The mass of gays and lesbians had gathered at Copley Square, the start of the parade route. At 10 in the morning in June many of them would proceed south on Clarendon Street. Eventually after a few turns they would come to City Hall Plaza, the end of the route.
Only recently out, I had registered at the eleventh hour. After much thought I decided to walk wearing just speedos and Nike running shoes.
Floats proceeded slowly, rainbow flags or balloons flying above their roofs or attached to the metal. In some cases walkers took each end of a rainbow banner spanning the road from curb to curb. A few walkers held bunches helium balloons aloft.
On Boylston Street my eyes locked onto a pair of rainbow swim trunks covering a nice ass. Is he single? What does he do for a living? How old is he? Does he sometmes go DRAG? Do I live near him? Does he watch sports? If so, which sports?
I picked up my pace and came along side him on his right.
"I like your swim trunks."
"I Like the parade."
"Is this your first Pride Day parade?"
"I marched last year."
"My first," I said. I added, "I'm Steve."
"Paul," he replied. He asked, "have you been out for a long time."
"I came out to my parents on May 25, the day I turned 25."
"I came out at 16."
I asked, "where did you go to high school."
"In the suburbs," he said.
I was hoping you'd be more specific.
Standing about 5 9, he has a toned body that radiates sex appeal. Short blond hair frames his oval face. He has blue eyes and full lips.
I asked, "what gym do you go to."
"PLanet Fitness near my house," he said.
I asked, "how often do you go."
"Three times a week," said Paul.
We chatted a while longer making observations about the floats and some of the people whom we saw marching.
I asked, "are there any siblings."
"An older brother and a younger sister," said Paul.
"How old are they?"
"Mark is 28 and gay as well. Julia is 22. I'm 25."
"You're my age."
"I graduated in 2013, Lexington high."
"2013 Andover high," I answered.
The crowd began dispersing. Within a half hour very few people remained. Meanwhile we had chatted about high school days, college days.
"I love to draw, do watercolor paintings."
Having said that, he opened Photos on his i-phone showing me samples of his work.
"Did you go to art school?"
"Mass Art," he replied.
"Are you an artist for a living?"
"Artists starve. I illustrated a couple of childrens books, one on dinosaurs, the other on airplanes. Royalties are not exactly making me hugely wealthy but they pay the bills."
"I develop web pages for a living."
That was enough on that topic.
Two men holding hands approached.