Holiday in Green Hollow - 7. In the Dark

In the Dark

By six thirty the customers had sopped coming. It was dark, cold, and snowing outside. Tom had just finished some bookkeeping. Sam was standing in front of one of the store's giant display windows watching the snow cover everything. He was replaying the events of the last few days in his mind. He kept thinking about Mark and Tom. Even if it did not last between them there was no way Sam could take the place of someone that big and muscular. He considered starting an exercise routine and wondered how much good it would do.

He was startled by a voice from behind him. "Wanna close down early and get something to eat?"

"What?"

"I thought we could close the shop early. I don't think anyone is going to come and I'm starving."

"Yeah sure. That's fine with me."

"Great! Let's get out of here," said Tom leading the way to the door.

In a minute they had locked up the shop and were in Tom's car.

"Man, It's cold!" complained Sam rubbing his hands together.

"It'll warm up in a minute," Tom assured him as he started the car, "Do you like Italian food?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because we have this great little restaurant."

Sam watched as they passed the coffee shop and then the hotel. The car was getting warm as they drove down an unfamiliar street. A few minutes later they pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant. From the outside it looked run down. Only the light from inside gave away that it was open. Sam gave Tom a questioning look. Tom just smiled as they approached the door.

Inside the restaurant was another world. It was warm and inviting. The dining room was furnished with small tables covered with red and white checkered tablecloths. Candles glowed cheerfully in the middle of each table. The happy conversations of many diners mixed with the obligatory Italian music. Tom was immediately recognized by the staff and he and Sam were seated.

After they had ordered their food Tom asked Sam what was bothering him.

"At the moment, hunger," answered Sam with a smile.

"I don't mean that. You seemed miserable all day."

Seeing no way around it Sam decided to be honest. "Itr17;s someone I like. This person likes someone else."

"I know what you mean," answered Tom sympathetically, "I like this guy and I think he's straight."

For a moment they both took some comfort in the knowledge that neither was alone in his misery. Then Sam was confused. He had been sure that Tom and Mark were a couple. "So you're not sure if he likes you?"

"He's really nice to me. I'm sure we could be friends. I'm just not sure if it could be anything more. I don't think he likes guys," explained Tom nervously playing with his napkin.

"Have you thought about dating someone else?" asked Sam trying not to get his hopes up.

"I don't think I could. I mean, I could go out with someone else I don't think I would enjoy it. I just keep thinking about him. I sound like a complete drama queen, don't I?"

"No. I hope not. That's exactly what I'm going through."

They exchanged smiles as the waiter arrived with their dishes and a bottle of wine. The food was exceptionally good. They enjoyed it in silence for a few minutes before returning to the topic at hand.

"It's weird what liking someone can do to you," mused Sam, "Last night Fred and I were having more or less the same conversation."

"Do you and Fred like the same girl?" asked Tom wondering if they both liked his sister.

"No, we like different people but Fred thought that Mark and Sally were a couple."

Tom nearly choked as he started laughing, "Mark and Sally!"

"I know. Fred has some strange ideas," Sam agreed wishing he could see as much humor in the situation, "Anyway, after a few beers he made a little stick figure out of marshmallows and twigs. He named it Mark and we roasted him."

Tom could not stop laughing. When he finally caught his breath he said, "I'll have to tell Sally what her knight in shining business suit did."

"Yeah I'm sure she'll love that."

There was a moment of silence. Then Tom got a mischievous smile on his face. "Did you roast your girl's man over the fire too?"

"No, one stick man was enough for me. He kind of represented both our problems."

"I think you should roast your own marshmallow man," said Tom laughing.

"Yeah, that would be really mature of me," said Sam admiring the beautiful contours of Tom's face.

"Who cares? It's funny. I think I'm going to roast some marshmallow people tonight. I have marshmallows at home and a nice big fireplace. You want to join we?"

"Why not?" answered Sam. He would have agreed to almost anything looking into Tom's large dark eyes.

After desert and coffee they were back in the car. Sam watched Tom as the town went by. Outside the buildings slowly became scarcer and the road got steeper. Sam looked out the window and was suddenly reminded of a scene from Dracula. He thought of the unfortunate Mr. Harker who happily traveled towards the castle oblivious to the danger. Sam wondered if going to Tom's house was a good idea. Maybe Tom was not aware of it but Sam was sure that Mark liked Tom. Sam's morbid imagination painted pictures in his mind of his own death at the hands of the body builder. The vision was scary but it also angered him. Suddenly he wanted to roast those marshmallows.