Disclaimer - This story is fictional. I am in no way associated to Hayden Christensen, nor do I claim to know his sexual preference. This story has elements of same sex relationships which may not be suitable to all audiences. My use of Star Wars references are in no way licensed to me, and are owned by George Lucas and Lucasfilm.
------------------------------ The sundae was scoffed up sooner than they expected. All that was left was the obligatory cherry which they had both politely left for the other to take instead. Thinking that the other wasnt interesting in it, they both reached for the cherry at the same time. Their hands touched each other as they both held the cherry. This was the first time they had made skin contact outside of a handshake. They looked up from the cherry and their gazes met. They looked deep into each other's eyes.
The touched seemed to last forever. Hayden had not been in this sort of contact with another guy for a very long time. He enjoyed it. It was new to him again. It was wild and exciting. He did not know how to react, what to do, or what to say. But he knew that he didnt want to fight the feelings that he had.
At the same time, Tyrone thought almost the exact same thing, but, he was afraid at the reasons behind this seemingly innocent encounter that he was having with Hayden. It had become something much more than a crush. He was leading himself to believe that he might even be able to fall for Hayden. But why? Who was he fooling. Hayden had said he would only be in Sydney for another two and a half months, then he would leave. And Tyrone would be alone.
Tyrone was the first to break the gaze. He moved his eyes to his empty plate and moved his hand away. A look of disappointment came over Hayden.
"You go ahead and have it', Tyrone offered.
"Are you sure?" Hayden said.
"Yeah, you're the guest here".
Hayden reluctantly nibbled at the cherry. He was disappointed at himself. Did he do something wrong? He could not bring himself to ask.
"Should I ask the waiter to bring the bill?" Tyrone asked.
"Bill? Oh you mean the check! Yes, OK" Hayden replied.
Tyrone called over the waiter and asked him to bring the bill for the table. He promptly brought over a little black tray with an American Express logo on it with a white carbon reciept that stated the total of the evening's meal. Hayden immediately took it upon himself to receive the tray.
"Hey!" Tyrone said."What do you think you're doing Mister?"
"Look, you picked me up and took me out, I think it's fair that I should pay" Hayden said, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket and whipping out his credit card. It was one of the new see-through American Express cards. He tried to hide his last name from Tyrone so he immediately placed it under the receipt on the tray.
"Oooh, nice!" Tyrone said, breaking out of his daze.
The waiter took the card and the tray to the cashier and returned soon after with a pen that he handed Hayden to sign with. Hayden obliged and handed the waiter the tray. The waiter handed Hayden his receipt and thanked him, in a strangely friendly way.
Tyrone looked at the waiter oddly, then looked at Hayden. "Can I have a look at that receipt?" he asked.
Hayden showed him the carbon copy of the receipt, making sure he blocked the part that had his name. Hayden had tipped the waiter $15 dollars.
"Oh my god, Hayden, you know you didnt need to do that, Australian's dont really expect tips you know." Tyrone said.
"I know, I'm just used to it that's all" Hayden replied. "Besides, that was only $7.50 back in the US."
"Fair enough"
Tyrone picked his phone, keys and wallet off the table and they headed for the doors.
"So, what do you have planned to do now, Mr Sydney?" Hayden said.
"Actually... I better be heading home. I've got classes tomorrow as well." Tyrone said, trying to sound sincere.
"Oh, OK, yeah I suppose I better get an early night too. I really should catch up on my sleep, I'm still a little jet lagged." Hayden said, wanting not to sound too disappointed.
They got into Tyrone's car and headed back towards the city to the Sheraton. Not much was said on the way back. Tyrone had put Madonna's "Music" album on the CD player and Hayden accused him of having typically gay music. Tyrone was somewhat happy that Hayden was so comfortable now that they could tease each other like this.
They drove past one of the theatres called the Theatre Royal where Tyrone did work every now and then. Tyrone pointed it out and made a joke about old grannies only wanting to see the plays and musicals in the afternoon because they weren't allowed out at night due to the curfew imposed at the retirement villages.
They reached the Sheraton and Tyrone pulled into the hotel driveway. A valet attendant motioned to Tyrone, asking him if he needed the car parked. Tyrone shook his head, and pulled to the side of the driveway, behind an airport transfer van.
