Another Ordinary Guy - 14. Chapter 14

As it turned out, Joey did not hear from Joe Carlton, and in time he was forgotten. It was just as well. Joey’s career was in high gear, and Ricky was working all day composing. In the evening Red and Ricky worked on the book and lyrics. Even though they both felt that they were too tired for sex, they never disappointed their partners when they got home.

Finally they were far enough along that Ricky called in Sal Mercuri to start working on the orchestration. After reviewing the score, Sal declared, “This is one of the most beautiful scores I have ever heard.”

Ten months after Ricky’s visit to Florida to obtain background data for his play, Red, the director, scheduled an open call for auditions. Ricky, of course, was going to be Marcus, and Red was going to play Calvo. The rest of the cast was up for grabs. Tessa was a challenge. The role had to be played by a talented actress, a great pop singer, and she had to look like a rock star. Costuming would be yet another challenge.

The first day of rehearsals fell exactly one year to the day after Ricky and Joey returned from Florida. When Joey got home from work that day there was a message from Ricky telling him that he would be late, and that he and Red would grab a bite at the theater. He ended the message by asking Joey to please wait up for him, and he made a smacking noise, indicating a kiss.

Joey stripped to his boxers and set about defrosting a TV dinner in the kitchen. While the dinner was defrosting, the phone rang. The Caller ID just said ‘wireless caller.’

“Hello,” Joey said.

“Is this Joey Carson?”

“Yes, it is. Who’s this?”

“Joey, this is Joe Carlton. Do you remember me?”

Joey’s heart skipped a beat. Ricky had begged him to be forgiving and understanding, but Joey had put Joe in the same category as Randy Lopez.

“Yes, I remember you,” Joey said, rather coldly. “I’m pretty shocked to hear from you. It’s been a very long time. I thought you came to New York on business every couple of months.”

“Things are a lot different now. I really need someone to talk to. Do you think you could make time for me in the next day or so? Joey, I really need a friend.” Joe was practically pleading and Joey’s heart began to melt.

“Of course, I can make time for you, but I can tell that something’s wrong. What’s going on?”

“Joey, my wife didn’t survive the accident. She was dead when they called me, but they didn’t want to tell me until I got home. My house became a haunted castle to me. Everywhere I looked I saw her. I swear I even heard her. There were two things I knew for sure, eh. One, I had to get out of that house, so I put it on the market and sold it. I also sold everything in the house that reminded me of her.

“Two, I wanted to take my new found freedom and not go back to the life I lived. I wanted to live a gay life. Don’t misunderstand, Joey, I loved Sharon, but now is my chance to be me, eh. You have no idea how tortured I have been. I knew I could never live a gay life where I had friends and a lot of family, so I asked for a transfer to our New York office. I felt I could start a new life there.”

Joey remembered that Ricky had told him that he needed to start a new life, when he begged him not to move to the big city. His heart was now melting big time.

“I was hoping that with your knowledge of the city, you could steer me toward appropriate housing, and maybe introduce me around.”

“Of course, Joe, of course, of course,” Joey kept repeating. “Where are you staying?”

“I’m in a cheap hotel on fifty-second street, but it’s clean.”

“I’m at thirty-first and second. You have my address. I just popped a TV dinner in the micro. I’ll put another in. Come over and we’ll talk. My partner is working late, but I told him about our little poolside party, and he really wants to meet you. Hop a cab. OK?”

Joey hung up and the phone rang again. It was Ricky. “Hi honey,” they both said simultaneously.

“When will you be home?” Joey asked.

“That’s why I’m calling. Figure an hour and a half.”

“Good, don’t dawdle. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“What?”

“Never mind. If I tell you it won’t be a surprise.”

“Just a little hint,” Ricky pleaded.

“We have company. You’ll have to put up with two lawyers, and before you ask, you don’t know him.”

“Is he going to share our bed tonight,” Ricky asked eagerly. Joey hung up on him.

When Joe arrived, he grabbed Joey in a bear hug. He kissed him lightly, but basically he just hugged hard, and hung on to Joey as if he was a long lost friend, and in a way, he was.

