by A. Anders
Cristiano wasn’t expecting this. All he was hoping for was someone who would know who he was. How could he possibly handle a full day at work?
“Seriously? I lost my memory.”
“Yeah, but you remember the drinks. Think of it like your first day at a new job. You don’t remember anyone’s name, you don’t know how to do anything, but no one expects you to.”
“But, I don’t understand. Why would you want someone who can’t remember their own name to work behind the bar?”
“Okay, here’s the thing. Tina, do you remember Tina? What am I saying? Of course you don’t. Anyway, Tina quit two days ago. I’ve been scrambling trying to fill her shifts on top of yours. You might not remember my name or anyone else’s, but hiring you would be a hell of a lot easier than finding and training two new people while filling shifts until I do.”
Cristiano had sympathy for Wesley situation. He wasn’t sure if it was because they had been friends or because he had been in a situation like that in his past. Either way, Cristiano saw this as a great opportunity to reenter his old life and maybe spark some memories.
“You know what? I’ll do it. You’re going to have to train me from scratch, though. Seriously, I don’t remember anything,” he said to a relieved Wesley.
It turned out that Cristiano remembered more than he thought. Just like making drinks were a part of his muscle memory, so was working the cash register. All of the prep work seemed pretty obvious given the situation and in a few minutes, Cristiano felt more confident than he had since his accident.
Deciding that his first shift would be the following day, Cristiano headed for home with a smile on his face. Not only was he now employed, but a very good looking guy had given him his number. As he walked home he debated whether or not he should call him. His body seemed to tingle as he thought about it. He couldn’t explain why but the idea of calling him made Cristiano excited.
Back home Cristiano scoured his place for anything else that would be a clue to who he was. He also looked for his phone. Not only did he not find anything else as helpful as the email signature, but he couldn’t find a phone anywhere. What type of apartment didn’t have a phone?
Cristiano was digging through his closet when he heard a doorbell echo through the apartment. He froze. Who in the world could that be? Apprehensive, he crossed the hallway entering the living room. Looking out of the window before opening the door he saw someone familiar.
Opening the door, he asked, “Lucy, what are you doing here?”
“I felt really bad about what I did, so I thought I could make it up to you. You were right, I don’t know what your favorite food is. So I drove around to every Spanish restaurant in Los Angeles and got dishes from your region of Spain. Since neither of us knows your favorite foods, I thought we could rediscover them together,” she said holding up five plastic bags.
Cristiano was moved by her gesture. In spite of everything she had done, this was genuinely very sweet of her. “Come in,” he said gesturing in front of him.
“I also remember you telling me about one of your favorite movies. I looked it up. It’s available on Netflix. I thought maybe we could Netflix and chill,” she suggested with an impish smile.
“What’s Netflix?”
“It’s a way to watch movies. It’s not important,” she said dismissively. “Why don’t you just sit and relax. I’ll take care of everything.”
Taking her suggestion, Cristiano sat on the couch and watched Lucy circle the kitchen. When she was done there seemed like an endless number of plates on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Okay,” Lucy began. “These dishes here are from northern Spain. These are from central Spain. And these are from southern Spain but I’m told that they’re popular everywhere,” she said with a smile.
Cristiano was very impressed. Not only had he not expected anything like this from Lucy, but the food really was very good. As he ate he found some of the flavors familiar. He couldn’t say from where but they did conjure a warm feeling within him.
The movie was also very good. He had to trust Lucy that it was really his favorite but from a pure entertainment perspective, he was engrossed from beginning to end.
“Did you enjoy it?” Cristiano asked Lucy once it was done.
“I don’t actually speak Spanish,” she admitted after sitting through a two-hour Spanish movie without subtitles.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked a little embarrassed. “We didn’t have to watch this. I’m sure we could’ve found something else.”
Lucy put her hand on Cristiano’s forearm. “No, we were watching this movie for you. The only thing that’s important is whether or not you enjoyed it.”
“I enjoyed it very much. What did you say it was called again?”
“Y Tu Mamá También,” Lucy said butchering the pronunciations.
“I must remember that. Thank you.” Cristiano looked at Lucy softening to her. “So, what do you suggest we do now?”
Lucy blushed. “Well, we just watched Netflix, maybe we should chill.”
“Do you mean we should relax on the couch?”
Lucy looked at Cristiano unsure if he was being daft on purpose. Either way, she decided it was better to take things slow.
“Yes. I was saying that we can relax on the couch.”
With Lucy in his arms, Cristiano thought again about Pete, the man who had given him his number. Although he had to remember to ask Lucy about his phone, Cristiano decided that he wouldn’t be calling the good looking man. There was more to Lucy than his first impression of her. Perhaps he could have a future with her after all.
Cristiano
Chapter 5
After hinting that he wanted to get some sleep, he woke up the next day alone. It had been a nice night.
Lucy had promised to drop off his cell phone before he headed to work. It turned out that the hospital had given it to her when she had checked him out. Cristiano made clear that he didn’t want to spend the day together and Lucy had seemed okay with that. Expecting that they would get together the following day, everything began to feel all right in Cristiano’s world.
