Joe Paolini sat behind his big desk in his nearly completed high-rise office building mulling over his upcoming meeting with his cousin Gio, who would be here in a few minutes with the new chef he'd just hired. Joe didn't know what to think about this man whom he hadn't met. The man had just walked in off the street and Gio had hired him. He knew that Gio had set up interviews with a couple of well known experienced chefs from around the country, and had several appointments coming up for all of the other lesser chefs that it took to make a restaurant of this size work.
'This guy must be impressive. Even Dave's taken by him,' Joe thought. 'Well, I'll just have to wait and see.' He'd just turned his mind to other business matters when there was a light tapping at his door. He looked up to see Gio, and behind him one of the most handsome men he'd ever laid eyes on. Joe hugged, kissed and welcomed his cousin. Then had to force himself not to stare at the auburn haired man as Gio introduced him. Gio had explained earlier to Teddy the familial connections with Joe, as well as the business.
Joe extended his hand, smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Ted."
Ted's handshake was firm. "The pleasure is mine."
"So have you shown Ted the joints?" Joe asked Gio.
Gio, who was still learning the nuances of the American slang, looked indignant. "I do not do drugs."
It took Joe a moment to figure out what Gio meant and then he laughed. "No, no, I meant the restaurants." He pointed at the ceiling.
"Those are joints?"
Joe chuckled. "Forget it. I'll give you an English lesson another time. Let's go on up."
Ted grinned, knowing what kind of joints Gio meant.
At that moment Johnny, now his older brother's body guard, walked in and Gio introduced him to Ted.
"So you and Joe are twins?" Ted asked looking from one Paolini brother to the other. Johnny, who was accustomed to being asked this, shrugged and gave his usual reply, "No, Joe is two years older than me."
Ted looked to Joe for affirmation. Joe just grinned and winked. Teddy didn't know whether to believe Johnny or not.
* * *
Johnny observed Gio as they watched Teddy's reactions when they stepped out of the elevator into the restaurant foyer. It was obvious to him that Gio was infatuated with the fair young man. Teddy looked around at the live potted palms, the hat/cloak counter, the Hostess' black and chrome Art Deco podium, the neon sign above an elevator door across the room that read 'Gateway to Heaven', and another more sedate sign over a pair of large Etched Glass doors that read 'Dave's Place.' "This is right out of a Fred and Ginger movie," he muttered.
"You have yet to see anything. Come." Gio said, taking his elbow and leading him to the large glass doors etched with geometric designs. Letting go of Ted's arm, he pushed them open and stepped aside to reveal the huge expanse. Ted's eyes first settled on the thirty foot high glass walls across the room. And then he looked up at the midnight black ceiling from which hung six humongous Streamline Deco Chrome and glass discs chandeliers. They seemed to float in the air.
He took in the stepped mezzanine floor across the back wall where diners could watch the orchestra and dancers below. The main floor tiered down to, and surrounded, a terrazzo dance floor. The terrazzo floor itself was a work of art with its stark white and black swirling patterns. The orchestra stand rose behind the dance floor with a glass wall that looked out over the city as a back drop. He imagined what the city lights would look like at night.
Across the back wall were booths enclosed in etched glass and cast aluminum in the same repeated designs as the ones surrounding the orchestra platform. The right wall was one long bar, all polished aluminum and black lacquer. Two dozen chrome and black leather bar stools lined it. The tables were covered with black cloths topped by smaller white ones. The black lacquered chairs were a copy of a classic elegant Saarinen design. The floors were carpeted in dark gray.
Teddy smiled. "The dinner guests will supply the color. Very elegant."
Joe smiled back at him. "Thank you. You are perceptive," he said.
"Come, look at the back of the house," Gio said, referring to the kitchens. "It is most impressive. The most modern."
Teddy followed Gio through the double porthole doors into a gleaming white tile and stainless steel kitchen, the magnitude of which he'd never seen. The mess hall kitchens in the Air Force were big, but nothing like this.
