SquidgeWorld Archive

The Dinner (from Past Imperfect)
by Crystal

It was two days before Gary worked up the nerve to call John. He'd  called the cell phone number first, since he thought that was the  sure-fire way that he'd get John without bothering anybody else. He  didn't get an answer, though, and he paced for a good thirty minutes  before he could get his resolve up enough to call the phone number.  He dialed and got an answer of "Carter residence," when the line was  answered. He almost hung up on the woman answering the phone, but he  stopped himself by sheer will alone, and stuttered out, "May I please  speak to John Carter?"

"May I tell Dr. John who's calling?" the woman asked.

"My name's Gary Hobson."

The phone was put down for a few minutes, and then John's voice came on the line, "Hi, Gary?"

"Yeah, it's me. Hi. How are you doing?" Gary kicked himself mentally, but he didn't seem to be able to come up with anything but lameness.

"I'm great now that you called." Gary was glad John couldn't see his blush. "What are you up to?"

"Right now, nothing." He replied honestly.

"Do you want to go grab a bite, maybe?" The voice on the other end sounded hopeful.

"Sure, sounds great. Where should I meet you?" Gary couldn't keep the enthusiasm out of his voice.

"Why don't you give me directions to your place and I'll pick you up. I mean, if that's okay." John didn't sound completely sure of himself.

"Um, okay," Gary described how to get to where McGinty's was from where John's starting point was, and listened as John repeated the directions back to him.

"Hey, listen, Gary," John said after he'd gotten the directions down. "I'd really like this to be like a date. I mean that's okay, isn't it?"

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I....I mean if that's what you'd like. I mean that's okay with me, too. If that's what you want."

"Gary, it's okay. Remember to breathe. It's just a date. I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"

"Yeah, see you at seven." Gary hung up the phone, feeling a little light headed from the giddiness flowing through him. *A date?* he mused. He smiled to himself. The fact that John Carter actually wanted to go on a `real date' with him proved that the kiss hadn't been a fluke, which Gary had been silently worrying about for the past two days. He looked at the clock. It was 5:30. That gave him an hour and a half to shower (again), and get ready for the date.

John had taken the phone call from Rosa, and had asked Gary out on a date, noticing that the other man had been too nervous to ask him. *Hell, he probably worked up all of his nerve just for the phone call.* But John was so elated that Gary hadn't said no to the date, even when he'd spelled out that that's exactly what it was. He turned around right into the face of his grandmother. He stood there for a minute under her gaze while his entire face turned bright tomato red. She shook her head at him, and said, "We'll talk, John, but later will do. Don't you have a date to get ready for?" She looked amused when he stood there gaping at her for a moment. Would wonders never cease? Surely, she'd heard the name of the person on the other line when he'd said it. She obviously didn't care. He decided that he could sit there stunned or he could do what she said and go get ready. He shrugged and walked past her towards the shower.

He pulled up outside of McGinty's tavern about ten minutes until seven. He walked into the old Chicago building admiring its ambiance. It was nice, and the evening crowd had just started to
gather. He stopped at the bar and when he was noticed he asked where he could find Gary Hobson.

A female voice came from behind, "You're a friend of Gary's?" He turned towards the voice and saw an attractive, blind, black woman standing there.

"Yes, my name's John Carter." He took the hand she offered and shook it.

"Marissa Clark," she said wit a smile. "If you go to the door to the left of the bar and walk up the stairs that'll lead you to Gary's loft."

John thanked her and walked upstairs to the loft, and knocked twice. Gary came to the door, and opened it. John nearly gasped. Gary looked amazing. Not that there was much that he could mess up. He was wearing dark gray slacks with a darker shade of gray turtleneck sweater. It made his smooth skin look pale and flawless, which made his eyes seem even darker brown framed by black eyebrows that arched perfectly. "Hi," was all he could manage to come up with.

"Hi," Gary said back. "You want to come in for a minute, or should we go?" Gary had stepped away from the doorway, making it clear that John could come in if he so chose. As much as he wanted to see Gary's apartment, he thought better of it. They'd miss dinner if he did that, and seeing that Gary took care of himself was something that John was going to take over starting now.

