Next
Just when I made my mind up about Chicago. How Chicago manages to turn around the last minute is beyond me. It's really quite funny.
I have a Vietnamese American co-worker named Aimee at the Home Depot gardening department. The two of us are possibly the hardest working sales associates in the whole store. I could kind of relate to her, and over the months, we have been kind of close.
She has a friend from Paint, a Mexican American named N. Tall, with flashy hair. He may not be the most attractive, but he had this air around him, and air of confidence and personality. So naturally, I disliked him. I didn't like bumping into him at the store. Being a geeky guy, I guess I've always had that high school kind of syndrome, thinking that all the popular kids were making fun of me.
So it came as a surprise to me when AImee told me that N wanted me to hang out with him and a couple of his friends. My immediate reaction was reluctance; I was pretty sure he was going to pull a prank on me, so I didn't really want to go with him. I thought that had been the end of that, when a few days after that, he invited me out with his friends again. This time, I thought he was at least, semi-serious, and I really should give him more credit.
He was going to pick me up later that night, so at home, I decided to make myself look decent, at the very least. I didn't want to be too geeky. He picked me up at home and we went driving around.
I wasn't sure where we were supposed to go. He said it was a co-worker's birthday party. We drove all the way up to Niles, and then he looked at me.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Niles, I think."
"I think we're lost. Are you scared?"
"Umm, maybe. No."
"I think I'm scared. I don't know where we are. This is scary."
The next thing that happened completely caught me off guard. He started moving his free hand up my leg. I guess I let off a small screech, and he let go.
"What was that?" He feigned surprise. "I think it was a ghost."
I let out a chuckle and just looked away, out the window. A few minutes later, he tried it again. I didn't move, so I guess I let him continue. We started talking about each other, about boys, about men. He said he had a guy right now. I guess I didn't mind.
We eventually made our way back to the city, in one of the neighborhood bars close to Clark St. We met with some of our co-workers, including Megan, the hot Filipina chick that was one of my only friends at the Home Depot. It was a small and pretty crowded bar. We had beer and a couple of shots. I got pretty wasted, I guess.
Walking back to N's car, we passed by a playground, which we decided to go to. At the top of the slide, he kissed me and held me close to him. We were lying down. He was rough and sweet at the same time. He kissed me hard three times on the neck. He said he's always been checking me out, especially when I took brief naps at the breakroom. He said he liked my tiny ass. I laughed and told him I did not have a tiny ass. He held me even tighter.
He made love to me later that night in his car, on the front seat. I don't know how we managed that, but we did, somehow. He smelled great, even after all the alcohol. It was a scent I don't think I'll be able to forget. He was gentle with me. I didn't want to let go, but mom has been calling me. He reluctantly drove me home. I reluctantly left his car. I stumbled up the stairs to our apartment.
I woke up the next day to Mom looking at me angrily. She asked me what I had on my neck. I lied and said they were mosquito bites. I'm sure she didn't believe me, but she let it go. At work, people were looking at me funny. One of my coworkers even cheered for me.
I saw L later that day. He said hi, then immediately noticed my hickies.
"You had an interview with the vampire?" he joked.
I didn't respond.
"Who is he?"
I finally said "Nobody, really."
"Well. I’m happy for you, I’m glad you found someone else."
Then he walked back to his cash register. I go back to work, sweeping the tropical indoor plants aisle. For a moment, I smell the scent of green, waxy leaves burning under the hot tropical sun, intermingling with something musky, deep, and alone.