-1-

Ann and Gary Martin lived in suburban central New Jersey near New Brunswick.  They had only been married for three years, when they purchased their first home.  In spite of the fact that they both had good jobs, the expense of home-owning, and the high cost of commuting to Manhattan, was making it tough on them, financially.  Ann was a buyer for Macy’s and Gary was an account executive in an ad agency.

When they lived in the city, they had a number of friends with whom they socialized, and they could afford to spend an extra buck back then.  Now, they rarely saw their old friends, because money was too tight.  There was an exception, however.  One of Gary’s best buddies worked with him at the agency.  He and Tony had lunch together every day. 

Back in the days when Gary lived in New York, they often double dated.  Tony was a player, and he was never with the same girl twice.  Gary wouldn’t admit it, but he was secretly envious of his friend.  At twenty-seven, he felt he was too young to be burdened with all the responsibilities that he and Ann had undertaken.

One day, Ann went to Los Angeles for a two week buying trip.  She was not due to get home until Sunday night two weeks hence.  While she was away, Gary felt like living it up, just as he had done in his bachelor days.  When they were on their coffee break, the first Monday morning that Ann was gone, Gary asked Tony if he was free one evening to have dinner with him, and hit a couple of bars.  Tony took out his cell phone, and downloaded his calendar.  “I’m free all week except tomorrow and Saturday,” he said.  “I’m working those evenings.”

Gary was stunned.  He had expected Tony to say, he had some serious sexual activity scheduled for those nights.  He certainly didn’t expect to hear that the man was working.  Furthermore, where was he working?  Certainly not at the agency.  Gary would have known if he was.

“Whadaya  mean working?” Gary dared asked.  “Where at?  What at?”

Tony laughed.  “I’m a ‘spear carrier’ at the Metropolitan Opera.”

“Don’t shit me,” Gary laughed.  “You can’t sing a note, and what the fuck is a ‘spear carrier?’”

“I don’t have to sing.  A ‘spear carrier’ is a non-singing extra.  All I have to do is walk around the stage and mix with the chorus.  Often we have to carry spears, and that’s how we got the nick-name ‘spear carriers.’  We also need to have nice bodies, which most chorus members do not.  Sometimes I’m half naked, like when I’m playing a slave.”

Gary’s heart began to thump.  He and Ann could sure use some extra income.  “What kind of money do they pay you?” he asked.

“I get $175 for each performance, and that includes rehearsals.  Unfortunately, rehearsals are minimal.  They give us a few instructions, and we parade around during the final dress rehearsal.  The night of the performance, they repeat the instructions, and we are good to go.  There’s nothing complicated about it.”

“Do you think you could get me a job?” Gary asked eagerly. “I sure can use the money.”

“Come with me Tuesday evening, and we’ll see if they need any more ‘spear carriers.’  We’ll ask the stage manager.  You can watch the performance from the rear of the orchestra in the standing room section.  If you spot an empty seat grab it.  After the performance we can have a drink together.”

“That sounds like a great invitation,” Gary said, “but the last train to New Brunswick is 10:30 PM, and the last bus is 11 PM.  Which begs the question, when does the average performance end?”

“Usually the curtain goes down between 11 and 11:30, but we have to stay afterward.  Sometimes the stage manager doesn’t like something or other he’s seen on the stage, and he’ll instruct us in changes for the next performance.”

Gary shook his head.  “As much as I would like to do this, it’s impossible.  I could never make the last train or bus to New Brunswick.”

“On performance and rehearsal evenings, you could pack a bag, and shack up with me.  Ann would understand, given how badly you guys could use the money.  Hey, that gives me a great idea.  She’s away for two weeks.  When you come into the city tomorrow, bring fresh shirts, socks, and underwear, etc., and spend the two weeks with me.  We’ll really be able to tie one on especially after the Saturday performance.  We don’t have to go to work on Sunday, and we’ll have all day to sober up.”

“Shit Tony, you’re just what the doctor ordered, and since we’re both free tonight, let’s have dinner together, before I head for home.”

Tony grinned from ear to ear.  “You’re on,” he said,” but we better get back to work before we lose our jobs.”

The next day, after work, they went over to Tony’s apartment, Gary dropped his suitcase in the hallway, and they went straight to the opera house.

