Subtle Innuendos by Z. Allora

Author:Z. Allora [Allora, Z.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance, 80s mixed tape
Publisher: MLR Press LLC
Published: 2013-03-11T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

Drinking and Valium didn’t mix, but six hours had passed. Matt wasn’t suicidal; he just didn’t give a fuck. Pretty sure the Valium was out of his system, Matt took another drink. Actually, he hadn’t stopped until he couldn’t lift the bottle to his lips. Blissful darkness claimed him for an untold amount of time.

He awoke in the hotel to the mother of all hangovers. Praying for death didn’t seem to help, so he took some aspirin and drank two bottles of water.

His head was a little better, and he needed some distraction, so he turned on the television. Matt never watched the noise box, but he couldn’t listen to music. The silence was too loud, so he turned it to Paul’s favorite channel.

A perky reporter sat in front of an in-screen picture of Chad kissing Matt right on the mouth. The caption read: “The Kiss Felt around the World.” She cut away to a local station in California. Middle-aged women and men gathered as if in vigil. The reporter asked about Euphoria’s first reunion tour. A woman with teary eyes said, “It would be so poetic for them to return to the place of their last concert. You know Euphoria restored to their fans and each other?”

The entertainment reporter smiled into the camera. “Well, we can only wish Chatt the best.”

“The kiss felt around the world,” Matt repeated with disbelief. “Chatt? Chad plus Matt. How very clever. Reunion tour, ha.”

He decided if he was talking to himself, he clearly needed a drink, and this time he shouldn’t let the problem of not being able to get the alcohol into his mouth stop him. He was rich; he should hire someone to give alcohol to him intravenously.

At some point, his manager collected him to usher him back onto the plane he flew in on. The show’s producer let him bum a ride with him on his private jet. He vaguely remembered take off and the rest of the trip was a haze of drinks. Matt kept lining the empty glasses up but the nice stewardess kept taking them away so it was impossible to keep count.

§ § §

When Matt finally stumbled out of his drunken stupor, he found a stack of mail laid on out the Indonesian chest.

He planned on ignoring the letters and heading back upstairs. Then he noticed the padded envelope. Matt’s stupid heart triple-timed as he tripped over his feet to pick up the damned thing. He studied the distinctive script over the front of the package.

Clutching it to his chest, he hurried into his office, tore the mail open, and read the label on the tape inside: “I Would.” Matt traced over the bold letters until he realized he was acting like a lovesick eighth-grader. He pushed the damned cassette into the tape deck and plopped down to listen.

The cymbal and guitar beat broke the silence with a rhythmic drum. Chad’s voice began to sing about when he wakes up. The rock star sang a

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