A Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 1 It was finally the end of February, and Javier Gisbert was thankful for that. As much as he had enjoyed visiting the homes of his friends who celebrated the Lunar New Year at the beginning of the month, February was also the month he dreaded the most because of the damn Valentine’s Day. He understood why many couples put so much emphasis on that particular day, but he was a single man. Valentine’s Day was a painful reminder of how pathetic and lonely his existence was. Granted, he didn’t need a boyfriend or a husband to be happy, but the endless lovey-dovey messages and music on the radio or in the stores at the malls could be too much sometimes. It didn’t help that most of his friends were in loving relationships themselves, and he was one of the very few remaining bachelors in the group. Hence, he was relieved to be sent to Saint Louis, Missouri, on a business trip the next day. He needed a break from hanging out with his paired-up friends even if it was just for the next two days or so. He checked through the entire folder for the third time. It was nearly seven o’clock in the evening, but he was stuck in his office, attempting to complete a few last-minute preparations and packing before his early morning flight to Saint Louis the next day. He enjoyed his work as a Marketing Manager at one of the best pharmaceutical firms in San Francisco, California, and the nationwide trips were one of its perks in his opinion. He had even gotten a couple of international trips in the past few months, which allowed him to accrue a much higher mileage to his personal accounts for certain airlines. Naturally, the salary and the end-of-year bonuses were just as attractive, but he really liked to travel a lot, especially since that would also be the perfect excuse for him not to visit his parents, Juan and Camilla, and his two older sisters, Isabella and Mariana, in San Antonio, Texas. Once a year for five days during Christmas was more than enough for him. Not that he had a terrible relationship with his family. Their love for one another was mutual. Even after he had come out of the proverbial closet as a proud gay man at the ripe old age of twenty-two six years ago, complete with rainbows, unicorns, and glittering s**t, they still loved him. He knew he was blessed to have such a wonderful, accepting family. Not everyone had that. However, he could use a little less prodding and a thousand less nosy questions from his parents with regards to his nonexistent love life. He was aware they meant well. They wanted him to settle down with a nice, kind man who would be with him through thick and thin, especially after Isabella and Mariana had gotten married a year apart to Matías and Alejandro, respectively. His sisters had always wanted to get married, but he wasn’t them. He was tired of having to evade the endless questions from his parents about when he would finally get married, especially now that marriage between two people of the same gender had been legal for quite a few years. “Hey, man.” Javier glanced up at Keenan Underwood, the Sales Manager at the firm and one of his closest friends. “Hey, what’s up?” “The guys are waiting for us at The Overrated Llama. Are you done here?” Javier groaned. “I’ll have to skip this round, man.” Keenan pouted. “Oh, come on! You’ll be gone for the next couple of days. We’re going to miss you.” “As much as you’ll miss your darling Pablo Cotilla?” Javier teased before winking at Keenan. “Pablo has the sexiest lips and ass.” Keenan chuckled. “Watch it, buddy. Pablo is my man, and I don’t share. Get your own man.” Javier snickered. “Take it easy. I’m just joking.” “I know. Anyway, up you go. I’ll get the first round.” Javier shook his head. “I really shouldn’t, Kee. I have an early flight tomorrow.” “Three rounds. Please?” “Kee—” “Okay. Fine. Just one. Please?” Keenan pleaded while shooting that lethal puppy-eyed look at Javier. Javier caved in an instant. “All right. One glass of beer, and then I’m out.” “Yes!” Javier chortled at the sight of Keenan’s victorious fist-pump. “You’re an overgrown man-child. You’re lucky Pablo is so damn in love with you. No one else will want your sorry ass.” Keenan grinned. “I know, right? Pablo is so f*****g hot. Plus, he owns The Overrated Llama, so I get to do things with him in the privacy of his office away from the noise at the bar.” Javier grimaced as he packed up everything he would need to bring for the business trip the next day into his bag. He would come back to his office from the bar afterward to pick it up. Then he put his jacket on. “That’s f*****g disgusting. You’re like my brother from another parents, man. I don’t want to imagine your naked ass doing unspeakable things to sweet, innocent Pablo.” Keenan