The Increasingly Misnamed Short Story (AKA, This is A Not-So-Short Story, pt. Where’s Part 19 AKA 21)
If you’re just reading this for the first time, wondering about the joke in the title or have forgotten how we’ve come to the place we are, here’s the previous post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I have no idea what this is about or if it’s even good or bad,” he thought, “but I’m going to see what it is he has to say. No matter what, I know it’s not that my boyfriend and I are parting”
They walk silently through the lobby as what might be as an awkward pair. Awkward would have been the best way to describe the look on his face. He was trying to take it in stride, but not entirely sure how best to do it.
As he stepped outside, he could feel the cool night air gently dance on his skin. He took another deep breath, taking in the Tokyo night that they find themselves in.
The boy shows him to a bench and offers him a seat. He takes it, but not sure why or how he should feel about the situation he finds himself in.
The boy remains standing however. He paces a bit.
“I’m not entirely sure how to say this… or even where to start.”, the boy says scratching his head more out of nervousness than it actually itching.
“Maybe start at the beginning.”, he says.
“Because it’s a very good place to start?”, the boy says in a bit of a sing-song manner.
He looks at him a little cock-eyed. He isn’t entirely sure he gets why say it sing-song.
The boy shakes his head.
“Nevermind, it’s an American movie reference… and I’m not even sure you’ve seen it.”, the boy says.
An awkward moment passes as he looks at this boy. The boy isn’t hard on the eyes. He’s not quite the androgynous beauty that his boyfriend is, but he almost has a rugged attractiveness to him.
“So, I’m not sure if your boyfriend told you that I saw you two at Arty Farty many months ago…”, the boy starts.
“And?”, he asks with a skeptical tone.
The boy sits down for a moment, more at the edge of the bench. His right foot taps violently. It was obvious that his nerves were getting to him. He had no reason for why the boy was feeling so flustered.
“OK, this isn’t a good place to start…”, the boy says trying to calm his overactive leg, “I… I have no idea why I can’t just do this…”
The boy stands up again, he walks away again. He stops half-way between the bench and the street. He sighs deeply and shakes his head. He turns around on one heel and approaches him again. The boy puts a hand on either side of his legs, the boy’s face about 2 inches from his.
He started feeling rather nervous. This guy was close… closer than he was comfortable with. He tried to lean back, but to no avail. He’s as far back as he can get on the bench.
The boy leans in closer and kisses him. He keeps his eyes wide open and scans to see if anyone is looking. It doesn’t seem that anyone looks. His entire body goes rigid, not sure how to deal with this.
“B-but what about…”, he starts.
The boy puts a finger over his lips.
“He knows. We’ve talked about it.”, the boy replies.
“Look, the truth is thought you were attractive as well. Not as striking, but definitely attractive to me…”, the boy continues.
“Sooo… where are you going with this?”, he asks, still uncomfortable with this situation.
(To be continued)