Lost and Found

by David Horne

  From what I could immediately gather: Greg sailed, liked dogs, and had a cute face. Why not? I had nothing else going for me.

  I messaged Greg right away. “Having a good night?”

  Greg wrote back in seconds. “Pretty good. You?”

  My heart thumped in my chest. As a writer, this facet of dating life is where I flourished. “Decent night. Could be better. ;)”

  Greg took my bait. “Yeah? Need some company?”

  I wrote back, “Would love some.”

  From being an avid Tinder user, I knew to not rely on Greg’s photograph as an accurate representation of what he looked like. It was an unfortunate fact, but true. People usually posted their most attractive photos of themselves that did not always translate into what they looked like in person.

  The most I could hope for was a guy with a nice smile. When Greg sat down next to me at the bar half an hour later, I was pleasantly surprised. Greg perfectly embodied the hotness in his photographs.

  Over a few drinks, I learned that Greg was an actor, like nearly everyone in Los Angeles aspired to be. He recently had been on an off-Broadway production of Hamlet, playing Polonius. Aside from that, he was looking for work.

  I told Greg a little bit about myself, leaving out details like my recent screenwriting success. In fact, I told Greg I was a Starbucks barista, which wasn’t all together untrue, I had been one in college. Greg seemed nice, but I didn’t want to get too deep into my personal life with him. All I wanted, really, was company for the night to distract me from my confusing feelings.

  Anxious to push things along, I asked, “You want to get out of here?”

  Greg looked surprised, checking his watch. “Already?”

  I shrugged, slightly annoyed at the prospect of more meaningless banter with him. How much more chatting would I have to do with this guy? Putting my hand on his knee, I said, “It would be nice to go somewhere alone.”

  Greg smiled, squeezing my hand on his knee. “Sure thing. Let’s go.”

  Back at my new apartment, I went right into action. As soon as we stepped in, I kissed Greg roughly, pushing him toward the couch. Greg responded to my mouth instantly, his tongue searching out mine. My hands pawed at him wanting him more and more.

  Greg’s jeans fell to the floor as he placed my hands on his hard cock. I stroked him while we kissed enjoying the solidness of his dick in my hand. Greg undid my trousers and reached for my cock. His strong hands gripped around me made me swoon.

  Taking control, I pushed Greg down onto the living room carpet. With him face up, I descended on his cock, sucking him hard with my greedy mouth. Wanting to feel, the warmth wetness of his mouth, I flipped over and let my cock dangle down into Greg’s expectant mouth.

  Greg’s lips enveloped my thick cock while he gently caressed my balls. In return, I licked the underside of his balls and his asshole. He moaned while my tongue flicked that delicate pucker of skin.

  I could feel an orgasm on the horizon, making me push Greg’s cock further down my throat. It was the best when you could time coming at the same time. I sucked harder as he sucked harder. Suddenly, a wave of bliss crashed down onto me as I came into his mouth. Moments later, Greg groaned in pleasure while his thick cum shot into my mouth.

  Dizzy and spent, I wiped my mouth and laid next to him. “That was a quite a dick suck,” Greg said, catching his breath.

  I laughed. “What can I say? I love sucking dick.”

  Greg turned to me stroking my chin with his finger. “Why did you lie to me at the bar?”

  This took me off guard. “Lie to you?”

  “Yeah. You’re Salvador Lerman, right?”

  I sat up feeling uncomfortable, violated even. “Right.”

  “You’re not a barista. You’re a screenwriter.” Greg said matter-of-factly.

  I zipped up my pants feeling caught and embarrassed. Standing, I spoke with unease. “How’d you know that?”

  Greg became defensive. “You looked familiar. Your Tinder profile photo. I’d seen your face before.” He stood up from the floor trying to appease me. “I thought it was just something you did… You know, pretend you’re someone else when you go out. I didn’t want to push it.”

  Heaving myself on the couch, I wanted Greg to just leave. He sat down next to me. “Sal, it’s not a big deal. I still had a great time.”

  Faking a yawn, I looked at my watch. “I’m beat.”

