Exes Can Be Friends

Friday night was uneventful again. Busier than we have seen on a Friday in a while, but as far as -I- am concerned, it was uneventful.

Saturday afternoon I went into Boston to meet a guy from Match. Make sure you are seated: he's white. And I like him! We did not discuss the top/bottom situation (I still don't think that is necessary first date discussion unless the condoms have already come out of the drawer) so I do not know, but it could be promising! He lives in the South End and walks to work, has a great body, and just is typical South End gay. Without the bitchy attitude... We didn't kiss when I left to go home. I emailed him Sunday to say that we have to next time, and he wrote back that he wanted to, but wasn't sure if I would kiss in public. (In one of the gayest neighborhoods of a gay-friendly city. Hmmmmmm. Let me think...)

Saturday evening Ronny called to ask if I wanted to come along to Six Flags on Sunday. He said Junior and Cristiano, Cristian and Brad were going, too. I said of course. He called back shortly after to say Brad and Cris backed out. That night I went to work, again. Not terribly eventful on Saturday, either. It was actually slower than we have been on a Saturday in a couple weeks. I'm thinking it was because Friday was busy, a lot of them didn't show up twice.

The hunky straight guy from last weekend showed up again. He was alone this time. And he came up to chat, again. I started teasing him about coming to gay clubs, and he asked why I would get mad about it. I said I wasn't mad, I thought it was funny! He kept defending his decision to come there, so I said "Oh, you're just trying to pick me up!" He laughed, and said that was really funny. I was laughing, too. Then he seemed to do a double-take, and said "Oh, I didn't mean it like that. If I were gay, I'd totally go out with you!" The first thought that ran through my mind was about the gay guys in the building that hadn't expressed interest in me...

Sunday morning, I headed over to Ronny's place. It ended up being us two, and Junior and Kevin (Junior's ex). I asked Ronny what their deal was, and he said they were just like us. Point taken. At one point, Kevin made a comment about Junior being mean, and that was why he dumped Junior. Ronny is always calling Junior heartless, too. But I had also gotten the impression from Ronny that Junior was the dumper, not the dumpee.

We stopped for food over by the Superman ride (which was closed for the day, dammit), and Ronny said he was so used to doing everything with Brad and Cris that he kept looking around to find them. I laughed and said Kevin and Junior were "our substitute Brad and Cris". I didn't mean it in a disparaging way, but Kevin got a tiny bit of an offended look on his face.

All in all, we had a great time. It was really the first time I'd gotten to know much of anything about Kevin. He is a really nice guy. Totally not my type, though. He's more of the muscley/stocky bald quasi-daddy type build. Lots of people find that attractive, but as you already know, I have a thing for Junior. Junior is apparently after one of the other Brazilians, Adriano (Ronny's boss). Ronny is DEAD set against it, Kevin thinks it's a great idea. He even said that while they were still together he thought Adriano would be a good choice for Junior. So, Ronny said it was a bad idea because they were both tops. Kevin said that can still work out, so I said those relationships usually end up doing a lot of 3-ways. He agreed. And mentioned he's versatile, and doesn't understand how someone couldn't enjoy both. I said that is the same as saying you can't understand why someone is gay. I also said I only like one side. Kevin asked which side, and Ronny said No Need To Ask That. So, I dodged. Kevin asked if I at least Tried both, and I said yes. He seemed OK with that. It's like your mom making you 'at least try your vegetables'!

Of course, we went on the white water rafting ride, and there is a big handle bar in front of each seat for everyone to hold onto. I said "ooh now this would be a fun ride!" And Kevin immediately said "Well, that answers THAT question!"

There were a good number of hotties there, too. One gorgeous Brazilian, a surprising number of hot dads, and an uber-hot muscle-jock young hottie. Knowing a foreign language is good for discretely ogling hot guys while in line at Six Flags... I knew enough Portuguese to follow, and even contribute! There was another hottie there that I am convinced is Brazilian. He was in a bright pink shirt, there with some mildly homey, very Brazilian looking girl. And they were making out NON-STOP through the entire wait in line. But I swear I made eye contact with him several times.