“Before I go to makeup,” Tony said, “let me see if I can find the big Kahuna.”  He came back a few minutes later with his boss in tow.  He introduced Gary to James, the stage manager.

“Take your coat off,” James instructed, and Gary complied. 

“Sure,” he continued, “with a body like yours, I can use you.  Can you get here Friday evening for a dress rehearsal, and to fill out an employment application?  We’re doing Carmen Saturday night, and you can be one of the soldiers in Act One at the changing of the guard.  In Acts Two and Three you can mix among the chorus and be one of the smugglers.  In the final act you can be in the crowd, watching the toreadors march to the bull ring.  Tony is on deck for Saturday night, but not Friday.  He’s done Carmen so many times, he can skip the rehearsal.”

James extended his hand, and Gary shook it.  “Welcome aboard,” he said.

Gary was left wondering a lot of things.  First off, James was very effeminately gay, but that didn’t bother him.  What bothered him was when James said that Tony had performed in Carmen many times.  How could he not have known about his best friend’s after school activities?  Well, it only proved that he and Tony had really grown apart since he moved to the suburbs, or maybe it was since he got married.  That really disturbed him.

But what he was most frightened about was that he had never seen an opera in his life.  He had no idea what James was talking about when he described how he could be used Saturday night.  He figured that Tony could fill him in after tonight’s performance.

The doors of the opera house had not yet been open to the public, but Gary spotted an usher stacking programs on a table at one of the entrances.  He approached the lady, told her that he had just been hired as a ‘spear carrier’ and had been told he could watch the opera that night in the standing room section.  He asked her politely if she could tell him where that was.

She smiled broadly, and also welcomed him to ‘the family.’  She pointed to an area at the rear of the center orchestra.  There were three rows of railings there.  “Just throw your coat over a spot at the end of any of the railings, and you’ve staked your claim.  If I see an empty seat, I can come and get you.  It’ll be easier if you’re standing at the end of the railing.”  She smiled at Gary, and thought he was quite a hunk, and wished that she was thirty years younger.

Gary thanked her, and he did indeed stake his claim.  The opera that night was Don Carlo.  It was an extra-long opera, and the curtain went up at 7:30 instead of the usual 8 PM.  Gary had no idea that the opera was starting early.  It was all so new to him.  He tried hard to spot Tony on the stage.  It wasn’t easy with all the make-up, but he managed to identify Tony in three separate scenes.  Gary was overwhelmed by the music, and by the pageantry on the stage.  He was mesmerized and shocked that he was enjoying the performance so much.  Still, he was able to spot Tony the first time, as he was being led to the stake as a heretic during The Spanish Inquisition.  He couldn’t believe that they could replicate an Auto-De-Fe on a stage.  Tony was bare chested, and his trousers were in shreds as he was tied to the stake.  Gary had never realized how handsome and well-built his buddy was until now.

The next time he spotted Tony, was in a jail scene.  Now it was Don Carlo who had been arrested for heresy.  There were two or three extras in the cell with him, and Tony was one of them, showing off his magnificent body once again.  No wonder James wanted to check him out as well.

Gary spotted Tony once more in the final scene.  Don Carlo had escaped thanks to his best friend, Rodrigo, who was killed in his place.  He sought sanctuary in a church.  His father, King Philip II, rushed in with a bunch of soldiers, intent on murdering his own son for the crime of heresy, as had been decreed by The Grand Inquisitor.  Tony was one of the soldiers, and he was considerably more dressed than in the previous scenes.  Don Carlo was saved by the ghost of his grandfather, King Charles V, and the opera ended.

When they arrived at the opera house, Tony showed Gary where the stage door was.  “Meet me here after the opera,” he said.  Gary headed right for that stage door, and waited.  It was a while before cast members began to exit.  When he spotted Tony, he called to him, and Tony rushed over.

“I’m really exhausted from all the costume changes,” he said.  “Let’s have one drink, and then we’ll head home.  Tomorrow is a work day.  There’s a nice quiet pub right up the street called Lester’s.”  He headed toward the bar, and Gary followed him.

The bar was not very crowded at this late hour, but Tony said, “It’ll fill up in a little while.  It’s close to Lincoln Center, and it’s a favorite of many of the cast and the musicians.”