  Greg got the hint, nodding his head. “Yeah. Okay.” He stood up. “I’ll show myself out.”

  I hadn’t realized dating or hooking up in this case was going to be so much more complicated now that I didn’t necessarily have the cloak of anonymity. Looking around my new apartment, I realized how quickly my life had changed and was continuing to change rapidly.

  Barb had arranged for an interior decorator to fix up my apartment. I literally was looking at my living room for the first time.

  How weird was that? Who was I anymore?

  Before walking out, Greg said softly, “I really did have a great time. I hope to see you again.”

  Was this guy ever going to quit? He was laying it on way too thick for it to be sincere.

  “Were you having a good time before or after you knew I was Salvador Lerman?”

  Greg scoffed. “I didn’t suck your dick because I thought I’d get a part out of it, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  I shook my head.

  “You’ve got a huge chip on your shoulder, Salvador Lerman. You may be Hollywood’s young new wunderkind, but you’re also an arrogant prick. Good luck with life.” He stalked off and slammed the door on the way out.

  Chapter Five

  Two years later

  Harrison

  It was my parents’ thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Jillian, my sister, hounded me that I couldn’t miss the celebration. My time at Bingo Bango Entertainment had been going steadily well, which meant I was slammed with work.

  I successfully pitched my idea for an animated comedy series, Cubicles. It was a mix of The Office, Workaholics, and a splash of American Dad. I was up to my neck in meetings and getting the episodes ready for the season premiere in two weeks.

  Previously, I had never thought of myself as a writer, but the idea of Cubicles came to me after a weekend of binge watching comedies after Arnie and I broke up. I needed something silly and fun to watch to counteract my spells of blubbering and crying.

  When I moved to LA, Arnie and I made a real go of it. At least, I was trying to make it work. We even moved in together. We tried to be in a strictly monogamous relationship, which turned out was not difficult for me at all, but was extremely hard for Arnie, since he’d never done that before.

  I was patient. Patience was all I had. I’d given Arnie chance after chance. The last straw was when I’d come home early from work to find Arnie balls deep in a young production assistant on a film he was working on. Arnie hadn’t changed one bit. The move down to LA, moving in together, all of it, hadn’t changed him.

  Of course, Arnie had excuses. That I’d been working so much lately. That he felt ignored by my preoccupation with work. His excuses felt stale as he told them. I faced the truth that Arnie would always have excuses.

  That weekend, I packed up my stuff and moved out. I’d been living with Arnie for over a year at that point. I fed my loneliness laughter in the form of silly fun comedies. By the Monday morning, I’d seen the light. I needed to create a workplace animated comedy.

  I loved working on Uncle Jo Jo, and I’d been promoted from Animator to Animation Supervisor. Zeke Hudson, one of the executive producers for Jo Jo was generally a nice guy and super easy to talk to.

  Armed with a few sketches of the characters I had in mind for Cubicles, I pitched the series to Zeke, who applauded it immediately. Workplace comedies like Rec Room, The Inside Crowd, and even golden oldies like McMurry Brown were funny, but animation allowed a level of wackiness and absurdity that was not readily accessible in live action shows.

&
nbsp; Zeke especially loved that the characters were not all human. He praised my sketches with zest. Six months later, I was getting Cubicles ready for its premiere. My roughly on again, off again six-year relationship with Arnie wasn’t for naught.

  Out of misery, my creativity grew. I would have never thought I’d be creating and writing my own animated show two years ago when I arrived in LA. Arnie, not a big fan of animation anyway, dissuaded me from pursuing any of my animation dreams. He did not see animation as a respected form of entertainment. Leaving Arnie and birthing Cubicles happened brilliantly at the same time. My life was falling into place.

  I sat on the latest flight I could get from LAX to SFO. Jillian was annoyed that I’d picked such a late flight, but I was just happy I could steal a few days away from the studio so close to the premiere.

  Seated in first class, I recognized Sal right away when he stepped onto the plane and sat in the seat catty corner from me. He didn’t see me from where I was sitting, but I knew it was Salvador Lerman without a doubt.

