Average Gray

Chapter 1

Chapter 1One week before Halloween

October 24th, early Monday morning

At 1:45, Bobby Michaels pulled into the parking lot of The Sunset. He parked his Outback at the front of the club rather than the rear because he decided to have a beer. Entering the front door, Bobby waved to the bartenders, and sat in Reggie’s old seat at the end of the main bar. Gray was working that station tonight.

“Hi, Bobby, you come to get Keith?” Gray went to the tap and drew Bobby a Heineken.

Mike, who managed the bar for Keith and Zach, was chatting up the only other customer left in the club, Enzo Del Monte.

“Yep, we have a breakfast date.” Bobby smiled softly. Keith was his husband of two months. He pivoted his head to take in the whole bar. The renovation for which he did the architectural drawings earlier that year was finished. Sunset appeared modern, sleek, and upscale, with wood floors and golden paneling. The new light oak bar with the mirrored back wall wasn’t too shabby, either. Bobby patted himself on the back. On Sunday nights, the DJ left at eleven, and the waiters were picking up the empties and wiping the tables down before the cleaning service showed up at six.

Gray put Bobby’s Heineken in front of him and shot a dark glare at Mike down the end of the bar. Bobby raised an eyebrow. Gray grunted in disgust. “All Mike wants is his money. He’s a poser.” Gray finished polishing the highball glass and held it up to the light to check for fingerprints. He placed the glass next to the others on the mirrored shelf. “He’s been trying to tap into Enzo’s wallet since he met him.”

“Why would you say that?” Bobby’s leg twitched. It always did that when he was upset. Up in everyone’s business as always, he was interested in why Gray disliked Mike.

“Because he’s straight. He’s the only bartender in the place who is, and Keith and Zach don’t know.”

“Jason worked with the guy, he vouched for him.” Bobby’s temper always resulted in a leg twitch. This time Bobby’s leg twitched so hard he had to hold it down. Since his friend Jack married Carlo, Carlo’s extended family had bonded with Jack’s adopted family. Bobby didn’t like the fact that Mike was playing games, not only with one of his husband’s customers, but with Enzo, Carlo’s cousin, who Bobby considered to be one of his own.

“When Jason told Mike that a job was available at the Sunset, he jumped at the chance. He knew how much money he could make here. Besides, Keith couldn’t have refused him the job just because he’s straight. But even though he had to know that, he lied to Keith’s face.” Gray washed another glass. “Mike would have pretended to be a Martian if that would have gotten him the job. He knew if he said was gay, he’d get better tips.”

“How do you know all this, if Jason doesn’t?” Bobby’s voice switched to a lower, gruffer register and he tightened his grip on his glass.

“I’ve seen him around town with his girlfriend. When he introduced me, he said her name was Cathy, that was it, no point of reference. I saw them at the mall. I needed to pick something up for Mom. Cathy left us to go to a store when he dragged me aside and told me she was his sister. Why wouldn’t he plain introduce her as his sister? Why would he draw me aside?” Gray put the last glass on the rack with a little more force than necessary.

“Maybe his sister doesn’t know he’s gay.” Bobby’s brows drew together. At this point, his leg was banging against the rungs of the bar stool.

“Do you play tonsil hockey with your sister? I was waiting in line to get into the movies last Monday night when I saw them. My neighbor sat with my mom so I could get away for a few hours. I didn’t want to talk work, so I avoided him and he didn’t see me. I sat on the other side of the theater to the back. They made out throughout the entire show. Somebody has to tell Enzo.” Gray’s fist clenched around the bar towel.

“Why don’t you tell Enzo?” Bobby asked with mistrust.

“You know damn well why.” Gray snapped the bar towel. “Enzo doesn’t know I exist. I like Enzo, a lot, and I’d love it if he noticed me, but even if I can’t have him, I can’t let Mike do him dirty. Mike needs money. He’s going to ask Enzo for a loan. He’s planning on skipping town once he gets the check.” Gray wiped at the bar furiously. “He’s been playing Enzo since day one.”

Bobby leaned over the bar, leg moving up and down like a carnival horse. “And you know this how?”