That night when he went in for his shift, everything also went well. There was some awkwardness when he had to explain to his fellow bartender that he didn’t remember who she was. Her reaction made him think that there once might’ve been more to their relationship than just being co-workers. Cristiano couldn’t be sure, though. All he could do was focus on remembering her name and doing the job that seemed to be second nature to him.
It was later in the night after Cristiano hit his stride that something unexpected happened. As he was making drinks and having conversations with the folks at the bar, his eyes darted to the door. Someone familiar had entered. It was the good looking man from the coffee shop. What was he doing here? Heat prickled across Cristiano’s face as he watched him.
Spotting Cristiano behind the bar, Pete smiled. Unsure of what to do, Cristiano smiled back. That brought Pete over and with an open bar stool directly in front of Cristiano, Pete slid in and made himself comfortable.
“You’re here. I wasn’t sure that you would be,” Pete said joyfully.
Suddenly very nervous, Cristiano did his best to seem as casual as possible. “Yeah, I didn’t expect to be. When I came in I found out that they were short staffed. I could still remember how to make drinks, so…” He said with a shrug.
“Well, I’m glad to see you. You didn’t call.”
Cristiano looked at Pete taken aback by his directness. “No. I couldn’t find my phone.”
Pete smiled. “Did you forget where you put it?”
Cristiano smiled back. “Something like that.”
Pete ordered a drink and the two talked for the rest of the night. Cristiano was amazed by how his body was responding to Pete. As the night went on, he found himself getting hard every time he would return to their conversation. All of this was unexplainable to Cristiano. He was engaged to Lucy. A
t least, that was what she told him. Could all of that have been a lie? Could his true feelings be for men like Pete?
“So, you lost your memory and woke up with a fiancé you don’t know?” Pete asked repeating Cristiano’s story.
“That’s the gist of it.”
“And, do you love her?”
“I don’t know her. How can you love someone you don’t know?”
“Well, when you’re with her do you feel… passion?”
Cristiano’s mouth slowly opened about to speak. Grateful to find someone at the bar in search of a drink, he tabled the thought. “How about if I get back to you on that,” he said stepping away from Pete.
How could he answer that question, he wondered. They had had sex together and it had been very hot. But his body didn’t have the visceral reaction to Lucy that it did to Pete. Did his feelings for Lucy count as passion? Cristiano didn’t know.
What he did know was that he was beginning to have very strong feelings for Pete. He wanted to touch his body and strip him naked. He didn’t know what this said about him but there was no way that Cristiano could deny the truth.
“So, what do you say? Do you have passion for her?” Pete asked as soon as Cristiano returned.
“Lucy is great. There were a couple of times when I felt she wasn’t being completely honest with me. But I wonder if it has something to do with the way she was raised.”
“What do you mean?” Pete asked curiously.
“I think she’s some sort of heiress.”
“Heiress?” Pete asked surprised.
“Yeah. Lucy Hollingsworth. I think her father owns some big company or something. She doesn’t like to talk about him much. I don’t think they get along.”
Pete stared at Cristiano with his mouth hanging open.
“What?” Cristiano asked. “Do you know her?”
Pete paused for a moment. “How would I know her?” He said gathering himself. “Girls who come from money, they’re usually more trouble than they’re worth.”
Cristiano considered that. “Maybe.”
It was then that Cristiano’s bar mate approached him and stretched up to whisper into his ear. “It’s last call,” she said to Cristiano’s dismay.
“So, it’s last call,” Cristiano repeated to Pete.
“So soon?”
Cristiano chuckled. He knew the feeling.
“What are you doing after this?” Pete asked.
Cristiano felt his heart pound in his ears. “Afterwards? I’m just going home. But I have a whole bunch of stuff I need to do here first. At least I think I do. I can’t remember,” he said with a smile.
Pete smiled back. “Okay. Then, hurry up and get your work done. You had to work hard tonight. You had to talk to me all night,” he said jokingly.
“Actually, that was the easiest part,” Cristiano said feeling his face turning red.
Staring at Cristiano with a devilish look in his eyes, Pete got up, tapped the bar with his hand, and walked out. Pete leaving felt abrupt. After talking for so long, Cristiano was at least expecting a goodbye.
Was Pete upset about something? Should he have not told Pete about Lucy? He got a little weird after he had brought her up. Did Pete now think that he wasn’t interested? Because, truth be told, Cristiano was. He hated having to admit it but he was definitely interested.
The question now was how and when he was going to talk to Pete again. He still had his number so that wasn’t a problem. But the way that Pete had left things had made it awkward. Perhaps he should call him tonight, Cristiano thought. Would that be too soon?
Cristiano rolled the thought around in his head as he ushered the last patron out and did his part to clean up the bar.
“You did pretty well for someone who can’t remember their own name,” the other bartender said playfully.
“Yeah. I guess there are some things you just don’t forget.”
“And I guess there are some things that are just forgettable,” the woman said with a mask of a smile. “But maybe your tastes have changed.”
Cristiano looked at her confused. “What do you mean?”
“I saw you talking to that guy. What’s up with that?”
Cristiano felt panic confronted with her question. Who had he been before? Was his attraction to Pete completely out of character?
