Chapter 2
1225 Words
Seth said he wanted something different for dinner than could be found in Montana. So, after being told Seth was staying at The Gem Hotel on 8th Avenue and 22nd, Mack suggested Uncle Nick’s, a Greek restaurant in Chelsea, not far from the hotel.
“This is a pretty nice place,” Seth said as they were seated at one of the balcony tables that overlooked the main floor of the restaurant.
“Glad ya approve,” Mack said with a smile.
Seth looked across the table at his old friend. “Ya haven’t changed a bit,” he said.
Mack laughed. “Your eyesight must be failin’ ya. I’m thirty-five years older than when you last laid eyes on me.”
“Well, you haven’t changed that much. Have I?” Seth asked.
Mack looked closely at the man still dressed in cowboy gear. “You’re older, and you’re balder—”
“Hey, careful there, fella. Ya don’t want ta go and hurt my feelin’s right off,” Seth said with a chuckle.
“I have ta admit you’re still pretty damn good-lookin’.”
“I was hopin’ you’d say somethin’ like that,” Seth said with a warm smile.
Mack felt a stirring in his nether regions as he looked at his old friend - something akin to an awakening from a long sleep. Seth was still handsome. The long, curly brown hair he’d had as a young cowhand was gone, replaced with a close-cropped salt-and-pepper look. He sported a matching goatee. These were new. But the sparkling blue eyes and sensual mouth were the same. How many times had Mack looked into those eyes and paid homage to those lips?
“Ya look like you’re thinkin’ about something,” Seth said, bringing Mack back to the present.
“I—”
“Gentlemen, welcome to Uncle Nick’s,” the waiter said. “My name is Andreas and I’ll be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you off with something from the bar?”
Andreas was tall, dark haired, and handsome with that five-o’clock-shadow-look so popular with younger men. He wore a tight-fitting black T-shirt with the Uncle Nick’s logo on the left breast. The shirt showed his well-developed chest and biceps wonderfully. His forearms sported a perfect dusting of black hair. The man’s slight accent completed the picture nicely.
Mack glanced at Seth, who smiled as he undressed the young waiter with his eyes.
“I’ll have a dry vodka martini, Absolute,” Mack ordered.
“And you, sir?” Andreas asked, turning to Seth. For a moment Mack thought Seth was going to say something like ‘You on my rocks,’ but he ordered scotch neat.
“Very good.” Andreas smiled warmly before leaving.
“You’re droolin’,” Mack said, laughing.
“Hell, yeah, I’m droolin’,” Seth replied. “That man is prime beef!”
“Back ta your old ways?” Mack asked, again thinking of the long nights on the prairie where the two men had spent so much time in each other’s arms.
“Never really left ’em,” Seth said. “That’s what I meant when I told ya it wasn’t workin’ for me and Mary Lou.”
The waiter returned with their drinks. “Are you ready to order?” His radiant smile was directed toward Seth.
Mack laughed to himself. Gaydar at work.
“Well, son,” Seth said smoothly, letting his western accent work some magic on the young man, “my friend and I are celebratin’ a kinda reunion. So, if it’s all right with you, we’d like to have a few rounds and catch up on old times…and enjoy the view ‘fore we decide on what really appeals to us. That sit right with ya?”
“Of course. You take all the time you want. I’ll be happy to take your order whenever you decide what your desires are.” He winked at Seth then left the table.
Seth’s eyes followed the waiter’s retreating ass. “Goddamn, he’s hot,” he said before taking a sip of his scotch. “They all are. Look at ’em.”
Mack looked down from their balcony table at the six or seven waiters moving fluidly among the patrons. Seth was right—good looks and well-toned bodies.
“Well, we’re in Chelsea, Seth,” Mack said, looking back at his friend.
“What’s that got ta do with it?”
Mack laughed softly. “Chelsea has a large population of gay men. Chelsea Boys they call ’em. Most of ’em are tanned, toned, and hot. If you’re into that sorta thing.”
