Disclaimer---
Questions, Comments, Suggestions: e-mail
GayNight@hotmail.com
Also, a note to everyone. I made a few miscalculations when I was dealing
with the times in which everything was taking place. Here are the new
dates etc:
Gabriel's graduation took place in the year 1995. The final Busch Gardens
performance is five years later, making the year 2000. Gabriel is presently
(in 2000) 24 years old. It is October 15, 2000.
I also realize that I never really gave a description of Gabriel so I will
make sure to do that somewhere in this segment.
I think that should clear everything up, if there are any questions please
free feel to e-mail me.
A Performer's Life
Britney, the guys of LFO, and I all walked out of the airport terminals together. None of them were wearing disguises, but it didn't really matter because security created a wide berth around us, so we weren't stopped by any overly enthusiatic fans.
We made it too the limo without incident, something I was very greatful for. I may not be the star, but getting pushed violently out of the way of the crazed fans is not a very pleasant experience. At least the stars get admiration, all I get it an unpleasant look for not being the star.
Soon we were on our way back to the hotel, a short trip, as the hotel was close to the airport anyway. We discussed plans for the tour, as well as the living arrangements in the hotel, and on the buses. It seemed there would be four busses. One for Britney and her dancers, including me of course, and one for LFO. The third and fourth busses would have the tech crew and bands. The equipment would be carried in behind the busses in a U-Haul type vehicle.
The tour would start off here in New Orleans. We would have two performances at the Super Dome, one night, then a one day break than another night. That third night we would pile onto the buses, directly following the performances, and head west. Our next performance would be in Baton Rouge, then we would head into Texas. I didn't pay much more attention to that, except that 98 Degrees would be joining us when we hit LA.
I could't wait for my first performance with Britney. I didn't count the music video as a performance, because it wasn't infront of a live audience. I didn't feel nervous per se, but I did have odd feelings about performing in front of such a huge audience. Even so, I was much more nervous about the person I was sitting next to.
Britney was sitting to my left, talking with LFO. Sitting to my right was Devin. I wasn't sure whether he had sat there on purpose, or whether it had just happened, but I did know that his presence was making be a little bit antsy. Every time the limo hit a bump our legs would rub against one another.
Now I shouldn't have to tell you that it is nice and warm in New Orleans all year round. Except for the summer when it is blazing hot. Even in October, it is still far to warm to wear pants. So here I am in athletic shorts, with my leg rubbing against Devin's bare skin, and I can't help but get a little "happy", if you know what I mean. Thankfully, it never became more than "a little" happy. I mentally restrained myself during the whole ride.
We finally returned to the hotel and I sighed, under my breath, in relief as we all got out of the limo. I offered to help them with their luggage, but they said that their bodyguards would take care of the luggage. I simply nodded, commandeered Britney's arm, and walked towards the entrance of the hotel. The gesture got a few strange looks. "Damn," I mentally chastised myself, "this is not the way to show that you are gay. Get with the program!!!" I sighed, but continued walking. Britney looked at me strangely when I sighed, then whispered lightly in my ear that we needed to talk later. I nodded in response.
We proceeded to the elevator. One the short ride up the guys and Britney continued to make small talk while I remained uncharacteristically silent. If Britney noticed, she didn't say anything. Thank God for small miracles! As we piled out of the elevator Britney grabbed my arm and pulled me towards her room. "We'll be along in a minute!" she called out, just before she slammed the door behind us.
She sat me down on the bed, then took a chair across the room for herself. "Alright, what's wrong with you? Are you alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so," I replied. "Just. . ."
"Just, they're extremely cute? I know!!!" she giggled like a young teenage girl. It was infectious, and soon we were both laughing.
When we finally calmed down, I began speaking, "Well, yes they are cute. I think, I'm not sure, but I think that maybe Devin. . . No, it's crazy!"
"Well, I don't know about Devin, but Rich was certainely observing the goods, if you know what I mean," she said matter-of-factly.
