*****The followings story is fiction and all characters are over the age of 18*****
Part 4 of the Arturo and Rohan holiday series.
The glass was half empty. A cloudy ball of ice sat in the middle of the glass with a bronze liquid surrounding it. It was four weeks after Valentine's day. The day Rohan and I watched Wicked and stayed at a hotel, were we fucked. That night was so memorable to me because it felt like our relationship was real. And it was. The doubt that I had carried was gone, I was fully invested in the relationship. Rohan made me feel ways no other man could. It wasn't just his magnificent body and the great sex, but his personality, his interests and goals. It inspired me to pursue my own goals and interests; stuff that I had put aside.
Writing was my passion. So I went out and paid for an overpriced notebook and pens with the intent to write. But here I was at my kitchen table with a glass of whiskey, an empty page and an empty brain.
I groaned. I forgot the writing process involved actually brainstorming. There was an idea for a story, but I couldn't collect them and put them on paper. I stared at the glass of whiskey for a moment, then turned to the glass bottle on the counter. About half of it was gone already. Rohan didn't drink at all. The reason was that his family already had a bunch of alcoholics. His father passed away when he was five due to a car accident. I wondered if alcohol was involved. He had been so private about the event that it was the only thing I knew about his father other than being a big Lord of the Rings fan.
My family had tons of alcoholics. From my father to my cousins and nephews. It was just part of the Mexican culture to drink, especially at a young age. I drank at an early age and once I became 21, I drank more. Perhaps change was in store, a token of solidarity for my boyfriend.
I stood up and grabbed the glass of whiskey and brought it to the sink. The liquor teased me as I hovered the drink over the sink. I loved drinking alcohol, the feeling of being drunk was so much fun. It always felt like everyone was having a good time. But my good time was with Rohan. He was making changes for me so it was only fair that I do the same.
Instead of pouring the drink into the sink, I chugged it. I felt the cool burning liquid go down my throat. I washed the glass and then grabbed the bottle of whiskey. Throwing away a half bottle of whiskey would cause chaos in my family, but at the same time, my family was full of homophobic assholes.
I tossed the whiskey into the trash can. Next, I grabbed my notebook and went to the bedroom. I immediately felt better, I don't know why. But I just felt good.
Instead of writing my story, I sat down in my bed and wrote a journal entry describing the feelings I had and how my relationship with Rohan was going.
It ended up being two pages, but I think I found a new thing to do.
I closed the notebook, got under the sheets and turned off the light. I stared out the window as I drifted into a slumber.
The next day I woke up earlier than usual to clean up the apartment. Rohan wanted to stay over at my place to spend time with me and also study for an upcoming exam. His roommate was going to have friends over and he knew he wouldn't be able to study there. I was happy to have him over. I loved spending time with him, especially now that we were in a full relationship.
It was 6am and I was moving around the apartment dusting, vacuuming. My neighbors must hate me right now for the amount of noise I was making. I washed the bed sheets, the kitchen, sprayed the couch with Febreze. By 7:15, I was done with everything, which was just enough time to get ready for work at 8am.
I decided to take the bus because Rohan said he would pick me up after work.
Work went on as usual, a bit more work today due to shipments, but it was fine. Fridays were normally my days off, but I had volunteered to cover Cindy's shift.
At around 4:15, I began to get ready to be picked up from work. Rohan had already texted me that he was on his way. As I walked out of the stock closet, I ran into Charise.
"Hey, Arturo! I haven't seen you all day," she said.
"We had the truck stop by, so I helped out with the stocking."
"I see. Hey, so I was wondering, what are you doing this weekend? Me and Marcus were going to go watch a movie, but he had to take an emergency business trip. So I'll be alone this weekend."
"I'd love to hang out, but I have plans. I'm sorry."
She frowned, "Oh? Okay, I'll see if someone else wants to hang out. Are you visiting family or what?"
I hadn't told her I was dating anyone, I trusted her, but I knew she liked to gossip. I didn't want everyone to know I was dating Rohan, yet. The time would come, but I wanted to be private about it. However, I could be coy and just withhold some information.
"No, I'm going on a date with someone."
Charise smiled, "OH MY GOD! I'm so happy for you. Please, go enjoy your date. Tell me the details after, yeah?"
"Of course."
"Where did you guys meet?"
My mind raced with excuses to tell her. "Well, we met..." my voice trailed off when I heard someone call my name.
"Arturo!" It was Rohan.
He approached me, but since Charise was standing in front of a mannequin, he didn't see her. He approached me ready to kiss me when he saw her. "Oh hey! You're that girl who had the killer party?" he said nervously.
She looked at me with suspicious eyes then back at Rohan, "Rihan right?"
"Rohan, actually. Like in Lord of the Rings."
"Oh, Marcus watches that stuff. I always fall asleep," she pursed her lips and put a hand on her hip. She looked at us for a brief moment, "Wait, Arturo, are you and him a thing?"
Cat was out of the bag, "Shit," I spat out. "No fooling you," I was nervous.
Her eyes widened. "Oh my God! You and Rohan are a..."
I shushed her, "Announce it to the whole store why don't you?"
She jumped in place with excitement, "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy for you. Wait, weren't you with Cindy at the party?"
Rohan laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I was. But I came to give Arturo a gift and ask him to be my boyfriend."
"Ah, so since then, huh? Well I'm so happy for you. Arturo has been looking for a man for a while now," she teased.
I shoved her shoulder, "Can you keep your mouth shut!"
Charise and Rohan laughed.
Rohan's cell phone rang, "Oh, it's my mom. I gotta step away. I'll be right back."
I watched Rohan walk away. Particularly my eyes were looking at his toned ass in his jeans. I noticed Charise was doing the same, "Your boyfriend has a nice set of cheeks. You clapping them?"
I rolled my eyes, "No, more like he's clapping mine."
She giggled, "Oh I bet it must feel good. You lucky boy! But why didn't you tell me?"