“It must be tough to leave everyone, and everything you knew behind you,” Joey said as they were cleaning up the dinner plates.

“The only one I care about is my son, eh. He’s married and living in Vancouver, so we don’t have much of a relationship anyway. We phone each other about once a month. He has no kids, and he and his wife don’t want any, so neither of us makes an effort to visit. My mom’s very old and she’s in Boca half the year, so it will be easier for me to see her now. I don’t feel the need to come out to either of them. As for my friends in Toronto, I don’t care if they find out or not, eh.”

“What about at work?”

Joe smiled. “The managing partner in the New York Office is gay. We had a long talk yesterday, and I told him about me. He has a partner, so I don’t think he’ll come on to me, eh.”

“Don’t assume,” Joey said tapping his forehead. “By the way, my business partner and I are part of a group of about eight New York attorneys who are gay. It’s an informal group and we have lunch together every Wednesday. It would be fine for you to join us. Usually one or two of us can’t make the luncheon on any given Wednesday.”

Joe’s mouth dropped open.

“What?” Joey asked.

“When I came out to my boss, he told me about such a group, and asked me to join them for lunch when I was available. With all the coincidences we have experienced, could it be?”

“What’s your boss’s name?”

“David Solomon.”

“Geez, yes. He’s a friend, and one of our lunch bunch. This gets weirder and weirder. Age wise he’s about halfway between us. I’ve met his partner, who teaches economics at CCNY. He’s a really great guy.”

Just then, Joey heard Ricky’s key in the door. He ran to greet him. Joe grew jealous of their passionate kisses.

“Come meet, Joe Carlton,” Joey said. “This is my partner, Ricky.” Ricky and Joe shook hands.

“Your face is not familiar,” Ricky said, “but your name rings a bell.” Joey was surprised that Joe didn’t recognize Ricky. At least he didn’t indicate that he did.

Ricky, Joe is the guy I had sex with in your parents’ apartment about a year ago.” Joe could not get over with what ease, Joey explained their relationship.

“Of course,” Ricky said, and he embraced Joe, much to Joe’s surprise.

“Did you and Red eat?” Joey asked.

“Yeah, we had a sandwich before rehearsal ended.”

“Rehearsal?” Joe asked. “Are you an actor?”

Joey broke out laughing. “Actor, singer, song writer, recording artist. Good God, Joe, don’t tell me you don’t recognize Ricky Albert.”

Joe looked stunned. “You, you, you’re Ricky Albert? THE Ricky Albert?”

“The very same.”

“He’s your partner, Joey?”

"The very same.”

“I’m going to make coffee gents, and I have apple pie to go with it, and then we’ll talk. We have a lot to talk about,” Joey said.

Over coffee and pie, Joe repeated his story of how his life had fallen apart this past year. Ricky took Joe’s hands in his and held them the whole time Joe was talking.

“But it’s over now,” Joe said. “I’m going to be a phoenix and rise from the ashes. I called Joey, Ricky, to ask him to help me transition to my new life in New York, eh.”

Ricky thought back to how Red had helped him transition. He looked at Joey, and they nodded at each other.

“How would you like to spend the night in our bed?” Ricky asked.

“No kidding? I’d love it. I’ve been waiting for a year.”

“Do you think all three of us can squeeze into the shower at the same time?” Ricky asked Joey.

“None of us have any extra fat. Let’s try.”

And they made it. The only things that got in their way were their very hard cocks. Ricky positioned Joe between him and Joey and very artfully Joey fucked Joe, and Joe fucked Ricky. They all refrained from cumming and changed positions twice so that everybody had a turn in the middle.

They dried off and climbed into the king sized bed in the master bedroom. Joey positioned himself against enough pillows that he was almost in a sitting position. Ricky straddled him, and Joey began to suck his cock. At the same time, Joe sucked Joey’s cock and rimmed him. Again they delayed their orgasms and switched positions several times.

