Mechanics of the Heart

© 2014 ChicosTodos. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the Author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

If you are a minor, or if it is illegal for you to read material containing sexual activity between male adults, please refrain from reading any further.

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NOTE: this story is a sequel to "Roberto the Mechanic Stud".

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Simon knocked twice on the hotel room door. He waited.

The door swung opened and he was greeted by Jae's grin. The smile he'd fallen in love with.

"Simon!"

"Happy birthday," the musician said, as Jae pulled him into a bear hug. It was another thing he'd fallen in love with.

Simon arrived at Jae's hotel birthday bash an hour later than he expected, because he changed his outfit six times. Eschewing his typical polo and khaki ensemble, the black singer finally put on a graphic tee and distressed jeans; they looked casual but cost $100 each. Finishing his look off with a gold-plated necklace, Simon also packed some accessories and a different t-shirt in his messenger bag, just in case he changed his mind during the party.

"Here, I hope you like this," Simon offered as they released themselves from the hug. He presented a gift-wrapped, palm-sized box to Jae.

Delightful surprise lit up the jock's face. "What is it??" He asked, tearing off the wrapping.

Behind the birthday boy, several of Jae's friends looked on in the open doorway.

"I think it'll come in handy tonight," Simon replied cryptically.

Suddenly, a bright voice piped up through the doorway crowd. "What's everyone looking at?"

It was Nicole. Her eyes met Simon's and she rushed forward. "SIMON!!"

Chuckling at her tipsy state, Simon said hi and hugged her.

"Gawd, Jae! Will ya let Simon into the party first??" Nicole asked melodramatically.

Jae looked up at Simon as he bunched up the torn wrapping paper. He had a beautifully printed box in his hand.

"Are these cards?"

"Yeah. The print is by this Russian painter." Simon smiled. "I figured you'd want to play King's Cup tonight, so..."

The athletic Asian hugged him again, this time sneaking in a quick peck on Simon's neck.

"Thanks, man. Come in!" he urged. "It's gonna be a boss night!!"

The birthday hotel party was already well under way. It was in a massive executive suite, several times the size of Simon's own bachelor pad. There was a TV room, a dining room, a full kitchen, two bedrooms each with a bathroom, an additional powder room, and a balcony that looked out onto the lake. Twentysomethings filled the suite, busy with drinking, chatting, laughing, and checking each other out. EDM music blared from the expensive home theatre system.

The black musician followed Jae, Nicole, and a couple of talking girls into the kitchen. Half-full vodka bottles and multicoloured shot glasses littered every surface.

"Drink this," Jae said to Simon as he put down his messenger bag on the floor. The Korean jock had two full shooters in his hand.

"What is it?" Simon asked as Jae offered another one to Nicole. The actress and drama teacher declined.

"Birthday sweets," the Korean answered with arched eyebrows. He poured one for himself, then one for each of the girls.

Nicole's eyes focused on the TV room. "Come find me. We gotta catch up!" she said to Simon as she walked away.

Simon nodded and saw that Jae was ready for his birthday toast. He clinked his shot glass with Jae's and his girlfriends'.

"Happy birthday!"

They downed the liquor together. It immediately warmed Simon's insides as it went down.

"Simon, this is Tiffany and Britney," the young jock introduced, smiling at the cheerful girls by his side.

"Hi! How do you know Jae?" Tiffany asked.

"Through Nicole and the other roommates, Julio and Arthur. How about you?"

"We met him last week at this guy's house party, after the rugby game," Tiffany replied. "What was the guy's name?" she asked Britney, who shrugged and poured herself another drink.

"Jae's so awesome," Tiffany continued, glancing at the Korean. He was talking with a really hot white blond guy, who was a bit taller, with a similarly athletic build. The fitted polo shirt he had on showed off his arms and chest.

"Omigod, remember when his team lost strip poker and they had to strip dance?" Britney blurted.

Simon was all ears.

"Oh, how can you ever forget that??" Tiffany shot back. "They were better than Magic Mike!!"

Both girls guffawed. Simon wished he was there for that, but then again, he'd already seen Jae in all his glory. And touched, and sucked, and fucked.

They'd been hooking up for over two months now, usually once a week, sometimes two. They were also getting closer as friends, catching open mic nights, playing video games, and talking into the wee hours whenever they saw each other, usually after they'd fucked each other's brains out.

