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9: Big Boys Blowout
Last Updated:
2025-02-20 23:16:05
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Mi Amor 10: Off Balance
Wednesday morning I woke up thinking I was back in Javier’s bed, confused to look around me and see my own bedroom, my posters on the walls, my clothes strewn over the bedside chair.How was it that he was just a few years older than I was, yet seemed so much more grown-up? He lived in a gorgeous penthouse with a skyline view; my bedroom window looked out over the Dumpster in the alley next to my building. His furniture was elegant and comfortable; mine was a collection of hand-me-downs and thrift shop finds.The one place I didn’t skimp was on clothing. My closet was more crammed than his, with more expensive stuff -- though I did remember that Armani tux he had worn to the condo launch party. And that reminded me of those formfitting jeans he’d been wearing when we met at the Publix, and before I knew it, I was hard again.To distract myself, I grabbed my iPhone and scrolled through my morning messages. My brother Richard had some notes on the contract with Vladi Vodka, a woman from
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 11; Getting to Know You
I disconnected the call before I sounded even more foolish and desperate than I already had. I looked at the clock. Almost two hours until dinner. What would I do? I threw on a tank top and shorts and grabbed my roller blades from the closet. I took a couple of turns around Flamingo Park, pushing myself, hoping that the exertion and discipline would take my mind off Javier.It worked, for a while. But when I was back home, in the shower, I remembered Javier’s touch, and I was nervous and excited and horny all over again. I checked my e-mail one last time before I left the house; Sean had sent me a proposal for the giant martini glasses we’d discussed, along with thanks for introducing him to Barry.I forwarded the proposal to Jean-Jacques with a note that we’d discuss it the next day. At the end of the e-mail I wrote, Dinner in a few minutes with Javier. DON’T CALL ME. I knew that would make him crazy. Join the club, I thought.Lincoln Road was packed with tourists and locals. A bald
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 12: Won't You Marry Me, Bill
I couldn’t get to sleep. I kept thinking about Javier and worrying about the effect he was having on me. I didn’t want to fall in love, because love meant you couldn’t fool around, and you wasted your time mooning after a guy when you could be out having fun instead. I dozed off around four, as the early-morning birds were just beginning to chirp outside my window, and didn’t wake until I heard Jean-Jacques letting himself in with his key. “What time is it?” I said groggily, coming to the bedroom door.“Ten o’clock,” he said. “Get your ass in gear. We have a lot of work to do.”That’s the negative of sleeping at the office. Irritating employees with cheery attitudes too early in the morning. I dragged my sorry butt into the shower, and by the time I was awake, Jean-Jacques had a cappuccino waiting for me. Maybe he’s not all bad.“What time did you get home last night?” Jean-Jacques asked, handing me a steaming mug topped with whipped cream and cinnamon. “No sleepover?”“He ditched me.
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 13: Patience and Discipline
When I woke up Friday morning, I looked around me. My apartment was darker than usual. My bedroom window faces south, and usually by the time I wake up the room is flooded with light. I yawned, stretched, and looked at the clock. Eight o’clock. I guessed there was something to that old Ben Franklin saying about early to bed and early to rise.Lying there in bed, I wondered if this was what my life would be like with Javier. Going to sleep every night before midnight, waking up to early-morning light and the sense that I had a whole day ahead of me. I tried to go back to sleep, but after a while I gave up and kick-started my day with a phone call to Vlad’s office.No answer. Usually Marina was at her desk by nine. I left her a message, then showered and dressed. By the time Jean-Jacques came over, around eleven, I’d called Vlad’s office again, answered a bunch of e-mails, and paid a batch of bills. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that my personal bank account was dropping down into
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 14: Mi Corazon
I buzzed his apartment from the lobby at seven thirty. “Mi amor?” he said through the speaker. The sound of his voice, even distorted, sent tingles through me.“Si, mi corazón.”“I’ll send the elevator down,” he said, and the door buzzed. I walked through the art deco lobby, looking at all the details I’d missed when we had hustled up to his apartment on Monday night. The terrazzo floor sparkled, the wood moldings shone with polish. It was a lovingly tended space.The elevator door slid open, and Javier was there waiting for me. I fell into his arms, kissing him with a passion I couldn’t conceal. When the elevator landed on his floor, he pulled back from me, laughing. “You missed me,” he said. “Come, let me feed you.”All I wanted to do was drag him into the bedroom, or better yet, strip down and fuck him right there on the fluffy carpet, but I got hold of myself. “Something smells delicious,” I said. “What did you make?”He shrugged. “I didn’t make, I ordered. I hope that’s all right
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 15: Jason’s Bar Mitzvah
