Vision

“‘Ey yo’, Ry,” I said, walking inside of our apartment. I’d stopped at the corner store and got some stuff for the fridge. A smile was on my face and I felt on top of the world. Having a small “date” planned with Guillermo, I was on cloud nine. It would just be me and him with some music and drinks. It was my favorite setting.

Ryland came walking out of the hall in his boxers. He sank onto the couch and gave me a weak wave. “What’s poppin’ Gabanti?”

I quickly took a seat next to him and out down the bag. “Would you mind me kicking you out next week, maybe on a Wednesday or Friday?”

Ryland grinned. He knew what I was going on about. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

Shaking my head I corrected him. “Not a girl, but has the waist of one. My boss, Guillermo, and I have a little ‘date’ next week,” I told him.

“No shit? Damn, you move in on them fast, man!”

“Yeah, so it’ll be the two of us with drinks and music. My kind of scene and we could even get into something a little obscene, if you know what I mean,” I joked to Ry, purposely rhyming.

He shook his head. “Only you, Gabe, only you,” he sighed. “So I’ll make sure to be out of the house next Friday?”

I nodded. “Friday sounds quite swell. It’ll get you out of the house to find that girl and show her some Pleasure!” I nudged his side.

Ryland half grinned. “Yeah, if she would give me the time of day,” he spoke. “Last time she blew off because I looked too nerdy. I was just tapping into my English side!”

Shaking my head, I gave him my wow-did-you-really look. “Haven’t I told you that you never pull out the English look when trying to hook a girl? Now who is she?”

“Her name is Victoria, well Vicky, but rightfully Victoria.”

“And?”

“And I really like her. She plays piano and has that English style and is,” he sighed, smiling, “wonderful.”

“I’m sure she is, but you’ve got to learn how to play her game. Just by what you’ve told me she’s a total looker who isn’t looking for anyone. She’s confident and knows what she wants and how and when she wants it. Am I right or am I right?”

“You’re right,” Ryland grimaced.

“Now, the next time you see her simply ignore her. Maybe give her a glance, but ignore her. That’ll lure her in to you on the dance floor. Once you have her start casual conversation and hope for the best!” I clapped my hands for emphasis. “Remember I’m your best man at the wedding too.”

This made Ryland look happy. He even laughed. “Alex would fight you for it.”

“Well, I’ll obviously win. There’s no doubting that and am I going to have to pick an outfit out for you for your Friday night extravaganza?”

He shook his head. “I think I know just the thing to wear and I think she’ll like it too. If not well it’s back to the drawing board right?”

“Right,” I answered. “Now I think it’s beddy-bye time for you man. You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit.”

“Let’s go be shitty together?”

“Are you coming onto me, man?”

“No, I just meant you should go to bed and I should go to bed. In separate beds of course,” I told him, giving him a funny look.

“Okay,” Ryland yawned. He got up slowly and retreated back to his room. His door closed slowly and if you listened well enough you could hear him plop into bed.

I got up myself and went to my room. My door shut behind me and I fell into bed. Thinking of a wonderful next Friday, I drifted off, quickly, to sleep.

“Buenos dias? I think I got it right,” I heard Guillermo say to me as I walked into Off Beat the next morning. He was standing at the counter and opening a large box.

I grinned, removing my hoodie. “Buenos dias is right and good morning to you too, Guillermo,” I told him, walking over to him. “Learning Spanish eh? Me gusta.”

William nodded and started removing things from inside the box. “I thought it would help me for whenever you said something,” he paused, “Can you help me with this? It’s a shipment of back stock or as I like to call it, totally pointless extra shit. I’ll get it out of the box and sorted and you can bring it to the back?”

“Sure thing,” I replied. I watched as he sorted the first stack of CDs. It was the first time I really noticed Guillermo’s hands. They were rightly proportioned to his body and the fingers were slender and pale. They moved about gracefully and touched everything softly, by the looks of it. Both of his hands were connected to somewhat thin wrists that led to bony arms. With a twist of his arm, I saw a hint of ink on the underside of his left arm. “You have a tattoo?”

William stopped sorting and turned his arm over. “Yeah, it’s an ampersand or that funny and symbol as some would say,” he answered. He went back to sorting.

“Why left?” I asked. Being a righty, I didn’t see why one would get something on their left arm because one doesn’t use it much.

“I’m a lefty,” he said, patting the first stack.

I grabbed it and headed for the back of the store. My little Guillermo was a lefty. That was cute. I was a lefty in bed, but that was all. So far my little Guillermo was very unique. He was a lefty, got flustered over hearing foreign languages, stuttered, and sang in a band. I walked back over to see another stack done so I grabbed it and headed for the back once more.

It was strange how well Guillermo and I worked together. We didn’t need words to get things done, once they were set in motion. The silence between us was comfortable and not awkward. There was no tension, just being. It made me kind of glad that William and I could be like this. If I were to get him into my bed, like I wanted oh so much, the morning after I would want to be calm like this. Where we could each move about with saying something to one another and being comfortable with it, was what I would enjoy the most.

I walked back to the front of the store to see a few more stacks of CDs. My eyes glanced over at Guillermo’s lips. He was biting his lower lip and appeared to be concentrating. I didn’t want to interrupt him, but I just had to ask. “Are you okay, Guillermo?”

Guillermo stopped once more and gave me a faulty smile. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?” I asked back.

“Yeah, no worries, but um about that ‘date’ of ours were you being serious about having me over for drinks and dancing?”

Walking straight up to the counter to face William, I cocked my head. Did he think out date was a joke? “Do you want me to be? I honestly wouldn’t mind and I already told Ryland he’s kicked out of the house that night so it can just be us. If you don’t want to come over, it’s fine.”

“N-no, no, I just wanted to make sure because,” Guillermo’s voice got quieter, “I haven’t gone on a date in a while.”

“I can’t understand why. You’re very pretty, if I do say so myself,” I admitted, hoping I wasn’t overstepping my boundaries.

Guillermo’s face flushed a little, but not to the full extent. “T-thank you,” he said. “Not many guys tend to go after me since I look so much like a woman.”

“I, honestly, don’t mind at all. It suits you, not saying you’re a woman or anything. You’re just really pretty that’s all.”

“So about that date?”

“Is next Friday good for you? Right after work, we can walk to mine and I can get the party started. Nothing too special,” I said.

William’s lips were pulled up at the corners. “Yes, Friday’s okay. You already told me I’m pretty so it’s a little special for me now.”

I got behind the counter and next to Guillermo. My hand reached out to touch his dark brown locks and I let my fingers run through them. “Eres muy bonito, Guillermo. ¿Porqué no lo sabes?” I questioned.

“What’s that mean?”

“I said you’re very pretty, well, beautiful really, and I asked why don’t you know it.”

He turned to face me. “No one’s really told me,” he said, voice low and weak.

“That shouldn’t stop you from thinking that way. You’re pretty and our date is set and it’s going to be the best night of your life, Guillermo.”

William leaned in and his lips touched my cheek. His cheeks were bright red and his eyes were looking down. “You’re sweet.”

I knew I was.