They sat at the bar, and just as their drinks were being served, several more cast members came in.  James, the stage manager, was among them.  He spotted them, and came over.  James put an arm around each of them, winked at Tony, and said, “Have fun tonight, you two.”  Then he joined the others.

Gary was extremely agitated by that last remark, but he didn’t know why.  He looked around him, and it finally dawned on him that they were in a gay bar.  He couldn’t believe that Tony was gay.  He was a Don Juan for God’s sake.  Gary rationalized that Tony came here for an after dinner drink only because it was so close to the opera house, and he could socialize with other cast members.  He had no intention of asking Tony about it, but suddenly, he wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

“I’m tired,” he said to Tony.  “Could we go home now?”

“I’m bushed also.  Let’s go.  I just want to say goodbye to the guys over there.”  Gary watched Tony as he went to say goodbye, and was more than shocked, when one of the men stood up and kissed him on the cheek.”

Tony knew that Gary had seen the kiss, so as they left the bar, he said, “Don’t make too much out of that.  Logan is gay, and that’s what he does.”  Gary smiled back weakly at Tony.

When they entered Tony’s apartment, Gary picked up the suitcase that he had dropped in the front hall.  “Where should I put this?” he asked.

“I only have one bedroom. Throw it in there.”

Gary did as Tony had requested, and gasped.  “You only have one bed,” he stated the obvious.

“Yeah, but it’s king-sized.  Three guys can sleep in it comfortably.  You can be foolish and sleep on the couch, or you can sleep comfortably with me.  I’ve been told that I don’t snore.”

Based on the events of the evening, Gary could only wonder if it were men or women who told Tony that he didn’t snore.

“I guess I better lay it all out on the table,” Tony said.  “I sleep nude.”

“That’s a relief,” Gary said, “so do I.”  He wasn’t relieved at all.  In fact, he was getting damned uncomfortable.”

“Do you prefer to shower before you go to bed, or in the morning?” Tony asked.

“In the morning.”

“In that case, let’s get ready for bed before I collapse.”

They used the bathroom separately.  Tony went first, and when Gary got out of the bathroom, Tony was already in bed.  He was lying on top of the covers, fully exposed to Gary.  Gary got into the other side of the bed, but covered himself with the sheets.  Tony reached over and shut off his bedside light.  The room was bathed in darkness.

“One more thing,” Tony said, “before we go to sleep, I want to tell you something.”

Gary shuddered.  He was sure Tony was going to come out to him, but Tony said, “You’re going to go two weeks without sex, and I won’t be bringing anyone home while you’re here, so I intend to whack off, as much as I need to.  I prefer the bed to a toilet seat.  I hope that won’t bother you.  In fact, I would hope you would join me.  I figured that we are good enough friends that I could share that with you.”

“Gary was speechless, but he managed to say, “Are you going to do it now?  Is that why you didn’t cover up?”

“Yes, do you want to join me?”

“I might, but not tonight.”  Gary turned away from Tony, so that he didn’t have to watch, but when Tony came, Gary questioned his decision.  He had a whopper of a hard-on himself.  He had never seen Tony hard, and he had to fight with himself not to look.

They woke up in the morning, and showered separately.  They had breakfast at a coffee shop, and went off to their office.  Gary was very light-hearted that morning.  Nothing had happened while the two men slept together, and Gary could relax, even though he was not yet certain which team Tony played for.

At coffee break, Gary said to Tony, “I can’t wait for tonight.  I’m all psyched up for a boy’s night out.”

“Fantastic.  I’m looking forward to it also.  You pick the bar tonight.  Do you have any place special in mind?”

Gary thought for a minute, and said, “Let’s go back to where we were last night.  That way, after the opera, some of your friends might come in.  I should even buy James a drink for hiring me.  I need the extra money desperately.”

Tony was shocked, but he said, “If I can’t think of any place better, we’ll go there.”

After work, they went to Tony’s apartment, and dressed down.  They had dinner at a nice neighborhood restaurant.  The prices there were very moderate for New York City.

During dinner, Gary asked, “Have you thought of any place ‘better’ to go to later?”

“Not really, but I have to tell you something.  Lester’s is a gay bar.”

