How the Coronavirus Jump-Started my Sex Life - 16. Chapter 16

Coming Up with a Plan

When we were settled in our usual corner table in the practically empty dining hall with our plates of spaghetti and meat balls, garlic bread, and salad, we decided it was time to discuss the looming closing of the dorm and the closing of the university for the remainder of the school year. I was the one who actually brought it up.

“I can’t figure out what I can do if I can’t go home,” I said but then added quickly, “Yet, I don’t really want to go home either.”

“I hear ya about not wanting to go home,” Alan nodded as he ripped a bite off the chunk of bread. “I feel sort of like a man without a country here.”

I could see that, given his specific circumstances. I paid some attention to sub-dividing one of my meatballs as I reflected on the situation. Frankly, it was overwhelming.

Holding his fork up like a band director’s wand, he leaned toward me and said in a low voice, “I’m not even sure I can stay in the country if the university is closed.”

“Damn,” I said, speaking softly to match his volume.

He looked deeply at me as if I had just appeared out of thin air. “I’m having a great time with you, Cal. I’m not ready for our training sessions to be over, just like that!”

He snapped his fingers.

“I’m not ready either, Alan. There’s lots more I’d like to experience with you.”

He smiled warmly at me and I couldn’t help smiling back.

“So,” he said slowly. “I think maybe we need a plan.”

Suddenly I felt more hopeful than I had since first reading that email from Housing. “What kind of plan?” I wondered.

“One that let’s us both stay in Albuquerque and continue our sessions.”

“Hmm. Yeah, that’s it.” I thought back over my conversation with my dad. “Dad would not object to me staying here. He’s even willing to help pay for an apartment, although he expects me to work this summer to pay as much as I can.”

“So, your only issue is how to pay for an apartment, right?”

“Uhm,” I stalled while I thought about it. I couldn’t think of any other problem really. “Yeah, that’s the only problem I can think of.”

Alan looked thoughtful as he swirled spaghetti around this fork. “What if you had a roommate?”

“Oh, I think Bert will have to stay at home in Los Alamos.”

Alan looked a trifle exasperated. “Bert is your former roommate. No, I was thinking of someone, well, maybe better looking? Or more well-hung.”

I got his meaning – how slow can I be? I grinned. “You mean someone who likes to stick his finger and, uhm, other appendages into me?”

He chuckled. “What do you think?”

“I think that’s a boffo idea. We could share expenses and have lots of privacy to continue our sessions.”

“It does have a few merits, huh?”

“What about your parents? Will they want you to come home?”

“I’m not positive, but I think they’ll be fine with me staying here. Then, when the university does reopen, I’ll be right here. We can only guess, but it will probably open again in the fall. Depending on what courses are offered, maybe I can take a couple of summer classes.”

“Would you need a job?”

“That would be helpful, but I am pretty sure they’ll pay if I take some classes.”

“So,” I said meekly, “you’d really consider being my roommate?”

Alan looked at me with a “DUH!” expression on his gorgeous face. “Of course. That’s only slightly different than our situation now, right? We’re together almost all the time. We eat together. We sleep together. We shower together. What would change if we were in an apartment together?”

I nodded as he spoke, becoming slightly flustered and embarrassed when he mentioned sleeping and showering together. “Nothing much would change,” I agreed.

As we finished our meal, we looked at each other, grinning a lot.

“What flavor ice cream do you want?” Alan asked.

“Strawberry.”

“Be right back.”

As he walked back to the serving area, I scoped out his ass, looking spectacular in tight tan-colored Levi’s. I could hardly believe everything might work out for me to live with him. Every day and every night together! It was certainly a fantasy come true. If it really happens.

When he returned, he handed me a strawberry ice cream cup and began to open his chocolate cup. “I’ll call home when we get back to the dorm. I haven’t told them about the closing yet anyhow. Maybe I can get a commitment from them regarding me staying here.”

“I certainly hope so!”

Figuring Things Out

I left the door open with my Pandora Cello music station wafting into the hallway as I checked email while I waited for Alan.

There were no follow-up messages from the university.

The first message I opened was from my dad.

Marvin.Christensen@ChristensenLaw.com: Good evening, Calvin. I have been thinking about our conversation this afternoon about the closing of the university and the dorms. I think this Coronavirus pandemic is hurting the elderly and our youth more than older people like your mother and me. Carrie is probably not going to get to have a junior prom. Her older friends might not even get to have graduation ceremonies. The Cullen’s daughter – is it Becky or Betty? – has already cancelled her June wedding. They have it tentatively rescheduled for late August. And you being tossed out of the dorm with 10 day’s notice is possibly illegal, but what else can they do? It’s anybody’s guess what will happen to the US economy with the high losses companies and individuals are experiencing right now. I don’t know how this will impact our business at the firm, so I need to be a little careful financially until we see how things will play out. That said, I am not going to abandon you or put you out on the street. We have family reserves and will draw on them as needed to take care of everyone. So, son, the best situation would be if you can make it through the summer with a summer job and the reimbursement from the Residence Halls, which should be about $1500, I think. I can help you, if necessary, up to $1000 per month through the summer. Hopefully, by August, all this will be behind us and you can get back to normal living and normal expenses. If you can make it on a smaller amount from me, I would appreciate it as that will make it easier for us to be sure the family stays intact and we have the funds needed for you to finish school and for Carrie and then Cole to go, too. When you are looking for housing, please be thrifty but get a decent place where you are safe. And please try to get a job to help out. I understand restaurants are looking at hiring people to deliver food orders. Maybe you can find some good work options. We all miss you. Love, Dad

Okay! So, Dad is going to stand by me. So I will have a little income from Dad if I can’t manage on my own. If I split expenses with Alan, I think we’ll be able to survive. I don’t think a delivery job makes sense without owning a car. Maybe I can do landscape or something.

