Catering with Benefits (1) - 24. Mardi Gras Fair Day

Also at Mardi Gras Fair Day were Romel and Edward. They had arranged to meet Craig and Justin for lunch but before, did some exploring of their own. Edward was on the lookout for possible interview subjects and stopped at many of the stalls for a brief chat with the operators and gave his card to those he thought were possibilities. As they approached the 2GAYfm stall Edward heard his own voice doing a promo for his drag program ‘Hello Sweetie’

As well as running a stall, the station was broadcasting live, all day from the fair. Max was in the broadcast booth and Charles was busy signing up new subscribers. When Max saw Edward he said on air “Don’t miss that special program to be broadcast next week on the night before Mardi Gras parade. And as I look out at the many visitors to this fabulous Fair Day I can see among the happy crowd the star of that show, our own Edward, previously known as Ed-Weiner. I will try to get him into our little studio here for a chat, but before that enjoy a selection of movements from Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals, composed in 1886, and originally scored for two pianos, string quartet, double bass, flute, clarinet, glockenspiel, xylophone, and glass harmonica. But did you know, at the time, Saint-Saëns was so worried about the harm this might do to his reputation as a serious composer, that after two private performances he placed it under lock and key where it remained until after his death. Now aren’t we so glad it survived that embargo.”

After some cajoling, Edward accepted Max’s invitation and gave a brief interview on air, while Romel tried his hand at signing up new supporters for the station. One of those was a Thomas Steadman, who preferred not to give his home address but asked for all communication to be directed to his email address. Romel asked “Charles, is that ok?”

“No problem Romel” then looking at Thomas “Welcome to the 2GAY family of supporters.”

“Happy to help. I’ve not previously heard of your station but I will be listening from now on.” As he finished his sign-up and walked away with his welcome pack, Thomas ran into a long-term friend. “Hey Andy, I didn’t know you were coming today.”

“It was just a last minute decision. I wasn’t needed by Mr. P today, so I thought I might see what I can pick up here.”

“Well there’s certainly plenty on offer. Fair Day’s become an absolute smorgasbord of men.”

They strolled among the various stalls selling a large range of clothing and novelty items as well as food and drink. Many of the stalls were run by community groups ranging from, support services to sporting clubs to social groups. At one of the stalls, Thomas picked up a program of the day’s events in the park. He was interested in an event for dogs and their owners. The categories included smallest, biggest, ugliest, best dressed etc. There was also a category for dog and owner lookalikes. This gave Thomas a mischievous idea, so he left Andy chatting with a stallholder at a community social group, called Tropical Fruits. He went off on his own and returned to Andy about twenty minutes later. He had visited the face painting stall and was so transformed that Andy initially ignored him, not recognising his oldest friend. To attract Andy’s attention, Thomas made a few woof sounds and started scratching at Andy like an excited dog. “What the hell!” exclaimed Andy.

“Master, will you enter me in the dog show please?”

“In what category would you like to enter, the most embarrassing?”

“Don’t be like that, master. I’m only trying to please.”

Then Michael, the young man Andy had been chatting to said “Don’t be cruel to him, he only wants to have fun.”

“Oh Michael, this is my friend Thomas. I think the sun has gotten to him today”.

Then Thomas said “Woofed to meet you Michael. I love your T shirt”.

“We have them for sale, if you’d like one.”

“Master, please buy me an ‘I’m a Tropical Fruit - Pick Me’ T shirt”.

“Anything, if you’ll stop embarrassing me.”

“Oh but master I love you and I’m loyal and I’m house trained.”

“Michael, please give my furry friend one of your T shirts.” Andy said as he handed across the cash payment. As Michael handed over the purchase he added “Please take one of our group’s brochures and if you are ever on the north coast come and visit us. I’ve put my number on the back of the brochure; give me a call when you’re coming.”

“Thanks Michael, I may see you some time when I head north, and you Fido are you going to thank Michael?” Thomas took Michael’s hand and gave it a sloppy lick.

“OK, down boy, that’s enough. I’ll take him away before he starts humping your leg.”

“Bye Michael, it was good to meet you.” Thomas said in his normal voice.

As they walked on Andy asked “Are you going to wear that face all day?”

“Why not, it’s supposed to be a fun day.”

“It could have been more fun if you hadn’t interrupted us with your antics. You ruined a moment.”

“You mean...you two...?”

“Could have, he’s alone in the city tonight, so there were possibilities.”

“Then get your arse back there immediately and do your thing.”

“Ah it doesn’t matter now, the vibes gone.”

***

Edward, Romel, Justin and Craig all got together for lunch in the dining pavilion. They ordered their meals at the bar and got some beers to have while they waited for their food. As they sat down at their table Edward asked, “How’s your day been so far lovelies?”

“It’s been great.” replied Justin “I just met one of Craig’ old school days’ friends; Michael was it?”

“Yes, his name’s Michael, but we didn’t go to school together. He lived in Lismore where I used to holiday on my grandparents’ farm”.

Romel opened his mouth to speak, but stopped before making any sound. Justin noticed and asked “Were you going to say something Romel?”

“No, nothing, just yawning”. Craig picked up on this and began to feel uncomfortable. When he thought no one was looking at him he gave Romel a stern look and Romel responded with a nod of his head. The other three continued to drink and chat but Romel was distracted by his thoughts.

A few minutes later Justin saw a waiter approaching and hoped it was their food as he was very hungry. As the waiter reached their table he said “Kamusta pinsan Romel.”

