25
FRANK
"Like a bad rash, you turn up in the most unexpected places, Ash O'Donnell," All his attention on the woman, barely acknowledging the man beside her, Derek swooped in to stand between Ash and Frank.
"The same can be said of you, Derek Lisk."
"Hello, Derek." Frank extended his hand; he wasn't going to be rudely ignored, or be rude and ignore.
As a structural engineer, Derek was mostly office-based, but a vital part of SHS. Frank knew Derek as one of the heirs of SHS, and Connor's brother. Indirectly, one of Frank's bosses.
"Frank." Derek nodded his head, shook hands, and returned his gaze to Ash. "Of all the unexpected places for us to meet, I'm sure your ex-boyfriend's gay wedding celebration has to be the last one on the list."
"That's right. I'm here ‘cos I like to keep tabs on every ex-boyfriend." Ash cast a lingering look in Frank's direction.
Derek looked between them, surprise on his face. "You, Frank? Ash, you are full of surprises. Did you to come together today?"
Before Frank could say anything, Ash jumped in with a hasty reply. "No, Derek. Your father invited me and my brothers, so I'm here in my own right. And Frank and I were just chatting. We've known each other for years."
As always, her vague comments implied they were only ever friends.
"Smart man steer clear. I don't know what she does, Frank, but at least one of her previous men has gone off women altogether. You know Ash and Connor were once an item?"
Frank gave the slightest nod, not that Derek seemed interested in what Frank knew or thought. Uncomfortable and annoyed by the conversation, Frank decided not to air his thoughts about Connor being bisexual, not gay.
"Speaking of brothers," Derek addressed Ash again, "I was just speaking to one of your brothers, and telling him that my dad won't be selling SHS to the O'Donnells. We're definitely keeping it in the Lisk family."
"We'll see." Ash punched Derek in the arm, playfully. "Whoever would have thought the Lisk family would forge ahead as champions for gay construction workers."
"It wasn't my idea, believe me. I'm a bit old-fashioned, and apparently we have to move with the times. Last year I didn't know any gays, and now, my own brother. It takes some getting used to."
Ash shook her head. "Derek, that's nonsense. If he's not inviting you into their bedroom, there's nothing to get used to. He still your brother and now he's your married brother. It would have made no difference if he'd married a woman. What do you think, Frank?"
"It makes no difference to me if any of the blokes marry a guy or a girl. They turn up and do their job, and it changes nothing," Frank lied. Over the past three months, the presence of out gay workers in the scaffold company, along with the active support of management, had resulted in monumental change. It did make a difference to him as a bisexual man.
The jokes, banter, and sexual innuendo continued as much as it ever had, but some of the language had changed. What was most striking, from Frank's point of view, was that these men had paved the way so that any worker at SHS could confidently come out as gay, bi, or quite possibly even trans. Every man knew hostility and prejudice wouldn't be tolerated, and gay and bisexual men were welcome.
"I've heard it's not just Connor and Lee, that you've got three gay scaffolders on the team?" Ash was speaking to Derek.
Frank had run into Ash at the party. He had no idea she was going to be there as they hadn't been in contact with each other for some months. It was definitely over between them and they were both reconciled to that fact. Frank wasn't completely surprised to see her at the party as the two family-run scaffolding companies frequently worked together.
Already absent from the conversation, Frank looked around, ready to make a physical escape. He had to look twice. "Three scaffolders? Make that four," he said.
As if telepathically, all the scaffolders had communicated and stopped mid conversation to gaze in a certain direction.
Men muttered a few words. "I can hardly recognise some of these guys turning up wearing suits."
Kevin looked completely different to his usual work appearance: extremely dapper, in a smart suit and accompanied by an equally smart young man who walked closely by his side. They held hands, not discreetly at their side, but with hands clasped slightly in front of them so everyone could see. It was incredible to consider that over the past few months when three of his colleagues had come out, Kevin had not mentioned that he also had a boyfriend.
This was the difference Connor and Lee had made; they made it easier for other colleagues to come out. A young man could turn up to a work function with his boyfriend without any need to warn people ahead of time. Just the same behaviour as his counterparts who came with girlfriends or wives.