"Rich!?!
"That's what I said!" There was a slight pause as I assimilated the information. "So what are you going to do?"
"I dunno. I mean, what if we're wrong!?! I don't want to cause a problem that might effect peoples' jobs, and my own job. I guess I'll just let it be known that I am gay, and see what happens. If one of them starts making moves, I'll move right back. If not, then I guess I'll just have to survive more time without anyone. I did it for eighteen years, I suppose I can do it for one more, right?"
"Whatever you think will work," she replied, a thoughtful expression on her face.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, then we both jumped up at the same time, causing us to burst into another spurt of laughter. "Alright, alright," Britney said, "let's go talk to everyone else before they think we're doing something nasty!"
"Oh, I'm nasty and am I?" I joked.
"You bet you are, sweety!"
"Uh oh, she's breaking out the sweety torture! Not fair! You have to play by the rules!" I whined.
"Oh tough it up!" she replied, swatting me on the ass. "Oh, it is kind of tough!" she said, running her hand over my ass.
"You know it!" I replied, laughing light-heartedly, Britney just made me feel so good sometimes. "Alright, let's go!"
We walked out of the room and followed the sound of laughter down the hall to the conference room. Devin and Brad were on the table dancing, while everyone else sat on the floor watching and laughing. Rich was seated on the window sill watching Devin and Brad, a guarded expression on his face. "Huh," I thought, "it looks like his is hiding something, maybe Britney is right." Britney and I watched from the door, joining in on the laughter. They finally noticed us and motioned for us to join them. Laughing and looking at each other, Britney and I jumped up onto the table and got into the beat.
It was a small table, so the four of us were forced to dance in very little space. Our bodies were rubbing up against each other. Somehow, I cannot, to this day, explain how, I managed to keep the circus from setting up the main tent.
As I became less and less self-concious I began to watch the reactions of the people watching us. Their energy seemed to pour into me making my smile widen, and my movements get sexier and sexier. As my eyes wandered over to where Rich was standing I noticed that his eyes were locked onto me. Before my mind could stop it, my body winked at him and waved my hips in his direction. The motion caused a slight smile to form on the corners of my lips. "Lookin good," I thought to myself. "It looks like Britney is right. This could be really nice!"
Unfotunately I couldn't stare at him for too long or people would start to wonder, and while I didn't mind what they thought about me, I didn't want anyone to say anything about Rich if things weren't what they seemed, or if he didn't want anyone saying anything.
The thoughts ran through my head in a millisecond, so I didn't break from the dancing. I turned towards Britney, effectively placing my backside directly in Rich's field of vision. I have a cute ass, and I know it, and it always helps to show it off. We all continued dancing, eventually pulling everyone else into the madness. Before long everyone was laughing and dancing and having an all around great time.
The hours passed quickly, and before anyone realized it the clock was pointing towards the 10 o'clock mark. Normally the night would only be beginning, but tonight I had to straighten all my things out and make sure I hadn't left anything back with my parents. If I had I would either have to call them and get the stuff sent, or go to the mall and pick some of the stuff up. I wasn't even going to bother to unpack or anything, we wouldn't be here that long.
I excused myself then walked out of the conference room, then down the hall to my room. I closed the door behind me, then began to go through my things, inpacking the essentials, and getting out clothes for the next couple of days.
When I had finished I deciced that I should have everything I needed, I had always been good at packing and knew everything that I would need. I pulled out my laptop and plugged it into a phone jack. I set it to find a local AOL number then went to grab a drink.
As I neared the door I heard voices out in the hall. I listened for a moment, trying to figure out who it was. I thought I recognized one of the voices as Rich's so I quickly improvised. I tore of my shirt, schooled my face into a pleasant expression, then opened the door. Rich and Brad were on the other side of the hall talking. As my door opened their heads whipped around in my direction. I felt their eyes roam over my chest, and I couldn't help but smile. I have a very nice chest, well defined pecs and abs, and strong arms from lifting the women in dance routines (dancing certainely has its perks, it builds a wonderful body!).
