Hunter's date shows his true colors, Eddy takes on a cougar, and unexpected guest causes drama on Week 4 of Volume 3. Volume 4 launches November 19th!

CHAPTER 15 - FIERCE BITCH FAB CULTURE


Hunter was relieved that he got a reprieve from the standard gay club music as the DJ blared some Eric Himan and dedicated it to him as he slung drinks at The Pitstop. But as soon as that finished, the gay music swung back up and the crowd bounced with glee, belting out their innate qualities of being bulletproof and being made of titanium.

"Fucking typical," Hunter muttered, as he poured a beer.

"The musical depth not blowing you away," quipped the handsome recipient of said beer.

"I just don't understand this whole gay obsession with overproduced, over glamorized, autotuned makeshift divas."

"You're gay, I hope."

"Yeah. Sure, Beyonce and Adele I get, they're actually singing about something... "

"But you won't be ‘marrying the night' or showing your ‘poker face' anytime soon."

"Seriously. I don't get it. This fierce bitch fab culture. Like maybe back in the day, when like EVERYONE was in the closet and you needed to identify with these disco divas. But there are so many awesome queer artists making actual music, stuff that isn't fluff."

"You only write Eric Himan because he wrote a song about hot bartenders."

Hunter blushed a little, but kept his cool. "Ok, whatever, but you get my point, right? Like, the generation before us, they had this collective culture because they had to. We're mainstream now. We don't have to be so fucking typical."

"So if I had an extra ticket to the Carly Rae Jensen concert... ?"

"Not interested."

"Or wanted you to join at Berlin for Madonnarama... ?"

"I'm busy."

"How about the home game this week?"

Hunter paused. "Are you actually asking me?"

Handsome beer guy smirked and leaned in. "Yeah. I am actually."

Hunter extended his hand. "I'm Hunter."

"I'm Mike," he said, shaking it.

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CHAPTER 17 - USED TO


Tom ordered another round while Josh was in the bathroom. It was always great to unwind with a drink after work, especially with somebody who understood exactly what he was going through. Josh was like a brother to him, especially since he was the only one Tom could relate to in a group of friends he found himself thrown into based purely on who his boyfriend was. Still, something was bothering him and he had to figure out a way to bring it up without making things awkward.

"Thanks man," Josh said, pulling out his wallet.

"Don't worry about it. This one's on me." Tom's phone vibrated and he checked the incoming text. He shook his head, chuckled with frustration, and groaned as he sipped his drink.

"The old ball and chain?"

"You bet."

"What time is it? If it's almost six, I should be getting similar in... " And as if on cue, Josh's phone vibrated with a text from Mason. They both sighed and laughed, drowning their commiseration with whiskey sodas.

"It's what we signed up for, isn't it?"

"Well, you guys are only a few months old. You enlisted. I, however, was drafted. Mason and I've been together since undergrad. I don't know how not to be with him."

"That's... bleek."

Josh tried to laugh it off as he downed his drink. "Sorry. Didn't mean to be. Married man talk, you know?"

"Sure." Tom motioned for the bartender.

"No man," Josh said, grabbing his wallet. "This one's on me."

They sipped in silence for a moment. "Is that what I have to look forward to then?"

"It's not that bad, really," said Josh. "After you've been together for a few years, you just... it becomes more of a struggle to remind yourself of how it used to be." Josh took another swig and stared thoughtfully into his drink, almost lost.

"Sometimes... you forget, you know? Why you fell in love with this guy in the first place. How could it be possible to grow old with someone when they're not growing at all. You start to realize... you don't have to remind yourself of who this guy was when you met him, because he's still that guy. Literally. He hasn't grown or changed or... and then you meet someone. Totally out of the blue. And there's that spark, like when you first... but it's different, you know? And nothing's happened, but... you still think about this other guy. And everything you had, starts to feel routine. And you start to wonder... " Josh stopped himself and chuckled. "Man, sorry, whew! What was that? I gotta lay off these whiskey sodas. I did not mean to... "

"So you regret? You and Mason, you're starting to... "

Josh looked him dead in the eye. "A little yeah."

"It's kind of the reverse for me. My situation. And the regret."

"How now?"

"Whew, that made no sense. Whiskey sodas," Tom chuckled. "Never mind, it's... complicated."

Josh laughed. "Isn't it always."

One last round was ordered and the "I'll be home soon" texts were sent out to Mason and Diego. They continued niceties over the last round, almost ignoring how deep their camaraderie had just gotten. But that thing was still gnawing away at Tom. As Josh hailed a cab home, Tom finally bit the bullet and asked:

"So, you know Charlie Parker?"