He walked by the plate preparation tables, each with their Bain Marie where foods were kept hot in baths of steaming water. The elegant pattern of entwined DP on the dinner plates caught his eye. He glanced up at Joe. "Dave, he is your partner, the man I met at Pete and Jason's?"
Joe grinned and nodded. "He doesn't know about this. It's going to be his surprise birthday/anniversary present."
"Wow," was all the response Teddy gave.
He wandered past the saute stoves and grills section, past the banks of ovens and glass front refrigerators to the rear of the kitchen. Here it looked like a small separate kitchen with its own ovens, stoves, work tables and refrigerators. Teddy knew it to be the pastry department.
"This kitchen," he turned around as he asked, "services both restaurants?"
"There is another smaller kitchen above us. Come, I'll show you." Gio led the way to a bank of three elevators. "That one on the left is the service elevator to the ground floor. These two serve only the two kitchens and the restaurant on the roof," he explained as they entered the middle one and were whisked up to the next floor.
The kitchen they entered was only a third of the size of the main one below. There was no pastry department, but there were two big heavy insulated doors into a walk-in freezer and a giant walk-in refrigerator that also serviced the main kitchen. Looking inside, Teddy noted there was a door connecting the two. 'Someone really thought this out," he thought to himself.
Stepping back into the elevator the four men went up. Gio led them out of the service area into the rooftop restaurant. Teddy caught his breath as he studied the construction of the movable roof top covering. It was half opened. The movable parts looked like segments of a clear citrus fruit. "How long does it take to completely close?" he asked.
"A little less than four minutes."
"So, if there is any chance of rain, it needs to already be closed."
"Yes, a sudden deluge could ruin an evening." Joe looked at Gio and nodded.
"How does the wind blowing into it affect it?" Teddy asked.
"It has to be completely opened or closed if the winds get above fifteen knots. It's double insulated so that having it closed during the cold months won't affect business."
"It is magnificent." He turned to Joe. "Did you design this, too?"
Joe nodded. Teddy shook his head in wonder, and looking around, took in the antique mahogany bar with a dozen new mahogany stools. Teal green was the accent color. The chairs were elegant modern mahogany.
Teddy noted where the public elevators were. As he scoped out the setting, he noticed that the café took up a little over half the available space. Then he noticed the double doors into another room. He nodded toward them, "Executive dining and VIP room?"
"Yes, and the wine cellar," Gio said, pushing open the door.
Forest green and dark polished walnut gave the room a luxurious ambiance. Teddy noted that there was seating for around forty in the room. He glanced over the wine racks and noted that there were around two dozen American wines and maybe eight French wines. As he gazed over the bottles, he saw there were even a couple of good Australian wines, too. "I assume this selection will be expanded before the grand opening."
"Yes, by that time we'll have around two hundred selections," Gio answered. The questions that Teddy was asking impressed him. Joe and Johnny looked at each other in amazement.
* * *
Johnny followed along behind the three men and just watched as Joe and Gio led Teddy through the restaurants and kitchens. Today he was wearing slacks, a pull-over knit shirt and a golfing jacket. He was glad his slacks had reversed pleats to help hide the excited state he found himself in every time he looked at Teddy. Cupping one hand in the other in front of his crotch helped hide it, too. He couldn't help but feel ashamed of himself for his reaction. It was definitely something he was going to have to discuss with Tim.
He cursed himself for reacting this way. He'd always been able to control himself... until the day he'd met Tim. Why couldn't he now? Tim was the only man he really wanted. But when he let his imagination run free, he could see himself fucking Teddy. It was only a sexual attraction. None of his emotions were involved in it. It was just that, to him, Teddy was a sex magnet.
Teddy was one of those innocents that was unaware of his affect on people. It was his naivete that had gotten him booted out of the Air Force. He'd been a sitting duck for the OSI who were already investigating the lieutenant he'd been caught with. But even going through the embarrassment and horror in the process of being given the boot from the service had done nothing to wake up his self awareness. He wondered why Johnny was so stand offish, almost hostile one moment and almost flirting with him the next. He glanced at him standing off to the side as they toured the kitchen. Johnny looked downright angry as he stared back. Gio caught Teddy's attention with a question and he forgot about Johnny.
