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Breakfast the next morning was a very quiet affair.  Nick and Tamara didn’t even put in an appearance.  No one was surprised by that.

“Nick won’t be surfacing until well into the afternoon,” Blaine remarked to Melody.  “Not if he’s smart anyway.  He’s liable to have a serious hangover.”

“Yes,” interjected Rashad.  “He was really tying one on last night.  Hoo – ee!  The bartender couldn’t serve him fast enough.”

“End of tour jubilation, I guess,” said Melody.  “What about the rest of you, you all okay?”  She was pleased and surprised to find that she wasn’t suffering any ill effects from last night’s ‘jubilation’.  Gus had raised his eyebrows at her while he had been handing out Tylenol to anyone who wanted it.  Melody just smiled at him and shook her head.  Not necessary, thanks! 

Melody had awakened refreshed, although a little stiff from having slept in the same position the whole night.  She hadn’t moved once.  There was one bad moment when she was carrying the half-full wine glass to the bathroom to empty it.  She got a whiff of the wine, and her stomach did a little flip-flop, but soon she was into her morning coffee, and she was fine.

“What about Tofu?” she asked.  He hadn’t made an appearance yet.  Neither had Toby, oddly enough.  He was usually the first one there.

Blaine and Rashad looked at each other.  The tall black man shook his head.  “It’s gonna fall off.  I’m tellin’ ya, it’s just gonna fall right off!”

“More likely wear off,” said Blaine.

Melody laughed.  That answered that, she guessed.  She wondered where Tofu had spent the night.  He was roommates with Jeff, who had let him know early on that, if Tofu wanted to do it in the hotel, he’d better make the arrangements for a separate room…in advance.  Jeff wasn’t going to be ousted from his room in the wee small hours of the morning to accommodate Tofu’s voracious sexual appetite.  And he sure as hell wasn’t going to lie there with a pillow over his head while the shenanigans went on in the next bed.  It had become one of Gus’ duties to arrange for Tofu’s alternate accommodation.

Toby bustled in then and herded them all through the kitchen to the mini-bus.  They wanted to get out of town without being seen, mostly because they wanted people to think Nick had left town with them.  That might give him some measure of privacy for his extended stay in Rome…if he ever left the hotel room, that is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They settled themselves into their seats on the plane.  It was ironic, Melody thought.  Nick had been so upset with the seating arrangements on the way over that he had yelled at, first Murray and then Rafe, over the phone until the return transatlantic flight had been booked with all of them in First Class.  The short hops around Europe were on planes where there wasn’t much discernible difference, and they had all ridden Economy then, even Nick.  But they were going home in style. 

Without Nick.

“Hey, this is quite the ride,” said Tofu, who had shown up in the hotel dining room at the last minute with a leggy Italian draped over him.  They had exchanged a good-bye kiss that had made Blaine suggest under his breath that they might want to see if Tofu still had his tongue.  “Boy, Rashad, you should have shared this last time!  Gee, if we had only known what First Class was like!”

“Don’t you start with me, Boy,” muttered Rashad.  “Any of you!”  He knew what they had done on the flight over.  Keshia had wised him up in his first phone call home.  Be forever grateful, had been her advice, but never let them know it!

Blaine and Melody held up their hands in mock innocence.  Us?  Rashad glared at them and then laughed.

They settled themselves in for the long flight.  Blaine and Mel were sitting together.  Mel gave Blaine the choice – window or aisle – she didn’t care, she said.  He chose the aisle.  Across from them was Tofu and an empty seat.  It would have been Jeff’s but he stayed behind in Rome.  No one had any doubt that some lovely young lady in Economy would be invited to partake of the pleasures of First Class after the seat belt sign went off and Tofu went on a scouting trip.

Rashad sat behind Blaine.  The seat beside him would have been Nick’s, but it was filled by a last-minute passenger, a middle-aged American woman who had fulfilled a life-long dream by coming to see Italy.  She always traveled stand-by, she told him.  You saved a lot of money that way.  She was a retired nurse and had the freedom to make her own schedule.  The only thing she had to get home to was her dog, Lucky – she had a picture – who was looked after by her elderly aunt.  She had a lot of postcards and souvenirs in her handbag and a lot of stories to tell.  By the time they landed in New York, Rashad knew more about Italy than he thought he ever would. 

Across from them were Toby and Gus.  Toby took the window seat, which surprised them.  On the way over, he’d insisted on the aisle and was up and down constantly, checking on everything.  Maybe that meant the tour really was over, if Toby was relaxing.

The flight attendants bustled about offering them drinks, pillows, etc.  On the flight over, they had left in the evening from New York, slept their way through the time difference and arrived in Europe the next morning. 

Going back was different.  They left at 1:00 pm Rome time and would arrive at JFK just after 5:00 local time.  By the time they did baggage and connecting flights, it would be nearly 7:00.  They would hit LA at 11:30 pm and if they were lucky it would put them in a cab by midnight local time.  Their internal clock would be telling them that it was 9:00 the next morning.  They would all sleep on the last leg but right now, they weren’t tired.  That gave them a lot of time for crossword puzzles and reflection.

