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Part 17
Darren: I watched him drive away with tears in my eyes. How could this happen? How could anyone do something so disgustingly mean? I didn't care that I was slouched over as I walked back into my apartment. I was so angry that I could have screamed but I didn't believe that that would help. Once back in my apartment, I went immediately to the phone and called Art. He wasn't there, of course, but I left him a message: "Art, please don't delete this until you listen to it. That call was not true. I did meet that guy at the meeting, but you must believe me, I never, never did anything with him and most certainly not what he said on that message. He's a mean, vicious queen who was pissed off because I wouldn't give him the time of day. I don't know how he got my phone number because you can be damn sure I never gave it to him. Please call me. Please. Somehow, and I'm not sure how, but somehow, I'll prove to you that it's all a lie. I promise." That really didn't make me feel any better, but it seemed all I could do for now. I cradled the receiver and sat down on the sofa and wept. Ten minutes later the phone rang and I grabbed up the receiver. I was disappointed; it wasn't Art. "What kind of a greeting is that?" Dennis asked. "Oh Dennis, I'm in a terrible mess and I don't know what to do about it." "I'm on my way, pal," he said and hung up.
Dennis got to my house ten minutes later, George in tow. My eyes were red from crying and Dennis hugged me.
"Tell me what has happened," he said and I related the story of meeting the obnoxious Neil at the conference, and then told him about the phone message. He asked me to replay it, which I did. It was all I could do to keep from screaming at the machine again.
"I know you better than that, Darren," Dennis said, "But how did this guy get your phone number if not from you?"
That one stumped me. I mean, I am listed in the telephone book, but Neil didn't even know what city I live in. The only person I'd given my home phone number to was Dave and I was sure he'd never give it to Neil. I explained that to the guys.
"Did you get this Dave guy's number as well?"
"Sure. But as I said, I'm sure he wouldn't give it to Neil."
"Dumbass," George said, "Why don't you call him and tell him what happened. Maybe he knows how this Neil guy got your number."
I got my briefcase and located Dave's home number. I called and he answered the phone.
"Dave, hi, this is Darren," I said.
"God I'm glad you called. You won't believe what that asshole Neil did to me," Dave blurted out.
"What?"
"You remember I gave you my email address. Well, that's an account that Hank and I share. Today Neil sent the most disgusting email I've ever read, accusing me of having sex with both you and him during the conference and cheating on Hank of course."
"Oh shit," I said, "He left a message on my machine thanking me for hot sex as well. But how could he have gotten that information?"
"My guess is that he must have copied it from our papers when we went out for a smoke," Dave said, "You know, after we exchanged phone numbers and emails."
"Is Hank upset?" I asked. He'd seemed a pretty level-headed guy when I'd been with him.
"Not really, I don't think," Dave said, "First of all, I told him what an asshole Neil was from the start. Besides, he knows I don't do some of the things Neil enumerated." That made me chuckle in spite of myself.
"How about your guy, did he hear the message?" Dave asked.
"Yes, and he was out of here like a lightening bolt. I could kill Neil," I answered.
Dennis and George had been hearing my side of the conversation, and Dennis asked me to tell Dave to hold on for a minute.
"Might it help you if this guy Dave called Art and told him that none of this happened?" Dennis asked.
"I don't know; Art doesn't know Dave at all so it's just one stranger versus another." I related Dennis's suggestion to Dave.
"I'll be glad to talk to him if you think that would help," Dave said. I explained what I saw as the problem with this suggestion.
"Well, Darren, I saw the way Neil came on to you, and I saw and heard you turn him down more times than I can count. I'll be glad to tell your guy what I personally saw. Would that help?"
"It might," I said, "If I can even get him to talk to me about it." I suspected that Art was more hurt than angry, but that didn't make me any less worried.
"Well, call me if I can help in any way. I promise I'll do whatever I can, Darren," Dave said. We ended the call and Dennis and George and I discussed the situation for another hour, and then they left and went home.