"Hey guys," I said, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. I think it worked because they smiled back.
"Hey!" they both said in response. Both of their eyes continued to roam over my chest, but I acted as if I didn't notice a thing.
None of us really had anything to say, so I turned and walked down the hall, waving to them. I moved the way a proffesional model walks down the runway, giving just the right amounts of hip and body movement. I LOVE showing off, and this was the perfect way to do it!
I finished my way down to the drink machines and got a Pepsi, nobody should bother with that diet stuff, half of it isn't good for you and the other half tastes nasty anway. I turned around ready to keep the model walk going, but Rich and Brad had disappeared, leaving the hall empty. I sighed then walked lazily back to my room, closing the door behind me then walking over to my computer to get through some of my e-mail.
It didn't take me long to get my e-mail done and I opened up a file that I used instead of an actual, paper journal. I typed in some of my thoughts, concerning the job, and the other dancers that I met, but my thoughts quickly strayed to Rich, Devin, and Brad. I just typed and typed and typed, my mind supplying my fingers with words, and my fingers replicating them. My "journal" is my own personal way of talking to myself. It is kind of like another person that just listens to my rantings, allowing me to figure out just how crazy I am at one point in time or another.
When I was finally done my fingers and neck were cramped. I scrolled back up and began reading. When I was done I surmised that I was definetly in need of a relationship. I was attracted to all three of the guys, but I liked Rich and Devin the most. Brad was cute, but he had that kind of half-asleep look that turned me off. I decided that I was right in my reasoning before, it would be best to simply make it known that I was gay and let them make the first move. Now, how should I go about doing that. . .
My brain was numb, and I couldn't think of anything. I looked over at the clock, it read 12:00, but with the time difference, it was about 1:00 for me. "Hell," I thought, "I'll just sleep on it and see what pops up in my mind."
I peeled off the rest of my clothes then turned off the lights and crawled into bed. I sighed once then tossed and turned for the next fifteen minutes, trying my hardest to fall asleep. Finally, after far too long a wait, sleep consumed my brain.
I awoke the next morning to a sudden jostling, and a heavy weight on top of me. My eyes shot open, my instincts taking over as I tried to throw the weight off of me. Luckily, I was trapped under the covers, or I would probably have thrown Britney across the room. "What the hell were you thinking girl!?!" I said, as the feelings subsided. "How did you get in here!?!"
"Well, I had management open the door for me, they keep a key for everyone's room. And I was thinking that it was getting kind of late so you should get up. We have a few hours to goof off before we have to get to rehersals. I hope you learned the stuff you were supposed to learn, or their might be a problem!"
"Of course I learned the stuff, I only had to watch those videos a couple of times. Now be careful in the future, I tend to wake up violently when I am trapped under someone's body and I can't move," I told her. "I'd hate to be the guy that accidentally broke Britney Spears back or something like that. The tabloids would have a field day with that one."
"I'll try to be more careful," she replied, climbing off of me. "Now get up and get ready!"
"I would except I'm naked under here!" I told her.
"Wow! I guess you're just to embarrased to show off those muscles of yours," she said, emphasizing the word muscles.
"Alright now you're asking for it," I replied tartly, throwing off the covers and standing up. "What do you think now?"
"I didn't mean it!" she yelled. I just laughed.
I walked past her as if my being naked was the most natural thing in the world. Fact is, I really didn't mind if she saw me naked or not, it wasn't my problem, I'm proud of my body. I grabbed my clothes and bath things, then made my way towards the bathroom. "I'll be out in a little while. I'll meeet you in the conference room, ok?"
"Ok!" she said as she walked out the door. "Don't take too long!"
I quickly jumped into the shower and cleaned myself. It didn't take me long because I hadn't done any hard physical activity, so a simple rinse and wash of those "special" places was all that was needed. When I was done I stepped out, dried myself, and made my way over to the mirror.