Romel snapped out of his thoughts, turned around and said “Juanito, what are you doing here?”

“Working obviously, do you want your lunch?”

“Yes, please!” interrupted Justin. Then Edward and the waiter looked at each other in surprise. Edward quickly looked away from the waiter and towards Romel.

“A friend of yours?” asked Edward as the waiter fumbled and almost dropped the dishes as he put them on the table.

“Everyone, this is my cousin Juanito. I have not seen him since our last family gathering in Manila”. Then turning to Juanito “My mum told me you had migrated to Australia, but she did not know where you were living.”

“I’ve been in Sydney for about six months doing casual waiting, that’s how I got this gig”.

“Juanito, this is my partner Edward and this is Craig, a nursing colleague of mine and his boyfriend Justin.”

“Pleased to meet you all.” They nodded to Juanito.

“We will have to catch up soon. Here, give me your number.” Romel said as he handed his phone to his cousin.

Juanito entered his number and said “I’ll have to go now, lots of hungry people waiting for their food.”

“Sure, I’ll give you a call soon.”

As he left Edward said “You have never mentioned him before.”

“I only knew he was in Australia because my mum mentioned it, I didn’t even know he was in Sydney.”

“You must invite him home for a meal so we can all get to know him better.” Edward said with a wry smile.

“I will, but why are you so keen?”

“Always keen to meet members of your family.”

“That’s nice of you, my love.”

The foursome finished their meal and rose to leave the pavilion. Edward took his time getting up from the table so he would be last to leave. As the others waved goodbye to Juanito, Edward winked at him and Juanito smiled back. They all spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the fair together until they heard an announcement that a stage show was about to begin.

Justin said, “Let’s watch the show guys.” They all agreed and Justin added “I’ll get some drinks for us all, you guys find a spot to sit.”

Craig said, “I’ve got to piss, so I’ll meet you all back here after I visit Port-a-Loo avenue.” They all laughed then Edward & Romel found a place to sit and spread their bags around to save some space on the grass for Craig and Justin. When the other two were out of range, Edward asked “Why did you act so strangely when Justin mentioned Craig’s old friend Michael?”

“If I remember correctly, I’m sure I met this Michael in our uni days. I know him; at least I assume it’s the same Michael.”

“So you met an old school friend of Craig’s, what’s the mystery about that?”

“He was Craig’s boyfriend when we were studying nursing together. He was studying dentistry and lived in student accommodation but spent a lot of time at Craig’s, who was still living at home with his parents then.”

“Ah, so Craig has not told Justin that Michael is an ex?”

“I assume not, Justin didn’t seem to know. But there is more.”

“Go on.”

“Michael was Craig’s first when they were teenagers. Apparently it was back in the Lismore days.”

“Oh, no wonder Craig is guarded about it. But, on the other hand everybody has a first and history before their current love.”

“I know, and he will probably tell Justin sometime, but you know how straight-laced Craig can be.”

“I could drop some hints.”

“Don’t you dare, you wicked old drag queen.”

“Speaking of which, the show’s about to begin.”

“And Justin is returning with the drinks, so zip it up.”

“As tight as a mother superior’s fanny.”

“Oh yeah.”

After the show Edward said he was feeling tired and wanted to call it a day. The two couples said their goodbyes and went their own ways.

Justin said to Craig “Let’s go back and see your friend Michael, I want to get one of his T shirts, the slogan is quite clever.”

Michael had only come to Sydney for the Mardi Gras fair day to assist with running the Tropical Fruits stall. He had only planned to stay the nights before and after Fair Day. It was Justin who invited Michael to go out with them after Fair Day and also Justin who suggested that Michael should stay a few more days in Sydney and hinted that Craig should invite him to stay at his flat. Craig did and the three of them spent the next week together, although Craig was initially a bit hesitant about having an ex stay with him and his new boyfriend. Craig was working afternoon shift that week, so Justin and Michael had most evenings together and got on well. Michael was not sure what Craig had told Justin about their relationship so was very guarded about what he told Justin. When Justin found out they had attended university at the same time in the same city, he assumed they must have had contact so when he and Craig were alone he started to ask Craig about previous boyfriends, especially during his uni days.

This would not normally seem unusual because they had now been regular for nearly six months and inevitably talk of previous relationships comes up for discussion with any couple. But, because of Michael’s presence in the flat, Craig thought Justin must know or at least suspect something. He had no intention of hiding his past relationships but thought that while Michael was here it was not the right time. But since Justin was so up front about asking, Craig thought he owed it to Justin to be honest and he owed it to his relationship not to be seen to be hiding anything. He waited till all three were having lunch together one day to tell Justin, so he could gauge from Michael’s reactions how much Michael wanted told and also give him the opportunity to contribute. Once Craig started telling about his relationship with Michael, he joined in as well and all three were relaxed with the sharing. However, it was Michael who said to Justin, “Did you know he was my first?”

Justin said questioningly “No I didn’t, tell me more.”

Craig said, in a light hearted manner, trying to make a joke of it “I think you have been told enough.” Justin and Michael looked at each other and both attempted to speak at the same time.

Michael said, “Well Just....” and stopped as Justin said simultaneously

“I think.....you go first Michael”.

Then Michael said “Well Justin, I think your boyfriend is a bit shy about his first experience.”

Justin replied “Shy or not, I am pleased to meet his first, and also pleased it was such a nice person as you Michael.”

To which Craig replied “Are you two finished?” and trying to change the conversation asked “Can we order dessert now?”