It's a new week and while some things are getting back to normal, I'm sure distractions are still appreciated. So here I am with another free short story to entertain you! This one was originally part of a Freddie Mercury tribute anthology a few years back, and since it has an LGBTQ+ theme, well I thought today would be a good day to share it for free! Enjoy! Some Kind of Magic
By Sheri Velarde Drew looked at the crowd before him and his heart swelled. He’d done it. He was making a difference with his life and in the life of so many others. He’d made something of himself. To him it meant that he had proved his father wrong. When he had been kicked out of the house at sixteen for coming out, his father’s parting words had been, “You will always be a loser! A loser making society worse by your very existence and perverted ways.” Well, as it turned out there were a lot of so-called perverts out there and Drew had made it his life’s mission to make things better for kids like he had once been. In just his lifetime so many changes had taken place. Partners of all sexes could get insurance, could live together as one with whomever they chose, and now could legally marry anyone their heart desired. Sure, discrimination and hardship still hit the LGBTQ community, but when he was living as a teen on the streets he never imagined that they would get this far. He had feared too many people like his father existed in the world for any change to take place. Lost in his thoughts, he jumped when someone put their hand on his shoulder from behind. When he turned around his mind went blank for a second as he looked into the eyes of one of the hottest men he had ever seen. This man could be a male model, taking tall, dark and handsome to new levels. Finally he shook himself back to coherence. “Sorry, I spaced out there for a moment. Can I help you?” He tried to not let his eyes wander on the tall, lean and hot man in front of him and instead look into the man’s big brown eyes, which did nothing to tame the lust suddenly flowing through Drew. “I was told that you are the person to talk to if I want to set up a fundraiser?” The Adonis before him said. “Yes, my name is Drew Sanchez. What sort of fundraiser were you thinking of? Dinner? Burch? Perhaps a silent auction?” “A magic show.” The man’s smile widened at Drew’s evident shock. “I’m sorry, did you say magic show?” “Yes, my name is Jonathon Simpson, better known down on the Strip as Jonathon the Magnificent. I want to do a very special performance to benefit the Las Vegas LBGTQ Alliance. What do you think? Is that something that you could help me with?” “Yes, I can certainly help with that. I must say, it is one of the more unique fundraisers that I have helped on.” Drew said, smiling as Jonathon’s grin seemed contagious. “Excellent! Why don’t you come to one of my shows, get an idea of how they run, the people who come, all of that and then we can meet and set a date? I have already cleared it with the venue, I can do it on a Sunday night after a matinee, so scheduling should not be too difficult.” Jonathan said, pulling his business card seemingly out of nowhere. “Just call the office and we will get you into a show. My personal number is on the back should you run into any problems and to contact me when you want to meet and plan.” Drew took the card and just nodded, something about this man made him forget how to speak, made him nervous in a very pleasant way. Shaking his head, he didn’t have time nor any interest in romance, not anymore. Once upon a time he had dreamed of his very own prince in shiny armor, but then he grew up. Time to get back to business. “I will catch a show this week and then we can meet and discuss the fundraiser. Thank you so much for thinking about us, it’s rare that non-active members want to do something so large to help.” “I wish I could be more active, but my show and my travel schedule keep me pretty busy. That doesn’t mean I am not in the fight for our rights. I donate time and money when I can. I hope to continue it even more now that I have a permanent show on the Strip, not as much traveling, more time for what is really important.” Jonathon said. He then bowed, “Until later this week.” With that he clapped his hands and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Drew could only laugh and call the number on the card. He wanted to catch this man’s show sooner rather than later. Jonathon the Magnificent was not exactly the type of person someone met every day, not even in Vegas, and despite himself he really wanted to know more about the man behind the magic. **** Four nights later Drew found himself on the Strip, in the Will Call line that led him to believe that Jonathon was indeed a very popular act. As he eavesdropped on the twenty-something intoxicated women in front of him, he couldn’t help but snicker. “I got us front row this time! You know he always picks a volunteer out of the front two rows. This time he is sure to notice me! If I can just get back stage after the show, he will