NOTE: Crossroads is copyright Carlton Television, and I do not know the sexuality of the fictitious characters contain within. Any similarities to persons real of fictious, dead or alive is purley coincidental.
Joe Lacey is in his mid-20s, with short cropped blond hair and pecs to die for. Jimmy Sampson is the youngest son of Max and Angel Sampson - he has an open and honest face and short brown hair.
Joe, whose dying father was wronged by the ruthless businessman Max Sampson, is now working for the Sampson family at their Crossroads Hotel as a handy man.
That evening the Sampsons were have family drinks' by way of showing that Angel and Max really were proud of their children. Soon it was just the boys' left, so Max went to the bar for some a bit special to drink. There he saw Joe staring into a glass of whiskey, so he invited him to come join them for a drink. Striding over to the table, Joe was quite a sight with his skin tight grey top leaving nothing to the imagination. As he squeezed past Jimmy to sit down, he felt him slip something in his pocket, then stoke his hand down his buttocks. Shocked by this public show of affection, Joe just sat there not really listening to what was being said.
He knew he was gay, but he had kept that a secret from all around him - even going so far as to fake an affair with Angel Sampson. After a few minutes he couldn't resist the temptation to read the letter so made his excuses and went to the fountain outside the Hotal entrance. Cleo was outside, and he was a bit off with her, which he felt bad about because he knew she loved him deep down - it was a shame that he didn't swing that way because he really liked her as a person.
Once he'd made his way clear of prying eyes he reached in his pocket and pulled out the letter. Very innocuous, just a small slip of white paper about 4 inches square with the words "Room 47, 8:30pm - Alone".
As he lent again the tree in the light of the moon he pondered over the message. Could it be a trap? After all, Jimmy had been married to the glamorous Suzie and he'd seemed besotted with her . . . was he really gay? Could he be trying to curry favour with his father by exposing `dangerous' weaknesses of employees?
It was 7:45, he had 45 minutes to decide . . .
(I watched Crossroads today [3/3/03] and this storyline just seemed to scream out at me - I was surprised that no-one else has done a Crossroads story. Who else would you like to be featured in future Crossroads-related stories?)
Alex Huntington Leigh