Chapter 55

“Shut up, my treat.” Barry had a plan, one he hoped he could pull off. Robert had been uncomfortable about kissing him on the 87th floor platform the only other time Barry had visited, and there were too many people around this time to ask Jimmy and Jake. Although, despite the crowds, Barry knew they would have done it.

Sure enough, the 102nd floor platform was virtually deserted, and Barry got his kiss. He was grinning to beat the band all the way through the gift store and the elevator ride down.

“Now where?” Jake asked when they were back out on the street.

“Macy’s should be having a white sale and…”

Jake gave him the look

“No?” Barry asked, grinning.

“Hell no,” Jimmy replied.

“What about the Apple store?” Geek that he was, Barry always had to visit the iconic 5th Avenue Apple store each time he was in the area. “Should be lots of shiny things for you to press and play with.”

“Cool,” Jimmy said.

“How far is it?” Jake wanted to know, staring up the length of 5th Avenue.

Barry did some mental math. “About twenty three blocks. We’ll take a cab.”

“That’s what, just over a mile?” Jake said.

“Yeah, but it’s cold and it’s about to start snowing,” Barry said, turning into 34th Street. “Or we could get the uptown bus on Madison.”

“Cab,” Jimmy said, hailing an approaching yellow car. 11

Barry slowly emerged into consciousness. What time was it? He’d previously woken at 2:12, 4:26, and 7:28. “God, jetlag’s a bitch,” he groaned softly, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “Holy crap!”

“Huh?” Jake said from behind him. By silent agreement the night before, Jake had slept in the middle.

“It’s past noon.” Barry stared at the black letters on his LCD alarm clock—12:18. He’d remembered to set it correctly hadn’t he? A quick look at the clock on his cell phone proved he had

“I hate jetlag,” Jimmy said groggily from the other side of the bed.

“Me, too,” Jake admitted.

“I’m hungry,” Jimmy said, rubbing his stomach.

“Oh, shit! Barry said. Was he too late to book a table for that night? Andrew, the waiter at Chez Matthew, didn’t take bookings more than a day in advance. The place only had six tables and they filled up quickly. Barry checked his contacts list but couldn’t find the number. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“What?” Jake asked, rubbing his eyes. “Where’s the fire?”

Barry tried to think logically. Not easy with his jetlagged brain. Matthew and Andrew had a Facebook page. He fired up the Facebook app on his phone and went exploring.

“Long time no hear,” Andrew’s English accent greeted Barry.

“How’d you know it was me?” Andrew was blind. Barry knew people with no sight often compensated with a heightened sense of hearing. But all Barry had said was “Hello, do you have any free tables this evening?”

Andrew chuckled. “I’m not that good. But you’re in my contacts list so when you called your name was announced.”

“Of course.”

“But as to your question, I’m sorry, but the last table went about half an hour ago.”

“Fuck!”“ Then Barry realized what he’d said. “Sorry. It’s just we’re only in town until tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow is Thursday isn’t it?”

Andrew laughed. “Yes, tomorrow is Thursday.”

Barry briefly told his fellow ex-pat about his trip across the pond and the reasons for it.

“Congratulations, on both the awards and finding a couple of cowboys. I remember you saying you had a thing for men in chaps and Stetsons.”

Barry looked over at his men, naked, blinky, and sleep-tousled. “And out of them, too.”

Andrew laughed even harder.

“Oh well, wasn’t to be I guess. The meal, I mean,” Barry said.

Andrew apologized and Barry reluctantly hung up.

* * * *

They’d just emerged from the subway—Barry had promised his men lunch at his favorite bagel place near the Dakota Building, followed by a carriage ride in Central Park—when his cell rang.

“Seeing as how you’re only here tonight,” Andrew began with no preamble, “I did a bit of rearranging. If you don’t mind sharing with another threesome we can accommodate you at seven tonight.”

“Excellent! Thank you,” Barry said, to the confusion of his men. “Hang on a sec.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and told Jimmy and Jake about their dinner arrangements.

Jimmy and Jake nodded their agreement and Barry conveyed this to Andrew. “What’re we gonna have?” Barry asked.

“Chicken fried steak I think.”

“Yum.” Barry rubbed his stomach. “Thank you again for fitting us in.”

“Pleasure.”

They hung up and Barry told his men all about what to expect later.