If things had kept up, I could have been on a "Top 30 Under 30" list. At 29 I had an MBA, a job at a start-up finance firm and a burgeoning social life that kept me in the upper echelon of young gay professionals. When I wasn't chasing down a 10 in the clubs, and topping pretty waiters, I spent most of my time in the gym, maintaining a svelte, finely muscled physique and trading business secrets with my peers.
That's when I was Geoffrey.
I'm Geoff now.
Geoffrey's life got all fucked up, sending me miles away from the city, and making my life- Geoff's life- as unrecognizable as possible.
Did I mention I'm Geoff now? Sorry. I know I keep bringing that up. It's just that I can't get over how far my life has changed, and nothing reminds me of that more than the fact I wear a name tag now.
I used to run in fast circles, now soccer mom's squint at my chest and say to me:
"Excuse me- Geoff, but someone puked in the family change room. Thought you might like to know,"
I swear to god, days like that make me wish I was digging ditches or stocking shelves.
As it was, my fall from grace could have been worse. I was an assistant manager of a city owned recreation facility in an unremarkable post-war suburb. The only upgrade to the town since the seventies had been a handful of big box stores and a failed attempt at a reinvigorated downtown strip that brought in a crosswalk.
The long and short of things for me, good ol' Geoff, was that the start up firm I worked in wasn't entirely on the up and up. I could tell you that this came as a huge shock to me but I'd be lying. Granted, that's what I told the authorities before my life crumbled, which was how I was able to get out of town with my freedom.
Everything else though, the men, the money and condo- gone. Nobody wanted to touch Geoffrey with a ten inch pole or a two inch dick. As soon as word got around about the company, I was radioactive to one and all. I threw what was left of my savings into legal representation and found myself looking for work and a shabby apartment beyond city limits.
Which is where Geoff finds himself mopping up puke in a pool change room, and wondering if things will ever get any better.
If there was one bright spot about my current situation though, it was that the facility I worked at had a decent sized gym, so I could pour all my time into working out. That being said, I was starting to feel the battle of the bulge as I approached 30, and started day drinking. As if my current situation wasn't embarrassing enough, I could only imagine the gossip back in the city if folks could see my body in its less-than-sculpted state. So while I indulged during the day, I worked a hard circuit in the late evening when the gym was less busy. It seemed as though I was the only gay in town, with the men on apps hours away- so I didn't have much of a life outside of the rec centre. Hadn't even gotten laid or had my dick sucked since I left the city.
That changed my first winter in the burbs though. And before I continue this story, I want you to understand just how hard up I was, okay? Please don't judge me.
Alright.
So, I moved into town in the late spring, grabbing an apartment a block away from the rec centre and helping set up all the outdoor programs for the kids. The facility was built back in the sixties and perpetually felt dark and dingy. No matter how well cleaned the place was, you couldn't kill the mood from the dark stone, and grimy looking tile. It was hard to imagine that decades prior, anyone thought that "basement grotto" mixed with brutalist concrete would have been a modern look for the ages. Even when the sun poured in through the lobby skylights, the centre felt like you were at the bottom of a swamp.
Winter brought about cold, harsh weather and I got to see first hand how the rec centre switched from outdoor to indoor activities. The most noticeable part was when I found the gym busier than usual during my workout routines.
Normally -in the city- a busy gym would be a cruisy gym, and nobody had a problem with it. To look and be looked at, to watch and be watched was the common mentality at my old gym. Nobody looked twice at how many feet gathered below a shower curtain, or batted an eye at activities in the steam room. But that was in my old life, where you worked out with other attractive gays.
Here in nowheresville, my fellow gym goers were men forty and up- and when I say up, I mean seventies. There was one older man, Maurice who I knew to be close to 80, because I had the misfortune of renewing his membership one day. He barely looked me in the eye, or spoke more than a word to me during the exchange. Snatching his card and toddling off at his first opportunity. Maurice was a regular, and an example of the camaraderie at the gym. For the most part, I was fine as a black sheep, but as the winter crowds filled the gym and change rooms I took pride in being the best body of the bunch. When the other men looked at me sneeringly, I just figured they were studying my perfect technique and jealously admiring my form. Oh to be young again. LOL.
Then one night, something broke.
Both back in the change room, and in me. And it changed everything.
My usual routine was to do my regular circuit, then hit the private showers before walking home and grabbing a beer. The private showers weren't anything fancy, just a couple stalls at one end of the change room that had curtains on them. They had been a recent addition to the facility, and had been awkwardly distanced from the open group showers, steam room and dry sauna on the other side of the lockers. I had finished my routine one Tuesday when I returned to the change room and remembered the maintenance call I'd made earlier in the day. The pipes in the private showers were in an exterior wall and poorly insulated- so one of them burst, and we had to put them out of commission for awhile. I silently cursed as I walked past them to get to my locker, but thought nothing of it as I swung the dial around and prepared to wash up. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Maurice at a distance, grimacing in his towel as he sat on a bench drinking water from a paper cup. He glared over in my direction as I peeled off my gear. For whatever reason, I felt a little self conscious and wrapped a towel around me before reaching underneath and removing my briefs. Maurice looked on. I glared back and slammed my locker shut.
The group shower room was huge and dark, covered in large burgundy tiles that made the place feel like a slaughter house. It had shower heads along the perimeter as well as a series of standing pipes in the middle of the room. There were a couple men standing about near the front, idly chatting as I passed. I hung my towel up on the rack and walked towards the back. It felt safer going further in, which was possibly my second mistake after choosing the group shower in the first place. I turned on the water and let its full blast spray my naked body, the hot water relaxing my tired muscles. I pushed my face under the nozzle and absentmindedly pulled at my cock. With my eyes shut, and hearing nothing beyond the water in my ears I began to feel a strange presence in my midst. There was even a brief "Danger! Danger!" That went off in my brain, as I pulled away from the stream. I wiped my face and turned slightly to see who was in my space. It was a tall older man, a regular who's name I think was George. I would have nodded or acknowledged his presence verbally if it wasn't for the fact that George was clear cut looking at my dick.
"Sorry, I thought these were the men's showers here," He snickered and turned his face into the water before I could respond.
But really, how could I? What the fuck could I even say to that?" My whole body blushed and I fought the urge to run to the exit and grab my towel. I- I was a FINE size for fucks sake. I've topped a hundred hot guys back in the city, what was he saying about my cock? I tried to concentrate on my own business, squirting some body wash into my hand from the wall dispenser and soaping up. Purposely, I turned away from George- both hiding my self and showing him my fantastic ass in the process. I was still too stunned to think straight. I continued to wash until my soapy hand was gripping my cock, then my brain changed gears and started to massage some life into it. I'd been a 10 in the city, maybe falling to an 8-9 out in the sticks here- but like, I was beyond ten compared to an old fuck like George.