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Bertie sidles over and whispers, “I give them about five minutes.”
“Five minutes? Until what?” I ask, starting to catch my breath.
“You’ll see, but I’ll give you a hint. I didn’t last even one minute.”
The kitchen is a flurry of foil and plastic wrap as everyone unwraps their creations and positions them for best effect. I shuffle over to the fridge, trying to stay in the background, and spend far too much time retrieving my deviled eggs, giving myself a moment to breathe. Could it really be true? I focus on making a place for them on the table, next to the endive, and carefully shift each egg back into the symmetrical rosette pattern, waiting to see what’s next.
The guys are also intent on arranging the table of treats, but they keep darting glances at me. Interested glances. Admiring glances, and not just at my body. At my face. Carl nudges Pops and whispers. “Go. Go ask him.”
I get a glimmer of what’s coming, and it would be such an unexpected pleasure. If it’s true, I’m all in. I wait and wonder, close to the moment of truth.
Pop catches my eye as he walks over, and says, “I’m sorry, Orion. I know it’s very rude, since we just met, but we were wondering…”
“Please, feel free,” I say, finally relaxing. “Touch all you like. I think they like the attention.”
11
HIDEO
“Where’s Orion?” Bertie asks. “We’re almost ready to start dessert.”
“He wandered off to the bathroom a while back, but I haven’t seen him since. I’ll go see if I can find him. Maybe he’s stymied by that fancy new toilet you bought.”
“Don’t blame him just because you can’t figure it out,” Bertie laughs. “He might also be out back with Jake.”
“I’ll track him down,” I say. “He’s so huge, there are only so many places he can hide.”
With this little quip, I suddenly realize that he may, in fact, be hiding. The energy level of the house always hits the roof when we have the guys over, and it might be too much for our shy friend.
The guest bath is empty, and the one off the bedroom, but I find him in the library, sitting quietly with Jake. It’s a peaceful scene, as he strokes Jake’s head and Jake gives him a friendly lick on the face, filled with devotion, each for the other. As I suspected, he must be overloaded by all this new attention, and he needs some time to recharge with his best friend. I don’t want to interrupt, so I move to turn away.
“Hideo,” he calls.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“Fine. I just needed a minute. It’s all so, um, overwhelming,” he answers.
“Take all the time you want,” I say, kneeling to say hi to Jake. “We have no expectations.”
“I know that, I really do, but I don’t know what to think. The last person who ever wanted to see my face, my real face, was my mom.”
“And where is she? Is she still with us?”
“Oh yes, my parents are alive and well. They’re in a small town in Texas, and I’m sure they’re busy celebrating with my sister’s family. They have a new granddaughter and my mom is over the moon.”
“Sounds sweet. Do you talk to them?”
“I called earlier, before I left to come here. She was finishing up her pies.”
“So, you’re all good with them?”
He gives a smile and says, “Yes, very. I moved out here when I came out, since there weren’t many options for gay guys there, but they’ve been nothing but supportive.”
“That’s good to hear. Bertie and I are also blessed with supportive families. I’ll just give you some time. When you’re ready, we’re about to unveil the desserts, but no hurry.”
He grabs my arm as I start to get up, and asks, “Tell me, truthfully, are you okay with it? With me and all this? I can’t tell anymore when people are disgusted and they’re just making nice. I’m starting to think that’s how it was with Enzo for our entire relationship, tolerating me until he found something better. We had some good times, but now I just don’t know. He certainly couldn’t get out fast enough.”
I want to laugh, since this is so far from the truth, but I hold it back.
