St. Valentine's Day Massacre?
I told him that if he wanted to chill, I would be his valentine. The boy grinned from ear to ear. We made plans to start V-Day early--like around 3PM. Maybe relax and watch a movie. I recently downloaded Million Dollar Baby and was going to burn it and bring it over to his house and watch the awesome Morgan Freeman do his thing.
He had the day off. I had the day off (but I him I was getting off early). I woke up late. And when 3pm rolled around I gave him a call.
voice mailI hung up without leaving a message and I called his cell.
voice mail
I hung up from the cell and called his home again and left a message.
Two hours later he called me saying, "Hey. how you doing? I just got your message. I was out shopping. You should have called my cell." He offered no apology, there was no "I should have called you, I know we were supposed to meet at 3pm."
I didn't get salty. But I told him I was busy at work and I would call him when I was leaving. After we hung up, I had the mind not to call him back. But I did and rolled over his crib at about 7pm, to find him wrapped in a blanket in sweats and watching a foreign film.
Note: this surprised me pleasantly as I thought he was just into Alicia Keys, NAS, and basketball.
I had recently been bringing little things over to house. One night cake, another brownies, and last night white chocolate truffles. But I didn't do that today. I wasn't trying to make him think we were boo-ed up for V-Day.
We sat and watched his foreign film--but I was STARVING. I hadn't ate all day. And then he looked at me and said, Let me get dressed so we can go out on the town and get something to eat.
I told him that he didn't need to get dressed, we could just get something small. I told him that I had a taste for junk food (it was my "eat whatever you want" day on my new
But it's Valentine's Day, he reminded me, and I want to do something cool. We live in this big city. Let's go out and do something new and spontaneous. Something romantic.
I was turned off immediately. When you've known someone for little more than a week--don't try and force romance. Don't go for the elaborate dinner setting, etc. It comes off as contrived. Focus on the true romance--the fact that two strangers are even spending Valentine's Day together. Somehow that sentiment was lost on him. I was becoming agitated.
I was taken back. Was COMMON, uncommon? A man hasn't bought me flowers in about five years. And yes, it still feels good to get them. It's the fag in me. I love flowers. And this was a nice assortment. I started to soften up.
I agreed (though reluctantly) to get in his car and leave the neighborhood. He still didn't see to understand that I was starving and wanted to eat at the Chinese place two minutes away that can make my Sesame Chicken in five minutes for under $5.
We headed to Chicago's north side, but he can't find the place that he wants to go to. It's 8:30pm and I am PISSED because I am about to pass out from hunger. So I tell him a place to go to. He ignores me and insists on going to this chilled, relaxed place that will serve the junk food that I said I wanted. We finally get to the place. Byron's Burger Shack (southeast corner of Grand and Noble).
But I don't care. It's a new place, its low key--they serve burgers and gyros, and I am starving, so I am game. We get to the front door and the door is locked. The burger shack was closed.
I was so heated, you could have fried an egg on my head (and I would have ate it as hungry as I was). I was ready to rip his fucking head out. But I look up, and low and behold, across the street is a cute little trattoria that's not too crowded. A big smile popped on my face because I LOVE ITALIAN food (and he's mentioned his affinity for it). I suggest we go and check out the menu and if its not too pricey--EAT.
The price was moderate. But COMMON didn't look too happy, he says I want to go somewhere else. It's kinda expensive here and the ambience isn't that nice. It felt like someone was dragging their nails on a blackboard right next to my ear. Then he tells me, Look, I tried to find a place, and it didn't work, so now you have to find a place.
I got angry but stayed calm. Since we were in the west loop i thought about Scoozi (on Huron and Orleans) We jetted over there. No parking.
I couldn't wait any longer. I told him, TAKE ME TO WILSON AVENUE.
We went to Zephyr Cafe (1777 W. Wilson) where the food is quick, the desserts are big, and the parking is free. When we get inside, it is clear that he is not happy. First, there was something in his water. Then there wasn't enough EQUAL for his pink lemonade. I told him that the Zephyr has great ice cream and desserts. He replied, I don't really like dessert that much. I looked at his 210+ pound frame and his 36"+ waist and thought he must like to eat something. He wasn't rude to make constant comparisons, but he did mention that he liked going to some other cookie cutter (what I call hood rich chain) restaurants like the Cheesecake Factory and Maggiano's--an Italian themed restaurant owned by a Chicago chain called Lettuce Entertain You).
When his chicken came out, he frowned and pouted--and picked over his meal the rest of the evning. But I didn't care. My food was good. And that's all I focused on for the time being. My blood sugar was slowly returning to its normal levels.
When we finished eating, the waiter brought the bill. And COMMON asked, Do you need any money for the bill?
Excuse me? I don't remember saying that I was paying for dinner. I guess he figured that because he bought be flowers, he drove, and he bought gas that I should pay for dinner. On any other day, he might have been right. But he INSISTED on going out. Remember, I was content with staying at home buying $5 chinese food. My $5 Chinese dinner turned into a $30 evening. I didn't get ugly. I just wanted to get out of there.
While leaving the Zephyr, I got a call from HAZELNUT (who who?). He wanted to hook up. I told him I would try my best that evening, but I wasn't sure. I asked him for his address, and to my surprise I learned that he lived right around the corner from COMMON...
My Valentine's was starting too look like a disaster. So I decided to end the date with a disaster. I told him to drive to 2122 N. Clark to surprise him. He did. We got out the car, and there was just a store front. He didn't know why we were standing in front of a store at 10:30pm on V-Day. I told him that this was the site of the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre (where Al Capone's goons supposedly shot up a bunch of gangsters). I also told him that the area was supposed to be haunted--and there were reports that people heard strange noises and often experienced unusual events.
COMMON seemed a little weirded out by my site-seeing choice. But he smiled. And he looked good. And we starred at each other. And right before we got back in the car, we kissed each other right on Clark Street. From that point on the evening got a lot better. Maybe its because my blood sugar levels were back to normal. Or maybe the St. V-Day's Massacre ghosts worked a little mojo and played a joke and lifted our energy. But we talked the whole way back to his place and even held hands in the car.
We got back to his place and I got in bed with him for a sec and we laid and held each other for a while--hard dicks pressed against one another. Yes I was horny. But it was late and I needed to get home. And he needed to get some sleep. I put my clothes on, grabbed my flowers, thanked him and started walking home.
Now would it have been tacky for me to call and finally meet HAZELNUT who was just around the corner...