Melody reflected on how she always seemed to leave Nick on a bad note.  Like in L.A. outside the pub… and now this…the elevator…the…

“You okay, Mel?”

She looked at Blaine.  “Yeah, sure.”

“You made a little sound.”

Melody shook her head and shrugged.  No, it’s nothing. 

Oh good Lord, girl, she told herself.  You’d better get a grip.  It never happened.  Okay, let’s go with that.  It never happened.  By the time Nick gets back from Rome, he’ll have forgotten all about it, and then we have a couple of weeks before we start up again, so yeah…it never happened.

Melody reached into her bag and, with a fierce determination, she attacked her crossword puzzles.  Blaine and Tofu took out one of the magazines Gus had brought along for them and leafed idly through it.  Rashad listened to the lady tell her Italy stories, putting in the odd ‘how interesting’ and ‘that’s nice’.  Soon he realized that she was a really good story-teller, and he found himself asking questions about the scenery and monuments.

Toby stared straight ahead.  Somehow he had lost control of his life in the past twelve hours, and he wanted to get it back.  He concentrated fiercely on lists and itineraries and errands.  Then he would remember the feel of Gus’ hands on him, and a thrill would move through him.  He turned his face to the window.

“Well, then, do you want to stay in and get laid?”

Panic.  That had been Toby’s first reaction.  Panic.  How did Gus know?  What did Gus know?  Then a bit of calm.  Maybe the arm around him was just a friendly gesture.  Maybe Gus was saying, let’s phone out for some broads.

But then Gus’ next words.  “It’s okay, Toby.  No one knows but me.”  And then Gus’ lips on his neck.

Toby tried.  He stepped out of Gus’ embrace and turned to him.  “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Sure you do,” said Gus with a smile, and then he put his lips on Toby’s.  He kissed him softly, waiting for the other man to respond.  Toby didn’t at first, but he didn’t move away either.  This encouraged Gus to put his arms around him and pull him close.

Toby wanted to flee, but he was frozen in place, held there by those strong arms and soft lips.  Then Gus ground his pelvis against him, and Toby was lost.  He moaned and could feel himself hardening.  Gus used his tongue then, and Toby responded in kind.  They stood there for a long time, kissing and grinding their pelvis’ together.

Toby’s head began to spin.  They shouldn’t be doing this…not here.  What if someone…? 

Gus reached between them and began undoing Toby’s belt.  This made Toby step back. 

“I’ve never…I don’t know…”

Gus raised an eyebrow.  “You’ve never…?” 

Toby shook his head.  How could he explain? 

When Toby was a kid, he’d been part of his church choir.  There were always rumors flying around about the priest, Father Frank.  Never let Father Frank catch you in a corner.  Watch out for Fumblin’ Frank.  Toby had never seen any evidence of this, but he had kept his distance from the priest.  Then one day, when he was thirteen, he’d been given the task of tidying up the hymn books after rehearsal.  By the time he was done, everyone else had left.  He retrieved his jacket from the peg in the robing room and turned to find Father Frank behind him.  The older man had a look on his face.  Toby knew that he was a good-looking boy, but he was interested in girls.

“I ain’t interested, Father,” he told the priest, in a strong voice.

“You’re not interested in what, My Son?” asked Father Frank, putting his hand on Toby’s arm.

Toby didn’t flinch.  He just removed himself from the older man’s grasp and moved toward the door.  “I ain’t interested in what you got under that robe,” he said over his shoulder.

“Oh, you mean this?” said the priest. 

Toby couldn’t help but turn around.  In the priest’s outstretched hand was a fifty-dollar bill.  Toby froze…visions of what he could do with that money raced through his head.

“What would I have to do?” he asked cautiously.

“Nothing,” said the priest, removing his robe.  Toby could see the bulge in Father Frank’s black pants.  “It’s just that you’re at an awkward age…not sure if you’re interested in girls or not.”

”I am…interested in girls,” said Toby.

“Well, then no harm done,” said Father Frank.  “You just watch me for a bit, and if you don’t get turned on, then we’ll know…and you can have the fifty.  Close the door.”

Toby was suspicious.  “And I don’t have to do nothing?”  He closed the door but remained standing with his hand on the doorknob.

The priest undid his belt and dropped his pants to the floor.  Through the gap in the boxers, Toby could see flesh.  Father Frank lowered his boxers, freeing his erection.  Toby had never seen an erection on an adult male.  He couldn’t take his eyes off it.  His mouth went dry.  He tried to lick his lips, but he had no saliva.  Father Frank slowly caressed himself.  His penis grew harder, and the end became engorged and purple.

“Undo your pants,” he said in a hoarse voice.  “Let’s see how you’re doing.”

Toby shook his head.  “You said I didn’t have to do anything.”

“You don’t,” said Frank, “just let me look.”

