where the sky touches the sea

I remember when I first saw him standing there at the bus stop with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, an unlit cigarette hanging between his lips. I don’t know what he was waiting for because it was like two in the morning and the buses weren’t even running. I stood around for a while and watched him, completely intrigued by his actions. Then, he turned around and caught me staring.

I’ll never forget that smirk.

“What the fuck are you lookin’ at?” He asked me, removing one hand from his pocket so he could get his hair out of his face. There was this tone to his voice that let me know he was serious, but he really wasn’t much of a threat. He just liked cussing.

I shrugged, not breaking eye contact. I figured I’d better be straight forward with him. “Your pretty fuckin’ face,” I told him, a smile forming on my lips.

I think if he had been anyone other than himself I may have wound up in an alley somewhere within an inch of my life. I guess I’m just that lucky.

He started to laugh as he stuck his cigarette behind his ear. He walked over to where I was standing and I realized he was shorter than I’d imagined. “I don’t think I’m all that pretty,” he said, honestly. “But thanks for the compliment.”

I don’t know if it was because I’d been drinking of if I really am that bold. All I know is that he made me want to tell him exactly what I was feeling, even if it was only backed up by lust. “I think you’re absolutely gorgeous.”

He rolled his eyes, and glanced up at a flickering street light. When he met my gaze again he was wearing a small smile. “I’m Frank,” he introduced himself. “Iero.”

I took his hand in mine. “I’m Gerard,” I told him. “And I’m a little drunk.”

Frank only laughed, a broad smile overtaking his face. I remember thinking that I wanted to see him laugh as often as possible because it was honestly the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

What’s funny is I didn’t usually date guys. I knew I liked them, but it was rare that I ever found a guy that was really worth my time. Most guys were too into parties and dancing and drinking. I was more low key. That, and it was easier to find a girl who wanted to take care of you.

But then I saw Frank standing around at a bus stop around two in the morning. From the beginning I knew he wasn’t the kind of guy that cooked or cleaned or took care of his boyfriend. But I didn’t care. The minute I saw him, I knew that I wanted him.

“What are you looking at me for?” He asked me, a confused expression on his face.

I shook my head because it didn’t matter. He didn’t really need to know. “Nothing,” I told him. “I’m just… I had too much to drink. I need to get home.”

Frank chuckled. “Alright then, Gerard. You gonna be alright?”

I shrugged. “Who knows? Probably.”

I started walking, glancing back every now and then to see if he was still standing in that same spot. It wasn’t until I was halfway down the street that I realized that I may never see him again. I stopped walking.

“Hey, Frank!” I shouted.

His head shot up and he met my gaze. “What?”

“I wanna be able to see you again!”

I could see him laughing even though he wasn’t all that nearby. He started walking toward me and I met him halfway. We didn’t say anything at first. I simply drank him in, taking in his tattoos and the odd shade of green in his eyes.

When he realized I wasn’t going to say anything he sighed and took a pen out of his back pocket. Taking my hand in his, he wrote his phone number in large numbers on my forearm. Above it, he wrote his name. Once he was done, I looked down at my arm and smiled.

“Call me. Or text me,” he said. “Whatever.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

I texted him as soon as I turned the corner.

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“So,” Frank sad, stabbing a leaf of lettuce with his fork. He glanced down at his plate and speared a baby tomato onto his fork as well. “What do you do?” He looked back at up at me as he chewed.

“Well,” I began, moving my pasta around my plate with my fork. “I uh… I take phone calls.”

Frank chuckled, wiping salad dressing from his face with his napkin. “You take phone calls,” he repeated. “Care to be a little more specific?”

I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “You can’t laugh, okay?”

“Okay,” he told me. “I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”

I drew in a deep breath. “I field phone calls at a phone sex agency.”

I could see a smile tugging at the corners of Frank’s lips. “Oh.” He was trying not to laugh, I could tell. “So… you’re a phone sex operator?”

I shook my head. “No. Customers call and they tell me what they’re looking for and I transfer them to whoever matches what they’ve asked for.”

Frank nodded, the smile still present on his lips. “Have you ever, you know, helped someone out over the phone?”

I dropped my gaze, running a hand through my hair. “I knew this was going to happen,” I said, laughing a little.

“Oh, come on!” Frank replied, catching my gaze. “This is interesting. I wanna know. I’m not gonna laugh at you.”

I looked at him with serious eyes, however, my smile probably made me seem less intimidating. “Frank, you already are laughing at me.”

He shrugged, taking another bite from his salad. “Then the worst is already over.”

I sighed, shaking my head as another chuckle escaped my lips. It was strange how much I already liked this guy. I felt as if I’d known him for years. When I looked back at him I caught him watching me, a knowing look in his eyes as he continued to eat his salad.

“Alright,” I began. “What do you want to know?”

I decided it was just best to get this out of the way. If I wanted to try and pursue something with this guy, he was going to want to know at some point.

“Have you ever, I guess you could call it “phone sexed” with anyone while you were at work?” He asked me, a smile on his lips.

“Not at work,” I told him, smirking as I took another bite of my pasta.

“Ohhh. You’re a dirty boy,” Frank replied, his lips curling upward as he put his fork down and leaned forward on his elbows. “Care to share?”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “Not really.”

