Another Ordinary Guy - 13. Chapter 13

Five years flew by faster than anyone realized. Maria and Patricia were both married to two brothers. The brothers were both pediatricians, and practiced together in Philadelphia. They even lived side by side. The girls had met the doctors, when they vacationed one summer in their uncle’s home, down the shore.

Joey and Bill had passed the bar and started out working for separate prestigious law firms. After a time, they struck out on their own, and became partners in business. They started their own law firm, specializing in entertainment law. They also took on cases concerning discriminatory practices against the LGBT community. These cases were always taken on a pro bono basis.

Bill and Teddy had been living together since their first night together. Their apartment was quite close to Joey and Ricky’s.

Sven and Brett were now working for Smith and Lindquist. After seven years, Bowers and Franklin had been paid off, and there were no more restrictions, so John and Arn changed the name of the firm. Their sons had finally moved out of their fathers’ condo, and bought one of their own in the same building as Bill and Teddy.

Ricky’s parents were empty nesters, and decided to move to Florida. Ricky bought them a beautiful condo in a high rise on the ocean in Boca Raton. At first the Albertos objected, but Ricky pointed out that they could be in Newark or Philadelphia in four hours, flying out of either West Palm Beach or Ft. Lauderdale. Putting it that way, they didn’t feel so isolated, and ultimately they consented. Once they began to make friends in Boca, they never regretted their move at all. Their kids were too busy to see them much anyway. This way they flew ‘home’ for every occasion and saw their family more than if they had stayed in Red Bank. Whenever they flew up north, they stayed with one of their kids, including Ricky. They were there for the birth of every grandchild.

The four couples, Ricky and Joey, Larry and Red, Sven and Brett, and Teddy and Bill were inseparable friends. To the extent possible, they had brunch together every Sunday morning. Occasionally John and Arn joined them, but they were of an older generation, and had their own group of cronies. The friends didn’t see much of each other during the week. They all worked hard, and like old married couples, they preferred to stay home during the week. Ricky, especially, was intent on avoiding the paparazzi, and he rarely went out at night, except to go to the theater, the opera or the ballet. For whatever prejudiced reasons they might have had, the paparazzi were rarely seen at Lincoln Center. They must have figured that rock stars would not be attending anything there.

******

Larry continued to badger Ricky to do more and more concert tours, but he resisted. He decided that his maximum would be every three years for six months. Larry had no choice but to condescend. Secretly, he loved it when Ricky was home. He and Red were both still in love with him, and they were content just to be counted among his friends.

******

‘Another Kind of Love’ was finally winding down its long run on Broadway, although there were productions playing all over the world. This prompted Ricky to think about writing another musical. This time he vowed that it would be a main stream musical. He wanted to show the world that he could do it. He thought he would write an original book, but whatever plot he came up with, struck him as being derivative.

He decided that if he was going to be derivative, why not look to his hero and musical inspiration, Giacamo Puccini. Madame Butterfly had been turned into Miss Saigon and La Boheme had been turned into Rent. Elton John turned Aida into a Broadway version, and still called it Aida. All three shows were huge and long lasting hit musicals. He believed that Tosca would be perfect for adaptation. He would lay the plot in his grandparents’ native Cuba, instead of Rome under a dictatorship. He could convey the opera’s anti-tyranny theme, and still compose beautiful music and lyrics. Weber had accomplished that task with Evita. He would ask Red to help him with the book, once again. Instead of an opera singer, Tosca (Tessa) would be a famous pop singer, and Mario (Marcus) would remain an artist. The more he thought about it, the more excited he got. The music was already filling his head.

The first call he made was to Red. “I want you to help me with the book and direct again,” he pleaded. “You would also make a great Scarpia. I haven’t thought of a new name for him yet, but I want it to sound like Castro, maybe Calvo, or is that too close?” Ricky thought he would get negative vibes from Red, but Red gave him an immediate yes.

“It sounds like a really exciting project,” Red said. Ricky could actually feel Red turning on his brain at the other end of the telephone.

His second call was to Gary Cutler to see if he would have an interest in producing Tessa’s Kiss (working title).

“I love it,” he yelled. “When will you have something for me to listen to?”