Saturday morning I woke and stretched just as Javier was coming out of the bathroom. “It’s early yet, mi amor,” he said. “You can go back to sleep.” He wore a pair of bikini briefs, and his dark hair was still tousled. His body was so handsome: muscular in all the right places, with a light coating of dark hair from his chest down to his waist. My dick stiffened as I watched him cross the room.“No, I can’t,” I said, sitting up. “I have work to do.”“On a Saturday morning?” There was a hint of laughter in his eyes. “You?”“A bar mitzvah. Jean-Jacques and I are the party planners.”The smile turned into full laughter. “I can just imagine the kind of entertainment you have planned.”I said nothing, just stood up and strode into the bathroom, my dick flapping as I walked. By the time I came out and pulled my dirty clothes back on, Javier had coffee going. I was tempted to walk out of the apartment, but caffeine’s siren song drew me into the kitchen.“I’m sorry,” he said, handing me a mug
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 16: A Man with a Truck
One of Jason’s grandmothers fainted in front of the T-shirt operation because the spray paint fumes made her nauseous. I sent Jean-Jacques to scavenge the religious school building for a fan, and helped the old lady to a chair. While I was fanning her, Javier showed up, followed by a pair of his workmen.“You’re my hero,” I said, leading him to the pile of boards.The three of them had the dance floor together in minutes, just in time for the end of Flo’s concert and the return of the guests. I was surprised that Javier didn’t introduce me to his workmen; I wanted at least to tip them. I didn’t think they were doing this for free, and I didn’t want Javier to pay for something that was my business.But I couldn’t worry about it for long. Jean-Jacques dimmed the house lights and turned on the spots, and the DJ welcomed Jason and his crew back to the after-party. After the oohs and aahs had subsided, I went out to the hallway to where Javier and Jean-Jacques were sitting at a folding tab
Last Updated : 2025-02-20Mi Amor 17: The Fashionable Homeless
I didn’t wake up until nearly noon Sunday morning, only to discover that I was alone in bed. Sometime during the night Javier had cleaned me up and bundled away the beach towel. When I wandered into the kitchen, I found a note on my table that read, “Hope you slept well. I am going to church with my mother and then to Sunday dinner with my family.”No indication of whether he would call me, though. What was up with that? “He slunk out of my bedroom like a cockroach,” I complained to Jean-Jacques later that day, when we met at Jerry’s Famous Deli for Sunday brunch, an almost religious ritual for us. Javier might have his church, but we have lox and bagels and chocolate babka.“Honey, you should get down on the ground and worship that man,” Jean-Jacques said. “He saved your ass on Saturday afternoon and then fucked it on Saturday night. What more do you want from a man?”I grumbled and took a swig of my black cherry soda. I hate it when flaws in my logic are pointed out. Jean-Jacques wa
Last Updated : 2025-02-22
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Mi Amor 84: A Little Situation
The morning of our wedding, Javier and I were up at first light. We went for a run together along the beach, then out to brunch, where we toasted each other with mimosas. “This is probably the last time today we’ll have time to ourselves, mi amor,” Javier said. “So I have some things I want to say to you.”I sipped my mimosa. “Yes?”“I love you, but you know that. You encourage me, you frustrate me, you make me see things differently, you force me to open up my heart and confront my emotions. I am so glad that you have come into my life.”I felt myself tearing up. “I love you too, Javier. When I was cruising along without much direction to my life, you came along with a strong hand and a warm heart. You looked beneath my surface the way few people have been able to do. Every day I want to be a better man so that I can deserve you.”We lifted our glasses again and clinked them together. “Then let’s get married,” Javier said.We drove up to the Ancient Spanish Monastery, a beautiful sma
Mi Amor 83: Medicare Fraud
A few weeks later, I was in the living room when Liana called Javier. He put the phone on speaker so I could hear. “That doctor Papi was going to in Hialeah,” she said. “He’s been arrested for Medicare fraud! The clinic closed down. Mami is so frightened the police are going to come for them.”“As long as she doesn’t expect anything from me,” Javier said. “They’ve both made it clear that they don’t want Adam and me in their lives.”“They’ll come around eventually, Javier,” she said. “Unless they die first,” he said.“Javier!”I was as surprised as Liana was. I knew that Javier was upset that his parents had shut him out, but I hadn’t realized how deep his feelings ran. They talked for a few more minutes, but he wasn’t willing to budge on his parents.If they didn’t approve of our marriage, I didn’t want their names on the invitation. So I found an invitation template that didn’t mention parents, brides or grooms. Just Adam Beller and Javier Marisco invite you to join in the celebrati
Mi Amor 82: Ancient Spanish Monastery
I woke up early on Sunday morning to find the house empty. Where was Angus? Why was everyone in my life abandoning me?Whoa. I needed to stop pitying myself and figure out what to do. A few minutes later, Angus came in, sweaty from an early morning run. I thanked him for his hospitality and said I needed to get back to Javier’s.“Take things easy,” Angus said. “Give Javier some time, and I’m sure he’ll come around.”There was little traffic on I-95 so early on Sunday morning, and I made good time back to the beach. I parked in one of the guest spaces at the Madrigal, and noted that Javier’s BMW was in its regular spot. That didn’t mean much, of course. He could have gone off on his scooter, or on foot.Or he could be upstairs.I took a couple of deep breaths. I couldn’t go on in limbo like that, not knowing how Javier felt.I rode up in the elevator and used my key to unlock the apartment door. Javier was sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a mug of coffee. I could smell the fragran
Mi Amor 81: Best Man