"So, are you sure you dont want to come up and have a drink or something upstairs?" asked Hayden.
"Nah, I better not, it's 10:30. I'll end up being late for college tomorrow", Tyrone said.
"Hmmm, OK then, well listen, do you have a pen? I'll give you my room number. If you ever want to contact me, you can call the hotel and leave a message for the answering service." Hayden said.
Tyrone opened the glove box and fumbled for a pen. He had forgetten about the half used pack of condoms in there, and one of the loose condoms fell out. Tyrone turned pink. Hayden laughed. Tyrone handed him the pen, and threw the fallen condom back into the glove box. Hayden scribbled his room number down on a piece of paper.
"I'm gonna put it in here so you don't lose it OK?" Hayden said, stuffing the piece of paper into Tyrone's jacket breast-pocket. "Would you like to do this again sometime?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure, why not." Tyrone said, with a weak smile.
"OK, great! Well when you find out when you're free next, give me a call and let me know, and we can try an arrange something. I'll look forward to getting that invitation as well.", Hayden smiled.
"OK, I'll try to get that done for you tomorrow." Tyrone said.
"Look, I really had a great time tonight. Thanks for having dinner with me" Hayden said, choosing his words carefully.
"No problem. It was my pleasure", Tyrone replied.
It seemed like the perfect time for a good-bye kiss. Instead, what followed was an awkward silence and Hayden contemplated whether or not he should take the initiative. He decided against it, and gave Tyrone one of his charming smiles instead.
"Bye Tyrone! Have a good night!" He said stepping out of the car.
"You too!" Tyrone said.
Hayden climbed up the steps looking behind him. Tyrone pulled out of the hotel driveway. He glanced at the rear-view mirror before he joined the traffic on the street to check if he could still see Hayden. He was still standing there. Eventually, there was a safe gap in the traffic and Tyrone was gone.
Hayden turned around, walked up to the revolving doors and made his way to the elevator. He stepped into the first one that arrived and hit button with the number 12. Hayden looked at the reflection of himself on the walls of the elevator, he ran the evenings events in his head and was slightly annoyed with himself that the evening did not end on a high note as it was during dinner. The elevator signaled that it reached the 12th floor and the doors opened. He stepped off the elevator and pulled out his wallet. He walked down the hallway to his room and unlocked the door with his keycard.
He wondered if Tyrone felt the same way about him. Tyrone might have grown tired of the fact that Hayden relentlessly avoided certain topics which obviously needed to be discussed. He feared that this might turn Tyrone off. He wanted to tell Tyrone, but he just wanted it to be at the right place at the right time. Hayden entered his room and closed the door behind him. He flicked his wallet and hotel keycard onto the counter. He liked this room. It wasn't like the usual suites that he was given. He had added his own feel to it in the two weeks that he had already lived there. It was lonely being by himself, but he managed to add a touch of home by leaving his clothes in disarray on the floor. It seemed almost welcoming. He also had a Canadian flag tucked over one of the paintings in the room, and a row of books on the dresser. Most of which were used to research his role as the new Anakin Skywalker. He thought for a moment that the hotel housekeeping may have been suspicious of him. He had not taken the "Do Not Disturb" sign off his door since he arrived. He smiled to himself at the thought of being mysterious. It was very Darth Vader.
He noticed something a red blinking light on the night stand. It was the phone. He had a message. He sat on the side of the bed, lifted the receiver and pressed the button that was flashing.
"You have 'THREE' new messages", stated the electronic female voice.
"Received at 8:39pm. 'Hayden, it's Mom, I hope you're doing OK. I just wanted to call and check on you. Give me a call on my cell when you get this message'". His mother rang every third day, she was always concerned about him when he was travelling alone. He smiled to himself again at her warm, familiar voice. He missed her.
"Received at 9:07pm. .................................". It was a hang up, he wondered who it might have been.
"Received at 9:11pm. 'Hayden, it's George, there seems to be problem. You've got to leave. Give me a call on 0414 104 709 as soon as you get this message. I'll be up most of the night'" It was George Lucas. His voice had an strange urgency to it. He knew something was wrong.
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