Simon knew he was getting in really deep, maybe too deep. But he couldn't stop himself whenever Jae texted or called. They had so much fun together that Simon began to convince himself that the young jock must feel something, too.

"Simon, can I ask you a question?" Britney asked.

"Sure."

"You're gay, right?"

Simon cleared his throat. "Yes," he answered.

"Do you think Jae's hot?" the girl asked unabashedly.

Simon chuckled, surprised yet again by Britney's forthrightness. Before he replied, though, Jae's blond hottie friend bellowed an announcement.

"Everybody to the TV room for King's Cup!"

Jae flashed a wily smile at Simon, waving the playing cards in his hand.

For the most part, Simon was done with getting wasted and making a fool of himself, but if Jae wanted to play a drinking game on his birthday, he wasn't about to be a bad sport and turn it down.

With a crowd of thirty-odd people in the TV room, another deck of cards was added so that everyone had at least two turns. By the start of the second go-around, however, the party was well-oiled by the liquor. During each mini-game, people started miscounting and blanking on rhymes in messy laughter.

Inevitably, spillage occurred. When an errant elbow knocked over a beer bottle on the table, Jae immediately swept the playing cards away from the overflowing alcohol.

"Yo, Jermaine, watch your drink!" he exclaimed. "I just got these cards!!"

"Geez, chill, man..." he responded, picking up the bottle.

Jae looked at him and lifted up a card. "18th century Russian art. Please appreciate."

It was one of the few events that Simon vividly recalled from the long game; he got tipsy soon after the start and answered too slow or just plain incorrectly, which only meant more drinks for him. The other highlight came when Nicole pulled a queen from the deck, which signalled the game 'Never Have I Ever'.

Everyone put up three fingers. Nicole looked around the group and thought about her proclamation. Then, she said,

"Never have I ever had sex with someone of the same gender."

Anyone who had done that lowered a finger. As Simon lowered a digit, he watched Jae. The athletic Asian stayed still, looked around naturally, and dropped a finger as inconspicuously as possible.

And then Simon saw the that blond hottie, Tyler, dropped a finger as well, inciting an uproar of gasps and questions to both of them.

The game went on and Julio, a rich, intelligent, and sarcastic poly sci masters student and one of Jae's roommates, eventually become the unfortunate recipient of the King's Cup. At that point, the party was beyond ready to head to the club a few blocks away.

In his drunken stupor, Simon walked arm-in-arm with Nicole during the short but freezing jaunt. They were chatting, but they were so incoherent that they might as well have been speaking two different languages to each other. Every once in a while, the black musician looked for Jae in the giddy travelling pack. The birthday boy had his arm around a different friend every time, emphatically blurting out something, laughing, or raising his fist in song.

As the party crew neared their late-night hotspot, they toned down their bravado and composed themselves for the ID and security check. Simon saw that they bypassed the winding queue leading to the club's entrance. Walking in after the bouncer frisked him, he followed Nicole to coat check, then up a few flights of dimly-lit stairs, until he emerged at the balcony level looking down on the crowded dance floor.

He gathered from the sectioned-off area, posh-looking booths and ice buckets filled with vodka bottles that they were in the VIP. As the rest of the party excitedly filled the room, Simon couldn't help but wonder how much money tonight had cost, from the executive suite to bottle service. He figured Jae must have blown his entire paycheque on this one night.

"You like it?"

The black singer turned around. It was Jae, already sipping from a glass.

"Yeah..." Simon nodded. "Impressed. I'm impressed," he followed. Leaning over the railing, Simon felt his body bob and sway a bit.

"Good. I want everyone to have the best time tonight!"

The singer looked around the club. Rows of colourful LED lights lit up the walls, transforming into moving arrows, falling snowflakes, concentric circles, and cascading waves. The hi-contrast effect was alternately dazzling and dizzying. Meanwhile, on the bar counter, two female go-go dancers rolled and writhed their bodies to the beat, moving sensually in stiletto heels on the narrow serving ledge.

Jae wrapped his arm around the musician's shoulders. Feeling warm and loose from the liquor, Simon had to restrain himself from planting a kiss on Jae's flushed face.

Simon hoped they would have some alone time later.

"How old are you turning?" the black singer asked.

