A gay sex story: Backstage Romance Ch. 01 * Daniel *
Everyone knew Jeffrey Williams, of course. A local boy made good, he had gone in a ridiculously short time from community productions to Broadway to a long-running television series. He even had a few better-than-average movies to his credit, though none in a leading role. Not that Jeffrey couldn’t have carried the mantle of a leading man—he had the looks and talent to do it. I’m not sure whether he actively avoided that kind of part, or whether the opportunity simply never came his way.
The stage was Jeffrey’s first love, though, and having made enough from Hollywood to secure himself financially, he left it behind without any apparent regret, and moved back home where he could be close to his family and childhood friends. From that home base, he had a steady string of TV guest appearances and regional theater engagements around the country to keep him busy. Our production was the first in quite a while to see Jeffrey back on the stage in his own hometown, though he was plenty active behind the scenes, teaching guest seminars at the local university and performing arts school.
We first met a day or two before the first rehearsal. Jeffrey was an old friend of Scott Jenkins, the director, and they had arranged to meet at the theater to catch up with one another and discuss the role. Jeffrey had the lead, naturally.
I was relaxing backstage and chatting with Mark, the senior stage manager, and Kelly, the house manager. Mark was middle-aged and gruff; Kelly was my age, red-haired and vivacious. We’d worked together at the theater for three years now and had developed a strong friendship. We were laughing over one of Kelly’s outrageous stories when a rich baritone voice interrupted us.
“Excuse me, I’m Jeff Williams. I’m looking for Scott Jenkins?”
I felt my jaw drop. I had seen Jeffrey Williams on the screen and in photos, but never in person. He wasn’t an exceptionally tall man, maybe five-eleven, tops, but he had a strong athletic build that made him appear taller, as well as chiseled features, bright blue eyes, and thick blond hair complete with a goddamn Superman forelock. Even dressed casually in blue jeans and a battered brown leather jacket, with his hair tousled from the brisk wind outside, he drew the eye and held it. I quickly averted my own eyes to avoid being caught staring.
—————
* Jeff *
The stage manager seemed a decent no-nonsense sort. He introduced himself as Mark Hopkins, his assistant stage manager as Daniel Lewis, and the attractive redhead with them as Kelly Richardson. She batted her eyes a bit when we shook hands, but she did it so with a playful twinkle in her eye that told me I had nothing to fear. She seemed the type that flirts to be friendly, and doesn’t mean anything more by it.
My eyes returned to the ASM. He was a slim, fair-skinned guy a couple inches shorter than me, with reddish brown hair cut long so that it hung down over his eyes. He seemed a bit tongue-tied. Star-struck, I suppose—I had seen it a few times before, though I hardly counted as a major celebrity. I found myself wondering what those hidden eyes looked like. All I could see were his full lips, and they told me nothing about what he was thinking.
As I left, following Mark’s directions to the production office where I could find Scott, I made a point to say, “Nice to meet you, Daniel.” That drew a startled look from him and a quick shy smile. Well, at least it was a start. We would all be working together for the next two months. Best to get comfortable being around one another.
I found the production office and knocked on the frame of the open door. Scott looked up from a heavily marked script and bounded out of his chair. Eight years older than I, he still came across with the energy of a teenager, lucky bastard.
“Jeff, it’s good to see you!” Scott embraced me and stepped back to look me over critically. “Looks like the years haven’t caught up with you yet—you’ll be breaking hearts in this one, let me tell you!”
I’d known Scott fourteen years, and that enthusiasm of his had never diminished. Neither had his talent for flattery and creative overstatement. I knew there were lines in my face that hadn’t been there last time we met, and I owed the color of my hair as much to my discreet and talented stylist as to nature. But Scott soon drew me into an animated discussion about his vision for the play, and how he wanted to develop my character. Jesus, we weren’t starting rehearsals until Thursday! But it felt good to be talking shop with him again, and I found myself relaxing as I realized he was still a director I could trust to make me look good. At least in his hands, I wouldn’t come across as a fool.
We left the theater in search of a coffee shop for some more personal catching up and reminiscences. Scott was still chatting away, a steady stream of the trivial and the profound carelessly mixed together, much as he had been at thirty. Before I left the building I caught myself looking around for the elusive Daniel, but he seemed to have vanished to wherever shy assistant stage managers go in their off hours.
