Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2000 13:09:54 -0700
From: Michael J Daly <MYKSTER@prodigy.net>
Subject: Epiphany-2

Epiphany

Disclaimer:
Yeah, like you read these things.
< 18, I won't ask, you won't tell.  I would tell
you to leave, but you won't listen
*N Sync, I don't know nothin' 'bout em.  Fiction,
people!  FIC.  TION.
Chapter Titles are taken from lyrics from Jonathan
Larson's Rent
Not just a sex show!  I'm one for true romance -
looking for a quickie?  Look
elsewhere.
Thanks for writing, everybody!  Sorry this took so
long in coming out.  Finals week and
I need to take a vacation from everything.


email me at mykster@prodigy.net


Visit me!  http://mykster.homestead.com

Two: When All The Scars Of The Nevers & Maybes
Die!

            "So, that's how we met.  Not true love
at first sight, I can assure you of that.  I can't
believe that I yelled at him, but with every thing
that happened that night, well, let's say I
was on edge.  I have a really bad habit of that,
holding things in until I blow up, at the
wrong person, of course.  I was actually glad we
got stuck in that elevator.  After I calmed
down a bit, and I took a step back, we actually
hit it off.  Too bad I just broke up and he
was going back to Florida in a couple of days.
And I knew that bottle of Tequila would
cause problems in the morning.
            "I don't know why I took him to my
room; I guess I wasn't thinking.  I could have
told
the front desk about him.  I mean, he did live on
the penthouse level; he must have been
someone important, right?  They would have taken
care of him.  I could have taken him
back to his floor myself, used his key to get his
room number and problem solved.  But I
was tired.  Let's see how you are after being
locked up in an elevator with a stranger for
five hours.  And I'm claustrophobic, but I
digress. One of my many faults - I let my mind
wander and I end up tangents that no one cares
about.  There, see, I did it again.  Now
where was I?  Oh yeah, I knew there would be
problems in the morning after my guest
arrived and there were.  Problems galore."

* * * * * * * * * *

            The sounds of a toilet being flushed
awoke me from my dreamless sleep.  I looked at
the travel clock.  9:30.  Damn, I slept most of
the morning.  I usually wake up no later than
7.  I must have had a wild night, but in my sleepy
stupor, I didn't remember a thing.  I saw
Deny walk out of the bathroom clutching the wall
for support.  He looked . . . hung over.
Deny never drinks.  I groped for my glass and when
I could see clearly, I let out a yell.
This was not Deny.  The blond winced in pain and
the sound.  Muttering in his deep voice,
he told me not to yell.  Thick southern accent.
Realization of the previous night's
escapades hit me like a Mac Truck.  "Sorry about
that.  I forgot about you," I whispered.
            He gave me a strange look.  "First you
don't know who I am and then you don't
remember me.  You're doing wonders for my ego,
here.  Maybe you should meet Justin
and work on his a little."  he smirked.
            I gave him a confused look.  Why
should I know him?  Before I could ask, the blond
bolted for the bathroom again.  I got up, a little
concerned.  Praying to the porcelain god
was something I hated to do, and I don't think my
guest here liked it any more.  James.
That's right, his name is James.  And heard a
flush and I peeked into the bathroom.  "Are
you alright?"
            He glared at me, eyes squinting in the
fluorescent lighting.  "Do I look alright to you?"
            I laughed quietly at my stupidity.
Searching for something witty to say, I let loose
the
first thing that came to mind, blurting out "well,
as long as Jesus didn't tell you to cut off
you pee-pee you'll be fine."  He gave me a
startled, questioning look.  "Threesome."  A
more confused look.  "It's a movie."  No change in
facial features. "It's a habit of mine.  In
uncomfortable situations, quote random lines from
obscure movies."
            "I'll just be a minute, David."  James
looked as if he was going to reply when we heard
a voice in my room.  Deny.  I excused myself from
the bathroom to confront him.  He was
over by the dresser, packing his suitcase with his
clothes that he brought.  A strange man
who looked vaguely familiar stood by the door.  I
looked back at Deny.  He was ignoring
me completely.
            "Why did you even bother packing
clothes for, Deny?  Why waste money on this room
if you weren't planning on staying from the
beginning?"
            Deny looked up.  "Excuse me?  It was
my money, wasn't it?  Who are you to question
what I do with it.  This is the way I wanted it
and if you try. . ."
            "Deny, stop.  You promised not to
cause a scene."  David looked at him with pleading
eyes.  "Please?"  What ever Deny was about say, he
changed his mind.  The three of us
stood in silence until the suitcase was packed.
Deny got up and headed toward the door.
"Check out's in an hour.  If you're late, you get
the bill."  They left.  So, that's why his
left me.  Money.  I had none.  But it was never a
problem before, or he never let on that it
was ever a problem.  Before I could mull over the
things going through my head, James'
voice interrupted.
            Who was that?"  James stood in the
bathroom doorway, apprehension in his eyes.
            I sighed.  "I guess that was my ex."
            "You're gay."
            I did not want to play this game right
now.  "Yes, James, I am.  Is that a problem?"
            The look of anger in his face was
unexpected.  Face flushed red, eyes narrowed to
slits,
lips quivering in a thin line, his whispering
voice shook as he spoke.  "So that's why you
'didn't know' who I was.  Get me all liquored up,
take me too your room and do what
you want.  God, I don't believe I fell for that
lame act of yours."
            I had it will his smug attitude.
"Excuse me?"  I yelled.  "First of all, I don't
know who
the fuck you are.  Nor do I fucking care, and I
fucking don't want to know!  Who the hell
do you think you are, thinking you know exactly
who I am and what I'm like just because
I'm gay?  No, I did not take advantage of you!  If
you had a fucking brain, you would've
realized you got off of the couch, still fully
dressed!  But no, I had to drag a fucking idiot
with a big ego problem back to my room because he
can't handle his fucking liquor!"  I
grab his stuff and threw it out the door.  "I have
too many things going through my mind to
deal with you, you bigoted ass.  Get the hell out
of my room!"  I shoved him out of the
room and slammed the door in his face.  After
standing there for a few minutes, I began to
calm down enough so that I could pack up my things
and get out of the Plaza.

