Blind Date
by bg
Howie sighed as he placed the
phone back into its cradle.
Another blind date. Perfect.
He knew that his best friend meant well, but Howie was getting a little
tired of being set up by JC. As he absentmindedly picked the remote off the
table and flicked on the television, Howie mused that this had to be the six
hundred and fifty-seventh blind date JC had set up for him in the last year,
completely oblivious to the fact that Howie had been in love with him since
forever. It was getting tiring.
First, there was Lance, the accountant. He was nice enough, and he was pretty
damn gorgeous as well, but the way he seemed to have his cell phone surgically
fused to his ear throughout the whole date hadn’t really appealed to Howie.
AJ, a guy that worked with JC at the bar, had been a great guy. But they’d
both known from the moment they set eyes on each other that there wasn’t any
chemistry there. At all.
But, when he’d introduced AJ to his former college roommate, Kevin, the two of
them had hit it off remarkably well. Howie and JC had helped AJ move all of
his stuff into Kevin’s apartment last weekend.
There was Chris, a guy who’d come into the bar a few times when JC’d been
tending. Howie wasn’t surprised that JC thought Howie and Chris would hit it
off right away. JC was right. When Chris and Howie met at choir rehearsal in
Howie’s freshman year, they’d both initially thought so, too. Howie figured
there were few things less awkward than an ex showing up at your door for a
blind date.
Once, JC had come to Howie’s office to meet him for lunch and he’d run into
Nick, a junior intern at the advertising firm that was located three floors up
in the same building as the telecommunications company that Howie worked at.
JC had a blind date arranged for Nick and Howie by the time he got off the
elevator at the 15th floor. Howie had thought that particular date had
actually gone rather well -- until he’d walked in on Nick making out with a
tall, curly-haired blond man in the main floor washroom of the building the
very next afternoon.
And then, there was Brian (the singer), and Joey (the actor), and Wade (the
dancer - who, admittedly, had been wonderfully limber) and, tonight, it
was yet another guy that JC had assured him was "perfect for him. Really. I’ve
given this one a lot of thought. Trust me on this."
Quite frankly Howie was ready to give up on the whole dating thing. Entirely.
About 10 minutes before his date was scheduled to arrive at his door, Howie
was fully dressed and showered and ready for his date. Five minutes before,
Howie called JC, ready to beg and plead for JC to make up some story about his
great Aunt Lucinda and how he couldn’t possibly go out tonight.
As he stood in the middle of his living room, the phone ringing, unanswered,
in his ear, Howie heard a soft knock on the door. Slamming the receiver down
angrily, Howie marched across the room, angrily muttering threats and cursing
under his breath.
Howie swung open the door and he abruptly fell silent when he saw who stood on
the other side.
JC was standing at the door, dressed in a casual blue suit and holding a
single purple flower - Howie’s favourite - looking at Howie nervously and
biting his lower lip.
JC glanced quickly down at the flower and then back at Howie, JC spoke in a
quiet, hesitant voice, "You know. I really hope I finally got this one right."
[I-4, or Didn't Your Mother Ever Tell You Not To Accept Rides From Gorgeous Boys In Tow Trucks] * saabira