by G. A. Hauser
“I beg your pardon?” He shut off the radio and backed out of her driveway. “This, my dear, is a classic.”
“That means old.” She giggled, took her phone out of her purse and checked it for missed calls and messages. “He’s dreamy, Gav…oh…I swear, I want to kiss him all over.”
“Wow. Who does he look like?” He and Trina usually attempted to match up her conquests with a Hollywood celebrity.
“Oh, let’s see.” She tapped her red nail to her lip as he drove down the steep grade to the main road. “The latest Cosmo had a list of the cutest men. You know I never watch TV.”
“Judging by that old dinosaur in your living room, I know.”
She waved her hand dismissively at him. “Uh…how about a cross between Josh Duhamel and Chris Pine?”
Gavin blinked. “No.”
“I’m not kidding. And he wears these adorable wire frame glasses. He is so hot.” She used her thumbs to type into the phone while she spoke.
He assumed it was not to her dream man, because she would narrate that.
“He should have kissed me. I was standing, you know, leaning…I really expected a kiss.”
Gavin drove his way through the car-jammed streets near downtown trying to weave his way to Interstate 5 and the Evergreen Point Bridge.
“Should I text him?”
“No. I wouldn’t. I’d make him contact you.” Gavin shifted gears and finally made it to the highway ramp.
“Yes, but that’s you, Gavin.” She laughed. “You never go out.”
“I do. I just have a lot on my mind with this job. It’s three years of training, Trina, and I’m right at the tail end. The hardest part.”
“You should get a better job. I can’t imagine Toby climbing telephone poles for a living.” She stuck her phone into her purse and removed an emery board, filing a nail.
“It’s a great job. I really love it.” He noticed red tail lights at the far end of the bridge. “Please don’t tell me that’s an accident.”
“There’s always traffic on the bridge. That’s why I hate driving.” Done filing, Trina put her purse near her feet and sighed. “What CDs do you have?”
“I don’t know. The case is in the back of the seat.”
“That’s too much trouble.” She sighed loudly. “Why didn’t he kiss me?”
“He will. Give him one more date.”
Trina turned in the seat and Gavin felt her stare on his profile.
“What? Do I still have your lipstick smudge on me?” He wiped at his cheek.
“You need a boyfriend.”
“Tell me about it.” Gavin laughed softly.
“Maybe I can ask someone at work if they know any gay guys to set you up with.”
“Don’t. Please.” He downshifted as the traffic slowed.
“Take this exit. I know the back way to the mall.”
“Oh. Cool.” He inched closer to the end of the bridge. “How did you get a Saturday off? Don’t you usually love Saturdays because of all the sales volume?”
“I wanted a few Saturdays off a month. I told my manager I was going to take them. Screw them. I have a life, you know. Speaking about jobs…”
Gavin finally exited the snarled highway and accelerated up the ramp. “Which way?”
“Go straight and turn right at the light.” She took a box of mints out of her purse and put one in her mouth. “Altoid?”
“Sure.” He held out his hand.
“Open.”
She fed him one instead. He nodded. “Thanks.”
“I’m thinking about applying for the manager job when a new store opens in Honolulu.”
“What?” Gavin jerked his head towards her. “You’re leaving?”
She laughed at him and ran her fingers through her hair.
“You can’t leave. You’re my best friend.”
“I haven’t decided yet. If Toby and I…you know.”
“I don’t want you to move to Hawaii.”
“You are so sweet!” She squeezed his hand. “Why are you gay?”
He gave her a wink and said, “Okay, which way now?”
“I must have taken you this way before. Keep going. This will come out behind the parking garage of the mall.”
“Maybe you have, but I can’t remember.”
“You have. You just have your mind on other things.”
“Probably.” He recognized the multi-story parking area when he drove closer to it. “I’m starved. I worked out this morning and only had a cup of coffee for breakfast.”
“We can eat first. Let’s hit McCormick and Schmick’s.”
