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| Justin |
It was quite common for my Mom to call me early in the morning, around the start of my workday. She likely knew by now it was the time of day where I was most likely to answer and have the time to talk to her for a little while. This morning she caught me while I had just finished up in my home gym.
“You need to stop working so hard, my boy.”
She ignored my question. I chuckled.
“And why is that, Mom?”
“You are going to die alone.”
“Am I now?”
“First, you never bring a girl home. Then you say, ‘Mama, I am gay’. And now, you never bring a boy home.”
This was a lot to unpack first thing in the morning. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and walked to the bathroom. I didn’t respond.
“What use is there to being gay if you’re not going to bring someone home?”
I wondered what it was that had set her off. It wasn’t the first time she went off on a tangent like this, but usually there was a reason for it.
“You might as well not be gay!”, she continued.
To be fair, I had been doing many gay things, but she was right that it hadn’t involved me bringing someone home for her to meet. I was mostly having one-night stands that of course I wouldn’t tell her about. She was right that I was preoccupied with work, not spending my time and energy on actual dates and more meaningful relationships.
“You are just slowly going to grow old behind that desk in your fancy corner office!”
My laugh echoed through the bathroom.
Once I had moved to the USA, my Mom was adamant to tell me all about the importance of working hard. As a black immigrant, my path hadn’t been easy. Her advice had meant a lot to me. But now that I had succeeded and I had my own chain of gyms with 50 locations across the country, she had a different vision for me. It may have had something to do with my sister getting married soon. Fuck, when exactly was that again?
“Justin, my baby. Please bring home a boyfriend.”
I wasn’t currently seeing anyone, but I’ve always had a hard time disappointing my Mom.
“S-sure, Mom. Maybe for Terina’s wedding?”
I heard her gasp on the other end.
“Yes? Please! So I can put down a plus one? Terry said you never RSVP’d.”
I smiled. That’s why she called.
“Uhm, yeah. Sure. Put down the plus one.”
“You make me so happy, baby. Who is the lucky man?”
I caught my own eye in the mirror. Fuck. There was no lucky man.
“Mom, I’m sorry. I gotta get ready for work. I’ll tell you all about him soon!”
“Of course, my boy. I will see you next week! So happy you’re coming home again.”
Now I panicked even more.
“Next week?”
“Yes! Your flight is August 12th. Don’t forget!”
“Wow, time flies!”
When I hung up I realized the predicament I had put myself in. I shook it off and took a shower. I had to get ready for the day. I was in fact not sitting behind a desk all day today, there was an international conference right here in New York where I was scheduled to speak. So my focus obviously shifted. I got dressed in a nice shirt and slacks, something I’m not so used to wearing. But it made me feel more professional and ready.
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| Justin |
A young black man gave me my name badge.
“My name is Jerome and I am so excited for your talk this morning!”
I couldn’t help but smile, he was so excited and handsome.
“Thank you!”, I said.
“Please follow me so I can show you the room and give you instructions.”
Jerome showed me where I would be speaking. It was a nice stage with a large screen at the back. There were a good number of seats. He showed me how I could work the screen with a clicker. He also gave me a look at the program. After an introduction, I was set to speak first. There were two more speakers to follow me in this part of the day's program. In total the topic with these speakers only lasted an hour, there were multiple topics with speakers throughout the day.
I still had half an hour, so I went to look for the FitWorks booth. Gyms and gym-related organizations had stands across a specifically designated area in the conference. The FitWorks stand was probably being manned by April and Kathy, two of the New York employees. I was amazed by the amount of stands, mostly from gym chains from across the globe. I had spoken at this same conference last year, then held in London. I didn’t remember there being this many gyms attending.
Suddenly I saw his face. The big blue eyes. The perfect smile with dimples showing through his scruffy beard. The blond hair. The fit, trim body, now hidden by a dark blue T-shirt. I had definitely seen him before. I had an image of him riding my dick and cumming all over me handsfree. The sex we’d had was amazing. It hadn’t been at home. Was it at his home? No, wait. It was a hotel. Why couldn’t I remember his name?
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| Dave |
I quickly put my phone in my pocket and walked back toward the stand. As I came close, he suddenly looked up at me. I did my best to pretend to be surprised.
“Oh wow. Dave?”
“Hey, Justin! So good to see you!”
