March 12, 2002, the day my entire life changed completely. I was 22, about to graduate college, and working as a server in a pretty well known restaurant. I thought life was great, made good money, good grades. I didn't have any complaints about life. My girlfriend, Lori, was madly in love with me. I'm sure if she had her way we would be married with two kids right now. Hell, at the time that's what I wanted as well. Little did I know that was all going to change.
I had the night off work and decided to have some alone time after class. I told Lori I was going to go to the gym and grab some food on the way home, and spend the evening at home by myself. She said she didn't mind, she was going out with her friends and that we could use the time apart anyway. At this point we had been living together for almost two years. We had figured out that alone time was essential in making our relationship last. Not to much, or we feared we would grow apart. So Lori was going to spend the night with a friend. Great, I thought, a chance to do nothing but worry about myself and do what I want. Well, that was all I was going to do.
I was hungry earlier than normal so I grabbed a bite right after class. After eating I went to the gym. I did the things I normally do, stretching first, then the treadmill. Following up with some lifting and then abs work. Then some more lifting. I'm in pretty good shape. I'm 6'3", about 175lbs, rather slim. I've been trying to bulk up but it seems like I can't build much muscle. Don't get me wrong, I'm not skinny as a twig, I just don't have as much muscle as I would like. The gym was quite slow so I decided to take a swim after I finished working out. I'm a regular there and I usually recognize everyone who's there, employees and customers. There's only one other guy swimming in the pool with me, I've never seen him before. I can't help but notice his physique. Great six-pack, perfectly shaped arms, chiseled chest. Even his back has just the right amount of muscles. I realize I've been staring at him for a while when he asks me if I like what I see.
"Oh, um, sorry. It's just that I've been coming here for years trying to get my body to look like yours with no prevail. You must be quite disciplined to look like that."
"It's alright. Look all you want. I don't mind one bit. I'm Jayce."
"Um, nice to meet you."
What is this guy doing? I don't have any problem with gay people; a few of my friends are gay. But, come on, really? Does this guy think I'm gay? Well, I was staring at his body for quite a while. Oh well, I'm sure I'll never see him again. After one more lap in the pool, I go to my locker to grab some things for a quick shower. One thing I like about this gym is that the showers all have individual stalls with doors. Just as I was closing the locker door, Jayce walked in. Oh great, I thought, here he is again. I try to walk to the shower without any eye contact, trying to avoid him.
"So we meet again, huh?" He says.
"Yeah, how was your swim?"
"Good, well, it was good. Then it just got boring after you left."
"Oh, um, ok. Your kind of straight forward, aren't you. Listen, I'm sorry, but I'm not gay. I have a girlfriend."