The seat on the opposite side of the table was empty, even though it looked like a game was in progress. Curious, Mark came up from behind him, stopping only a few feet away. After watching for about a minute, Mark realized the man wasn’t playing a game, at least not against a current opponent. What he was actually doing was working out a problem from some earlier contest. It had been a good number of years since Mark had played himself, but chess was a game that he really loved playing while growing up.
Intent on the problem, the man didn’t notice Mark, at least not until, after studying the board himself for a long minute, the younger man inadvertently expressed the move he would make, not realizing until the man reacted that he’d done so out loud.
Turning to the sound of Mark’s voice, the man displayed an expression of surprise. Not that he’d been interrupted, but that the suggested move was exactly the one he had decided was the one that should have been played in the original match.
“Do you play?” he asked.
“Not in a while,” Mark replied. “My uncle taught me when I was a kid, but nowadays it’s hard to find anyone to play with. The guys I work with are more into checkers or cards.”
“Well, if you’re not busy, would you like a game?” he then asked.
“You know, I think I would,” Mark smiled, thinking that was better than spending the afternoon cooped up in some dingy motel.
“Donald Harrington, my friends call me Don,” the other man said, extending his hand as he rose to his full height.
“Mark Palmieri,” the younger man said in return, reaching out with his hand as well. “Nice to meet you, Don.”
Handsome, with rugged good looks, Don was, Mark noted, a couple of inches taller than his own five seven. Weight wise, he was about fifteen pounds heavier, with a frame that suggested he either worked out regularly or had a very physical job. Later, Mark would find out that both were true. Also, Mark initially thought Don was in his mid-forties and was surprised to learn he’d recently turned fifty-two.
Returning to his seat as Mark pulled out the empty chair on the other side of the table, Don quickly reset the chess board. Since the white field was already on the driver’s side, the first move was his.
“So, what brings you to the Mountainview, Mark?” Don asked as he made his counter-move.
As he studied the board, Mark shared his story, including how his vision of spending the weekend relaxing in the sun had been washed out by the storm.
“Ouch, that has to really hurt,” Don said as, after watching Mark’s opening move, he made one of his own.
“What are you gonna do?” Mark said with a shrug. “As they say, you can’t fight mother nature.”
Over the next few plays, Don shared that he was also here on business, his company having a contract to maintain the resort’s air conditioning system. The unit had been acting up of late, and in checking it out, he’d found a part that needed replacing. The problem was, it couldn’t be delivered until tomorrow. Fearful of having the system go down again on a busy weekend, the hotel manager had offered to put him up for the night, while still on the clock, so that he’d be available to try and fix any problem that might come up overnight.
“I didn’t have anything else planned for the weekend, so I figured, what not?” he concluded.
After about twenty minutes, each man had an almost equal number of captured pieces off to the side, showing that they were evenly matched. Half way between that point, they’d been approached by a waitress who asked if they’d like something from the bar. Each ordered a beer, with Mark saying he’d pay for the first round. Then the game continued apace, with the younger man coming out the victor.
“I don’t think you’re as rusty as you thought,” Don smiled. “Another game?”
“I was about to ask the same,” Mark replied, sharing the smile.
This time the game went a little slower, each player taking more time to consider their next move. Spurred on by the beer, as well as a mutual enjoyment of the game, conversation became easier as well.
“Doesn’t your girlfriend mind you working all these weekends?” Don inquired in response to Mark having mentioned that he hadn’t had one off in two months.
“Don’t have a girlfriend,” Mark stated as he watched Don reach for one of his bishops.
“With all the time you spend at work, I’m not surprised,” Don said as he made his counter-move. “Still, all work and no play as they say… a man has needs.”
“Oh, I didn’t say I didn’t play,” Mark clarified as he responded to Don’s action. “I just don’t always score.”
“I see,” Don observed as he studied the new configuration on the board.
“How about you?” Mark asked, having seen no ring on the other man’s finger.
“Are you asking if I have a girlfriend?” Don said.
Mark nodded his head.
“No, I don’t,” Don replied, pausing for a second and then adding, “but to be honest, women were never my thing.”
The answer seemed to confuse Mark for a second, enough that Don felt the need to clarify it.
“I prefer guys,” he simply said as he turned his attention back to the board.
“You’re gay?” Mark asked cautiously, the response not being one he expected.
“No, but my boyfriend is,” Don quipped, then added. “Sorry old joke, but yes, I’m gay — no boyfriend though.”
Then, as casually as if he’d simply said it was still raining, Don reached out and moved a rook.
“That doesn’t bother you, does it?” Don asked as he released the piece.
“No, of course not,” Mark said, a slight quiver in his tone.
“I’d understand if it did,” Don said as he looked up. “Some guys suddenly feel uncomfortable once I tell them, almost as if I was contagious or something.”
“That’s crazy,” Mark remarked.
“But unfortunately true,” Don pointed out.
As much as he might not want to admit it, Mark had a few friends that would’ve felt exactly that way. He hoped his expression didn’t reflect that.
“Well, I’m not like that,” he offered.
“I can see,” Don again smiled, indicating with his hand that it was Mark’s turn.
Again, Mark studied the board.
“It does make me wonder, though,” Don added, “if you have any friends that are gay?”
“Why would you think that?” Mark asked in turn, delaying his move.
“Your reaction,” Don replied, “or rather your lack of one. People with a gay friend or family member tend to see beyond stereotypes. At least enough not to make snap judgements.”
“No, I don’t know anyone who’s gay,” Mark said as he used his castle to take one of Don’s knights. “I just don’t define people by who they sleep with.”
“That’s a very liberal attitude,” Don noted as he quickly counter-moved, protecting his king. “It sort of makes me wonder who you like to sleep with.”
The question took Mark off guard for a second, just long enough for Don to take note of it.
“Are you asking if I like guys?” Mark asked.
“It’s just a question,” Don responded, “but not one you have any obligation to answer.”
“I’ve never slept with a guy,” Mark said without looking up from the board, making his facial expression difficult to see.
“That’s not really the question, at least not the one you presented,” Don pointed out, “but I can see that it’s not one you’re comfortable with, so why don’t we just forget I asked?”