—————
* Daniel *
As soon as the imposing Mr. Williams had disappeared, Kelly was all over me. “Dan, I’ve never seen you play coy before in my life! What’s going on? Is it love at first sight?” I rolled my eyes. So did Mark. He’s pretty much OK with gay people—he does work in the theater, after all—but sometimes I think he doesn’t like to be reminded we have sex lives. Even though mine was pretty much theoretical. I hadn’t been with anyone since the disaster that was Brian two years ago.
Kelly’s the only person in my life who’s allowed to give me shit like that, by the way. We’ve known each other since college, and we were roommates until she moved in with her boyfriend a year or so back. She’s still like a sister to me, and like most sisters, she can annoy the hell out of you even though you love her to death. Fortunately, I think she was a little thrown off her game by Mr. Williams’s stunning charisma, and too busy covering her own feelings to probe a little deeper.
I was trying to hold back the shivers running up and down my body. I could still feel those movie star blue eyes seeking out my face. I said goodbye to Mark and Kelly and left the theater before Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Williams emerged from the production office. I hadn’t responded like that to a man in a long time. This could make things awkward working in the same intimate space for nine weeks.
I meant to be good, to get some housework done and make an early night of it. Instead, I found myself hunting through my DVD collection for a movie Jeff Williams had made some eight years ago. I told myself I was just curious if he burned up the screen the way he did in real life. The answer, sadly, was no. His acting was fine, even better than fine, but his image on film was just another good-looking face. The body, on the other hand… I caught myself pausing the DVD on his totally gratuitous shirtless scene, wondering if his body was still as good now as it had been then, and realized I had just crossed into forbidden territory. He was a co-worker now, and I had to think of him in those terms. I turned the TV off and went to bed.
It took me a long time to get to sleep.
—————
* Jeff *
“OK, enough about the play,” Scott finally said. “I can see your eyes glazing over from here. Give me the scoop. What’s been going on with you? How’ve you been? I’ve been trying to get you into one of my plays for years, why’d you finally say yes to this one?”
I sipped at my coffee, smiling. Scott could circle a question for hours, but he never missed his mark when he finally landed.
“What’s up with me? Nothing besides being a doting uncle to my niece and nephew, a loving son to my mother, God bless her wicked heart, and a fine upstanding member of my profession and community.”
“That’s a fine-sounding list, but I think noticed one glaring omission.”
I braced myself. Here it came.
“I didn’t hear any mention of a partner, spouse, lover, boyfriend… heck, even a fuck buddy.”
I winced. “Could you keep it down?”
Scott laughed. “Jeff, it’s an open secret in the acting world that you’re gay. I don’t care what sort of equipment they’ve got. I just want to know if you’ve got someone in your life.”
I was still bristling. “Maybe it’s an open secret in the acting world, but around this town I’m still Judy Andrews’ boy, and I don’t want her learning about my sexuality through neighborhood gossip. Besides, my orientation’s been kind of a moot point for a few years, anyway.”
It was Scott’s turn to wince. “I wish you’d let that go. If I know your mother, she’s already got his-and-his towels and a nice assortment of lubes picked out and set aside for the day you finally man up and tell her you’re bringing your boy toy home to visit.”
My mind recoiled from that image, but I was used to hearing outrageous statements from Scott. “Well, there’s no boy toy for me to bring around, so she’ll just have to hang on to that stuff a while longer.”
What I wasn’t used to hearing from Scott was the concern in his voice. “Timmy really did a number on you, didn’t he?”
I couldn’t answer. Timothy didn’t deserve that accusation, at least not completely, but Scott would never believe me if I tried to defend him.
“Jeff, it’s been six years. Has there really been no one since him?”
“It’s not a big deal, Scott. I’ve just got other priorities.”
“Uh-huh. My best friend goes and becomes a monk on me and tells me it’s not a big deal. At least tell me you’ve got a prospect in mind, man!”
Even as I smiled and shook my head, a fleeting vision of chestnut hair passed before my eyes. Where had that come from?
“Well, before I leave town, my mission, apart from making half this town’s population fall in love with you on the stage, is getting you laid.”
We’d passed back from treacherous emotional waters back to joking camaraderie. I relaxed in my chair with relief. “Well, from your lips to… someone’s ears. Meantime, you wanted to know about the play. It’s pretty simple, really: I haven’t trodden the boards in a while, I was looking for something that didn’t take me away from home this close to the holidays, and I got lucky with the perfect combination of a director I believe in and a role I love.”
[zilla_likes]