"Huh?" Josh asked, caught off guard. "Oh... um yeah. Why... ?"

"At the Gala, things seemed kind of... "

"Nah, it's just... I hadn't seen him in a while is all. We volunteer at Haven together and he'd been in the hospital... "

"Right. Right," Tom said, holding the cab door open for Josh.

"So... you know Charlie?"

Tom smiled the same wistful way Josh disappeared into his drink as he waxed poetic about Mason. "Used to."

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CHAPTER 18 - TRUE COLORS


Charlie was so frustrated that he almost threw his MacBook across the room.

"Whoa," said Becka, coming in with a fresh bottle of pinot grigio.

"He's not on Facebook. I've looked at every ‘Benjamin Finn' in Chicago. He's nowhere to be found."

"Well," Becka said, pouring them each a glass. "Maybe he doesn't have a Facebook profile."

"Please. What lame-o doesn't have a Facebook profile nowadays?"

"Focus, Charlie. Engagement party just days away."

"Right, sorry." Charlie sipped his wine.

"Brad wanted the let the record to show that he fought for you to be on his side too. You introduced us after all. But I won and now you get to shock all of my conservative relatives by being my Best Gay."

"Not sold on that. How about Gay of Honor?"

"Please. When have you ever done anything with honor?" That got a couch cushion thrown at her face. Hunter came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, still damp for the shower.

"Oh," Hunter said, spotting Becka. "Sorry, I didn't realize... "

"It's alright, I lived with Charlie too. I've seen worse." Hunter scampered sheepishly to his bedroom.

"Do I have to give a speech or anything?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah, but it'll be short and sweet. It's just the rehearsal dinner."

Hunter opened his door a crack. "Charlie, did my Cubs t-shirt get mixed in with your laundry?"

"Yeah, it's in my top drawer." Hunter ran to Charlie's room in just his boxers.

"Wow," said Becka, staring at Hunter's ass as he passed by. "Are you sure you're in such a rush to find this Ben guy? Looks like you really might need to give that another go."
"I'm letting it breathe," said Charlie. "Besides, he's going on a date."

"So, that's not like weird or anything?" Becka asked, refilling her wine glass.

"Not any weirder than me cyberstalking this intern that I'll probably never see again."

"Honestly, Charlie, between whatever's going on with Hunter and now this Ben, it's nice to just see you... "

"Stop.."

"... moving on."

The buzzer rang. Hunter bolted for his room, Cubs t-shirt in hand. Charlie buzzed this mystery guy up as Hunter finished getting ready. Hunter burst out of his room as someone knocked at the door, proudly wearing Cubs blue and red and a loose pair of jeans.

"How do I look?" he asked nervously.

"Great," said Charlie.

Hunter took a breath and opened the door. There stood Mike, smiling and handsome. Wearing the black and white colors of the White Sox. Without saying a word, they understood what this meant. They nodded at each other, shook hands like gentlemen, and Hunter closed the door.

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CHAPTER 19 - RESULTS


"You settling in ok, Ms. Parker?" asked Troy the assistant.

"Sure," said Eddy, assessing her newly decorated office. Her phone vibrated. It was yet another text from her crazy stalker Dawn. She tossed her phone to Troy. "Can you see about blocking that number for me ?"

"Right away, Ms. Parker. Your three o'clock is here also. Shall I send her in?"

"Please, do."

Troy opened the door and motioned for a gorgeous cougar to enter. "Shall I... ?"

"Leave it open," said Eddy, assessing the situation. Cougar was not amused as Troy exited.

"Ms. Parker," said Cougar.

"Ms. Wilson."

"I imagine it won't come as a shock that I'm pretty unhappy with my account being transferred to a complete stranger."

"I can imagine," Eddy said, wondering why the fuck this bitch was so uptight.

"I've developed this relationship for years and out of the blue, you come on, and I'm just supposed to trust you?"

"Ms. Wilson, I can assure you that I am the best at what I do. They wouldn't have offered me this huge sum of money to relocate my life if I weren't."

"I'm not doubting that, Ms. Parker. But this company has barely seen my corporation through the recession. How can I trust someone completely brand new... ?"

"Ms. Wilson. Monica. Can I call you Monica?" Her silence indicated that she could. Or at least calling her bluff. "Have you ever been bungee jumping?"

"Excuse me?"

"Or skydiving. Ever done that?"