And the ride operator at Scream! was a total stand-in for Elijah Kelley (scroll down a few posts to the "Seaweed" one) so I enjoyed the three times we rode that one!

Nada

As I mentioned briefly, Saturday held disappointment on the Angel front. Junior was there, even though he said he had to get up at 6am to work, then stopped by the front desk, and just kind of stood there. I don't know what he's thinking...

They (Junior, Ronny, Cristiano) had invited me over to their place Sunday afternoon. The neighbors (Brazilian) were having a party, and they were joining in. I assumed this meant that it would be like a joint party. I was the only guest on their side. Though, Ronny said Cris was coming later. The neighbors are straight, so it was all hetero-zilians. Hot. Hot. Hot... You probably know I have a tendency to be drawn to the straight boys, and that I am drawn to the exotic. So, let's just say there were PLENTY of guys there I was attracted to!

But I had to leave at 4:30 to go to work again. They had another cabaret show at the club, so I was working register. Register closed around 8:30, but I had to stay there until Mattie got done bussing, so he could cover front door. So, I finished around 10:30. (My drawer was dead on, but I didn't realize that I was supposed to start tracking attendance at 9pm.) At about 10:15 Luther and Keniah showed up, so I stayed after to hang out with them a little bit. Luther and I danced a bit. We got drinks. Laughed. Chatted. Luther saw a cute latino boy, and asked if he was my type. I of course said yes. Next thing I know Keniah is saying hello to him in order to introduce me to him (another Carlos). He had that looking off in the distance (in the other direction) look on his face that implied he was not interested. After he finished his drink, he said he had to go to the bathroom, and walked off. On his way back from the restroom, he just headed straight out the door, without a glance or word of any kind. Again, I can not catch a break.

Keniah got a little strange and wandered off on his own (as is fairly typical), so Luther and I were talking alone. There is a spark of interest there (very very dark, for those of you wondering). So, in between a few "I'm married" comments, he made some suggestive remarks. The realist in me, however, does realize that nothing will happen.

How do I know that? Because that is the way it always works. Carlos was interested, but nothing happened. Junior was interested, but nothing happened. Angel was interested, but nothing happened. Even SCB appears interested, but nothing will happen (I tried!). The guys I've met on Match all fizzle out, as well. I am trying, but nobody is willing to actually have sex with me! The closest I got on Saturday, for example, was some hunky straight guy who likes the low-stress of the gay club for having drinks, and thought I was hysterical. Not gonna help. *Sigh*

Jinx

I did jinx it, dammit. It is true; Angel didn't call back on purpose. Me with him is not going to happen.

Saturday night, he came to the club. He was with his ex. The mutual restraining order ex. Holding hands.

I just can NOT catch a break...

Prelude

While talking to Angel on Monday, he said Wednesday he was busy, but he would see what he could work out, and would call me Tuesday to let me know when we could meet up. Tuesday, no call. Wednesday, no call. Thursday, still no call. So, I called him. No answer, so I left a message. He has not yet called back. Meanwhile, my A/C went completely dead Tuesday evening, so my place was uncomfortably warm Thursday (we had near 90 and soggy humidity levels). Since Angel wasn’t calling back, I tried Ronny, to see if I could hang out at his place. He worked until 9, so we agreed to meet at his house then.

I beat him home, since he stopped to chat with a friend first. Junior was home, though, so he let me in. Talked with him until Ronny showed up. I had mentioned Monday’s phone conversation with Angel to Ronny, so he asked how things were with the “new boyfriend”. Junior’s ears perked way up. I said one phone conversation hardly makes him a “boyfriend” and Junior heartily agreed. I asked Junior about the SCB, nothing really happened, and Junior doesn’t even know his name. I mentioned I found his shirt on the dancefloor. I reiterated that I had offered to come over that night, but Junior said no. He was like “the guy was too drunk anyway,” so I just said “but I could have given him the shirt back.” He didn’t believe that was my motive. I said I still have it at home, so I’ll have to invite SCB over to my place the next time I see him. Junior seemed suspicious, and asked “for the shirt??” I said of course. Nish had pointed out the tendency for Brazilians to react more strongly to envy, and it seemed to be true here. Junior was suddenly much more engaging with me. The perfect icing on that cake was Ronny saying something about me being interested in Junior, and I got to look at Junior, then turn to Ronny and say “well, he just wants to be friends.” Later, I helped delete a random program from Ronny’s computer, so Junior asked if I could fix his computer’s audio. He had no sound coming through the speakers. First, I noticed the speaker wasn’t plugged in properly (no power, no sound!), but also eventually realized that his hardware was switched to the additional sound card output, but he was still plugging into the main motherboard output. As soon as I moved the plug, everything worked great. When I was heading out to go home, he thanked me for fixing the computer, and gave me a hug. A very full-on, lingering, affectionate hug. And I got invited to their little cookout on Sunday. (I work at 4:45, but the party starts at 2, so I can stop by for a bit.)

