"Listen, I'm really glad you're out of the closet with the Mama's and the Papa's but she called me at work today."
I fell silent, listening to the phone receiver-- waiting for him to continue.
"I assume she didn't get the number from information because she got it from you and you have to know, this is unacceptable Eric. If you're trying to sabotage me at my new job, you're doing a wonderful job because she wouldn't get off the phone."
I knew I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help but smile.
"She went on and on like a marriage counselor, Eric. I can't believe you gave her my number at work! Please call her and tell her she can't call me here ever again. Okay?"
Andrew sounded exactly like her and I thought, 'I married my mother...'
"What were you thinkin', Eric? You know how busy the first few weeks are at a new job-- jeez, look at the space I gave you when you started at the clinic... all I'm asking for is you do the same."
I certainly did know how busy he'd been lately at his new job -- so busy I had been getting only about ten minutes a day with him: first thing in the morning as we were getting ready for our days and last thing at night as we crawled into bed. As far as sex went, to put it mildly, it was pretty infrequent.
"I'm giving you space, Drew. I haven't said a word about how little I see you anymore."
"Anymore? Anymore?" he asked. "Eric, you make it sound like I've been doing this for months and it's never gonna end. This is just the first part of ANY new job. You know that. You know it's about organization and for your information, I've already gone to John Daniel and asked for this period to go as swiftly as possible because I knew- "
"John Daniel?" I interrupted. "You said John Daniel? What's his last name, Drew?"
"Clein," Drew said.
It was him. It was... John Daniel. My first boyfriend... it had to be the same one. What a small world.
I was at the bar downtown with Mark Fitzgerald. Nothing dangerous, nothing harmful -- just a casual drink after work.
"John Daniel Clein was the first, Mark. And here he is, Andrew's new boss. Wow, when Drew said his name I got the weirdest feeling. Like, I don't know, like unfinished business all of a sudden hit me."
"Must have been like when I bumped into Andrew after all those years at his yard sale a few months ago," Mark said. "Unfinished business always comes back to bite you in the ass, Eric. Speaking of which, how are you and how's your ass?"
"Don't be crude, Mark. It doesn't suit you. And if you really want to know, why don't you ask?"
"Ask what, Eric?"
"Ask me if I think you could ever get me in the sack."
"Now, who's being crude?" Mark joked. He went to the bar to get another round of drinks. I watched him go... where was this leading? Where did I want it to lead?
