Page 7 of Leather and Longing
Someone who wants to know me,he amended.
Paul sat on the rocks, the afternoon sun drying his hair, his wetsuit rolled down to bare his chest. The waves had been tremendous and riding them had been one exhilarating moment after another. He closed his eyes and listened to the surf crashing onto the rocks just below him, the incoming tide at its highest. That sound always made him feel so alive.
“Wasn’t it great out there?”
He looked up to see Taylor standing beside him, his own wetsuit gone, a pair of shorts and a T-shirt in its place. Paul let out a sigh of contentment. “Perfect.” He glanced around.“Where’s David?” The café had closed at four as usual and Paul had thought he’d spied Taylor’s husband sitting in front of their house, West View. There was no sign of the author, however.
“He’s just gone to grab a shower. He’s told me he’s taking me out for dinner tonight.” Taylor smiled. “I’ll get changed when he’s done.”
“Anywhere special?”
“We’re going to drive to Chale.”
Paul grinned. “The Wight Mouse Inn again?”
Taylor’s eyes twinkled. “So we like eating there. And occasionally we even get to hold hands and stuff.”
“And stuff?” Paul chuckled. “God, you sound like you’re a pair of teenagers, and here’s you, only a couple of years off being thirty. Don’t go scaring the straight customers away, will you?”
Taylor laughed. “We won’t, I promise.”
Paul twisted around and glanced up to his left, to where Cliffside sat above them, high on the cliff.
What does Adam do, now that he can’t write?
It had to be a very solitary existence, living up there alone. Not to mention heart-breaking. To live where he could hear the waves below, but not be able to enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Sounds like torture.
“Hey, where didyoujust go?”
Paul gave a start. “Sorry, I was miles away. I was thinking about a job interview I had yesterday, up there at Cliffside.”
Taylor’s eyes grew wider. “Oh, the blind guy?”
Paul stared. “How do you know about him?” Then he laughed. “Stupid question.” He laughed even harder when he and Taylor said simultaneously, “it’s a small island.” It was something of a saying among the island’s inhabitants.
“What was the job?” Taylor joined Paul on the rocks, their surfaces warmed by the sun. “Did you get it?”
Paul told him about it, Taylor listening intently. “He seems to feel he doesn’t need a companion. Maybe he’s right.”
“And maybe it’s all bluff.” Paul tilted his head to one side and Taylor smiled. “He’s, what, forty? So the last thing he wants is for some young guy to see he’s not coping. Three months ago, this man was healthy, he had a career, and three weeks later, his whole world turns upside-down.” He leaned back, letting his arms take his weight, and turned his face toward the afternoon sun. “Ithink this guy is not coping well at all, but he’s bloody proud, by the sound of it. He’d rather soldier on, muddle through, whatever, than let people see just how badly he’s dealing with being blind.” He squinted at Paul. “Did he look like he had any cuts or bruises?”
Paul frowned. “I can’t remember. To be fair, I was so nervous, I didn’t take it all in. Why’d you ask?”
Taylor gave him a knowing smile. “Dad has a friend, Marcus, who’s blind. He has this saying: ‘you can’t be blind and good looking.’ He said when he first became blind, there were always obstacles where he least expected them. Like lampposts.”
Paul winced. “Ouch.”
“Yeah. But Marcus wasn’t one for hiding away. He says in the early days when he first lost his sight, life wasn’t so bad because he had the balls to get out into the world.” Taylor peered at Paul. “Maybe you need to find out if your Adam has balls.”
“He’s notmyAdam.” Paul stared out at the sea, watching the waves rolling in and hitting the rocks at the far end of the bay. “I’m just not sure if I’m making a mistake.”
Taylor sat up and patted his back. “Give it a while. See how things go, yeah? Don’t quit because you think it might be tough. You’re better than that. Just go in there determined to give it all you’ve got.”
He smiled. “That’s what Mark said last night.”
Taylor beamed. “See? Us gay guys make a lot of sense.”