He came from behind the table and we hugged. The British accent brought me back. I had fucked Dave exactly a year ago in London. I remembered now and for a second I thought I had gotten away with it.
“So you just totally looked me up on Grindr because you’d forgotten my name?”
“Uhm-”
He laughed. It was rare I met someone who put me in my place like that.
“Don’t worry, it’s been a year”, he said. “I’m sure I haven’t been the only one.”
Although he was manning the stand by himself, I was surprised how openly he was talking about this with people walking by.
“Wait, are you calling me a... slut?”, I whispered the last word.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that!”
He squeezed my shoulder. Fuck, he was sexy.
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| Dave |
“Do you wanna catch up after this?”, Dave asked me.
“Oh absolutely!”, I said.
Just the thought of getting to fuck his ass was starting to get me aroused.
“I’m speaking over there in half an hour”, I said, pointing to the room I had just come from.
“Oh cool”, he responded.
“After that I’m free.”
“Splendid! I am actually going to be in New York for a while. We could get drinks at my hotel this time?”
I smiled. A year ago we had drinks at my hotel bar before I fucked him in my room.
“Sure!”
“I’ll be in touch”, he smiled.
I could only say a quick hello to April and Kathy. I was happy to see FitWorks was well-represented. The merchandise looked great and the girls actively approached passers-by.
“Please give a warm welcome to Justin Gumbs!”
Jerome introduced me wonderfully. I almost felt like a star as I walked on stage to applause. The room was practically full. My 15-minute talk was about the importance of racial diversity, both within the teams of employees in the gyms, but also in management. Also I had tips on how to attract more diverse employees in both scales. There weren’t many black gym owners unfortunately, especially not when it comes to larger chains like FitWorks. So I was used to being invited to speak on the topic and I happily did so.
The talk went well. Afterwards, I was excited to sit down in the front row to hear the other two speakers. Jerome introduced Francesca Chesser as the next speaker. She talked about how to make women feel safe in gyms and the types of harassment women can face. She actually made some very interesting points. I wrote down a few things I could incorporate in my gyms. Especially when it comes to empowering women to report any harassment they face to the front desk and then how to deal with those reports.
I was still writing when the third and final speaker was introduced by Jerome.
“Last year he started the Queer-Inclusive Gyms Initiative. All the way from the UK, it’s David Standen!”
I casually looked up and there he was. Dave. He winked at me from the stage before he started his talk.
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| Dave |
As he spoke about the sensitivities of the LGBTQ+ community when it comes to working out in gyms, from same-sex showering, to gendered lockerrooms, I thought back to when I had met him in the hotel lobby in London a year ago. His muscular body and sexy photos on Grindr had made me expect a very traditionally masculine type. His at times high-pitched voice and at times more femme mannerisms had surprised me at first. But it was the dichotomy that had made him interesting to me at the time. The more I saw of him, the more interested I had become.
Although I was pretty sure he identified as a cis gay man, he had no trouble spending most of his talk on trans, intersex, genderfluid and non-binary people, who possibly needed this spotlight the most. He was also the only one out of the three speakers to have an intersectional approach, naming black trans and non-binary folk as the people least likely to choose a gym for working out, because it mostly isn’t a welcoming environment for them.
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| Dave |
I was impressed. Jerome went back on stage to thank everybody for coming and to let people know about the schedule for the rest of the day. Dave disappeared backstage, likely back to handing out flyers and merchandise for his initiative. I wanted to talk to him. There was something about him that kept me on my toes.
As I got up, several people approached me to talk to me. I shook hands, exchanged business cards and traded smiles. I also ran into a few people from across the country that I already knew. These conferences were usually all about networking. Only a few years ago I had been the one to step up to people. Now they were coming to me. I loved it.
I was about to walk over to the bathroom when I noticed I had a Grindr notification on my phone. It was a message from Dave.
‘They put me up at the Royalton. Wanna come for drinks at 4?’
I was puzzled. 4.00 PM seemed quite a random time. But why not. Why wait till after dinner? Maybe he was telling me that he didn’t want me to spend the night. Or he already had evening plans. Whatever the reason, I knew I could have dinner with my feet up at home in my sweats, having a nice post-coital night in by myself.
I did stop by the office even though my assistant Janice would have called or texted had there been an emergency.
“Good afternoon Mr Gumbs, how was the conference?”