Silent himself, Frank heard every whispered comment.
"Jeez. Another one, how many gay scaffolders are on this payroll?" There was no hostility in the tone. The comments weren’t necessarily unpleasant, nevertheless, Frank felt uncomfortable knowing that he could be one of the men they talked about in the future.
Kevin was one of the younger scaffolders. Frank had already known him several years. Of all the men here, Frank would never have expected to see Kevin walking in holding hands with another man.
"I have to look twice, it's hard to recognise the blokes we work with when they're all dressed up."
"Hard to recognise the blokes we work with when they're holding hands with other geezers."
"And why is that?"
"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. Would I be here if I thought there was? I’d have gone to work for the O'Donnells instead."
"I'm just saying it's not something I was expecting to see, Kevin with a boyfriend. I never knew he was that way."
Frank glanced at his companions and then back in the direction of the entrance to the marquee. Kevin, one of the younger scaffolders, had entered hand in hand with another young man.
Like all the younger site workers, Kevin displayed a cocky arrogance that barely concealed his nervousness. As Frank watched, the young couple went directly to Ben, another scaffolder, who stood with his boyfriend.
As regular work partners, Ben had confided in Frank much about his whirlwind love affair. It seemed it was love at first sight. Frank had yet to meet Tom, but he only had to see how they looked at each other to see there was something special between them. Just as Ben had described.
It was high time Frank met Tom. He'd rather talk with his work colleagues that he had more in common with — Kevin and Ben — and meet their boyfriends.
Without further comment, he left Ash and Derek in each other's company.
Frank joined the group in time for introductions.
"I'm pleased to meet you, Frank, Ben has told me so much about you." Tom was about average height but seemed tiny when standing next to the man mountain they called Ben.
"If it's not good it's lies!" Frank chuckled. "He told me quite a bit about you too."
Tom asked, "Should I be worried or embarrassed?"
Frank laughed. He couldn't help but like the guy; he oozed a warm, friendly personality.
Ben had said Tom was different to the guys they worked with and Frank had no idea what Ben meant, until now. Tom had such a gentle voice and posh accent, as if he were used to taking tea with the queen.
In great contrast, Perry, Kevin's boyfriend, was unlike anyone Frank had ever met. He was super expressive with his hands and face, and his entire body seemed to join in the conversation. He had a high pitched voice and a girly laugh. Perry was exactly the sort of feminine guy who'd be pointed out in the street as so gay. Not least because despite his smart suit, he was clearly wearing sparkling pink lipstick and face glitter.
It didn't matter, because Kevin couldn't stop looking at Perry and touching him in some way. Often holding his hand, and Frank wondered whether this was to stop Perry waving them around.
Kevin's adoration was palpable. He was in love and obviously proud of his boyfriend.
Sure enough, it emerged through conversation that this wasn't a fleeting romance. Kevin and Perry were in the process of buying their first home together.
As more people gathered around to join the conversation and meet Kevin's boyfriend, Tom and Ben disappeared into the crowd. Frank exchanged a few words with Kevin and Perry and stayed in that group. He noted how everyone, without exception, was polite and welcoming and treated Perry with the same respect that they would treat any other partner of a scaffolder.
The warmth with which everyone welcomed Kevin and Perry dismissed any fears Frank had about coming out in 2017 if he were to meet the right man. He'd already met at least one right man, and he didn't know if there were more. He looked about the marquee. He hadn't forgotten that Lee and Chris were obviously friends. Looking back, it was incredible, but despite seeing them together that day it never occurred to Frank that Connor and Lee were a couple. He was as surprised as everyone to discover they were together.
There was a good chance Chris would be at the party and a good chance Chris wouldn't want to know Frank after the way he'd walked away with little explanation and had not made contact since. When he'd arrived home that Sunday eight months earlier, Frank had deleted his profile from the dating website and over the following days he noticed that Chris did the same. They hadn't exchanged numbers, so the onus was on Frank to make contact because there was no way for Chris to do so.
All these months later, Chris probably had a boyfriend. Why wouldn't he? A man so perfect.