"24. I'm in my mid-twenties now!" Jae exclaimed. They both had a chuckle, well aware that Simon was seven years older.

"Let's see..." Simon pondered. "What was I doing at 24? I was...I was probably recording one of my many unreleased albums," he sighed, shaking his head with a grin.

Jae was silent for a moment. When Simon turned to look at him, the athletic Asian had a serious look.

"Y'know, I checked out your stuff on Youtube." He patted Simon's shoulder. "You're really good, man."

The musician was shocked. "What?? You looked at my old videos?"

"Yeah. Remember? We talked about them last time."

"Yeah, I remember, I just didn't expect...did you watch all of them?" The singer recalled his poor judgments in wardrobe and choreography over the years. "Wait, which one did you watch?"

"I watched all of them, man!!" Jae proclaimed. "You're legit, seriously. You can sing, you can dance...you're gonna make it one day."

At this, Simon shook his head, partly due to humility, partly due to defeat. "Nah, I had my chance. I..."

He exhaled. "Maybe the timing was off. Or maybe I just wasn't good enough."

"Don't give up," Jae said, looking at Simon straight in his eyes. He tightened his hold around the musician's shoulders.

Simon was speechless. Before he could utter a word, however, the birthday boy was mobbed by Tiffany, Britney, and two other girls. They pulled him away and dragged him towards the stairs in fits of laughter.

Simon watched them head down the stairs, presumably to the dance floor. Then he went over to one of the booths, where Nicole and her roommate Arthur were drinking.

"There goes the floozies with their prize," Nicole sneered, rolling her eyes.

"Judgey, much?" Arthur teased. He handed Simon a full glass.

"Actually, I'm basing my judgment on fact. They have a birthday surprise planned for Jae," Nicole said with a wry grin.

"Like a cake? Or song and dance?" Arthur quizzed. "Or song and dance with cake?" He was excited by the prospect of cake.

Nicole shook her head, head held high as if she alone had valuable exclusive information. Simon looked at her and waited a bit.

"What's your guess?" she asked with a smug wink.

Simon rolled his eyes. "I have no idea. What is it?"

The drama teacher and actress looked around conspiratorially, verifying that no one was within earshot. Then, she leaned in and spoke in a low tone.

"A lil' private session back at the hotel."

She waited for the guys' reactions with a side glance.

Simon didn't get it. "What do you mean?"

"Simon!" Her eyes were wide with disappointment.

"They're gettin' down, aren't they?" Arthur asked. He spotted Jae with the girls on the dance floor downstairs, and pointed them out to Nicole and Simon.

She nodded.

Simon's eyes bugged out as he stared at the females grinding up on the birthday boy, who had his beefy arms raised up in victory.

"Lucky man," Arthur quipped. His eyes squinted at the girls, looking them up and down. "Actually..." he corrected with a grimace.

Meanwhile, Simon couldn't hold back his surprise and disappointment. He downed his drink in one big gulp and blurted, "But they just met last week!!"

Nicole squealed and began laughing.

"Seriously, Nicole?!" the singer pressed on, staring hard at the howling drama teacher, anxious for an answer.

Meanwhile, Arthur watched curiously, his observational instincts as a journalist kicking in.

"SIMON! Omigod...oh dear..." she sighed in a sympathetic tone, wiping a tear from her eye. "Are you jealous? Just a little bit?" she taunted.

Her stare was pointed as the singer stammered. "WHAT?? No no no..." He frowned as hard as he could. "Why would I be jealous??"

Arthur's head tilted. "I'm missing something here." He had a pretty strong hunch about what was going on, but it was always more entertaining to wait for his subject to come clean by themselves.

It wasn't going to happen this time, though. "Arthur, girl talk," Nicole said, waving him away. The journalist mocked her haughty gesture and headed downstairs.

When they were alone in the booth, the actress began. "Honey, I think you're in trouble..."

But Simon wasn't having any of it. He stood up, waving his hands and shaking his head dismissively, and headed downstairs.

Nicole thought about calling him back. But then she shrugged and poured herself another drink.

Once on the dance floor, Simon pushed forward through the crowd until he saw the object of his affection. He was busy groping and making out with Britney.

The black singer stood still, watching and comparing the gut-wrenching spectacle to the kisses he'd been sharing with Jae lately. He looked away when it hurt too much.