Frank sighed, settling back in his chair before crossing his arms. “That’s not even fair, Gerard. You go and tell me you’re a fuckin’ phone sex guy and then you won’t even give me an example of what you can do. That’s a real fuckin’ tease, you know?”

I met his gaze and saw he was still grinning and put my fork down on my plate. “First of all, I’m not a phone sex guy. I only direct phone calls. Secondly, this is only our first date, you know? I think it’s a little early for demonstrations.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Frank mumbled, sounding slightly disappointed. I could tell he wasn’t angry though, so I let him sulk for a few seconds.

“Anyways…What do you do?”

“Well, it’s not as interesting as your job, but I’m an executive assistant at a law firm downtown.”

“Sounds major,” I told him. “You like it?”

Frank shrugged. “It pays the bills, I guess. It isn’t exactly what I want to do though.”

I finished off my pasta. “And what’s that?”

“Music,” Frank told me. “I have a band and we’re trying to get ourselves out there, but it isn’t working out too well right now.”

I was about to reply when our waitress came by with the check. She took our plates and offered an inviting smile before leaving us to the bill.

Frank moved to check the balance, but I slapped his hand away. “I asked you out, remember?” I reminded him.

“Oh, come on, Gerard. This isn’t the fifties. We can split it if you want. I know this place is crazy expensive.”

I shook my head and put the money in the small folder that the bill came in. “its fine, Frank,” I told him.

He sighed and placed a ten dollar bill on the table. “Okay then. I’ve got the tip, then. I’m not budging on that one.”

Once the bill was paid, I stood up and took Frank’s hand in mine as we left the restaurant.

“So, you’re a musician,” I stated, looking toward Frank as we walked toward the car. We had to park a few blocks down since the streets were so crowded.

Frank nodded. “Yeah… you could say that. I have a band and all, but right now it’s more of a hobby, you know? We’re trying to make it big but we all don’t have the time to put our whole hearts into it. We have work and our drummer has kids and the singer is trying to go to school… it’s all a little fucked up.”

“It all takes time,” I told him. “You gotta wait until the time is right and, when it is, it’ll happen for you.”

Frank smiled as he looked up at me. “Yeah. I think you’re right.”

After we got to the car I drove Frank back to his apartment. Once we got there I turned the car off and took the key out of the ignition before drawing in a deep breath and exhaling. We sat there for what felt like hours, not saying anything, before Frank spoke up and invited me to go up to his apartment.

“We can have a few drinks or something…” He said. “Or, I don’t know, hang out for a bit.”

“I probably shouldn’t,” I told him, smiling softly. “As much as I’d like to, I don’t think I should.”

“Care to explain why?” Frank asked me.

“Because I kinda like you a lot and I don’t want to move things along to fast.”

Frank placed a hand on my shoulder. “I can respect that." He smiled, his hand never leaving my shoulder. His glanced out his window toward his apartment before turning back to face me. "Will you at least walk me to my door?”

“Sure,” I answered, pushing my door open so I could meet Frank on the other side of the car.

Frank took my hand in his as he led me through the doors to his apartment complex. “Sorry it’s a little messy here. The owner doesn’t really do much to keep up appearances,” he told me as he took me up the steps to his front door.

“It’s fine,” I replied as I followed him up the staircase. It was actually a little eerie in the way his apartment resembled mine. “My apartment building isn’t much better.”

All that was heard for the next few seconds were the sounds of our shoes against the cool cement of the staircase that led up to Frank's front door. It wasn't until we stopped that I heard the small jingling noise of Frank's keys as he tossed them between his palms.

He looked up at me, a soft smile on his lips. “Well,” he said, nodding his head toward the door. “This is me.”

I looked behind him, noting the number on his front door.

"Sixty-nine?" I asked him.

He glanced back at his door, laughing as he shook his head. "Actually, that's a funny story. To make it short, I actually live in sixty-six and the second six became unhinged about four months ago," he explained pushing the number "9" with his finger so it swayed back and forth before turning back to me. "See?"

"Wanna share how it became unhinged?"

"Not really," Frank replied, blushing slightly. "We'll save that story for another time."

I thought about prying it out of him, but decided against it. I liked having something to look forward to. "Alright then. I won't force you. It does sound like an interesting story though."

Frank's cheeks went an even deeper shade of red as he turned his head to the side, avoiding eye contact. "Anyways...." He drew in a deep breath before resuming eye contact. "I had fun tonight."

"Me too," I replied, watching as he continued to fiddle with his keys.

We stood there, silent, neither of us sure of what to say next. I noticed his eyes flick downward toward my lips before meeting mine once more. I couldn't help but to smile before leaning forward and capturing his lips with my own. Frank’s hands found my hips as he pressed his body against mine, causing me to sigh softly into his mouth. His lips were softer than I thought they would be and I couldn't help but to wish that I could stay that way forever; standing in front of his apartment sharing a first date kiss.

When he pulled away, his cheeks went pink as he looked down at his shoes. He was a little shyer than I had expected him to be which was a rather pleasant surprise. “Well, uh… ‘Night, Gerard.”

I smiled, stepping forward and pecking his lips. “Goodnight, Frank."