by J. P. Scott
“The place is so incredible.”
She punched him in the shoulder, “Don’t forget out the rest of us when you make it to easy street.”
“Ha, ha. Funny.”
“Do you have time to meet this afternoon to go over questions?”
Life may be good in the romance world, but the professional world still needed some work.
“I’m actually taking the afternoon off.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to be there for Cam.”
Jessica and Cam had never really meshed. She does a frown that says, “WTF.”
“I can’t tell you why, but he really needs me.”
“And you really need to prepare for this interview.”
Ollie nodded, “I know, but this is more important.”
Jessica shook her head, not understanding what I was saying. How could the everyday need of a friend preempt the urgency of his preparation for his job interview? I did not have the words to explain.
“He just needs me. Tomorrow we will hit this hard.”
Ollie left the breakroom without saying more. There was nothing he could say to Jessica that would make her understand without revealing to her everything that Cam was going through. And that was his thing to share. He doubted Cam would be okay with him sharing the information with Jessica.
Work progressed slowly all morning. The minutes seemed to drag on. Ollie found himself looking at his computer and his watch to make sure the correct time was displaying. When it was time to go, he shut things down and quietly slipped out of the office. His coworkers were busy with work and assuming he was leaving for lunch and would be back later that afternoon.
The drive to the doctor’s office was short. He parked and made his way inside. No sign of Cameron.
He made it to the waiting room. The receptionist recognized him, looked down at her paperwork, then back up to him. “I’m here for a friend.” She nodded in response.
When the door opened and Cam walked in, Ollie had settled into a magazine and the latest celebrity gossip from three months prior. He looked up to his friend’s shocked expression.
“You didn’t think you would go through this alone, did you?” The story of Cam using the home test alone still haunted him.
Tears formed at Cam’s eyes.
“Get checked in. I’m here for you.”
They sat in chairs next to each other, holding hands. Cam was called into the back and Ollie flipped through more magazines.
When Cam came back out, he needed another hug and was still crying. “Can you drive me to the pharmacy.”
“Of course, whatever you need.”
“I also have to call my insurance. With this copay card.” He pulled Ollie closer, “I’m scared.”
“We’ll figure this out. I’m here for you.” Ollie didn’t know what else to do but hold his friend and not try not to cry. Soon, his tears began to pour.
“Thank you for being here.”
“Always.”
Twenty-One
“Thanks for getting me early.”
Patrick game me a fist bump. “Sure thing. This works out great. I had a new client looking to do a session after work.”
“Well, tell them not to get too comfortable. That time is mine. I just happened to have the afternoon off.” Ollie had fought for a long time to get the slot right after work. When he originally signed up for training sessions, his choices were early in the morning, or the last session of the night, starting at eight. He had forced himself to do the sessions, but he found that if he had a gap between work and working out, he would think of excuses to not go. With the early morning sessions, he found himself hitting snooze.
“Did you have a good weekend?”
“I did. I even had a date. Well, two dates, really.”
Patrick’s smile faltered. “A date?” He then slipped back into his normal trainer attitude, “I guess that means you cheated on your diet.”
“Please, no burpees today.”
He studied my workout history and today’s plan on his clipboard, “There might have to be some burpees.”
“There were no mimosas.”
Ollie knew that Patrick would find any excuse to have Ollie do more exercises and burn more calories. Making small talk usually got Ollie to trip up and reveal some dietary sin that would inspire a couple of sets of torture.
“Too late. You’re gonna sweat today.”
The two of them headed towards the back of the gym and proceeded through lunges, squats, slamming a medicine ball, planks…and even burpees. Patrick was pulling out all the stops of Ollie’s least favorite exercises. He was sweaty and leaving the exercise mats soaked.
“You’ll thank me later.” Patrick said things like that, but had expressing thanks to him ever crossed Ollie’s mind? He had definitely cursed Patrick out a few times. “Come on, let’s really push through this one.”
“You’re a slave driver.”
“And aren’t you seeing results?”
Ollie could only nod. Left to his own devices, he would never have been able to shed the weight. Nor would he know how to properly use any of the equipment much less push himself to do heavier weights or more sets.
Finally, his body gave out and he crumbled to the ground, sweating and out of breath. The half hour had to be over. It felt like he had been going for an hour. “No more. Mercy. Uncle. Make it stop.”
Patrick laughed. “Okay. I’ll relent. You did work hard today. I’m impressed with how far you’ve come. Not too long ago you wouldn’t have been able to withstand half of this workout. You should be proud.”
“Have I earned a bottle of wine?”
“Sure, I’ll just add in some additional sets to Wednesday’s workout.”
Ollie groaned. “I need to learn to keep my big mouth shut.”
Patrick reached a hand out to him. Ollie grabbed it and felt himself being pulled up from the ground and onto his feet. He was still panting and dripping sweat. “I’ll clean up the mats and stuff for you. Why don’t you go get some water?”
Ollie shook his metal water bottle. “Still got some.”
“I hope I haven’t worn you out too much for seeing your guy.”
