Between Lust and Love

Back at the Altar-5

In the morning, when the alarm went off, I awoke, slightly bewildered. After a few seconds, I finally remembered that I had spent the night at Jeremy’s house. In fact, I could hear him in the kitchen, moving around, trying to be quiet while setting up the coffee maker.

“I’m awake,” I called out, stretching and sitting up on the futon.

“Good morning, gorgeous. Sleep okay?” he asked from the kitchen, a cheeky smile on his face.

“Gorgeous? When did that start? I slept well, thank you. This futon is very comfortable.” Lightly caressing my bruised cheek, I found that it didn’t hurt as badly as I thought it would. “My face doesn’t feel that bad, and I’m hungry. How about I take a shower?”

“Go ahead. I hung some clothes in the bathroom behind the door. There’s a new packet of underwear, too. We’re probably around the same size, so help yourself.”

“You’re going above and beyond. I’m gonna have to go all out on our date.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Winking, he walked to the refrigerator to get out some eggs and bacon for breakfast. Shaking my head and smiling to myself, I went to get ready.

I returned to the kitchen after fifteen minutes, dressed and ready to eat. I sat at the table. Jeremy placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me and told me to eat up.

Thanking him, I grabbed my fork and asked, “Have you eaten?” I took a bite and hummed my pleasure. It was good.

“Yes, I ate while you were getting ready. It’s my turn now. I’ll be back in a bit.”

When I finished my meal, I took my plate and fork to the sink, poured myself some coffee, and went to the living room to find my cell phone. I placed the coffee on the table, then sent a text to Brenda, telling her that I spent the night with Jeremy and would see her at work. Her response was a ‘thumbs-up’ smiley and the word ‘details!’ I knew she would grill me the minute I saw her.

I drank my coffee, then removed the sheets and put the futon back into a seated position. I folded the sheets and placed them on the table in front of it.

“Ready to go?” Jeremy asked.

“Yup, all yours,” I responded with a smile.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he replied with a grin.

Laughing, I grabbed my keys, wallet, and cell phone, and followed him out the door. I waited while he locked up and then we walked to the car.

“Where to?” he asked.

“Tenth and Peachtree. Actually, you can just drop me off at the Midtown MARTA station. I’ll walk from there.” I buckled myself into the seat.

“You got it.” Jeremy backed out of the driveway and headed to Moreland Avenue and then Ponce de Leon.

When we finally reached our destination, I turned to face him. “Thanks again for the lift, and I’ll meet you Friday evening at Zocalo on Tenth Street, say, eight o’clock?” I asked, removing my seatbelt and getting ready to leave the car.

“Perfect.” He leaned over, kissed my bruised cheek, and wished me a nice day.

I got out of the car and watched him drive away, merging into traffic to go west then south. I walked to my building and headed inside. As usual, I said good morning to the dour security guard at the front desk. God, would it kill the man to smile, just once? I took the elevator to my floor. I hadn’t been at my desk for more than five minutes when Brenda appeared at my elbow, expectant.

“So? Give me details! What happened? How big is he?”

“Calm down, hon. Nothing happened. We flirted a little at the bar and did some dirty dancing for a while. But when we left, some moron shoved me onto the sidewalk and threw some homophobic slurs in our direction and ran off.” I gently brushed my cheek as I said this.

“What the f**k? Oh, my God, sweetie. Are you okay?” She took hold of my chin and turned my head so she could see the scratches. “I’m so sorry, Cole. Did they attack Jeremy, too?” Letting go of my chin, she leaned against my desk with her arms crossed.

“No, he stumbled a bit when I got shoved, but he helped me up and took me to his house to clean me up. I had dirt all over my face and in the scratches. He gave me some tea, offered a shower, and put me to bed.”

“That’s so sweet of him! I’m so glad he was there. Geez, what is wrong with some people?” She shook her head in disgust.

“I dunno, but the upside is I have a date on Friday night.”

“Huh! Only you would find a way to get a date out of a gay-bashing.” She rolled her eyes. “Where are you guys going?”

“Zocalo.”

“Sweet. Melissa and I went there. We loved it.” Moving away from my desk, Brenda sighed and said, “Okay, back to work. It’s going to be a long day.” She was right.