be mine!” One woman said, adjusting her breasts to show them even more. “Not if I get to him first.” The next one giggled. “Ladies he’s such a tall dish of yumminess there might be enough of him to share!” The third added before they all started laughing. He must have laughed out loud, though he quickly tried to cover it as a cough. “You find something funny?” The first woman said in a confrontational manner. “I bet a twink like you wishes you had a chance. Well forget about it.” She huffed and pulled her friends up ahead with her, cutting some other people off in line. Drew stood there in shock for a moment. He had not faced open hatred and bigotry in quite a while. Being gay had once been something that he had struggled with when he was younger, mainly due to the blind hatred his father had for people like him. Now that he was an adult, an advocate, he thought he had moved past all that. Yet here one word from a drunk and all the old wounds opened up. A man behind him, tapped him on the shoulder, “I wouldn’t let it get to me. They are just some silly fan girls. Nothing they say should be taken too seriously. I mean they think front row seats means they get to sleep with this guy, they aren’t the smartest.” “Yeah, you’re right. Don’t know why I let them get to me.” Drew said, shaking himself and moving back into the line. The offending women had disappeared inside already and all he could hope for was that he was seated nowhere near them. Luckily he was seated at the side of the stage, though he could see the women in question from his vantage point, they seemed oblivious to him. They had only managed to get louder and drunker if that were even possible and were making quite the spectacle of themselves right before the show started. Security came and had to quiet them down before the curtain time. If women like that were always in the audience, Drew had no idea how Jonathon put up with them on a nightly basis. Especially if they spent their time hitting on him. That thought sent a rush of irrational jealousy through Drew before he snapped himself back to reality, like he had any reason to be jealous. Before he could stew anymore about the women, the lights dimmed and the show began by Jonathon appearing seemingly out of thin air. After that Drew only has eyes for the performer before him, everything else driven from his mind. The show ended and he made his way towards the backstage, as Jonathon had left instructions for him to come back. As he neared the entrance he noticed the very same women from before, trying in vain to get to Jonathon. Time for some payback, Drew thought to himself. He sauntered up to the security guards, putting more sway in his step than he ever had before. “I’m on the list, Jonathon personally requested I come in. Drew Sanchez.” One guard checked the list, “Yes Mr. Sanchez, please go back, Jonathon is waiting for you.” As he flounced by, Drew smirked, “Guess Jonathon the Magnificent prefers hanging out with twinks to sluts.” He then waved and disappeared behind the guards, laughing all the way at their stunned faces. Still snickering he looked around, expecting some sort of debauchery beyond imagine, but instead finding a calm and classy room with a few people here and there and Jonathon the center of attention of course. Jonathon caught sight of Drew, smiled and extracted himself from the people surrounding him, before heading straight towards him. “Drew! So glad that you could make it! I trust you had no problems with the ticket or getting back here? What did you think of the show? Will it make a good fundraising opportunity? Did you enjoy yourself?” Drew laughed. “Give a guy a second to answer.” “Sorry, I get a little hyped up after a show. It takes a bit of time for me to calm down.” Jonathon laughed. “No worries. Let me just say, the show was fantastic! I can’t believe that I have lived in Vegas all these years and this was my first magic show.Wow! Seriously that is all that I can say!” And here Drew had meant to play it cool and professional with Jonathon. He was here to help develop a fundraiser, not act like the fan girls outside, he just never stuck to plan around Jonathon for some reason. At least from the smile on Jonathon’s face he didn’t seem to mind Drew’s unbridled enthusiasm. “That’s what I wanted to hear! I love what I do, but what I really like is entertaining people. Do you think that we can put on a good fundraiser here?” “Yes. Definitely. I think this could be the biggest fundraiser we have had yet. The theater sits quite a few, with low overhead and good ticket prices, maybe even auction off a meet and greet with you? Have you teach some tricks? Yes, this would be quite successful.” Drew gushed just thinking about setting something so grand up. One night could make the budget for the Alliance for the whole year and then some. “Great! Hey, why don’t I finish up here with some of the required glad handing that comes with working the Strip in Vegas and then we can head somewhere and start making some preliminary plans? Unless