Outrunning Shadows

Chapter 13: Prying Eyes

Chapter 13 – Prying Eyes





Monday morning. Andrew went to work at his usual time. He plopped down at his desk. Fortunately, he only had one slow comfortable screw last night and so wasn’t hung over at all, just tired from being out until the wee hours of the morning. He turned on his computer. It sprang to life. It was several years old and so was quite slow, but it got the job done. He checked his email. There was one from Evan. It never occurred to him that Evan would have email. It made sense; it’s just that he never thought about it.


It read: “Thanks for inviting me out last night. I had so much fun. I hope I didn’t scare you off by kissing you. That was my favorite part of the whole day. I didn’t realize how much I missed that until last night. Anyway, I guess for an irritating know-it-all, you aren’t so bad. Hope to hear from you soon, from Evan.”


That was sweet. Andrew decided to respond. He wrote: “I’m glad you let your guard down enough to let me see you dance in a bar like that. You’re a good dancer. I hope you will take me there again sometime. From, Andrew.”


He went about his business. He was sitting at his desk doing some market research about the DOW Jones Industrial Average. He noticed Betty standing over him.


“How are you, Andrew?” She asked with a smile on her face.


Andrew looked up at her. She was grinning weirdly wiggling a pencil in her hand.


“What are you smiling at?” Andrew asked playfully, trying to hide his nervousness. His blushing face gave him away.


“You had an awesome date last night, didn’t you?”


He froze for a microsecond. Then he recovered, “What do you mean?”


“You’ve got ‘the look,’” Betty replied, tapping his desk with her pencil.


“What look?”


“What look? You know what look. The ‘I had a date and it went really well’ look. I’m married. I’ve made that look before and I’ve seen that look too many times not to recognize it a mile away.”


“Sorry to disappoint.” Andrew replied shrugging.


She just smiled and walked away. “I’m just curious.”


“About what?”


“The gossip in me is dying to know who you went out with.”


“I went out with myself.”


“Yeah, right,” She walked away and tossed Andrew a look over her shoulder.


Andrew returned to work, a little more flushed. Betty sat down at her desk about twenty feet away and just looked at him. She was still smiling. She was on to him. Betty knew that Andrew had been on a date and she was bound and determined to find out who it was. That could prove problematic. Andrew tried to push the nagging thought of Betty’s comments from his mind. The work day crawled by. Soon, it was 5:00.


Andrew decided to take a walk. He strolled down the street and looked in the store windows. There were a few other people walking along the street as well. He strolled past the parking lot of the grocery store and on down the street toward the dry cleaners. He didn’t go in but walked on by. He walked back to his own car parked outside the investment firm.


He drove home and went upstairs. He went in his closet and get a few sport coats and blazers out. He drove back to the dry cleaners with the articles of clothing. They actually did need dry cleaning, but were serving a dual purpose at the same time.


He walked in the store and the little bell on the door chimed as he walked to the counter and put the items on it. He waited a second before he heard footsteps from behind the counter. A young woman appeared.


“Who are you?” Andrew asked curiously.


“I’m Amy. I’m an assistant here. David’s here too.


“Okay. Well, I need these cleaned.”


She took the items and made a note of them on a pad. “What’s your name?”


After getting all the information filled in correctly, she told him they’d be ready first thing in the morning. Andrew walked back out of the store and was sorely disappointed that Evan wasn’t there. He dared not ask about him so that no one would wonder why Andrew wanted to talk to his arc nemesis.


As he walked back out to his car that was parked on the street, he noticed Evan’s car parked a little further up at the feed store. It was called the feed store even though it sold anything that you might conceivably need to work outside. In addition to farm feed for cattle, horses, chickens and other such livestock, it also sold garden supplies. That was probably what Evan was buying. Andrew decided that today was a good day to run into Evan at the feed store. So as not to be obvious, he drove up the street and parked in front of the feed store and went in.


He grabbed a cart and started looking around to find Evan. Sure enough he was back in the garden supply section. Andrew walked up beside Evan and ‘bumped’ into Evan’s shopping palate. Evan was loading fertilizer onto his palate.


“Oops, I’m sorry.” Andrew said and then in mock surprise, “Hi Evan, didn’t expect to run into you today.”


“Hi Andrew, what are you here for?”


It hadn’t occurred to Andrew to create a cover story for why he was here.


“Just buying some mulch for my flowers,” he stammered in reply.


“The ones around your gazebo?”


“Those are the ones.”