Back at Lucy’s place he had done online research on memory loss. Apparently, it was possible for people to develop unrecognizable personalities after they lost their memory. Was this what was happening to him? Did he begin the car crash straight and end it gay?
The idea disturbed him. If this was true then what did it say about his potential future with Lucy? The only thing he could be sure about was that he was attracted to Pete. In fact, he had to stop himself from immediately running home and calling the good looking man. There was no denying the way he felt about Pete. And judging by the way his cock throbbed in his pants, there was no resisting it either.
“I was just being friendly to a customer,” Cristiano told his coworker in answer to her question.
“Friendly, huh?”
“Yeah. I had met him yesterday across the street. Hey, I only know four people’s names. It’s not like I can afford to lose friends,” he said humorously.
The woman looked at Cristiano unsure of what to believe. Eventually, she conceded. “Oh, okay. And I’m really sorry to hear about your accident. That must really suck.”
“It’s not fun,” he replied glad to be free of her previous line of questioning. “Anyway, I’ll head out if everything’s good here.”
“No, feel free to go.”
Dismissed, Cristiano’s thoughts returned to Pete. When should he call him? Was tonight too soon?
Cristiano exited the front of the bar and took a step to his right when he heard a man’s voice call out from behind him.
“Cristiano?” The voice said drawing his attention.
When Cristiano turned around a cold chill crawled across his body. It was Pete. He had waited for him. Why had he done that?
“I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye,” Pete said hurrying to him. “You said that you wrecked your car, do you need a ride anywhere?”
Cristiano considered Pete’s offer. It was a nice gesture. “I live close by. It’s probably easier if I walk.”
“Then how about if I walk with you?” Pete asked with a smile.
Cristiano could barely believe this was happening. Or, was it happening? What the hell was happening? Cristiano wondered as he slowly lost his will to resist.
“Yeah, you can walk with me.”
For the first block and a half, both men were silent. The sexual tension between the two was inescapable. Cristiano wanted so badly to reach out and touch him. How could he do that, though? His heart thumped as he tried to figure it out.
“So, where’s your place?”
“It’s right up here,” he said gesturing. ‘Wait a minute,’ he thought. ‘Was he expecting to be invited in? Did Pete think that this was a hookup?’
Cristiano was sure that Pete could hear his thumping heart beat as the two walked. Cristiano didn’t know what he would do if Pete asked to come in. He had to refuse him, didn’t he?
He again thought about Pete’s hands touching his naked body. His hard cock throbbed uncontrollably. Cristiano peeked over at Pete. He wasn’t looking down. Maybe he didn’t notice how hard Cristiano was.
“So, this is my place,” Cristiano said turning to Pete.
It was in that moment that Pete step forward grabbed the sides of Cristiano’s face and pressed his lips against Cristiano’s. Cristiano had been unprepared for it. It took him a second to adjust to what was happening but once he did he gripped the back of Pete’s neck with one hand and his taut back with his other.
Taking control, Cristiano spun Pete around pressing his back against the apartment’s front door. The heat that wafted between them was second only to the sound of the two men stealing breaths during their kiss.
Cristiano pushed his hard cock against Pete’s feeling like he was on fire. Cristiano could have fucked him right there and then if he wasn’t interrupted by a thought of Lucy.
“No, wait. We can’t,” Cristiano said peeling himself away.
“Why not? Because of Lucy?”
“Yeah. I need to resolve that first. I owe her that much.”
“What do you owe her? Didn’t you say that she lied to you?” Pete asked desperate to kiss Cristiano again.
“It’s not about what I owe her exactly. It’s about the type of man I wanna be. I don’t know who I was. I don’t know how much I’ve changed. But I do know how I want to treat people. I need to talk to her first. Maybe, after that…” Cristiano let his words drift off but he was sure that Pete knew what he was thinking.
It was difficult and both men were frustrated, but Pete respected Cristiano’s request and released the mocha-skinned man from his desirous grasp.
“Okay. You know what’s best. But please, no matter what, call me. Do you understand?”
Cristiano smiled. “I promise, no matter what, I’ll call you. And this time I have a phone to do it with.”
Pete smiled and tapped Cristiano’s chest like he had tapped the bar before he left. “I’ll talk to you soon, then.”
“I promise,” Cristiano said still burning with desire for Pete.
Pete made a gesture as if he were going to kiss Cristiano goodbye but then changed his mind and walked off. Cristiano watched him go. It was only after he was out of sight that Cristiano looked around to see who might have seen what had just gone on.
All of the windows looking out onto Cristiano’s porch were dark. Maybe he had gotten away with his brazen affection for another man. Perhaps he could pretend like it didn’t happen and no one would be the wiser. Was that what he wanted, though? Cristiano had to talk to Lucy and find out.
Cristiano
Chapter 6
When Cristiano woke up the next morning he knew what he had to do. Knowing what he had to do and doing it were two different things, however. Whatever his relationship was with Lucy, Cristiano knew that he needed space to explore whatever was happening with Pete. It would be unfair to Lucy if they continued on with him having the feelings that he did. After all, it was possible that the accident had made him gay.