  Unexpectedly, Arnie and Sal lost touch once we moved to LA. I half expected for Sal to be around in some capacity, but I hadn’t seen him since the night we left him at the diner years ago. He still looked hot: same caramel complexion and deep brown eyes.

  The glorious five hour drive we had on the way down to Southern California rushed back to me. Sal was so easy to talk to. And hilarious! It was too bad we had lost contact with each other. Equally, it was too bad that at the time, I’d been trying to work things out with Arnie.

  That night, I remembered wanting the night with Sal to not end, but Arnie had swept in, like he always did. It felt like he barged into our wonderful evening. It would have been nice to see Sal again.

  I stood up and made my way to Sal’s seat. A flight attendant stopped me politely. “Is there something I can help you with, sir?

  Pointing at Sal, I said, “Wanted to say hi to an old friend.”

  She placed a hand on my shoulder. “We will be taxiing soon, sir.”

  I nodded my head. “It will only be a minute.”

  I tapped Sal’s shoulder. When he looked up and recognized me, his face bloomed into a big smile. “Harrison?”

  “There is an empty seat next to me,” I said gesturing toward where I sat. “If you’d like to join me.”

  The flight attendant watched us, eager for us to take our seats. “If that’s okay?” I asked her.

  She nodded agreeably.

  Sal, seated next to me, was all smiles. “Hey! How have you been?”

  “Good! What about you?” It was so good to see him. He hadn’t changed a bit.

  Sal shook his head. “Nothing much. In post-production for a film. I read that you are coming out with your own show?”

  I nodded. “I am. Premiering in a few weeks.”

  “That’s fantastic!” The plane began to taxi down the runway. “How’s Arnie?”

  I sighed. “Arnie and I aren’t together anymore.”

  Sal looked surprised. “Really?”

  “You don’t keep in touch with Arnie much?” I genuinely wondered what happened with their friendship.

  Sal shook his head. “To be honest, no. I’ve been, you know, busy.” He swiped his hand through his hair. “That’s too bad about you two.”

  I laughed. “No, it isn’t. Arnie was always cheating on me.”

  Sal grimaced, not saying anything. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  “It’s okay. It’s in the past. I’m over it.” I told him to relieve the tension.

  “What are you doing going back up SF?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “My parents are having a huge thirty-fifth wedding anniversary party.”

  “Thirty-five years! Wow!” He rested his head on the seat. “Thirty-five years. Can you imagine?”

  “I know! No one our age can make it past five years.” The plane lifted off. We both looked out the window at Los Angeles falling away from us. “What about you? What brings you out to San Francisco?”

  Sal’s face fell into an anxious grimace. He hesitated. “I’m meeting my fiancée.”

  I hadn’t expected him to say that. Fiancée?

  Sal continued, “We are looking for wedding venues in the Bay Area.”

  I looked around, confused. “Where is the lucky guy?”

  Sal looked out the window again. “He is on location in Seattle for a movie. He is going to fly out tomorrow morning.”

  I looked down at my hands. “An actor?”

  Sal nodded slowly. “Yup. An actor.”

  The shock of Sal being engaged shook me, but I had to find out more about his fiancée. “Anyone I know?”

  Sal smiled sheepishly. “Greg Stewart?”

  I hadn’t heard of Greg Stewart, but as soon as I was alone, I was going to look him up on IMDB. “I haven’t heard of him. What’s he been in?”

  Sal nodded with pride. “He’s had a small role on a CW show.”

  I smiled. CW? Great. Sal’s fiancée was most likely a heart throb. How could Sal even have a fiancée? What had happened in the last two years that made Sal a relationship guy? On our drive down to LA, he confessed that he’d never even been in a relationship before. Now he was getting married?

  WTF.

  I had to know more. “Where did the two of you meet?”

  “Funny story. Tinder actually.” Sal said with an embarrassed laugh.

  “When did you meet?” I asked insistently.

  “Wow. A lot of questions!” Sal fiddled with his seatbelt.

  “I mean, it’s just that when we met, you weren’t really into relationships. You said yourself, you hadn’t ever been in one.”

  The flight attendant leaned over. “Would you two gentlemen like anything to drink?”

