Time passed slowly, but it wasn’t long before Ed realized the seat next to him was occupied.
“How ya doing? The name’s Frank,” the guy said, holding out his hand to Ed.
“Hey, Ed here,” was the response, as Ed shook hands with his new neighbor.
Ed ordered a beer and took a few long gulps, stealing a couple of side glances at Frank.
“I hate to pry, but that guy back there having a fuck party isn’t like your boyfriend or something, is he?” Frank asked.
“Nah, just a friend. Guess you can say I was introducing him to the club scene.”
“Well, looks like the introduction was a success, I’d say,” Frank observed.
“That’s for damn sure,” said Ed, staring into his glass.
Frank peered closely at Ed. “Shit, there really was something between you too, huh? What a bastard he is to do that in front of you! I bet he complained that you weren’t enough for him!”
Ed shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. I brought him here, knowing full well what would happen. I suppose he needed to experience this.”
“It still sucks. You seem like decent guy and all,” Frank added.
“Thanks.” Ed turned to Frank with a weak smile, noticing that Frank was probably about the same age as he was. Frank looked like he was in decent shape. He had short dark hair, probably a couple of days of beard growth, and a physique that announced that this guy went to the gym regularly, but not often enough to become muscle bound.
“To be honest, I’m not much into the club or bar scene. I’ve been single long enough and want to make an attempt to get out again. I felt like a drink tonight, to be honest,” Frank announced, raising his glass towards Ed as he spoke.
“Same here. I hate the meat market atmosphere of all these pumped up guys on the make. Hugh over there wanted to check it out. And I am realizing more and more that he is not going to be the right guy for me. And I’m okay with that.”
Frank watched Ed speak, his eyes looking closely over Ed, his eyes occasionally glancing lower at times. “You may think me a bit forward, but maybe you and I could meet for a drink after work some time. Not in a place like this, of course,” Frank offered, taking Ed by surprise, who froze in place.
It took Ed a minute to recognize that he was being asked out; as it had been quite a while since any decent looking guy had shown an interest in him. Hugh was certainly not going to be the man of his dreams, he realized.
“That would be awesome, Frank. Yes, thank you. Let me give you my work number. I work downtown.”
“Great, here’s my number,” Frank said, holding out a business card to Ed. “I’m also downtown and there’s a couple of nice places where we can grab a drink. Some even have some food items on the menu, assuming that neither of us run screaming from the place too quickly.”
Ed looked at Frank and smiled. He liked a guy with a sense of humor who seemed so down to earth.
“Something tells me that no one will be running away and screaming, Frank.”
Frank smiled warmly. “Awesome, I better get going. I’m not much of a late night player and I need to go to the office in the morning to catch up on a few things. And from the sounds in the back, I have a hunch you may need to collect your friend back there pretty soon.”
Ed and Frank stood up and shook hands. “I’m glad we met,” Frank announced.
“Me too.”
After Frank headed for the front door, Ed made his way to the back and found a bare-chested Hugh, his skin shiny from moisture opposite a half-naked red-headed guy zipping up his pants.
“This guy is mister super cock! He just fucked the life out of five of us,” the red head proudly announced to Ed.
“Well, it is a school night and mister super cock here needs to head on home,” Ed announced, as he spotted a shiny glint of silver on Hugh’s shoulder. Hugh, unaware of the damage, remained quiet but gave Ed a sharp stare.
“We need to go now, I said. And put your shirt on right away please!”
Hugh obeyed hesitantly as the small crowd of guys began to walk away. Ed tried to move quickly as Hugh reluctantly pulled on his shirt and followed.
“You have a tear in your shoulder skin, Hugh. You must be careful if you are going to be out in public.”
As the two headed outside and walked towards Ed’s car, Hugh could observe that Ed was in a sour mood.
“You should not be upset with me, Edward. The excellent engineering work that you have done plus what I was able to add has proven itself both remarkable and undetectable. I just fucked five guys and not one of them had any idea that I was not like the rest of them.”
“Your skin ripped and lucky for you, no one noticed it. But what if the rip was larger or in a more obvious place? Then what? This activity is way too dangerous, Hugh.”
“I perfectly understand that Edward,” a calmer Hugh admitted in a lower voice.
Not much was said the rest of the ride home. Their good nights were said once they were back and each walked into their own rooms for the night. Ed took three aspirins, hoping that they would help him calm down and fall to sleep, which he eventually did. The next morning, Saturday, was a typical weekend day as both Hugh and Ed moved about the house, doing their chores, making some odd repairs, but otherwise relaxing. Before they knew it, evening arrived.
Ed walked over to Hugh, who was sitting down on a chair, looking at one of the several computer screens in the house. “Hugh, I would like it for you to spend the night in my bed with me. We haven’t done that for a few days.”
Hugh turned to Ed. “You didn’t want me for the last few days Edward. You intimated that it was too uncomfortable and that you didn’t really enjoy our having sex, unlike the guys last night who obviously enjoyed me quite a lot,” Hugh remarked.
“Hugh, that is so not true. I said I needed a rest. You pounded me hard and I needed a break. Since when have you developed an attitude?”
Hugh shrugged his shoulders. “I am returning to ‘Prometheus’ again tonight. You can come along if you like.”