I suddenly realized I was very hungry so I made myself a peanut butter sandwich and sat at the kitchen table eating it. I started to fix myself another drink but thought better of it.
At 10:30 the phone rang.
"How could you do that to me?" Art sobbed into the phone. "How could you? I trusted you completely, man." He was slurring his words and was obviously drunk.
"I didn't, Art. You must believe me in that." He sobbed again.
"Where are you?" I asked. He was at a bar not far from my house.
"Stay there, I'm going to come and get you," I said. "Promise me you'll stay there." All I heard was the sound of him crying.
I got to the bar in less than ten minutes. He wasn't in the bar, but I spotted his car in the parking lot. He was just sitting there, behind the wheel, looking more dejected than any one I've ever seen. I walked over to the car and he opened the window.
"I trusted you, Darren," he sobbed. "How could you do this to me?"
"Art, that message is a total and complete lie. I never did anything with that guy at all. You have to believe me." I said very quietly. For the first time, he looked me in the eye. Then he started crying again.
I realized two things very quickly. I had to get him away from there and I couldn't let him drive. It took a bit of coaxing and pleading, but finally he agreed to let me take him back to my house. We left Art's car in the parking lot to collect tomorrow.
I got him settled on the couch and then made a pot of coffee. When it was ready, I poured us each a mug and brought them back into the living room. I set the mugs down and then sat down on the floor in front of where Art was sitting. I wanted to face him fully.
"Art, please listen to me." He seemed calmer than he'd been in the car.
"Do you remember what I told you about my views on sex and making love? I told you that it's something I only do with someone I really care for. I don't have sex with strangers and I mean that."
Art's eyes met mine and he shuddered slightly.
"I'm so confused," he muttered. "Every part of me wants to believe you, but I've never felt so confused and upset in my whole life."
"Trust me, baby," I whispered, moving next to him on the couch. "Please tell me that you believe me when I say nothing like that happened."
"As I said," he mumbled, "I want to believe you. I love you, for God's sake. You mean the whole world to me."
I put my arm around him and hugged him to me tightly. He tensed up for a moment and then I felt him relax against my chest. We sat like that for almost fifteen minutes. Suddenly, he yawned.
"Come to bed, Babe," I said. "We're both exhausted."
He let me lead him to the bedroom and we both used the bathroom and brushed our teeth. He was sitting on edge of the bed when I came back into the bedroom.
"How and why would someone call and leave a message like that?" he asked quietly. "It was so filthy. No one should ever talk like that."
"I'll explain it all to you tomorrow, but for now, suffice to say the guy is a total asshole. Believe me, he is."
Art let me move him into a lying position on the bed and I crawled in next to him. We both kept our underwear on which told me we weren't done with this whole deal yet. We did snuggle up to one another gently and we kissed very briefly. Soon I heard the gentle sounds of him sleeping. It took me another twenty minutes or so to let go of all the stress and tension and fall asleep myself.
Part 18
Art:
Waking up the next morning, I could feel Darren spooned up against my back, but I didn't move. I went over in my mind the events of last night and suddenly it brought tears to my eyes again.
Part of me - the sensible, down-to-earth guy I usually am - wanted to accept Darren's explanations at face value. I'd never known him to lie to me or to anyone else. He just seemed to be honest about things. On the other hand, there was some small part of me that was fiercely jealous and very, very upset. In my mind, Darren was mine and I didn't want to believe anyone else had been with him like that. Still, I knew that was plain envy, and I didn't like feeling that way. It really had me bothered.
Suddenly I felt, rather than heard, Darren stir in his sleep. I kept still as he climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom. When he came back to bed, he didn't get in with me. He sat on my side of the bed and stroked my face so gently it gave me goose bumps. Finally I had to open my eyes and smile at him.
"I'd never hurt you, Babe," he whispered. "Please believe me on that."
"Come here to me," I said, pulling his face toward mine. Just before we kissed, he whispered again.
