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| Jayden |
I heard laughter in my ear.
“Thank you so much Jayden, we will be back with you at the State Fair later. Enjoy!”
“And we’re out!”, Michelle said.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I covered my mouth. I was surprised how chewy the bite of deep fried butter had been.
Together with director Michelle and cameraman Antonio I was at the Utah State Fair in Salt Lake City. I had only recently gotten a job as a correspondent for KUTV, a local TV news channel. At 25 years old, I was the youngest person on camera. And ratings had been good.
I was making my first steps in TV and I was really enjoying it. Although I would much rather be behind the news desk and tell the people the important stories, our showrunner had noticed I was very good in my interactions with the general public and had sent me out on location quite regularly this summer. It was fun to do, and I considered it would be a way to work myself up to actually working in the studio. Everything had been rather fluffy news pieces so far, but I knew that with time I would be able to cover more serious topics.
“Good job Jayden, that was great”, Michelle said as I wiped the powdered sugar off of my face.
“How many more segments?”, I asked her.
“Rodeo next and then a closing segment”, she said.
“OK, got it.”
As Michelle, Antonio and I crossed the park to shoot the next segment, I felt a little hot and sweaty. I knew I would check for a touch-up of my face before going live again. I was in a nice button-down and slacks, while everyone else was in T-shirts and shorts.
When we got to the rodeo area, Michelle was immediately off to find us a cowboy. Antonio helped me check for sweat stains and handed me a mirror. I dabbed some of the sweat off my forehead.
I looked at the little arena they built on the fairgrounds. No event was happening currently though there were still some people around. Surprisingly, it didn’t take Michelle long to return with a cowboy.
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| Brendan |
“Hi”, I said as I shook his hand, “Jayden Velez.”
“Brendan Holt”, he replied in a low voice that had a slight accent.
“Nice to meet you, I said and thanks for taking the time to do this interview.”
“No problem!”
I told Brendan what questions I was going to ask him. It was quite difficult to focus as his bright brown eyes and gorgeous smile distracted me. He just nodded and absorbed the information I gave him.
“OK cool”, he said when I was done. “I’m ready. Do I look OK?”
I smiled.
“Y-yeah, you look great”, I answered, hating that I stuttered.
Michelle did the countdown and soon I heard Bruce in my ear all the way from the studio.
“We go back to Jayden Velez at the State Fair. What are you up to now?”
“Well, Bruce, we’ve just been having a great time here as you all have been able to follow along. Right now we’re at the rodeo where we ran into this cowboy! Meet Brendan.”
Antonio shifted positions so that Brendan and I were both in frame. Brendan waved awkwardly to the camera. As promised, I asked Brendan where he travelled in from.
“Actually from a very small town called Antimony, three hours south.”
“That’s quite a way to go for the state fair! Are you having a good time so far?”
“Absolutely!”
“Do you always make it to Salt Lake for the state fair?”
“I’ve definitely been the last couple of years, yeah.”
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| Brendan |
“So is the rodeo your favorite part of the day?”
Brendan smiled.
“I wouldn’t say that”, he started.
I definitely hadn’t seen that answer coming and I was even more at a loss for how to respond.
“I’m here to observe most of all, see how the animals are being treated and stuff.”
Fuck. A serious topic when I least expected it. I was completely unprepared. This totally didn’t fit with the type of segment we were making, but there was no turning back. I was hoping this could be a moment for me to show my serious side as a reporter.
“That is interesting! So what do you look for?”
“Oh, lots of things! First of all how the animals look and how the handlers are treating them. But then also what type of events are happening, how much stress the animals are put under and stuff.”
As Brendan was answering, I knew Michelle was gesturing to end the segment, but I wasn’t done.
“And what do you do with this information?”, I asked Brendan.
“I actually live on a farm myself, in Antimony, mainly with horses. And instead of protesting, I am in meetings with rodeo organizers quite regularly. And the more I can show them that the animals are actually in distress, the more they are cutting or adjusting events.”
“Wow, you do very important work, Brendan. Thank you so much for talking to us.”
“Thank you, Jayden.”
I turned to face the camera as Antonio shifted back to his original position.
“There you go, Brad and Alex. Most people are here to have fun, but as you heard, we have people here ensuring the safety of our animals on the same grounds. Back to you in the studio.”
“That was indeed very impressive Jayden…”, I heard Alex say before Michelle said we were off the air.
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| Brendan |
“Thanks so much for that”, I said as I took out my earpiece.
“I am very happy you gave me the platform”, he replied.
His smile was so mesmerizing, I’m pretty sure we both looked into the other’s eyes for a full second without either of us speaking, our hands still touching.
Michelle came over to also thank Brendan.
“If you’re interested, there’s a tailgate party in the parking lot after. Vegetarian barbecue! You are definitely more than welcome.”
“Thanks so much!”, Michelle said.
Brendan walked off. I noticed he looked back one more time and waved.
“Sorry, that was totally my fault. I was convinced he had participated in the rodeo and didn’t even ask why he was here.”
I laughed.
“I quite liked the way it ended up though”, I said, “I think it’s good this subject made it to our station.”
“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s something most people want to hear. It helped that he was an extremely charismatic man and you two had chemistry.”
“We did?”
“Fuck yeah!”, Antonio chimed in. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off you. I kind of want to go to that tailgate to see what happens!”
I laughed off what Antonio said, but secretly I did want to see him again.
