Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 19:04:24 -0700
From: Data Fever <data2fever@gmail.com>
Subject: Akio

     It was already a quarter past seven. Damn! I was late for my
appointment with a very promising new client. I paced furiously as I
waited for Bob to pick me up. He had promised to meet me in front of my
office building at seven o'clock sharp.

     I called his cell phone again. Still no answer. My head began to
pound and I took a deep breath. Seeing my entire commission slip away, I
called the client and cancelled the appointment with a lame excuse.

     No longer having any reason to wait for my ride, I strolled down
the street. I had no destination in mind, but I did not want to call a
cab for a ride home. Not yet.

     After a few blocks of aimless wandering, I heard the blaring music
that poured out of the doors of The Hideaway, a gay disco that caters to
the younger set. The Hideaway maintained a separate bar area so there
was no age limit or carding at the door. I'd been there once before
hoping to pick up someone younger but I had struck out.

     On the spur of the moment, I decided to enter. The night was still
quite young so the place was not crowded by any means. The men that were
milling around seemed to be mostly college students, with a smattering
of those young enough to still be in high school. And every one of them
seemed to be firmly attached.

     I bought a drink (non-alcoholic - I would have had to stay in the
bar if I wanted something stronger) and watched the young men grind
their hips out on the dance floor. There were only a few couples dancing.
The most attractive couple were both younger men who were oblivious to
the rest of the world. Their eyes saw only each other and their lips
frequently touched. Ah, to be a lover in love again.

     Over the next hour, the place really began to fill up. The volume
of the music went up too. The few singles that had arrived were all
'older' men in their thirties and forties. I really had made a mistake
by coming to a place like this by myself. I set myself a deadline of ten
more minutes before I would call a taxi and go home.

     No sooner had I done so when the most gorgeous Asian boy walked in.
By himself. The eyes of every single man there were upon him, as were
half of the eyes of those who were not alone. I mean, he exuded sex, both
in the way that he was dressed and in the way that he moved.

     The man seated next to me must have noticed my tongue hanging out.
"Don't bother with him. His name's Akio. He's still in high school. Jail
bait, if you know what I mean. He comes in here, flaunts his looks,
messes with men's minds, and leaves by himself. Nothing but a flirt and
a tease because he knows they want him but can't have him."

     Disenchanted, I got up and left, having to brush right past Akio on
my way out. I didn't bother to turn around to give him one last look. I
called for a cab, waited impatiently for it to show, and went home.

     Two weeks later, I was jogging along the park trail late in the
afternoon when I passed him. He had stopped to tie his shoe against a
tree. Did I mention how sexy he looked before? That was nothing compared
to how he looked now. He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt that was cut
off to expose his entire midsection. And those tight Spandex shorts did
little to hide that bulge he was packing.

     While I stared when I saw him, I remembered the warning the man had
given me at The Hideaway. I reluctantly averted my eyes and kept jogging.
Disappointments I could handle; trouble I did not need.

     "Mind if I jog with you?"

     The sudden voice beside me shook me out of my reverie. I had not
heard any footsteps approaching me from behind. I glanced at the person
who had overtaken me and almost squeaked to see that it was him.

     "Sure," I responded. "No problem." I kept my eyes glued to the trail
ahead and we jogged in silence for the next two minutes.

     "Do you jog here often?" he asked.

     What? Was he going to try to draw me into a conversation so that I
would get hooked on him so that he could dump me? I could feel myself
getting upset, then realized I was perhaps attributing motives to him
that didn't exist. "Yeah, three times a week."

     Another minute of silence ensued. One thing that I like about the
park trail is that it is flat. I can maintain a steady pace for the
entire length which leads back to the starting point. I normally run two
loops on Mondays and Thursdays and three loops on Saturdays.

     "I come here quite a bit too, but usually earlier in the day."

     "That's nice." I could not help but wonder if he came out here to
find men whose minds he could mess with.

     We arrived at the end of the trail and I stopped, fully expecting
him to keep going. "I'm done for today. See ya later." A friendly goodbye
was the least I could send him away with.

     "Yeah, I'm done too." He pulled up beside me and we exited the trail
together. "Do you live around here?"

     Now what kind of question was that? "Just a couple of blocks from
here. A short cool-down walk." I was brusque in my reply, not wanting to
continue the conversation. I started for home.

     "Are you upset with me? Have I done something wrong?" His question
threw me off balance.

     "No. Why?" Man, he was messing with my mind already and it was
working. What I really needed to do was to cut him loose.

     "For starters, I asked if I could jog with you, but you've done
nothing but give me a cold shoulder the whole time. Is there anything
wrong with having a friendly jog?"

     "Yeah, well, I came out here to jog, not to talk."

     "And a couple of weeks ago, I saw you at The Hideaway.  You brushed
past me on your way out and you seemed upset then too."

     "My friend didn't come to pick me up.  I *was* upset." We had
reached my house and, without thinking, I turned up the walk to the
porch. He followed me.

     "Aren't you going to invite me in? I could use a drink of water."

     I stared at him, flabbergasted by his brashness, awestruck by his
beauty. I turned and opened the door. He followed me in without the
invitation and I did nothing to stop him. I went into the kitchen and
grabbed two bottled waters from the refrigerator. I tossed him one, then
started to go upstairs.

     "Where are you going?"

     "To take a shower. I like to take a shower after I jog. Don't you?"
Oops. Wrong question.

     "Sure. Do you have a towel I can use?"

     I was astounded by his audacity, but I showed him the way to the
guest bathroom and provided him with a towel, washcloth, shampoo and
soap. I then went upstairs and took a long, cool shower, doing my best
not to think of the handsome young hunk that was naked in my house with
me, even if he was downstairs and I was upstairs.

     After I finished, I put on a cool summer outfit - a polo shirt and
shorts - and went back downstairs.

     I'm not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't to see him
with nothing on except for the towel wrapped around his waist. But what
was I to have expected - that he had put back on his sweaty Spandex
shorts?

     He had found a bottle of champagne and had poured out two glasses,
each less than half full. As I approached, he handed me one of the
glasses.

     "What's this for? What are you doing here anyway?" I was upset and
ready to throw him out of the house dressed just as he was.

     "This is to celebrate. But before we do, I want to know why you are
ignoring me. Most men I meet have their tongues hanging out of their
mouths and would bend over backwards to get me alone in their house with
them. But you have given me nothing but cold looks. You *are* gay, aren't
you?"

     "Yes, you are right about that. But I happen to know that you are
underage, and I think it would be best if you got some clothes on. If
necessary, I can rummage up something that will fit you. You are putting
me in a very awkward situation. You shouldn't be here."

     He smiled and nodded his head as though in agreement. "You are right
to be concerned. I don't mean to put you in a compromising situation. But
I was hoping that you could help me celebrate and make up for lost time."

     He leaned against the wall and let the towel drop from his waist.
He was wearing fishnet briefs that hid his none of his private parts.
Wow! I mean, double WOW!

     He smiled and said, "Because you see, today is my eighteenth
birthday."