Luis looked into his eyes and smiled. “This is why I love older gay men like Derrick and Thomas so much. They are completely harmless, and more interested in good company and being around younger guys than they are in sex. It’s not always like this, as you’ve seen from the night I jumped through your window. But when it is, it’s very nice.”
“I like that,” Jase said. “I was worried they’d be as obnoxious as your friend Michael was at the party. I was afraid they’d be groping us all afternoon. I’m glad they aren’t interested in sex.
Sex is highly overrated.”
Luis looked back and forth. They were standing in the restaurant waiting for a table.
When he saw no one was looking, he reached down and grabbed Jase’s ass. He squeezed it a few times and smiled.
Jase jumped. “What was that for?” He seemed genuinely surprised.
Luis leaned in closer so he could whisper. “Just so you know, good sex is fun, too.”
Jase’s jaw dropped and his eyebrows shot up. But before Jase could reply, the waiter arrived to escort them to a table. It was a small bistro, with an Italian theme, and the tables were close together. At that hour, between normal lunchtime and dinner, they were the only customers there. When they sat down, Jase sat next to Thomas, directly across from where Luis was sitting against the wall. Derrick sat beside Luis on the outside, across from Thomas, and adjusted his seat. Derrick was such a large man he had to sit closer to the edge in order to get comfortable.
His legs were so long his left knee stuck out in the aisle and the waiter had to walk around it.
But this didn’t stop Derrick from ordering a three-course meal and two rounds of fresh bread. He said he loved food and at his age he wasn’t going to pretend or apologize to anyone.
Jase agreed with him and ordered his own three-course meal. Between them, they ate almost all the bread and butter. Luis ordered a small salad. Thomas ordered a tuna fish sandwich and told the waiter to make sure the chef washed his hands first. They each picked on one tiny piece of bread—no butter. Luis said he wasn’t very hungry, and Thomas mumbled into his fist that he didn’t want to spoil his dinner.
While they ate, Derrick continued to charm them with his stories and his jokes. Thomas barely said three full sentences. Luis smiled and poked at his salad. Luis had already heard most of Derrick’s stories and his jokes, so none of this was new to him. Luis guessed Thomas had heard the stories before, too. But Jase was a brand-new audience, and the more he laughed, the more Derrick continued.
During coffee, while waiting for Jase’s and Derrick’s dessert to arrive, Derrick sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. He looked Jase in the eye and said, “I’ve been doing all the talking this afternoon and you’ve said nothing. I’m curious about you.”
Jase shrugged his shoulders and looked directly into Derrick’s eyes. “There’s not much to tell.”
Derrick pressed his lips together and smiled. Then he winked and said, “I have a funny feeling that’s not totally true. You look like a very bright, interesting man. And I have a feeling you don’t escort older gay men around all the time. At least tell us where you’re from.”
Luis sat forward and rested his elbows on the edge of the table. He knew nothing about Jase and he was curious, too. He’d forgotten how talented Derrick could be when it came to getting information out of people. Derrick, thanks to his smooth sales skills, knew how to ask the right questions, without being obnoxious or rude.
“I’m from Alaska,” Jase said.
Luis turned fast. “Alaska? You said you were from Florida.”
Derrick and Thomas looked at each other.
“I said I just drove up from Florida. But I’m originally from Alaska. I was born and raised there. It’s still home to me.”
“What do you do?” Derrick asked.
“A little bit of everything,” Jase said. “I guess you could say I’m a renaissance man.
Right now I’m inventing a home cheese smoker, so people can smoke their own cheese right in their own homes.” While he answered Derrick’s question, he looked into Luis’s eyes, as if to demonstrate he was telling the truth.
For the first time that afternoon, old Thomas sat up in his seat and squared his shoulders.
When he heard Jase talking about cheese, his face lit up and his head jerked to the side. “I used to make my own cheese,” he said. “I bought this little cheesemaking kit a few years back. It had a catchy name I can’t recall, though.”
“The Cheese Virgin?” Jase asked.
Thomas slapped the table hard. The glasses wobbled and the flatware rattled. He laughed and said, “That’s it! The Cheese Virgin. That’s exactly what it was called. I made cheese all the time. I used to wish there was a cheese smoker to go with the kit.”
“I remember that cheese making kit,” Derrick said. “My mother had one. She raved about it. She said it was the best cheese she’d ever had. She once made a smooth creamy cheese with chives and garlic I’ll never forget. It makes my mouth water to think about it now.”
After that, Jase and Thomas spent the remainder of the afternoon talking about cheese making and cheese smokers. Thomas stopped mumbling and his voice became louder and articulate. Poor Derrick, so used to doing all the talking, couldn’t get a word in sideways. They discussed the benefits and pitfalls of making cheese at home, and how in order to produce a pound of cheese it took at least a gallon of milk. And you had to have cheesecloth handy, which most people didn’t have lying around the house anymore. By the time Derrick handed the waiter his credit card, Luis felt as if he knew all there was to know about making cheese. On the way out of the restaurant, he realized he was hungry for a piece of good cheese.
They parted on the sidewalk with hugs and kisses. Jase said he’d enjoyed himself so much he’d love to get together with them again in the future. Luis stood there watching Jase. It was as if Jase had never gone out to lunch. He seemed to be forgetting the fact that Luis was being paid to be there with Derrick. This wasn’t about friendship.
Before Derrick and Thomas turned to walk in the opposite direction Luis and Jase were going, Luis stopped short, pulled a plastic bag out of his briefcase, and handed it to Derrick.
He’d almost left without getting paid. “Here you go,” Luis said. He was handing him his latest pair of used sweat socks. He’d worn this pair to the gym the day before and they were extra ripe.