Catering with Benefits (2) - Second Course - 30. Marriage Equality

p style="text-align:center;">  

In November 2017 the Australian government held a plebiscite to gauge the public opinion on same sex marriage. The result was announced on November 14 with a majority of 62% of voters in favour. Three weeks later on December 7 the Australian Parliament voted to legalise same sex marriage.

On that day many people held parties or went to their local pub to watch the parliamentary vote live on television. Justin was keen to arrange a gathering of his friends, so he invited them to drinks at the Sleaze Bar in Oxford St. It was the first time he and Craig had gotten together with their friends since his father’s trial. It had been a testing time for him, Craig and both their families, but now that it was over, he wanted life to get back to normal.

Their circle of friends had swelled since their last gathering. The old group of him, Craig, Romel, Edward, Tristan & Raj had been added to by Thomas and Andy. Being such an important occasion for the gay community, Thomas also invited Jared, whom he introduced as a friend and colleague from the Price household.

The group pulled three tables together, ordered drinks and chatted while keeping one eye on the television. When Edward and Romel arrived, Juanito was with them also. This was the first time Andy and Juanito had seen each other since their disagreement and both were a bit nervous about the meeting. Upon arrival they just nodded to each other but said nothing.

Juanito was about to start working with Craig and Justin but had not yet completed his employment paperwork. As he sat down he handed Craig an envelope and said “This has all my tax file information, passport and residency visa. Sorry to be so long getting it to you but the college was slow processing my application and I only got them back yesterday. Is there anything else you guys need?”

“No, that should be all, thanks. When our accountant processes all this, we’ll put you on the roster. Hopefully that will be next week.”

“Great guys, now that I have my approval to enrol in the college, I’m really looking forward to working with you and paying my own expenses.”

Justin then added “Juanito, you’ve come on board at just the right time, we’ve got so much work for the next three months, we’ll certainly keep you busy.”

Last to arrive were Brett and Jeremy. The former sporting a bald head and as he reached the table Justin asked “What happened to your eyebrows?”

Before Brett could answer, Jeremy apologised for being late and added “Rani delayed us getting here earlier.”

“Delayed us, is putting it politely.” replied Brett “Do you know I’ve been asking her for three days to give us the afternoon off and the Bollywood Bitch wouldn’t agree. Then yesterday I stooped to begging. Not a position I find myself in very often, but she still wouldn’t agree.”

“So how come you’re here now?” asked Justin.

“Well darlings, today I went way beyond asking, begging or pleading and moved into phase three, the nuclear option with no holds barred.”

“You didn’t resort to violence did you?”

“Me, I’m more devious than that. This morning I told her that if she didn’t let us come here today then there would be consequences.”

“So what the fuck did you do?” asked Justin who was by now feeling a bit frustrated at trying to get Brett to explain.

“Well, I went out into the main salon room and started shaving my head in front of Rani and her clients. She was appalled, but said that type of behaviour wouldn’t work on her. Then I shaved my eyebrows, but still she wouldn’t give in.” Brett paused, tried to keep a straight face but Jeremy started to laugh a little.

“So what are you two hiding?”

“I then threatened to drop the pants and shave my pubes, in public, if she didn’t give us the afternoon off.”

“And did you?”

“No, she gave in then and told us to get out of the salon immediately and not return until tomorrow. Then one of her clients said ‘Don’t give in now Rani, I want to see that’.” Rani smiled at her client, then gave us a stern look and without saying anything pointed at the door.

“I’ll bet you’re glad you didn’t have to carry out your threat.”

“You bet I am, because it would have been an idle threat.” Then Brett took Justin’s hand and pushed in onto his jocks. As Justin withdrew his hand he said “Oh, there’s nothing there to shave.” The whole table broke into laughter, except Craig.

The pub crowd was very noisy until someone shouted “Quiet everyone, they’re about to vote.” It was very obvious that the majority of parliamentarians were verbally voting in favour but to add to the drama, the speaker called for ‘division’, which means the doors of the chamber are locked and each member must walk to one side or the other of the chamber to indicate their vote. Nine abstained from voting by leaving the chamber before the doors were closed. Four voted against the motion and 137 voted in favour. Members of the gay and lesbian choir of Sydney were in the public gallery and burst into song. The rest of the public present and many members of Parliament joined in. In a scene never before witnessed in the Australian parliament all protocols were forgotten and spontaneous celebrations broke out among all sides of the house. There were hugs, kisses and tears of joy from both gay and straight members of the Parliament.