“Not for several weeks, Gary, but I swear, I can hear the music in my head already.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

Ricky’s grandparents were dead, and his parents had left Cuba as little babies. When he was very little, he remembered listening to his grandfather telling his mother happy stories about his childhood, and how everything changed when Castro took power. He decided to fly down to Boca, and quiz his parents for as much detail as they could remember of his grandfather’s stories. He wanted his script to contain as much authentic Cuban flavor as was possible. It was to be a short weekend trip, and Joey cleared his calendar so that he could go down with Ricky.

******

Papa picked them up at the airport. Ricky was afraid that he would be recognized in a car rental establishment. The Cuban community was extensive in South Florida, and Ricky was something of an icon amongst them.

“I have some good news for you,” Papa said. “One of your grandpa’s childhood friends is still alive, and he lives in Miramar. That’s south of Miami. We have been in touch with him, and he wants so much to meet you. We are going to drive down tomorrow morning. How much Spanish do you remember, Enrique?”

“Enough to pick his brains. Besides, Papa, you’ll be there to help me out if I get stuck.”

“Would you guys mind if I spent the day at the pool in your condo, Papa? I don’t speak a word of Spanish, and I’m not needed anyway.

“Sure,” they answered in unison. “Mama wants to go also, so you’ll be alone.

That’s OK. Don’t worry about me.”

So while Ricky and his parents were making copious notes in Miramar, Joey packed a towel, sun screen and his kindle into a small bag and found a comfortable lounge chair at the pool. His bikini bathing suit was about as skimpy as discretion would allow. As he was applying his sun screen, he heard a voice behind him saying, “You should have gone to Haulover Beach.”

Joey turned to see who was addressing him. There stood one of the most handsome men Joey had ever laid eyes on. He looked like a movie star, and Joey strained to remember who. He was at least as tall as Joey. His hair was silver grey and his eyes were blue-grey. Joey figured the man was in his early fifties, but he had a magnificent toned, tanned body. Joey could feel a tingling in his crotch.

Where’s Haulover Beach?” he asked, “and why should I have gone there?”

“It’s down in Ft. Lauderdale, and it’s a clothing optional beach, eh.”

“Too bad I’m only down for the weekend, but I’ll keep it in mind for next time. Thanks for the information. Do you live here or are you visiting also?”

“I’m a visitor too, from Toronto. Joe Carlton’s the name.” The man stuck out his hand to shake Joey’s.

“That’s pretty weird,” Joey said. “My name’s Joe Carson from New York. We practically have the same name.”

Joe sat down on the lounge chair next to Joey’s. “I’m visiting my mother, and I’m here alone,” he said. “Do you have any plans for this evening? She’ll be in bed by eight, and I hear that the night life here is fabulous, eh.”

Joey was flattered. He was being hit on, but why did this guy think he was gay. He didn’t think Joe was gay, and he decided to be careful. Maybe Joe just wanted to hit some straight bars with him, and Joe thought he would be bait to attract younger women. He had to find out what Joe had in mind.

“I’d like that a lot, but I’m here with a friend visiting his parents. He and they have gone down to Miramar for the day, but we have plans for dinner tonight.”

“In that case, how about having lunch with me?”

Joe’s voice was very seductive, and Joey was getting aroused. He was angry at himself. Nevertheless he said, “I’d like that a lot.”

Joe settled himself comfortably on the lounge. “I’m a lawyer,” he said. “What do you do, eh?”

Joey started to laugh. “So am I. Our names are practically the same and our professions are exactly the same. This is too much coincidence.”

“I wonder what else we have in common,” Joe asked. Joey was dying to find out, but was afraid to ask.

“I have to come to New York on business for a few days every couple of months. Maybe we could get together for dinner sometime, eh?”

That did it. Joey had to come out with it. “That would be lovely, but we wouldn’t be alone. I have a partner.”

“I was pretty sure you were gay,” Joe said, “and that’s perfectly fine. Nobody enjoys a threesome more than I do.” In fact, why don’t we go to your partner’s parents’ apartment, since they won’t be home all day, and preview each other?”

Joey was mad at himself for not even hesitating, but he knew that Ricky was too inhibited to have sex in the bedroom adjacent to his parents, and Joey’s hormones were raging. He jumped out of the lounge chair, looked down at Joe, who was still in his lounge chair, and asked, “What’s taking you so long?”

