Chapter Twelve

Jeff arrived at the restaurant at a quarter to six. Luke was already there, sitting on a bench outside of the building and staring down at the water. He wasn’t wearing a suit and tie or anything, but he did have on a light pink polo shirt and some khakis. It was the fanciest thing Jeff had ever seen him wear and he looked slightly uncomfortable in the clothes; kind of like a kid playing dress up. It was pretty clear that he’d only worn the getup to impress his date.

Jeff had to admit, it was working.

“Hey handsome,” Jeff said, sidling up next to him. “You clean up nice.”

Luke flushed and thanked him. Jeff was loving this role reversal. Dates were easy for him. He’d had hundreds of them. Luke, however, had probably only experienced a small handful in his lifetime and he was guessing that most of them had not been with men. Jeff reached down and helped him up. Then the two of them walked into the building side by side.

Luke surveyed the restaurant with wide eyes. Jeff didn’t blame him. While the outside of Queen Aimee’s didn’t look like anything special, the inside was outfitted with rustic furnishings, curved ceilings, and nautical decor. Basically, the space had been made to emulate the feeling of a really fancy houseboat, complete with large circular windows that allowed you to look out at the ocean outside. Today the floor was moderately busy with black clad waiters and waitresses scurrying about in constant motion.

Jeff steered Luke toward the hostess desk and gave her his name. The woman, her name tag read Patricia, smiled and retrieved two menus from under her podium.

“Right this way,” she said, leading them to a circular table in the center of the room. The table was swathed in white fabric and covered with twinkling votives. Jeff and Luke sat down at opposite sides and Patricia handed them each one of her menus.

“Your waiter will be with you shortly,” she said kindly before sauntering off.

Then Jeff and Luke were left alone. Well, sort of alone.

Because of the central location of their table, eyes naturally darted their way. That wouldn’t have been a problem if they were a straight couple on a date; if that were the case, people’s eyes would probably skirt right over them, but because they were two men, all of the passing glances seemed to linger, as if making sure they were seeing correctly. This was something that Jeff had grown accustomed to. He could practically see the cogs working in people’s heads as they tried to determine who they were to each other and why they were dressed the way they were dressed and if there truly was a heterosexual answer for it all.

Luke, on the other hand, seemed confused, which made sense. Women rarely garnered this much attention unless they were scantily clad or naked.

“Why is everyone staring at us? He asked, scratching at the stubble on his chin.

“They’re probably trying to figure out if we’re gay or not.”

Luke’s eyebrows scrunched up in surprise.

“What, why?” he asked. “How is that anyone else’s business?”

“I mean, it’s not,” Jeff answered. “But people love gossip more than they love manners apparently.”

Luke was going red in the face, for a different reason this time.

“That’s fucking ridiculous!” he said, a little too loudly. This only caused more faces to turn their way.

This was not how Jeff had pictured the start of their perfect evening together. He knew he had to de-escalate the situation quickly.

“Hey,” he said, reaching across the table to rest his hand over Luke’s. At this, many of the onlookers looked away in embarrassment, having gotten the confirmation they were looking for. “Don’t let them bother you. Tonight is supposed to be about us.”

Luke nodded and sighed.

“Yeah. You’re right. Sorry.”

They switched over to talking about Luke’s day at work after that. Jeff had recently discovered that the man could keep talking aeronautics for hours if you’d let him. Jeff only understood the bare minimum of what Luke was saying, but he found his enthusiasm rather adorable. Jeff was used to being told by every person he was interested in that he talked too much. It was nice to feel like he could just comfortably listen for a while. Eventually a waiter came and took their orders. Luke ordered salmon and Jeff the chicken fried steak, both of which arrived looking crispy and delicious.

“But yeah,” Luke concluded between bites. “After that I started having trouble with my riveter and I decided to call it a day. How about you?”

Jeff took his time cutting up a piece of his steak and offered it to Luke to try before he began speaking.

“My day was good. I just got started reading Macbeth with my juniors and they seem to be getting into it. I think the modern-day translation I gave them is helping. My seniors are working on personal essays that reflect their ideas on structured government and how it plays into our everyday lives. I’m making them use specific examples from literature and a good ninety percent of them chose The Hunger Tournament. But hey, at least they can correctly identify what a dystopia is.”              