As the count was announced the crowded bar was a sea of happy faces and yells of “Yes, we did it.” As a way of indicating their joy most men and some women, in the bar removed their shirts and threw them into the air. Buffed, toned, bronzed bodies and a few sets of mammary glands remained on display for the rest of the afternoon. By then even the waiters were shirtless. A waiter named Dean came to clear glasses from the group’s table. He looked at Justin’s and Jared’s nipple jewellery and exclaimed “Wow man, you two have great stuff.” then as he recognised Justin’s jewellery he added “Hey we’ve met before man. I recognise your nipple studs and thanks for the advice you gave me last time.”

Justin recognised the waiter and remembered the conversation. It had been when he first got his dumbbell studs from Prices. “I see you have been working out, and upgraded your nipple studs. You look great.”

“Thanks, I owe it to you for encouraging me. Whenever I feel I don’t want to work out, I just think of your body and it gets me up and at it.”

“Glad I could be of help.”

Then looking at Jared and his snake clips, Dean said “I’m Dean, you have some really cool junk on your chest.”

Jared put forward his hand and said “I’m Jared, these were a gift from my....er friend.”

“Can I have a closer look man?”

“Sure”

As Dean looked closer at the clips he asked “Man how do you keep them on, you don’t seem to be pierced. Can I touch them?”

Then Jared took Dean’s hand and put one of his fingers on the small wheel that tightened the pins. “Feel that, now push it up or down, that’s how they are held in place. You can have them as tight as you like if you want to feel the pain.”

“What do you mean the pain?”

“Let me show you; remove one of your studs Dean.” Jared said as he removed one of his. Then he put it over Dean’s nipple and tightened until he felt Dean wince. “See what I mean. Now tighten it yourself until you feel the pain.”

Dean did as suggested and then exclaimed “Oh man this is great. Where did you get these?”

“My friend Andy here is the designer.”

As Dean looked across to Andy he said “Hey man haven’t we met before in that over-priced bar in the city?”

“Hello Dean, yes we have met, you asked me about nipple jewellery but I didn’t have time to discuss it with you then. Do you still work there?”

“I only get a few shifts now and then. Most of the time I work here, but the tips are way better in the city bar. If I could work there full-time I could probably afford this type of jewellery. I’ll bet it’s expensive.”

“It doesn’t come cheap, but I’ll give you my card and we can talk about it sometime.”

“Thanks man,” then looking at Justin “I not only need to thank you for your advice and encouragement but because of that I’ve worked out regularly and now convinced the boss here to let me serve topless. We were supposed to start next week, but it looks like I’ve already started today.”

“Congratulations.” added Justin.

“Yeah, hopefully the tips will be better now, if the customers like what they see.”

“It looks pretty good from where I’m sitting.” commented Andy.

“I think I’m going to like you...” Dean looked at the card “...Andre”.

“Thanks Dean, now you had better give Jared back his jewellery.”

“Oh, sorry man.” then while trying to loosen the snake Dean accidently turned the wheel the wrong way “Wow, man I see what you mean. This is a mean fucker of a clip.”

The men exchanged items and Dean added, “Better get back to work; don’t want to get fired now I have the boss on side. Bye everyone. Enjoy your afternoon.”

“Bye Dean.” they chorused.

“That must make you feel good to see that young man following your advice and encouragement.” Raj said to Justin.

“Yes, he seems to be bulking up well, if he keeps up the work he should look really great in another six months. He obviously puts a lot of work into his body.”

Andy added, “He’s a cute guy, but I haven’t seen him with his shirt off before, very impressive.”

“Sounds like he has another fan.” added Juanito “and you have already given him your number, very smooth.” Juanito accused.

“OK, I admit it, I find him attractive.” Andy snapped back.

“Let’s hope he calls you soon.” said Justin, wondering what was going down between Andy and Juanito.

“I have a feeling he will. Now are we ready for another round?”