It was not five minutes later that they were in the Albertos’ guest room facing each other naked. They had been practically naked at the pool, and they had carefully checked each other out, so they were only interested in their cocks. More things they had in common! They were both uncut and were about the same size and girth. Both were fully erect, and Joe actually had beads of precum on his slit. He was nearly thirty years older than Joey, and Joey had to admire that he was pre-cumming more than he was. In fact, Joey could not resist those little beads. He fell to his knees and licked them off Joe’s slit.

“Nice,” Joe purred.

“I’ll show you nice,” Joey said. He took Joe’s cock fully into his throat. Joe’s knees grew week, and so they took the action to bed. Joey explained that he and his partner did not use condoms, so he apologized in advance that their encounter would be restricted to fellatio.

“That works for me,” Joe said. Joey continued to suck his cock, until he felt Joe’s balls start to constrict.

“Let’s go back and forth as long as we can,” Joey said.

“OK!”

Joey’s youth was his undoing. On the third round, he couldn’t hold back. Joe swallowed every drop. When he recovered, Joey finished Joe off. Afterwards they showered and put their skimpy bathing suits back on.

“Shall we go back to the pool? We can have lunch at the snack bar.”

“ I feel cheated,” Joe said.

“How’s that?”

“You didn’t kiss me at all.”

Both men smiled and embraced, engaging in a passionate kiss before returning to the pool.

“I can’t wait to meet your partner,” Joe said.

“After I tell him about this, I hope he wants to meet you for a threesome, and not to murder you.”

Joe’s face clouded over. He didn’t realize that Joey was kidding.

“I’ll write down my telephone number, and you can call me after dinner if your partner wants to meet me, and hit a few night spots. I have the names of several gay bars, and I also have a rental car so I can drive. Give me a pencil and a piece of paper.”

When the Albertos returned home, Ricky was beaming. “Mission accomplished,” he yelled. He gave Joey a wet, slobbery kiss and placed his notes carefully in his suitcase.

“Let’s shower and get ready for dinner,” he said to Mama and Papa.

“You two go out,” Mama said. “To tell the truth, the long drive wore us out. Papa and I are very tired and would rather stay home.”

Ricky and Joey knew just how they felt. More often than not they also opted to stay home after a long, hard day.

“OK,” Ricky said and he started toward the guest room. Joey followed him, and closed the door behind him.

“Ricky,” he said, “I got cruised at the pool this morning by an Adonis. He’s a lawyer from Toronto, and I had sex with him. He wants desperately to meet you, and hopefully do a three way. Unfortunately, his mother is home and so are your parents. I don’t think we can do anything this trip, but he comes to New York on business often. He wants to visit some gay night spots tonight. He said he would drive. If you aren’t mad at me, I have his telephone number and I can call him.”

Ricky grabbed Joey in a bear hug and kissed him hard. “That’s how mad I am. Did you use protection?”

“I didn’t have any, so we only did oral.”

“OK. Give him a call while I shower, and set everything up.”

Joey dialed Joe’s number. He answered immediately. “We’re on,” Joey said. Ricky wants to meet you.”

“Geez, Joey, I can’t make it. I just got a call from Toronto. The weather there has been treacherous. My wife was in a pile up accident, and she’s in the hospital. I’m just heading out to the airport. Please give me your telephone number, and I’ll call when I get to New York next time, eh.”

“I’m in the book,” Joey said, and he hung up abruptly. Somehow when he had sex with Joe, he didn’t think that he was cheating. First off, he and Ricky gave each other permission, and second of all, he intended to share Joe with Ricky. But Joe was cheating on his spouse. Joey doubted that she gave him permission, and even if she did, he was cheating with men. That was the worst kind of deception. It was what Randy intended to do with Maria. He doubted that he would want to see Joe again, if he ever did call.

Then a disquieting thought occurred to him. If he and Joey got legally married, would they have to rescind the permission to play with others? He hoped not.

When Joey told Ricky about his call to Joe, and how he felt, Ricky said, “Don’t be so quick to judge. I meet a lot of guys like him on the road. They got married, not being sure of their sexual orientation, and also being very ashamed of possibly being gay. Marriage doesn’t end a guy’s urges, no matter how active his sex life might be with his wife. It’s a need these guys can’t fight. When you had sex with him, it was a blessing for both of you. If he calls us when he’s in New York, let’s see him.”

"But he’s acting like Randy with Maria.”

“I know, but I admit to a double standard on my part. Maria is my sister. His wife is not. I don’t even know her.