I played with my hair until I got it to the point where it was at least acceptable. I stared at myself in the mirror, sizing everything up. I suppose I am attractive, it is what people tell me all the time. I've been told countless times that I should be a model, so I guess that says something. My skin is a soft brown, when I tan, which I do fairly easily, it takes on a more olive tone rather than a true brown. My family roots are in Italy and Greece, so that explains that. I have a slight Roman nose, which really annoys me at times. My eyes are a dark green along the outside but closer to the pupil they change into a light brown sunburst pattern. Depending on the light, and what I am wearing, from a distance they appear either brown or green. I don't have particularly high cheek bones or anything, but my skin is incredibly smooth. My lips are faintly red, but they set off the rest of my features quite nicely. My hair is cut short, in that fashion that is so popular now, the combed forward then up in the front. It is brown, neither dark nor light, somewhere in the middle. My right ear is pierced, with a hoop, on the upper part. My left ear has a matching hole up high, and one centered on the lobe. And, as I said before, I am fairly attractive.
When I was finally happy with my hair I quickly brushed my teeth then put on my clothes. I had decided on kakhi cargo pants, a bright red shirt (red looks really good on me! Any shade!), and a pair of Nikes. I rearranged my hair one last time then walked out of my room towards the conference room., to meet Britney.
I walked into the room expecting it to be full of people. I was wrong. The only person there was Britney. She was seated on the couch nibbling on a bagel. "Everyone has already eaten and gone to do there thing," Britney said when she noticed my entrance.
"Already? What time is it?" I asked.
"Ten o'clock, silly!" she replied, laughing.
"Ten o'clock!?!" I was amazed. I'm usually a morning person, somehow I totally missed it this morning. My internal clock should have been set an hour earlier because of the time zone difference, but obviously it wasn't working right. I must have been more tired then I thought. Between the stress of getting here, and getting things together once I got here, I must have become more tired than I thought, and staying up writing e-mails and my journal probably hadn't helped. "Well, lets get going. What were you planning on doing?"
"I was thinking about going to the mall or something, just hanging around. We only have until two o'clock before rehearsals start. The show is at eight," she told me. "Aren't you going to eat anything?"
"I never eat anything in the mornings. I'll eat a lunch, and a big dinner, don't worry about it. Can we stop by my room before we go, I want to grab my wallet, just in case I see something that I just have to buy." She agreed and we both walked out together.
I grabbed my wallet then we went down to the lobby. We quickly flagged down a cab and had it bring us to the nearest mall, The Riverwalk. approached from the main entrance, which I thought was a little risky, even though Britney was in cognito. She was wearing dark sunglasses, a hat that can only be described as odd, and really baggy clothing. Not something that you would expect to see THE Britney Spears in.
We past the Nature Company and towards the main entrance without anyone recognizing Britney. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, if I didn't know it was her, I probably wouldn't have recognized her either.
We walked through the mall with long slow strides. People looked at us weirdly as we walked by. At first I thought that they might have recognized Britney, then I realized that they thought we were a couple. A very odd couple. A tall guy, in clean cut clothes and a shorter girl with an unkempt appearance. I had to restrain myself from giggling. Even so I got a few strange looks from Britney, which I answered with a smile.
We went through several different stores, just idly browsing to pass the time. Neither of us really saw anything that we really liked, so we didn't bother to buy anything. We were lucky enough that no one recognized Britney, a fact which surprised me greatly. Before either of us knew where to time and gone it was 1:30 and we needed to go grab a cab and get to rehearsal or we would be late.
We rushed out of the mall and flagged down a cab. Then we had him bring us to the hotel so we could get our things. After grabbing our bags we decided to walk the short distance to the SuperDome since it was right around the corner.
We went to our seperate dressing rooms and changed into clothing appropriate for rehearsal, then we returned to the main stage to wait for everyone. Even after the time we had spent going to the hotel and walking, we still ended up early.