My mouth dropped open. He was kicking me to the curb? Where would I go, at nine o’clock on a Saturday night? To a hotel?I hadn’t wanted to tell Javier because I knew he had his own money problems, but I’d been running through my savings at an alarming rate as I sustained both of us until money began to flow in from Wynwood Columns. I had credit on my plastic, but very little in the way of ready cash.I called Jean-Jacques, but went right to voice mail. He was probably out on the town somewhere, or maybe cuddled up with that new boyfriend of his. I ran through my list of old friends. Most of them had moved on, or were likely to be out partying on a Saturday night. Then I remembered Angus Green.He picked up the phone after one ring. “Hey, Adam, long time no see. How’s everything?”The kindness in his voice broke something open inside me, and I began to cry, telling him how stressful the last months had been, about my botched attempt to talk to Javier’s parents, his anger with me.“Com
Mi Amor 80: Mi Hijito
“I have something I would like to show you about Javier, if you would allow me,” I said, when she and I were in the living room with Javier’s father. They didn’t seem to know how to say no, so I hooked everything up, chatting nervously in a mix of English and Spanish, until I had a picture of Javier as a little boy up on the screen.“Ay, mi hijito,” his mother said.I launched into my story. Javier as a boy, cleaning up at construction sites, playing baseball, graduating from high school with honors. His parents were smiling and happy, adding in their own comments to each other.The last pictures were of Javier and me together—dancing at a party on South Beach, walking barefoot on the beach during one of Javier’s summer visits to New Jersey, us posed together in front of the Wynwood Columns sign.I left that last picture up on the screen. “Javier loves you very much, and I know he misses having you in his life right now. Wynwood Columns is his biggest success so far, and it would be s
Mi Amor 79: Presentation
I pulled up in front of a thrift store run by an Episcopal church, only open two days a week for a few hours at a time. Jean-Jacques made a beeline for the jewelry counter, where the sweet old lady who looked like a gerbil, with white hair and pink skin, seemed to know him well.I browsed the rest of the store, coming up with a couple of items for Jean-Jacques to consider: a pair of commemorative coins issued by Masonic chapters; a belt buckle with an airline slogan from the 1960s; a wooden box covered with colorful labels that had once held Cuban cigars. Jean-Jacques nodded approvingly and bought all of it.We worked together all afternoon, driving from store to store, and by the end of the day he had a decent haul. I researched and wrote descriptions of the items as he photographed them. Around six, I texted Javier that I was with Jean-Jacques, and we slumped in his living room over a bottle of wine, a box of crackers, and a log of goat cheese.“I’ve been thinking about how you appr
Mi Amor 78: Just Because It's Legal
We fell into bed together and slept until mid-morning Sunday, when I got up, fixed us omelets and bacon, and we hashed over the details of the night before. Javier had a half-dozen solid prospects for the condos, and he’d impressed a number of local real estate agents. The buzz at the party had been superb, and it looked like we were going to be a great addition to the Wynwood scene.I waited until a few days had passed, and Javier had contracts on two more of the condos, before I brought up the question of setting the wedding date again.“I don’t know, mi amor,” he said. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea right now. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s right for us.”I opened my mouth to argue. What had happened to “I’d marry you today if I could?” But I already knew what the problem was. His parents. Until they came around to the idea of their precious boy married to another man, my wedding plans were on hold.Over the next few days, I thought about the issue. It wasn’t about the
Mi Amor 77: Party Boy
The next morning I met Leslie at Wynwood Columns. That day’s T-shirt read Be kind to animals or I’ll kill you, and her pinky fingernails were painted in tiger stripes.“The walls look amazing,” I said, after we’d kissed hello. Then I held the ladder for her as she began to hang a couple of her complicated mobiles.Javier came through while we were working, showing off the retail space to a rep from a national drugstore chain. “This is Adam Beller, who’s handling all my marketing and public relations,” Javier said when he introduced me.I noticed that he didn’t say “partner.” But we hadn’t formalized any business arrangement between us so I wasn’t a partner in Marisco Enterprises. I didn’t even have a salary or a job title.There was no time to stress over it, though. Before I could blink it was the Saturday night of the grand opening. We rented one of those big searchlights and set it up across the street. We hired a valet company to handle the parking, a jazz trio for background musi
Mi Amor 76: Sour Taste
I woke with a sour taste in my mouth. What if Wynwood Columns was a big flop, and its failure destroyed Javier’s business, because he’d bet everything he had on it? That could leave us both out of work. And because Javier had mortgaged the condo at the Madrigal, we could be homeless as well. And of course the wedding would be off. We couldn’t afford a party if we couldn’t put a roof over our heads or food on the table.We had only a week to go before the grand opening of Wynwood Columns, and Javier spent all his time on the mainland, leaving behind the beach, while I was at the office most of the time, handling dozens of small details from chasing down attorneys and leases to sourcing party favors. It was doubly hard because everything had to be done on the cheap, and I called in every favor I was owed, relying on every emotion from guilt to greed to get what I needed.Late one afternoon I was all alone in the office, and I started to worry. What if this physical distance was just a m