you have to leave? I am the kind of guy who is up half the night, so I sometimes forget that people have regular schedules out there.” Jonathon said with his usual pep and vigor. “Yeah, sure. I don’t have any appointments in the morning, so we can start planning tonight.” Drew said, happier than he cared to admit to be spending the night with a hot man, even if it was just business and not a date. Not that Drew was interested in dating anyways. No, he was better off solo. But a man could certainly look. It took another half hour for Jonathon to finish talking and socializing before he could change into some casual clothes and they could head out. “There are a couple diners we can head to or my place is not too far, we could go there for some guaranteed peace and quiet.” He suggested, a twinkle in his eye that made Drew wonder if Jonathon might have ulterior motives in asking him back to his house. Shaking his head at such a preposterous idea, Drew answered, “Sure, peace and quiet sounds good. Your place it is. Let me go grab my car and I can follow you?” “Here, let me give you the address and keypad access. I sometimes have to take a convoluted path as I have one or two overzealous fans.” Jonathon said as he quickly texted the information to Drew. “Yes, I may have met a couple of them tonight. Not the nicest ladies in the world. I don’t know how you put up with it.” Drew answered before he could stop himself. “No one gave you any problems did they?” Jonathon asked, the smile gone and concern evident in his eyes. “Just some mouthy women, nothing to be concerned about. I think they were drunk. It doesn’t matter what they said. I just could not deal with the likes of them on a day to day basis like you.” Drew attempted to downplay everything. He didn’t want to talk about being called names and what that made him feel. Especially not with an alpha male like Jonathon. No one would even suspected he was gay unless he told them, he just appealed to everyone. He had probably never been called a twink in his life. “I bet I know who you are talking about. The drunk ones in the front row? I have threatened to ban them before, looks like it is time to do that. Whatever they said, know that most of my fans are nothing like them. They are delusional women with no respect for others as they have none for themselves.” Jonathon said, anger evident in his voice. “I will take care of them and trust me, they will not be here again and will not ruin our fundraiser.” With that he marched to security and exchanged some words, the guards disappeared and Jonathon came back. “They are in for a rude awakening, their names and photos are going to be all over the Strip as trouble makers. They are not going to be welcome at very many places. Now, let’s not let them ruin any more of our night. Let’s go back to my place.” **** Drew followed the directions and arrived at Jonathon’s place before the man himself. Apparently he really did have to take strange routes home, poor guy. Then Drew imagined the face of the rude women earlier if they knew not only had they been banned from any more of Jonathon’s performances, but that the twink they despised had been invited back to the object of their desire’s home. He smiled at that, imagining a few things that could happen being alone with Jonathon, just for fun of course, because he did not think anything of the sorts would really happen. Guys like Jonathon did not fall for guys like him. Hell guys like him didn’t even fall for Drew. Before he could think of any more fantasies, a black luxury sedan pulled into the driveway. Jonathon got out, his usual smile on his face. “See you found the place. Sorry for being late, I had to take a couple little detours.” “Your uber fans didn’t get the hint?” Drew smirked. “No, apparently not. One of the hazards of the job I suppose, overzealous fans, some more persistent than others.” Jonathon said as he let them into his home. “Please, make yourself at home and I’ll grab us some wine. Red or white?” Drew had been looking around the grand house before him. Magic sure paid more than he had thought. “Sorry, what? Quite the house you have here.” Laughing, Jonathon agreed. “Yes, it is. It gets a little lonely in such a big place, but I keep it for when my family visits. Now that my dad has retired at least they come out more often. Yet I still hope to find someone to share it with one of these days, maybe even have kids in the future. But back to the topic at hand, wine. Red or white?” “White, its summer time.” Drew said, suddenly feeling shy to be alone with Jonathon. He could try to deny it as much as he wanted, but he found the man pretty damn alluring. He wanted Jonathon no matter how much he was scared of ever dating again. He stood around awkwardly thinking if he should leave before temptation got to be too much, when Jonathon reappeared with two glasses and an opened bottle of wine. “Sit, get comfortable. I promise not to bite, well not unless asked.” He showed a toothy grin. Drew blushed. “I’m not sure that this