Echoes of the Past

Charlene was persistent but Eric won the battle in the end, not leaving the sour girl alone with David at any time the entire evening. That bitch is freaky! Annie seemed disappointed that she didn’t get much of Eric’s attention, but he resolved to make it up to her another time … when her friend was safely returned to her lair. Anyway maybe some distance was warranted, as Eric was beginning to find the brassy blonde a bit clingy. She’d hardly let go of his arm all night. The only break he got was when it was his turn to shoot darts. And he wasn’t very good at the game, having rarely played before. But he and David went through the charade anyway.

They’d stayed at the bar until it closed and Eric claimed an early morning the next day so he and David could get the hell out of there. Charlene had driven herself and Annie to the bar, and the latter wasn’t too happy to be going home the same way she’d come.

“Thank God that’s over with,” David sighed in relief when he slid into Eric’s car.

“You said it. I can’t believe that witch she set you up with.”

“She?” David cocked a red eyebrow and glared at his dark-haired friend. “You set me up with her, technically.”

“I had no idea.”

“I know you didn’t,” David smiled wanly. “As usual, you were determined to set me up with someone, so you didn’t ask.”

Eric slanted him a look before he put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. It disturbed him that David had apparently noticed his plan to fix him up. He thought he’d been subtle.

“It’s okay,” David said softly. “I know you only do it because you worry about me.”

Eric assumed what he hoped was a neutral expression. “Yeah.”

“I mean, you’re probably afraid I’m gay or something.”

David had said it nonchalantly, but Eric knew him better than that. He could feel that the redhead wanted to talk, so he drove down the road in silence until they reached an all-night diner.

“Why are we pulling in here?” David asked warily.

“Because I feel like some coffee to wash all that beer down with,” Eric lied.

They got out of the car and walked into the diner quietly, waiting until they were seated to even look at each other. The place was grimy and time-worn, but the food was decent. And at this hour, the only other patron was a middle-aged trucker who sat at the counter across the room. Their booth was fairly private, so Eric knew they could talk.

When the waitress came over, Eric quickly ordered two coffees and two grilled cheese sandwiches. He knew David wouldn’t mind as they’d often come to the diner after a late night at the bar, and that’s almost always what they both had. He marveled at how well he and his friend knew each other, then briefly dwelled on the damned psychic’s words and frowned. After the waitress had served them their coffee Eric decided to break the tense silence.

“You don’t like being set up on these dates, do you?”

David shrugged and rubbed his arm nervously. “Not really.”

The long pause stretched out and Eric bit back a groan of frustration. “A-a-and?” he prompted his best friend.

“Why can’t that be enough?”

“Because I know you better than that,” the dark-haired man said flatly. “Now, finish the statement.”

“You have to know what I’m going to say by now,” David hissed.

Just then the waitress returned with their sandwiches. She plunked a plate down unceremoniously in front of each man and walked away without a backwards glance. Eric picked up his slice of pickle and bit into the soggy and sour flesh. He didn’t know why some people hated pickles. He loved them! And the sourer they were the better. David gave him a cursory glance then laid his own pickle on Eric’s dish, smiling at the nod he received in return.

“What are you going to say?” Eric asked curiously.

David chewed thoughtfully on a bite of his sandwich and swallowed before he replied. “You have to suspect by now that I’m gay.” He said it quietly yet defiantly, as if daring Eric to throw away their years of friendship over it.

Eric would have choked on his pickle … if he were really shocked. Truthfully he wasn’t though. He’d suspected David might be gay or at least bi for a long time … since high school, actually. But it didn’t change the fact that they were friends. He’d set the guy up with girls because David had never refused. If he’d known definitively, he wouldn’t have asked his girlfriends to set his buddy up. Really, he mostly did it so that David wouldn’t be sitting at home.

“Okay,” he smiled. “No more Charlenes then.”

David’s blue eyes widened and he sighed for the second time that night in relief. “You’re not mad or disgusted?”

“By your confession?” Eric teased. “No. Not at all. You’re my best friend. Something like this isn’t controllable. And I’m your friend no matter what.”

“Really?”

“Dave,” Eric leaned forward for emphasis. “Seriously. It doesn’t matter to me. You can date whoever you want … male or female … and it won’t affect our friendship.” He grinned. “I won’t leave you over it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He will always be bound to you. No matter how many lives you live, or where you are born, he will always be drawn to find you.

Oh, God! Not that psycho psychic again! Eric winced inwardly but kept the smile on his face.

“You okay?” David asked.

“Fine.”

--------------------------------------

Madame Gwendolyn’s office was just as dingy and faded as Eric remembered it. As he stared at the crystal ball, he cursed himself for the millionth time that day for going to see her … especially without telling David. But he couldn’t get her words out of his head and felt he needed to see her.

She sat across the table, patiently waiting for him to start their conversation. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a twist today and her beady little dark eyes seemed like they were reading into his soul.

“I … um … I just wanted to know …” he faltered and stopped, not sure how to ask his questions, or even if he really wanted to.

“You still harbor doubt, even after the revelation?” she asked serenely.

“The what?”

“Your friend confessed to you last night,” she said.

“How did …?”

“My spirit guide sees all.”

Damn! That’s going to put a damper on my sex life now. Eric shook the thought away and wondered how she really knew. Was she getting her information from paid spies or something? The waitress, maybe?

“I have no spies … of the living variety,” she smiled.

How the hell does she do that? Eric barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping open. Maybe there was something to this psychic thing after all.

“Ah, finally, I see a glimmer of hope for you,” Gwendolyn chuckled. “Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?”

“Uh …”

“It’s all right. I can understand your reluctance.”

“You can?” Eric asked skeptically.

“You don’t want to believe me,” she said thoughtfully. “And yet, you can find no other plausible explanation for your fantasies lo these many years.”

“My fantasies?!”

“Pish,” she laughed. “Yes! The ones of David in the pink gown. And the unbidden dreams you have at night … that elude you in the morning.”

“I don’t have dreams!” Eric insisted.

He knew he probably did have some dreams, but he could never recall them in the morning. They must include some lovely ladies though, as he’d awakened to wet underwear on many occasions. Too bad he couldn’t remember them.

“You do have dreams,” she replied calmly, leaning forward. “Though they escape you in the sunlight, they haunt you by night.”

Haunt? Wet dreams? Hell no! He was a healthy male and those dreams proved it. He smirked at her as he turned that thought over in his head.

“Your mind doesn’t want to acknowledge what your heart already knows,” she warned him in a low voice.

“Uh huh.”

“My spirit guide has shown me.”

What?! No, that can’t be right. I don’t even know what they are.

“You remove the pink gown,” she whispered conspiratorially. “And lay him back on your bed …”

“Stop!!!”

Suddenly Eric found himself assaulted with the image of David lying breathless beneath him, his lips swollen from being kissed … being kissed by Eric who looked down at him with a fierce longing unlike any he’d ever known before.

Eric looked down and groaned aloud at the raging hard on his now-skin tight jeans harbored.

“You see?” Gwendolyn smiled knowingly at him. “The dreams will no longer remain hidden from you.”

Eric looked up at her in shock. What the fuck is she doing to me?

“Go now,” she nodded to the door. “I cannot reveal any more to you until you are ready.”