It was good that we had a closing segment to end our live report from the Utah State Fair in a cheerful note. But we had already heard that there had been mixed reactions to Brendan’s interview. Social media had caught on and some people were angry about what he had said, others thought it was great that this was discussed. I smiled. This was what I wanted to do as a reporter. Address controversial topics and get a debate going.
Once we finished the closing segment, I was quite tired. Michelle was quick to make sure all equipment went back into the van. But Antonio wasn’t letting go.
“We are going to stop by that tailgate party, right?”
I laughed. I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me. Antonio and Michelle both had families. They knew I was gay and single. Although I wasn’t as sure as Antonio was that Brendan was into guys, let alone into me. It just didn’t seem likely.
Either way, Antonio managed to convince both me and Michelle to go and take a look. It did look like a fun party. There was country music and the second we arrived a girl named Mareekah introduced herself and offered us drinks. Her short afro haircut and beaming smile made her come across as a bouncy and fun young woman. I realized that the state fair was really a very white event, although the tailgate seemed more diverse.
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| Brendan |
“I was hoping you would make it! Do you guys want a burger?”
Seeing him and hearing his accent immediately made me happy.
There were veggie burgers and veggie hot dogs and they were both absolutely delicious.
“OK, fuck. This is really good”, Antonio said.
It was such a great way to relax with my co-workers and look back on our work for the day. I did look at Brendan every now and then and for some reason every time he would also be looking at me. I felt caught every time so I just waved and he would wave back.
At some point I was pulling some drinks out of the cooler to bring back to my co-workers, Brendan suddenly appeared besides me.
“We’re not out of beer yet, are we?”
I chuckled.
“No, we’re still good”, I replied as I handed him a bottle.
“Thanks”, he said, our eye contact making something in my stomach flutter.
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions in return?”
I laughed.
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
Brendan asked me if I lived here in Salt Lake, if I liked being on TV and if it was what I had always wanted to do. I answered all three questions with yes. I told him what my ambition was and that I was happy that his interview added some seriousness to an otherwise pretty fluffy news report. He seemed happy I told him that.
Mareekah suddenly walked up to Brendan and put her arm around his waist.
“Hey sweet cheeks!”, she said before addressing me. “So sorry to interrupt.”
Brandon rested his arm on Mareekah’s shoulders. I felt defeated. They were together. But on the outside, I was smiling, taking it on the chin.
“Your hot dog is ready for you”, she told Brendan.
“Oh thanks so much!”, Brendan said.
He looked back at me.
“I’ll see you around in a second, yeah?”
I smiled.
“Sure.”
Mareekah and Brendan walked off to the barbecue, their arms still around the other. I went back to Antonio and Michelle, who had very clearly been watching my interaction with Brendan, and handed Antonio a soda and Michelle a light beer.
“So are you a couple now?”, Antonio asked.
I laughed. I didn’t want to tell them I thought Brendan was already part of a couple.
“He is a nice guy though.”
Antonio and Michelle then said they wanted to get back to their families after this drink. We had to return the van and the equipment as well.
“You should stay though”, Antonio told me.
“Yeah, the veggie cowboy has been making eyes at you all evening”, Michelle agreed.
“Yeah, and apparently he’s a nice guy.”
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| Brendan |
“OK, fuck it. I will stay.”
“Awesome. Full report tomorrow morning”, Michelle joked.
I said goodbye to my co-workers and went to use the restroom. I thought about how the rest of this evening was going to go. I wasn’t very good at hitting on guys in general. Especially when I wasn’t certain they were gay. Some guys get offended.
I came back into the parking lot. It felt weird to be by myself now, not really knowing anyone else at the party. I decided to have one more beer, hang out around Brendan and see what would happen. I could order an Uber right after.
I took a beer from the cooler and looked around to see if I could find Brendan. Suddenly he popped up right next to me.
“Oh thank God, you’re still here”, he said. “I thought you’d left.”
“Just Michelle and Antonio. I’m still here.”
He smiled his beautiful smile.
“Good. Hey, I wanna tell you something.”
He gestured for me to follow him in between some parked cars, evidently so we could talk privately.
“I just realized how that must have looked earlier”, he said the second he turned around. “But I couldn’t let you leave without telling you I am very attracted to you.”
I knew I must have looked surprised.
“Please don’t be offended”, he immediately followed with, “I’m gay and thought you might be, too…?”
“Oh, I am! Yes.”
Brendan looked relieved.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re not into me, I just knew I would regret it if I didn’t shoot my shot.”
I chuckled.
“But… I don’t understand. I thought you were with Mareekah?”
“She’s my best friend”, he explained. “Were just a little touchy feely, especially when we’ve been drinking.”
I smiled.
We stared at each other in silence. I was mesmerized by his beautiful eyes and his now slightly nervous smile.
“So…”, he said.
I realized I hadn’t let him know I was attracted to him as well. I decided to let him know.
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| Brendan |
“Hey! Butt Shelf!”
Brendan broke the kiss just as someone yelled out.
“That’s Mareekah. She always has nicknames for my ass, for some reason.”
I laughed. That had been rather misleading.
Brendan took my hand.
“Come. Let’s join the party. But you stay with me, OK?”
I smiled.
“OK.”
I followed Brendan and noticed his ass for the first time as it stretched the material of his jeans with each step. It stood out, literally. I hope the nicknames weren’t a way to mock Brendan. Because his ass was absolutely beautiful to me.
Brendan walked up to Mareekah.
“Mounds! I lost you!”, she said as she hugged him and made eye contact with me.
She gasped and immediately let go of the hug.
“Did you two…?”
Brendan smiled and nodded. Mareekah squealed and gave me a hug as well.
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