Tiago
"Hey,mate, are you calling to say you're finally going to take on the running of the center?"
The hopeful voice of my best friend, Isaac, was almost enough to break my resolve.
"I already run the center." I chuckled.
"My point precisely, and that's why I want your name on the foundation letterhead."
I sighed. "You know I can't do it."
We'd had this conversation many times. I'd met Isaac at university when he'd started a student network to provide support and a safe place for LGBTQ students to talk and access support services.
When he'd graduated, Isaac was able to secure some key funding to open Lisbon's first youth-dedicated LGBTQ center,Fundação Arco-Íris. Despite being three years older, I'd taken a break in my studies, so I'd joined Isaac as soon as I'd graduated a year later. It was a partnership that worked well for us. We ran the foundation together, but he was the name and the face behind it all, while I looked after the daily running of the center.
It was as much as I could offer. There was no question about my commitment to it, which was the reason Isaac had been pushing for me to take over running the entire center since he now lived in Manhattan with his husband, Max.
Isaac knew why I didn't want to take on any more responsibility. For the last nine years, any time I'd not been at college or working, I'd been looking for my missing younger brother, Afonso.
"Tiago?" Isaac called from the other end of the line.
"I'll think about it, okay?"
"Okay," he said with a mix of hope and resignation. "Was there anything in particular you were calling for?"
"Yes. Is your apartment still on the market?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Would you mind if I rent it for the next two months? My landlord is finally going to do some work to my place, and I need somewhere to stay. I'll pay you, of course."
"Don't be silly. You don't need to pay. I'll tell the agency to take the apartment off the rentals list until you don't need it anymore."
"Thanks, Isaac. I really appreciate that. How's Max?"
"He's starting school for his specialization in pediatric nursing, so he's a bit stressed, but nothing we can't handle."
I couldn't help being a little envious of Isaac and the relationship he had with Max. In another lifetime, I'd have loved to have been in a committed relationship with someone I could share my life with, the challenges and the victories.
Unfortunately, my experience was that my burden was too much for guys to handle, and after a string of failed attempts at dating, I'd decided to stop trying. Waking up to someone whose first smile of the day was for me was, at the moment, just a pipe dream.
"You're happy in New York, right?" I asked before I realized how the question might sound.
"Of course, why do you ask?"
"Never mind, sorry, I don't know why I asked."
I heard a shuffle on the other side of the line before Isaac said, "I gotta go. Lucy's home from school, but we'll speak again soon."
"Okay, thanks again for letting me stay at the apartment."
"Sure, no problem. There's a spare key in the office safe at the center. Bye, Tiago."
"Bye, Isaac."
It was a relief knowing I had a temporary place to live, and if Isaac didn't want me to pay rent, I could save some money to use toward the search for my brother.
Now that was something I should be focusing on rather than my lack of a love life. Maybe I needed to go out dancing soon to get the need out of my system. That always helped when I hit a slump in my search.