“Yeah, they need more than mulch,” Evan snickered, “They need some professional help.”


“Seeing as I don’t have any of that, they’ll just have to be tough.”


“I could help you, you know.”


“I don’t know. Wouldn’t want Engrid to think you liked me or anything.”


“I don’t like you. What on earth are you talking about you snotty Yankee?” Evan whispered with a smile playing at his lips, “Besides, it’s Monday. Bridge night. Engrid and Dora both will be gone. They go over to Bertha Hedwick’s house on Bridgeforth. They won’t be home till at least ten- if not eleven o’clock.”


“Okay then, if you would deign to help an irritating know-it-all, who am I to refuse?”


“Your resistance is futile in the face of my awesome powers.” Evan said wiggling his fingers in Andrew’s face.


“Mmmmm,” Andrew said smiling, “Then I guess I should buy some mulch.”


“And fertilizer. It’s right here.”


“Okay, see you at my place in half an hour.”


“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Evan said. He watched Andrew walk away. He really wanted to be with Andrew, but was terrified of the prospect at the same time. His body and spirit yearned and longed for Andrew’s healing touch; but, something was holding him back. He had never been able to be intimate with anyone since Raymond. He’d had more than his fair share of cheap meaningless sex in the months that followed his being afraid of his own shadow, but this was different. He didn’t want to have sex with Andrew, he wanted to make love. There was a world of difference and Evan wasn’t about to cross the line between them. Right at the moment, though he had to buy mulch. It was moments of deep inner turmoil and thinking deep philosophical and metaphysical thoughts of the human psyche that made Evan appreciate the mundane and everyday. It helped him keep himself grounded. Some people took inner turmoil and decided that the mundane things weren’t worth the effort anymore. To Evan, that was an extraordinarily sad idea. Rather, he took comfort in the mundane at times like that.


When Evan’s father died, when Evan was only four, his mother caught him at 4 am in the hall bathroom with a bottle of Tilex and Mop-n-Glow cleaning. By the time Myrtle got her young son settled, her bathroom fixtures had never been shinier. That aspect of Evan’s personality hadn’t changed in the 23 years since that night. The night after Raymond did what he did and Evan got away the next morning, Evan’s apartment was spic and span by the first light of dawn the following day. He even steam cleaned the carpet and spot cleaned the curtains. Fortunately, now it was something positive. So, rather than escaping reality by focusing on the mundane, now Evan was going to get to revel in the mundane because he knew where it might lead him.


“Evan?” A voice startled him out of his reverie. It was Dora.


He turned around face her. “Yes?”


“You looked confused.”


“No, I was just trying to remember if I’ve gotten everything.”


“Oh, you just looked like you were concentrating awfully hard.”


“I was. I think I’ve gotten it all.”


         “All you have is fertilizer.”


“That’s all I need. Are you and Engrid going out for bridge tonight?”


“We surely are. We tried to get Bertha to let us rotate, but she can’t get around as well as the rest of us, so we don’t push too hard. Besides, I don’t want to have to clean up after all those people.”


“How many people come?”


“Just four. But with all the snacks and such there’s crumbs all over the place.”


“Really. Seems like you’d all be neat.”


“We old folks are pretty messy sometimes. There was one other thing I wanted to tell you…….well, I’ll think of it. See you later, Evan.”


“Bye Dora. I hope you and Engrid beat them.”


“We will. We won the tournament last time.”


“There’s a tournament?”


“Well, there are only two teams so we have a brief tournament every week. Last week, Engrid and myself beat the pants off those two bums,” She smiled, “Oh yes, I remember, I was at the bank earlier today and ran into Engrid. Apparently, Ashley asked Engrid about Andrew. Engrid thinks Ashley likes him, which well may be true, but just be advised that old buttinski is back at it. So, if she invites him over for dinner, be careful to tell Andrew not to look too good.”


“You didn’t say anything about him not being interested, did you?”


“No, of course not. That’s not my story to tell. I just applied the usual sermon that she never listens to about not interfering in other people’s love lives. You and I have both given that speech a thousand times a piece if we’ve given it once. Once again, I got the brush off. So, just be forewarned.”


“Thanks, I’ll be on the lookout.”


“Well, then, I’d better be off or I’ll be late. We’re supposed to be there at 6:00. So, I’m going to be late as it is. Engrid’s probably already left.”


Knowing that the premises would be cleared of prying eyes, Evan hurried to the checkout counter. Andrew had hastily picked out some fertilizer and a few bags of mulch and was already out of the store. Evan purchased the items and loaded them up and drove to Engrid’s.