“What? Oh, I guess I’m going over to his place. We didn’t really make formal plans. Dinner and then watching TV, I imagine.” Ollie did not want to get into the probability that there would be a couple of rounds of sex with his straight trainer. But Ollie was worried that he would be too exhausted for any fun. On many a workout night, he found himself succumbing to sleep early.
“So, is it serious with this guy?”
“Too soon to tell. We’ve only just met. He actually works out here.”
“Well, I hope it goes well.” Patrick was spraying and wiping down the area they had been working out in. Ollie had a pang of guilt knowing that he should be doing that chore and that he had left equipment without sanitizing them many times because he was in a hurry.
“Thanks.” Ollie realized this was one of the few times they had talked about anything the least bit personal. Normally, it was small talk about work or how the week had been. Patrick might ask about some game played over the weekend and Ollie would shrug. Then there was food and beverage consumption and the subsequent exercise that was needed to compensate. They did not normally talk about dating or family or friends. “Are you dating anyone?”
Patrick shook his head, “Nah. Who has the time?”
“Well, I’m sure there are many who would like to.”
“Is that why I see so many boners at the gym?” Patrick winked at Ollie, “Just kidding.”
“Well, on that awkward note, I’m going to do some cardio with my friend. See you Wednesday? Normal time.” They did a fist bump and parted. Well, this is a new phase in our relationship. Are we going to start sharing more during our workouts? He did wonder what Patrick was like. What did he do when he was not at the gym?
Cam was slow walking on a treadmill but did have a steep incline. It looked lik
e he was actually trying to break a sweat.
“You are absolutely drenched. Disgusting.”
“It’s called working out.” Ollie hopped on the treadmill next to Cam. “Thanks for coming to work out today. I know you didn’t want to.”
“No, it’s good. If I had gone home, I would have crawled in bed after a couple of shots of whiskey and not emerged until Friday.”
“I might try that technique to lose a few pounds.”
Cam looked him up and down. “You still won’t look as good as me.”
He seemed to be taking the official news of his diagnosis well. Ollie supposed he had some time between the home test and the doctor’s office to digest the news and start to process things. There were no tears today, just questions about the next steps. Cam was to start on medication right away and be back in three months to make sure it was working to suppress his viral load. He received a copay card to cover the cost of the medication not covered by insurance and the two met at the pharmacy to pick up the prescription.
Cam had lobbied for drinks, but Ollie reminded him of his standing training session. “I’ll see if I can get in early. Then maybe we can stop for a glass of wine.” But as Ollie finished his cardio, he felt gross and not ready to be seen in public. “I need to run to my apartment and shower. I can meet you somewhere after.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure Patrick was not lurking and hearing his plans to break his diet.
“Deal.”
Ollie smiled. Leaving work early was giving him all kinds of time in his day. He might have to make it more of a habit.
Twenty-Two
Ollie messaged Jeremy on the way to his apartment. “I’m meeting Cam for a drink. Wanted to see if I’m seeing you tonight?”
It seemed obvious that they would want to see each other, but Ollie suddenly wondered if it might come off as too needy and clingy. Space could be good. Did they have to see each other every day? Yes, it did.
He showered and sang along with one of his favorite pop albums. He could have been ready faster, but he had to do the choreography in between doing his hair and applying deodorant.
He looked at his phone to see if Jeremy had responded. Nothing yet in his text messages, but he saw there was a notification…on Flame. Oh, now people want to message me? He clicked on the icon and pulled up the message. The profile was blank, but he went into the chat, he saw that he had been the one who sent the original message. A week ago. Ollie remembered that he messaged someone that seemed like he was at the gym based on the distance.
“Hey, just seeing this. Good here. Pics?”
That was a very typical conversation on the app. Straight to the thirst trap pictures and then a quick summary of sexual likes and then deciding who was hosting.
Ollie had no plans on doing anything other than flirting. He also knew that once he sent pics, it usually ended in either silence or a block. He scrolled through and sent some face pics. Then he looked through his more risqué photos. Some of them were quite old and not very representative of what he looked like now. He went into the bathroom and worked on posing to show off the muscles he was trying to have. He added a couple of his junk and closed the app.
He dressed and worked on packing for the night. Was it too soon to be thinking about storing clothes at Jeremy’s? And would he be keeping anything here?
The apartment that used to feel just right now seemed super small in comparison to Jeremy’s house. Did Jeremy feel comfortable here? Even with all his space, he said he spent most of his time in the man cave off of his bedroom. Did he really want or need the big house? Or did he just have it for the status?
There was so much that he did not know about Jeremy. They had some exploring to do. Where did he grow up? What about his family? Had he even been in a long-term relationship? Why had they broken up?
Take it easy. You’ve only been chatting with him for a week.
Somehow, it felt like longer. So much had changed in the course of that one week.
