The Truth of Yesterday

by Josh Aterovis

  “Well for Christ sake, do something!” she shrilled.

  “Um, what exactly do you need?” I said hesitantly while my mind ran ahead full-tilt.

  She heaved a monumental sigh meant to express her dissatisfaction with the service. It succeeded in ruffling my hair and alerting me to the fact that she hadn't yet brushed her teeth this morning.

  “I told them down at the front desk that the damn toilet was overflowing. Now will you quit standing there like a dolt and do something.”

  “Um, I'm not the plumber,” I said, thinking quickly. “He's been called. They just sent me up to see if I could help with anything. Want me to take a look?”

  “I want you to do something!”

  I stepped around her and started for the bathroom while she trailed after me grumbling into the phone. “I swear, as nice as this place looks you'd think they'd have better help.”

  “Did this start after your husband left?” I asked casually.

  “Ha!” she snarled into the phone. “He wants to know if it started after my husband left.” Then to me, “I don't have a husband.”

  “Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed that the man who rented the room...” The toilet was indeed overflowing. A small lake had formed on the tiled bathroom floor and had started to seep by the dam of towels she'd piled in the doorway. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do now that I was here.

  “He's not my husband,” she informed me. “And no, it didn't start after the bastard left, it started before. He just left me to deal with it. Now you deal with it.” She turned away and continued with her conversation on the phone while I made a show of stepping gingerly into the water and wiggling the handle on the commode. Niagara Falls kept flowing. “I know!” she was saying in response to something the person on the other end of the line had said. “He's married alright, but not to me. Oh no! I don't have the moneybags his missus has, the bitch. You know, I don't know why I'm so stupid. I've been putting up with him for two years now; putting up with his sudden calls asking me to meet him for a weekend, putting up with him sneaking me in and out of his rooms while he's gone, putting up with not seeing him for weeks at a time, knowing that he's with her. But do you think he ever does anything for me? No! I'm just the other woman. I'm just supposed to come running whenever he calls. I'm just supposed to sit around waiting for him to come back. I'm just supposed to deal with the fucking toilet when it overflows while he runs off to his little conference. I can't even have him for one day! Is that too much to ask? Is it?”

  There was a pause and then, “You're damn right it's not fair!” she shrieked. “I'm still an attractive woman. I could find someone else, someone who'd marry me. Hey, why aren't you doing anything?”

  It took me a second to realize that last bellow was directed at me. “I think we should wait for the plumber,” I suggested.

  “Then what the fuck are you doing here? What good are you? And why aren't you in uniform?”

  She was just noticing that now? Oh well, I'd gotten what I needed, more than I needed actually. I was more than ready to make my exit. “You called so early I didn't have time to get my uniform on,” I said glibly. She gave me a confused look as she tried to work that one out. “Why don't I go see if that plumber is here yet?” I said quickly and made a bee-line for the door.

  The elevator doors were opening just as I passed. I glanced in at a hotel staff member with a plumber in tow. I felt a rush of adrenaline as I realized how close that had been. I trotted down the stairs and arrived at our room feeling flushed with the pleasure of my accomplishment. I let myself into the room to find a rather surprised Micah sitting up in bed, clutching the sheet to his chest, his eyes large and round.

  “Killian,” he gasped, dropping the sheet to reveal the fact that he was naked as the day he was born. “You scared the hell out of me. I thought you were the cleaning lady or something and here I am still naked.”

  “Sorry,” I said, although somewhat unconvincingly on account of the giggles.

  “You certainly seem to be in a better mood,” he observed.

  “I should be. I just closed the case!”

  “What? That's great!” He jumped up and grabbed me in a huge bear hug. “I told you you're a great detective.”

  “Actually, it was just dumb luck. I came real close to missing it altogether.”

  “But you didn't and that's what counts! I'm going to order a celebratory breakfast,” he said heading for the phone.

  “Let me call Novak first,” I said, eager to tell him of my first big success on my own.

  “Don't you think it's a little early?”

  “Are you kidding? Novak rises before the sun.”

  “Hmm, if I remember right, he's not the only one,” he said with a smirk.

  I grinned back as I picked up the phone and dialed out. Novak answered on the second ring.

  “Guess what?” I said breathlessly.

  “Hello, kid,” he said evenly, “You know, most people start their conversations with a salutation of some sort, such as hi, hello, hey, yo, or even wassup.”

  “Hi, hello, hey, yo, wassup. Now guess what?”

  “You closed the case?”

  “Oh,” I said as I deflated.

  “Sorry, I guess you wanted to pop the big news. Let's try that again, shall we? I don't know, Killian, what?”

  “It's not the same now,” I pouted.

  “Well I still don't know the details.”