He carried them around the house to the gazebo. Since he was going to put it around the base, he saw no need in carrying it any further. When he was done, he saw poor Andrew laboring away in his own backyard. Those poor little flowers weren’t dead yet, but intervention was direly needed.


As Andrew was spraying the flowers with a water hose, Evan walked up behind him. Andrew had changed into a pair of running shorts and an old T-shirt. Evan realized that Andrew was going to be beautiful regardless of what he was wearing. The fact that Andrew didn’t feel the need to dress up for the occasion made him all the more appealing. “I see you’ve already started.”


“I thought they might want a little water.”


“A little water? Then don’t pound ‘em with a monsoon.”


“What do you mean?”


“They need a gentle rain. You’re giving them a hurricane. First of all, you’ve got the water turned up too high. Evan walked over to the spigot and turned the water to about half the pressure Andrew had it on. He walked back over.


“Now,” He stood behind Andrew and wrapped his arms around his body to guide his hands, “What you want to do is pinch the hose in this hand. Like this.”


Evan showed him what to do, “Then put your finger over the other end so that the water comes out like a sheet.”


“Like this?” Andrew started doing it for himself.”


“That’s perfect. Spray the water over the flowers, not onto them. Let gravity make the water settle over the flowers rather than squirting it directly on them.”


“Oh, I see.”


“Yeah, it takes a gentle touch. Caress the hose.”


Andrew cut his eyes at him. Evan smirked, “Sorry, I got carried away.”


He stepped back to watch Andrew practice watering the flowers. He had the hang of that. Evan walked out toward the tool shed. He returned with an empty tin can. Andrew was still spraying. As Andrew continued, Evan scooped up some of the fertilizer in the can and started spreading it around where Andrew’s water was coming down.


“What does that do?”


“It’s some mild nitrogen fertilizer. Just get it good and wet. When you’re putting it on, be careful to keep it off the leaves of the plants. It’ll burn them if you’re not careful. Then the plant will die.”


“Okay,” Andrew kept spraying the water back and forth over the leaves the way Evan had told him to do it.


“You’re doing really well, Andrew. You might turn out to be an alright gardener after all. Who knew?”


“I guess. A little professional help did just the trick.”


“I’m no professional. Engrid taught me everything I know.”


“How did you two get acquainted? She told me you used to be scared of her.”


“I was. The neighborhood kids all were. Before I remember, her husband had died and her children had all moved away. When I first remember, Engrid had cats…dozens of them. The county animal control people tried time and again to take them away and she’d raise a fuss. She used to be big into the garden society and all kinds of things. Then she got into cats. She let the house get in rough shape. It needed painting and had vines all over it. She didn’t use many lights and so the house was always dark. If we tried to cut across her yard, she’d come flying out of the house with a broom in her hand and chase us away and call us all kinds of names. She was one mean, spiteful, miserable old woman.” Evan picked up a hoe that Andrew had lying in the ground and kept talking while he chopped at the wet ground around the plants. “One day, I was about 10 or 11, I guess, some of the neighborhood boys were playing stickball. Our moms wouldn’t let us play in the street because it was too dangerous. So, we played on that gravel path back there. Well, Andy Smathers hit the ball too hard and it flew through her kitchen window. They all dared me to go get the ball. So, I slowly walked up the back steps and knocked on the back door. It was already open, so I stuck my head in and called out if anyone was there. I saw her standing in the kitchen doorway with a cat in her hands. She asked, ‘you boys hit that ball through my window?’ I said, ‘Yes ma’am, I’m sorry.’ I don’t know if I felt sorry for her or what, but she didn’t seem so scary up close. She said, ‘you’re gonna help me pay for that, aren’t you?’ I said, “Yes ma’am, I will. What do you want me to do?’ She told me that if I helped her out around the house for a few hours in the next week or two, she wouldn’t make me pay the two hundred dollars for a new window. I started helping her out around the house and in the yard and except for New York, I’ve been doing it ever since.”


“Why did you keep going?”


“I guess I felt like I was accomplishing something worthwhile. When I started working for her, the house started to look better, the yard looked a lot better. I started liking it, I guess. Two years later she and I won the golden grubbing hoe. She hadn’t won one in nearly twenty years. She insisted that my name be engraved on the trophy instead of hers. She said that it would never have happened if it hadn’t been for me. Not every 13 year old boy gets that kind of affirmation. I remember standing up on the podium the day the awards were given. Engrid insisted that I give the acceptance speech.  I still have that trophy at home somewhere. I don’t remember what I said, I just remember looking out over the crowd of admirers. There were so many well dressed, well respected members of the community who thought I was just the greatest thing. That’s a feeling you don’t ever forget, that’s for sure.”