The phone vibrated. Still no response from Jeremy. Instead, a notification on Flame. He clicked through. He had not been blocked after all. The response started with a “Looking good.” And it was followed up by a dozen pics of him. None of them showed his face, but there were plenty of chest, arm, back, leg, and butt shots that showed off his well-sculpted body. No doubt Ollie and Cam…and probably even Jeremy…had ogled and drooled over him as he worked out. The final three pictures were of his cock: hard and poking out of his unzipped pants, a second covered in cum, and the final one next to a remote control to show the cock’s longer size. Hot damn. Swapping pics could be so much fun.
“Wow. Hot pics.”
“Thanks, man.” Ollie always groaned when someone chatted with words like “man”, “bro”, and “dude.” Chat in a gay app seemed the wrong time to try to be straight acting. “Looking?”
At this point, Ollie’s normal response would be, “Yes, yes, yes!” Things were different now, “Sorry, I can’t.” He started to type that he had just started seeing someone, but he had learned in the past that giving people all the details was not usually the best move. Relationship statuses changed quickly. Taken today? Single tomorrow and ready to hook up. “I’m meeting a friend for drinks in a few.”
“Hit me up sometime.”
Ollie closed the app. He was flattered with the offer. A younger, fit man was interested in hooking up with him. Was that any better than his stocky, hairy, passionate, rimming-obsessed man he was seeing right now? He opened the app and looked at the picture with the remote again. That would tear me apart.
Jeremy’s text brought Ollie back to reality. “I was hoping you’d be coming over.”
“Okay. I’ll try not to make it too long with Cam at happy hour.”
“No workout?”
“Took the afternoon off and went early.”
“Then I will have to ogle Patrick on my own.” Jeremy texted Ollie the code to the gate and the security code. “Let yourself in if I’m not home yet.”
Thirty minutes later he and Cam were sitting at a small beer and wine bar with an open bottle of sauvignon blanc. “I know you like red better.”
“Beautiful, sunny afternoon…this is perfect. And after drinking wine with Jeremy, I realized I don’t really know much about wine anyway.”
“Is he loaded?” Indeed, Cam was feeling better and able to focus on the things that mattered most to him.
“I think Jeremy does well. He’s got a big, beautiful house. He likes fine wine and good dinners. He definitely has more than me.”
“That’s not hard to do.”
Ollie felt uncomfortable talking about Jeremy like this. With other guys, Cam and he had speculated about all kinds of things. Money, fetishes, and deepest darkest secrets. They would be catty and laugh until they could not laugh anymore. He wanted to protect Jeremy from that.
He needed a distraction, “You should see these pics someone messaged me on Flame.” He took out his phone and scrolled through the pics.
“Um, holy shit. Why are you sitting here with me?” Ollie might not get his phone back; Cam’s hands are clenched tight and he is trying to zoom in to get a better look.
“I’m not going to hook up with him.”
“Oh, because you’re married now?” Ollie stopped himself from quipping back that marriage or commitment did not seem to matter these days, but he knew that now was not the time to jab Cam with that kind of sharpness.
“Well, because my ass is sore as it is. But yet, I feel like I want to focus on being with Jeremy. You need to meet him. You’ll like him.”
“There’s not that many people I like. Are you ready for me to be all judgy about his quirks?”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” He finally wrestled the phone away from Cam.
“You’re at least thinking about getting some of that cock.”
“I did screenshot a couple of those pictures in case he blocks me or deletes his profile. At best, he will be someone I reach out to if Jer
emy and I end up not working out. I do think it’s weird that he didn’t send a face pic.”
“You ain’t gotta be pretty with a super-sized dong. It helps, but the lights can always be turned off and eyelids shut pretty good.” Cam topped off their glasses. “Maybe he’s on the down-low or not out.”
“Then, yes, let me throw away a promising relationship with a good guy for someone that is hot but emotionally unattainable.” Ollie felt like there would always be greener pastures, but what he wanted was love and commitment. “Do you think I should tell Jeremy?”
“Why? You didn’t even know Jeremy when you sent that message originally.”
“But I did know him when I exchanged pics.”
Cam set his glass down, rested his elbows on the table, and looked straight at Ollie, “Hey, I feel like I can give you some life lessons here. There’s nothing wrong with you flirty and exchanging pics with a guy on an app. Even if it led to more, so what? You’ve had one date and two sleepovers and some sexy texting. That’s not marriage, or boyfriends, or even an almost anything. Stop feeling guilty about something that’s not a big deal. I’m the one who gets to own that right now.”
He was right. He was making a big deal about nothing. Hooking up with people while in a committed relationship was a different story. Cam now was dealing with the consequences of that. He still had to deal with the emotional ramifications of letting Mark know that he had cheated and become positive. Ollie knew that what he was worried about could not compare to what Cam had ahead of him. Still, he wondered if he should have a conversation with Jeremy. It seemed smart to know where the boundaries were. What was he thinking about their relationship? And if they did define themselves as “dating”, what were the expectations that were tied to that?
“You know, when I said this works better when you have your shit together, I thought maybe you’d ease back in.” Ollie smiled at his friend. Cam had his flaws, but he knew how to keep Ollie in check when he really needed it.
“I’m all or nothing.” They ordered another bottle.