Mr. James,
I owe you an apology for the way I behaved during our interview. I just didn’t want you to think I was a complete jerk.
Mr. De Niro
I must’ve read those two sentences ten times before I worked up the courage to respond. I agonized over every single word that I wrote.
Mr. De Niro,
I think our interview got off to a rough start, but it was heading in the right direction before we were interrupted. I understand that you are a very private man and I respect that. I just wish we’d had a little bit more time to chat.
Mr. James
I didn’t expect to hear back from him, but his response was almost immediate.
Mr. James,
I noticed that our interview hadn’t appeared in your magazine and figured you didn’t have enough information to write a paragraph, let alone an entire article. Most journalists would’ve made up a bunch of shit to fill the page. I wanted to thank you for not doing that. It’s okay if you call me Macio. You’ve earned the respect.
Macio
Holy fuck, such a simple statement shouldn’t have made me so fucking happy. It changed nothing between us. I was still a gay man lusting after a straight one. Still, reading that I had earned Macio’s respect meant the world to me.
Macio,
I wouldn’t dream of making up a bunch of shit just to write an article. I’m not that kind of journalist, but I respect your reasons for being wary. It’s okay for you to call me Aiden. You’ve earned the respect.
Aiden
I was certain that it would be the last I heard from him that night or any night. It was nice to get past the awkwardness we both must’ve felt during his interview, but I didn’t expect it to lead to a grand friendship. I guess that was why his final email really rocked my world.
Aiden,
I’ll be in L.A. visiting my brother this week. Perhaps we could meet up and finish the interview. I feel bad that you came to Vegas to interview me and left with nothing. It’s the least I can do.
Macio
My response to him was short and sweet.
Name the place and time!
The smile that spread across my face was nice and wide when I read the words written in Aiden’s email.Name the place and time.This wasn’t easy for me to do. I just didn’t open up well… to anyone, really. But there was something about Aiden that made me feel like I could tell him things and he wouldn’t exploit me. The fact that he didn’t write some bullshit article was a pretty good indicator that he could be trusted. It also helped that I wanted to fuck him like there was no tomorrow.
Since meeting him, I’d worn my dick out jerking off in the sauna, shower, in bed, even in the locker room, for Christ sakes! He was in my blood, flowing through my being, making me hard with just the slightest thought of his beautiful, warm smile. Or his gorgeous blue eyes with the ridiculously long eyelashes. Ah, shit… there it went again… my dick poking a tent in my sweats. I swore Aiden was like a virus I couldn’t get rid of and he ran a fever through me with barely the mention of his name. I had to have him.
First things first, get the second interview. My fingers trembled over my keyboard as I prepared to type in a response. I wanted our meeting to be as private as possible. I had no idea if he lived in a house or an apartment building, but I didn’t want to meet in a place with nosey neighbors. My hotel room would be best. What Aiden didn’t know was that I was already in L.A. I’d taken a gamble that he’d be willing to do another interview since our first attempt was an epic failure. Not even my brother knew I was in town yet.
Rico was my excuse to escape. It wasn’t easy to break away from Barry and Rupert, who were both pulling me in two different directions. Barry had worked my body hard with strength and conditioning training, which I loved. Rupert had been training me on how to conduct a proper interview and still keep myself guarded. Between the two of them, I could take on the world. At least, I felt that way.
So why in the fuck were my fingers trembling so much and I hadn’t written a reply? He must be thinking I was going to punk out, but that wasn’t me. I just wanted to make sure I formed the right words. There was no take backs on emails sent. Okay, here goes nothing.
I’m already in L.A., my plane flew in this afternoon. I’m staying at the Dorchester hotel. Why don’t you meet me here tomorrow evening at five, in the penthouse?
I was only going to be in this hotel for one more night. It was expensive, for one thing, but once I made contact with my brother, he’d insist that I stay in his guest room. Barry gave me five days to visit family and relax… then I was to fly back and train like a gladiator. So, I was going to make the most of this visit. I scooted back, elbows resting on my knees and my hands locked as I waited to see the response from Aiden.
I will be happy to meet you tomorrow evening. And like before, if you aren’t comfortable with one of my questions, we can discuss it. I don’t want you to feel any pressure to answer anything you don’t want to.
-Aiden.