Once they were all back in Joe's office, out of curiosity, Joe asked how many people it was going to take to run the two places. Before Gio could formulate an answer, Teddy said, "Well, let's see. You'd have your Exec. Chef and his assistant. Under them you'd have an Exec sous and four sous chefs, two of them for the café. Another two chefs on the serving line. Four cooks on the saute and grilling stations. Four on the cold foods line. That's fourteen for the dinner shift and half that for the lunch shift. A pastry chef and an assistant. That's thirty-five for the kitchens. You also will need dishwashers. That's another four.
"In the Dining room you need a Maitre'd, four hostesses. 20 waiters, five cocktail waitresses, four barmen. Food runners. Bussers. And upstairs ......" Teddy droned on as Gio sat with his mouth figuratively agape. This kid knew his stuff. Although he would never have admitted it, Gio was astonished and amazed; but he managed to hide it as he smiled benignly, nodded his head and watched Joe and Johnny being impressed with Teddy.
* * *
As Teddy rode back to the university area with Gio in his Mercedes, he wondered why Gio was so quiet. He, too, was lost in his thoughts. Just to think of working in that huge restaurant was daunting, nearly overpowering. His thoughts were interrupted by Gio asking a question. "What is the name of the school you went to?"
"What?"
"What you were telling us about staffing the restaurant... one doesn't learn this in an ordinary chef's school. Where did you learn this?"
Teddy gulped, glanced at Gio and then looked out the side window as he said, "The Cordon Bleu in Paris."
The car swerved slightly, "What did you say?" Gio yelled.
Teddy turned in the seat and looked at Gio, not knowing how he was going to accept this. "I graduated with Top Honors from the Cordon Bleu in Paris, France."
"I heard you the first time."
"So why did you ask again?"
Rather than answering Gio asked, "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I was afraid you would think I'm over qualified to work in your restaurant."
Gio let out an exasperated bark of laughter. "Well, you are."
Teddy nodded and bowed his head. "So, you're firing me?"
A grimace of impatience passed over Gio's face as Teddy looked at him. "Yes, of course I am firing you. You are too qualified to work in a little restaurant like Gio Gio's."
Teddy turned and looked out at the street.
"However, would you consider a position at Dave's Place?" Gio asked in a mild quiet voice.
"As what, a sous chef, a manager chef, what?"
Gio studied him a moment before saying, "Executive Assistant Chef."
Teddy didn't respond. He knew that as Assistant he would be running the place. He would be responsible for the whole operation. He turned sideways in his seat with his leg folded, his heel in his groin. He studied his hands in his lap for several seconds and then looked up at Gio. "Why are you doing this? You don't know me. You don't even really know what I am capable of."
Gio quickly searched Teddy's face, then turned his eyes back to the street. He wondered why Teddy looked so sad. "You don't want the position? Don't you think you can handle it?"
"You aren't a Yankee," Teddy snapped. "Why are you answering my question with more questions?"
"Yankees answer questions with questions?" Gio innocently asked.
Teddy moved to face forward again, dropping his foot back on the floor. "Fuck. The Yankees must have learned from you Italians."
"I'm sorry. I will quit being frivolous. I see great promise in you. The way you tallied up the number of employees for Joe was most impressive. I want to give you the chance to prove yourself."
"But why, Gio?"
They were sitting at a red light. Gio looked Teddy in the eyes. "Because I like you."
Teddy raised his eyebrows, then stared out the windshield. He wondered in what context Gio might 'like' him. Gio was so easy going around all the gay couples that seemed to be a close knit group, Teddy wondered if Gio, too, might be gay. There was no way to find out without right out asking, and he wasn't about to do that. He sighed.