“I guess not. I’ve never had that moment,” Andrew was finished watering the flowers. Evan was still chopping thoughtfully at the moist soil.


“You will. It’ll sneak up on you when you least expect it. You’ll be going about your business, then wham, it happens. That’s the greatest part- even if you expect its coming; it still catches you by surprise.


“Have you had it since?”


“Only once since then. We’ll talk about that later.”


“Why? Is it embarrassing?”


“No.” He smiled, “Definitely not. Well, I might as well tell you. It was the night Grant asked me to marry him. He told me he wanted to cook dinner. Grant loved to cook and so it wasn’t anything unusual. We were living together at the time. I told him I had this whole list of errands to run and that I’d get there soon. I opened the door to our apartment. He had the dining room table set up with a white table cloth. He borrowed this gorgeous antique china dinner set from an elderly woman who lived down the hall. He had candles and soft music. It was the most beautiful scenes I’d ever seen in my life. He ushered me to the table. We ate by the light of dozens of candles all over the place. I remember the way the shadows danced on his face.” Evan’s chopping the dirt had slowed to a crawl as he reminisced. “Afterwards, he stood up. I didn’t know what to do. After my aftermath from Raymond, Grant and I had never been sexually intimate. I’d wanted to, just couldn’t bring myself to it. Grant was an awesome human being and was very patient. I thought that was what he was after. I thought the whole set up was an elaborate booty call. Then he grabbed the edge of my chair and pulled it sideways away from the table. He got down on one knee on the floor. He held my hand in his and said, “Evan, I love you more than I can say. I want you to forever be part of my life. I want my life to be yours and your life to be mine. Evan Grayson, will you marry me?”


All work had long since stopped. Andrew just stood there staring. Tears had welled up in Evan’s eyes. Evan was leaning on the handle of the hoe. He kept talking, “And I said, ‘yes.’”


Andrew walked over to him and pulled his arm. Evan turned and faced him and fell into Andrew’s waiting arms. “But I couldn’t stand the city. All I wanted was to come back here. Grant refused, so I broke up with him about two months later. Two months after that, I came back here. That was almost two years ago.


“Oh Evan, I’m so sorry.” Andrew whispered in his ear. “I wish there was something I could do to help.”


“I’ll be fine. I always am,” Evan broke their embrace and looked him in the eye. Evan’s bright sparkling green eyes were cloudy.


“What’s wrong?” Andrew asked.


“I’m afraid, Andrew.”


“Afraid of what?”


“In some way, I think I’m starting to feel that way about you.”


“But you barely know me.”


“I know. I know. In my head, I know that. But in my heart, I feel like I’ve always known you. It feels like you’ve always been there. With all the time we spent together at Paul’s place, and time here, I feel like I’ve known you forever.”


Andrew hugged him again. “I haven’t always been here, but I will always be here for you, Evan.”


“Thank you. Well,” Evan said breaking their embrace and wiping his eyes, “That was unexpected.”


Other than a smile, Andrew didn’t respond. Evan spoke, “I can’t believe I blurted all that out. I shouldn’t have told you that. I’m sure you didn’t want to know all that.”


“I do. I want to know you. I want to know everything about you.”


“No, you don’t. A boy’s got to have a few secrets, right?”


Andrew looked at his watch. “Want something to eat? It’s past dinner time.”


“Yeah, supper was a long time ago. I guess I can stay.”


“It won’t be linen table cloth, candles, and china; but at least it’s food.”


“That’s good enough for me,” Evan replied, “So long as it’s not a thinly veiled attempt to get into my pants.” He smiled. Andrew grinned. Evan was definitely one to cut to the chase. They walked side by side into the house. Evan started to get the sandwich makings out of the refrigerator as Andrew set the table. Andrew couldn’t take his eyes off Evan. He was transfixed. Evan was rambling around looking for mayonnaise to go with the honey baked ham slices he’d discovered in a resealable plastic bag. Andrew snapped back to reality and kept putting silverware on the table.


“There’s some soup in a big bowl in there if you want it.”


“What kind is it?”


“Vegetable. It’s also got some ground beef in it too.”