The techies were going about their business quickly and efficiently, gotta love the techies, they make it all possible. We sat in the center of the stage, stretching and warming up. Slowly the other dancers wandered in, also taking places on the stage to warm up. Music filtered through the speakers as the techies began the sound checks. Inspired by the music I got up and began doing some choreography off the top of my head.
The song suddenly cut off, leaving me in the middle of a step, which I completed then stopped dancing, looking around sheepishly. Everyone started clapping and I couldn't help but smile. I am addicted to applause. I bowed then quickly returned to my spot next to Britney.
LFO must have walked in while I was dancing because they all walked over and plopped down next to Britney and I, then started complementing me on my dancing. I smiled and blushed, thanking them profusely.
"That the choreography or your own stuff?" Devin asked.
"That was all me! Off the top of my head." I told them.
"Wow! I could never do anything like that off the top of my head!" Rich said, smiling, locking his eyes on me.
Our conversation was cut short as the backstage manager called Britney. As she stood up she pulled me up with her, practically dragging me across the stage. LFO simply watched as I smiled helplessly as I was pulled along. Did I see a touch of jealousy in any of their eyes? I was probably just imagining things.
Britney ran through her vocal sound checks then we returned to the stage to finish warming up. Unfortunately we couldn't hang out with LFO beacuse they had to go do their sound checks, and with three voices it would probably take a while longer than it had taken Britney.
Bye the time that LFO finally finished their sound checks Britney's choreographer had arrived and we were quickly put to work. He wanted to work it a little extra because I was "new" and "didn't know everything quite yet". He was surprised, and obviously so, when I executed all the steps perfectly. The only things that were a little shaky was the partnering stuff with Britney since we'd never had a chance to work on it together. Even that, however, was quickly fixed and we didn't have to spend any more time then a normal rehearsal would have taken.
As we retreated from the stage LFO walked up, congradulating us on our hard work, and telling us that we looked "sharp". They began their rehearsal while we all retreated to a small green room adjacent to the dressing rooms. There we sat around and waited. About an hour later we were served a light dinner then we had another thirty minutes before we would be called back to th dressing rooms for make-up and constumes etc. Then we would have a quick stretching session before the performance started.
The performance went well. I didn't mess anything up, actually I did all the steps perfectly. Even the things I did with Britney came off perfectly. As usual I got he usual rush of being onstage in front of a live audience, I could never give it up, even if they weren't cheering for me exactly.
After the performance we all headed back out to the small conference room in the hotel. LFO was nowhere to be found, but Britney and all her dancers, including myself were there. Somehow we got into a dicussion about everyone's life. I guess it was because a couple of the dancers, including myself, were new and it was a way to get to know everyone in the group.
We finally came around to the subject of relationships. As we slowly moved around the room I was happy to find that I wasn't the only gay person in the room. Two of the girls were lesbian, and together, and one of the other guys was gay. When it finally came around to me I didn't feel at all nervous about telling them about myself, they obviously accepted the others. I told them about myself and that I had only been in one real relationship a few years earlier, and that it had been pleasant enough but he certainely wasn't "the one".
My statement got a sigh from one or two of the girls, to which we all laughed. The other gay guy, Brian, had sparkles in his eyes which could mean only one thing. Well, he's kind of cute, but not really my type, still. . ., I thought. He was cute, but popular people are so much more attractive for some unknown reason. Ok, so perhaps it isn't all that unknown, but give a guy a break. If he was more my type I would have jumped on him -- figuratively speaking -- but he just wasn't that great, especially under the present circumstances.
The conversation continued moving on to other topics, and we talked for quite awhile. LFO never showed up. I guess they were too tired, or were out doing their own thing. Around twelve we all decided it was time to say good night. The show had been tons of fun, but performing in front of an audience that big takes more energy then one would think.
