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Chapter Three
Daniel
After the day and week I’d had, I needed to let off some steam. I was staying at a hotel for a few days, so I didn’t have to go home and face Katherine, so being out late didn’t cause a problem. I had heard about a local gay bar near the hotel I was staying at called The King’s Head. If I was honest, it sounded more like a pub than a gay bar, but I’d heard good things about it, especially at the weekend. I didn’t want to go in when it was really buzzing the first time, but if it seemed okay, then perhaps I could spend more time there.
When I walked up to the front of the building, it looked exactly how I expected: like the outside of any normal pub. The inside wasn’t that much different, but I could see a section off towards the back that I would have considered seeing in a club more than a pub. I saw the guy standing behind the bar and immediately knew that he was straight. I’d always had a good sense for working out people’s sexuality in my life, mainly so I tried not to make a fool of myself if I ever approached anyone, although that hadn’t been too often in the past four years.
But he wasn’t who caught my eye. Even though I could only see his back, the guy sitting at the bar definitely caught my attention. He was about the same build as me with blonde hair. I had always been a sucker for blonds, only in my case they were of the male variety as opposed to the buxom female type. I decided that I wanted to get to know this guy better, even without seeing his face. I walked over and noticed the barman smiling and raising his eyebrows at the man now sitting next to me. I thought it only polite to ask if I could join him, of course. I had no idea if he had anyone joining him.
“Is this seat taken?”
As he turned around to look at me, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This guy, whoever he was, was beautifully handsome. It wasn’t until I was this close that I noticed his hair was obviously dyed blond, but to me, that didn’t matter. His eyes were brown, the same as mine, and reminded me of chocolate—probably because I was melting into them. The features of his face were soft to look at, but perfect in every way.
I could feel my heart rate rising and butterflies forming in my stomach, something that I hadn’t felt in years. Without saying a word, this man had already captured my being, and I wanted to get to know him so much better. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there looking at each other when he finally answered my question.
“Sorry. No, the seat isn’t taken. You’re more than welcome to sit down.”
I sat down next to him, hoping that I could strike up a conversation with him. From my initial thoughts, I could tell that he was nervous. I guessed he either had not long come out or was still hiding it from most of his friends and family. But I knew that feeling and knew I could help him, even if there was no romantic inclination between us. But as I sat here looking at him, I so hoped that we could get to know each other far better. I ordered a gin and tonic from the barman.
“Would you like another drink?”
His head immediately shot around to meet mine. He was extremely nervous about this, which either meant he was sitting there going through the same feelings as me or didn’t know how to react to being chatted up.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ve only just ordered. Maybe next time.”
He gave me the sweetest smile I had ever seen, and I took that as an opportunity to introduce myself.
I held out my hand. “My name is Daniel.”
He hesitated for a moment before he spoke.
“Nice to meet you, Daniel. I’m Romeo.”
I was almost positive that Romeo wasn’t his real name, but I didn’t blame him for using a pseudonym. I had done so a few times when I first met someone I liked, but for some reason, I didn’t feel the need to withRomeo,or whatever his name was. However, I had to admit that it suited him. I could tell he was nervous as soon as the next question came from his mouth.
“So, do you come here often?”
I thought the barman was going to choke on his drink as he tried not to laugh.
I felt sorry for Romeo. He probably hadn’t come out very long ago, if at all. He really wasn’t used to having a guy come up to him in a bar and start talking to him, that was obvious. I could see the embarrassment on his face as he realised what he had said.
“No, it’s my first time in here. How about you?”
I could see he was starting to feel a little more comfortable, but still quite wary of the situation.
He nervously smiled. “I come here quite a bit in the week. It’s usually quiet, so normally it’s just me and Bruno here.”
So the barman was called Bruno. I made a mental note to try to remember that for the future. I guessed I would have to lead the conversation, so I continued.
“Are you usually on your own, then? No one special in your life?”
I saw a sad look come over his face, which suggested he didn’t have anyone in his life, or had recently split up from someone.
He started to speak. “No, just me. No one special in my life except my mum.”
We were getting on well, but I wanted to get to know him a lot better. I saw over to the side that there were some booths, which I thought would make it easier to talk. Although Bruno seemed like a nice guy, it did make it difficult having him there while trying to get to know someone better.
“Should we grab another drink and head over to a booth? Get to know each other better?”