is such a good idea. Maybe we should talk about the fundraiser later, somewhere else, somewhere…” He trailed off, not knowing how to finish. “I didn’t invite you here for just business, I think that you know that. Why are you so scared? I thought that I had picked up on some interest from your side as well, if I was wrong I apologize, but surely you know I am not the type of man to force myself on another. Tell me what’s got you so skittish all of a sudden?” Looking at the ground, Drew didn’t quite know what to say. As confident as he was in the business world, in making the lives of the LGBTQ people better, he still had not learned to fully accept himself or his desires. “No, of course I don’t think you are the sort to push advances on someone unwilling. Why would you need to, you are gorgeous and charming, and have members of all sexes chasing after you.” “So you think I am gorgeous and charming, yet you seemed scared to be alone with me? Tell me what is wrong Drew?” Jonathon walked over and tipped Drew’s face up to meet his eyes. “What happened to that confident gay man that I met at the rally last week?” “That man only exists in the work world, in the world where relationships don’t happen, in the world where I project who I want to be, not who I really am.” Drew admitted, trying to break away from Jonathon’s gaze, but the other man would not take his probing eyes away. “I am good at business, at fighting for everyone to have equal rights, fighting for things that help others. I am not good at relationships, or my own sexuality for that matter.” He finally admitted, closing his eyes to try to escape his immense embarrassment. “Surely you have been in relationships before? None of us are all that good at them until we meet the right person, I can assure you. I don’t have a great track record in that department either, clearly I’m still alone. But why are you so insecure about yourself, about your sexuality? You are a good looking, intelligent and successful man. Any man would be lucky to have you.” Jonathon said with sincerity. “I… I don’t know… I have been in a few relationships, but none have lasted very long and all have ended badly. I… I guess I’m just no good at them. My father predicted that I would be alone forever, me and my perversion as he called it. I’m sure a therapist would trace it all back to him.” Drew said, some anger coming out of him at last. He never talked about this. Never. So why was he telling all of this to a virtual stranger? “You are some kind of magician. I did go to therapy for a while and he couldn’t even get me to talk about my dad beyond the fact that he was not supportive and kicked me out of the house when I was outed by some sites he caught me visiting. What is it about you that has me spilling all of this?” “You feel a connection to me, I feel it too. I felt it the night we met. Plus, my guess is that you have been bottling things up so long that you were bound to pop sooner or later, all you needed was someone to just push a little. It’s not magic, it’s called being human.” Jonathon took his hand and led Drew to the couch. “Let is out, I can see the pain inside of you. Just talk. Say what you need to say, life is too short to not say what is in your heart.” And that’s what Drew did. He started talking and found that he could not stop. He talked about being different as a child, to just starting to explore his sexuality as a teen before being found out by his bigoted father and kicked out of the house. His time on the street, finally finding his place by fighting for the right of others like him, but never really dealing with being gay for himself. As he spoke it almost felt like poison was being sucked from his soul, he felt lighter, accepted for whom he really was at last. Nothing physical happened between Jonathon and Drew that night other than some comforting hugs and supportive hand holding, but it was the end of Drew’s old life and the beginning of something new and wonderful. After that night he was a new man, a confident man, a man finally dealing with his turbulent past. **** Drew looked over at Jonathon and smiled, holding his hand tightly in his own. “Magic, one night and some kind of magic, that is what changed everything and brought us together. Jonathon truly is magnificent for not only brought me to life in a matter of speaking, but he taught me to love myself and others, mainly him. I am proud to call him husband.” Jonathon smiled at him, beaming with joy and love. “I may be a magician by trade, but I never understood true magic until the day you walked into my life. Now, let’s have our first dance.” He cued the DJ and Queen came on, A Kind of Magic played, and Drew danced with his new husband laughing at the turns life had taken.
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AuthorAuthor, artist, jewelry maker and all around creative person. I write in many genres and have a lot of fun doing so. Please take a look around and enjoy! Archives
January 2022
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