The Lonely Heart Club – a prompt story - 6. Chapter 6

Prompt 494: Use the following words in a story: army uniform, a dog, a tent, a hamburger, and a toy.

Roman scanned the bar. The piano bench was still empty, the spotlights off. It seemed the whole room was waiting for Martin, just like him. For whatever reason though, the man was taking his time, and Roman was getting more and more nervous. It made him wonder if that was exactly what Martin was aiming for.

The fucker!

When the door behind him opened, Roman turned around to see who was coming in, anything to not stare at the empty stage any longer. A tall, blond man had entered the bar, holding the leash of a beautiful German Shepherd dog. After taking two steps into the room, he made a short movement with his left hand and a thin, white stick extended. A blind-man stick.

With his eyes fixed on Roman, the dog led the man directly to him. Soon his stick knocked against the empty barstool on his left. “Is this seat taken?”

Roman shook his head, then realized his mistake. “No.” He bit down on his tongue so he wouldn’t offer his help. His colleague, Joseph, who sat in a wheelchair, had told him repeatedly, he would tell him if he needed something. He had learned his lesson. “It’s empty.”

A brief smile flickered over the man’s lean face. With a gaze slightly off the mark, he looked at Roman. His eyes were a pale shade of blue, or maybe silver. Roman thought they didn’t look blind, and immediately chastised himself for his ongoing stupidity.

“Curtis wouldn’t have led me here if the stool had been occupied. He wouldn’t know if you’re waiting for someone, though.”

“Curtis?”

“My dog.”

“Oh.” Roman felt even more stupid. “No, I’m not waiting for anyone. I…I mean, I am, but he’ll take the piano bench first.” Hearing himself rambling, Roman thought he obviously must have left parts of his brain at the office. He even imagined his ever-proper assistant, Marvin, finding it in the morning. “Ignore me.”

The man folded his stick, put it into the pocket of his black slacks, then carefully rotated the stool so he could sit in it.

Robert, the barman, had waited until the man was settled. “Good evening, sir. What can I get you?”

The blond turned his face to him. “A glass of white wine, Riesling if you have it.”

Martin was still nowhere in sight, and Roman couldn’t contain himself any longer. When Robert put the wine glass on a napkin in front of his neighbor, he asked him,” Why isn’t Martin out yet?”

“The boss asked him into his office.” Robert grinned knowingly. “Nervous?”

“What?”

“Big date night, huh?”

Roman’s knuckled turned white as he gripped the tumbler in front of him. “How─”

“The club has been watching you two for a month.” Robert waggled his eyebrows before he went to serve another customer. “’s about time.”

“Apparently.” Roman forced himself to let go of the glass, as a warm snout nudged his thigh. The dog watched him with dark, pleading eyes. Why not? He turned to his left. “So, where are you from?”

The blond sipped at his white wine. His all black clothes emphasized the paleness of his skin. As if he hasn’t seen the sun for years.

“Is my accent that bad?”

“No, but it is noticeable.”

The man nodded in understanding. His face was a perfect example of contradictions: a sharp jaw line, but lips shaped in a cupid’s bow, obvious stubble, a thin, slightly crooked nose, and thick eyebrows, still almost invisible because of how pale blond they were. “I was born in Hamburg, Germany.” He held out his hand. “The name is Christian.”

“I know Hamburg. I’ve been there several times, actually. My firm has a branch office there. It’s a beautiful city.”

“I haven’t been there in years. I live in Kaiserslautern now.”

“Oh…”

“May I ask you a question?” Christian tugged at the turtleneck of his sweater.

“Of course.”

It seemed that Christian hadn’t heard him, but just when Roman was about to repeat his words, the man reached into the inner pocket of his suit coat and pulled out a piece of paper. His hand was trembling when he pushed it over to Roman. It was a photograph, showing a tall, big man in an army uniform, standing in front of a tent. The man’s smile made Roman instantly smile too. “That’s Steven.”

At a loss for what to say, Roman nodded. “Okay.”

“Is he here?”

Roman stared at the photograph, then at Christian. The man was biting his lips, and the hand holding the glass shook so much, he almost spilled his wine. His left hand was clamped down on his own thigh, until the dog gave a quiet whine, before licking his fingers.

“He told me to be here on April 23 at eight pm. Is he here?” Christian inhaled sharply. “This is the Lonely Heart Club, right?”

“Yes, it is.” Roman scanned the people in the room. “He expected you to come here all on your own?”

“I have Curtis.”

“Yes, but─” Roman didn’t know how to feel about this. Steve looked nice, but he obviously expected Christian to come all the way from Germany to a foreign country and meet him at a random bar, even though he was blind.

Christian seemed to know what Roman was thinking. “This may seem strange to you, but I know what I’m doing. I’ve been hiding long enough. I’m ready.” He took in a deep breath. “Tell me he is here.”

Roman hadn’t stopped scanning the room, and while Christian was talking, he had found Steven. Their eyes met, and the man put a finger on his own lips, then shook his head. Roman watched as he gave something to Casey, one of the waitresses. Then he whispered in her ear, she listened intently, and finally looked over to the bar, and nodded.

Roman hadn’t been the only one who had noticed Steven. With pricked ears, Curtis watched him. He looked like he wanted to wag his tail, but then stopped as soon as he saw Steven’s gesture, or at least it looked that way to Roman.

Casey soon stopped beside Roman to give him a black, shiny box with a wink of her eye, while jerking her head in Christian’s direction. He thanked her silently before he put it in front of Christian. “I have something for you.” Then he took Christian’s hand and laid it on top of the lid.

“For me? How?” Christian’s fingers wandered over the box. He lifted the lid just enough to feel what was inside. He blushed, and a blinding smile lit up his face. “Steven. I can smell you.”

The man had come up behind them without Roman noticing it. As soon as Christian reacted to him, though, Steven’s hand had gone to Christian’s neck, and he caressed him with his thumb. Curtis whined and pressed his body against the Steven’s leg, which reassured Roman everything was all right. He got up from his stool to make room for Steven. The man had buried his forehead against Christian’s shoulder, and he lifted his eyes to thank him silently.

Roman’s head whipped around when he heard cheering and hand clapping. Martin had finally come onto the stage. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, guys. I had a brief talk with the boss. Tonight we’ll shake up the usual routine because someone is celebrating their birthday here at the Lonely Heart Club.” He waited until the applause died down. “I’ve been given a special list to play.” Cheering started from a table right in front of the stage. Martin went over to the birthday table, grinned, and then pulled a huge red ribbon from behind his back. It was wrapped around something Roman couldn’t identify from where he was standing. “I’ve been told to give this to you. Happy birthday!” Loud hooting and cheering sounded from the people near the table, and Roman wondered what had been wrapped in that ribbon.

Martin sat behind his piano. “The first piece on my list is ‘Bad Boy Having a Party’!” He launched right into the song. Next he played ‘I Want a Boy for My Birthday’ and the people at the birthday table were singing along loudly.

“I’m going to finish my part of tonight’s birthday celebrations with Jeremih’s ‘Birthday Sex’!”

When Robert placed a glass with Martin’s favorite red wine beside Roman’s tumbler, he knew Martin was almost finished. Christian and Steven had long gone, and Roman hoped everything went well for them.

Martin thanked everyone and bowed to their applause as he left the stage. He walked up to the bar, grabbed the glass, and downed the wine in two gulps, ignoring Robert’s protest. Then he locked eyes with Roman. “Ready?”

He was so ready.

Luther Vandross (Bad Boy Having a Party)

The Cookies (I Want a Boy for My Birthday)

Jeremih (Birthday Sex)

No, I didn't forget the toy, I just hid it.