Bankers' Hours(24)

       
           



       

Tristan said, "His name is Grant."

I weakly lifted my hand. "Hi."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes.

"Claire!" her male friend chastised. "Don't be rude. Besides, that guy's cute."

I knew I blushed. I blushed at everything, so a compliment from a kid wasn't going to escape the list.

Tristan grinned at me and then addressed the kid. "Thanks. What's your name?"

"Danny," the boy answered, batting his eyes and smiling way too sweetly  at my man. He was wearing a tight sweater with a blue scarf. I liked the  scarf. My shirts didn't accommodate scarves, and therefore I mainly  wore ties. Still, I appreciated his style even if I could do without his  flirtation.

Tristan then asked the girl, "And you?"

She answered, "I'm Kirsty. I think it's cool you're gay."

Claire nudged her. "Shhh. Don't encourage him." She glared at Tristan. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

Tristan cocked his head to the side. "I should ask you the same thing, young lady. Where's your mom?"

A pain shot through my stomach. I couldn't bear to see that woman twice in one day.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I spent the night at Kirsty's, and her mom dropped us off while she bought some birthday presents."

"Does she know about Danny?" Tristan asked. I sort of knew why, but I didn't want to hear Claire's answer.

She grimaced. "No. Are you kidding me? She hates men. She's a freak when  it comes to … ." Then I saw her expression open up. Her shoulders relaxed  and her tone completely changed. "Oh, God. That's why you've never  said."

Tristan nodded.

She cupped her mouth briefly, then said, "I'm so sorry, Dad." Tears  formed in her eyes right before Tristan hugged her. I heard her sniffle.  "I never realized, until recently, how mean Mom is." Claire pulled out  of the hug and took the tissue Kirsty offered. She wiped her eyes  carefully to avoid smearing her makeup and continued, "As soon as high  school started, everything changed. She started getting strict, like she  never had been before. She's been checking my grades online every week  to see if all my assignments are in. She e-mails my teachers. I don't  understand why, when I've had almost all As since fifth grade. The worst  was when I met Danny in Honors Government last year. He came over to  research a paper with me, and Mom got really rude toward his father when  he came to pick him up. Then she went into this twenty-minute rant  about how I'm not allowed to date-ever! I couldn't believe the things  she said. She criticized Danny and she doesn't even know him. She just  assumed from his hairstyle he was gay and went off about gay men having  sex in bathrooms!"

I recoiled. Hearing Teresa's bathroom example again made me never want to do it on principle alone.

"True story," Danny added, holding his hand as if swearing in court. "I  heard the whole argument and did my best to act straight and deepen my  voice when I said good-bye. I haven't been over there since."

"It's so dumb," Kirsty said. "Besides, Danny has great hair."

I would agree. His hair was very well coifed, but I would hardly call it "gay."

"He's my best friend, Dad, and he can't come over to my house because  he's a guy and his dad is single. I don't understand her deal. I thought  it was bad enough when she bashed men in general, but she's worse now.  It's like she doesn't want me to have friends at all."

It all came together for Tristan as he summarized, "Which is why you're  at the mall with your friends when your mother isn't around. I get it.  She dropped by to see me this morning, right after breakfast, and  denigrated me in front of Grant."

"It was awful," I added.

"Wait, breakfast?" Claire questioned, only to drop her jaw a second time. "How early was she there?"

"It isn't what you think," I defended.

"I think you spent the night and my mom caught you," she said.

Tristan sighed. "Okay, that is what happened, but nothing was going on. His car broke down in my driveway."

Danny snickered behind his hand. "Likely story."

"It did!" I exclaimed. I caught sight of the clerk watching us from  afar. It was odd, I had to admit, having this type of discussion in the  middle of Hot Topic, but at least there weren't loads of other patrons.  The store was empty besides us.

"Look, Grant and I are in a relationship. I told you about my sexuality  because how I feel about him isn't casual. In fact-" He glanced at me  before he said it. "-we're getting married."                       
       
           



       

"What!" she cried.

Danny clapped while hopping up and down. "Yay!"

Kirsty said, "Aww, that's so sweet."

Claire didn't share her sentiment. "Sweet?" she questioned. She glared  at Tristan, and suddenly I felt bad for him. It must be tough being a  dad. "When were you planning on telling me, Dad? And don't even say it's  because I'm too young to understand. I'm fifteen; I understand plenty.  My best friend is gay, I take Health-which is much more detailed than  back when you were in school-and I know a girl who gave birth in eighth  grade and posted pictures of the delivery on Instagram. Trust me, I know  way more than most."

Birthing photos? Good Lord! Yes, I believed being a father was way  harder than it looked, and it looked pretty rough. I just waited to see  where this was going. It wasn't my place to divulge information to his  daughter. Plus, the Instagram thing made me throw up just a little in my  mouth.

Tristan explained slowly, "The marriage part of it fell together  suddenly …  this morning …  while your mom was visiting. I promise I did not  intentionally hold back information. I was hoping Grant would become a  permanent fixture in my life, which is why I told you I'm gay. It never  mattered until now."

I touched his back. "Oh," I gushed. Knowing he cared enough to say something to his daughter made me feel really special.

Tristan gave me a soft smile and said, "I knew when I met you, Grant."

I got choked up and covered my mouth. What could I say to that? Yes,  this was moving very fast, but it was also romantic. Tristan was  practically sweeping me off my feet.

I sank into his arms as he slipped his arm around my back. I needed the  security of his embrace when his words made me feel vulnerable.

"That is just too cute," Kirsty commented.

"I have to admit, Dad, seeing you kissing was kind of gross, but this … ."  She gestured. "It's sweet." She exhaled and added, as if reluctantly,  "And I guess you kinda look cute together."

"Totally," Kirsty agreed, Danny nodding right along with her.

Tristan snickered. I think the guy was easily amused. He held me around  my back and rubbed my arm with his other hand. I wanted to bury my face  against his neck, but then I'd be rude to the rest of them. I turned my  body to continue the conversation, but I refused to let go.

Tristan said, "I'm glad you approve. I know the wedding plans are last  minute, but if you want to, you can come. It's your weekend anyway."

Claire was pleased. "Really? I'd love to! I've never seen a real-life gay wedding before."

"It's not going to be much more than standing in front of a clerk. We  haven't planned a big thing with a reception. I figured we could come  back to the house and have hamburgers."

Not what I would have planned, but it was last minute. I told him, "Hamburgers sound good."

Claire said, "It doesn't matter if it's a big thing or not; I've only seen gay weddings on television shows like Glee."

"Glee?" I asked quietly, my eyes locking on hers. "You've seen Glee?" I  relaxed away from Tristan's chest, turning slightly more toward the  others.

"Heck, yeah."

Danny said, "We've watched it at my house. Blaine is my favorite character."

I let go of Tristan. "Mine too!" I cried. This day was getting better  and better. Now I'd found out I had something in common with Tristan's  daughter and her friends. "Look," I insisted, holding out my phone to  show Danny the lock screen.

He gasped and placed his hand over his mouth before lowering it to ask, "Did you take that picture?"

I smiled proudly. "Yup. I went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway in June before his run ran out. I about died!"

"What are you talking about?" Tristan asked.

Kirsty, who was also eye-poppingly shocked, answered, "Darren Criss.  He's the guy who played Blaine Anderson on Glee. Grant has a picture of  him. Do you have more?" she asked me.

"Um, yeah, I think so. I'm not the best at taking pictures. They always  turn out blurry. I snapped about fifty, and only six are clear. Of  course, none of them have him smiling. The one where I know he was  smiling has a guy's playbill in front of his face. I have horrible  luck."