It was one of those award banquets you have to go to. Noblesse oblige. Command performance, etc. I was half dressed up. The suit coat showed off my big barrel chest and the dress pants profiled my muscular legs. I wore my contact lenses tonight, just because, too. I chatted with some of the younger guys I knew there. We were late sitting down at an open table still chatting.
As the two guys I had been talking with started talking about the latest version of Assassin's Creed, I turned to the guy sitting on my right. Computer games are something I just don't do. Well, the two guys I had been talking with were attractive enough, but they were nothing like the guy I just turned to! This guy was seriously hot. I'm not a small guy. I'm 6'1 and a muscular 190 but this guy was even bigger. He had to be an inch or so taller, also muscular as well. He was as crammed into his suit coat as I was. I admired his biceps and big chest. We shook hands and introduced ourselves. Nice grip and nice hand, I thought. Nice face, too. He had chestnut brown hair that was fashionably long that framed his not too pretty face. His upturned small nose looked a bit in contrast to his big face and strong chin. His mouth was perfectly in proportion though. Generous even...
Since I'm old enough to be his father or even grandfather, I immediately started talking to him in a bantering tone. I no longer stand on ceremonies for anyone or anything. I teased him at his selection of food from the buffet, asking him why he hadn't tried everything like I had. He mock seriously replied that he knew what he liked and that was what he had. He wasn't about to try anything he didn't know. Well that set me off. I argued with him for a while about trying new things. He shrugged very handsomely about that. I tapped him on his strong shoulder a couple of times for emphasis. Finally I told him that when he turned thirty he was going to have to try new things or I'd come and "get him".
That made him break into a very nice smile and he said he hoped he would be as young as I am when he was as old as I was. That also made me smile. We lapsed into a comfortable silence and then the guys to our sides demanded our attention.
He got an award during the ceremony. A minor one, but still nice. I congratulated him and slapped him on his shoulder. I also wanted to slap his butt in a very sportsman kind of way, but stopped short of that. Since his suit coat covered his butt I couldn't even see it, but I was willing to bet it was just as fine as the rest of him was. When he left I even gave him a bro' hug. Nice. It was nice hugging a young guy bigger than me that was as muscular as I was.
He managed not to run me over in the parking lot as he drove his Volvo back to an apartment somewhere I guessed. We waved at each other as if we were old friends. Nice again.
I figured that was the last I would see of him.
A couple of weeks later I was at my desk on a Friday afternoon when the phone rang.
"Hello'" the voice said. "This is Ryan. I don't know if you remember me, but I sat next to you at the Awards Ceremony a couple of weeks ago."
Well, well, well, I thought. Who would have thought? I quickly assured Ryan that I remembered him, without adding that I remembered him just fine! Grin. After a few pleasantries he got to the point of the call. "Dave" he said, "I've been thinking about our conversation and what you said to me. I've decided that you're right. I have become an old man before my time. I think it's time to find out what I've been missing and I'd like your help with that."
Well, my cock gave a quick jump at a possible innuendo. But within a second, I decided that, no, don't read anything into what he said. Remember how young he really is, despite how mature he acts and seems. And don't forget you're old enough to be his father and maybe his grandfather.
I quickly agreed to meet him once a week and introduce him to new foods and drink. We decided on Friday nights so that we didn't have to worry about going to work the next day. Of course this also let both of us realize that we weren't seeing anyone, since normally Friday nights would be spent with our love interest. Interesting. I'd have to find out all about him at some point. But festina lente (Emperor Augustus' motto = Make Haste Slowly).
I decided to start slowly and work our way up, assuming he was really serious about this. I took him to an upscale Northern Italian restaurant the first Friday night. (I was glad that our jobs allowed us the ability to afford places like this!) There we went the full route. We had every course from antipasti all the way to cheeses and fruit with a different wine with each course, pre-selected for us from the chef. We had food ranging from delicate artichoke tarts and raviolis filled with mushrooms and truffles, to lamb in a delicious red wine sauce and chicken in a rich cream sauce to real tiramisú. We drank delicate white wines, sturdy Brunello, and spumante made in méthode champenoise. Although it was clear that all of these flavors and tastes were new to Ryan, it was also clear that he was enjoying himself.
As the wine loosened our tongues, we joked and kidded each other. The age difference, which hadn't been that great between us, despite how far apart we were in chronological age, shrank even further. As our conversation started to range in topics, I felt myself coming to admire Ryan. He really was pretty knowledgeable about a lot of things. Pretty smart, too. Once he started talking about the food and wine, I realized the reason he had been unwilling to try new things stemmed from the fact that he actually was a "super taster". He had the palette and the nose to taste flavors more deeply and intensely than most people. Ah ha!