At this point, I’m already starting to think it’s over with Angel. I’ve been dumped before even starting on several occasions, and I still don’t understand how one great conversation can be the prelude to complete avoidance, but I’m used to it. I work front door at the club, now, though, so I see everyone. I’m sure I’ll get a “I’m sorry, I was SO busy” at some point. But, usually, many things are postponable if you are truly interested in meeting someone.

And, Friday morning the moron contractors were back, and got the A/C running. I’m still not convinced it’s “fixed” but it is running. A little cleaning and adjusting, and I will be ready to re-list. The Fed just lowered the discount rate (Prime is still steady), which might help spark better housing market activity. Please…

Start of something

We spent like two hours on the phone last night. Mostly chatty, historical info. Got a few flirty comments in. And I was witness to a brief conversation he had with his roommate about condom size. I started getting all hot and bothered... :) Oh, and he's part Puerto Rican. Not Brazilian at all!

Tonight the switch in my AC completely fried, so in additional to poorly functioning, I can't turn it on at all anymore. It's probably about 3 weeks until it will be cool enough to not hate my lack of AC. I have calls in about getting it repaired, but it's not going well. That is also preventing me from re-listing. Ughhh.

Saturday

Well, after the sartorial excitement from Friday, you would think Saturday couldn't possibly be more exciting. You would be mistaken.

The previously mentioned AJ stopped by again. Unfortunately, his ex got there first, and since they have matching restraining orders, he couldn't exactly come in. But he said he would catch up with me again somehow. I was like, "somehow??" He said he has his methods. I replied, "Well, couldn't you just ask me for my phone number?" He blushed a little and said it was awkward. "Awkward?? Are you single??" "Yes." "Then why would it be awkward to get someone's phone number?" Brief pause, phone comes out, buttons get pushed, and he gets my phone number! I had him ring me back right away, so I got his, too. He saw my phone, and rather excitedly said, "Oh you are Verizon, too! We can talk all we want!" (My heart skipped a little beat!) He said he'd call. I asked when. (I know, subtle...) He said probably Sunday. About 2am he called, was heading for breakfast with some friends. I still needed like 5 more minutes, so he just said good night. (Damn envelopes! If I had gotten one earlier, I'd have been all cashed out by then.)

Of course, Sunday came and went, without a call. I will call tonight (Monday).

Junior was there, as well. He left with a "friend". Ronny said they were probably hooking up. Whatever. But, as Junior left, he leaned over to give me a kiss goodnight (social style, not make-out style). Then said "See you tomorrow!" I was like "What? What's tomorrow??" He just rolled his eyes, gave an oh-please look, and said "I will see you tomorrow."

Sunday, though, I had plans. Went to a cookout at Joe & Vinnie's. Played poker all afternoon. Didn't hear from any of the Brazilians, so did not end up at Ronny's house. So, I did not see Junior on Sunday. It dawned on me that maybe part of why he switched from being interested to not so much was because I was over at his house too much. I was there because of Ronny, but still, I was around an awful lot. No chase needed. (I've been told some people are all about the chase. I'm not, so I have to remind myself that some people consider that 'fun' instead of 'annoying'.) Maybe I need to back away from the social visits to make him miss me... :)

At said poker/cookout, it was all club employees. The restraining order scenario came up, and it appears as though I misheard the name over the thump of the bass. It sounded like they said his name is actually Angel, not AJ. (A latino name. Pretend to be shocked.) I'll have to clarify, but I'm assuming they can't all be wrong. I didn't bring it up, myself, though, because I don't want them to all know about it, yet. (Vicious harpies!)