I headed back to my room and started going about doing my normal before bed routine. I put on my Savage Garden, Affirmation, cd, then began a quick routine of excercises. I still had to keep up the muscles, dancing didn't do it all by itself, although it certainely did the vast majority of the work. I worked on abs, did push-ups in a hand stand against the wall, too work on my arms. I wasn't at all worried about my legs, the dancing took care of them completely.
When the excercising was done I switched CDs to a little Mariah Carey, her soft music always got me ready for bed. Then I proceeded to the bathroom after stripping down to my boxers.
About halfway through burshing my teeth I was interrupted by a knock on the door. Guessing that it was Britney I walked out of the bathroom to the door and opened it, without even looking to see who it was. Then I walked back towards the bathroom, still brushing my teeth.
After I had rinsed and spalshed my face with water, I looked up. In the mirror I saw a sight that startled me completely. I whipped my head around towards the figure standing in the doorway. My heart started beating and the blood rose to my face. Here I was in my boxers, being looked upon by Rich, who was holding a small bouquet of roses. One red rose, one yellow, one white, one pink, and one platinum. I had to remind myself to breath several times before my lungs got the point.
"I wasn't sure what color was your favorite so I decided I'd try one of each," he said shyly.
"How did you. . .," I began, but couldn't finish. I was still surprised.
"Well I overheard all the dancers talking and I heard what you said. I think you're really fly, so I figured I'd try somethin' and see what you thought. I can leave if you --"
"NO!" I quickly interjected. "No! I just didn't expect. . . I wouldn't have thought ever. . . I. . ." Once again I was struck dumb with astonishment.
"So you mean that you. . ?" he quietly asked after several moments of silence.
I smiled, "Yes!" I told him firmly.
He too smiled. "Cool! So how about tomorrow night we do something. Go out to dinner, or catch a movie, or something, your choice."
"Absolutely!" I replied, still not believing that this was happening.
He smiled and held the flowers out to me. I looked at them, a tear forming in my eye. It slipped, silently, down my face to my chin where it hung for a second then fell, leaving a wet streak down my cheek.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Rich said, taking a step towards me. We may have had a date set, but he obviously didn't want to overstep his bounds, just in case. I reached out to him and he took the hint, wrapping his arms around me and holding me to his body.
"This is going to sound cheesy," I said, "but I have never been given flowers. Never."
Then he did something that was completely unexpected. He kissed me lightly on the cheek. I was stunned. If he were any other guy it wouldn't have affected me. But he was a star. I was never really starstruck in the tradidional sense, but being asked on a date and being kissed, even on the cheek, by a star singer is enough to surprise anyone. None of it had seemed real until that instant. It was like there was a pause as my brain finally caught up with reality.
Rich felt me tense up and quickly pulled back, assuming he had done something wrong. When I came back to myself I smiled at him, assuring him that he hadn't done anything wrong. He returned the smile. "Well I guess I'd better go, it is kind of late. I'll see you tomorrow."
I stared after him as he left, only removing my eyes when he shut the door behind him. After several long minutes I returned to the sink to splash more water on my face, then removed my boxers and climbed into bed.
Morning came and I woke up like I usually do. I open my eyes and smile at the sunlight filtering through the curtains. What a great dream I had last night, I thought. I stood up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom.
I gasped when I saw the roses sitting on the counter. It wasn't a dream! I was suddenly filled with elation, my heart leaping for joy. I was one lucky man! I grabbed the roses and found something suitable to put them in.
I rushed through my morning things, a quick shower, brushed my teeth as fast as possible, shaved, etc. The only thing I took real time with was my hair. When I was finished with those things I went through my clothes selections and grabbed a pair of light gray Levi's Cargo Pants and a saphire blue shirt. I debated putting on one of my silk shirts, but in the end I decided it might be a little too much.
When everything was done I returned to the mirror to check my hair one last time -- can we say that I am a little obsessed with my hair -- then walked down the hall to the conference room. I sighed, then prepared myself before stepping into the room.