So Toby dropped his pants and under Father Frank’s gaze, his penis stiffened and grew.  The priest took a step toward him.  Toby backed up against the door.

“You don’t have to do anything,” the older man reassured him.  “Just let me do something for you.”  And the priest dropped to his knees and took the young man’s penis in his mouth.  It didn’t take more than a couple of sucks before Toby ejaculated.  He whimpered, and his knees went weak.  Only his grip on the doorknob kept him upright.

The priest backed away and sat in a chair.  He spread his legs and used his hand to make himself come.  Toby couldn’t take his eyes off it.  When the priest was done, he pulled out a linen handkerchief and cleaned himself up.  Toby pulled up his pants and turned for the door.

“Don’t forget this,” said the priest, handing him the fifty.

The money burned a hole in Toby’s pocket all the way home.  How could he ever explain the presence of so much money?  They were not a wealthy family, and he would have to have saved every penny of his allowance for weeks to get this much.  And it was a fifty-dollar bill.  How could he break that without questions being asked?  Toby thought about the money because he didn’t want to think about the act.  But every night for a week, when he closed his eyes, he saw Father Frank’s erect member.  And every morning, he had to rinse out his pajamas.

At the next choir rehearsal, it was Jimmy Blake’s turn to put away the hymnals.  Toby told him he’d do it for him, he knew that Jimmy wanted to get to his ball game.  He did it slowly, making sure everyone had left before he went to the robing room. 

When Father Frank appeared, Toby laid down the rules…two twenties and a ten, Father, a fifty is too hard to break…I’m not doing anything to you, and you aren’t sticking it in me…deal?

Father Frank agreed because he figured it wouldn’t take long to seduce the young man into further actions.  He was wrong.  The most he could ever get Toby to do was give him a hand job after the priest had ministered to him orally.

At the end of three years, Father Frank was transferred to another parish.  Toby had a substantial secret bank account waiting to get him the hell out of this town when he was ready.  He decided that he was ready for girls.  They were certainly ready for him.  He was a good-looking young man.  Toby had no trouble getting dates with girls that were willing to have sex with him. 

Toby had a lot of sex over the next few years.  The only thing he didn’t have was a lot of satisfaction.  No matter what he did to the girls, no matter what they did to him, he never achieved the heights that he had with Father Frank.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’ve never…?”

“Not with a real person,” said Toby.  “I mean, not everything…just some things.”

Toby eventually gave up on girls when he went into modeling.  There were just so many beautiful boys around.  But Toby was beautiful too, and he was strong-willed, so he only picked the ones that would let him do things to them.  He was amazed at how many there were.  When he started in the PA business, he gave that up.  He locked himself firmly in the closet and threw away the key.  He only ever did it with hustlers, paying for it.  He found it amusing that even the hustlers seemed to want to do it with him, considering themselves lucky to have a good-looking, fit man for a change.

“Well then,” said Gus, slowly undoing the buttons on Toby’s shirt.  “You have a lot to learn.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gus watched Toby out of the corner of his eye.  Gus was very pleased with himself.  He had taken this job because it was the last at the end of a long line of family handouts.  He was twenty-five and they were sick of him drifting.  If he lost this job, he was on his own.  No more help from the family. 

Gus had sized the position up and tried to figure out which would be the easiest way to do the job.  He decided on the simple-minded servant, following his master’s orders to the letter, but slightly confused about the whole thing and needing lots of help.  He figured that a control freak like Toby would gradually take more and more of Gus’ jobs onto his own plate, rather than see them not done properly. 
Gus always maintained a charming, obsequious demeanor with Toby that would make it impossible for the older man to fire him.  Gus knew that he was being successful with his persona when he heard Blaine refer to him as Gus-Gus.

Gus was looking forward to a trip through Europe with nothing to do but hand out water bottles.  Then he discovered two things.  He liked this job, and he was good at it.  He got a great deal of satisfaction from arranging Melody’s bus tours in each city.  And translating for her in Barcelona, when they’d had their secret hairdressing mission, that had been a real kick.  When he’d presented her at the venue, he felt personally responsible, as if he’d mixed the color himself.

So the job was good.  And now there was Toby. 

Gus had spotted Toby for what he was the instant he met him.  Takes one to know one, he guessed.  Gus had followed Toby twice – once in Amsterdam and once in Stockholm – so he knew he was right.  He just waited for the appropriate moment.  He had drawn Toby in, by getting more and more intimate in their shared accommodation, walking around in his boxers and t-shirt and eventually, just the boxers.  Introducing Toby to the computer had been an inadvertent stroke of genius.  That gave lots of opportunity for closeness, their heads together peering at the monitor.

Gus knew that Toby wanted Nick.  He also knew there was no way he was going to have him.  And he knew that Toby knew that too.  So if Toby wanted to close his eyes and pretend that he was with Nick, that was fine with Gus.  Because when Gus closed his eyes, he pretended he was with Cousin Rafe.