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The next day went by in a blur. All I could do was think about the conversation I had with Connor the night before. It took everything I had to focus on teaching that day. I had two kids and one adult for voice lessons and two piano students. Luckily they were my favorite students so it was easy dealing with them.

I got home around five-thirty and not even a few minutes later, Connor called. We talked for a little bit and then I went to choir rehearsal. I made it through rehearsal alright, but Connor was still in my every thought and I hadn’t even met the guy.

I decided to call my friend Jean when I got home so we could discuss it. He was very upset.

“Why am I just now hearing about this? A whole day has passed. I thought we were friends James. How could you do this to me?”

“I’m so sorry Jean. So much was happening that I completely forgot to call anyone.”

“So then, I’m not your best friend?”

I scoffed at those words. “What are you talking about? Of course; you’re my best-friend.”

“Then I should be the first person you call when you meet someone new.”

“But,” I hesitated to say, “We haven’t met yet.”

“You know what I mean.”

So I told Jean everything. About half an hour later, I received another call on the other line. It was Connor. “Sorry Jean, but it’s him.”

“Alright girl, but you better call me tomorrow after the date.”

“And if the date goes until Saturday…?” I was totally baiting him.

“I just said call me after bitch. You decide when that is.”

I laughed. “Fine, I will call you after the date. Bye Jean.”

“Bye.”

And he hung up the phone. I switched over to Connor and we talked for another hour or so. I loved speaking with him. It was the highlight of my day.

I barely slept at all that night. My dreams were flooded with images of Connor. I don’t remember what we were doing together, but whatever it was, we sure did have fun.

I think I only got about four hours of sleep. I guess that would have to be enough. I got up around seven and went to the gym. The rest of the day was more of the same, though I had much better focus. My last student of the day was Sam, my one adult student. He had a pretty good voice. He wanted to be an actor. He was in his thirties and hot as hell. He let me see his abs once and I nearly had a heart-attack. It was so sad that he was straight. The things I would do to that man. We were pretty close so I told him about the date that night. “What do you think I should wear?”

“Why are you asking me? I don’t know what gay guys wear.”

I laughed. “We wear the same things you would wear, but we add a little bit of flair is all.”

He scratched his chin and sighed. “I still wouldn’t be of much help. I think you should just wear something showing off your chest. It’s been developing nicely and I’m sure another guy would appreciate that.”

I smiled at that.

“Also, wear tight jeans so you can show off that black booty of yours.”

“You’ve been checking out my ass Sam?”

He blushed. “It’s hard not to; every time you come into this room and sit down there are back up lights that shine letting everyone know you’re sitting.”

I laughed hysterically.

We both walked out of the room and I said goodbye to him at the front door of the store.

Connor called me later in the day to confirm and he gave me directions to his place. I was so excited! I honestly felt like this could be the one. It could actually happen for me. Maybe it was just my excitement getting the better of me, but it felt so right. I was about to have a successful first date and a future relationship with this man. At least, that was what I hoped. I always had too many expectations.

I arrived at Connor’s place around six forty-five. I’ve always been the punctual one. His building was breath taking! It was really tall, had to be like thirty or forty stories high. Whoever lived on the top floor must have been loaded.

After I had my fill outside, I ventured into the lobby. I walked up to the concierge and asked for Connor. They sent me right up. Once I was on his floor, which was the 28th, I started to look for his condo. Yep, he definitely made a lot of money. That wasn’t something I was looking for, but it sure would make things easier. I made it to his front door, and before I could knock, he opened it.

My eyes opened wide. My jaw nearly fell out of its socket. No one that hot should ever answer the door looking like that without prior warning. Connor stood there in nothing but blue jeans. From his pictures, I knew that he was hot, but this….. All I could say was damn! I underestimated his looks when I described him earlier. He had dazzling blue eyes with short jet black hair that was a little tousled in person. He had a Celtic tattoo on his right pectoral. His arms looked as if they had been chiseled from marble. He had a light dusting of hair on his chest and abs. Speaking of abs, there really are no words to describe the perfection that I saw in front of me. You could wash the whole cities laundry on them. I had to shake my head just to clear it. As I slowly regained my composure, he invited me in. I saw the smallest hint of a smile. Dammit, he totally caught me checking him out, I thought.

“Thanks for coming James. It’s great to finally meet you. Sit down anywhere. Sorry for my appearance. I just got out of the shower when the desk rang that you were here.”

“No, it’s alright. You just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

“Well, I’m afraid I have another surprise for you, but I have a feeling you won’t really like this one.”

“What do you mean? Did our reservations get cancelled or something?”

“No, nothing like that. I don’t know how to tell you this.”

He seemed upset about something and I was starting to feel the same way. “Why do I get the feeling you are about to break up with me? Don’t we need to at least go on a first date? There is an order to these things.”

