The Gay Man's Matchmaker

Chapter 17

After a week of moping around my new apartment, I knew I wasn’t going to get better until I talked to Joey. In the very least, I needed to hear it from his own mouth, if I really was just unfinished business like Chris implied. I needed some sort of closure. I called him a few times and left messages on his cell phone. I almost began to believe he was doing exactly what Tommy accused him of when he didn’t call back within a few days. Finally, though, he did call and I agreed to meet me at a diner in midtown. I wasn’t sure how this all would go, so I didn’t want to tell him where I was living now.

I was sitting nervously in a booth stirring my cola with a straw when he quietly took the seat opposite me. At first I jumped, not expecting him to be on time. I looked up at him sadly and noted his haggard appearance. His clothes were rumpled and his blonde mane, normally neatly pulled back or combed straight, hung about his face messily. His eyes weren’t as bright as they’d been when I’d last seen him and they sported dark circles beneath them. He didn’t look like a gloating bastard to me, my heart was singing. Yet, I knew I had to take this carefully, I couldn’t stand it if I was proven wrong again.

“How are you?” he asked softly as he dropped his gaze to the side and began fiddling with the ketchup bottle.

“Okay,” I shrugged. “What about you?”

He squeezed his eyes closed for a second or two then opened them and looked at me. “I’ve been better,” he sighed. “Last time I saw you, I was much better … before …”

“I know.” I held up a hand, stalling the rest of the sentence.

“Chris was wrong, you know.”

“I didn’t then,” I winced guiltily. “But I do now. I should have had more faith in you.”

“Why?” he asked in surprise. “If I were you, I don’t think I could have.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” he pled, leaning forward. “I wasn’t trying to do what Chris and Tom said I was. I swear I wasn’t.” He ran a large hand over his long blonde locks and sighed again. “But I’ve been thinking a lot about the situation since it happened and I realized something. Especially after Tom kicked Chris out and we talked.”

“You stayed and talked to that ass?!” I wasn’t sure if I was confused or just plain pissed. “After he set us up like that?”

“I needed to,” he replied. “I had to talk to someone and I knew he was the only one, besides you, who could help me hash out the vendetta he’s had against me.”

“Hash it out?”

“Do you think I want my lover’s best friend hating me?” His eyes were dead serious. “To eventually force you to choose between the two of us?”

“You’re assuming there still is an us,” I said, but it was a weak argument and we both knew it.

“You know I love you,” he whispered. “If you didn’t know and/or love me too, we wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”

“How do you know …”

“I know you, Kee,” he covered my smaller hand with his big tan one. “We haven’t been together long, but I know you. I know how your temper can take hold of you and make you do things you might not necessarily do if you were dealing with someone you didn’t care about.”

I swallowed and looked away but didn’t do anything to extricate my hand. His was so warm and comforting … and Goddamnit! I missed him! He was right. I did love him too much to just walk away without trying to see if we could salvage it.

He shook his head. “Anyway, I realized that if I suddenly found out that the guy I was dating once had a bet on whether or not he could out me in high school, I don’t think I would have believed his protests either.”

“I guess.”

“I know.”

“And this Heather person?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yeah?” He looked uncomfortable with the change in topic, but there were things we had to talk over before I could say for certain where I wanted to go from here.

“Were you really engaged to her?”

“Yes.” He said it definitively though with a note of regret.

“Does she know you’re …?”

“Gay?” he asked with the first hint of a smile ghosting his lips. “Yeah. I told her when I broke the engagement.”

My eyes widened like saucers, not even sure if I could comprehend the horror of that particular conversation. “How’d she take it?”

“Considering I’d just caught her in bed with one of my cousins, she was rather amenable to understanding,” he smirked. “Besides, neither of us ever really wanted to get married.”

“Huh?” I shook my head, my hand still firmly yet gently under his.

“Our fathers have been business partners for years,” he shrugged nonchalantly. “They were the ones who pushed us into dating at all. Not that it was an arranged marriage, though. We were just following the usual pattern of college dating and all that. She and I have been friends for years.”

“You’re still friends?”