Gio thought to himself as he drove down the street, 'As your employer I can't legally or morally make a move on you. But I can do good things for you, like give you a chance.'
Teddy, feeling overwhelmed and bewildered, said as though he'd heard Gio's thoughts, "I'm willing to work my way up the ladder, if I start at the top where do I have to go from there?"
"Time will tell, Teddy. Are you willing to take the chance?"
"With your faith in me, I can't fail, especially if you're there to guide me."
"I'll be there, Teddy," Gio murmured. "I'll be there to guide you. I won't let you fail."
"I've never met anyone like you, Gio. I just can't understand your willingness to take such a chance with me."
Gio thought to himself as he drove in silence, 'You don't realize, yet, that I am in love with you.' Aloud he said, "Just accept it and prove me right."
* * *
When Jason told Pete about his visit to the hospital and the conversation with Janine, Pete hugged him and told him that he'd done the right thing in letting Janine stay in his house. "Hey, it will be great to not have to clean house all the time," he'd exclaimed.
Then he told Pete that Janine had informed him that Cliff Warren wasn't his biological father. "Do you suppose that Mr. Lambert could be my real father? We do resemble each other."
Jason wondered why Pete suddenly looked guilty, but before he could inquire, Pete had run up the stairs to their bedroom and quickly returned with a sheaf of papers. Thrusting them at his little lover, he explained, "I wasn't sure how you'd react since you never said anything. I immediately saw the resemblance between you and suspected that Mr. Lambert could be your real dad, so I sneaked a lollipop stick off his desk and got Tim to do a DNA test on it."
Jason studied the papers then asked, "What did you use for my DNA?"
Pete didn't answer, but he blushed and looked everywhere except at Jason.
"Pete?"
"Alright! I... I gave him some of your cum."
Jason at first looked concerned, then he started laughing. "What did Tim think of that?"
Pete turned red again. "He thought it was ingenious."
"Oh, boy, am I going to have fun with this."
"Jason!" Pete whined.
Jason just grinned, then sat down to thoroughly study the result of Tim's tests.
* * *
He kept putting off making an appointment with Fred Lambert until Pete finally took matters into hand and made an appointment for him, and told him he'd better not break it. Jason was thankful, but at the same time, scared to face the man he now knew to be his biological father.
"What exactly are you afraid of?" Pete wanted to know.
"I don't know. What if he doesn't want to admit it? What if he rejects me?"
"And what if he does want to accept you as his son?"
"Do you think he will?"
"Jason, stop and think. What did he call you several times?"
"Jason?"
"He called you 'Son'. It was like he was subconsciously accepting you even then."
"Do you really think so?"
"Keep the appointment and find out."
* * *
Fred Lambert opened his office door to personally ask his next client in. "Good Morning, Jason."
"Good Morning, Sir." Jason shook his proffered hand.
"Come on in. Have a seat." He closed the door and sat on the corner of his desk with one leg on the floor. "What can I help you with this morning, Son?"
Jason mentally noted that Pete was right, then explained about wanting to let Janine live in his house - rent free, but that he felt there should be some kind of legal papers for the agreement.
"Well, this is a rather unusual situation, but I don't see any problem with it. I'll draw the papers up and send them to you. You just get Ms. Smith to sign them and send one copy back to me."
Jason hadn't used Janine's last name in his explanation. "Mr. Lambert, do you know Janine?"
Fred smiled. "Yes, your mother, Janine, Cliff and I were all school mates all the way through high school."
"She asked me to give you her regards. And you're my biological father, aren't you?" Jason blurted out - then held his breath. He hadn't figured any other way of broaching the subject.
Fred blinked. "Janine told you?"
"No. She only said that Cliff is not my father. This told me," he said, standing up and handing the DNA papers to him. "Pete suspected it when he saw you and me together. He took a lollipop stick off your desk as we were leaving."
Fred nodded, noted what the papers were and laid them on the desk. "I wanted to tell you then, Son, but I didn't know how you would accept it."
