Well here I am once again, never thought I'd make it to a sequel but thanks to you guys I have. I know the first part of this story was kind of short, but it was just a beginning, the rest should be longer and interesting. Again this story does include a male to male relationship and if you're not comfortable with that then you're more then welcome to leave. But for you others please do enjoy. Feed back is always much appreciated, just send me an email. Okay, enough babbling, on with Brian and his Mystery Man. My email: all-star-07@hotmail.com
"So he really didn't tell you his name?"
"Really, he just said that if I really wanted to know then I should see him again."
Brytany, being my most loyal and truest friend, had been asking me questions about my "Mystery Man" ever since I told her about him two days ago. Part of me just thinks that she's jealous that some guy, a very cute guy, actually said something like that to me instead of to her, and then another part of me thinks that she thinks I'm making it up.
"Well you are going to right? I mean why wouldn't you?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean `You don't know?' it's a yes or no question, and yes would be the appropriate answer to say."
"Well, don't you think it's weird? I don't even know him at all; he's a stranger to me. Why should I go out and find him again just to find out his name?"
That was just the thing with me. I do have problems like this, always thinking pessimistically about stuff instead of just living in the moment. And I do admit half the time I am blind when it comes to guys hitting on me. But this time I was sure I was thinking clearly, this guy was just a stranger to me, why should I go out and see him again? It just didn't make any sense.
"Oh my god, Brian I love you, but you can be the dumbest ass hole on the planet at times."
"Gee, thanks Bryt, I love you too." I said with a giggle, by now a lot of people on the side walk had heard Brytany's little comment and stopped and stared.
"I'm serious! This guy didn't tell you to see him again just to find out his name, he was hitting on you and he's saying that he wants to see you again. Please tell me that you at least stopped by his place and set up a date to meet again?"
"Actually I haven't, and I don't think I will."
"Why the fuck not?"
"Well... I don't even know him..."
"Exactly! You have to go out with him to get to know him!"
"Hey for all I know he could be some straight guy with a girlfriend or a wife somewhere and he's just looking for a friend to chill with or screw or whatever."
"Oh yeah cause that happens all the time."
"Actually it does, just look at Kyle, or Ryan for that matter." Ryan was one of my brother's friends in high school who practically screwed every girl he could find.
"Jesus, do you always have to think like this!? You are breathing way too much into the situation. You know what your problem is?"
"No but I'm sure you're gonna tell me."
"You think way too much about stuff, sometimes you just have to ignore what your head is telling you and just go with the flow, stop thinking about what to do and just do it."
Standing behind the counter at work, totally zoned out to what was happening around me, I kept thinking about what Brytany said. It was pretty good advice, the kind of advice I should start taking. But of course the rational side of me took over, and I decided it best to just forget about it, all of it. Forget about the other night, forget Brytany's excellent advice, forget about the Mystery Man in general and just focus on life.
"Hey there Bri, you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Sorry Mike, what's up?"
"Well this customer has been trying to get your attention for like ten minutes before I assisted him, and you're staring off into space with a blank expression. So why don't you tell me what's up, anything you want to talk about?"
Mike was my boss at work, and sort of like my best friend, though he could be a bit bossy and obnoxious at times, he was still a good friend.
"Nah its nothing."
"Didn't seem like nothing, who is he?"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh don't play dumb with me Brian, you heard me, I said who is he?"
Now I have never told Mike that I was gay, he didn't even know if I had a girlfriend, he didn't know anything about my personal life, so his little comment kinda threw me for a loop.
"Mike," I said quietly as I moved to the back and motioned him to follow. "how did you know?"
"What? About you being gay?"
"Yeah that."
"Oh c'mon Bri, I may be blond, but I'm not stupid. It's easy to see. Like for instance the way you dress, no self respecting straight man would dress like that, all nice looking all the time, and the way you freak out if someone touches or messes up your hair, or..."
"Okay, okay I get it, so I'm a bit of a neat freak, big deal, lots of guys are."
"Brian."
"Ah shit, alright fine, you caught me."
"Hah, I knew it."
"Yeah, whatever."
"And you have a boyfriend too."
"You see now that's where you're wrong."
"Huh?"
"I just... I just meet someone that's all, and no before you ask, I don't know his name or where he's from or if he's gay or not."
"Then what's with you starring off into space thinking about him for?"
"I'm not thinking of just him, I'm thinking of a bunch of things that involve him."
"Yeah, okay, that makes a whole lot of sense."
"Do you have any other flavor besides sarcastic?"
"Hmm let me think...nope." he said, with a stupid grin on his face.
"What I mean to say is, well okay so you know Brytany right?"
"Yep."
"Well me and her were talking about it and she thinks I should go and see him again just to find out his name and..."
