by G. A. Hauser
“No. It’s okay.” She got off the couch and stood on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, which had high bar stools near it. Sitting down, she put the empty water bottle on the counter and propped her jaw in her hand. “Should I have married David?”
Gavin thought about the last fiancé she had dumped. He liked David, a lot. He was one of the kindest men Gavin had met, and the breakup of the engagement as Trina and David began to discuss wedding plans had devastated the poor man.
“I always thought you and David were a good match.” The microwave bell sounded. Gavin took the sauce out of the oven with a mitt and poured it over the ice cream.
“Should I call him?”
“No. You killed the guy. Don’t fuck with him.”
“I didn’t kill him.” She dipped her finger into the chocolate in one of the bowls and stuck it into her mouth.
Gavin shook the whipped cream can and opened the top.
“You did. The poor guy was crying like a baby on that sofa the day after you dumped him.” Gavin tilted his head to the couch Trina has just been lounging on.
“You never told me that.”
Gavin shrugged. He swirled the whipped cream into two peaks and then shook the colored sprinkles on them. He wedged a spoon in each and handed Trina one.
“Thank you, Gavie.” She tasted a spoonful. “Mm.”
After he put away the ingredients, he carried his bowl into the living room and sat with his back to the arm of the couch, folding his legs under him. Trina did the same on the opposite side, facing him.
“What did David say to you?” She licked the hot chocolate off the spoon.
“That he loved you, a lot. And he thought you guys had something special. I think he already imagined moving into your place on Queen Anne and having three kids.”
“Should I call him?”
“Trina…” Gavin shook his head.
“Then why hasn’t Toby called me yet? Do you believe he didn’t kiss me goodnight?”
As he observed Trina eat, he didn’t believe it. She was very sensual even when she wasn’t trying to be. Watching her eat the rich treat, her red painted lips drawing over the spoon like a Popsicle, he had to shake himself out of his thoughts. “I wish I knew the answers. I can’t even get my own sex life on track.”
“Why not? Gav, you’re really handsome. You definitely need me to ask around for a gay man to set you up with.”
“No. Next topic.” He scooped the last bite of melted ice cream and sauce into his mouth.
“You know, he’s the only one besides you who didn’t try to kiss me on a date.”
Gavin glanced up at her quickly.
“What?” she asked, looking up from her bowl.
“Nothing.” He figured he’d never hear the end of it if he mentioned the possibility of Toby being gay. And it was unlikely. Why would Toby ask her out?
Wait a minute. I did.
He stood, reaching for her empty dish. She handed it to him. As he brought them to the sink, he asked, “You want to play a video game?”
“Ew. No.” She dug through her purse.
Gavin rinsed the bowls and put them into the dishwasher. While he wiped his hands he noticed her checking her phone.
“Anything?”
“No. Come here. What should I say?”
“Are you texting him?” He took his unfinished beer with him, and returned to his spot on the couch.
“Yes. Tell me what to say.”
“How about, just ask him how he is. Or say hi.” The first sip after the sugary ice cream tasted bitter.
She tapped her lip with a red fingernail. “I’ll say miss you.”
“Okay.” It wouldn’t have been his first choice, but Trina never did listen to his advice. The CD ended and the room became quiet except for the noise from the road outside. He relaxed his posture on the sofa, his arm on the back of the cushions, finishing his beer, watching her. “Want to walk around Greenlake?”
“Not in these shoes.” Her focus was on the phone.
“I could drive us to the waterfront. We could hang out for an hour.”
“Nah.”
After putting the empty bottle on the coffee table, Gavin propped his head up on his palm. “Did you send, ‘miss you’?”
“No. I decided to say I had a really good time Saturday night.” She kept staring at it, as if an answer would come back immediately.
“He’ll contact you. Not all of them are like your last four fiancés, chomping at the bit.”
She gave him a scolding glance.
“Sorry. But I’m only trying to help.”
“Should I have married David?”
