The Lockdown

34

Andy was in trouble. Cam's birthday was in two weeks and he had no idea what to get him. He knew that there was no way he could top what he got from the youngster for his birthday and he could not even manage to make it a surprise. His boyfriend caught him one morning snooping around his wallet and Andy had to admit that he was looking for the exact date of his birthday. He deduced that it was sometime in May from an offhand remark Abe made during the lunch at the apartment. He probably should have just asked Sarah, he thought belatedly, but it was too late now, and, unfortunately, Cam found his botched clandestine operation hilarious and used the opportunity to draw a spending limit of a hundred dollars. He justified the restriction by pointing out that it was already double the amount he spent on Andy.

That cut short any extravagant notion the older man might have had and Andy spent countless hours trying to find the perfect gift; he finally resorted to asking for help from whomever might care about his troubles. Sarah's ideas were all some form of a sex toy, Jennie was useless, her husband's taste was way too lame. His mother suggested that Andy paint something special for his boyfriend, but that would have been a bit too similar to what he got plus he still doubted his ability to create anything good enough by the date fast approaching. Billy and Uncle Joe just laughed at him and Andy was quickly running out of time.

The bar needed his attention as well. He had several Zoom meetings with his mother and her lawyer fine tuning the details of the acquisition and discussing the loan repayment schedule which his mother wanted to leave open-ended but Andy insisted on figuring out a timeline. He created a cashflow chart with Billy's help estimating future income and costs based on the bar's financial history and included a repayment schedule. His mother finally acquiesced after she successfully negotiated starting with a moratorium for the beginning and extending the deadline by five years considering the current uncertain circumstances. Andy seriously contemplated adding Cam's name as co-owner, though he knew that both the lawyer and possibly his mother would strenuously object. He abandoned the idea realizing that although this might be regarded a thoughtful gesture, at this point he would mostly settle his boyfriend with debt.

Cam kept busy looking for equipment. His budget would not allow him to buy everything he needed brand new, so he was hunting for bargains and used appliances. Luckily, for them, several restaurants gave up the struggle and closed down because of the pandemic, thus he managed to stretch his funds to build a very impressive small kitchen in the former storage room.

They had to get their permits in order, which the pandemic made difficult as personal contacts were minimized. Handily, the lawyers figured out a way to keep Uncle Joe's name as co-owner of the bar for the next year negating the immediate need to transfer all existing licenses to Andy which provided some breathing room to finish the complicated process requiring background checks, tons of paperwork and other assurances. After this intermediate period the full ownership would automatically revert to Andy. He had to go to the Bureau of Licensing and Registration only once as the law required in person submission for food licenses, everything else could be done online. Even though he had an appointment, he still had to wait almost an hour to get everything processed while carefully observing social distancing and other pandemic rules. The wait gave him ample time to think about gift ideas for Cam's birthday and he finally settled on something his mind was unconsciously circling around for days. Cam might hate it, but Andy decided to risk it anyway.

They also submitted several applications for state and federal grants that were offered to businesses hurt by the pandemic. Billy took charge of that process and he was optimistic that they would get at least a couple of them. Andy was issued a temporary food license for the bar pending the health inspection which was scheduled for the week after and the long-awaited permit for outside seating also finally arrived.

Andy woke Cam up with a blow job on his birthday as was their tradition after all. Cam suggested to stay in bed all day, he would be perfectly content spending his birthday that way but Andy had other plans. Their parents took young Jennie and Andy to Minnehaha Falls just outside Minneapolis often and he fell in love with the place. To his surprise, Cam had never been there, his parents were not really the outdoorsy type. Andy packed a bag and they drove an hour in light traffic; since it was midweek, the park was mostly deserted. The weather cooperated perfectly, it was a balmy seventy-two degrees, the sky was a celestial blue, a slight breeze ruffled their hair as they took a hike to Andy's favorite spot overlooking the falls and the river. Andy set up the picnic, food was not really his thing so he kept it simple, just a few sandwiches and pastries from his favorite bakery in town, though he did swipe a bottle of red from his uncle's stash, the same vintage they drank on their first date. In lieu of a cake, a few days earlier he ordered the youngster's favorite dessert (the only useful information Sarah provided), hand-made truffles from a famed chocolatier in Minneapolis complementing the wine perfectly. Cam was ravenous from the hike and they cleaned up everything in no time.

"So where is my striptease?" Cam asked smirking.

"Give me a break, you know I can't dance, I think it's best if we leave that to you." Andy leaned back on the sunbaked boulder and pulled Cam onto his chest. "There you go, isn't this better anyway?"

"No fair," whined the youngster, "I have to make up an elaborate routine just to seduce you and the only thing you need to do is to give me a hug."

"You seduce me with one look every day, anything else is just a welcome extra. And don't you fall asleep on me now, almost every time we cuddle you do that."

"Well, since we usually cuddle after sex, you can't really blame me, but that seems unlikely as you are apparently not going to put out now."

"No, I won't. We are in a public park and children could walk by any moment." They met no one on their way up the rise and Cam pretended to futilely look around searching for a lone lost schoolgirl. "All right, all right," Andy laughed it off, if you want an opportunity to ridicule me, I promise to dance for you tonight in our bedroom."

Cam kissed him hard on the lips chuckling. "Deal."

"The first time I held you like this was after the kiss. Who would've thought that I would have to thank a bunch of strangers for instigating the best thing that ever happened to me?"

"I was the first man you kissed. Weren't you weirded out at least a little?" Cam wondered.

"Not a bit. I liked you a lot before that day, though it never crossed my mind that anything sexual could ever happen between us. My mom claims that I was in love with you already, and she is probably right, but I wasn't aware, at least not consciously. I think my body and heart knew it before my mind. And when they roped us into kissing, I just went with the flow somehow sensing that it was the right thing to do."

"It took me considerably longer to accept that I wasn't just a distraction from the pandemic for you," Cam admitted. "I had a crush on you for the longest time, but you were supposed to be straight, there was never any danger that anything could happen."

"I'm totally gay for you."

"Whew, thank God. And here I thought one phone call from Lisa would turn you back straight," joked Cam and Andy had to subdue a guffaw at the mental image of his last fling coming between them.

Andy was stroking the younger man's hair softly. "Before you woke up the next morning, I held you in my arms for the longest time and I had a feeling unlike anything I had ever experienced before that moment. Absolute certainty. That if you let me, I would like to hold onto you for the rest of my life. And I don't mind waiting, no matter how long it takes you to feel the same way." He reached into the side pocket of the backpack and pulled out a small box.

"Cameron Garcia Reyes, would you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?"