Luke chuckled softly and offered Jeff some of his salmon.

“And how about rehearsals?”

Jeff covered his mouth with his hand as he continued to chew.

“They were okay. We were—”

He was interrupted by the incredibly loud Swedish pop song that was suddenly spilling out of his pocket. Jeff scrambled for the phone and hit ignore. The people at the other tables had resumed glaring at them now, but at least they had a reason this time.

“Sorry,” Jeff said, flushed. “I didn’t realize it was still on.”

To be honest, so few people ever called Jeff that he hadn’t even thought to turn it off. He still hadn’t, actually; which was emphasized by the fact that the device immediately started ringing again a minute or so later. Jeff bit his lip and looked down at the display. It read April Donahue.

April had been a huge part of the Apollo high drama club the first year Jeff had taken it over and was a longstanding member of Jeff’s favorite students club. He didn’t know why she’d be calling him out of the blue like this though. It was basically a huge honor and a rite of passage of sorts for kids to friend him on SocialBook the day after their graduation. Even though a handful of them had his personal number, it was really unusual for them to contact him in that way. Jeff was instantly concerned. He glanced up at Luke who was looking on in amusement, completely oblivious to the disgruntled patrons all around them.

“Go ahead and answer it,” he said, unleashing a large, good-natured smile. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Jeff smiled back gratefully and pressed answer.

“Hello?” he said quietly, as he stood up and walked past the restaurant lobby and out onto the outside deck.

“Mr. Martin?” said a familiar, if not slightly more mature voice. April sounded nervous but unmistakably hopeful. Jeff immediately breathed an internal sigh of relief. At least he knew that this wasn’t a call meant to inform him that somebody was dead.

“That’s my name,” Jeff said with a grin. “What’s going on Little Red?”

April giggled, sounding exactly like she did ten years ago. She seemed to have gotten a kick out of hearing Jeff’s old nickname for her.

“Sorry to call you so suddenly,” she said once she’d gotten a grip on her laughter. “But I wanted to tell you that Dex and I are getting married.”

All Jeff’s annoyance over having been interrupted immediately evaporated.

“Oh my God! April! Congratulations. I’m so happy for you two.”

Dex and April were the absolute epitome of high school sweethearts. It was amazing to see a relationship that pure and sweet taken to the next level.

“Yeah,” April said wistfully. “I just wanted to officially let you know and invite you to the wedding since you were the one who formally introduced the two of us.”

Now it was Jeff’s turn to laugh.

“I guess I did, didn’t I?”

Dex Wolicki was a year younger than April and he didn’t join theater until halfway through his sophomore year. Jeff had immediately given him a role, since even back then, the department seemed to be lacking in boys. Poor Dex hadn’t acted in anything before and was in way over his head. Jeff had basically tasked April with showing him the ropes. The two of them hit it off and the rest was history.

“I know it’s kind of last minute,” April said. “But the wedding is next month and it’d mean so much to me if you would come. Maybe even give a speech if you’re up for it.”

“Of course I’ll come. You guys are having it down here?”

Last he’d heard, the two of them had relocated to Virginia for work purposes.

“Yep,” April answered. “We wanted to get married in the same city we met and fell in love in. We also wanted to do it as soon as possible, so again, sorry about the short notice and the lack of proper invitations or whatever. We were just too excited.”

“No worries,” Jeff said. “Just let me know the time and place and I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Mr. M. I’ll text you the details, and of course you’re welcome to bring a plus one and stuff.”

Jeff glanced back up at the restaurant and thought about Luke sitting alone inside. The gears in his head started turning.

“Okay,” he said. “Congrats again. Give your fiancé my love.”

“I will. Talk to you soon. Bye!”

Jeff hung up the phone and smiled to himself. This week kept getting stranger by the moment, but he was loving it all the same. When he returned to Luke at the center table he could barely contain his excitement. Jeff was a sucker for a good wedding.

“Everything all right?” Luke asked.

“Better than all right. How do you feel about weddings?”

Luke pretended to ponder for a moment.

“I love them as long as they’re not excessively religious and provide free alcohol.”

Jeff cracked a smile.

“Good. Because we just got invited to one.”