‘Don’t worry about it. Gabe paid for it. I just did the purchasing.’
So he was at least twenty-one. And dating a seventeen-year-oldandbuying that seventeen-year-old and his seventeen-year-old friends alcohol. Kind of skeevy. Vic mixed himself a drink, then came around to my side of the bar.
‘So,’ he said. ‘I wanted to say sorry again. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.’
‘It’s cool, I get it.’ Though he had been so protective over the bar before, I was curious to know what had changed.
‘So you all work at the old folks’ home. Gabe tells me a lot of crazy stories.’
‘It’s a retirement community. “Old folks’ home” is an offensive term.’
He chuckled. ‘To who? Old folks? Meh, the way he tells it, they can be offensive themselves. Apparently, he gets asked “where are you from?” on a daily basis.’
Again, my face burned. That was true. It had happened several times when I was training him, and he always did a great job pivoting. He’d say, ‘Oh, I live off Route 202. Would you like soup or salad this evening?’
‘They can be …’
‘Racist? Spoiled? Entitled?’
God help me, I actually laughed. ‘Yeah, all of that, actually. I mean, not all of them. A large number of them, yes, but there’s a few who are polite and nice enough to tolerate.’
Vic’s eyes lit up. ‘Yeah, he told me about his favorite, some dude named Al.’
For a moment I felt a weird sense of possessiveness. Al wasmyfavorite. How often had Gabe even served Al and Willa?
‘I feel kind of bad for him, though, you know?’ I said.
‘For Al?’
‘Yeah. Like, it must suck to be one of the only gay dudes in the place.’ I thought about that frequently. And how lucky Al and Willa were to have each other as friends.
Vic smiled again. ‘But imagine how different it’ll be in an old folks’ – er,retirement community–’
‘Thank you.’
‘– when we’re older, and how many openly queer folks will be in there then. That’s a pretty cool thought.’
Thatwasa cool thought. And one I had never really imagined on my own. Maybe it was working at Sunset Estates that made me think I’d never live in an old folks’ home (it was okay when I said it).
‘Oh!’ I said. ‘What if there are even whole entire retirement homes that cater only to queer folks – and I guess allies, because you couldn’t discriminate against the poor straights.’
‘Right, it’s not their fault they were born that way.’
‘Totally!’ I laughed. Shit. Was I enjoying talking to Gabe’s boyfriend? After I had asked Gabe for his help on my video, just to get him to see I was better than Vic? A wave of guilt hit me. This was absolutely not the Taylor Swift fantasy I was trying to serve.
I was still chuckling when Vic turned serious. ‘So, listen,’ he said. ‘He told me, you know. That you kissed him.’
My throat felt like it was closing up, and my face got so warm I was worried it would bake the makeup and make it flake, exposing red specks of my embarrassed flesh. Gabe told his boyfriend we kissed. Wait, he told his boyfriend thatIkissedhim– which, yes I did, but hedidkiss me back.
I ran through my memories of the night. He did kiss back, right? I wasn’t making that up.
‘Don’t worry.’ Vic put his hand on my shoulder. ‘I don’t care. It was just one kiss – it doesn’t mean anything.’
Maybe not to Vic, but it meant a whole lot to me. At least I’d thought it did. Now all the power behind it seemed soiled. Anything good about the kiss was gone because Vic knew. Because Gabe had told him. And they probably had laughed about it. Laughed about me.
Stinging tears threatened my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of Vic. I wasn’t going to give him something else to laugh at.
‘I get it,’ he said. ‘He’s sweet, he’s adorable. Just don’t do it again. Once was enough, and he’s not interested.’
