It was complicated. We were taking dinner at my parents' house on Thursday. The following Wednesday, we lie in wait for Skip to appear. Skip was anxious to meet my new friend. My parents were anxious to meet my new friend. Lord knows what my father thought about the Lamborghini. He'd seen it and by now he knew what it cost. I prayed he'd give Chet a chance.

If he didn't, we'd have a mess on our hands and I wasn't giving Chet up for anyone. My parents had to understand, this was a done deal and it would be better if we all got along. I didn't have such high expectations for Skip. Once he saw who came out of the house with me, I may have seen the last of Skippy.

I asked myself, how would I react if the boy I loved was having an affair with my best friend? Skip seemed genuine in his admission that he missed going surfing with me. Up until then, I figured Skip was doing me the favor, but maybe he liked me more than he let on. I was regular. I had been predictable, until Chet entered the picture.

Life wasn't easy and I had no reason that would change at this late date. I'd put my head down and charge forward. This time, I'd charge holding Chet's hand.

*****

"You'll meet Tevo without me doing anything. He's going to want to know who you are, and if you represent a threat to me. He'll drop in when we least expect it. He doesn't come often, but now he has a reason to meet you."

I didn't know if I liked the sound of that or not. What if he objected to me?

My mind was numb as I slipped off to sleep. Waking up in Chet's arms was glorious. I'd imagined I was losing him, but we'd only just begun. I hadn't seen anything yet. I didn't know love like the love I felt for Chet. As soon as he left me, I was thinking about when I would see him again.

I woke after first light. It was early and Chet was still sleeping. I marveled at how nice it was holding on to him. I never wanted to let go, and I fell back to sleep feeling at peace with my world and everything in it.

The phone woke me. Chet's arm reached out to grab the phone.

"Hello. Yeah. No. Z. I think he's the one. You'll meet him, T. What time is it? No, I got to get up and get him to work. I love you, T, and, thanks."

"Just how many people do you love anyway," I asked in mock surprise.

"I can't even count. I owe a lot of people a lot of love, Z. I'm lucky to be alive. I came close to not making it here to meet you."

"It's complicated," I said as he gathered me in his arms.

"It's complicated," he said.

I laughed.

I wanted to hear the entire story. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Chet. I could wait until he was ready to tell me. My fears of losing him were fading. The more we were together the more confident I became we'd stay together. He was as happy to see me as I was to see him each day after work. Being together was all that mattered.

The food Chet's friend left the night before was French cuisine. I knew that because Chet told me what it was. It came from Tevo's, his friend's restaurant, where most food Tevo brought came from. Chet worked at Tevo's and that was his friend's name. These facts all fit loosely together as I learned about Chet's life.

My parents got used to me being at Chet's. I'd never before stayed over at someone's house for any duration. I could not leave Chet. He didn't want me to leave him. My parents needed to let go of me now.

Once you decide you're in love, it's difficult to think of anything but being in love and being with the man you love. It's how it worked for me. Maybe my mother could realize how I felt, because she fell in love with Dad, and once they got together, they'd always been together. I couldn't hope for less.

I wasn't quite as efficient at work, and I'm certain Mr Hitchcock talked to dad, because they talked even before I wrapped my life around Chet.

I'm sure my father told Mr Hitchcock the same thing I told him. Zane likes his work, and he likes working for you. He's not the kind of boy who is going to stop working because he's found a rich lover to keep him.

My parents and I have never had the conversation. I never once asked them about their sex life. They didn't ask me about mine, but it was obvious I had one. I was often with boys, never with girls since we got to California. They had to suspect their son was gay.

I promised to bring Chet to dinner soon. We might make it Tuesday, but there is the problem of Skip coming to get me to go surfing. I decided I needed to call Skip, now that I had his number.

*****

I took out the pad of paper with Skip's number written on it as I drank an apple juice. I dialed and before I was ready, Skip said, "Hello, Z. What a pleasant surprise."

I wished it would stay that pleasant, but it was time to fess up.

"We need to talk," I said. "About my new friend."

"I can't wait to meet him. He must be nice if he likes you. How did you meet him, Z?"

"He came into Hitchcock's shopping for his boyfriend."

"You're going out with another boy's boyfriend?" Skip asked alarmed.

He may have seen Chet's boyfriend coming in shooting too, but that was only in my imagination.

"It's complicated," I said.

"I bet," he said. "You sure he's the right guy for you? What's his name?"

Kill joy.

Skippy knew how to kill a conversation before it got going good.

"Chet," I finally said.

I held the phone away from my ear.

Skip said nothing.

"Did you hear me, Skippy?"

"I heard," he said, and he said nothing more.

"He's looking forward to seeing you again," I said for clarity.

I needed to make sure there was no misunderstanding before we hung up.

"Skip."

"I'm here. How'd you meet Chet?"

"He came into the store."

"Oh, you said that. I must be losing my mind. Chet. How's Chet?"