“Yeah, but not as close as we used to be.” He didn’t look regretful about that though. “After I told her I was gay, she said she knew I was hiding something, though she didn’t expect that to be it.” Then he laughed. “When I said I’d had feelings for someone else from my past, she said I’d better get off my ass and see if I could find him. Something about lifelong regrets. All I had to do was look at my cousin to know they both knew that from experience.”

“And that’s why you looked me up after all these years?” I nearly choked on the lump in my throat. I mean really! Who would ever have thought that someone would think I was that special?

“That’s it,” he nodded. “I knew right then and there I had to.”

I tried to stop the tear from falling down my cheek, but nothing ever goes my way! You should know that by now, right? He smiled at me and used his other hand to wipe it away.

“And Tommy?”

“He’s a pain in the ass,” Joey snickered. “It took me all night to clear the air with him. Did you know he actually went into all those sports to keep an eye on me?”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t until he said so after I told him I wanted to see you again.” I sniffled and gave him a lopsided smile. “Scary, isn’t he?”

“Frightening,” he nodded. “After I called and woke Heather up and had her explain the whole thing to him, he finally, though grudgingly, relented.”

“Well, I’m still not forgiving him.” I pulled my hand away and crossed my arms over my chest. “He can talk until he’s blue in the face and stone cold with rigor mortis, but I’m not giving in.”

“He was only worried about you.”

“He made a jackass out of me!” I huffed. “And where the hell did he dig Chris up anyway? The 1950s? I’ve been gay my whole life and he’s the biggest ‘phobe I’ve ever encountered.”

“Bigger than I was,” Joey gave me a sad look.

“Hell, yeah! If he wasn’t such an ass you never would have made that bet to begin with!”

He gaped at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish for a few seconds. Then he broke into the brilliant and sexy grin that I’ve been missing. “Only you could excuse my past behavior that easily.”

“Yeah, well take advantage of that lucky turn of events while you can,” I warned him. “I’m never usually this forgiving.”

“Sure you’re not!”

“I’m not!” I protested.

“Must be love, then.” He winked at me.

“Must be.”

Before he could say anything else, he was cut off by a loud squeal.

“Kee!” A vibrant redhead dove into the booth next to me and hugged me for all I was worth. I gasped and choked for air before I looked up to the end of the table and saw Wendell smiling down at me and my attacker in amusement. He was clad in a rust colored tunic over purple leggings. Genie pulled back from me then and looked me over carefully. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I smiled at him.

In spite of my first impression of him, Genie was growing on me … on a strictly platonic basis, but growing on me nonetheless. He was decked out in a lime green tank top with a sheer yellow shawl over it. His hair was pulled back with a turquoise headband, red pants and a pink patent leather belt completed the outfit.

“Friends of yours?” Joey asked uncertainly.

I nodded and motioned with my head, and he moved over on his side of the booth so Wendell could sit down too.

“Are you Joey?” Genie hissed as he glared over at the blonde.

Joey swallowed hard but held his ground and nodded slowly.

“Tommy told me about you!”

“Don’t believe anything that bastard said,” I jumped in.

“But he said you and Joey broke up.”

“Did he?” I asked. Wendell and Genie both nodded. “Did he say why?” They shook their heads. “Then he left out a lot.”

“Like what?” Wendell asked.

“Like that he was the reason Joe and I had the … misunderstanding. Tommy’s never liked him and I’m not willing to break up with him.”

“Huh.” Genie looked perplexed. But then he shrugged and smiled at Joey brilliantly. “Well, if Kee says you’re okay, then we’re cool!”

“You want to join us for lunch?” I asked him. He turned his smile on me and nodded happily. “Good. Then we can talk about the next round of headshots I should do for you two.”

“Next round?” he gasped. “Really?”

“Yeah. I was thinking over the suggestions you made last time and you were right. We should do some more varied poses.”

Joey watched me with a small smile while I talked with Genie about it and then he and Wendell started up a discussion of their own. I still wasn’t sure where we were heading with this new start yet, but I knew I had him back, and that’s all I wanted.

Tommy, though? He would be another matter.