Jason's heart bounded. "I don't know you, but you're a nice man. I wouldn't mind claiming you as my father."
Fred grinned and held out his arms to Jason. "And I wouldn't mind claiming you as my son. And I'd love to get to know you better, and Pete, too."
Jason walked into his embrace and hugged him back. When Fred let go of him, Jason stepped back and pointed at a framed photograph on the corner of the desk. "So you're married? This is your family?"
"Yes, and yes. You have a sister and two little brothers."
"Geez, I never ever imagined that I would have that."
"Would you like to meet them?"
Jason ducked his head. "Sure I would, but... wouldn't your wife resent me? I mean she's...." Jason paced across the room and turned to face the man. "She's not my mother."
"Liz has known about you since before we were married. No, she won't resent you. Actually, I think she just might want to adopt you. She's seen you a couple of times while you were growing up. I think the last time was at your mother's funeral." Fred thought about the conversation he'd had with his wife as they watched Jason being ignored by the half drunk man next to him. Jason had looked so lost and lonely. Liz had urged him to make contact with Jason then, but he'd informed her that May's wishes were to be upheld even after her death. The boy was only fifteen and he was forbidden to make contact with him before he turned 18. Liz had argued that May hadn't planned on dying before Jason turned 18, but Fred had insisted that her wishes still held. Liz cursed him, and all lawyers; and it had broken Fred's heart not to be able to reach out to the boy... his son.
"You were at my mom's funeral?" He turned and walked back over to the desk.
"Of course we were. I couldn't let your mom go without saying good bye. We were always close friends despite her marrying Cliff." While he was speaking he opened the top left drawer of his desk and extracted another framed photograph and placed it beside the one of his family. Jason glanced at the photo and burst into a big grin. Fred pulled him into another hug. "I have always had a photo of you on my desk. I am proud and happy that you are my son."
"I wish things had been different. I'd have liked having you as my dad." Jason hugged Fred in return then said, "You know, there is so much I don't know about my mom's life."
"I've got some wonderful stories I can share with you."
"Even if I am grown, I think I'm going to like having you as my dad. So what do I call you?"
"How about Fred? Or I'd be proud if you called me Dad."
Jason grinned. "Thanks, Dad."
Fred stood and held his arms out and welcomed Jason into another hug. "You're welcome, Son."
* * *
Jason and Pete were invited to Sunday dinner at the Lamberts. It was the first weekend after Jason had confronted Fred with the DNA evidence that he was his father. Liz had accepted Jason into the family with a big hug. He hadn't really realized it until then, but he'd missed his mother's hugs. He fell in love with the whole family. Ricky and Patrick had formally shaken hands with him, but Jason had knelt and pulled them both into a hug. The boys hugged him back.
"Are you really our brother?" Patrick asked in an awed little boy voice.
"Yes, I sure am," Jason answered.
"How come you never lived with us than?" Ricky the older boy asked.
Jason looked up at Liz for help, she had only smiled and nodded her head for Jason to explain. "Well, I had a different mother and I lived with her."
"Oh."
"If we don't have the same mommy, you can't be our brother," Patrick said.
Before Jason could answer, Beth stepped in front of her brothers. "You look just like my daddy, so you have to be my brother no matter what mister smartypants says. I'm Beth." Jason was still on his knees. Beth wrapped her arms around his neck when Jason enfolded her into his arms. Tears of happiness ran down his face. He looked up at Fred and Liz and mouthed, "Thank you." They both beamed.
Pete was then introduced to them. Ricky and Patrick both took an immediate liking to the tall blonde man. They vied to sit next to him at the dinner table. The problem was solved by Pete sitting in the middle with a boy on each side of him. Jason sat on the other side of the table with Beth. Jason was torn between feeling a little hurt, and at the same time delighted that his little brothers were so taken with Pete. As he thought about it, he couldn't blame them, he was taken with Pete, too. It became obvious that Beth also felt the same way when she announced, "Next time it's my turn to sit by Pete."
