Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:50:42 -0400
From: montrealormolu@aol.com
Subject: The Glance - chapter 2

Out they went to the church parking lot, got into Chuck's car and took off.
Chuck suddenly stopped at the edge of the lot. "Um, where are we going?"
John looked at him, "I don't know. What do you like to eat?" Chuck smiled,
"This conversation could take forever. OK, I'll take you to one I like. Do
you have any allergies or strong dislikes?" John shook his head. "Then
we're off." Once again, Chuck put the car into gear and took off. They
drove for a short while and then turned into a restaurant parking lot. John
laughed again, "This is one of my favorite restaurants. How did you know?"

After parking, they went in, were seated and then looked around. Chuck
enthused, "I love dim sum. The whole thing is just so exotic, and, well,
adventurous. You never know what they're going to brink around next." John
nodded his head in agreement. "I've had wonderful food...and then there's
been some other stuff. But, you only live once and it's a great adventure."

The crowd of mixed Chinese, Hispanics and Anglos sent up a steady buzz of
conversation. The large room was filled with people. Threading their way
through the crowd and around the tables were dozens of small metal carts,
pushed by tiny Chinese women and filled with little bamboo and metal
dishes. The smells were absolutely intoxicating. Steam drifted up from most
of the carts as they went by, each driver announcing their wares in tuneful
Chinese and English, "chicken feet, shrimp balls, sticky rice, congee
soup." As each cart went by, they stopped and showed off the contents to
the two men. They chatted back and forth with each other and the server,
choosing one container of this and another container of that, until their
tabletop was filled with a wide variety of known and unknown dishes. Then
they fell to, using chopsticks, drinking tiny cups of tea, and chatting
with each other.

"So, Chuck, tell me what brought you to church this morning."

Chuck looked at John with the quizzical, head-tilted, eyebrow-raised
expression that had captivated John earlier in the day. "Oh no. We're not
going to have a `professional' discussion. Please, take off your collar and
just be an ordinary person enjoying lunch with a friend. I want to become a
friend, not a parishioner." John was flustered, embarrassed. He wasn't sure
what to do. This man had captured his imagination with just one glance, but
where was this going? What was happening to him, to them? Why was he
letting this stranger tell him what to do?

"Sorry." He looked at Chuck, seeing him again afresh and took a deep
breath. "Can we start over again? Hi, my name is John." He reached out his
hand and offered it to Chuck. Chuck smiled, broadly, and shook his hand.
"That's better. I'm Chuck, glad to meet you. I'm new in town and looking
for friends." He went on, "I just moved here a couple of months ago, got a
new job teaching at the university, counseling psychology. I love music and
reading. My family is all back home and I haven't got any friends here, so
I'm wide open for new relationships. There, that's a good capsule
description." And he smiled, again.

John looked at him, silently, just thinking to himself about this man, who
seemed to smile an awful lot. "Your turn," said Chuck. John shook himself a
bit, coming out of his daze, and started. "Well, as you can tell, I'm an
Episcopal priest, have been for more than 20 years. I'm single. I've been
at this parish for about 10 years now. It's my second parish. I'm pretty
typical of most priests, I guess, kind of consumed by the parish and by the
people in it. I've been pretty successful but I'm lonely. I'd like to think
that I'm ready for a relationship. I've been pretty closeted and I'm not
sure what this all means. Oh, and I have a cat."

Chuck laughed, "Well, right now, it means that we can try to be honest with
each other, that we can explore a new friendship, and that we can finish
off the rest of this delicious Chinese food, together." Chuck reached out
with his chopsticks and picked up another shrimp sui mai. He popped it into
his mouth and chewed appreciatively. John realized he was staring, was it
possible that chewing Chinese food could be sexy? He quickly reached over,
took a crispy wonton in his hand, and ate it, trying to cover up his
discomfort with his own feelings. They continued, eating and talking for
the rest of the meal. They shared the check and went out to the car.

"I enjoyed this -- a lot," said John.

"So did I, can we do it again?"

"Is that a date?" John grinned back at Chuck.

"Well -- uh -- sure!"

"OK. When and where?"

"How about next Sunday after service? This time, you get to pick the
restaurant."

"Done."

As they got back into the car, they were both grinning. Quickly, they drove
back to the church. John got out of the car and leaned down. "I really
enjoyed this. I'm looking forward to next week." Chuck waved as he drove
out, John standing and looking after him.