“No one pays me much attention. I’m average, nondescript, plain faced, medium height—people tend to overlook average. They see handsome, ugly, tall, short, but not average—gray. My name suits me, Grayson Grey. Mike didn’t notice I was there when he was on the phone with Cathy. He told her he’d get the money from Enzo and they’d elope to Las Vegas. He said he’s been setting Enzo up since the bachelor party and she shouldn’t worry. Enzo was chaffing at the bit and would give it to him without a question. From what I could hear, and I admit, I stood there and eavesdropped, she was pissed because he gambled away their savings.” Gray sighed and took Bobby’s empty glass off the bar. “Enzo doesn’t see me either, but I can’t let Mike do that to him.” Gray swiped at his eyes with the bar towel.

“Why are you telling me?” Bobby asked suspiciously.

“As I said, Enzo doesn’t see me. Neither does anyone else. Why would he listen to me? But you can tell Jack and Carlo and they can decide what to do…then, if they tell Enzo and he still lends money to Mike, it’s not on my head. I really like Enzo, but he won’t believe me because he doesn’t even know who I am except when I serve him his beer.” The unshed tears in Gray’s eyes told Bobby that Gray was literally pleading with Bobby to do something.

“Enzo must mean a lot to you if you’re asking me.”

“Enzo is kind. He always has a good word for everyone here, even me.” Gray determinedly wiped the dust off the liquor bottles.

“I thought we got rid of trouble at the club when Billy shot Jay. s**t. I’ll try, but I’m making no guarantees,” Bobby decided.

“All I ask is that you try. I don’t want to see Enzo hurt. He’s beautiful, kind, very smart, but I don’t think he’s streetwise, and Mike’s a bastard. I’d also check the till if I were you. He spends a lot of time in Atlantic City trying to win his money back, playing with money he probably doesn’t have.”

Bobby slapped a five on the bar and strode to the back office to find Keith.

* * * *

A knock rattled the office door. Keith looked up from his computer. “Bobby? I thought you were meeting me out front.”

Bobby walked inside. “I was until I talked to Gray.” He sat down in the one of the two seats in front of the desk.

“Gray? Gray never has much to say. He quietly does his job well and then goes home.” Keith began to shut down his computer.

“Don’t do that…”

“What? Shut down the computer?” Keith raised his brows and waited for whatever Bobby was going to say. Bobby would get to the point eventually.

“Have receipts been down recently?” Bobby shifted to look at the screen.

“I just happened to be going through the receipts. We’ve been busier lately but when I tallied the amount of booze taken out of inventory, with the receipts for drinks, the revenue came up short. How did you know?”

Bobby smiled and answered in one word. “Gray.”

Keith leaned back in his chair. Bobby liked to pause for dramatic effect. “So, what did Gray have to say?”

Bobby tented his hands, his leg twitching. “Gray said nobody sees him so they don’t watch what they say while he’s around.”

“What did Gray overhear?” Keith leaned forward.

“You know how Enzo has been chatting Mike up, and Mike’s been slowly reeling him in?” Bobby smiled darkly.

“Yeah, so…” Keith waited.

“Mike’s not gay. He has a girlfriend and money troubles. Mike told the girl over the phone that he was going to hit Enzo up for money then run off with her to Vegas. Gray has seen him twice with this girl, Cathy something. The second time he saw them, Gray told me they were playing tonsil hockey. If he lied about something like that, what else is he lying about? He could have had the job here without being gay. If you refused him, you’d have been facing a discrimination suit.”

“Jason vouched for Mike,” Keith countered.

“Jason only knew Mike from the Ocean View. They weren’t friends. Jason thought Mike was an okay boss, but Mike wasn’t at the Ocean View that long before Jason came here, and everyone knew Zach was watching out for Jason even before Jason did. Jason didn’t give Zach a character reference for Mike, and Jake Cohen’s office didn’t check him out. We were too busy trying to take care of Kitty-cat. Gray said Mike’s been taking too many trips to Atlantic City,” Bobby said with a sneer.

“I’ll call Jake in the morning,” Keith reassured his husband. “You know that we won’t miss the money?”

“Yeah, so does Mike, but that doesn’t mean he should take it. What about Enzo? Mike plans to lighten his wallet, as well as break his heart,” Bobby said through his teeth. “Enzo’s family.”

“I’ll call both Carlo and Jake in the morning.” Keith leaned back.