As dinner progressed Pete realized that Jason had been seated at his dad's right side. He grinned to himself. Things were just as they should be.
* * *
After dinner, Pete was in the Lambert's den on the floor playing with Ricky and Patrick. Actually, they were playing and he was participating by watching as they showed him how each toy car was different from the next. He was amazed that they had a couple dozen of them, and more so by the fact that they knew the make, model and year of each little replica car. Beth kept vying for his attention by physically taking his chin and turning his head to look at her dollies. Pete would take the time with her and then turn back to the two boys. Liz watched from the kitchen door for a few minutes and decided that Jason and Pete were going to be a boon to her family.
Pete could tell that the two boys were brothers and related to Jason because of their looks, but neither boy had their dad's black hair like Jason. Ricky had dirty blond hair like his mother, while Patrick's was a dark brown. Beth, their little sister, had her mother's facial features, but her hair was black like her daddy's. Fred and his sons looked slightly Amerind, but with intense blue eyes. Beth and her mother, Liz, also had blue eyes, but they were light blue and they both looked more English.
* * *
While Pete was playing with the little boys, Jason and Fred sat in the two big comfortable high-backed leather club chairs in Fred's home office enjoying a scotch and water. Jason had only tasted beer and wasn't too fond of it.
"This is a drink to be savored. Run your tongue around it and slowly swallow," Fred had told him. "The flavor will grow on you."
At first Jason didn't like the flavor, but after a few sips, the taste did indeed begin to grow on him, and he began to enjoy it. He swirled the golden liquid around in the big old-fashioned glass listening to the clinking of ice. His thoughts were awhirl. He'd just met his dad's family for the first time and was amazed that he looked so much like them. He really liked Liz. She had immediately made him feel accepted and loved. As he listened to the ice clinking against the glass, a question formed in his mind. He felt uncomfortable with it, but he needed to know the answer if he was going to form a good relationship with his dad. He looked up to find Fred studying him.
"You have a question, Son?"
Jason nodded and looked back down at his drink.
"You know I'll answer it as truthfully as possible," Fred assured him.
Jason looked back up at him. Their eyes locked and Jason could see that this man really did love him. His heart swelled with warmth.
"This is something I don't understand. I really need to know the answer."
Fred nodded, holding Jason's look.
"All those years when I was growing up, thinking that Cliff was my father, being constantly verbally abused by him, why did you and my mom just stand by and let him do it?"
Fred's countenance darkened and he beseechingly raised his eyes to the ceiling. When he looked back at Jason, his eyes were sad. "I didn't know that was happening. Your mother forbade me to come near. I can't answer for her, but believe me, Jason, if I had known, I would have stepped in and stopped it. Your mother made it very clear to me that I was not to make contact with you until your eighteenth birthday. As her lawyer, I was bound by her will. Legally, you are the son of Cliff Warren. Your birth certificate states that."
Jason rose and walked over to the window to gaze out at the back yard. With his hands stuffed into his pockets he turned around and studied the man he was now thinking of as his dad. "Can that be changed?" Jason asked.
"I don't know. It's something I can certainly look into if you want it."
"Well, there is nothing to keep me from changing my name, is there?"
"No, there isn't. Is it Pete's name you wish to take?"
"Would you allow me to take your name as my own?"
"Jason, there is no way you could honor me more," Fred answered, not believing that Jason would want to take his name as his own. He set his drink down and walked over to take Jason in his arms. "I love you, Son. I'd be most happy to give you my name."
"Then that is what I want." Enjoying being hugged by a man his own size.
"Well, I'll draw up the papers for you tomorrow." He paused and held Jason back at arms length and asked, "Jason, your question disturbs me. Did Cliff abuse you in front of your mother?"
Jason thought for a moment. "No, I don't remember him doing it in front of her. He was always withdrawn when she was around. He was very moody. They fought a lot before she got so ill. As she got worse, his abuse got worse, too. He even made me feel that Mom's death was my fault."