snorted. “Pablo is anything but. He can swallow my d**k and do this thing with his tongue—” “Yuck! Enough!” Javier exclaimed before he mock-gagged while trailing after Keenan toward the elevator. “You’re the worst!” Keenan laughed. “That honor will go to Justin and Blake. I’ve seen more than enough of them, if you catch my drift.” Javier chortled as he followed Keenan into the elevator. “You, too?” “Hell yeah! I think David, Joshua, Calvin, and Vincent had caught Justin and Blake in a few compromising situations in several places in the office. They weren’t completely naked, but they were definitely getting it on hot and heavy.” Javier guffawed much louder now. He, Keenan, Justin, David, Joshua, Calvin, and Vincent had started at the pharmaceutical firm at around the same time straight out of college, and they had been best friends ever since. After years of hard work, they had all risen to their present positions. David Lee was the IT Junior Manager, Joshua Wallace was the Social Media Specialist, Justin Wong was the Human Resource Manager, Calvin Maxwell was the Junior Manager for the Research and Development department, and Vincent Yang was the Finance Manager. “Those two can’t keep their hands off each other.” Keenan shot a disgusted expression at Javier. “You can say that again. I’ll need extra strong brain-bleach to get the images out of my mind.” “If you know where to get something like that, buy me a few bottles. I want to erase the images of Justin’s naked ass and Blake’s c**k from my mind,” Javier said with a shudder as he and Keenan stepped out from the elevator a short moment later. Javier and Keenan shared a pained smile immediately afterward. “I will, buddy.” Then the two of them beamed at each other as they headed toward The Overrated Llama. The bar was within walking distances from the office, so Javier and his best friends never took their cars there. Instead, they would get there on foot at least three times a week and stay for two, three rounds of drinks before making their way back to the office building where they worked at to get their cars. They never drank too much. In fact, most of the time they would simply nurse one glass of beer for about an hour or two. On the rare occasions they had consumed too much alcohol, they would call for a cab each. The moment Javier entered the bar, he could feel himself relaxing a little. Maybe getting a drink and catching up with his best friends at the same time would help to alleviate some of the frustrations he had to endure at work. It was the middle of the week, so there weren’t as many customers. The number of patrons at The Overrated Llama would start to increase on Thursday and Friday, and based on past experiences, he knew the bar would be insanely crowded on Saturdays and Sundays. The music was upbeat, but its pounding wasn’t one of those annoying types that would inevitably give him a migraine. He and Keenan spotted their group of friends with their respective boyfriends at one of the tables. He sighed in exasperation and amusement when he caught the sight of Justin and Blake kissing, groping, and rutting against each other. “Hey, guys,” Javier greeted his friends and their respective boyfriends before turning toward Keenan. “Kee—oh, hell!” Pablo had approached Keenan all the way from behind the bar, and those two were sucking faces so hard, it was a miracle their lips were still on their faces. Javier shrugged at David and Tobias, both of them smiling at him in sympathy. He liked Tobias because the billionaire treated David well. Granted, he didn’t think he could ever be in a relationship with someone like Tobias. The man was possessive and jealous to the point of being excessive at times, but Javier noticed the joy on David’s face every time he observed the two of them together. As long as his best friend was content, he was more than willing to give Tobias the benefit of the doubt in spite of his initial concern that the billionaire might turn into an overly controlling asshole. So far, David had been ecstatic in his and Tobias’s blossoming relationship, so Javier was able to accept the billionaire with ease. “I don’t know which pairing is worse,” Tobias said while darting his eyes back and forth between Justin and Blake on the left side of the table, and Keenan and Pablo on the right. “Justin and Blake,” David muttered loudly with a whole-body shudder. “Justin and Blake for me, as well,” Joshua said while resting his head on James’s shoulder. James Chan was Joshua’s boyfriend, and the man owned JC’s Food Haven, a catering company. James simply chuckled and kissed the top of Joshua’s head. It was a simple gesture, but it was done with so much love and tenderness, Javier could feel the envy burning deep in his guts. Not that he wasn’t delighted for