  That brightened me a little. “He was cheating on his wife,” I told him triumphantly.

  “You know that for a fact?”

  “I talked to the mistress myself. It's been going on for some time now.”

  “She told you that?”

  “Yes. Well, she thought I was there to fix the john, but...”

  “To fix the-never mind. I probably don't want to know. Great job, kid. I knew you had it in you.”

  “It was dumb luck actually. I didn't even know she was in the room at first. Knox snuck her in while he was in the conference. If I hadn't, er, overslept this morning I probably would have never known she was there. I just happened to be outside the room when she opened the door and I practically fell in.”

  “Still, you had the presence of mind to act when the opportunity presented itself. A good 75% of our trade is blind luck.”

  “Well whatever it is, I did it. I'll be home this afternoon I guess. You want me to come in and type up the report tonight or will tomorrow morning be soon enough?”

  “Actually, didn't I promise you some free time if you finished up this case quickly?”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said. I'd almost forgotten in all the excitement.

  “Why don't you stay one more night? Have Micah show you the city. I'll even pay for the room. Consider it a little bonus for a job well done.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yep. You earned it, and besides, this was your first solo case, you deserve to celebrate its successful closing.”

  “Oh my gosh! Thanks so much, Novak.”

  “Don't thank me; just keep up the good work.”

  “Oh, I will.”

  “I don't doubt it. Now go have fun. And Killian?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I hope you get to sleep in tomorrow morning too.” I could hear the wink in his voice as the phone hung up. I felt my face burn bright as I carefully hung up the receiver on my end as well.

  “What did you get all excited about?” Micah asked, coming out of the bathroom in a robe now. “And why is your face so red?”

  I waved off the second question and just answered the first. “Novak said we could stay another night on him, as a reward for finishing up the case so quickly.”

  Micah's eyebrows flew up. “Really? Wow, that's really nice of him.”

  “Tell me about it. He said to have you show me the city.” He frowned a little and I quickly rushed on. “Oh come on, Micah!” I whined. “I don't want to stay in the hotel room all day and night. Show me stuff I've never seen before.�
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  “I could do that right here in the hotel room,” he said forcing a smile.

  “Or we could go out and then come back here for that.”

  “You're not going to give up, are you?”

  “Nope.”

  He sighed. “Fine, I'll give in now and spare us both the bother.”

  “Woohoo!” I hollered, jumping up and down.

  “Don't get too excited. We don't even know what we're doing yet.”

  “What is there to do?”

  He shrugged. “There're museums, shows, clubs...”

  “I don't want to go a stuffy old museum, not this time anyway. I want to have fun. I want to celebrate.”

  “A club then?”

  I stuck out my bottom lip. “We can go to a club at home.”

  Micah laughed. “The clubs here are about as much like Inferno as a kitten is to a full-grown tiger.”

  My eyes lit up. “Oh really?”

  “Really. We have all day to decide what we're going to do. Now what do you want for breakfast?”

  I smiled slyly. “You.”

  * * *

  “Holy sea of men, Batman,” I yelled to Micah as I stood at the rail overlooking more writhing men then I had ever seen in one place in my entire life.

  Micah laughed; at least he looked like he was laughing. The noise level was so high any sound he might have made was lost completely. I didn't even know how on earth he'd heard me. The music was pounding so hard the walls actually seemed to vibrate with the bass line. The lighting was low and between that and the smoke machines, the atmosphere was much murkier than the Inferno, which was my only experience with a gay club before tonight. You could have fit four Infernos inside this place and there were easily six times as many people crowded inside. I could already feel a trickle of sweat down the middle of my back.

  “Quit gawking,” Micah shouted in my ear. “Someone's going to mistake that open mouth for an invitation.”

  I snapped my jaw shut and took another look around. The club was called Michelangelo and was known as the premier gay club in the DC area. In the center of the dance floor was a huge white statue which looked remarkably like Michelangelo's famous David except for one small change. Or not so small actually. This David was sporting a very impressive erection. Over his head, a huge disco ball hung from the ceiling, which was painted in a parody of the Sistine Chapel. There were still naked folks lounging about on clouds and such, but they were all hard-bodied men in this interpretation, and some were doing more than just lounging.

  There were two dance floors-a smaller one and a huge one. We'd entered through a glitzy entryway, showed our ID's and Micah had whisked me off down a hall crowded with guys. He'd led me up a flight of stairs, and now we were overlooking the larger dance floor. I was still in culture shock. I'd never felt like such a hick before.

  “It's a little tacky,” Micah was saying, “but lots of fun. You ready to dance?”

  I looked back down at the mass of men down below me. “As I'll ever be,” I yelled back.