I looked around as I walked in. I was dissappointed to find that Rich was absent, but I figured that he just hadn't gotten up yet. Britney must have seen my expression because she quickly came over and asked me what was wrong.
"Let's just say that I got roses last night, and they certainely weren't from your fans." Britney maintained her curious, puzzled expression until the implications finally dawned on her.
A secretive smile appeared on her face, "Which one?"
I smiled at her evily, "I dunno, one of them, I'm really not sure which one."
"Smart ass!" she said as she punched me lightly in the chest.
"Fine! But remember, you beat it out of me, I didn't give up the information because I wanted to. First of all, don't say anything to anyone, because we didn't talk about who he wants to know and who he doesn't. I know everyone has contracts and all, but still. Let's be careful." She quickly nodded an affirmative. "Alright, it was Rich." I whispered in her ear.
She looked at me with a snide expression, "Told you!" she whispered back.
I went to the cart in the middle of the room and began piling food on my plate, while I "surveyed the landscape". Their were a few bodies laying in what can only be described as "odd" positions on the floor. The other dancers were stuffing their faces in between their yawns, and moans of pain.
We walked over to a couch in a corner of the room and sat down, engaging in small talk as we ate. I felt eyes on me, and looked around the see closed expressions some of the other dancer's faces. They quickly turned away when they saw me look in their direction. I guess that they were probably jealous of my friendship with Britney. I suppose they had every right to be. They had been dancind with Britney for who knows how long, possibly even since her debut. Then suddenly this new guys waltzes in and is best friends with their "boss", not to mention that she was a big star. They probably felt threatened as well, they must think that I have influence, but in truth I didn't. Britney was completely her own person, she wouldn't do anything drastic unless she felt it needed to be done. Well, I'd have to remedy that problem before it became a problem. In the performing world you do your best to not make enemies. Enemies can make you look really bad onstage, and that is something no one wants.
Britney and I talked for quite some time, waiting for everyone to wander in. Finally, all the dancers had come in, as well as Brad. We waited a few more minutes for Devin and Rich. They walked in the room together, laughing a smiling at some joke that one most have told.
As they walked into the room, my eyes swung up to Rich's. He looked back at me, and we locked gazes for an instant before he looked away. He must not want anyone to know yet, or he still isn't sure himself, I thought.
"So what are we doing today?" Brad asked from his seat on a couch.
"Well, a couple of us are going to the mall, then we're going to catch a movie at the matinee theatre," Sarah, one of the dancers, told everyone. "Anyone who wants to come is more than welcome to join us."
"I'll come!" Brad said.
"Me too!" Devin said, smiling. He really did have a nice smile.
"Gabe and I went to the mall yesterday," Britney said, "we'll do something in the morning, then we can join you for the movie. Ok with you?"
"Sounds good to me," I told her.
"Mind if I join you,?" Rich asked, a killer smile on his face. Yep, his were better than Devin's.
"Fine with me!" Britney said, I nodded.
"Cool!" he grabbed a plate and put some food on it, then joined Britney and I on the couch. He sat close enough to me to rub his leg against mine, but not so close that it looked out of place. "When we gonna leave?"
"I guess whenever you finish eating," I said, smiling at him. He smiled right back.
Britney, Rich, and I walked down New Orleans's Bourbon Street side by side. Rich and I marveled at the sights. Britney just laughed at our gaping mouths. She had seen it all before so she wasn't impressed. We had been walking around since eleven o'clock and it was now two fifteen. We were on our way to join everyone else for the matinee theatre movie at three.
We made our way down the street looking around, and keeping an eye out for a taxi. Surprisingly enough, there weren't many that weren't already occupied. We finally decided just to take a bus. Britney and Rich were in good enough disguises that they wouldn't be recognized, and no one would expect for the celebrities to be riding the bus anyway. The bus ride was short, and we made it to the theatre around 2:45. We stood around for several minutes waiting for the others to arrive.