"We should get to the restaurant. I pulled a favor and got them to hold a table for us." He led the way back downstairs. Gary stopped to tell Marissa he'd be gone for a while, and she said something that John didn't hear, but it made Gary blush. He smiled and said something back in an equally hushed tone, and whatever it was made Marissa laugh out loud. Gary returned to John and they went outside with John leading the way to his car. He opened the passenger side door and waited for Gary to get in before closing it. He walked around to the driver's side, got in, and started the car.

"Where are we going?" asked Gary. John had dressed to the nines. He was afraid that he would still be underdressed.

"It's a little cafe I found one day of driving around called Machiavelli's. It's really small, but it has a select group of loyal patrons that keeps it pretty busy. They even have a blues singer there most nights. The food's really good, too. It's kind of a potpourri of every kind of food you can imagine, so I'm sure you won't go hungry for want of something familiar." He added with a smile.

"Sounds great."

They drove around listening to John's car radio, lost in their separate thoughts. They were at the restaurant in fifteen minutes. John had been true to the fact that the place was small, but busy.

The hostess looked up when she saw them enter and smiled, coming over and hugging Carter, "Johnny," she exclaimed enthusiastically, "long time no see." She stepped back from him with her hands still clasping each of his shoulders.

"Hi, Lizzie, this is my date, Gary." He said pointing to where Gary was standing, frozen with the blush spreading to the tips of his ears when John had so nonchalantly admitted that this was a date. The hostess, however, didn't seem the least bit surprised, and turned back to John after giving him an appreciative glance up and down, which only served to make his blush grow stronger.

"Come on. We've kept you a table open." She took menus from behind her podium and led the way to a table on the side of the room where they could still see the small stage with a single microphone standing. "Lyta's on tonight. It should be a good show. I'll let your waiter know you're here." Having said that, she left them alone.

They glanced at the menu, which had just about every type of food imaginable. Their waiter appeared before them while they were still looking. "Can I get you two gentlemen anything to drink?" He asked with a pencil and pad to take their order with.

"I'll just have a club soda since I'm driving," said John, not wanting to scare away Gary with the fact that he was a recovering addict. "And I'll suggest that you," he said pointing a finger at Gary, "indulge yourself with the house Bordeaux. It's wonderful."

"Okay, well, I guess that's what I'll be having. Thanks." Gary said to their waiter as he once again disappeared to get their drinks. They looked at their menus deciding on what to eat when their waiter reappeared with a glass of club soda, which he promptly sat down in front of John, and an empty wineglass, which was placed in front of Gary. The waiter then opened an entire bottle of wine, pouring a glass for him, then leaving the bottle on the table. "I didn't mean an entire bottle." Gary said incredulously. "I can't drink an entire bottle of wine by myself." The waiter just looked back at him impassively.

"It's okay," said John. "Drink what you want, and then we'll let Andre here take the rest home with him." He added winking at Gary.

"Are you two ready to order dinner? Can I start you off with an appetizer?"

They placed their orders. John getting the salmon, and Gary getting a steak. Their waiter left with their orders, and Gary decided to take a tentative sip of the wine. It was good, really good. He almost downed the first entire glass, and then he looked across and saw the mischievous look in John's eyes. "Don't think you're going to get me drunk, and then have your wicked way with me, John Carter." He said as the wine was already warming him from inside out.

"That transparent, am I?" John said with a goofy grin.

"Maybe a little," said Gary smiling back. He finished the first glass, looking at the bottle still sitting there in front of him. *What the hell,* he thought. *How often do I drink, let alone go out on a date with someone that I'm really interested in. Maybe this'll help me relax just enough to enjoy it.* He took the bottle and refilled his glass, taking only a sip from it this time. Their dinner came just as a young woman stepped onto the stage.

"Hello, my name is Lyta Monroe. Welcome to Machiavelli's. Are there any requests to start the night off with?" She asked. A few requests filtered through to the stage, and she began to sing. It was nice, she had a really sweet voice, and it only lifted Gary's spirits.

John noticed the small smile playing on Gary's lips when Lyta began to sing, and how his eyes half closed when he started to sway slightly to the rhythm of the song. He looked happy. It was a good look for him. "Do you dance?" asked John.

