Marilyn looked directly into Penny's eyes, and relaxed, trying to loose her normally cool demeanor. Maybe today was the day to break it off. This just might work to her favor.
"Good morning, Will," she said.
"Noontime around here, Ma," he said gruffly.
"Well good afternoon then," she replied, matching his gruffness with a catty tone. Marilyn heard the bell ring, and stepped back, as Penny took in trades, and processed purchases.
"How's dad?" He said.
"Oh you know your father. Not much changes with him," Marilyn replied.
"You said the last time he spoke he had an infection?" He inquired.
"Yes, they took care of that. He's as healthy as a horse." Marilyn backed up.
"I see you've got another book out. Chris and I read it. He liked it, I was sort of hot and cold over it," Will replied.
"Oh," Marilyn took interest, "what didn't you like?"
"I'm not sure if it's a clear representation of a gay male life. I can see you're trying to stretch out your writing boundaries and that's great. Are gay men that promiscuous, though? Not that I know all that many, mind you," he said.
Marilyn rolled her eyes, "well I think that probably some are, and some aren't. So how is your roommate, anyway?"
Will coughed into the phone, "Chris is fine ma, fine. He got the lead in a local production of Romeo & Juliet for the summer Shakespeare festival."
"How wonderful," she replied, warmth in her tone that he was unused to, and suspicious of.
"Yeah he's real happy about it," Will replied. He did not inform her that Chris was rubbing his neck and shoulders and listening to every word. He shivered as Chris licked the back of his neck softly.
"So Ma, how's it going?" He said.
"Quite well, quite well indeed. The bookstore is finally turning a reasonable profit, and things are showing signs of improvement," Marilyn said, her eyes glued to the bounce of the hemline at Penny's skirt. "How are things over there? You find a girlfriend yet?"
Will opened his mouth to speak. Chris had been walking him through this for a while now, and he had mustered his courage to out himself. Marilyn interrupted him:
"When am I going to get a grandchild anyway?" She demanded.
Will's mouth snapped shut and he growled, "I don't know, maybe never. I don't like kids, Ma, you know that. Never liked being a kid, and don't like them now."
"Nonsense, you'd make a wonderful father," she said.
Will licked his lips, and then heard over the receiver Penny's singsong voice telling a customer how much she liked the sundress she was wearing.
"Who's that?" Will asked.
"Oh, that's just Penny," Marilyn said.
"Who's Penny?" Will inquired, putting his mother on the spot.
Marilyn swallowed the saliva in her mouth, "she's a girl I hired for part time work, in the afternoons. She'll give me some more time to work on my writing and other projects."
Penny tilted her head, looking at Marilyn.
"She's very cute," Marilyn said. "If you ask nice, I'll fix her up with you."
Will inwardly groaned, "no thanks, ma. I'm pretty comfortable the way I am."
Penny glared at her, and Marilyn pursed her lips at her. Penny flushed as Marilyn spoke, "you sure? She's adorable."
"Yeah, sure, Ma, just send her right out. I'm sure Chris would love to chat her up. Maybe they can exchange makeup tips or something," Will growled at the phone. Chris went from rubbing his shoulders to a short nip on the neck.
"Why don't you get to the point?" Chris said, whispering into Will's ear.
Will nodded.
"Ma, um, Chris and I are going to be having a little gathering here in September, and we'd like you to come up. You have store help now. You don't have any excuses."
Marilyn wanted to scrunch her face up and growl at him ferociously, but with a store full of people and more coming in, she had little choice but to be polite and cheery, "oh you do know I hate flying."
"Ma, this is important, look, I'm trying to tell you something here," Will elevated his voice, trying to make himself heard over the din. He heard his mother say something to a customer.
"Will, I've got to go, I really do, Penny's getting swamped, we have the end of the month sale this weekend and it's crazy.
"Look ma, this is important. I need to tell you something, I'm," Will spoke in rapid tones.
"I love you boy, give me a call at home in the next couple days, we can chat then." She said, and hung up the receiver.
"Gay," Will replied to the dial tone.
***
Chris continued to rub Will's neck.
Will's massive shoulders sank and he hung the phone up on the receiver. He turned to his boyfriend, his big eyes lidded with tears, "I tried, Chris, I really did. She hung up on me. She just tramps all over me."
Chris wrapped his thin, wiry arms around Will and softly nuzzled him, "Its okay lover. It's all right."
Chris led him to the couch where Will stretched out, putting his massive bearded face into Chris's lap. He felt the gentle touch of Chris's chiseled nails through the massive mop of his chestnut hair. Will cried softly.
They were a couple of opposites, both inside and out.