  “Scotch, please,” I said quickly wanting her to hurry and go away.

  Sal looked up at the flight attendant with a kind smile. “Just water for me.”

  After she’d placed our drinks in front of us, I couldn’t stop myself from probing further. Before I could say anything, Sal put a hand on my wrist. “Can we talk about something else? Not my fiancée? It’s all pretty new to me anyway.” He sipped his water. “It’s true. I wasn’t much of a relationship guy when we met, but LA can be lonely.”

  The scotch soothed my nerves. LA can be lonely. I shouldn’t have been so pushy to know more about Sal’s relationship. “

  Sal shrugged his shoulders. “At first, I didn’t want to be in a relationship, but Greg was persistent and kind.”

  “Persistent and kind?” I laughed taking a big swig of my scotch. “I hope you aren’t writing your wedding vows.”

  Sal sighed. “What does that supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t you want to marry someone that you have that spark with? And not just someone who is persistent and kind?”

  “Who says I don’t have a spark with Greg?” Sal was getting defensive.

  “’Persistent and kind’ is what told me you don’t have a spark with Greg.”

  “Does everyone’s relationship have to be fireworks and a parade? You had fireworks with Arnie? Look what happened with that!”

  Sal’s blow struck me hard, but he was right. “Low blow,” I said quietly.

  “Sorry.” He sighed. “That was mean.”

  I looked into Sal’s eyes. “I was always hoping we’d run into each other again, but it seemed like you and Arnie weren’t really hanging out anymore and… I just never heard from you.”

  Sal tilted his head at me with a smile. “Let’s exchange numbers and keep in touch this time.”

  “Yeah?” I hoped Sal meant it. He slipped out of my life before. I didn’t want it to happen again.

  When we exchanged phones, I was hopeful we could be friends, but the wallpaper to Sal’s phone was an adorable photograph of him and what I can only assume was Greg. They were such a cute couple, it made my heart ache.

  Sal was getting married to a wildly handsome guy named Greg. From the photo, he totally loo
ked like a CW heartthrob, strong chin and brooding eyes. He deserved to be happy.

  The truth was we couldn’t be friends because I was much too attracted to him. As I typed in my phone number into his phone, I purposely put in the wrong number. It was for the best.

  Chapter Six

  Sal

  The next day when Greg arrived, I was in too foul a mood to look at wedding venues, but Greg insisted we take a look at a few places with the wedding planner.

  Greg crossed his arms in bed. “The whole point of coming up here was to find a place for us to get married.”

  The light streaming in from the curtains annoyed me. Muffled by the pillow over my head, I tried to appease him. “Whatever you pick is fine with me.”

  I could feel the irritation in Greg’s voice. “We are both getting married. This is our wedding. Not just mine.”

  I groaned, taking the pillow off my face. “I’m just tired, babe!”

  Greg snuggled close to me. “We’ll get you a big fat latte! Please come!” The last thing I wanted to do was drag myself around looking at possible wedding locations. I honestly didn’t care.

  He kissed the top of my nose. Reaching down under the covers for my dick, he said, “Big fat latte for this big fat dick!”

  Greg always got his way when he touched my dick like that. “Okay! Okay!”

  “You’re such a good sport!” He kissed me on the lips before burying his head underneath the comforter. “For being a good sport, I’m going to reward you.”

  Leaning my head back against the hotel pillows, I let my entire body relax. Greg’s mouth curled around my dick, coaxing it to get harder and harder. Last night, Greg arrived in the mood, but I feigned being too tired to get out of it.

  Greg was a great lover. Our sexual chemistry was amazing but seeing Harrison on the flight threw me off.

  I don’t know why I had expected Arnie and Harrison to still be together. Seeing them together that first night in LA had been difficult for me. I’d managed to slowly slip out of Arnie’s life because I needed to get Harrison out of my head too.

  Time had a way of piling on top of itself. All of a sudden, it was two years later, and Harrison and Arnie were old news while Greg and I were getting married. The attraction for Harrison was still there. Even after two years, the sight of him sent a tingle through my limbs.