Tenement Funster

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You...

Roger lit a cigarette as he waited for the van to warm up.  He glanced over at Brian and saw him looking out one last time at the farmhouse.  It had been an ideal getaway.  Their camping had been interrupted by the storm, but they'd still had a fantastic time.  Now it was over and they were heading back to London.  What was that old proverb?  'All good things must come to an end.'   Roger certainly had a new appreciation for the saying.  He found himself wondering about things coming to an end when summer finished and Brian moved back to his real home.  It was a consideration that left a twisted feeling in his stomach.

"Don't forget we need to stop for petrol..."  Brian reminded him as Roger turned onto the main road.  Roger nodded at him.

"Right...yeah..."  he mumbled.  "I'll stop when we're closer to home..."  he remarked.  Mentioning home made Roger think all over again about the fact that Brian didn't really live in the building.  It wasn't his real home.   And his time there was limited.  He instantly grew curious about Brian's life when he wasn't in residence at the building.  "Hey Brian...what are your flat mates like?"  he asked.  Brian turned and looked at him.  Surprised by the unexpected question.

"Clive works in a bank..."  Brian answered.  "And Paul has a job with the pensions office..."  Roger wanted to know more about their dynamic as friends.

"What are they like?"  Roger asked next.  Brian shrugged a little.

"I don't know...they're just my flat mates..."  he responded.  "They both watch a lot of football and like to go out to the clubs and meet girls..."  he explained.  "Just your usual types..."  

"Do you hang out with them?"  Roger wondered.  Brian hated talking about these two.  They represented what he is supposed to be.   Not who he is.  

"Sometimes..."  Brian answered.  "I do go out with them occasionally..." he confessed.  

"So you get along pretty well then?"  Roger continued with his questions.  Wanting to know just how content Brian was with his situation.   Brian slumped in his seat a little.

"Well enough..."  Brian responded.  "I mean I get tired of Clive's constant stream of girls he brings through the place and Paul's a bit of an arrogant prick at times...but I could probably do worse for flat mates..."  Brian opined.   Roger felt like this was a tether to hang on to.  Brian wasn't really close to these men.

"And they don't know about your boyfriends?"  Roger questioned.  Brian raised his eyebrows involuntarily at Roger referring to his male encounters as boyfriends.  He'd only had a few male lovers since residing at his current flat and had always gone to the other man's place to have sex.  Most of them he never saw again.  No, not boyfriends in the dating sense.  

"No...I told you that..."  Brian said and wondered if what he had with Roger could be construed as something more.  It wasn't a one time thing with the blond and they had just gone on holiday together.  He had never even done this with a girl.   "They probably think I don't even date at all..."  Brian reminded him.   "Why are you so interested in my flat mates?"  Brian asked him.

"Just curious...you never mention them so I wondered if you were friends and all..."  Roger replied.  Brian looked at the blond.  

"Their not my closet friends...no..."  Brian confirmed.  Now Roger wondered who Brian considered his closest friends but didn't want to press his luck after already being questioned about his sudden interrogation.  Brian extended his long legs and thought about his own set of friends.   "I guess you could say my closest friends were my mates from Uni...but since we graduated we've kind of drifted apart..."   Brian confessed.  "Everyone got busy with their budding careers and most of them got married..."  he explained.  "I last saw the group of them about five months ago..."  he remarked and Brian realized he hadn't really been close to anyone of late.  He too had been busy with his new job and had let those old relationships slide.