Shirtless

Friday afternoon I was doing some laundry (including the work shirts for this weekend), when the club owner called. He wanted to know if I could come in early and cover the front door. I was scheduled for smoking area, which means I start at 10, but to cover register, I need to start about 8:45. I said sure. Then he suggested we make this permanent. My first thought was that they fired the other guy, but I didn't ask. He pulled up my file, and said I was already making what they would pay the doorman, but he said he'd bump me a dollar an hour anyway, effective immediately. So, last Saturday I covered door for the first time, and now that's my permanent assignment.

When I got in to work, I checked the schedule, and I was already down for next weekend, too, including the cabaret show on Sunday afternoon. That was the start of the 'oh shit' feeling. This is turning from spending a few hours getting paid to be at the club instead of dancing, into tying up my weekends.

Covering door was not as much fun this time, since I didn't have a cute guy hanging out chatting with me the whole time. But, I did get to see a lot of cute guys walking toward the straight bar next door! One of which was the SCB, with a bunch of straight guy friends. Apparently, they all went home early, though, because later in the evening SCB showed up at the club, by himself. He was already a little drunk (this is important), and walked in without paying, so I had to hunt him down, drag him back up front, and get the money from him. He was already shirtless by this point. It was the first time I'd seen him there without the (flaming) gay Brazilian friends he hangs out with while there.

Junior also came, by himself. He stopped by to ask if he could borrow my phone. I said sure, it would cost him a kiss. He gave a 'ha-ha' look and used my phone to call his roommate (Cristiano). When he gave the phone back, I asked for my kiss. Unfortunately, he reacted not with a 'ha-ha very funny' look, but with a 'oh God now what do I do' look.

Cristiano showed up a little later. I said hi, and he went off to go dancing. A little while later, one of the bartenders pokes his head around the corner and asks me to keep an eye on the drunk passed out on the couch. It was SCB, in a very sloppy state, and with none of his friends there. Eventually, he started - uh - gurgling a bit, so they got a lot more anxious about getting him off the couch. They ended up with Cristiano and Junior trying to get him up and functioning. (Junior even said to me, "I know him, but he's not a friend of mine". I know that, too. The only other Brazilian there that night was under-21, so I doubt he wanted to get involved in a drunk problem.) Junior had to practically carry the guy out to Cristiano's car. I noticed they didn't bring his shirt. Junior said they were taking him back to their place to clean him up and get him a little more sober. I said "Oh, should I come over later??" I think he got the joke. I don't know how he interpreted it, though.

The bartender insisted they only served him one beer. He really was not that far in the bag when he showed up, but it's not worth arguing about. They were short-handed security last night, so after the lights came on, I was the only one left, so even though front-door does not have cleaning responsibilities, I got them by default. So, I tacked another 15 minutes onto my timecard! And, while sweeping up the dance floor, I found SCB's shirt! So, I took it home! I think it is just beyond amusing that after ogling the shirtless confused Brazilian for all this time, I've ended up with his shirt! I did offer to stop by Junior's last night, and could have returned the shirt to him, but they didn't seem interested in my offer...

Seaweed

I went to see Hairspray the other day. Loved it! I do think the original had a stronger energy, though this one has a much broader appeal. And I couldn't stop thinking of John Travolta as John Travolta in drag, despite his efforts to 'become' Edna Turnblad.

But the best part of the movie was the part of Seaweed, played by Elijah Kelley. Brad and I were both transfixed through the whole movie on him! And a few minutes after being introduced to him, we get his song about wanting to do black guys! "The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice" is fun, but I have had "the darker the chocolate, the richer the taste" stuck in my head ever since!

Weekend Update

Last weekend seemed trivial, so I didn't post anything. The club was packed on Saturday (one of the DJ's had his BDay party there), but nothing happened to me...

I was wrong. In retrospect, there was one little glimmer of eventfulness. The BDay boy was there with this other guy. Dark skinned, tight body, looked too young, and appeared to be the DJ's bf. So, I didn't think much of it, other than, he's kinda cute, but not gonna happen.

