The One

The Talk.

It turned out the feeling Tom and Tord had shared in Tord's clinic wasn't some stupid fluke. The moment Tom spotted Tord in the trendy London bar, he was scared his legs might give out before he would even be able to reach the table. The two men politely shook hands and gave each other really awkward smiles.
"Can I get you a drink?" Tom asked
"Sure, another one of these, thanks, mate," Tord replied and lifted his bottle of lager.

Tom nodded and headed to the bar. As he ordered their drinks he noticed Tord's reflection in the mirror behind the spirits. Sally was right when she commented on Tord's handsome appearance. Even as a straight  man, Tom at least could admit he was a good-looking guy. He was much more masculine than him and held himself confidently. He was the kind of guy women flocked to, and for some reason this thought made him feel funny inside. He checked his phone to see if Sally had received the text that he sent, telling her he would come home late because of a client meeting. It was a plausible lie, he thought, as he often had to wine and dine existing and prospective clients. Okay babe, luv u! He read her reply. He didn't respond however.

Tom returned to the booth with their bottles, sat down and took off his coat. Neither knew where to begin..

"So... How have you been?" Tom said eventually after some time in awkward silence.
"Good, thanks. Pretty busy at work though, you know. You?"
"Yeah, same here, same here."

Both men simultaneously looked down at their drinks, unable to maintain any prolonged eye contact and risk a repeat of what they felt the first time they met. Two choruses of an old Oasis song played in the background before either of them said another word, both feeling cripplingly self-aware.

"Actually... Things aren't good," Tom admitted. "There's no easy way for me to say this without sounding like a total idiot, but I need to get this off my chest before I back away again. The more I try not to think about it, the more it becomes the only thing I can think about at all. It's about what happened.... the first time we met."

He paused, realizing how ridiculous he must have sounded. He looked at Tord hoping for confirmation that he might be feeling the same, but Tord's face gave little to nothing away. In for a penny, in for a pound, Tom thought and continued regardless. "That feeling I got when I looked at you as I was leaving. I've thought it through a thousand times since and I still cant explain it properly. None of it makes sense. I'm not gay."

"I'm not gay either," Tord replied.
"So why do we have this link?"
"I dont know."
"I've never kissed a guy, not even for a laugh or when I was drunk."
"Me neither."
"So if neither of us are into blokes, then what's happening here?"
"It's simple. The test is fucked up, they got us mixed up with other people," Tord said resolutely.
"That's what I said. I even emailed them to check, but they sent out a standard reply, saying the test isn't flawed and that they haven't had one mis-Match. But anyway, it doesn't explain what I felt. What I think.. we felt. Are we in denial or something?"

Tord shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took several gulps from his bottle, before leaning forward to Tom and in a lowered voice, said, "Mate, all I know is that something inexplicable happened after I gave you physio. I didn't feel anything when we met, when you took your shirt off, when I touched you or when we shook hands afterwards. But then... I dunno... something happened."

Tom breathed out a sigh of relief, pleased to hear Tord describe what he had felt too.
"What was it like for you?" He asked.
"Honestly? Like a thousand small explosions going off inside of me all at once, but not in a bad way... It was like they woke me up. I suddenly felt more alive than I've ever been before and that's the only way I can describe it, as lame as it sounds."
"No, no, it's cool. I know what you mean. It was exactly the same for me."
"But why you and me? From the conversation we had last time, do we even have anything in common? I love sport, you love computer games. I'm going back home to live in Norway in a couple of months and you enjoy your city life."
"And we both have girlfriends."
"And we both have girlfriends," Tord repeated in agreement.
"So why am I sitting here with butterflies in the size of eagles circling in my stomach and I can barely look at you.. and then when I do, I can't take my eyes off you?"

Tom shuffled his leg a bit and felt his knee briefly brush against Tord's. For a split second, he felt goose bumps spreading to each pore in his body. A moment later, Tord slid his leg back over so their legs remained touching. They looked at each other, neither needing to say a word to know what the other was feeling.