“Very good actually, thank you. Anything happen here?”
“Nothing major, Sir. Just a few messages. Mr Ramos tried to plan a lunch meeting on the 16th, but I told him no.”
“What? Why?”
Janice looked at me all puzzled.
“Y-your sister’s wedding Sir. You have the week off.”
“Oh. Right. Reschedule for me please.”
“Of course. And, uhm. Mrs Gumbs called me to ask the name of your plus one.”
I put my head down. Mom had called the office. How mortifying.
“I-I didn’t know what to tell her.”
“That’s all right, I will call her back.”
My mother was relentless. I had – once again – totally forgotten about the wedding as well as what I had said this morning. I had to find myself a plus one. I contemplated asking Janice to find me one, but then I remembered how expensive escorts could be. And also, just how tacky that would be. I’m pretty sure I had seen a rom-com with that exact set-up.
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| Dave |
Then he sat back down. So I sat down as well. He crossed his legs and took a sip from a clearly alcoholic beverage on the table. He waved over the bartender so I could give him my drink order. I guessed Dave actually wanted to catch up. Or maybe just flirt for a while before we got to his room.
“So I watched FitWorks go even bigger this last year, congratulations!”
I smiled.
“Thanks! And now you’re in the business too!”
“Well, sort of”, he smirked. “As I’m sure I told you in London, I do lots of outdoor sports. Hiking, cycling, running. But in the winter I use the gym and the indoor pool.”
I did remember Dave telling me about how active he was. It was quite hot to hear once again.
“But some of the buddies I cycle and hike with didn’t feel comfortable going to the gym or the pool. And it broke my heart. So I listened and learned, got educated. I went to that conference in London last year and saw you.”
“Wait. You were there?”
“Oh yeah. I noticed how there were diversity and inclusion initiatives, but I didn’t hear the LGBTQ+ perspective, let alone an intersectional one. So I started QIGI!”
He looked cheerful, maybe slightly smug. I looked down and nodded. He had never told me he had seen me before we met up in that London hotel lobby.
The bartender put my drink on the table next to my seat.
“Thank you.”
I waited for the bartender to leave.
“So when you hit me up on Grindr…?”
“I was actually in the audience when I sent the first message.”
I laughed. I took a sip. I felt like I was being called out.
“So what you’re saying is I should have done better, as a gay man?”
Dave’s expression changed.
“What? No! I admired you. I still do. Most of these gym managements are like the Rocky Mountains.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“The higher up you go, the whiter?”
I laughed. He was right.
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| Dave |
I smirked and took another sip.
“Anyway”, Dave continued, “I wanted to talk to you because I felt like together we could make some great stuff happen in the FitWorks locations across the US. It would help me get the initiative off the ground here and I’m sure it could attract customers for you.”
I was confused and I’m sure it showed.
“That’s why you invited me here? Business?”
“Well. Yeah.”
I quickly shifted gears.
“FitWorks is actually already doing great within the LGBTQ+ community. And I wrote down some things during your talk to benefit them even more. What would us working together do to benefit FitWorks?”
“All right, I am going to be honest here. I am doing all of this as a volunteer as well. I took time off from my job to be here and try to recruit as many other volunteers as I can.”
“What’s your paying job?”
“Head of corporate social responsibility at a credit card company.”
I nodded, still impressed. He smiled at me.
“I just need a little something to get me started. To give this the time and attention it needs.”
“Money?”, I asked.
He nodded.
I knew he had something good here and although I was being the tough negotiator, there was definitely something to be said for FitWorks to be the first gym named from this new promising initiative, whose social media following was bound to explode here like it had done overseas.
Dave watched me as I was thinking. I looked back. My mind suddenly made a crazy connection as I watched Dave’s beautiful smile. Could I… ask this of him?
“I will gladly invest in this project”, I finally started. “On one condition.”
He smiled big.
“Anything.”
“I need a plus one for my sister’s wedding.”
He laughed.
“Fuck off.”
“I’m serious.”
Dave shook his head. There was no turning back now.
“I used our mutual sexual attraction to get this meeting, so I guess I should have seen something like this coming”, he said.
“Our plane leaves a week from Friday.”
“Fuck”, Dave chuckled. “Where?”
“Home.”
“It better be somewhere nice.”
“St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.”
Love the look of the black protagonist.
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