This weekend, Friday was dead. There were like 5 people on the dance floor at the most over the course of the evening (3 of which were my brazilian friends!). The SCB was there again; not shirtless again (dammit), but quite friendly, more gayish, and he put his arm around me twice! The hunky older couple was there again, too, so I smiled as cute as I could, and said hello. I bolted at 2:15 because I had to be at work (day job) for a little bit at 9:30; turned into two hours. Ughhh.

Saturday night was my first night as front door. Mike usually works the register, but had a party to go to, so I was filling in. (I was only off by one $5 admission, and it was overrung, so they're not gonna care!) It was not as busy as last Saturday's BDay event, but almost. I was SO busy. (I helped Mike last weekend because we knew it would be busy; I had no such scheduled help.) Which is great for the club, but trial by fire was not what I wanted for my first night on register.

Of course, nobody shows up before 11:30, so from 9pm until then, it was very quiet. The other security guy came up and was chatting for a while. The alleged DJ bf showed up, and he was talking with the security guy at my desk, so we all were chatting together. A little later, the security guy wandered off to secure things, and the alleged bf stayed to talk with me. His name is AJ. I asked if he is "with" the DJ, and he kind of demurred and dodged and said not really, "he's just Patrick and I'm just AJ". But there was enough tension around the comment that I know there's Something there. I also discovered that he is 32 - not too young! As we chatted, he mentioned some lousy things an ex did to him, so I slipped in a "well I wouldn't do that if I were your boyfriend" comment. I believe he caught the implication!

I slipped a few more subtle (well, OK, not THAT subtle) flirty lines in throughout the conversation. As business spiked in the 11:30 / 12:30 range, he helped me out by putting the wristbands on people as I rang them in. (I hugged him several times and mentioned I should buy him a drink or take him to breakfast or something, but he said not necessary.) About one o'clock he wandered off to have a few drinks and socialize. But he came back a couple times to say hello. At the end of the evening, as we were pushing people out the door, he stopped by again. At one point he pulled out his cellphone and started texting someone. I took advantage of the opportunity! Waited a couple seconds, then leaned over and said "OH. I thought you were going to ask for my phone number!" with a cute little smile. He paused, smiled, and said "in time. I know where to find you." Like I said, I know there's Something up with the other guy yet, even though (like Junior) he won't say they are together.

In addition to that, the hunky older couple was there again, I got some serious eye contact wink-wink in at the door. The darker one has an accent (yea, say you're surprised....) and had that look in his eye that he realized I was interested.

And Luther and Keniah were there. Luther told me I shouldn't be working there; I don't need the money, and I can't party if I'm working. He complained I can't dance with them, but the last time I was there off-duty, they were there as well, but they didn't dance with me at all. Luther also complained that I haven't emailed him lately, but that was because the last time I emailed to say we should hang out sometime, his response was "well of course, we'll see you at the club!" I took that as a brush-off...

Junior was there with some out of town friends. I got a good hug in, and said we need to meet up sometime to catch a movie or dinner. He said again I am free to come over any time. I do still really like him!

At one point, there was another group of Brazilians that I am not friends with (yet?) smoking outside the front door. A friend of theirs joined them. Very cute, red shirt, seemed a little bit like trying to sneak in without paying. So, I was keeping an eye on him. And not minding... At the end of the night, he was one of the last ones out the door, and he stopped to tell me that he noticed I was checking him out earlier, and started trying to make out with me. I kissed him back, but didn't get too involved, because it was right in front of the (glass) doors, and I needed to get him out of the building (regulations, fire codes, all that fun work kind of stuff).

I was confined to the front door all night, but had a lot of fun! I was sipping a stoli ras and sprite all night. Eddie made it for me (the bartender who has a crush on me), and said when he makes Mike drinks for the front door, Mike tips him really well. So, at the end of the night, I gave Eddie a 5. He tried to give it back, and said he was just kidding. Mike pays him well as hush-money, not tips. I waved it off and told him to keep it. (Technically I would need to be paying hush-money, too.)

We'll see if any of this turns into something useful!