A Family Affair

by Rob Loveless

  “You’ll be all right. Show him what he missed out on,” Sophie advised him. Still, she could sense Cal’s solemnness through the phone. “And call me if you need anything.”

  “Oh, I’m sure I will. Thanks, Sophie,” Cal replied. After he hung up, he heaved a deep sigh and rubbed his weary eyes. The man who had caused him so much pain—unbeknownst to his family—was in his parents’ house. But now, he wasn’t just Cal’s crush and ex; he was Claire’s boyfriend. He was Claire’s serious boyfriend. Cal could only imagine how his parents were gawking over Andrew downstairs, unaware that he had ever broken their son’s heart.

  Seriously, who else would this happen to? Cal mused before he left the safety of his parents’ guest room and traipsed downstairs to face his former flame, with his family as an audience. When he arrived downstairs, Andrew, Claire, and their father were all seated at the dining room table while his mother extracted the steaming lasagna from the toasty oven.

  “Honey, are you all right? You seem flustered,” Mrs. Adams observed.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” Cal replied, attempting to sound as composed as possible. “I just felt a headache coming on.”

  “Oh, do you need something? I’ve got some ibuprofen in the medicine cabinet,” she offered as she began to grab silverware from a nearby drawer.

  “I’m gonna need something stronger than that,” he mumbled under his breath.

  “What?”

  “I said, ‘No thanks.’ I’m good.”

  “Okay, well dinner is just about ready,” his mother informed him. “Why don’t you go sit at the table.”

  “Um, is there anything you need help with?” Cal asked, desperate to buy himself a few additional minutes before having to face Andrew at the dinner table.

  “Nope, I think I’m all good here.”

  “You sure?”

  “Awe, you’re sweet, honey. But everything’s pretty much ready to go out,” she said. At his mother’s insistence, Cal trudged out of the kitchen and reluctantly entered the dining room. He took up a strategic position next to his father, who was seated at the head of the table. Claire sat across from Cal, with Andrew next to her. The couple smiled and laughed among themselves as Cal’s stomach churned and his heart sank.

  “Hey, bud. Want some wine?” Mr. Adams inquired, raising a large bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

  “Hell, yes,” Cal sighed and held out his glass. His father cast him a suspicious expression. “I mean, yes, please.”

  “All right, I hope you’re hungry, Andrew. I made tons of food,” Mrs. Adams stated as she came into the dining room with the lasagna, which she placed upon the glass tabletop among numerous side dishes.

  “Jeez, Mom. How many people are you planning to feed?” Claire teased.

  “I know, I know. I always make too much food,” she admitted as she sat at the other end of the table. “I can’t help it. I’m Italian.”

  “Everything looks great, Mrs. Adams,” Andrew complimented.

  Kiss ass, Cal thought.

  “Well, thank you, sweetie,” she said with a warm smile before she raised her wine glass. “Before we start eating, I would like to say thank you for joining us for dinner, Andrew. We’ve heard so many great things from Claire, but I’m glad we finally get to meet you in person. Salute!”

  “Salute!” those around the table chimed in before they clinked their glasses.

  “Cheers,” Cal grumbled without raising his drink. Instead, he brought it to his lips and emptied the glass. He placed the empty cup upon the table—harder than he had intended—and began to pour himself some more wine.

  “Cal,” his mother hissed.

  “Sorry, I did a quick workout before I left work. I’m a little dehydrated,” he lied as he sipped his wine.

  “How is the gym, Cal?” Claire inquired, trying to smooth over the awkwardness.

  “It’s good. Same old, same old.”

  “Oh, do you work at a gym?” Andrew asked.

  “Yep, I manage it,” he responded curtly.

  “Yeah, Cal manages a local gym about half an hour or so from here,” Claire explained to Andrew. “He’s been there, what, two and a half years now?”

  “Yep, two and a half years now. Yep,” Cal answered as he took another sip of Cabernet Sauvignon.

  “Do you live around here then?” Andrew wondered.