“I figured that out already.  Are you gay Tony?”

“Yes…always have been, and always will be.  I love you Gary, but I haven’t come on to you all these years, and I never will.”

“But what about all those women you used to date?”

“It was just an act, a cover-up.”

“Maybe I should go home instead of to the bar.”

“Please don’t,” Tony begged.  “Even though I love you, Gary, I promise I’ll never do anything I shouldn’t.  I swear.  I just want to be near you while we can, so please stay.”

“Tony, it’s not you I’m afraid of.  It’s me.  I don’t know why I ever got married.  My responsibilities are drowning me.  I don’t want to be married any more.  Even sex sucks.  It takes me so long to arouse Ann, that I begin to lose interest myself.  I want to have wild, kinky sex with someone who is already aroused.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I love you too, like a brother, but I don’t know if I can have sex with you.”

“Would you like to try?  I promise to be aroused from the get-go, just like you said you wanted a partner to be.”

“I honestly don’t know.  Let’s go to Lester’s where I can have a couple of drinks, and hopefully relax.  Then we’ll see."

-2-

They each had three drinks before the after-theater crowd began to arrive.  Gary was not only relaxed, he was jovial.  He and Tony joined James and his group, and Gary didn’t mind at all when James put his hand on his thigh.  Or maybe he didn’t notice.

When everybody started to go home, James whispered in Tony’s ear, “Maybe the three of us can get together sometime.”  Tony was flabbergasted.  He just smiled back at James, and shrugged his shoulders.  The only thing on his mind right now was seducing Gary, if not tonight, before the week was over.

They took a cab home, and started to undress the minute they got through the front door.  Their clothes lay strewn across the floor.  They literally collapsed on the bed, and both of them fell fast asleep.

Gary woke up at about 3 AM.  He had to pee badly.  He jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.  He was just finishing up, when he heard Tony say, “Hurry up man.  The dam is bursting.  I gotta go.”  Gary was washing his hands, and even over the running sink water, he heard the heavy flow of Tony’s piss.  For some reason it aroused him, and he jumped back in bed.  Tony joined him a few minutes later.

Once back in bed, Tony began to stroke his cock.  “I’m gonna jerk off,” he said, “Please join me this time.”  Gary began to stroke his cock.

“Do you mind if I watch you?” he asked Tony.  “I’m just plain curious.”  Tony reached over and turned on the bedside lamp.  Gary took a good look.  His bedmate was about 7 inches of uncut hardness.

“If you jerk me off, I promise it’ll get bigger,” Tony said.

Gary didn’t answer, he just continued to stroke his own cock.  Now it was Tony’s turn to stare.  They were about the same size, but Gary was slightly thinner, and he was cut.  Tony determined to make a bold move.  He waited until Gary’s breathing indicated that he was getting close.  When he was sure that Gary was at the point of no return, he pushed Gary’s hand away, and took over the stroking.  Then when he knew that Gary was going to explode, he took his friend’s cock into his mouth, and put his tongue to work. Gary did nothing to stop him, and he wailed in ecstasy when he came.

“That was wonderful,” Gary said.

“I’d like to do that to you for the rest of our lives…and more acts of love than you have ever dreamed of,” Tony whispered in Gary’s ear.  Then he placed his lips on Gary’s.  Gary’s first instinct was to turn away, pack his bag, and go home, but he was still high on the fantastic happy ending he had just received.  Instead he parted his lips and kissed Tony as passionately as ever he had kissed Ann.

“Tonight, will you let me fuck you?” Tony asked.

“You mean in the ass?  I don’t know, I never…”

“I know you’ve never, but you’ll love it, and you’ll make me very happy.  I swear to you, after the initial pain, when I am stimulating your prostate, you will be transported out of this world.”

“Tony,” Gary said, “I’m thinking of going home after work.  This doesn’t seem right to me.  We can’t do this again, even if I have to give up the spear carrying gig.”

Tony began to cry.  “Give me one more night,” he begged.  “If you only knew how much I love you.  I swear, I’ll make you very happy, and then if you still want to go home, I’ll understand.”

“I’ll see,” Gary said. “For now, let’s go back to sleep.”