James and Joshua, but this was one of those times he wished he could have the kind of relationship they had. It was lonely sitting all by himself. “Justin and Blake,” Vincent spoke up before grinning at Anthony. Anthony nodded. “I’ll second that.” Vincent and Anthony had waved at Javier and Keenan earlier before resuming their quiet conversation with each other, putting their heads close together. Anthony Lim owned The Torpedough, a successful bakery that allowed for the customers to custom-order anything within a reasonable limit. “I’ll also vote for Justin and Blake,” Calvin half-yelled over the rather loud volume of the music in the bar. “Me, too,” Turner shouted while raising his right hand. Calvin and Turner had smiled and nodded at Javier and Keenan the moment they had approached the table, and now those two lovebirds were once again busy whispering at each other. Turner Marsh was the owner of The Paradise Fable, a new fine dining restaurant downtown. Justin broke away from Blake, who was still nuzzling and nipping at his neck, and gave everyone at the table the middle-finger salute. “f**k you all!” Pablo burst out laughing. “Blake won’t approve of that. He doesn’t seem like the sharing type.” “Absolutely not,” Blake pulled away long enough from Justin’s neck to grumble at everybody before licking all over Justin’s ear. At around the same time, Keenan made his way back to the table. Javier had no idea when Keenan and Pablo had stopped smooching. He also didn’t notice when Keenan had gone to get a round of drinks for everyone at the table, but he thanked his best friend when the man placed one cold glass of beer in front of him. He chuckled when Justin climbed off Blake’s lap and plopped down on the empty spot next to him. “Hey, man. Ready for your trip to Saint Louis tomorrow?” “More or less. Just meeting up with an old client. The usual checking up and schmoozing to keep a client interested. Everything should be smooth-sailing.” Calvin chose that moment to occupy the empty chair on Javier’s other side. “I’m going to miss you.” Javier rolled his eyes. “I’ll only be gone for two days. I’ll catch the red-eye back to SF the day after tomorrow.” “Just in time for breakfast with us,” David pointed out while shifting closer to Calvin. “We always have breakfast together as a group every Saturday morning.” Javier snorted. “David, oh, David, don’t even try to lay the guilt trip on me. You’d missed a few of our weekly breakfast because you were too busy with your lover boy.” David’s cheeks turned into a lovely shade of pink. “Whatever.” Everyone else laughed. Then they all started asking Javier questions about the client and the trip in general. He didn’t have much to share. After all, it was the usual business trip. It was nothing exciting. He was making sure the client was satisfied with all the products while introducing a few of their latest ones. He couldn’t remain long at the bar, though. The moment he was done with his first glass of beer, he got up and bade farewell to his best friends and their respective boyfriends. He still had to pick up the things he would be bringing along on this particular business trip from the office, return to his apartment to pack up some clothes, and then set the alarm for four o’clock the next morning to ensure he wouldn’t miss his flight at half past six. There was another reason he was glad to have an excuse to leave the bar. As elated as he was for his best friends’ relationships, they were also acute reminders of how painfully single and lonely he was. Granted, he was only twenty-eight years old, so it wasn’t as if he was in an extreme hurry to settle down. However, it would be nice to date somebody. It had been a while since he put himself out there, after all. He wasn’t celibate or anything like that. However, having one-night stands couldn’t compare to being in a relationship. The intimacy was different. Javier shook his head as he stepped out from the bar and slipped his hands inside the pockets of his winter jacket. The wind was rather biting that night, which was yet another reminder of how cold and empty his life was. He shook off the melancholic thought. He needed to think in a positive manner. He might get lucky and find somebody suitable after returning from the trip. That was always a possibility. He had to have faith. Then he ended up chiding himself internally. He was turning into his mother. He didn’t need to have a man to lead a wonderful life. He should really stop listening to his dear old mother. She was starting to influence his thinking. That was terrible. Besides, love would come when he least expected it. He was certain of that. If it never did, it wouldn’t be the worst fate to befall him. He would be fine growing old on his own. It was no big deal. Not at all.