"I don't see what this has... "

"The first time I went skydiving, I researched the hell out of anything that could possibly go wrong. Broken chutes, the optimum altitude. But in the end, there's no planning, no way to predict will happen. You just gotta trust and let go."

"Are you suggesting that... ?"

"You've never had a massage, have you? Or it's been a while. You're so... tense."

"This is highly unorthodox."

"I'm highly unorthodox. That's why I get results." She walked over to her desk and picked up her phone. "Troy, reschedule the rest of my afternoon. Oh and close the door."


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CHAPTER 20 - PLUS ONE


"Are you sure I don't look stupid?" asked Tyler, fidgeting in his borrowed suit.

"You look great. Very dapper." Charlie said straightening Tyler's tie.

"I wish Hunter didn't have to work. I'm so awkward at these things."

"And I thank you for coming. I just hate doing these wedding type things solo. It's even worse when you're in the wedding party."

"There you are!" said Becka, coming out of the restaurant banquet room. "Charlie, we've got to get you for sound check!"

"Oh, god, you're not going to make me sing ‘The Rose' are you?"

"Don't be a goof," she said, as a youthful looking man armed with a camera came up behind her. "This is Jason. He's with Lexoria our videographer. They're doing a whole behind the scenes on our events leading up to the wedding."

"Fancy."

"All right, I gotta go check on things. My mother is driving me crazy! Jason, can I leave Charlie with you?"

"You got it!" said Jason. He took out a wireless mic pack and began putting it on Charlie's lapel. "So this isn't our equipment, the A/V stuff is the venue's. But quite honestly, they don't know what the heck they're doing, so I told them I'd give them a hand." He handed the pack for Charlie to put in his pocket. "So you're giving a speech? Best Man?"

"Um... sort of. Gay of Honor."

Jason chuckled. "Well you're definitely the handsomest Gay of Honor I've seen."

"Oh. I'm not your first?" Charlie couldn't mask his disappointment.

"Well, I'm also an actor. Do lots of theatre. Theatre, gays in weddings. Hand in hand."

"Right."

Jason turned the mic pack on. "All right, well you should be good to go. We'll check your mic in a few minutes. Just come right in."

Brad came out of the banquet room and went right to Jason. "Hey man, Becka's asking for ya."

"On it," Jason said, going back in. Brad went to shake Charlie's hand, full of nerves and adrenaline.

"You gonna make it?" Charlie chuckled.

"Sure. Just, you know, my whole family's in there. Waiting for me to announce my undying love for Becka. I wish this could just be it, you know. Get it over with."

"It'd save me a shit ton of money in bachelorette parties and showers," Charlie laughed. "Oh, Brad, sorry, this is my plus one. Tyler."

"Hey," Brad said, looking at Tyler quickly.

"Hey," said Tyler, all the color from his face draining.

"Well, um, I'm gonna go back in," Brad said, rushing into the banquet hall and closing the door. Charlie did a final check in the hall mirror and was open to go in when Tyler stopped him.

"What's up, Tyler?"

"I can't go in there," Tyler said, shaken.

"Oh, it's all right. They're all nice people. And I'm the one who has to do the talking. It won't be that... "

"No, um, you don't understand." Tyler started pacing, unable to catch his breath, his heart racing a mile a minute. "Look, I hate to bring this up, now that everything's calmed down at the apartment but... "

"Tyler, you're freaking me out. What's wrong?"

"Well... um... ok. Remember that night? Where you think Hunter or I hooked up with your ex and we don't know which one cuz we never got a name?"

Charlie's heart stopped. "Omigod, you slept with Tommy?"

"No!" Tyler cried out. "I slept with Brad."

"WHAT?!"

"That's why I never got his name. He said he was in a relationship but they were in a fight and he just wanted... he said he wanted to be discreet so I never pushed it. I... "

"Ok, calm down. You're sure. Like absolutely sure?"

"Charlie, he was the second guy I've ever been with in my whole life. I'm pretty fucking sure."

"All right. Ok, um, keep calm. Go home, I'll stay here cuz I have to."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'll figure something out. Just don't say anything."

"I'm so sorry."

"How could you know?" Charlie said, opening the door. "Besides, if it was one time, no one has to... "

Charlie heard his voice echo back at him. Everyone in the room was staring at him and Tyler in the doorway. Becka was crying. Brad was in shock. Jason's camera was pointed right at him. The mic had been on the whole time and everyone had heard.

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Volume 4 will launch November 19th!

Just joining us? Catch up now!

Volume 1 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 2 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

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