Tony shut the light, and in the darkness, Gary could tell that Tony was jacking off.  He realized that Tony hadn’t gotten off before.  He was tempted to push Tony’s hand away, and finish him off with his own fist.  The thought frightened him, and he turned away from his friend.  Neither of them slept again until it was time to get out of bed, and ready for work.  They hardly spoke to each other on the way to the office.

All day long Gary could only think about having sex with Tony.  Instead of being disgusted, he was becoming more and more aroused.  He was trying hard to figure out what was happening to him.  At the afternoon coffee break Gary spoke to Tony for the first time that day.  “I’d like to give it a try,” he said.

Tony’s whole body began to shake, as if he was shivering.  Finally, he said, “I love you with all my heart and soul, Gary.  I promise you won’t be sorry.”

“But if I am sorry, Tony, promise to let me go home with your blessing, and I promise we’ll still be good friends.”  He wanted to say ‘best friends,’ but changed it to ‘good friends’ at the last moment.

They rushed home right after work.  Neither one of them gave a thought to eating dinner.  They undressed in record time, and hopped right into bed.  This time they displayed no evidence of reticence.  They immediately indulged in a sensuous game of sixty-nine.  If their mouths weren’t totally occupied. they would have moaned and groaned in utter delight.  When he felt himself cumming, Tony pulled away.  He took a tube of KY Jelly from his dresser drawer, but by-passed the condoms.

He applied a good deal of lube to his hands and pushed one finger up Gary’s ass. He began to ream Gary, to make sure he was being properly stretched.  Then he inserted a second finger, and continued the reaming.  Tony was about to ask Gary how he felt, but he heard his lover purring in ecstasy, and no words were necessary.  Tony decided to go for broke.  He pulled Gary to the edge of the bed, and placed a pillow under his butt.  After greasing his cock with lube, he raised both of Gary’s legs to his shoulder, lined up his cock, and began his entry.

He entered very slowly, and as he did, he leaned over and started to kiss Gary.  Tony met little or no resistance, which made him wonder if Gary wasn’t born to be a bottom.  Once he was all the way in, Gary’s natural instincts came into play.  He began to pump, urging Tony to start thrusting.  Gary not only pumped harder and harder, but he began to constrict his asshole in rhythm to Tony’s thrusting.  Tony delayed his orgasm as long as he could, but eventually he lost control and his cum spurted up Gary’s intestines.  He had to stop thrusting, and he had to beg Gary to stop pumping.

When Gary felt his lover’s seed gushing up his love canal, something happened to him, that he could not explain.  He lost all sense of reality.  He didn’t know where he was.  He looked around him, and he and Tony were still coupled, but they were lying on an emerald green field of grass.  Tony killed me, and I’m in heaven, he thought.  He came back to this world when he felt Tony kissing him, and asking him if he was all right.

“Yes, yes,” he sighed, “never better.  That was amazing.  I love you Tony.  I love you so much.”

“That brought Tony to tears, but he managed to say, “Please fuck me now.  Then we’ll shower, get dressed and go out to dinner.  We need to talk about what we’re going to do about this.  I love you also, and I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to talk about it until next week before Ann gets home.  I just want us to live as a married couple for the next few days.  Please give me that pleasure.”

They prepared themselves for Gary to fuck Tony.  Tony instructed Gary in a different position.  He straddled him, and sat down slowly until Gary’s cock was all the way up his ass.  They did not move for a few minutes just smiling at each other. But finally Gary’s cock began to twitch, and the thrusting and the pumping began anew.  When he came, Gary was no longer on a field of grass in some ordinary heaven.  He was in the seventh heaven.

Tony leaned over to kiss Gary, and they discovered that both their cheeks were wet with tears.

-3-

After dinner, Tony reviewed the plot to ‘Carmen’ with Gary, and told him what he would be doing, and what to expect.

“That’s pretty heavy stuff,” Gary said.  “I almost wish I could view the opera from the audience.’

“It’s more fun backstage.  The tenor, who sings the soldier, and the baritone, who sings the toreador, are both hunks.  They are both single, and the best of friends.  I think something is going on between them.

“In that case,” Gary laughed, “you jump the soldier, and I’ll take the toreador.”

