Part 10 (1/2)
”No, actually, I'm the one in your debt.” Charles paused, then continued, ”That investment advice that you gave me the last time we were here, well, let's just say it was right on the mark. In fact, it built our new swimming pool!”
”Well, I'm glad it worked out for you,” Lynn replied. ”I'm always happy to help out.”
”If you have some time before we leave, I'd like to speak with you about another venture that I'm interested in.”
”No problem. Just give me the details, and I'll take a look at it.”
Chris was surprised, to say the least. Lynn the waitress, the singer, also gave investment advice? Would her talents ever end?
”Well, I hate to break up the party, but I'm on in half an hour,” Lynn apologized as she grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair.
”We understand, how do they say it, aeThat's s...o...b..z'!” exclaimed Marie.
”Lynn, you are joining us for ther picnic tomorrow, aren't you? I'm afraid none of us are as good at sports as you, and we don't want our family to look entirely pathetic!” Charles joked.
Lynn smiled. Happy to be included, she replied, ”I wouldn't miss it!” Pausing, she placed her hands on Chris's shoulders. ”But you know, Chris here is pretty athletic herself. You may actually win a trophy tomorrow!”
Chris blushed, not knowing whether it was because of the compliment, or who it came from. With that said, Lynn waved goodbye and showed herself out of the room.
The evening lingered on, longer than either Matt or Chris had antic.i.p.ated. At two o'clock, the music stopped, and the night was declared over. With a sigh of relief from both, the couple slid into the El Camino and settled side by side. Aware that his parents were still watching, Chris whispered, ”Put your arm around me.” Matt, now used to following her cues, did just that, and pulled out from in front of the building, waving good-bye. Looking in the rearview mirror, Matt chuckled and shook his head as he watched the valet, who was clearly unhappy with the tip that he had been given.
”Boy, it was a good thing we knew all the right answers, huh?” Matt said. ”All that practicing sure paid off!”
Chris agreed and slid away slightly from Matt to give each of them some s.p.a.ce. ”So, what time is the picnic tomorrow?”
”It starts about ten o'clock. Get a good night's sleep, aecause Dad likes to enter a lot of events.”
”You know, you misled me. Before, you called it a picnic, now it's a sports event!”
”Oh, stop whining. At least you're athletic, you'll laugh when you see my family try to compete!” He laughed, then turned serious. ”But please don't laugh, at least not to our faces!” His face broke out into a smile, which turned into another laugh.
Matt parked the car in front of the house and opened the door for Chris.
”I'm going to get out of this monkey suit and into something comfortable” Matt said as he slid off his tie and began pulling off his s.h.i.+rt while walking down the hall.
”You're the first gay man I know who doesn't like dressing up!” Chris called after him.
”Oh h.e.l.l, I'm probably the first gay man you've known!” He laughed. Sticking his head out of his bedroom door, he called out, ”True?”
”True,” she admitted. ”But I've seen a lot of movies.”
Chris entered the bedroom, closed the door, and began stripping off her clothes as well. She pulled on a T-s.h.i.+rt and a pair of flannel boxers and padded into the kitchen for a bottle of water. ”You want anything from the kitchen?” she yelled to Matt.
”How about a bottle of milk of magnesia?” she heard him answer; she yelled back, ”You'll have to settle for a gla.s.s of milk!”
Carrying the water and milk into the living room, she plopped down on the sofa, exhausted. Matt followed her lead and plopped down on the adjacent couch. Just then they heard keys in the front door.
”Hey, how'd the rest of the evening go?” Lynn asked as she threw her keys onto the table.
”Good, really good,” Matt answered. ”Thanks for that save on the sh.e.l.lfish.”
”No, I'm the one who should thank her for that!” Chris laughed.
Matt started giving Lynn the details of the rest of the evening, but Lynn interrupted.
”Wait, I want to hear all this, but I really need to shower first. I swear they're not turning the air-conditioning on in the bar anymore!” Lynn disappeared down the hall.
When Lynn returned, she asked, ”Anyone for ice cream?”
Chris's face lit up. ”Count me in!”
”Come tell me how much you want!” Lynn motioned for her to follow her into the kitchen. They re-emerged with bowls overflowing with each of their favorites.
”Sure you don't want any, Matt?” they teased.
”No thanks, I don't want that stuff floating around in my belly all night!”
Matt and Chris filled Lynn in on the events of the evening. When they were through, and tired of laughing, Matt excused himself, saying that he had to rest up for the next day, which was only a few hours away.
”How about you? Are you going to p.o.o.p out on me, too?” Lynn asked Chris.
”Actually, I'm wide awake,” Chris replied.
They sat in silence for a few moments, both focused on their ice cream. Chris broke the silence first. ”So, you know all the details of my life, but we never got around to your life.”
”That's because I'm not an integral part of this charade.”
”Well, to quote you, aeI think Matt's fiancee should know something about his roommate's life,' unquote. Well, I mixed up a few words, but you get the gist of it.”
”Okay, so what do you want to know?” Lynn conceded.
”How about where you grew up, your parents*” Chris added sarcastically, ”your hopes and dreams.”
”I grew up in a small town in the valley, both of my parents are still alive. My dad still works as an architect. My mom, a computer programmer, is semi-retired, so she says, but she still works out of their home. I have one brother, younger than me, who is a landscape designer. I see them a couple of times a year. We're not extremely close.”
”And do they know that you're gay?” Chris asked.
”Yes, I knew very early on, and made them very aware of it. They're pretty accepting of my lifestyle.” Then Lynn sarcastically added, ”As long as they don't have to know where I sleep and whom I sleep with.”
”You mean the thousands and thousands of women?” Chris teased.
”I know what Matt believes. But I don't think he really understands. I think a lot of men only sleep with women, or other men as the case may be, because they get h.o.r.n.y, you know for the actual s.e.x act.” Lynn paused in thought and then continued, ”But I don't sleep with women* and believe me, he has way over exaggerated about my s.e.xual exploits*because I'm h.o.r.n.y.” She looked at Chris, trying to make her understand. ”Once you've had true intimacy, you keep searching it out, wanting that feeling again. So sometimes, I just need to feel wanted. I need the intimacy, even if it's only for a few hours, even if it's someone I don't even know.”
Lynn continued, ”Tell me Chris, of all those aeten or more' men that you've slept with, how many have you actually loved?”
Chris lowered her eyes and played with the fringe on the afghan she was holding while she spoke. ”Actually* none of them. I don't think I've ever been in love. You know the old saying, aeThe right one just hasn't come along'? Well, that's me, I'm the poster child for that saying.” Chris raised her eyes to meet Lynn's. ”So, you said that you've had true intimacy, that must be that you've been in love?”