I have to admit I did start to make some exaggerations and say some ridiculous things to see his infectious smile and his dark green eyes sparkle. I decided that being clean shaven suited him, too, although that did add to his youth. He would tilt his strong chin at me from time to time to make his point. Soon, I began to wonder what lay under his dress shirt, jacket and pants. Dave, Dave, I chided myself. You're such a dirty old man! That thought made me chuckle slightly. Ryan immediately pounced upon my laugh, demanding what was so funny. I answered truthfully, "Me". But of course he didn't know what I meant and gave me a puzzled look in return. I laughed a bit harder then and changed the subject back to the wine.
After paying the bill we got up and left the restaurant to drive home and go our separate ways. "Thanks", Ryan said. "That was very educational. I learned a lot from you." I nodded and said, "There's a lot more to learn. The world is a very big place. But it will soon be your oyster!" He groaned and mock punched me at the bad food joke. I grinned and mock punched him back. We then stepped back a bit and looked at each other. He broke the silence first. "Well, thanks again Dave. This was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to next Friday night. Where are we going then?" I smiled and said, "You'll have to wait until Friday to find out." We then shook hands sort of formally and took our leave.
During the week I ran into Ryan once or twice. Each time we were pretty formal with each other. The camaraderie of last week and sort of faded away. However, this week would be France and more wine. Guess we'll see what kind of veritas there is in vino!
As I was dressing up again since this restaurant was as formal as last week's I looked at myself in the mirror. Despite being 61 I was still a good-looking man. Tall, strong shoulders, and just a bit of white at the temples. Short brown hair covered the rest of my head. My hazel eyes were serious and I gave thanks to be in great shape. I thought briefly about all those I had known who had passed on over the years, remembering especially my older ex-partner who had succumbed to cancer ten years ago. Briefly, I wondered what he would think of my perhaps not so platonic interest in young Ryan. Then I stopped and thought, "Hell, I know what Michael would say, he'd say 'go for it, Dave!'". I chuckled again. Second date, I thought. I then unbuttoned the second button down on my dress shirt. A bit of white chest hair peeped out through the opening. Did I tell you I have a very hairy polar bear barrel chest? No? Well now I have! I'll describe more of me later. Time to go.
If anything the French restaurant was even more of a success than the Italian one. We were both more relaxed tonight and were starting to act like old friends. We found that we had more in common than expected, classic rock, Catherine Tate, and the Eurovision Song Contest (of all unlikely things!). We even got into an argument about whether Sweden, Italy, or Estonia was going to win this year. I noticed soon enough that he had noticed the extra button undone on my shirt. He did glance from time to time at the opening, but said nothing. And I hadn't expected him to, of course. However I was pleased that he had noticed. Good. Since I speak French, I would occasionally speak some French to the servers. He surprised me once again. He nodded as if he understood me. When asked, he said that he had had some French in college. He had thought about joining the Peace Corps and he figured he'd be sent to West Africa so decided to get a jump on the game. Cool. I shook my head a bit, startled at the complexity of this young man.
Tonight he was able to taste a real Quiche Lorraine and real baguette. The civet de lapin was rich and delicious as was the moules frites. The mille feuilles was quite French and real too as was the champagne de Champagne. The Bordeaux was from an underrated but now well appreciated chateau.
We didn't talk quite as much tonight, and enjoyed just being together in silence at times. From time to time he seemed as if he wanted to ask me something, or talk about something other than life, the universe, and the number 42. However, he didn't. My curiosity was raised, but I decided not to probe to see what he wanted to know, although I was pretty sure I had a good idea. At that moment I decided to feel him out next week about gay rights and gay issues. I figured that would be a good introduction to a discussion we needed to have before this relationship went any further.
When we said good-bye there was again a hesitation. Finally, I decided to be silly and initiated a soul shake with him. That made him laugh and we went all the way to a hip bump at the end, which made me laugh. It also made me a bit hard, too.
I didn't run into Ryan during the following week. And then on Friday I got a call I wished I hadn't but was expecting. "Dave", Ryan said, "I'll have to do a rain check on tonight. The boss has given me a project that's just about to kill me. I'm even going to have to go to our branch in Las Vegas on Monday to meet with their group working on it, too. However, I'll be done with it one way or another by next Friday!" I had to express my disappointment but acknowledged that these things happen and that I'd be looking forward to dinner next Friday. When he asked where we were going I just laughed and told him he'd have to wait and find out. His exaggerated groan of disappointment made me laugh.