Of course, the ‘youngsters’ could not delay forever, and finally Joey and Ricky came in quick succession. As a result the ‘oldster’ let himself go. Fortunately they were all swallowers and there was very little mess. After every one came, they licked up all the excess cum anyway. After two hours of play they fell asleep with Joe Carlton in the middle.

The next Wednesday, Joe had lunch with the group of gay lawyers. He was warmly welcomed. His boss quipped that if this keeps up they would have to start reserving two tables. Joey took some time off and helped Joe find a lovely apartment a few blocks from him and Ricky. In a month, it was like Joe had lived in New York forever. He didn’t even mind being kidded about his Canadian accent, eh?

Ricky rarely came home from the theater before 11 PM, so Joey, Bill and Teddy took Joe around to some of the gay night spots. After orienting him, they told him he was on his own. Joe wanted to find a partner, but not right away. He was enjoying his new life, and he wanted to have as much sex with as many men as his older body would take. Sometimes fate has different plans no matter how well laid out those plans may be.

One morning, Joe’s secretary, June, asked him if he would please see one of Mr. Solomon’s clients. “David is in court,” she explained, “and Mr. Burrows needs to see a lawyer right away. He says he won’t take up much time.”

“Of course. Bring him right in.”

Timothy Burrows turned out to be a man of about fifty. He was strikingly handsome. He was six feet, 2 inches tall. His hair was pure silver, and his eyes pure brown. His nose was straight and short. His porcelain veneer teeth almost blinded Joe when he smiled.

The two men shook hands and Joe asked David’s client to be seated. “How can I help you?” Joe wanted to know.

“I should really wait for David,” Tim said, “but I’m at wit’s end, and I’m not sure what to do next.”

“Go on.”

“I’ve been in a relationship for about ten years. It’s my first one, I might add, and it may well be my last.

I woke up this morning to find my partner dressed and ready to go. Three large suitcases were sitting near the front door. Grant told me that he was leaving me, that I was cramping his style. He wants to party and play with lots of men, and he accused me of being a stodgy old man. You see Grant is twenty years younger than I. He demanded fifty thousand in palimony, and $1000.00 a week. If I give him what he wants, he said that he would leave quietly and not make any ruckus. I was too stunned to say anything. I quietly asked him to leave and to call me tomorrow, when I had my head back on straight.”

“What kind of trouble can he get you into? What do you do for a living?”

“I import and export merchandise, basically to and from China. I swear Mr. Carlton, I run a legitimate business. I have never done anything shady in my life except to stay in the closet too long.” Tim’s voice was pleading.

“Please Mr. Burrows, call me Joe, eh.”

“Joe, you do believe me, don’t you? And please call me Tim. But let me continue, there’s more. Grant knew my user name and password for my on-line banking. He not only cleaned out our joint account, but my private checking account, and a money market account, as well. All told, he got about $72,000.00”

“Would you like to press charges?”

“I don’t know. What should I do? This comes as a major surprise to me.”

“There isn’t much you can do about the joint account, but your private accounts amount to grand theft. Please be honest with me. Does he have any ammunition for blackmail.”

“I swear, Joe. I’m clean as a whistle. I’ve never even jay-walked, and in New York that’s almost impossible.”

“Then let’s go down to the police station and swear out a warrant for his arrest. It sounds to me like the palimony stuff was pure bluffing. He was hoping you’d cave in to his demands, eh.”

“Thanks, Joe. I feel better already.” By the time they left the police station, it was noon, and Joe treated Tim to lunch.

Early the next morning Grant called Tim and demanded to receive his $50,000. Tim told him to come by at about 11 AM. When Grant arrived, the police were waiting for him, and he was arrested. As he was being cuffed, he began to yell obscenities to the police, but most of it was directed at Tim. After ten years of a good relationship, Tim didn’t know what to make of it.

Nobody was able to find out what happened to the stolen money. Grant received the maximum sentence allowed by law, and for all his years in prison, the money was never recovered.

Tim was so distraught that Joe began to look after him. That situation lasted until care giving became love, and Tim and Joe became a couple.