After work on Friday they rushed to the opera house, and Tony took Gary to a huge rehearsal room.  The opera house was sound proof, and nothing they did in the rehearsal hall, could be heard during that night’s performance.  Gary was getting paid for the evening, but Tony was just an observer.  The only musical accompaniment they had during the rehearsal was a piano.  The conductor called for a short recess, and Tony told Gary that he would march beside him at the changing of the guard, and he would mingle with him, when they were part of the band of smugglers.

“Don’t worry, and don’t be nervous.  I’ll be there with you all the way.  It’s scary the first time,” he said.

“I’m not scared at all.  I’m having fun, in fact.”

“And getting paid,” Tony reminded Gary.

They arrived at the opera house the next day, just as the cast of that afternoon’s matinee performance was letting out.  Tony said hello to a few of them, and then he took Gary to “make-up.”

Things would have gone very smoothly on stage, except for one thing.  Gary hadn’t noticed at the rehearsal, but in costume and make-up, the young ingénue, who sang the role of the soldier’s girlfriend, looked so much like Ann, that Gary was suddenly filled with fear.  He almost froze on stage, but Tony got him going again.  However, that little incident, did sober him up.  He was going to have to face the fact that he wanted to ask Ann for a divorce.

The only thing that assuaged his fear was the realization that sex with Ann had not been so great, compared to sex with Tony.  He hoped that Ann was aware of it also, and would not object too hard to the divorce.  Suddenly, something came to mind, that made him fly high.  Ann had been gone almost a week, and neither one of them had called the other in all that time.  He promised himself that he would call her as soon as the opera ended.  It would only be about 8 PM in L.A.

The rest of the opera went smoothly.  When it was over, James gave the ‘spear carriers’ a printed sheet with their next assignments.  Both Tony and Gary would be working on Tuesday evening.  They would be in the Christmas Eve scene in a production of La Boheme.  Every chorus member and every ‘spear carrier’ was in that scene.  The huge stage of The Metropolitan Opera House was completely filled up with Christmas Eve revelers.  On their way to Lester’s, Tony filled Gary in on the plot of La Boheme. 

All Gary could say was, “I hope I have as much fun as I had tonight.”

When they reached Lester’s, Gary told Tony to go on in.  “I have to make a phone call, and it’s too noisy in the bar.” 

“I’ll save you a seat,” Tony said.  He kissed Gary on his lips, and whispered in his ear, “I love you.”

Gary called Ann’s cell phone.  She answered promptly, and seemed delighted to hear from her husband.  She made no mention of the fact that they hadn’t spoken to each other for a week.  They made small talk, and Gary decided to plant the first seed.

“Rather than commuting while you’re away,” he told her, “I’m shacking up with Tony in the city.”

“I’m so glad you won’t be alone,” she said.  “Give Tony my regards.  I love you,” and she hung up abruptly.

Gary concluded that the conversation they just had was not the conversation of a husband and wife in love.  In fact, it was rather cold, or was it perhaps wishful thinking on his part.

When Gary got back into the bar, Tony pulled him aside.  “James wants to come home with us tonight.  I said I’d ask you, but I think we should do it.  It’ll be more than fun.  It’ll be job security.”

“When you put it that way, I can hardly refuse.”  Still, Gary was so nervous about it, he drank too much in an effort to fortify himself.

He needn’t have bothered, James insisted that they both fuck him, but not until he sucked both their cocks for a bit.  Neither Tony nor Gary had trouble getting off in James’s bubbly ass, and when they offered to bring him to a happy conclusion, he shrugged it off.  “You guys have made me very happy.  It’s enough.”  He got dressed, said, “Ta ta,” and as he left he asked, “We will do this again, won’t we?”  Both ‘spear carriers,’ just nodded.

As they entered the second week of Gary’s stay, the two men grew sadder and sadder.  They were certain that they would always be together, but they knew that a period of adjustment would have to be endured.  They were each compassionate enough to worry about Ann’s wellbeing. 

On Sunday morning, Gary took the train to New Brunswick.  He picked his car up at the station’s parking lot, and drove home.  He did a large laundry of almost everything he had worn in the past two weeks.  While the laundry was going, he dusted the entire house.  He stowed the freshly folded laundry away, made sure the house was ship shape, and headed for Newark Airport to wait for Ann’s arrival.