He smiled. After she broke off each romance, she went through a period of questions, most of which, she answered herself. “How can I respond to that for you? You know I liked the guy.”
“If he was gay would you date him?”
“Yes.”
“Gavin!” She hit him on the leg.
“You asked. Don’t you want me to be honest?”
Her smile dropped. “I suppose. You’re my best friend. Right?”
“Right.” He reached out for her hand.
She was about to reciprocate when her phone buzzed. Eagerly she checked the message. “He said, I did too! With a smiley face.”
“There you go. All better now?”
“What should I say back?”
Before he opened his mouth she was texting. A few minutes passed where her attention was exclusively on Toby’s correspondence. Gavin got off the couch and opened the screen door, walking onto the deck and leaning on the wall to look at the movement of cars, and children playing in the grassy park which attached to the north-west side of the Woodland Park Zoo. Long-legged dogs leapt into the air to retrieve Frisbees, toddlers were tucked in boxy swings in the jungle gym, and teenagers were smoking in the convenience store lot. When the sun was out on a May evening in Seattle, everyone took advantage of it.
“Gavie?”
“Yeah, babe?” He spun around as Trina stood near the sliding door.
“I’m going to go.”
“Okay.” He walked her to his condo door. “Did you get lucky? Are you seeing Toby?”
“We’re going to meet at Greenlake. You know. Not walk, just sit on a bench or something. Are you mad?”
“No. Why should I be mad?” He could see the date with Toby had raised her spirits substantially.
“Thanks for the ice cream.” She hugged him, kissing his cheek.
“No problem. Have fun.”
“I will.” She waved as she walked down his hall, looking like a fashion model on a runway.
Gavin closed the door and stood to think. He needed to enjoy the good weather as well, at least for a few minutes. He put on his tennis shoes, shut the sliding door and grabbed his essentials to take with him.
Closing the condo and double locking it, he walked down the corridor as he considered mixing his weight workout to include running around the lake. When the weather turned warm and sunny, it only made sense.
Exiting the building out front, he looked for Trina’s car but no doubt she was already parking at Greenlake, searching for her new man. He stood at the corner of the block at Phinney Avenue and Fifty-Ninth Street, waiting for a break in the traffic to head to the Woodland Park playground. Before he stepped off the curb, the south side gate to his under-condo parking area began to open. Gavin stopped short at seeing his neighbor’s fabulous
’62 Vette again. He paused to admire it.
As the car pulled to the stop sign at Phinney Avenue, the man behind the wheel gave Gavin a stunning smile through the open window.
Gavin’s heart beat faster and he waved, smiling back. Hullo, Gorgeous!
The Corvette rocketed like a missile across the street and down the other side of the ridge, vanishing.
It took Gavin a minute to recover. “You live in my building?”
He laughed to himself as he crossed the street. A smile like that aimed my way
? You must be gay. Please. Pretty please. As he walked through the park, enjoying the mild temperatures, the sound of lawnmowers, and children playing, Gavin wondered how a gay man goes about figuring out if another occupant of his condo building is gay.
“You think it’s easy, Trina, but it’s not.” He stuffed his hands into his pocket and enjoyed the blooming trees as he walked. Chapter 5
The next day Gavin and his crew were at the base of Queen Anne hill working on a pole transfer. Even though it was nearing noon, Gavin glanced at every car that passed by to see if it was Trina. They were so close to her house, he could walk to her door. He was in the bucket of the truck, glancing down at the orange cones that directed traffic away from his men. As if Harvey noticed his lapse in concentration, he said,
“Hey, kid.”
“Yeah?” Gavin stopped what he was doing and looked down at him.
“What’s so interesting about the cars going by?”
“A friend lives close. I’m just curious if she’ll drive by.”
“Your girlfriend?”
“She’s just a friend.” Gavin assumed coming out at work, especially with Harvey Dyer as his training journeyman, was not worth the aggravation.