Bobby smiled. Mike was going to get what was coming to him.

* * * *

Someone knocked on the door. Keith glanced at Bobby, who nodded. “Come in.” Keith put on his screen saver.

“Hi, boss, I tallied the receipts. Here are the numbers.” Mike handed Keith the cash and the receipts.

Keith glanced at the bottom line. “I know it’s a Sunday night, but aren’t the receipts a little light?”

Mike shrugged. “We weren’t that busy tonight. Summer is over. You need to do more promotion.”

Bobby raised his eyebrow. “I’m going out to the bar to see if I can get everyone moving and check the stations so we can get out of here.”

Keith motioned for Mike to sit. “Receipts have been down the past few months, yet all of the stations are lined up six to eight deep, and we’ve had a line running around the block.”

“They’ve been ordering cheaper drinks, boss.”

Keith took the receipts without further comment, entered the totals into a spreadsheet, and e-mailed himself the spreadsheet to review tomorrow, his day off. He nodded, dismissing Mike. “I’ll make the deposits tonight,” he told him.

Mike left the office.

* * * *

Bobby checked the stations and overheard the conversation between Enzo and Mike.

“I know you’re off tomorrow, the bar’s closed,” Enzo said. “Why don’t you let me take you out for the day? You said you’d be available.”

“I’d love to be able to go…” Mike smiled at Enzo softly. “But my mother’s still sick and I promised to spend the day running errands and sitting with her.”

Mike crossed the barroom floor to get his coat from the coatroom. “Maybe next week,” Enzo called after him.

“Maybe, if she’s better.” Mike hurried to the door. Enzo seemed pissed off. Bobby frowned as he checked Mike’s station. Mike put on his coat and left, leaving Enzo standing at the bar.

I am so going to get that bastard. Bobby walked up to Enzo. “Hi, Enzo, haven’t seen you at Jack and Carlo’s for a while. You should come see Bella. She’s getting chubby cheeks and dimples.”

Enzo quietly whistled. “Chubby cheeks? Dimples…? It sounds like she’s finally packing on the pounds.”

Bobby chuckled. “The doctor said she’s almost caught up to the ideal weight for her age.” Enzo’s body language remained rigid. He appeared angry because of that bastard Mike. “If you don’t have to be in to work early, why don’t you have breakfast with Keith and me?”

“I might as well. I took tomorrow off. I had hoped to be busy but my plans went south.”

Bobby looked over at the main bar. Gray couldn’t take his eyes off Enzo, and Enzo kept glancing at Gray when Gray wasn’t looking back. Bobby made an executive decision. “Hey Gray,” he called. “Keith and I are going out for breakfast with Enzo, do you want to come?”

Gray’s face brightened. “Sure, let me get my coat and call my mom.”

Bobby watched Gray head for the coatroom. Keith came out of his office appearing as if he had sucked on a lemon. “Hey honey, Enzo and Gray are coming with us. We’re going to meet them at the Blue Swan, that way we don’t have to come back to get our cars.” Bobby turned to Enzo and Gray expectantly.

“Fine with me.” Enzo put on his light jacket.

“I’m okay with that. I live in Wayside.” Gray took out his car keys. Keith checked the door and set up the alarm system. The four of them proceeded out the front door.

“Enzo, Gray, do you know where the Blue Swan is?”

“Yeah.” Gray walked over to his Toyota Corolla and unlocked the door.

“I’ll follow you.” Enzo got into his Audi. Keith climbed into the driver’s seat of Bobby’s Outback. He would go west on Asbury Avenue, then make a right on to Route 35 North and the Blue Swan.

“Why is your face so sour?” Settling into the passenger side, Bobby held on to his seat. Ever since his parents’ deaths in the car accident, he was still nervous in a car.

“Because I examined my spreadsheets. Gray is right. Receipts are down by twenty percent. Zach and I got too involved with the family drama. We haven’t kept our eyes on the ball.”

“We need security cameras in the bar. We’re all alarmed up since the Billy incident, but we forgot to put in cameras. If we put cameras over the registers in each bar area, we’ll know who is shorting the receipts. It’ll be expensive, especially to put them in now, and difficult to install without Mike’s knowledge, but doable. I want to catch this rat bastard. We have more to talk to Jack and Carlo about besides Enzo.”