I did run into Ryan on Thursday of the following week. He gave me a big smile when he saw that made my heart unexpectedly jump. Whoa, I thought, where did that come from? His expression changed into concern when he saw my frown. "Anything the matter?" he asked. "Are we still good for tomorrow night?" I chased the frown away with a smile and said, "Absolutely. Sorry was just thinking about your project and hoping it went well and you got it done." His smile returned. "Yes, just finished yesterday. It went very well. The boss is giving me a couple of days off and is talking about a bonus!" We did a reprise of our soul shake and bumped each other a bit harder. We both laughed but were startled by a round of applause from the other people in the room. We grinned a bit sheepishly at our audience and then went our separate ways.
Tonight was Spain. I figured one last cuisine from Europe before striking out for new territory. We'd always be able to come back for two of my favorite European cuisines, Scandinavian, and Polish. I love what the Poles do with lamb and the Scandinavians do with fresh seafood. However, the Spanish aren't too shabby at fresh seafood either.
When I entered the restaurant Ryan was already there. He greeted with a bro hug, amusing me and reminded me of how we entertained at the office yesterday. He looked especially good tonight, or was that just me? His emerald green shirt mirrored his eyes, and, yes, he had two buttons unbuttoned! Me, too. And a bit of dark brown chest hair peeked out, too! Yes! I love hairy boys, I mean young men. Grin. I think he may have noticed my positive reaction to his appearance since he gave me a quick smile.
We started with a variety of tapas and sherries. I was testing his tolerance for new things with both. He surprised me, once again, by liking the grilled octopus matched with the flor sherry the best of them. Very sophisticated of him. I have to admit the serrano ham and the Manchego cheese with Amontillado was still a favorite of mine. We had different paellas for the main course. He liked both. Then decided to do Spanish churros (no cinnamon like in the Mexican variety) and the very rich Spanish hot chocolate for desert. We were both happy and replete then. A small shot of Spanish brandy completed the meal.
Ryan turned to me then. "Dave, this has been absolutely great! I've had a lot of fun learning about new foods and drinks. The quality of flavors and tastes has been totally eye-opening. I can't thank you enough for sharing your expertise with me over the last three meals." "Ryan, it has been wonderful opening you up to new experiences!" I winced a bit after I realized what I had said. I had meant the innuendo. The sherry and the Rioja were talking a bit. However, he didn't flinch. In fact he upped the ante. He said, "Dave, soon they're going to be talking about you and me like President Obama was talking about him and VP Joe Biden. The President said at the recent White House Correspondent's dinner that he and Joe had gotten so close after working together for nearly 7 years that certain pizza places in Indiana probably wouldn't serve them!" The President's joke about recent anti-gay laws in that state that are being rescinded was not lost on me. But what did Ryan mean by this comment? It was clear that he had rehearsed it and had been waiting for an appropriate time to say it. I chuckled appreciatively and said, "Yeah, some of the people in the office have decided we're bros, it seems, by their applause yesterday." We both looked at each other for a minute unsure where to go next.
He changed the subject (or did he?) abruptly. "Dave, how do you stay in such good shape?" "I do lots of push-ups and walk the rescue dogs up the mountain every day. And whenever I can I wrestle." My turn to up the ante. "You do what?" he asked. "I like wrestling. In fact I wrestle whenever I can. But I don't get to wrestle as much as I used to before taking this job here." He looked a bit dubious but looked at my strong body and then asked, "What kind of wrestling do you do? Are you into WWE and all of that?" "No" I said. I do like older pro wrestling styles though, especially BritPro. I've done submission wrestling, but am trying to phase that out." I could see the wheels turning as he tried to process this unexpected revelation. "Look" I said. If you want to come by my house some time, I can show you some basic wrestling moves. It's about the best exercise there is." Well, I hoped I hadn't gone too far too fast. The idea of getting hot young Ryan nearly naked with me the same and in total body contact had me about panting.
He studied me again. "OK" he said. "You're on. I really meant it about learning to enjoy new experiences. Would tomorrow afternoon work?" Would it ever! I gave him my cell number and my address. He said he'd come by about 2 for his "lesson". We gave each other a bear hug as we left.
Well, now I'm writing this all down finally. Wow. Can't wait until tomorrow! Hugs to all, Dave.
Ok, should I do a next chapter? Send a note to mikedave01@yahoo.com if you think I should. I do promise more action it it! And please do not forget to support Nifty in any way you can.