“God dammit, why do you have to be cute and funny?” he asked.

I stood up and walked over to where Connor was standing. “Okay seriously Connor, what’s going on?”

Connor looked up at me and moved me back to the sofa. He sat me down and then sat next to me. He took my hands into his big and powerful ones. “Sorry to do this to you, but we are not going on a date tonight?”

I took my hands out of his. “What do you mean? Do you need to reschedule, because I’m fine with that.”

“No, I can’t reschedule. Or rather, I’m not going to reschedule. I can’t date you, because there is someone else.”

“Excuse me?!”

Connor looked away from me and stood up, walking over to the chair he was standing next to earlier. “Well…..there’s this guy that I’ve liked for years. He also likes me. We’ve tried dating in the past, but the timing has always been off.”

I looked up, very puzzled. “So, you’ve dated him before, but it never worked out?”

“No, it’s more like I’ve been in a relationship, or he’s been in a relationship.” He sighed and came back to sit next to me. “Neither one of us wanted to cheat on our respective partners, so we let our relationships play out.”

“So…?” I said a little too harshly.

“So, he just got out of a relationship; and since we’re both single….”

“You’re both available. And when did this happen? We spoke not even three hours ago.”

Connor looked right at me with his puppy dog blue eyes and said, “About twenty minutes before you got here.”

“Why didn’t you call me? Why am I even here?” This couldn’t be happening again.

He sighed heavily this time. “I didn’t want to tell you this over the phone. I also figured that you were probably already on your way here.”

I really wished he wasn’t so hot; this would be a lot easier to take if he was ugly or not from the country or something along those lines. No, it would still be terrible. To be rejected before even going on a date. That’s twice in 3 months. And this happened before I even entered the building. After he apologized for the next thirty minutes, I decided to leave. He stopped me and told me that he already made dinner. I honestly felt uncomfortable staying there any longer, but he insisted.

The meal was amazing, but the conversation was a little bland. I decided to make an effort and try for the friend route. After dinner, the conversation picked up again. “So Connor, are you heavily into literature.” Wow, that was terrible.

He smiled at the attempt I made at small talk. “I’ve read some good books, but no, I don’t read a lot. There never seems to be enough time in the day.”

I nodded. “I know what you mean, but the job I have affords me plenty of time to read.”

“I thought you taught voice lessons. Do you have another job?”

I laughed. “No, it’s the same job, but I work the floor before I do the lessons. The store opens at 10 in the morning but lessons don’t begin until 3 during the week. We aren’t a busy store, so there are times when I’m just standing around. All I really do is clean and restock and place orders.”

He smiled and came and sat down next to me. “Then, you get bored a lot I take it.”

“That is correct. If I have a book to read, then I read it out front so I can help any customers that might come in. If I don’t, I go on the computer in the back office and start chatting.”

“I might have a book for you. I finished it a few weeks ago. It was amazing!”

He then told me about the book. It seemed like it would be a good read. He moved a little closer to my position and put his hands on mine. “And how often are you bored at work?” Now he had this really sly look on his face.

I knew where this was going. “I don’t do that at work. I’m the only one working usually so there is no way I could get away with closing the store for an hour or more.” I took my hands out of his and got up. “Connor, you’re sending me mixed signals here. Are you even attracted to me?”

He sighed and got up and got really close to me. I backed away, but he just got closer again. “Here’s the problem I’m having right now. You are so hot and all I want to do is drag you into my bedroom right this very second. But if I do that, I couldn’t let you leave here without dating you. I can’t date you. I want to, but this other guy….”

I felt a single tear fall from my eye. Connor wiped it away and then turned around. “Maybe I should just leave. Honestly, I can’t look at you without thinking of what might be. We’ve had such a great time tonight, despite the boring dinner conversation. Our phone conversations were intense and insightful to me. Do you really think it couldn’t work between us?” I asked.

“I don’t want you to leave. And we have had a great time tonight, but I have to at least give it a shot with this guy. We’ve been trying for so long and I don’t want to give up just yet.” He looked completely defeated. I think I caught a tear falling from his eyes. This was totally ridiculous. Eventually, the topic was dropped and we talked about safer things like the weather.

I ended up staying the night because we were talking so late into the night. It was the most awkward thing I had ever done. Obviously nothing happened. I don’t know why he never put on a shirt. I mean, having to look at that beautiful man next to me all night and knowing I could never have him was pure torture. I didn’t sleep in his bed. I was on the couch. The next morning, he made me breakfast. I guess all of this was to make up for what he did to me. Whatever.

After breakfast, we talked about the night before, he gave me the book he had mentioned the night before and then I left. I wanted to call Jean, but it was still early for a Saturday. I drove in silence to my apartment. I never shed a single tear for him again.

Next Chapter: Next Day