Thankfully he didn’t answer to Mr. Miller and, in fact, never had to personally even deal with the man because Mr. Miller had a reputation for having unrealistic standards and was said to be cutthroat when dealing with his underlings.

Blake had been spotted so it was too late to remove his Gay Pride earring before joining the threesome. There were laws protecting him from discrimination, but some things weren’t very provable and it had just seemed better to fly under the radar regarding his sexuality at work.

Maybe Mr. Miller wouldn’t recognize him as a fellow employee at JNB. It was a large company and their scopes of work didn’t bring them into direct contact with each other. Hell, if coworkers hadn’t pointed Mr. Miller out to him in the building’s cafeteria, Blake wouldn’t have recognized him, so it didn’t seem like a completely unreasonable hope.

Apparently, it was, though, because the look in Mr. Miller’s eyes made it clear that he recognized Blake at least on some level. Just how well Mr. Miller knew him was clarified as Blake drew closer.

“Blake Renner.” Mr. Miller smiled at him and held out his hand. “Are you as good at playing golf as you are at landing new contracts?”

Jesus. So much for hoping Mr. Miller wouldn’t even recognize him as a random employee of the company. The man fucking knew exactly who he was.

Blake shook Mr. Miller’s outstretched hand. “Oh, ah -- I’m about average for a recreational player, I suppose. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Miller.”

“Frank.”