Chris was tall, thin, lithe, with blonde hair, and steel blue eyes that could pierce someone's soul with a single critical look. He was overly effeminate, and his close friends occasionally called him, "Pristopher" even to his face, even though Will never could. Chris had embraced his homosexuality as a child, prancing about dramatically. In school, he excelled in speech, and the arts, while his scores in math and language left him wanting. While he couldn't create literature, he could make it better. He won a scholarship in theater to a local collage and it was there he met Will in 1979.
Will was shorter, stockier with a scraggly beard, moustache, and was the stereotype of the gay male, bear. He hid his queerness from himself, and everyone else. He tried dating many women in college trying to figure it out, but being so socially inept, each of those relationships collapsed within weeks. He was a structural engineer, and enjoyed numbers and logical answers to problems. He had issues with his own emotions, and many thoughts about the world around him, yet kept an impassive, taciturn demeanor.
They met in collage, as assigned roommates, and after Chris survived a vicious gay bashing, Will took it upon himself to watch after him. They became housemates, after college. One night, Will got a phone call from Chris to pick him up at a bar where his boyfriend had dumped him. When they got back, Chris realized that Will loved him, even if Will was not willing to admit it at the time.
When dawn found both men in the same bed, Will realized his problem, and his shell of logic began to crack.
Now, years later, Will had pretty much outed himself to everyone except his mother whom he only saw every few years. He had grown very fond of having emotions, and being able to feel his feelings, and thanked Chris for it. Chris had learned the value of stability. He was now able to do simple tasks like balancing a checkbook and being able to make house payments on time.
Together, as a couple, they had been together for twenty years, their bond cemented after the accident that destroyed Will's fathers' life. As far as Will was concerned, the car ended his life, and he would have pulled the feeding and breathing tubes long, long ago, were it not for his mother.
Chris's mother took Will in, insisting he call her, 'Mom' and Will learned the value of having a family. With Marilyn so far away, and building her own life with her writing, the bookstore, and caring for Thomas, they naturally drifted apart.
Only now, when gay marriage was becoming legal, did the matter come up again.
A year ago, Chris had started stashing money away, and two months ago, he bought a ring for Will. They went out to their favorite park, and Chris got down on one knee and proposed to him.
Will sobbed with happiness and answered in the affirmative.
The wedding was set for the upcoming September, in Montreal. They had already found a location, Will had applied for and received time off, and his co-workers were planning a bachelor party for him.
Will wanted his mother to come ever since they started to make plans, wanted to show her how happy he was with Chris, and the good things that Chris brought into his life. Marilyn and Chris had never gotten along very well, she found Chris's effeminate side to be very difficult to take, and never let Will forget it.
"How my big old Teddy bear doing?" Chris said, still stroking Will's tear-stained face.
"Better," Will gasped.
"I love you." Chris said, and cradled Will's head up. The two men kissed softly, tenderly, and then broke apart.
"I love you too," Will replied.
"We're going to make it, you know? We have come this far, stayed by each other's side. We'll make it," Chris said firmly, drawing upon the strength that he had learned from Will.
Will sat up and locked his lips into Chris's face, sucking on the fairer man's lower lip tenderly. Chris mewled softly and whispered, "Don't start something you're not prepared to finish, lover."
Will wrapped his arms around Chris's back, drug him atop his rotund tummy, and rubbed his bushy moustache against Chris's mouth, trailing down his neck with a series of sharp, nipping kisses.
Chris quivered, and his hands reached up Will's shirt, and found Will's big puffy nipples with their oversized aureoles. Before long, clothes from both men hit the floor, and Will ended up on the bottom, in a classic sixty-nine position. The only sound in the house was the bubbler of the fish tank, and the slurping noise of cocksucking.
***
Marilyn put down the phone and immediately dove into the line of customers, taking trades in left and right while Penny's quick fingers ran the till. Marilyn had never seen the place so busy, it was almost as if Penny's bright exuberance drew in the masses like a shining beacon to everyone else, not just her.
Penny was polite to all parties, even those that were a bit irritated at having to wait so long to have their purchases rung up. She made sure that every customer got a bookmark with the store's logo on it, and the little kids got Sorbee's, a kind of sugar-free hard candy.
The traffic in the store caused the entire place to become warmer, and Penny felt her body get stickier and wished she had put on some additional deodorant. She watched a man come in wearing a full suit and tie, and a hat, reminiscent of the nineteen fifties. He took the hat off when he entered the store, and browsed through the shelves that held the thriller section.
When most of the kids had left, and the store was empty, he came up toward the cash register, the books he wanted to purchase in his hand.
He smiled pleasantly at her, as Marilyn stood behind her, to one side, still sorting all of the incoming trade.
"Will this be all, sir?" Penny asked.
