[This is chapter one of a four-chapter finished novella, which will complete posting by the middle of June 2021.]
"I don't believe I've seen you walking the runway at one of these shows before."
Gene Worth looked over at the man adjusting something on the standing frame of the floodlight as the last of the gawkers were clearing out of the Studio D room of Punto on New York's West 38th Street. There was nothing not to like about the guy, who was maybe in his late thirties, Hispanic, muscular, easy on the eyes, attentive to his business, and full of self-confidence. Gene couldn't help to have seen that the guy had been attentive to him as well as he walked the long, raised platform strip down the center of the room in the House of Havlos young men's fashions show. He'd been particularly attentive when Gene was modeling a "barely there" swimsuit with sandals and a pool jacket he'd slipped off half way down the room and flipped casually over his shoulder.
"No, you haven't. This was my first gig here," Gene answered.
"Manny Rodriguez, here," the Hispanic muscleman said, holding his hand out and flashing Gene a smile. "Manny's New Yorkese for Manuel. If you do more showsâand I'm sure you will, because you were a knockout in this oneâyou'll see me around a lot."
Gene took the hand. He couldn't very well not do so without being impolite, and he had had the urge to touch the man from the time they'd first locked eyes anyway. It was Sunday, his "easy" day. And the fashion show had put him in heat. The gawkers had been very close to the walkers all the way down the long aisle and Gene had caught many a look from a Class A lookerâboth female and maleâthat undressed him and messed with him. He couldn't help but feel stroked sexually by that. There was no doubt he'd do more runway work if he could get it.
And it was Sunday.
Manny held his hand for a few beats longer than necessary and folded a thumb under between their palms and stroked Gene's palm with it a few times before letting the hand go. Gene recognized the universal signal between gay men. Gene wasn't exactly gay; he went with both women and men, but he'd gone with enough men to recognize and appreciate the signal. The signal not only announced "gay," but since Manny had taken the initiative, it announced "top" as wellâa top in search of a bottom.
Gene looked into Manny's eyes and smiled. He dipped his head slightly, and he heard Manny take his breath in. The smile was a "me too" on being gay, and the head dip was a signal of submissionâputting the two together as he had done meant "I'm available and I'm available to you." Just like that, the playing field had been established.
"I didn't get lunch because of the setup required for the show," Manny said, looking directly at Gene and signaling that it wasn't just lunch he was talking about. "I think I saw you here early too. Interested in going to get something to eat with me? My treat."
"Why not, it's Sunday," Gene answered.
Manny gave him a quizzical look, but he didn't ask. He was getting what he wanted. The cute little piece was going to go with him and Manny was going to fuck him. The gorgeous little male model was being easyâfar easier than Manny had anticipated he would be.
"And then maybeâ" he started to say.
"Sure, why not, it's Sunday," Gene said again. This was met with another quizzical look from Manny but the cutie was saying yes to everything he suggested so far, so he wasn't going to get into an analysis of what was running smoothly.
Manny had said he knew where there was a cheap cafĂŠ nearby that served reasonably good food, if that was OK with Gene. "I don't live far from here," he said, looking pointedly at Gene. "But I don't want to come across as cheap or anything, if you're used to something fancier than burgers."
"I'm not used to fancy, no. I'm a student and on my own."
"Not high school, I hope," Manny said with the hint of a nervous laugh. He flashed that meaningful "just checking" look again.
"No. I'm finishing up collegeâa year earlyâand am starting in a graduate program. I'm twenty-one."
"Good. I mean it's good that you're getting an education. I didn't have the interest to go beyond high school, but I've sure learned the lighting business the 'just do it' way."
"Yeah, I watched you. I could tell you knew what you were doing."
"I know what I'm doing about a lot of things," Manny said with a slight smile. He checked Gene's face to see if the double entendre had struck home and saw that it had. God, he wondered, how could a guy this good looking be this easy?
They had walked as they talked and it wasn't long before they were seated in the cafĂŠ. Gene indeed seemed satisfied with the food and he didn't balk either at Manny's being expressive and aggressive with his hands, touching Gene on the forearm and shoulder and knee and thigh as they talked. Gene racked it up to hot Latin blood. The hot Latin he was eating with heated him up too. Manny knew, though, it was because he could hardly contain his need to fuck the gorgeous young man.
"You say this was your first modeling gig and you're finishing up college?" Manny said. He obviously was digging for more information. "A college here in New York? And how did you get signed up for modeling? You walked the catwalk like a seasoned pro." That modeling style had been what had made Manny think this hunt was going to be difficult. Gene had the "ice maiden/I'm just an automated dressing mannequin" look professional models maintain on the runway down pat.
"They trained me for that in college," Gene said. "I'm up from Philadelphia just for the weekend, but I'll have to move here. I've got a job signed up with this fashion house if I did well enough todayâ"
"You did great today," Manny interjected.
"Thanks," Gene said, flashing Manny a smile, and continuing. "And I start at Columbia in graduate school creative writing next month. I'll need to find someplace to live here in the next couple of weeks. I've been going to the Philadelphia School of the Arts. They cover performing arts as well as fine arts and writing. I guess you can say I've had a smattering of training in several areas of the arts. Dancing and specific courses in modeling helped me get this job. I need to work while I'm at Columbia."
Gene had rested his forearm on the cafĂŠ table and Manny was running his fingers lightly up and down the skin of the young man's inner arms. God, this is easy, Manny thought again, not quite believing his luck. Gene wasn't pulling away from him.
"So, you have to go back to Philadelphia today?" he asked.