* * * * * * * * *

"Yes, I know that I swear a lot when I'm angry.
It's not a welcome habit of mine,
believe me; I still think it will be the downfall
of me.  Someone will say we've made a
mistake; we don't need your mouth here.
"Anyway.  That would have been the end of
everything.  I left the Plaza, vowing never
to go back.  I planned to get drunk in my
apartment and let the world go on without me for
a couple of days.  Not to be so.  Rachel found
out, and she dragged me out into the world
of the living.  To a karaoke bar, of all things.
She knows I hate to sing in public and I hate
those bars.  Everyone says them wrong.  CARE - E -
O - KEY.  I hate that.  Americans.
Don't they know it a Japanese word and in the
Japanese language, there is no hard "A"
sound?  Just that fact makes me shun those bars,
but when Rachel wants something,
Rachel gets it, always.  But I wasn't going to
sing.  A couple of gin and tonics solved that
problem, too."

* * * * * * * *

"Thank you, Travis, for that stirring rendition of
'Vogue.'  Come on, everybody, let's
give it up for to Travis!"  I smiled drunkenly at
the audience and they gave me a standing
ovation.  Stumbling over to the table, I found
Rachel there, laughing hysterically, tears
pouring out of her eyes.
"God Travis, that was SO BAD!"  Rachel couldn't
look up at me, she was laughing so
hard.  "And what's with this crotch grabbing
thing!  I almost peed myself!"
"Hey, the goddess does it in the video, or some
video, why can't I?  And you're up
next, dear one.  Let's see how you do."  A moment
of sobriety hit me.  I looked at my
best friend since kindergarten.  "And Rachel,
thanks for everything."
She peered at me from the bottom of her fuzzy
navel.  "Anytime, Trey, anytime."  I
guess it was because of the absurdity of the
situation and the fact that we were both drunk
that we started cracking up.  We noticed the emcee
took to the stage and Rachel started
straightening up; it was now her moment to shine.
Or so we thought.
"OK, everybody.  Simma down now, simma down.
Before we get to the amazing
vocal talents of Miss. Rachel I would like to
introduce a few very special guests - Justin
Timberlake, J.C. Chavez and Lance Bass, three of
the members of *Nsync!"  The
spotlights moved in on them and three guys waved.
The crowd went wild.  Amidst the
deafening noise, I heard Rachel groan.
"I can't believe it.  I'm getting bumped!  By a
boyband!  Even in a karaoke bar, I get
the shaft."
I winced.  "KA, Rachel, not CARE.  KA, like the
sound the crow makes or the 'C' in
cause. And both 'Es' are soft, like in elephant.
Ka - Re - O - Ke."
"I can't believe you!  I'm going through a huge
trauma here, and you're correcting my
grammar!"
I laughed.  "That's what you get for staying
friends with a person who got a degree in
English."
Before she could reply, the emcee caught our
attention again.  "Now, I want to do
something different.  We all know what Justin and
JC sound like but Lance never gets a
solo, so, if you would grace us with you vocal
styling, Mr. Bass?"  The crowd went wild
and after a minute, a young man with blond spiky
hair stood up.  If we were closer, I'm
sure I would have seen green eyes.  I dropped my
glass.  "Oh my God."
Rachel looked at me, concern filling her eyes.
"Trey, you all right?"
Not taking my eyes off of him, I answered,
"Remember that random guy I told you
about? Well,. . .."
"Oh my God, Trey!  You cussed out a boyband!  Good
for you!"  I ignored her.  Why
did he tell me his name was James?
"I watched as he took to the stage.  Janet's 'If'
came on.  He started dancing and
singing and you could barely hear him over the
crowd.  He had a nice voice, though.  And
in any other situation, I would have found it
hilarious to hear a boyband member sing that