  “I do. I live by my gym, so about half an hour away,” he replied and paused. “Actually, it’s a funny story. I went to school about a mile or so away from your college. Well, yours and Claire’s. Now that I think about it, it’s a pretty small college town. I’m surprised we never bumped each other—bumped into each other before.

  “Anyway, I graduated about three years ago and moved out of state for a job. But I was going through some shit—”

  “No language at the table, please,” his mother interjected.

  “I’m sorry, stuff. I was going through some stuff and had a hard time with the move, so I wound up quitting. Then, I came back this way and became a gym manager,” Cal finished. “Innit funny how life turns out?”

  “Uh, well it’s lucky you’re doing something related to your degree,” Andrew replied, his face now flushing. Was he nervous? “I mean, I’m assuming you went to school for business management, since you’re managing a gym. A lot of grads are having trouble finding jobs in their field.”

  “Speaking of which, you’re still in school, right?” Mr. Adams asked.

  “Yeah, I’m in a five-year program so I’ll be graduating in May,” he informed them.

  “You know, Cal and I were just talking about this before you got here,” Mrs. Adams began. Cal groaned under his breath as his face flushed in embarrassment once again. “What are you majoring in?”

  “Forensic science,” Andrew replied.

  “And he’s minoring in Spanish and anthropology,” Claire added.

  “Oh wow, that’s impressive!” Cal said, sounding a little too enthusiastic, but no one at the table seemed to pick up on his fake tone.

  “It really is,” his mother agreed. “What do you want to do with that after you graduate?”

  “I’m hoping to work in a forensics lab,” Andrew explained. “I’ve been looking into some companies near my school.”

  “Andrew just finished up an internship with our school’s cadaver lab,” Claire informed the table.

  “Oh, that’s great,” their mother said. “What did you do?”

  “Mostly grunt work, but it was a great opportunity, and I learned a lot,” Andrew said. “I had to remove various organs from the cadavers and perform tests on them to determine their different pathologies.”

  “How did you like that?” Mr. Adams inquired.

  “I loved it,” Andrew replied with a smile.

  Yeah, I’m sure you loved ripping hearts out of bodies, Cal thought bitterly as he took a large gulp of his wine.

  Perhaps it was the two glasses of wine Cal consumed within ten minutes on an empty stomach or maybe it was the emotional turmoil he was experiencing. Regardless, the events and conversation over dinner that evening blurred together. Andrew was well received by his parents, who lauded his academic accomplishments and career pursuits. Claire, who had appeared tense upon their arrival, seemed at ease as she conversed and beamed at her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Cal ate his dinner in silence while holding back his scoffs and avoiding eye contact with Andrew.

  An hour and a half later, the dinner came to a close as Andrew and the Adamses sat around the table with mugs of coffee. Cal was quite full, having kept his mouth full of food to avoid speaking during the meal. The slight state of drunkenness he may have felt during the meal had now dissipated thanks to the large dinner and the caffeine of his black coffee, which had accompanied dessert.

  The company continued to converse as they picked at the scrumptious homemade apple crisp that Mrs. Adams had prepared. Once Mr. Adams had finished his coffee, he began to clear the empty dessert plates, and Mrs. Adams rose from her own seat to assist her hu
sband. Cal refused to be left alone with his former flame and his sister and took this opportunity to head home to his apartment.

  “Hon, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go home,” his mother called from the kitchen. She was gazing out the window over the sink as she rinsed off a serving platter while Mr. Adams stood beside her and loaded plates into the dishwasher.

  “Why?” Cal asked as he retrieved his coat from the hall closet.

  “The roads are pretty bad,” she explained as she continued to stare out the window. “Come here. Look.”

  At her request, Cal traipsed over to his mother and gazed out the window. The swirling snow flurries from earlier had transformed into a heavy snowfall during dinner, and the unplowed roads were coated with at least six inches of the cruel, frigid white powder.

  “Oh, I don’t think they’re that bad,” Cal lied since he was eager to leave Andrew behind and get back to his apartment. Cal’s eyes diverted from the winter storm over to his beat-up car. It was a solid silhouette of white, completely engulfed by the thick snow.