Andy went to the bar to get more drinks but stood back from the service area until Dean was available to serve him. “Ah, Andre, what can I get you?”

Andy gave him the order and added “Dean, please call me Andy. Andre is just my professional name.”

“Sure Andy, order coming up right away”.

While Andy was getting the drinks Justin said to Juanito “That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you workout. You know we pay a higher rate for guys who can work shirtless.”

“I don’t at present, haven’t been able to pay for a gym membership. I just do push-ups and crunches.”

“Ok, if you’re keen to start, I’ll talk to my gym owner and get you a discount.”

“Thanks Justin, I am interested in toning up and building some muscle.”

When Andy took the tray of drinks he noticed just one drink coaster on the tray. There was a phone number written on the coaster. As he placed the tray on the table he took the coaster and put it in his pocket.

“What was that swift move about Andy?” asked Tristan.

“Yes guys, he gave me his number, satisfied now?”

“Just showing an interest in your welfare.”

“Thank you all for your interest. I’ll keep you apprised of developments as they occur”. Juanito watched all this but said nothing.

A little later in the afternoon Justin and Craig were whispering to each other and Craig was heard to end the conversation with, “Sure, let’s do that.” Then Justin looked at the group and announced, “Friends, today’s drinks are on us. We have had a very good year with our business and have just been awarded two new large contracts. One is for an Australia Day party for the Medical Foundation and we are really excited about our first Mardi Gras gig. So we would like to celebrate by shouting today’s drinks.”

Thomas said “May I speak on behalf of all and thank you for your offer as well as congratulate you guys on your successes this year. As one of your clients I know how hard you both work to make your business successful; to Justin and Craig!” He added as he raised his glass.

As a waiter passed by Justin stopped him, handed him his credit card and told him it was to pay for the table’s bill. When the waiter returned, he asked Justin to sign and then handing the credit card back to him said, “Thank you Mr. Haynes, enjoy your afternoon”.

Jared heard this and asked “Justin is your name Haynes?”

“Yes, why?”

“So is mine, that’s a coincidence,” then jokingly added “Maybe we’re related.”

“Probably most people with similar surnames are related somewhere back in time.”

“I guess so”.

***

That night Jared was alone in his own room at the Price’s mansion. As he waited for sleep to fold its arms around him he thought about the day’s events. In particular he was thinking of Justin and their sharing of a surname.

Jared had been raised with the surname Miller, the name of his adoptive parents. When he was about seven years old his parents told him he was adopted as a new born baby. He accepted this and did not question them about his natural parents. He grew up loved and cared for as an only child. He was not over indulged but given all that he needed and encouraged to pursue his own interests. One of those interests was Rugby. He played at school and his school also entered the state wide schoolboy rugby competitions. When he was fifteen the three best school teams in the state were sent to New Zealand to play against the top New Zealand school Rugby teams. He needed a passport to travel, which his parents arranged for him. That was the first time he had seen his birth certificate. His name on that document was Jared Robert Haynes. His parents explained to him that they did not change the name on his birth certificate because they did not wish to erase his true history and had agreed that they would leave it up to him to make that decision when he was an adult. His passport was issued in the name of Haynes but he continued to us the family name of Miller otherwise.

The same issue came up again when he was seventeen and started learning to drive. He had to produce his birth certificate again and that meant having his learner driver’s licence issued in the name of Haynes. The next major milestone in his life was registering to vote in state and federal elections. At this time, Jared discussed the matter of surnames with his parents who reiterated their advice that it was his decision as to what surname he wanted to retain. Jared decided to revert to his Haynes surname as it would make things easier when dealing with bureaucracy and official documents. His parents had no problem with this and assured Jared that it was entirely his decision and they would respect that decision.

Until now, Jared had never had any interest in finding his natural parents. He had no memory of them and he had only known his adoptive parents as Mum and Dad. He felt as loved and supported as any child who was raised by their natural parents.

As he lay in bed that night the image of Justin came to mind and he realised for the first time there was a similarity in their looks. But he quickly rationalised that it was because they were approximately the same height, both had short hair, were clean shaven and both into body building. He thought there must be hundreds if not thousands of guys around the gyms who shared these similarities. He drifted off to sleep and thought no more about it.