“Sounds good to me.” He found the bowl and handed it to Andrew who put it in the microwave. Andrew set the timer and walked back over to the table.


“Andrew, can I ask you question?”


“Sure, why not.”


“Why did you choose to live here?”


“This house or this town?”


“This house. Why did you pick this house?”


“It was homey. Since I moved around so much as a kid, all I wanted was a home. This place fit that perfectly. I liked Engrid, she was very nice to me. I thought it would be cool to live next door to her. It would be like the grandmother I never had. The best part was totally unexpected and wasn’t something I’d planned on.”


“What’s that?” Evan asked, he pulled a chair back from the table and sat down.


“Well, Engrid, you see, has this houseboy. True to form, this houseboy is hot- as stated in the Cosmic Houseboy Handbook. Complete with good musculature and fantastic personality. I never expected I’d find myself falling for my neighbor’s gardener.” Andrew said as he sat down at the table.


“So, you’re falling for your neighbor’s gardener? That’s a little twisted, you know?” Evan said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.


“Twisted or not, I am. I’m falling for my next door neighbor’s houseboy. But, do you know what the best part is?”


“What?”


“He’s falling for me, too.”


“Is that so? So, your neighbor’s houseboy is falling in love with her next door neighbor?”


“Yes. He is. Engrid’s neighbor is falling fast and hard in love with her houseboy.”


“I have it on good authority that it’s the other way around.”


“Is that so?”


“Yes. The way I hear it, her houseboy is falling madly and hopelessly in love with her neighbor.”


“It seems like I heard that one too, now that you mention it.”


Andrew was so turned on it was painful. If he wasn’t scared that Evan would panic and run away again, he would have pounced on him right there in the kitchen. Evan opened the mayonnaise and started putting some on his bread. “Got anything to drink?”


“I’ve got tea, water, a couple of sodas.”


“Tea would be nice,” Evan said, putting the ham on his sandwich. Andrew got up from the table. He put some ice in the glasses and poured the tea; then he sat back down.


“So, tell me more about what you’ve heard about Engrid’s neighbor.”


“I don’t know much…just hearsay mostly. You know the usual…intelligent, funny, drop dead fire and ice gorgeous, well dressed, and just about perfect.”


“Sounds like a nice person. I think might have to meet him sometime.”


“You should. I think he’d like that.”


“So, are you going to eat that sandwich?” Andrew asked.


“I guess so. I’ve got to eat something. I’m hungry.”


“So am I.”


“You seem hungry. Haven’t eaten lately?” Evan said


“Ages ago, but not recently no.”


“Sorry about that. I’ll try to fix that sometime.”


“That’d be nice.” Andrew replied.


Andrew thought to himself, “DAMN IT!!! How can he have that much self control? He knows what he’s doing to me and he loves it. If he was like me, we’d be warping the bed frame right now.”


“So,” Evan said, “What’s going on around here tonight?”


“Nothing much. Just going to go watch TV, maybe read something.”


“What are you reading.”


“Boyfriends from Hell.”


“Yikes. Sounds scary.”


“It is. It’s scary what boyfriends will do to each other.”


“It’s not always scary. Having a boyfriend is fantastic.”


“Really? I’ve never had one.”


“You’re really missing out. Maybe Engrid’s houseboy can give you some pointers. It’s not that hard I understand.”


“Maybe he could. But, if Engrid’s houseboy doesn’t kiss me soon, I’m gonna have to kick him out.”


Evan parted his lips to reveal chewed loaf bread and ham. “Bring it on.”


Andrew laughed, “You are disgusting.”


Evan just smiled. In a few minutes, they had finished eating their sandwiches and drinking their iced tea.


“Got any good movies?” Evan asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin.


“A few. What do you want too see?”


“I don’t know. Let’s go see what you’ve got.” Evan walked across the hall to the living room. Andrew started looking through his CD case that was full of DVD’s. Evan started sifting through Andrew’s CD collection. He selected one and put it in the stereo. Momentarily, the room was filled with the majesty of Ella. She was singing- “Let’s fall in love tonight.” It was one of Andrew’s favorites. “I adore you, so strong for you, why go on stalling, I am falling, love is calling, why be shy, let’s fall in love, why shouldn’t we fall in love?”


Evan walked over to Andrew and grasped his hand. He pulled him to himself. They started rocking back and forth to the beat of her singing. There was no answer to her question. There was no reason they shouldn’t fall in love. In fact, they already had.


“You are so beautiful,” Evan whispered in Andrew’s ear. “Why shouldn’t we fall in love?”