“I take it from what you’re sayin’ you’re not?” Seth asked with an edge of disappointment.
Mack looked into the handsome face. “Look, Seth, what we had was a long time ago. Nancy and I had a good marriage. She was the only woman I ever loved.” He paused. “I can’t say I didn’t look. I did. But I focused my needs on her.”
“What about your needs now?” Seth asked. “Nancy’s not here anymore. Where ya gonna focus them needs?”
Mack was thankful that before he could answer, Andreas returned to see how they were doing. Mack watched as Seth and the young server flirted some more. Something was stirring inside him—something he believed had been well-buried and long-forgotten.
When Andreas left, Mack asked, “Why are ya in New York? Ya never told me. Ya didn’t come all this way just ta see me.”
Seth seemed to hesitate. He took a deep breath, looked directly into Mack’s eyes and said, “Yep…I did.”
Mack didn’t know what to say.
Seth continued. “I married Mary Lou after y’all left for the city. I figured it was the only way ta go. It was fine for awhile.” He stopped and took a drink of scotch. “But I could never get ya outta my head…either head,” he added, glancing down and chuckling. “I played around lots. It’s surprisin’ how many men are into man-to-man stuff—married ones, too. Mary Lou figured it out. At first she said she didn’t care so long’s I brought home the bacon, so ta speak.”
Andreas came back with another serving of drinks. “Gentlemen?”
“Yeah, I guess we better get some food ta soakin’ up this liquor or we’ll be takin’ our shirts off and dancin’ on the tables,” Seth said with a wink at Mack. “Isn’t that what I heard these Greek dudes do?”
Andreas raised his eyebrows and puckered his lips as if to say ‘ooo.’ Smiling, he asked, “So, what can I get for you?”
Both men ordered moussaka with rice pilaf.
When the waiter left, Seth continued with his story. “After awhile she got tired of me not wantin’ ta have s*x with her. Can’t blame her; she had needs and I am a stud.” He looked over the rim of his glass and laughed. “So we decided to call it quits.”
“I’m sorry,” Mack said.
“Hell, it’s better this way. I was livin’ a lie. Not that I didn’t care about her. I did. I loved her, still do. But I wasn’t bein’ true to who I really was. I liked men. That’s all there was to it. One man in particular.”
Seth looked into Mack’s face once more, his eyes searching Mack’s as if he were hoping to find something there.
“Once me and Mary Lou split up I kinda went on a bender. Not drinkin’…well some, but mainly s*x. I can’t tell ya the numbera men I been with. Does that freak ya out, Mack?”
Mack knew Seth’s true confessions were being fueled by the scotch. He could feel the alcohol working on him as well.
“No, Seth, it doesn’t freak me out. I think I understand.”
“Well, I got tired of polygamy. Can ya believe that! Well, yeah, you probably can. Ya only ever had Nancy and…me.”
Mack was taken aback by that. It must have shown on his face as Seth quickly added, “Sorry, I didn’t mean nothin’ by that. Just that…well…ya had more sense than I did.”
“Go on,” Mack said.
Seth dropped his eyes and sighed. “The more I slept around, the more I missed ya.” He raised his eyes to Mack’s once more. “The more I wanted ta find what we had back there on the range. So, when I couldn’t find it no matter how many guys I slept with, I tracked ya down and kept tabs on ya. For the last ten years I been findin’ out all I could about what ya was doin’ and where ya was livin’ and…well, everythin’.”
Mack was speechless.
“When I heard that Nancy had passed, I waited a respectable time…and here I am.”
“Here ya are?” Mack said, confused. “Now you lost me. I don’t understand.”
“Here I am, hopin’ you still feel some a what we felt when we was young bucks, fulla piss and vinegar…and love for one another.”
“Your moussaka, gentlemen,” Andreas said, arriving at the table.
- Writer
