This story is dedicated first to
jfinn
, who's story the
The Human Condition
at Lit inspired me to try my hands at gay erotica, and second to
Annie Proulx
, for being able to do in one line what I can't do in a hundred. If you haven't already, read her short story,
Brokeback Mountain
, or go watch the movie!
A special thanks to my editors: Scintillating, danielle t, tami teshima, Trisha Hernandez, Amy, Evelyn Caroll, Johnny Smith, Mara Copland, Hex ElfWitch, Jennifer Catherine, Elaine Ricci, Angel Love, MrVern, Persistance, Shez Grant, Koolpoppaphonse, Katie, Mandy Marie,
All characters are fictitious and any resemblance between the characters and any real life person is mere coincidence, though a very hot coincidence if I may say so myself. Please do not copy or distribute the story without the author's permission.
**Kelvin**
----------------------
It was only a quarter past three and already everything was almost dead. The streets were dead; the city greenery was as good as dead; overheating dogs played dead on lawns; even the few hardy souls outside walked as though they were dead. It was just one of those days.
I was just about nearing death myself when I stumbled into the cool, air-conditioned paradise that was an office tower. I had only a few minutes to savour my survival before I was assaulted by a saucy Irish accent belonging to a sixty-year-old grandmother.
"Good ev'ning, hon! Hot eh, Dearie?" she chirped.
"Hello, Anne," I greeted warily.
"So, Dearie. How are things going with you?"
"Fine."
"You know, Tyler, you've been working awful hard lately. Ever t'ink about takin' a break, a holiday maybe? I'm sure Gary β"
I snapped. "Would you stop the fuckin' small talk already and tell Gary I'm here?"
Anne blinked and then sighed. "Alright, alright. Don't tie yerself into a knot." She picked up the phone. Anne was the lobby receptionist. "Gary? Tyler's here to see you...Okay, I'll tell him." She hung up and winked at me. "You can go up. He says he's got a surprise for you, hopes you brought extra condoms."
I didn't like the sound of that. Gary was the one who was supposed to provide the condoms.
"Great. Thanks." I scowled as I began walking to the elevator.
Anne's voice followed. "Oh, by the way Tyler, I thought you should know: Blaine's -"
Thank God the elevator door closed before I could hear the rest. I didn't give a flying fuck about Blaine. As far as I was concerned, he could keep screwing his life all he wanted, but he sure as hell wasn't going to pull me down with him. I wasn't going to go sniff some "Tina" with him, or listen to his lies anymore. Even when we used to have sex it wasn't him I was fucking, it was his drugs. I was through with him.
Oh, I was honest enough with myself to know I was damaged goods. I practically screamed "walking wounded". I had for months. What I couldn't stand was the way people still talked to me with that concerned, sympathetic expression on their faces. Stupid friends. It was amazing, really, that I still had any.
All I wanted was to be left alone.
I punched the button in the elevator for the fifty-first floor. It was just like Gary to pick the third highest floor of the third tallest building in Philadelphia: St. Boniface Tower, no less. On the day we filmed
The Travails of St. Horniface
, Gary had dressed up in drag and had us march half-naked right through a banker's function. In that single, brilliant stroke, he'd offended just about everyone in conservative corporate America. I had even smiled.
Almost.
The sex had helped, actually. At first, everyone I fucked reminded me of Blaine. Especially the blonds. After one particularly bad incident, Gary took me aside and we talked. After that, things became easier. There were no more blond hunks, at least when I was on set. It became all fuck and cum, fuck and cum. All in a day's work.
The elevator door slid open with a ding at the thirty-first floor. A man was walking backwards with his back to the elevator, apparently talking to some other guy. "Alright, Brent. Gotta run. Gary keeps a bitch of a leash on me, even though I've quit. Thanks for everything."
Something inside of me lurched perilously close to a precipice in that moment. Even from behind, I recognized him. It wasn't just the hair, which I noticed he'd cropped short. Or the scar on his neck, which he'd gotten from his father as a birthday present. I knew him by the sound of his voice, the gait of his walk, the flex of muscles on his back; I knew him by all the little things which made him who he was, intimately.
The look he gave me said it all. His eyes, which widened with shock, were as blue-green as they ever were, though they seemed to have lost their sparkle. His high cheekbones and jaw still kept him handsome, but there were lines on his face which hadn't been there a year ago. He'd lost muscle too. No one could take him for a gay porn star now. He stared at me as though I was some kind of apparition. I wasn't sure if
he
was.
The elevator dinged again and slowly began to close. Through the shrinking window, I saw Blaine set his jaw. He moved fast, slipping in just before the
fooom
of the door.
I backed into a corner, putting myself as far away from him as I could. My throat felt constricted. I tried to swallow. I saw Blaine trying to do the same. God, I could smell him. I trembled. I forced myself to stop. I looked up at the ascending numbers. Not at Blaine.
Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four...
"Ty."
Why'd you leave me, Blaine?
Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven...
"Ty?"
God, why was this elevator so fucking slow?
Thirty-eight, thirty-nine...
Suddenly, the elevator heaved as though some great whale had beached underneath the building. Everything went dark. I staggered, my stomach churning and adrenaline pumping through my veins.
In the ensuing stillness, I became aware of Blaine's body, warm, against mine.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I snarled, wrenching myself away from him.
There was a brief silence. "Sorry," he mumbled. His voice sounded odd. Blaine wasn't one to apologize for anything, even when I was angry at him for something he did or didn't do. Like the time I found out he was HIV-positive. Not the Blaine I knew, anyway.
"What the fuck happened?" I asked. I was glad he couldn't see my face.