She smiled when she saw him and gave him a peck on the cheek.  He had intended on giving her a great big hug, but now he didn’t bother.  They headed for baggage claim, and hardly said a word to each other.  After Ann’s luggage was loaded in their car, Gary asked her if she was hungry.

“Yes, I’m starved,” she said.

“We’ll go out to dinner, then,” Gary said.  “There’s nothing in the house.”

“Let’s go to that French restaurant you like so much.  It’s dark and quiet there, and we’ll be able to talk.  I have lots to tell you.”

It sounded to Gary that Ann wanted to leave him.  His stomach began to twirl like a hula hoop.  Then he got the crazy thought that she was going to tell him she was pregnant, and he shuddered.

“And I have lots to tell you,” Gary countered.

They asked for a quiet, corner table and the maître d’ was able to oblige them.  They each ordered a cocktail, and deferred ordering dinner until after their drinks were served.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Gary asked, as he took the first sip of his drink.  He wanted Ann to go first, so that he could delay his astounding revelation for as long as possible.

“It’s going to be hard for me to say, so please don’t interrupt me until I give you permission.”

“Okay,” Gary nodded.  “Shoot.”

“I was at a clothing manufacturer in L.A., and I had the good fortune to meet the head buyer for Nordstrom’s, Timothy Grant.  He took me to dinner, and offered me a job as his assistant.  I accepted.”

Gary opened his mouth to speak, but Ann shushed him.  “I’m moving to L.A.” she said.  “I know you have a great job, and I don’t expect you to move with me.  Let me word that differently.  I don’t want you to move.  I think we should split up.”

Gary stared at Ann in disbelief.  “You slept with that guy didn’t you?” 

She turned as red as the stripes on an American flag.  After some hesitation, she nodded her head.  Just then the waiter came over with their appetizers, and their silence was prolonged.

When the waiter left, Gary asked, “When will you be leaving?”

“I’ll give notice tomorrow, and see how it goes.  It should be in two to four weeks.  In the meantime, I’ll pack my personal stuff, and have it shipped.”

“Do you have an apartment already? Where will you ship your things to?”

“I’m moving in with Timothy.  I don’t know how it happened, Gary.  I’m truly sorry, but we fell madly in love.”

Gary cleared his throat.  “I’ll call in sick tomorrow,” he said, “and arrange to put the house on the market.  If you don’t want any of the furniture, I’ll take what I need, and give the rest to charity.”  Gary knew that all of it was going to charity, but he felt that Ann didn’t have to know that yet.

Ann smiled at Gary, and took his hand.  “Thank you,” she said.  “Now, what was your big news?”

Gary had to tell her something, so he told her about the part-time moonlighting job Tony had gotten him, and how much fun it was.  “I won’t need the extra income now,” he said, “but the job is really great, and I’d like to keep it.  The hard part was that I was going to tell you that I would have to shack up with Tony on rehearsal and performance nights.  I won’t have to worry about that now.”

“No you don’t, and I was so afraid to tell you about Timothy,” Ann said, “but you’ve been a saint about it.”

“If you don’t mind,” Gary said.  “I have two nights booked at the opera this coming week.  Tony is expecting me to stay with him.  I might as well load my stuff, and bring it over to his apartment.” 

He still didn’t want Ann to know the whole truth, so he added, “until I find a place of my own.”

“Yes,” Ann agreed, “we should move quickly.  I’m very anxious to get to L.A.”

Ann was gone three weeks later.  During those three weeks, Gary and Tony made as much love together as they could, with an occasional visit from James.  There was no guilt hovering over them anymore, and their love making was happy and intense.  They even decided to get a larger apartment together, so Gary reckoned that he would not get rid of all his furniture after all.

The day after Ann left, Gary put his bedroom and dining room sets into storage, and donated the rest to an AIDS charity.  The house sold in seven weeks.  There was a small profit, and Gary sent half to Ann.

Tony and he moved to a two-bedroom apartment, in an upscale Manhattan neighborhood.  With their combined daytime and nighttime incomes, it was easy for them.  Once the house was sold, the storage bin cleared, and his divorce was final, Gary could relax and breathe easy.

When they moved to the new apartment they both took two days off to get the apartment organized.  Unfortunately, nothing got done in those two days.  Gary and Tony were too busy making love.