“We already have.” Andrew whispered back. “I’m not ready for it, but I think I’m in love with you Evan.”


“I’m in love with you, Andrew. I love you so much it hurts. It scares me.”


Andrew stepped back and looked at Evan. They were both still dressed in dirty T-shirts and jeans.


“Let’s take a chance, why be afraid of it? Let’s make our own paradise,” she sang.


Andrew stepped back forward. He pressed his lips to Evan’s. Evan wrapped his arms tightly around Andrew’s body and kissed him back has hard as he could. Andrew wrapped his arms around Evan and kissed that man for all he was worth. They stepped back. Evan stumbled and fell back onto the couch. Andrew landed on top of him. They never broke their kiss the whole time. It hurt a little when their noses collided.


Good thing Dora wasn’t home because neither gave the blinds a single thought.


Andrew laid on top of Evan’s body. He could feel Evan’s rhythmic breathing. Up and down his chest went and lifted and lowered Andrew’s head. Evan looked down at the top of Andrew’s head. Evan was so in love that his whole body ached but his mind was reeling at what was happening and his heart was fluttering wildly. Andrew had never felt so good. He just laid there. He reached up with his arm and slid his hand against Evan’s face, then back down his bare chest.


“Just checking. Wanted to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” Andrew said into Evan’s stomach.


“You’re not dreaming. I am.” Evan said, putting his hand on Andrew’s shoulder. Evan knew that soon he would have to go home. He didn’t want to leave. He wanted to live here with Andrew. He never wanted to leave Andrew. While it was fantastic what just happened between them, it still was a bit creepy to Evan. This was Rose’s house. Andrew didn’t remember Rose, but Evan did. He had a number of memories of this house as Rose’s. He had helped out Rose much like he had Engrid. She would often ask him to come over and do things for her. He was never as close to her as he was to Engrid, but still. He even remember Rose’s husband Randy who died a number of years ago. It was weird now, lying on the couch completely devoid of clothing with another naked man lying on top of him, remembering that this was Rose’s house. What would she say if she walked through that door right now and caught them? She would be somewhat less than pleased. What would Engrid think if she ever found out about them? Worse, what would the church people think if they caught Evan with Andrew going at it? Poor Evan was so conflicted. His heart, body, and mind were all screaming different things. His body was saying, ‘It’s just physical. I just wanted sex.’ His heart is saying, ‘You’ve never done anything so right. You are so in love with this man you could never live without him’ His mind was saying, ‘What did you just do? Run away now while you still can. Run away, you want no part of this.’ He had no idea which voice to listen to. Andrew hadn’t budged. He was content to stay there on the couch forever.


“I need to go.” Evan said, moving a little.


Andrew looked up at him. “Stay. Don’t go right now.”


“I have to. It’s almost 10:00. I need to be gone before Engrid and Dora get back from their card game.”


Andrew sat up. He was sorely disappointed because two old women were done playing cards. Who would have guessed that an 84 year old and an 86 year old would determine the place time, and duration of his love life? Evan and Andrew put their clothes back on. Evan got up to leave. Andrew stood in front of him. “Are you sure you can’t stay overnight?”


“No. I don’t want to. I need to get home. I’m sorry. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Evan was already distancing himself from Andrew. Andrew reminded him that they had an appointment at 11:00 to discuss some investment issues for the dry cleaning store. Evan walked out to his car and drove away. Andrew sat on the swing on the porch. He slowly swung back and forth thinking over the events of the evening. That had been totally unexpected. That blew him away that he and Evan had just had sex on his couch. Andrew wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t dream the whole thing and wasn’t about to wake up in his bed in a few minutes. The humid night air hung around him as he imagined in his mind what just happened. He wondered if it would ever happen again. He was surprised at himself. He hadn’t had sex in years and it was better than he’d ever remembered it being.


Evan was alone in his room. He lay on his bed still in a bit of shock. He stared at the ceiling wondering what just happened. He couldn’t quite figure it out. He was totally flabbergasted that he’d let his guard down enough to do that. While it was true they hadn’t gone ‘all the way,’ they came closer than Evan thought he could ever let himself get again. He was ashamed. But at least, Andrew knew what a hoar and weak person Evan really was. At least now Andrew knew that a common prostitute has more personal integrity than Evan. What Evan failed to let himself realize is that Andrew wasn’t just along for the ride that night. He was right in there pitching too. Andrew was just as into what they were up to as Evan had been, if not more so.