"I love you." Then we kissed, gently at first and then with a bit more passion. Suddenly it was my turn to need the bathroom and I stood up by the bed.
"Don't get up yet," I said. "We don't have to rush this morning."
When I returned, he was lying in bed resting on one elbow, turned on his side facing me. I lay down next to him, facing him.
"Tell me about Chicago," I whispered. "I mean tell me the whole story, beginning to end.
He did. He started with the flight, the cocktail party and meeting Dave, and then told about the dinner and meeting this guy Neil. He couldn't hide the disgust and annoyance in his voice as he described the way the guy had behaved.
Then he told me about Neil coming on to him during the meeting with the note with his room number, about Neil trying to horn in with the guys he went to dinner with the next evening, and about Neil coming to his room after he returned from dinner. I found myself getting angrier and angrier.
"This guy really does sound like an incredible jerk," I said. Darren just nodded.
"What I couldn't get over was how he ever got my phone number," Darren said.
He explained that he had exchanged phone and email information with Dave because he thought that Dave and Hank might turn out to be good friends. He said that Neil must have gotten the info when the others had gone out for a smoke.
"You don't know this part either," Darren went on, explaining about the email that Neil had sent to Dave.
"The guy sounds like an unbelievable idiot," I commented and Neil nodded vigorously.
"I'm just so sorry I freaked last night," I said finally. "I don't know what happened but when I heard that message it just made me crazy. I was incensed that he sounded like he knew you so intimately and all."
"As I've said, honey," Darren answered, "It's just completely untrue and frankly the whole idea that I would do anything with him is just ridiculous. The guy's a loser and totally offensive."
We cuddled together for a long time then until Darren finally sat up.
"I'd love to just cuddle here all day, but to tell you the truth, I'm starving," he said. I couldn't help but laugh.
"Me too, I never got anything to eat last night except some bar pretzels."
We got up and Darren fixed a wonderful breakfast that we enjoyed on his balcony. Afterwards we relaxed with a cigarette.
"Are you going to do anything more about this Neil guy?" I asked. Just then the phone rang and Darren went inside to answer. I was very puzzled because it seemed to take a while for him to answer. Then I heard him quite plainly.
"No, dammit, you cannot call me - ever!" I heard the phone slam down and soon Darren was back.
"That son of a bitch!" he snarled. I looked at him but didn't speak.
"That was Neil on the phone again, but this time I got his number from the Caller ID. I'm going to report him to the telephone company. It's got to be against the law to make pornographic calls, isn't it?"
The phone rang again and Darren went to get it, but I went with him this time. It wasn't Neil. It was the guys he'd had dinner with. Dave and, er....whoever.
Darren and he spoke for some minutes, so I wandered back to the balcony and cleared up the dishes. I loaded them into the dishwasher. Then Darren was off the phone.
"Dave and I are gonna work on this together," Darren said. "I gave him Neil's number so we can both block it on our phones, and we're both gonna block him from emails. That should put a stop to it."
"Sounds like a good idea," I said. "I like the idea of reporting him to the telephone company as well."
"Right. I'll do that on Monday." Darren walked toward me and gathered me into his arms.
"One more thing," I said, "You didn't also share your address with Dave, did you?
"No," Darren answered. "We figured we could do that via email if we needed to. I'm sure glad now that we didn't."
"Me too," I said, "Otherwise this guy might just show up at your doorway and that would really be trouble."
"It sure as Hell would," Darren countered and I've never heard him talk more forcefully. "I'll probably kill the son of a bitch if I ever see him again.
"He did more than offend me; he was deliberately trying to ruin my relationship with you. That's what really pisses me off." He put his arms around me and kissed me gently.
"And now, let's take a nice, long shower together and we'll get reacquainted. It's been too long, Babe."
It was a lovely morning after that somewhat rocky start, and we had a lot of fun being intimate together again. I'm really and truly in love with this guy.