He's beautiful, wonderful, fabulous, the man of my dreams, the love of my life. Chet was everything to me. I loved him with my heart and soul.

"He's fine," I said, not wanting to rub it in.

"Chet," Skip said. "Chet."

"He's looking forward to surfing. He hasn't been surfing since he came back. He works at Tevo's. He thought if you had gone around to the restaurants in El Cajon, you could have found him easy enough. He went to where you used to live. No one living there remembered you or knew where you went."

"Yes. I didn't think of it. I figured if he came back to El Cajon, he'd come looking for me. Is he okay?"

"It just happened Skip. It sure wasn't planned. He just walked into the market. I was already hooked when I found out his name. There was no way to undo what got started that day in Hitchcock's."

"Things like that do happen. I'm glad you told me. It would be a lot more difficult to take if I just saw you two together."

"We still on for surfing Wednesday?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I've been looking forward to seeing you, and now I'll look forward to seeing Chet. You're in love with Chet. Funny how things work out."

He didn't sound like it was funny at all. He said some things it was hard for me to understand, before he hung up. I sat looking at my phone. I was crying.

I'd hurt someone I was very fond of. I didn't like the way it made me feel. Why was life so fucking complicated.

How could I possibly fall in love with the boy Skip has loved his entire life?

*****

To make matters worse, if they could possibly get any worse, the night I told Skip that I was in love with his Chet, was the night Chet and I would go to dinner at my parent's house.

By the time Chet came to pick me up shortly after five, I was a mess. I dashed out to get into the Lamborghini, because I didn't want Mr Hitchcock to see my eyes, but I couldn't hide them from Chet.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"I called Skip."

"You told him about us?"

"I did."

He kissed my cheek and put his arm around me to draw me close to his warm and comforting body.

"At least he knows now."

"He knows. I feel like I just shot the family dog."

"You have a dog?"

"No."

He kissed my cheek again. We managed to get our lips together.

"Surfing?"

"It's still on. He still wants to go. He wants to see you."

"It will be nice seeing Skippy again."

"I need a shower. We won't need to be at my parents until around seven."

Chet was a trooper.

My parents didn't miss how gorgeous he was.

Once they knew he worked at Tevo's, and my father knew all about the expensive eatery, the car wasn't as big an issue.

Any thoughts of Chet being a drug dealer or gangster were put aside.

My father and Chet talked sports. I still got the San Diego athletic teams mixed up. Back home there were the Celts, Red Sox and Bruins. It took me a while to learn the names of those teams, and when we came to Sad Diego, I simply paid no attention to whatever teams were here, but my father knew the teams, the players, and their schedule, no matter what season it was. His affinity for athletics didn't rub off on his only son. If he was disappointed, he didn't say so, but he loved that Chet knew about everything my father mentioned.

We'd made it over all the hurdles I saw in front of us. Chet was smart, funny, and poised. I was miserable all through dinner, waiting for them to pop some question out of the blue, and Chet would be offended and he'd leave.

My worrywart brain rarely took a day off, but if there was such a thing as a perfect evening, while meeting the in-laws, this was it. My parents weren't going to do anything or say anything to insult the guy I brought to dinner. Maybe Rasputin would have raised an eyebrow, but Chet was charming and intelligent and my parents liked him. I could tell if my parents were unhappy with me.

Chet even talked French cuisine with my mother. She was impressed and my father went out to see the "power plant" in the Lamborghini. Chet was a gentlemen who wasn't easily thrown off balance, and my father knew how to throw people off balance if he decided to, especially with how a young man Chet's age could afford a $250,000 car.

I'd been living with Chet for three weeks. Once I did come home, and they saw us together, it made them feel better. I'd never lived anywhere but at home, and just short of my twenty-first birthday, I spread my wings to fly away from the very nice nest my parents provided. It was inevitable. All parents knew that.

The meal went better than I'd expected. If it hadn't been for Skippy, that day would have been perfect. It was several more days before we'd all go surfing together, and I didn't expect that to go as well as the dinner with my parents.

"Dinner was quite good," Chet said, once he was lying on my bed.

"So were you. I'm so proud of you. My parents are impressed."

"Your father asked a lot of questions about the car," Chet said. "I didn't tell him the price tag, but I have the impression he knows to the dollar what a Lamborghini costs," Chet said.

"My father was a banker before he became the CFO for Dante's."

"Oh, Dante's. I've heard about how successful they are for a fairly new start up. They apparently started back east and relocated to a more lucrative market."

"My father helped the owner of Dante's with financing. When he decided on the move, he took my father with him to look after his finances."

"Smart businessmen are always on the lookout for talent."

"I'm always on the lookout for talent," I said, throwing my arms around him and kissing him in a very talented way.

"Where am I going to sleep? This bed is pretty small," Chet said, feeling the width of the three quarter size bed.

"The better to keep you close, said the spider to the fly."

Chet giggled.