"I hope you don't still feel it was your fault. She died from uterine cancer, Jason."
"I know, but with him hammering it into me all the time... I still feel guilty."
"God, Son, I am so sorry." He hugged his son again, then let him go.
Jason picked up his drink and took a big swallow, coughed and turned red with embarrassment. He glanced at his dad who smiled knowingly, then studied his drink a few moments before looking back up at his dad. "This may sound terrible, but I'm glad he's finally going to die."
"It does sound terrible, Jason, but I feel the same way. For one thing, it will get him out of the misery he's been in since Nam. I don't know what happened to him over there, but it must have been awful. He was a pretty nice guy once, even though he never liked me, but he was never the same after he came back."
Jason sighed, wishing he could think of just one good time with the man who'd raised him. "I wish it had been you that my mom had married."
"We were very good friends, but she was never in love with me."
"So, I was born of friendship... well, at least I was planned."
"Don't kid yourself for one moment that you weren't born of love, Son. Your mother and I were more than close friends. We were like one soul in two bodies. It's just that May was infatuated with Cliff for as long as I can remember. She was possibly in love with him. I don't know. I think it was a good thing that Cliff was injured in the war and couldn't make babies. May was so petite and he was such a big guy. It would probably have killed her to bear his child, for his child would probably have been big. There was no one May would have turned to other than me to conceive a child."
"Janine told me that the man who helped my mom conceive me was gay. You're not gay. You have a wonderful wife and three beautiful children."
Fred humphed in amusement. "Four beautiful children, counting you."
Jason grinned, but couldn't leave it alone. "So why did Janine say that you are gay?"
"Jason, my sexual preferences are no one's business but my own. But, since you are my son and I told you I will answer your questions honestly, I will tell you. Growing up in the Seventies was so different from today. We were in the midst of the so called sexual revolution. There was a song that I remember that said something about if you can't be with the one you love, then love the one you're with. That kind of describes what I went through. I not only loved your mother as a friend, I was in love with her, too. But it was unrequited. May only had eyes for Cliff.
"Since May and I were close friends, Cliff was very jealous of our friendship. He was always giving your mother a hard time about me. I made a friend during that time. It's funny how Cliff hated him. He was the high school's starting quarterback, but Cliff couldn't accept that he was a football player and had no qualms about being gay.
Anyway, I started hanging with him. Everyone thought we were lovers, but I think my gay friend was still a virgin when we graduated from high school. We'd clown it up when we were around Cliff, acting as if we were lovers, but in truth we were only good friends. The ruse worked. Cliff stopped hassling May about being friends with me.
"My friend and I don't see a lot of each other since he's found a mate. Plus, he seems to be totally involved with a new building he's designed and is building downtown. But we still stay in touch. We're still good friends."
"While in college I met Liz. We dated several times and then lost track of each other for a few years. Then when we ran into each other again, we fell in love and married. Your mother was aware of this. She even met Liz once before her death. I suppose she never mentioned it to Janine, and apparently Janine still thinks I am gay." Fred stopped and thought for a few moments and then looked at Jason. "Does that answer your question?"
Jason nodded with a smile. They sipped on their drinks in silence for a few moments. Jason kept looking at his dad. Fred watched him, returning the smile. "What are you thinking now? What gives you that mischievous grin?" he asked.
"Are you aware that Pete saved Dave Gates from being hit by a speeding car?"
Nonplussed by the non sequitur he asked, "Dave Gates?"
"Joe Paolini's partner."
"I know who Dave Gates is. I just wasn't aware that you knew Joe and Dave."
Jason grinned. "Yeah, we know them. We've become friends with them. We even live in Dave's house."
"Good Grief. You are full of surprises. Who would have thought."
Jason sipped his drink as he chuckled. Fred sat back and just watched him for a bit, then leaned forward and asked, "Does Joe know that Cliff Warren is your father?"
"I don't know. I really haven't had that much contact with him."
Fred sat back with a smile. "Hmm... curiouser and curiouser."