  “Cal, I don’t think you should drive,” Mrs. Adams said, her voice full of concern.

  “It’s just a little dusting,” he insisted, unwilling to be stuck in the house another minute.

  “There’s a bad pileup on the main road,” Mr. Adams announced from the family room, where he was now standing in front of the television and watching the local news. “They’re shutting it down.”

  “Well, that’s what back roads are for,” Cal shrugged.

  “The back roads are going to be worse,” his mother stated.

  “Mom, my car is solid. It can hold its own in the snow.”

  “Cal, you’re staying here,” she insisted.

  “I don’t have any clothes or anything,” he countered.

  “That’s okay, you can borrow some of your father’s things.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll go grab them now,” his mother cut him off and left the kitchen at a swift clip, having the final say in the matter.

  Cal groaned. Out of all the men at his sister’s college, why did Claire have to date him? What were the odds? And to make matters worse, Cal was snowed in his parents’ house with his ex and unsuspecting family. How could this have happened? Was this some sort of sick joke?

  Unwilling to converse with his family and Andrew, Cal swiped a half-empty bottle of whiskey from his parents’ liquor cabinet and hustled upstairs to the guest room. He shut the door behind him and spied a pile of clothes his mother had set out for him at the foot of the bed. Though he could use Sophie’s encouraging spirit right now, Cal was much too emotionally drained to talk about Andrew any further.

  “Well, fuck,” was all Cal was able to mutter as he replayed the night’s events in his head.

  Exhausted—both physically and mentally—and wanting temporary relief to ease his heartache, Cal opened the bottle of whiskey and took a long swig of the strong liquor. It burned a bit as it trickled down his throat with a warming sensation. Then, he changed into a pair of his father’s red flannel lounge pants and a faded gray tee—both of which were at least two sizes too big on him—before collapsing onto the bed. He continued to drink from the bottle, growing dizzier and number with each sip until soon his memories of Andrew were just a blur. Within half an hour, the drowsing effect of the whiskey had consumed Cal, and he fell asleep.

  Chapter Four

  Three and a half years earlier

  A random heat wave swept through the college town during the first week of October, with temperatures reaching the midseventies. The owners of Cal’s apartment building were unprepared for the mild weather of early October and had shut the air-conditioning off the week prior, leaving the units sweltering.

  One afternoon, as Cal was cooling off in a tank top and basketball shorts, he received a text message. Unrelated to the heat, Cal began sweating as he saw who it was—Andrew.

  Hey man it’s been a while. How’s it going?

  Cal began to type in an attempt to sound nonchalant despite his heart skipping erratically and his hands shaking.

  Ha ha yeah. And it’s going. Just been busy with school hbu?

  Andrew continued to text Cal, as if the silence from the past several weeks had never occurred. Why had he waited almost a month to reply? Their first date seemed to have gone well, and Andrew’s touch had communicated an intimate attraction to Cal; wasn’t that enough? Over the past few weeks of silence, Cal had wanted to text him, but feared Andrew’s withdrawal was a sign of lost interest. Still, he couldn’t quite accept that and had hoped that Andrew would come back around. He had to admit that Andrew’s timing was a bit peculiar, and perhaps even a bit shady, but Cal wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Andrew had been equally as nervous and was waiting for Cal to text him. Whatever the reason may be, the important thing was Andrew was texting him again.

  The two messaged each other over the next several days. Cal began to notice that Andrew had a tendency to stop replying mid-conversation and wouldn’t text him back until a day or two later. Was he playing games with Cal or was he unaware of how much Cal looked forward to hearing from him?

  After a week and a half of sporadic messaging, Cal had had enough. If Andrew still wanted him, then great, and if he didn’t…well fine. But texting back and forth without making any definite plans to meet was frustrating for Cal. One Thursday evening as he was getting ready for bed, Cal attempted to gain control of the situation:

  We should hang out again.

  Cal held his breath as the text message was sent; it was the moment of truth.

