It was already a quarter past seven. Damn! I was late for my appointment with a very promising new client. I paced furiously as I waited for Bob to pick me up. He had promised to meet me in front of my office building at seven o'clock sharp.
I called his cell phone again. Still no answer. My head began to pound and I took a deep breath. Seeing my entire commission slip away, I called the client and cancelled the appointment with a lame excuse.
No longer having any reason to wait for my ride, I strolled down the street. I had no destination in mind, but I did not want to call a cab for a ride home. Not yet.
After a few blocks of aimless wandering, I heard the blaring music that poured out of the doors of The Hideaway, a gay disco that caters to the younger set. The Hideaway maintained a separate bar area so there was no age limit or carding at the door. I'd been there once before hoping to pick up someone younger but I had struck out.
On the spur of the moment, I decided to enter. The night was still quite young so the place was not crowded by any means. The men that were milling around seemed to be mostly college students, with a smattering of those young enough to still be in high school. And every one of them seemed to be firmly attached.
I bought a drink (non-alcoholic - I would have had to stay in the bar if I wanted something stronger) and watched the young men grind their hips out on the dance floor. There were only a few couples dancing. The most attractive couple were both younger men who were oblivious to the rest of the world. Their eyes saw only each other and their lips frequently touched. Ah, to be a lover in love again.
Over the next hour, the place really began to fill up. The volume of the music went up too. The few singles that had arrived were all 'older' men in their thirties and forties. I really had made a mistake by coming to a place like this by myself. I set myself a deadline of ten more minutes before I would call a taxi and go home.
No sooner had I done so when the most gorgeous Asian boy walked in. By himself. The eyes of every single man there were upon him, as were half of the eyes of those who were not alone. I mean, he exuded sex, both in the way that he was dressed and in the way that he moved.
The man seated next to me must have noticed my tongue hanging out. "Don't bother with him. His name's Akio. He's still in high school. Jail bait, if you know what I mean. He comes in here, flaunts his looks, messes with men's minds, and leaves by himself. Nothing but a flirt and a tease because he knows they want him but can't have him."
Disenchanted, I got up and left, having to brush right past Akio on my way out. I didn't bother to turn around to give him one last look. I called for a cab, waited impatiently for it to show, and went home.
Two weeks later, I was jogging along the park trail late in the afternoon when I passed him. He had stopped to tie his shoe against a tree. Did I mention how sexy he looked before? That was nothing compared to how he looked now. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt that was cut off to expose his entire midsection. And those tight Spandex shorts did little to hide that bulge he was packing.
While I stared when I saw him, I remembered the warning the man had given me at The Hideaway. I reluctantly averted my eyes and kept jogging. Disappointments I could handle; trouble I did not need.
"Mind if I jog with you?"
The sudden voice beside me shook me out of my reverie. I had not heard any footsteps approaching me from behind. I glanced at the person who had overtaken me and almost squeaked to see that it was him.
"Sure," I responded. "No problem." I kept my eyes glued to the trail ahead and we jogged in silence for the next two minutes.
"Do you jog here often?" he asked.
What? Was he going to try to draw me into a conversation so that I would get hooked on him so that he could dump me? I could feel myself getting upset, then realized I was perhaps attributing motives to him that didn't exist. "Yeah, three times a week."
Another minute of silence ensued. One thing that I like about the park trail is that it is flat. I can maintain a steady pace for the entire length which leads back to the starting point. I normally run two loops on Mondays and Thursdays and three loops on Saturdays.
"I come here quite a bit too, but usually earlier in the day."
"That's nice." I could not help but wonder if he came out here to find men whose minds he could mess with.
We arrived at the end of the trail and I stopped, fully expecting him to keep going. "I'm done for today. See ya later." A friendly goodbye was the least I could send him away with.
"Yeah, I'm done too." He pulled up beside me and we exited the trail together. "Do you live around here?"
Now what kind of question was that? "Just a couple of blocks from here. A short cool-down walk." I was brusque in my reply, not wanting to continue the conversation. I started for home.
"Are you upset with me? Have I done something wrong?" His question threw me off balance.
"No. Why?" Man, he was messing with my mind already and it was working. What I really needed to do was to cut him loose.
"For starters, I asked if I could jog with you, but you've done nothing but give me a cold shoulder the whole time. Is there anything wrong with having a friendly jog?"
"Yeah, well, I came out here to jog, not to talk."
"And a couple of weeks ago, I saw you at The Hideaway. You brushed past me on your way out and you seemed upset then too."
"My friend didn't come to pick me up. I was upset." We had reached my house and, without thinking, I turned up the walk to the porch. He followed me.
"Aren't you going to invite me in? I could use a drink of water."
I stared at him, flabbergasted by his brashness, awestruck by his beauty. I turned and opened the door. He followed me in without the invitation and I did nothing to stop him. I went into the kitchen and grabbed two bottled waters from the refrigerator. I tossed him one, then started to go upstairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To take a shower. I like to take a shower after I jog. Don't you?" Oops. Wrong question.
"Sure. Do you have a towel I can use?"
I was astounded by his audacity, but I showed him the way to the guest bathroom and provided him with a towel, washcloth, shampoo and soap. I then went upstairs and took a long, cool shower, doing my best not to think of the handsome young hunk that was naked in my house with me, even if he was downstairs and I was upstairs.
After I finished, I put on a cool summer outfit - a polo shirt and shorts - and went back downstairs.
I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't to see him with nothing on except for the towel wrapped around his waist. But what was I to have expected - that he had put back on his sweaty Spandex shorts?
He had found a bottle of champagne and had poured out two glasses, each less than half full. As I approached, he handed me one of the glasses.
"What's this for? What are you doing here anyway?" I was upset and ready to throw him out of the house dressed just as he was.
"This is to celebrate. But before we do, I want to know why you are ignoring me. Most men I meet have their tongues hanging out of their mouths and would bend over backwards to get me alone in their house with them. But you have given me nothing but cold looks. You are gay, aren't you?"
"Yes, you are right about that. But I happen to know that you are underage, and I think it would be best if you got some clothes on. If necessary, I can rummage up something that will fit you. You are putting me in a very awkward situation. You shouldn't be here."
He smiled and nodded his head as though in agreement. "You are right to be concerned. I don't mean to put you in a compromising situation. But I was hoping that you could help me celebrate and make up for lost time."
He leaned against the wall and let the towel drop from his waist. He was wearing fishnet briefs that hid his none of his private parts. Wow! I mean, double WOW!
He smiled and said, "Because you see, today is my eighteenth birthday."