“Perfect.” His car purred as he slowed down and entered the parking area. The news that Trina may move unsettled him. Maybe he did need to expand his social life and find a man.
“There’s someone pulling out.”
Gavin liked to park his pride and joy far away from the possibility of door dings, but spying Trina’s pointy high heeled shoes, he figured he’d give her a break. He pulled into the spot and shut off the engine.
As he walked around her side to open the door, he noticed her checking her phone again. “You’re becoming manic, Ms. Yamagachi.”
“Too bad. At least I have someone to text me.” She climbed out, waiting for Gavin to shut the door, hooking his arm as they walked to the main entrance.
“Text buddies are a dime a dozen. Just go on any internet chat site.”
“True.” She waited as he opened the door for her. “Do you think I’m pretty, Gavie?”
“You know I do.”
“If you were straight, you’d kiss me, right?”
“Probably.”
She squealed in excitement and hurried to a shoe store display. “I wonder if they have these in taupe!”
Gavin stuffed his hands into his front jeans’ pockets and followed her into the store.
Chapter 4
Monday morning, Gavin was perched on a power pole, gaffs strapped to his shoes for climbing, wearing a lineman’s body belt which held all his tools. The pole strap or ‘skid’ was attached to each side of his belt so he could lean back and work with both hands. He stuffed his Kliens-linemen’s pliers, back in his belt, reaching for his knife to skin the wires.
Harvey was below him near the cones, his neck craned upwards. “You all right, kid?”
“So far.” Gavin stripped the new wires, trying to pocket the plastic debris.
“I’d have had that done if five minutes. What’s takin’ ya so long, kid?”
“Funny!” Harvey was a comic, telling Gavin how fast he could do a two man job in one hour, all on his own, and his constant shout of ‘Don’t look down’ were his favorite bullshit lines. That, and pretending he was being electrocuted. Neither made Gavin laugh.
“If you don’t need me, I’ll just have a smoke.”
Gavin peeked down the pole and watched Harvey light up. He took a piece of cable he’d stripped and dropped it on Harvey’s head, hitting his yellow hardhat. Harvey didn’t even notice, or if he did, didn’t react to Gavin’s antics. Shifting in the pole strap, Gavin got comfortable and focused on the job. It wasn’t raining. He was thankful the worst of the rainy season was behind them.
~
By four-fifteen Gavin sat behind the wheel of his RX7 and drove directly to the gym. When he first moved to Seattle he lived on Capitol Hill, a hive of gay activity. But time, and the high cost of the rent on Broadway, chased most of the quaint businesses and restaurants away. Now it was a strip mall haven overrun with gang activity. The splendor of Broadway, Capitol Hill had vanished along with the great independent novelty and book shops.
The membership he had was still valid, so he continued to work out there when he could.
Gavin parked his car on the street below the windows of the gym so he could peek down at it. He carried his gym bag to the front desk and signed in. “Hey, Teri.” He nodded to the young man with bleach blond spiky hair and a nose ring who was manning the desk.
“Hi,
Gav…whatcha workin’ today?”
“Chest and biceps.” Gavin lay the pen down on the sheet of paper and entered the locker room.
“Have fun!” Teri said.
“Thank you!” He opened a locker, taking off his t-shirt and sitting down to remove his boots.
It was just after four-thirty and that meant it was going to get crowded in around a half hour to forty-five minutes. Men came and went, some flirting with each other, some exchanging a kiss or two, but Gavin kept his head down and wanted to do his routine, get home, and eat.
Just remembering his phone as he removed his jeans, Gavin took it out of his pocket and turned it on. He checked his messages and read a text from Trina. ‘ y didn’t he call? ’
This new fellow was giving her more trouble than most. It was usually Trina who played hard to get. The majority of her boyfriends were all over her, calling her ten times a day, wanting to see her constantly and crushed when she disposed of them. Hmm, my little pet, why not this one?