  He led me back down the stairs and we plunged into the sea of bodies. It was at least an hour later before we broke free for a much needed breather. I'd been groped, grabbed and fondled more in that hour than the rest of my life combined. Micah clutched my wrist and started pulling me back down the hall. I couldn't help but notice that he really seemed to know his way around.

  We were moving down the hall when suddenly someone going the other way let out a high-pitched squeal and grabbed Micah's arm.

  “Oh my Gawd!” the guy howled. He had a middle-eastern look, olive complexion, dark, almost black eyes under heavy eyebrows, and a hawk-like nose. His black hair hung to his shoulders in soft curls. He was very striking, not someone who would be easily forgotten. “What are you doing back in town? We've been looking for you. Are you here because you heard?” he yelled while gripping Micah's arm as if he thought he might bolt at any second. Actually, judging by the look on Micah's face that was entirely possible. He had the same expression in his eyes as the raccoon we'd found in the garage when I was a kid. Dad had cornered it and shot the poor thing with the same pistol I'd later used to kill a serial killer who was hoping to make me his next victim. I'd cried about that damn raccoon for hours.

  “I'm sorry,” Micah said trying to shake the guy off his arm. “I think you must have me mistaken for someone else.”

  The guy hung on like a leech. “No fucking way, honey,” he cooed. I decided that he was on something. I didn't know much about drugs but I guessed it was probably ecstasy. “I'd know you anywhere.”

  “Well I don't know you,” Micah growled. He snatched his arm away setting his cling-on stumbling and yanked me off down the hall before the guy could recover his balance. I almost had to run to keep up with Micah. He pulled me into a lounge with plush red chairs and sofas arranged around the room. There were more guys in here; it seemed there was no shortage of male bodies no matter where you went in this place. Most of the guys in here were occupied with at least one other guy, some with more than one, but there were still more than a few sets of hungry eyes following us as we made our way into the room.

  “I'm not sure whether to be flattered or frightened,” I said to Micah. The volume level was a little lower in here so I didn't quite have to scream.

  “What do you mean?” he asked me, pushing me gently into a recently vacated chair and straddling my legs.

  “All those guys staring at us.”

  Micah snorted. “They stare at anything with a dick.”

  “Gee thanks. You really know how to make a guy feel special.”

  He laughed. “I didn't mean it like that. You would definitely be of special interest to most of the guys in here. You're what's known as a twink.”

  “Twink?”

  “It means you're young, hot, and blonde. The last isn't necessarily a requirement but it helps.”

  “Hot, huh?”

  “Oh definitely. Very, very hot. If you ask me, you're the hottest guy here.”

  I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. “I might have to argue about that,” I said.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, because I happen to think that you're the hottest guy here.”

  “How about if we call it a tie?”

  I pretended to think it over. “I suppose I could live with that.”

  He leaned in and gave me a deep kiss that started a familiar tingle in my crotch.

  “Keep that up and I'm going to want breakfast again,” I giggled.

  “They have a room for that too, you know,” he said suggestively.

  I felt my eyes grow wide as Micah started laughing. “You were just kidding, right?” I asked naively.

  “Actually, no, I'm not. Maybe I'll show you later. Hey, I have to go pee. How about you?”

  “No, I'm fine.” I said absently. My mind was still on the room Micah had alluded to; I wasn't sure I wanted him to show it to me.

  “Ok, then stay right here. I'll be right back.” He leaned in a kissed me again, then jumped up and started for the door.

  I watched him cross the room and realized I wasn't the only one watching his progress. It made me feel good to be with a guy other people seemed to find as attractive as I did. They could look as long as they didn't touch. I was admiring his tight butt as he vanished from my sight through the door. While I was still looking in the direction of the door, I noticed the guy with the long hair from the hallway slip out behind him. I sat up sharply, debating whether or not I should follow. I was about to go when I felt a presence leaning over me from behind.

  I spun around and looked up to find an angel hovering over me. Not really, of course, but that was my initial impression. He was backlit by a bright spotlight, making his halo of reddish-blonde curls seem to glow like fire. His white satiny shirt only enhanced the illusion. As he moved around to stand in front of me, I realized he was quite real and to my surprise, he didn't look a day over 15. He was a little shorter than
me, with a pale, creamy complexion and rosy red cheeks that were as smooth as a baby's bottom. He had the biggest pair of blue eyes I'd ever seen and perfect little rosebud lips. His hair hung in ringlets all around his face. In short, he looked like a Renaissance painting come to life.

  “You're with the guy who just left, right?” he asked.

  “Huh?”

  “The guy who just left, the one Razi followed out? Is he your old man?

  “My old man?” I glanced back towards the door again; still trying to decide if I should stay put or go after him.