Vintage Rob

Chapter 27 - Stupid Guy Stuff

The thief had to be a Gears fan seeking mementos. Maybe even someone connected to Lynn's job at the coffee shop.

Goddamn music fans. Rob searched the internet to see if his missing items were for sale. Without luck.

***

A couple evenings after the break-in, Rob met Gene for racquetball. Gene bounced the ball a couple of times prior to serving it, his boyish grin enhanced by the speckle of gray in his short black hair. At fifty-one years old, Gene still moved with the fluidity of a high school quarterback.

Hoping to hear of Gene's bisexuality firsthand someday, Rob pretended not to already know. Even after Rob described Lynn and her crowd, Gene did not spill a bean. While losing games of racquetball, Rob imagined Gene hearing about the kiss with Julian and opening up, but when the time came, Rob omitted it from his story. He would not hem his older brother into a corner. They were like their father, a Vietnam War pilot and longtime widower. After their mother's premature death, their father had raised his three children on his own, but he barely talked to them. The elder Mr. Pirone had, however, alluded to Rob's failure with Makiko...

Drying off in the locker room with Gene, Rob suggested dinner at Milyaro's Garden before he left for Japan.

"You are Sylvester's biggest cheerleader," Gene said.

"Everyone loves Milyaro's Garden. Food's great, regardless of your reservations about his so-called character."

Gene smiled grimly and pulled two well-polished wingtips from his locker. "Okay, dinner then. How about Sunday?"

"I'm going to Tokyo for a whole year. Jennifer should join us too."

"I noticed you two haven't been paling around lately."

"Yeah, like I told you, been busy."

***

But the truth was... Rob and Jennifer had had a bad moment...

A few weeks earlier, Rob had waited outside Jennifer's office as she advised a grad student. After the student left, he had popped in. "I've got a problem, professor," he said, slumping down into the chair.

Jennifer looked up from her computer screen and smiled. "How unexpected."

He had not planned to mention Gene's bisexuality or their open relationship. "I didn't check out that student's ass when she left," he said.

"I appreciate that." She shut the office door. "Such a gentleman."

"Why did you shut the door? Is it my chit-chat?"

"Yes, your poopy mouth."

"Poopy mouth? Where'd that come from?"

"I don't know. Disturbing, isn't it?" She crossed her legs and arms and swiveled her chair back and forth. "Are you too sophisticated for toilet talk?"

"Not at all. I'm a paparazzi."

"You wish. You're a combat photographer, Rob."

Her aggressive smile pleased him. "Actually I was photographing celebrity professors today. Do you know the Nobel Prize winner in the Chemistry Department?"

"I hope you're joking." She pushed her purple-rimmed glasses into place. "Is that what you're doing these days instead of sex?"

"Hey, ouch. Even good friends shouldn't be that candid, Jennifer." He wondered if her comment actually touched on something important. "What are you saying?"

She shrugged. "You're pensive. Gene and I could introduce you to someone, if you're tired of loving them and leaving them, I mean."

"No thanks." He put his hands on the arms of the chair as if he was about to spring out of the room. "I'll find someone myself. Besides, I might prefer to love and leave. I might stick with that." He tapped the floor with one of his sneakers. "Guess what? I'm meeting Molly tonight."