He tucked the phone into his gym bag and changed. Wearing his white muscle tee and shorts, he headed out to the workout room and assessed the crowd. It was a mix of straight and gay men and women, between twenty and fifty. It was a small work out area, and when it got crowded, it wasn’t fun.
He stretched quickly in front of a mirror, not catching anyone’s eye. Yes, he would love a date, but he was shy on the whole and not as outspoken as his best friend. At times he imagined he was Trina and in his head he would wink, smile, or sway his hips towards a handsome man. Maybe even give a pretty boy a seductive lick of his lips or a witty opening line. But he wasn’t Trina. And sometimes, though mid-thirties was far from old, he wondered if he was already being bested by the younger men in the social scene.
~
Picking up a meal of chicken Caesar salad and six pack of his favorite micro brew at the Safeway before he went home, Gavin parked and carried his empty lunch bag, thermos, and groceries to the condo. He retrieved the mail, sticking it in his teeth as he poked the lock with his key. Once inside, he tossed everything onto the kitchen counter and took off his work boots. The phone rang. He hopped, taking off the second shoe and picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Did you get my message?”
“Yes. I don’t know why he didn’t call.” Gavin walked with the cordless back to where the grocery bag was. He removed his salad and a six pack of beer.
“Gaviee,” she huffed as she spoke. “I like him. I want to go out with him again.”
“Call him.” Gavin located his bottle opener, and popped the top off a beer, drinking it.
“What are you doing?”
“Just got back from the gym. I’m going to eat a salad and drink a beer.”
“Can I stop by?”
“Sure. Bring a movie or something.”
“Nah. I just want to talk.”
“Okay.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” Gavin set the phone down on the counter and sat at his dining room table with his beer and salad. Using the remote, he turned on the television to entertain him while he ate. He caught the tail end of the news and then put on mindless sit-com repeats so he could zone off.
He knew Trina’s time table. She’d take at least an hour before she would get to his place. A few scenarios of why this ‘new’
guy wasn’t biting like the rest crossed his mind. Married?
Already has a girlfriend back in Corvallis?
He chuckled to himself at his next thought. Gay?
“That would be history repeating itself, my dove.” He ate the last piece of grilled chicken and worked on the rest of the romaine lettuce. His recollection of how Trina had tried to seduce him when they first met made them both laugh now. At first, when he was sitting across from a jewelry case from her, she poured on the charm. He assumed it was for the big sales commission. It was the second week of December, and the shop was decked out in Christmas lights and garland. Everything inside the room sparkled, especially the diamonds.
He had to admit he was enamored with a woman as pretty as Trina, batting her long dark lashes, giggling at his bad jokes, and sliding solid eighteen-carat gold Rolexes on and off his left wrist. Of course he could never afford one of those. But it was fun pretending and having Trina compliment him.
“That looks so good on you!” she would squeal, “You need to own one.”
In the end all he could afford was a recondition stainless steel Oyster perpetual. Still, a Rolex was a Rolex. Even though she didn’t get the big sale from him, she still treated him like he was a king.
It had been so long since a man or woman had lavished upon him such flattery and attention, he was wondering if he could give being straight a try.
He succumbed to Trina’s wily ways instantly. They exchanged numbers and he told her he would call her for a drink. It was on the drive home with the heavy watch on his wrist that reality hit him. He knew he would never touch her sexually. When he didn’t call her the next day, he was stunned she called him. Her powers of persuasion went well past the sales floor. He agreed to meet her for drinks.
It wasn’t until their third ‘date’ that he admitted he was gay. As the topic of conversation became about marriage and children, Gavin thought it was wrong to mislead Trina in any way.
At first Gavin thought Trina was going to punch him because she appeared angry. But after apologizing to her, she softened up her furious expression and they seemed to get along even better without the pressure of coupling.
Gavin finished his salad and drank his beer, lost in his thoughts.