song.  I mean, 'your soft and shiny head so good
between my lips, sugar' is not a lyric
used by any boyband member I know of.  But I was
oblivious to it all.  I just prayed he
didn't notice me on stage.  No such luck.  He
looked over at my table, caught me starring
and smiled.  I quickly looked away.  Starting to
hyperventilate, I stood.  Rachel looked
over and started to get up.  I waved her down.  "I
just need some air.  I'll be fine.  Plus,
you're up next."  I left the crowded room and
breathed in the air of New York City.  I sat
on the curb trying to calm down.  I'm not one to
yell at anybody, and to find out that
person is a celebrity, well.  I felt a hand on my
shoulder and turned around.  It was not
Rachel. I stood quickly.
"Hey."  Lance kept on looking at the pavement,
looking nervous.
"Hey," I replied back.  The situation seemed so
unlikely that, for the first time in my life,
I was speechless.  Luckily, Lance had an agenda
for coming out here.
"I just wanted to apologize for being such an ass
this morning, but I'm used to people
trying to take advantage of my celebrity status,
so, I overreacted.  Sorry."  He still didn't
look up.  I sighed.  I scared him to death.  Yeah,
he was a boyband member, but I usually
don't hold people to their faults that much.  I
hated yelling, and I scared the crap out of
him.  I'm surprised he came out here to apologize.
"Don't worry about it," I said.  "Actually, it
should be me who should be apologizing.  I
overreacted and took everything out on you.  You
were at the wrong place at the wrong
time.  I was really mad at Deny, and I yelled at
you.  I'm not that bad of a person, really."
He smiled a little at that and glanced up.  God, I
love those eyes.  Nothing more was said
between us, and the silence was getting awkward,
but Rachel has perfect timing.
"I can't believe you missed me singing Trey!  I
was the bomb and. . ." She trailed of
when she noticed Lance.  The silence broken, I
regained my senses.
"Rachel, Lance Bass, Lance, this is Rachel.  Best
friend, would be lover, if I wasn't gay,
that is."  Rachel smirked and Lance coughed.
"You wish.  I wouldn't do your scrawny ass even if
you were straight."  Looking over
at Lance, she extended her hand.  "Nice to meet
you, Lance.  I loved your performance
up there."
Lance grabbed her hand and shook it.  "Please,
call me James."  He looked at our
confused faces before continuing.  "Lance is my
middle name.  I hate it, but management,
well, you know."  He stuttered off and Rachel
started grinning.
"I see you boyband members are very eloquent
speakers."  Rachel started laughing as
James started blushing.  I thought it was kind of
cute.
"Scoop, we're leaving."  The three of use looked
up and saw the other two members of
*Nsync walking towards us.  Out of nowhere, a limo
pulled up and they quickly slipped
inside.
Rachel, ever the talker, felt she need to say
something.  "Boy, eloquent AND friendly.
What a combo."  James looked up.
"Pardon my friends.  They usually get the
spotlight and are irritable when it's not on
them.  Hey, you guys need a ride somewhere?  It's
the least I can do for this morning."
"Yes, thank you."  Rachel, damn you.  I looked at
her.  Not backing down, she looked
back.  "Yes, Trey, we do want a ride."  Our
staring match began and as usual, she quickly
won.
Looking over at a smirking James I replied "Yes,
thank you."  We got into the limo and
I gave the driver directions.  Justin and JC,
after a brief introduction, said nothing.  James
was subdued into silence.  Rachel, for once, said
nothing.  As we rode in the
overwhelming silence, I felt the alcohol taking
effect on my senses, and I slipped into the
abyss of my mind.

next up:
Three: No Day But Today