"Hmm?" Gary's reverie was broken. "Oh, yeah, my mom made me take lessons when I was young. She said that it would make me into a gentleman." He said, remembering how his mom had to almost drag him to the instructor's studio. He was afraid that if his friends found out he'd be made fun of. "My mom had to drag me kicking and screaming, you know." He turned his attention back to his date. "But it was nice. The instructor was this middle-aged woman who'd been a professional dancer, but had lost the practical use of one of her legs after a car accident, and had to use a cane from then on. She relocated to Indiana after that, and started up a little dancing school."

"You're from Indiana? I've never lived anywhere but Chicago," said John, trying to imagine Gary as a little boy, trying to win a battle of will against his mom over dance lessons.

Gary laughed at John's expression. "Well, it's not exactly like Indiana is a great Mecca for worldliness." They began to talk after that through their dinner. Gary talked about his childhood, his parents, Bernie and Lois. He'd had John in tears with laughter as he explained how his dad had nearly blown up his trailer, aptly named the Gray Ghost, trying to make something called gnokie, and how Gary had had to break into it with a fire extinguisher, though he carefully left out how the paper had been what alerted him to the fact that the trailer would blow up. John, in turn, told him about his childhood, and family, and how he'd pretty much stayed with his grandparents since his parents were pretty much always away. He'd made light of everything though, so as to not spoil the mood. They finished their meal, and still sat there talking. Gary was on his fourth glass of wine and it showed; although, John was convinced that he was hiding something. *Well, it's not like I've told him everything either,* thought John. *It's okay. He can keep a secret. I've got time.*

Lyta interrupted their conversation by stating that it was almost closing time and they only had time for one more song. John muttered something that sounded like "Oh, why not," before screaming out "Cry Me a River." He stood up and held his hand out to Gary. "Come on. Come dance with me."

"Here?" said Gary, looking around nervously.

"Gary, I wouldn't take you somewhere where I couldn't at least touch you in public. It's okay. Trust me." Having said that, he pulled Gary to his feet, and led him out to the floor. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, neither of them knowing what to do. Finally, John took the lead by putting one arm around his waist and holding the other of Gary's hand in his own up near their shoulders. Gary's other hand came up to John's shoulder and they began to sway to the song as it filtered through.

"Now, you say you're lonely
You cry the whole night through
Well, cry me a river
Cry me a river
I cried a river over you."

They moved into the music, their temples now touching, and bodies pressed closely as they moved gracefully around the floor. As the song ended, their lips met gently, and then they were met with applause from the enthusiastic patrons still left in the cafe. Lyta came down off the stage saying, "Wow, you guys really move well together. That was great. You should definitely come back, so that all my shows can end like that." She smiled at them, and then went over to the hostess to help her get things ready to close up. With the spell of the music broken, Gary and John moved back to their table to get their things and pay their tab. They agreed that John would pay for the dinner, and Gary would leave the tip, and that next time they'd reverse, so it would be even. Both of them overjoyed that the other one wanted there to be a next time. They paid, and John led the way back to the car, letting Gary in as he'd done before, and then driving back to McGinty's. They arrived out front of Gary's place, and sat there for a minute as John turned off his ignition. Gary turned his head to look at him, and that was all that John needed to lean over and close the distance between them. Their lips met softly, and he leaned across the seats to get close to Gary. His tongue traced Gary's lips before they opened and let him in. They sat there making out in the car like a couple of teenagers. Tracing kisses across jaw lines, sucking on earlobes, groping through clothes. Then true to form, John's pager went off again.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit," said John as he forcefully jerked up the pager to check the message.

Gary laughed softly, "We really have to stop meeting this way," he said. John looked at him apologetically, getting ready to explain that he had to go to the hospital when Gary just held up his hand to stop him. Gary leaned over placing a sweet kiss on his lips, and reached for the door handle, and stopped as he noticed the condition of the car's windows. *My Lord,* thought John, as a smile took over his face. *We've fogged up the entire car.* He laughed out loud, and so did Gary. They turned to face one another, and Gary said, "We'll have to do this again sometime."

The End (of the snippet anyway