"Wait why would you need to find out his name? Shouldn't you already know it?"
"Maybe I should start from the beginning."
"Yeah, it would help."
So then I launched into how I first met my Mystery Man and all the events that unfolded since then. Mike reacted just like Brytany did, with a shit load of questions; several of them were ones I had already answered over and over again. By the time I finished retelling my story, I practically knew it by heart, every detail and all. It's like my friends don't have any other entertainment except my personal life anymore.
"So why don't you just go and see him again, it sounds like you really want to."
"I do, that's the problem."
"How is that a problem?"
"Because, if I do I just know it's going to end up badly, it always does."
"You don't know that for sure Brian, you think way too much about stuff, you just need to turn off your brain every once and a while and just, well...live."
Realizing that I just got told the same thing twice from two of my friends, I started to feel...numb in a way. It occurred to me that my friends practically knew me better then I did, it was kind of a scary thought. After work let out, I decided that maybe they were right and headed straight to the third floor of my River Side Condo building.
I don't know why but as I was walking up the stairs, I found myself getting nervous. It was a weird feeling, considering that I never even knew this guy well enough to be nervous. Distracted by my own thoughts, I suddenly found myself outside his door.
Several times I debated whether or not to knock, it just didn't seem right. I mean I only met the guy 48 hours ago and now I was here looking to meet him again. Shit, there I went again, thinking too much. I did what both Brytany and Mike had told me to do, don't think and just live. With a nervous hand I raised it and it came to rest against his door several times. No answer. I knocked again and still no answer.
"Just my luck." Felling a bit disappointed I headed back out to my car and drove. With absolutely no place in mind, I just felt like driving. I ended up at the north end of town, near the Jackson Frazier Wetlands Park. Deciding I had no where else to go, I parked my car and went out for a walk.
Staring down at my feet as I went, I rounded the corner and continued on down the path to the entrance to the wetlands. I didn't look up till I had arrived there, since I had been there several times before and knew the place by heart, there was no need to look where I was going. I arrived at the entrance when I stopped dead, almost frozen in place.
"So, you found me."
My heart literally skipped a beat; this was the last place I expected to see him. In general I thought I was the only one who knew of this park since I rarely saw anyone else there. And yet, there he was, just standing there like in a dream.
"Hi." I said, knowing I sounded stupid but didn't know what else to say.
"Hi."
A few moments of silence passed before either of us said anything. Then, almost out of no where, and before I could stop myself, I asked.
"What are you doing here?"
"Well, being new here and all I decided to go out on a drive, see if I can get to know the town and sure enough I come across this neat little park. I was just about to check it out when you showed up."
"Wow, I honestly didn't think I'd ever see you here. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just that well; I started to think that I was the only one who knew of this place."
He giggled a bit and smiled, he had an amazing smile. "Well, I was going to check this place out, care to join me?"
I smiled. "On one condition."
"What's that?"
"You have to tell me your name."
He smiled again, a nervous smile and looked down and shuffled his feet before looking at me and answering. "It's Drew."
"Drew." I said, running the name over in my head. He sort of looked at me with a look of awaiting approval. "Hey, Drew?"
"Yeah?"
"Hi."
"Hi." He grinned and we both started walking the wooden path together.
"So," he said. "how long have you been coming to this place?"
"Well, ever since I first found this place, which was my 15th new years, do the math."
"Wow that long ago, how many times a year would you say you come out here?"
"Oh too many to count. I know it sounds like I have no life but its quite the opposite. When ever I'm stressed out or need to think I just come out here to clear my head."
"Ahh, I see."
"You see, first time I came here was with my mom. It was the day before new years and my brothers and sister were all doing things, it usually was always just me and my mom. We decided to come out here for a while. First time I was here, it was...amazing. Kinda cloudy but it was still perfect. Me and my mom talked for a long time and had a great time, it was the best new years I've ever had."
"What happened to your mom?"
"She moved out to England, always wanted to go there. I barely get to see her."
"Wow that harsh. What about your siblings?"
"Well my sister, the oldest of us all is still in town but we barely talk."
"Why not?"
"Dunno, we just don't kinda lost touch. My older brother is down in California with a career in mechanic and my little brother is off somewhere, he moves around a lot and never really stays in one place for too long. What about your family?"
Once I asked this, he seemed to hesitate before answering. "They're... around somewhere, I move around a lot too so I don't see them much."
"Why do you move around so much?"
"Do you always ask this many questions?"
"Do you always dodge this many questions?"
He smiled again, and I smiled back. He never did answer my question; I just assumed that it was a touchy subject and tried to change it but nothing came to mind. We just continued to walk in silence for a while.