“How so?” Keith turned smoothly onto Route 35.

“Remember, Jack used to be a police officer. We need to ask Jack where to put the cameras so they will be unobtrusive but effective.”

“Good idea.”

“I occasionally have one.” Bobby smirked.

“Now you can tell me why we dragged Enzo and Gray to our breakfast. With you working at Chambers and Brooks and me at the bar, I never see you. Thank God you work Saturdays so you can have Mondays off. I had plans. I wanted to have breakfast alone.” Keith pulled the Outback into the Blue Swan’s parking lot.

“Because Gray is unhappy and so is Enzo. If Enzo can see past the nose on his face, he’ll find that Gray is so much more than that rat bastard Mike.” Keith turned the car off, and Bobby unbuckled his belt.

“You really have it in for Mike, don’t you?”

“You’re damn right I do. Nobody messes with our family and gets by me, and on top of that, he’s stealing.”

Keith sighed. “I’ll call and have Jake Cohen’s security people install cameras in the morning and keep the viewer in the office and get a remote viewer for home.”

“You also have to keep the office locked when you or Zach aren’t at the club. That way no one will know we have them. Then when we get rid of Mike and hire a new thoroughly-vetted manager, we can tell him, and with him in place it will give you more nights off to spend with me, thereby killing two birds with one stone.” Bobby shut the car door in triumph.

The four men met at the entrance and walked up the steps. Marianne was at the register.

Bobby and Keith took the larger booth in the back instead of their usual booth. Enzo and Gray followed. As soon as they were seated, Marianne came over with the menus.

“How come you’re working so late, isn’t your shift three to eleven?” Bobby asked as he took the menus.

“Doris called in sick, so I’m pulling a double. I’ll be back in ten minutes to take your order.”

“Read quickly.” Bobby opened his menu. “When she says ten minutes, she means it.”

“Come here often, I take it.” Enzo chuckled as he opened his menu.

Gray, who was seated next to Enzo, acted as if he were struck dumb. Bobby decided to do something about that. “Enzo, you know Gray, don’t you?”

“I’ve seen him at the Sunset, at your bachelor party and wedding, but we’ve never been formally introduced.” He glanced at Gray. “I’m Enzo Del Monte.”

“Grayson Grey.” Gray stuck out his hand. Enzo shook it, and Gray peered at Enzo from under his thick, dark blond lashes, giving Enzo a soft smile.

“Enzo owns EDA, Electronic Design Associates, in West Long Branch and lives there on Weston Avenue.” Bobby gave Gray the encapsulated version of the essence of Enzo Del Monte.

“I stayed in the West Long Branch area like my cousins Carlo, Giuseppe, and Alberto, to be near my mother, uncle, and my aunts. They all took care of me while I was growing up, now it’s time for me to be around for them.”

Gray inclined his head. “I can understand that. My mom is ill. We live in an apartment in Wayside, and after I graduated high school, instead of going to college, I stayed with her.”

Marianne came back over to the table. “Are you ready?”

“Keith and I will have pancakes, eggs, and bacon with the eggs up, coffee, and two large glasses of orange juice.” Bobby handed Marianne back his and Keith’s menus.

“I’ll have French toast and sausage.” Enzo glanced over at Gray.

Bobby’s gaze locked onto Keith’s. Keith surreptitiously nodded. “Have whatever you want, Gray, it’s my and Keith’s treat.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Pride sparked in Gray’s eyes.

“I don’t know about you,” Enzo laughed, “but it’s nice to have someone buy me breakfast for a change.”

“Okay, okay, I know when I’m outgunned, I’ll have the French toast and sausage, too, and coffee, I need coffee.”

“I’ll also have some coffee with my order.” Enzo passed his menu to Gray, who gave his and Enzo’s to Marianne.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s wrong with your mom?” Keith kicked Bobby under the table for being nosy. Bobby ignored him.

“She has leukemia. I don’t know how we would have made it without the insurance that the Sunset provides.” Gray laughed weakly. “That and the good tips.”

Marianne stood at the table listening, and when Bobby’s eyes met hers, she took the menus Gray handed her and put them under her arm and said, “Your coffee will be right out.”