Prior to him telling Trina he was gay, on their first few dates, though it seemed expected, Gavin never kissed Trina. She did lean forward when they said goodnight, indicating her desire to lock lips. During their dinner she touched his arm, his fingers, and played footsie under the table.
He tipped the bottle up, finishing the beer, stood, and rinsed the plastic container from the salad and tossed it and the bottle into recycling. He washed his hands and the fork, then opened a second beer and headed to the bathroom to check out how he looked. No, Trina wasn’t his girlfriend, but he still wanted to look presentable.
He’d showered after his workout at the gym. He sniffed his tshirt. It was a clean one, not the one he wore to work under his uniform shirt. He brushed his hair. Since he had just let it dry naturally, he decided to use a little styling gel on his fingers to fluff it up to just the right messy-controlled look he liked. He brushed his teeth but still tasted garlic.
Entering his bedroom, he changed out of the casual blue jeans he was wearing into a pair of tight black jeans. He returned to the living room, shutting the television and putting on a music CD. Once he felt prepared, he grabbed his beer and stood out on the deck which faced Phinney Avenue to watch the world go by. It was a rare clear night and if a large tree wasn’t in the way, he would be able to see Mt Rainier peeking over the southern skyline. He craned his neck to the third floor and imagined they had a better view.
Each level had a small outside deck. Gavin wished he had time to get to know his neighbors. He made a mental note to go to the next condo board meeting. Though he hated the useless meetings, he at least may meet a few of the people who lived on top of and beside him.
He spotted Trina’s Camry drive by. She passed the condo, made a U-turn, and parked in front of the main entrance. Gavin walked through his home, placed his beer on the counter, and headed to the lobby to meet her and let her in before she used the intercom.
“Hi, Gavie!” She hugged and kissed him, wiping at the trace of lipstick on his cheek.
“You didn’t have to dress up to hang out in my living room.”
He held the lobby door open for her.
“You stink like garlic.” She waved her hand in front of her face and walked to his open condo door.
“I had a Caesar salad. But I just brushed my teeth.” He followed her, closing his door behind him.
“No kisses tonight!” She laughed, opening
his refrigerator and taking out a bottle of water. “Do you have chocolate?”
“I have ice cream and Dilettante chocolate sauce.”
“Yes, please!” She opened the water bottle and drank it.
“Coming right up. How about I make us sundaes?”
“Mm!” She leaned on the counter and pouted. “He didn’t call or text today. Why, Gav? We had such a good time.”
“You said the guy was an exec at Boeing. Maybe he’s working overtime.” He took chocolate chip ice cream out of the freezer to soften and removed two bowls from the cupboard.
“Maybe.” She exhaled loudly. “Do you have whipped cream?”
“No. But I can run to the store across the street and get some.”
“Please?”
“No problem.” He patted his pocket for his keys and wallet.
“You want to wait here?”
“Yes. I’ll just mope on my own.”
“Be right back.” He slipped on a pair of shoes at the door.
“And rainbow sprinkles!”
He winked. “You got it.”
Gavin jogged down the hall and out the lobby door. He waited for a break in the traffic, sprinting across the street, and entered the convenience store, hunting down the items quickly. Paying, taking the small bag and jogging out, he crossed the street again and glanced at the balcony above his. It was the same corner, on the third floor. A handsome man was holding a beer, watching him from over the balcony wall.
If he didn’t have Trina waiting, he might find the balls to wave and say something about the nice weather or the view of Mt Rainier. But he did have Trina waiting, so his attention was on the lobby door. He used his key, and then moved at a fast trot down the hall to his condo.
Once inside he set the bag on the counter, kicked off his shoes and washed his hands. Trina was sitting cross-legged on his spongy beige velour sofa, her water bottle in her hand, appearing upset.
“If you don’t like the music, put something else on.” Gavin stuck the chocolate sauce into the microwave to heat while he scooped out the softened ice cream.