We heard them approaching before we saw them. They were all talking and laughing, hanging on each others' shoulders and telling jokes. I almost envied the fun they were having, but hanging around with Rich and Britney had been fun as well, and I had gotten a few nice brushes against Rich earlier in the morning.
Everyone decided on some little known about movie that I was't really interested in, but I didn't mind. Rich sat next to me, and he put his hand on my thigh as soon as the lights dimmed. He looked at me to see my reaction. I smiled and placed my hand on top of his.
The movie was nothing remarkable. Truth is, I barely paid any attention to it. The entire time I thought about Rich, and what things would be like with him. The good things. The problems that were likely to arise. Other things that were likely to arise. . .
When the movie was finally over we all walked out onto the sidewalk together. As I walked out the door I someone grabbed my elbow and pulled me aside. I turned quickly, expecting something bad, I'm not really sure what. Brian was looking at me, that twinkle is his eyes again. "Hey, Gabriel," he said. "I wanted to ask you: Would you like to go out to dinner tonight?"
"Oh great!" I thought. "This is the last thing I need." I decided to take the nice, easy approach. "Actually, Brian, I already have things planned for tonight," I told him.
"Oh. . ." He was obviously struck down by that, but he hadn't given up yet. "How about another night?"
"We'll see," I replied, then turned and followed everyone out the door. "This could very easily become a problem."
Rich and I sat on the bed in his room. We had decided that it would be safer to just stay in his room and order room service. That way he wouldn't be recognized, and we would have all the time in the world to discuss anything we wanted.
Dinner had been very nice. Rich had given me more flowers, platinum roses, which I had told him were my favorite. We ate a light rice and pork dish, probably Chinese in origin, and followed it up with some of the best strawberry pie I have ever had, other than the stuff that my mother made -- her cooking was good enough for the angels.
After eating we had watched a little bit of tv, but that didn't last long, there really wasn't anything good on. So we ended up sitting and talking. We talked for a few hours about ourselves. I told him about how I grew up, and why I loved dancing so much. He told me how he grew up, and how he got into the music business. We talked about past relationships -- I found out he was bi --, and we talked about what we wanted to do with our futures. Finally we came around to what was, for now anyway, the most important topic.
"So where do you see the two of us going?" he asked me, a mask of indecisions covering his face.
"Well, I really like you," I began. "I think that this could go somewhere. It is far to early to start talking about being together for ever and all that stuff, but I think it could work for awhile in any case. I think that we could make something of this. What do you think?" Now it was my turn to be frightened of his response.
"I was going to say almost exactly the same thing," he said, beaming. His smile as infectious and soon I was caught up in it, smiling widely myself.
"I'm glad we agree," I said, laughing.
"Me too," he replied. Then he leaned over and kissed me, full on the lips. It was't an openmouth, passion-filled kiss, it was merely a taste of what was to come. A very good taste, I might add.
We released our lips and smiled at each other, both of us overjoyed at the joy of the other. I would say that it was a vicious circle, but there was nothing vicious, or in any way negative about it.
I climbed across the bed to him, and turned around so I was leaning my back against his chest. Then I gave him a light kiss on the cheek, and leaned back, pushing both of us down to the bed. He wrapped his arms around me and we fell asleep, locked in each other's embrace.
It was the first time in a long time that I was truly happy. I hoped to God that it wasn't the last.
I want to apologize to EVERYONE that I told that I would get this story out sooner. I have been promising it to some for two or three weeks now, and it has only now gotten out. So my new resolution is to NOT promise anything to anyone. Life gets in the way far too often, and people get upset because of it. I want people to realize that writers are people too, that we DO have lives outside of writing for the archive. Don't expect us to spend ALL of our time to work on these stories, we have other things to do as well! I'll step off my soap-box now, I suppose. Don't expect me to give any firm estimates of when the next segment will come out, because I really don't know. I'm sorry, but that's life. But still feel free to e-mail me and tell me what you thought about this segment!
Please tell me what you think, e-mail me at GayNight@hotmail.com