Simon was compelled to go up to the Korean jock, tear Britney off him, and show him who knew how to pleasure him best. But then anger swung back to heartache again, when Simon realized he had already shown Jae everything he had, given all of his passion in every kiss, all of his desperate need in every blowjob, all of his love in every post-coital embrace...

All of his love.

He was staring at the man he had fallen in love with, the man who was now kissing someone else. A girl.

It hit him cold and hard: he was repeating the same mistake. Once again, he'd wasted his time and given his heart to someone who didn't ask for it, someone whose own heart wasn't up for grabs.

The gigantic speakers around him played the top hits of the year, eliciting wild cheers whenever the DJ mixed into the next radio smash. At that moment, when Simon thought about leaving the dance floor to drown his sorrows, or even to silently ditch the party, the DJ played Zedd's "Clarity".

Simon looked up at the elevated DJ booth and laughed hollowly. As Foxes began singing the first verse, the lyrics about an intense tug-of-war love affair filled the entire club, coming to life as a booming soundtrack to Simon's tortured emotional state.

He thought about the night of the Big Fair fireworks. He could clearly recall the exploding colours across the night sky, clearly feel the sheer euphoria of being with Jae. Now, on a jammed dance floor where drunken partygoers bumped into him and hollered off-key to the skyscraping chorus, he was also looking up at flashing colours. But the phalanx of LED lights that performed manifold sequences on the walls only confused him, spun his head around until any remaining shard of logic that he had were shattered on the liquor-stained tiles.

Simon lost his balance and fell backwards. It happened in a split-second, yet it felt like it was unfolding in slow motion. When he landed, a sharp pain stabbed the back of his head. His eyes lost focus for an instant; after blinking a few times, he saw a circle of people staring down at him.

Nicole and Arthur swooped down and lifted him up.

"Simon! Look at me!"

"Are you okay??"

"Simon!" Nicole's insistent slaps annoyed him, so he glared at her.

"I'm okay, I'm okay..."

A security guard come up and asked what was going on. Simon tried to brush it off nonchalantly, saying he just lost his balance and fell. The stern-looking lady gave him a once-over, then told him to follow her.

Simon groaned, thinking he was getting kicked out. She led him down a corridor past the washrooms, then through a 'Security Only" door.

Once inside the security office, she said, "Sit down in there," pointing to a brightly lit side room.

When Simon walked in, he saw three other people in the room, each on small beds. One of them was clearly tripping, staring at the ceiling with glassy eyes. Another was passed out, looking pale. The third person, a young man, was talking to himself.

"Hey, look. Three makes company and four makes a party."

Simon felt dirty and disgusted as he sat down in a vacant chair. He looked down on the floor, avoiding eye contact.

"Yo what's your name?"

The musician closed his eyes and sighed.

Happy holidays indeed! Christmas wasn't too far away, and here he was in some kind of detox room, and he didn't even do any drugs.

"Yo, I'm looking for Kevin. Have you seen him? He's a tall black dude, with..."

The young man would not shut up, but Simon was too much inside his head to register what he was saying.

He retraced his steps. How did he end up here? He drank too much. Why did he drink too much?

Jae.

The fall was sobering him up, and he felt ready to dive into the emotional mess he floundered in, so he took a deep breath and interrogated himself.

What was the problem here? Jae was making out with Britney. Why was he upset by that? Because he didn't want Jae making out with anyone else. Because he was in love with Jae, and obviously Jae wasn't in love with him.

But it wasn't like Jae was cheating; they were fuck buddies. Simon stumbled into this ill-defined relationship with wishful thinking, hoping lust would turn into love, and casual fun would turn into monogamous commitment. It didn't happen, so Jae didn't really do anything wrong by making out with Britney.

Simon leaned back into the hard plastic chair. He thought about drawing clear boundaries with the young jock. Clearly, being fuck buddies wasn't working out for him.

'Maybe we can be just friends; maybe I can manage that,' he thought. 'It would be hard, but it would be worth a try.'

He did want Jae to continue to be in his life, even without the sex. He was an optimistic, happy-go-lucky kind of guy who lifted Simon's spirits whenever they hung out. And he had just encouraged Simon to not give up on his musical dreams. The singer believed that Jae would remain a positive influence in his life.

...but, every time he laid eyes on the Korean hunk, he just wanted to tear his clothes off.