“Sure, kid.” He chuckled. “Sounds like you’re pretty hung up on her.”
Gavin removed his pliers from his tool belt. “I’ve known her for a long time.” He tried to split his attention, but kept his main focus on the job. A brand new power pole had been set a few feet away from the old one he was working on. It was his crew’s job to move everything over to the new pole which consisted of three high voltage wires and a ten foot long cross-arm.
“Is it serious?”
“No. I don’t think the two of us are suited for that.” He stared at the wiring, making sure he had done it right.
Harvey shouted something to Fred Maxwell that he didn’t hear well. Gavin only caught something about a sub-station and contacting the electrical constructors, but that was all. Gavin had no idea what the other men were talking about at the moment so he kept working.
Harvey yelled up to him, “So why’s this woman not the one?”
“I don’t know. Don’t they say you just know it?”
“How old are you?” Harvey teased. He knew how old Gavin was. “What are you waiting for old man?”
“Ha. Ha.” Gavin brushed off his hands and began lowering the bucket. As he drew closer, Harvey was able to speak without shouting.
“A good lookin’ guy like you?” Harvey shook his head and pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket. “Better watch it, kid. In this town when a guy isn’t married by thirtyfive, everyone figures they’re gay.” He flipped his lighter and puffed on the cigarette.
“Yeah. I know.” He stepped out of the bucket when it stopped, standing beside Harvey at ground level.
“You’re not gay, are you?” Harvey stood right in front of him, his face weathered and lined from smoking and working in inclement weather for nearly thirty years.
Though Gavin had an opportunity to come out, to be honest, he didn’t. No way. “No. I’m not, Harvey.”
“Then ask her to marry you.” He laughed, patting Gavin’s back as if he were relieved.
Gavin looked up at the houses on the hill and the six hundred foot KIRO telecommunication towers beyond it. He thought about marrying someone like Trina, even if he were straight. He was already dealing with a high maintenance job, Trina being hard to maintain was an understatement. She seemed to grow bored within months of a relationship, and demanded new and exciting adventures. Now the lure of Hawaii was singing its siren call to her.
She would go. Gavin had no doubt. And he would miss her.
“Go stand by the cones and make sure none of these clowns hit the truck.” Harvey entered the bucket and began ‘flying’ to the top of the pole.
Gavin knew Harvey was going to cut the old pole right above the phone and cable wires. Those companies would have to transfer their lines to the new pole as well. Last one done removed the old pole.
Gavin stood near the cones, keeping an eye on the traffic as he did.
~
As his day wound down and he finished dumping the salvage metal at the salvage dock, Gavin checked his phone for messages. When he didn’t have one from Trina, he was surprised. He texted her quickly, ‘ u ok?’
A second later she texted back. ‘ just sold a big diamond ring xx! ’
Few things made Trina as happy as selling expensive ‘bling’. I’m glad someone is happy.
By four-fifteen Gavin headed out the door, finished for the day. Sitting in his car, about to drive home, he heard his mobile phone ring tone. He patted his pockets and dug into his lunch bag to find it. He removed it from a side pouch of his insulated lunch container and read the caller ID. “Hi, Trina.”
“I sold a pair of three carat earrings as well as a two carat diamond ring. I’m top sales person now in the store.”
“Congrats.” He waved goodbye at some fellow co-workers who were heading to their cars.
“I have to tell you all about the date with Toby at Greenlake.”
“You get your kiss?”
“On the cheek!” She repeated as if he didn’t hear, “On. The. Cheek.”
“Better than nothing?”
As if the reply were obvious, she exhaled loudly. “I’m starving. Meet me somewhere for dinner?”
“Do you want me to cook?”
“No, too much trouble.”
“How about Pagliacci’s?” He started the car.
“How about Elliot’s? I’m craving salmon.”
“You had salmon the other day in Bellevue.”
“That was ages ago.”
“It was Saturday. Two days ago.”