  Yeah I’d like that. Andrew responded several minutes later.

  Cool when are you free?

  How about tomorrow nite?

  Cal’s face flushed and his stomach churned anxiously as he read Andrew’s message.

  Yeah sounds good

  He and Andrew made arrangements to watch movies at Cal’s apartment. Andrew had to assist at a volunteer event on behalf of a student organization that night, so he asked Cal to pick him up afterward around nine.

  Cal parked his car across from Andrew’s apartment and his heart raced in eager anticipation. His phone cast a soft glow through the darkness of that October evening as he texted Andrew to inform him he had arrived. Cal experienced an odd sense of déjà vu while he waited; had it actually been over a month since he was last there?

  After a few minutes, Andrew emerged from one of the apartments, and Cal experienced that familiar sense of attraction sweep through his entire being just as strong as it had been the first time they met. Andrew climbed into the car, and they drove over to Cal’s place.

  Once they were inside, he was able to get a good look at Andrew in the light. Cal couldn’t believe he was in the company of this man once again, who was just as handsome as Cal had remembered.

  “I love your beard,” Andrew complimented. “It seems a lot thicker now.”

  Yeah, isn’t it funny what can change in a month? Cal mused. Nevertheless, he dismissed his annoyance with Andrew’s month-long silence because he was there.

  The two picked up where they left off as they conversed and laughed with each other until they decided to pick out a movie to watch. They made themselves comfortable on the bed as Andrew eased himself into Cal’s arms. Cal’s heart raced as their two bodies reconnected with each other, and he felt the touch which he had craved since the night they met in August.

  After a short while, Cal and Andrew shifted their attention from the movie to each other. A gentle breeze sailed through an open window in the apartment as they gazed with longing into each other’s eyes; there was no denying the attraction. Passion took over as Cal and Andrew locked lips.

  Andrew climbed on top of Cal and combed his fingers through his soft chest hair. The two continued kissing as Cal’s hands drifted from Andrew’s broad shoulders, sliding down his smooth back until they groped his thick buttocks. In response to his touch, he gave Cal’s lip a playful nibble.
Then Andrew placed his lips on his neck and kissed him tenderly as Cal released a soft groan.

  The unseasonably warm October night seemed to grow hotter as Cal and Andrew reignited their romance. The two men soon began perspiring and stripped down to their underwear, both in an effort to stay cool and a desire for further intimacy.

  They continued to grope and kiss each other while rolling around in the bed until Andrew lay flat on his back, placing his calves on Cal’s slender shoulders as he knelt above him.

  “What are you doing?” Cal asked and chuckled.

  “If we were gonna have sex, this would be the usual position,” Andrew explained. He placed his hands around Cal’s waist and pulled him closer, so his groin was pressed against Andrew.

  “Oh yeah?” Cal inquired. Though he was unsure of how to respond without sounding foolish, his body reacted with instinct to Andrew’s words and he grew increasingly hard.

  “But in porn,” Andrew began with a laugh as he and Cal broke apart. He positioned Cal at the edge of the bed and then sat on his lap, face-to-face, before leaning back. “I’ve also seen it done like this.”

  After Andrew’s demonstrations of various sex positions, the two resumed kissing, and they held each other close. Their bodies were damp with perspiration, and Cal could feel a few stray beads of sweat drip down his chest. Andrew slipped his thumb under the elastic trim of Cal’s underwear.

  “Is this okay?” he asked while he ran his thumb along Cal’s waistline.

  “Yeah,” he breathed. Andrew slid his hand farther down and began to stroke Cal’s erect penis. In response, Cal ran his hand over Andrew’s groin, which was also hard. He grasped Andrew’s erection and began stroking it.

  Andrew groaned and slid Cal’s underwear down to his ankles. Peering into each other’s eyes, they lay on their sides stroking each other and pleasure tingled through their warm bodies. Suddenly, Cal went limp. Andrew’s touch had been more than satisfying, but it was too much too soon.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m ready for this,” Cal admitted, his face turning red with blush, and he pulled his underwear up to cover himself.