31
FRANK
Attending a party without a partner, going it alone, meant Frank was completely free to circulate. If he'd acted on instinct, his behaviour would have been highly inappropriate. When Frank was exiting the toilet and passed Chris on his way in, Frank wanted to turn round and drag Chris into a cubicle. The longer the party went on and the more they saw each other without touching, the more irresistible Chris appeared.
To taste those lips and nuzzle up to that neck was almost all Frank could think about. He wanted to link his arm through Chris's to ensure they stayed closer; side by side.
The buffet should have been photographed, not eaten; it looked like a work of art. Plates, bowls, and trays presented a colorful array of familiar food that Frank couldn't quite name. Fortunately, he didn't have to. A handy label accompanied each dish. Who could identify smoked trout mousse with wasabi mayo and beetroot jelly on rye without having it written down?
Resisting the urge to find Chris and follow him. Instead, he filled his plate and sat at the first table he found where there were spaces next to familiar faces.
"Nice food," said Joe. The conversation stayed limited and polite as the men tucked in.
"If I knew what it was," said Joe's girlfriend, or was she his wife? She had the smallest amount of food on her plate, which she pushed around with her fork. She didn't look as if she intended to eat any of it. Frank wasn't surprised. It looked like regurgitated eyeballs, and he didn't recall seeing anything like it on the buffet table, with a name label attached.
"What do you mean? I cook like this all the time at home." Thelma, Bas's wife, took a photograph of her plate and then proceeded to take one of her husband's.
Frank noticed she seemed to have made a picture of a face out of the food, complete with a beard. A green beard.
Then he noticed Bas had done the same. "We prefer to act our shoe size and not our age," said Bas, grinning.
Doria coughed and wiped her mouth with a napkin."I think it's lovely food. And if you cook like this at home Thelma, I might be dropping in to visit. You can serve me quail's egg tartlet any time."
Doria's boyfriend, Steve, nodded in agreement. "It makes a change from steak and chips."
"It's a lovely do," Joe's girlfriend said. "I know Connor and Lee are a couple, of course, but I'm surprised how many more gay couples you have working with you."
Joe looked like he was about to say something but stopped when distracted by more people arriving at their table. Ben and Tom rested their plates on the table. Ben pulled up a chair next to Frank, and Tom sat at the far side.
"Don't let us interrupt the conversation."
"I was just about to say Connor and Lee are the only couple of scaffolders who are actually a couple. The other scaffs here are going out with blokes who do other things. Tom, Ben's told us all about you. He said you're an actor."
Joe's girlfriend dropped her fork onto her plate and twisted in her seat. She looked excited. "Will I have seen you in anything on TV?"
"Maybe. You might see me on TV later in the year, but I can't say anything just yet."
They talked a little about Tom's past career. Frank already knew from conversations with Ben that Tom hadn't done any acting for a few years.
Dropping the names of well-known actors he'd worked with, Tom held court in a highly enthralling manner. Even so, Frank paid more attention to Chris, who came and sat next to Tom directly opposite Frank. He'd been distracted, unable to pay proper attention to anything else ever since he'd spotted Chris.
Frank didn't want to wait until their date to get to know each other better. Faced with such a sexy man within arm’s reach, he regretted letting months slip by.
He wanted Chris now.
This was a party, and single people made connections at parties. Frank wanted to connect with Chris. Alcohol and the atmosphere made him bold. Under the table, Frank brushed his foot against Chris's, who looked up with surprise and smiled.
Joe's girlfriend looked around the table. "So, how many gay men do work for SHS?"
Tom looked toward his boyfriend to answer this question.
Ben took up the challenge. "That is impossible to answer. How would we know? You can't tell just by looking."
"I'm sorry; I thought perhaps you would know. Perhaps you'd have a secret club or something."
Joe tapped the table for attention. "To be honest, that's something I've learnt over the last few months. Before finding out about Connor and Lee I thought you could tell. I thought they were all hairdressers and showbiz personalities, like Tom here."
The conversation made Frank feel decidedly uncomfortable, especially that Joe had singled out Tom as different to the rest of the men at the table, but Joe seemed oblivious and didn't appear to mean any harm.
Nodding toward Ben, Joe continued, "I'd never of thought it of you, or them. Or Kevin. I just never thought about it too much. I'm sorry if that sounds wrong, mate, I just didn't know any better."
Ben appeared lost for words.
Frank rested his fork on his plate. "I hope all the lads at work will learn to stop making assumptions. We don't know anything about who people are dating when they leave work." Frank knew this was true on so many levels, as the guys never even knew he had been dating Ash O'Donnell.
Joe and Ben both looked at Frank with great curiosity in their eyes.