Ed was upset, and getting madder by the minute. “I am not going out tonight and I don’t think that you should either.”
Hugh remained silent.
“And I am not going to drive you,” Ed added.
“One of the guys I met last night offered to pick me up. And since you are obviously jealous, Edward, I shall dress and wait outside for my ride.”
Ed expected steam to escape from his ears at any moment. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Who repaired your shoulder skin? Hey, who do you think put you together in the first place?”
“I will not trouble you again if it is such a problem for you to assist me, Edward. I can patch my own skin tears on my own.”
A short time later, Ed heard the front door close as Hugh left for the evening. Ed tried to focus, but he was angry and hurt, realizing that any emotional connection he felt towards his creation was truly one way. He obviously created a monster and sexual satisfaction now became its obsession.
Ed went to sleep and awoke the next morning. He walked into Hugh’s room, where he sometimes rested and found no evidence of his return. Beginning to panic, Ed ran downstairs looking for Hugh, but without any luck. It was 9:00am, and there was no sign of him. Suddenly, Ed heard the sound of the front door lock and the door swinging open. Ed watched Hugh walk nonchalantly in through the front door.
“I fucked thirteen guys last night and I let three of them fuck me. It was a great night. Too bad you weren’t there, Edward,” Hugh announced.
“Big fucking deal,” blasted Ed, as he marched off to his room where he finished dressing and grabbed his car keys, before storming out of the house. He spent the day at the office catching up on some overdue projects before heading back home at about 5:00 pm that Sunday evening.
Ed went to his room when he returned and after washing up and changing into more comfortable clothes, he headed downstairs to the kitchen to prepare his dinner. At one point, a quiet Hugh walked by and turned to Ed.
“I will be going out again tonight. Do you wish to come along with me, Edward? I would really like that,” Hugh offered calmly.
“No,” began Ed, in an unusually serene voice. “I do not wish to accompany you tonight, or any other night for that matter. What you are doing is wrong and you will soon be found out. At that point, I will no longer be able to guarantee your safety. This is the last time I will ask you to remain home with me.”
Hugh looked at Ed silently for a moment. “I’m leaving now, Edward,” is all Hugh said.
The rest of the week continued in the same manner. Hugh went out clubbing each night, for the sole purpose of obtaining sex with random strangers, and Ed realized that he exhausted all of his options. Frustrated and felling more alone than normal, the following Thursday morning at work, he fished out the business card that Frank had given him and dialed the telephone number listed on the front. After a few rings, the phone was answered.
“Frank, hello! I hope you remember me. This is Ed. We met at the Prometheus Club.”
“Ed, I am so glad you called. I was thinking of calling you. This is great.”
“Yeah, and I could go for that drink you suggested after work!”
“Well, what day did you have in mind? My schedule is pretty flexible.”
“Same here, Frank. How does today after work sound, maybe 5:30 or so?”
“Super. There’s this great little bar on Third Avenue, called ‘Shelley’s.’ How’s that sound, Ed?”
“Perfect. I know the place, Frank. See you there about 5:30.”
The call ended and Ed already felt rejuvenated, knowing that he was finally rebuilding his social life again. The hours at work flew by, and in no time, Ed found himself walking through the front door of the downtown pub. Ordinarily, he would have called home and alerted Hugh that he would be home late, but the thought arrived and quickly dissipated.
Ed and Frank hit it off instantly. Frank was a biological researcher at a pharmacy company and was able to follow Ed’s conversation about what he did at work. One drink became two and soon enough, they were ordering hamburgers with all the trimmings for dinner. With a couple of more drinks, it was clear that neither guy was eager for the evening to end.
“So what’s the story with that friend of yours?” Frank suddenly got brave enough to ask.
“He’s a roommate,” Ed offered. “I thought there might be something more, but I am assured that there isn’t,” Ed added.
“Yeah, I could see in your face that you were hoping for something more.”
“Nope, I am a free agent, so to speak,” Ed proudly announced, a broad grin forming on his face.
“So there’s no reason for you to have to rush right home, I take it,” Frank said slowly and slyly, his eyebrows arching as the words came out.
“If that’s an invitation, Frank, then I could certainly go for a little something extra after dinner,” Ed stated with a wink.
“Ed, did I happen to mention that I have a condo apartment downtown, about three blocks from here?”
“That sounds close enough for me, Frank.”
Paying their bill, and grabbing their jackets, Ed and Frank left the tavern, getting excited as to their prospects for what was about to follow.
Once inside the front door of Frank’s apartment, they found themselves leaning up against a wall. Their faces pushed together in a hungry ravenous kiss; a kiss by two men who have not had true sexual release or emotional connection for quite some time. And the absence was evident. Frank couldn’t get out of his clothes fast enough, peeling off his jacket and pulling up his shirt which was tucked into his pants. Buttons clicked on the hard wood floor as he struggled to bare his chest, which immediately leaned into Ed as soon as his torso felt the cool air.
Ed, equally starving for human affection, also stripped off his jacket and shirt and was clawing at his trousers. He needed warm skin. He needed human skin. He realized that the only sex he had was only masturbation, either fucking a plastic chamber built out of synthetic material, or having his ass filled with latex and silicone, another artificial device. The lies he had been feeding to himself were now readily apparent.