I know this might sound corny but it was pretty cold outside and I shivered since I didn't have a jacket and he did. I noticed this and I sort of felt like a fool.
"You're cold."
"Nah, I'm good. I'm an Oregonian; this is the weather all the time."
"Say what you want but you're cold, here put this on." He took off his jacket and wrapped it around me. "This will keep you warm."
Though I don't know why I did, I blushed a little bit and I prayed to god that he didn't notice.
"Better?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"No problem." He said with a smile.
We walked in silence again for a while; about halfway around the park we stopped and looked. Just beyond the pathway was a clearing showing practically the entire country side with rolling hills, mountains, and a huge grassy plain. It truly was a breath taking sight.
"Wow, so this is Oregon eh?"
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, too bad it doesn't always look like this, here the weather changes in a heartbeat."
He didn't say much after that, just kind of stared off into the distance. Pretty soon, we were heading back to the parking lot since it was getting dark and the rain clouds were rolling in.
"Do you have any other plans for tonight?" I asked, trying to break the uneasy silence between us.
"Nope, you're so far the only person in town I know so I don't have a lot of places to go. I was just gonna head home and watch some TV I guess."
"No dinner?"
"I already ate."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
"What did you have at five in the afternoon?"
"Burger King. It was, in fact, quite delicious." He grinned.
"Omg that is not dinner..."
"Wait, did you just say `omg'?"
I blushed deeply this time, I knew how embarrassing it was to say that in front of someone you don't know very well than with your friends.
"Yeah." I said, very weekly. "Old habit."
"Right." He said rather sarcastically.
"My point is that you need a real meal for dinner, not fast food. How about you swing by my place around seven and I'll cook you a real meal."
"Sounds good, so..."
"What?"
"Does that count as a date?"
Once he said this, my heart practically leapt into my throat, his comment caught me totally off guard. For the most part I couldn't believe Brytany was right, this guy was gay and he was interested in me!
"Only if you want it to be." I said, taking a chance and hoping that my instincts were right for a change.
"Then I guess I'll see you at seven." He said. Once we got to our cars and said our pleasantries, he leaned in and whispered in my ear. "I can't wait." He said before he got into his car and drove off.
I just stood there, stunned. This couldn't be happening, things like this don't happen to guys like me, and yet it was. It was all real, I just couldn't believe it. I had a lot of work to do. I jumped into my car and speed off to my home, doing all I could to get things ready before Drew came over.
Once I got home, I headed straight for the kitchen to get started. I had no idea what I was going to make and so I decided to just go with the flow. I started with boiling water and throwing something in and maybe an idea would come to me. When I was half way through making dinner the thought that hadn't even come to me once since I offered Drew dinner made its way into my mind. What was I going to wear?
I let the pot now containing spaghetti noodles and sauce simmer while I ran off to my room to get ready. When I opened my closet I just stood there, of course I had no idea what to wear. Normally my first thought would to have called Brytany and ask her but I had half an hour till seven and I would just end up staying on the phone forever.
Without a second thought I settled for khaki shorts and a blue button down shirt. A little fancy but also very casual. Glancing at the clock, I had fifteen minutes to set everything up. I quickly went and set the table, pouring the spaghetti into a bowl and the breadsticks on to another plate. As for drinks, I just settled for water and thought about setting out the candle sticks but decided against it. I didn't want to breathe too much into tonight.
Soon after, there was a knock on my door, his knock. I suddenly became very nervous and double checked that everything was ready and then went to answer the door. My heart started beating a bit too wildly as I reached my door and opened it.
There he was, standing there, looking better than ever. He wasn't dressed to fancy either but it was defiantly a step up from baggy clothing. He had his hair spiked up again, but it looked more like he spent some time styling it.
"Right on time," I said as I stepped aside, motioning for him to enter. "come on in."
"Thanks," he said. "you look good tonight."
I blushed. "Thanks, so do you."
He smiled at me, I smiled at him. It was kinda quiet again after that, I could tell he was nervous and I couldn't blame him. I was too.
"So," I said. "ready to eat?"
"Yeah, dinner smells delicious."
We both sat down to eat, it was kinda awkward at first but we both relaxed a bit and time just flew by. We talked all through dinner and then sat down in the living room and talked some more. An hour went by, and then another, and we were still talking, having a great time together.
"So tell me Brian, do you always offer strange people dinner at your place?"
"Nah, I figured I try my luck with you and see where I got."
"Oh really? See now I'm starting to get the impression that you're drawn to me."
"Well you see that depends."
"On what?"
He looked at me, and I looked at him. Things suddenly seemed to get serious between me and him. I looked him in the eye and met my gaze back. We stayed there looking at eachother for a moment. Then he leaned towards me and I held my position and closed my eyes as I waited for what was about to come.
To be continued...