“Are you being difficult on purpose?”
“No. I just wanted a cheap meal, like pizza.”
“No. I don’t want pizza.”
“How about Bizarro Café. You ate the duck ravioli and liked it there last time.”
“You remember what I ate? I can’t even remember going there.”
Gavin didn’t know why he remembered. “I’m sick of seafood, and I don’t like salmon.”
“Gaak! Don’t like salmon? You live in Seattle and you have to like salmon. You like salmon and coffee. You hear me? Or you have to move.”
He smiled. “Is that right?”
“Yes. We have rules here.”
“And when you move to Hawaii? You have to like pineapple and sugar cane?”
“Yes. Sorry, Gav. Those are the breaks.”
“Can we go to Bizarro? Please?”
“Where is it again?”
“The thirteen hundred block of north forty-sixth.”
“How about this? Can I go home and you can pick me up?”
“What if Mr. Wonderful calls?” Gavin checked his watch, hearing his stomach growl.
“Then he can pick me up from the restaurant or you can take me to him. Deal?”
“Sure. Meet you at your place.” Before Gavin backed out of his spot, he sniffed his shirt. He usually liked to shower before he went out, and change clothing. But his stomach was telling him to get food.
“See ya.”
He disconnected the call and put the phone on the passenger’s seat, heading to Queen Anne. He thought about Toby’s kiss on the cheek. Three dates? No kiss on the lips? Hmm. What is the story with that man?
~
On the drive to the restaurant, Trina sat beside him, staring out of the window.
“Well?” Gavin asked, assuming she would talk non-stop about her date at Greenlake.
“A kiss on the cheek?” She gave Gavin a roll of her eyes as commentary.
“You know, I’ve been speculating in my head about it.” He stopped for a traffic light.
“He’s gay, right, Gavin?” She shook her head and appeared angry.
“Well, maybe, but my first guess was he has a girlfriend back in Corvallis.”
“He’d better not.” She t
ook out her phone and checked it for missed texts.
“Have you asked him about his past relationships?” Gavin continued driving when the light changed.
“Not really.” She put the phone back into her red leather Coco Chanel purse.
“What do you guys discuss? You wanted to tell me all about your Greenlake date.”
“We talk about weird stuff. Well, he mostly sits there and I talk.”
Gavin smiled to himself.
“When I ask him what he’s thinking, he says, ‘nothing’ and tells me to go on with what I’m saying.” She inspected her fingernails. “How come the men I want to kiss won’t kiss me, and the ones I don’t want to kiss, do?”
“I have no idea why this guy doesn’t kiss you goodnight.”
Gavin wove his way through the back streets to the restaurant, avoiding Aurora and I-5. “Have you ever thought of just asking him?”
“No.” She whacked Gavin’s arm playfully. “I can’t ask him that. It’ll make it sound like I want him to.”
“Woman, you confuse the hell out of me.” Gavin parked his car in front of the restaurant. It was early evening on a Tuesday so the lot was nearly empty. He climbed out and opened Trina’s door for her.
Once Trina had gathered her purse and moved away from the car, Gavin closed the door, holding out his elbow for her. She hooked it and walked with him to the main entrance.
“I really wanted salmon, Gavie.”
He opened the door and she walked in first. “Maybe they have it as a special.” The aroma of cooking garlic and baked bread made his mouth water. He said, “Table for two,” when he approached the hostess.
She showed them to a table near the window. “How’s this?”
“Fine,” Gavin replied, seeing Trina appearing preoccupied with her dilemma. He pulled out Trina’s chair for her to sit, then relaxed across from her, taking the menu that was handed him.
“Can I get you each something to drink?”
Gavin perused the beer selection.
Trina said, “Can I have a glass of Chianti?”
“Certainly. And for you?”
“How about a glass of the Hale’s?”
“Very good. Your waitress will be right with you.”
Once the hostess left, Gavin stared at Trina. “Don’t let this get you down.”