LCCal1277@gmail.com: Hi, Dad. Thank you for your message. It makes me feel a lot better. It’s very stressful trying to figure out what to do under these strange circumstances. Tonight at dinner, I was talking with Alan – that’s my new friend who is stuck here from Canada = and we are considering sharing an apartment in order to save money. He’s not sure if he can go back to Canada and then return when he needs to. He’s talking with his parents to see what they think and to figure out his finances. I am so lucky to have you for a father. Thank you for understanding and for being willing to help me financially, especially if I can’t find good work. I will really try to get enough work so that I can pay all my bills without your help, but it really takes a burden off to know you’ll be there if I need you. I’ll let you know how things develop. I am sorry about Carrie’s prom and the other kids’ graduation. I know a lot of those guys and girls who should be graduating this year. Wow. That’s terrible not to graduate. Thanks again, Dad. I’ll let you know about my housing and the expenses. Give Mom a kiss for me. Cal

Next up was an email from Bert.

BandelierBert@yahoo.com: Remember my cousin Elaine? You met her when you visited during the Christmas holidays. Well, she is a senior at Santa Fe High and they were just informed that their school will be closed until next fall, there will be no prom, and graduation is cancelled! She just won’t stop crying. She keeps shouting, “It’s not fair!” My dad says she’s right, it’s not fair. But it is life and she’ll have to deal with it. It’s weird. Los Alamos is such a remote place it seems like Corona had missed us for a while, but there are finally a couple of people in the hospital with it. Nobody I know. I’m still worried about you. And I miss you, my friend. I have no idea when we’ll see each other again. I really liked being your roommate!

I got a lump in my throat. Bert had been an outstanding roommate, for sure. We had not known each other until the day I arrived to find him laying on his bed reading a comic book. We became instant friends and really helped me not be particularly lonely at the beginning of the school year.

LCCal1277@gmail.com: Elaine is the one with red hair and freckles, right? She’s cute. I’m sorry all this is happening to her. My sister Carrie thinks her junior prom will get cancelled and she is hysterical about it. It would be a lot easier to deal with this Coronavirus if you were here, too. As roommates go, you are the very best, Bert. I look forward to seeing you on Zoom Thursday!

Just as I hit send, I heard Alan’s footsteps approaching in the hall.

As he got nearer, I could hear him humming along to Hauser’s version of “Someone to Watch Over You.”

He swept into the room dressed as he was at dinner but wearing a jacket. “Let’s take a walk while I tell you about my conversation with my folks.”

“Sure.” I slipped on a Lobos sweatshirt and we went out.

We went downstairs and out into the cool of the evening. It was late twilight and all the path lighting was on. We could still see the maroons and oranges of the setting sun, but it was clear it would soon be night. As we walked slowly across the eerily empty campus, Alan shared his conversation with his parents.

“They weren’t surprised to hear the university is closing. The U of Alberta is closing, too, so Dad is scrambling to remodel his classes to be taught online. He’s clueless about figuring out physics labs students can do at home.”

I nodded. “I would think lab classes are the hardest to change. I’m expecting to be told to go buy a canary to dissect in the kitchen.”

“Eww! At least with physics it will just be stuff – no feathers and no blood!”

We had a good laugh as we walked down the deserted Central Mall and approached the Student Union Building.

“Mom’s hospital, while not Edmonton’s largest, still has a couple of hundred beds. She says they’ve had a couple of patients die from COVID and have about a dozen in a newly-designated wing. They cleared out regular patients, moved in ventilators and other stuff, and are restricting access as much as possible. She’s working 12-hour days 6 days a week right now.”

“Wow. She’s a manager, right?”

He nodded. “Yep. She is the top manager.”

“I hadn’t thought much about what might happen in hospitals.”

“She says they think it will get a lot worse before it begins to improve.”

“So, this quarantine thing will last all summer?”

“That's what she thinks. Maybe even longer.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. Anyhow, Mom and Dad agree I should just stay here where I have some availability to the university and can be ready when it reopens. They aren’t sure I could return if I go across the border. Not now, anyhow.”

“So, you can get an apartment here?”

“Yes. There isn’t much of a viable alternative.”

We had gotten to the front of Popejoy Hall, the main civic auditorium on campus. Out front were some benches.

“Shall we sit for a minute?” he asked.

I nodded and moved to a bench where I sat down. He sat beside me with our thighs almost, but not quite, touching.

“They were glad I have someone to share the apartment with and, like your dad, hope I can find work. Mom sort of wants me to hibernate to stay well, but Dad is thinking a little more about the costs. They assured me they would help out as much as I need.”

I laughed aloud in relief.

He smiled at me. “I think we have the beginnings of a plan.”

“Awesome!”

“Should we go apartment-hunting tomorrow?”

I thought about it. I was really looking forward to going to Bosque del Apache.

“Maybe we need to see what’s available,” he continued.

“You’re right,” I said. “We can take our trip later as a way to celebrate our new apartment.”

“Excellent!” He surprised me with a kiss on the cheek right there in front of God and … nobody.