Free L.A. Bytes by P.A. Brown

clasped Chris’s hands in his and air-kissed him. “Darlings, you L.A. BYTES 63
    came.” He repeated the gesture on David, then held the larger man at arm’s length while he studied him with knowing eyes.
    “Have we lost weight? You look marvelous, David. And I must say that suit looks divine on you.”
    Chris ignored David’s rolling eyes and grinned. “He does look good, doesn’t he?”
    Des guided the two of them into his living room. “You must visit the shop again. I just got the most incredible Brunello Cucinellis in. You’ll just die when you see them—”
    He broke away to take the wine Chris offered him. He gestured them to sit.
    “We’ll open this later,” he said. “Right now I have something you simply must try.”
    Under their amused stares the slender African-American man slipped behind his bar, a Fin de Siecle ebony and brown leather piece taking up half the wall. Over it loomed a series of movie posters from the thirties and forties, preserved behind glass on acid-free mats.
    Over Des’s hairless head, Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine stared down raptly from “Suspicion.” On either side of the Hitchcock thriller, Nick and Nora dabbled in mystery and martinis in images from their various Thin Man movies.
    Des produced a chrome cocktail set and soon delivered Chris’s favorite Cîroc martini. For David he poured a bottle of beer into a tall glass. David watched him, then took the bottle from him.
    “Tuchers?” he asked. “Where do you fi nd these things?”
    “I’m a shopper hon, I can fi nd anything.”
    David shook his head, but drank the imported beer anyway, since he knew Des refused to stock domestic beer. “Not even for you, sugar,” he said, whenever David forgot and asked for a Bud.
    “Sit, sit,” Des said, herding them toward the pair of Savoy Art Deco club chairs facing the brocade love seat across a walnut-veneered coffee table.

    64 P.A. Brown
    At one time the room had been fi lled with Louis XIV antiques.
    Then Kyle, Des’s lover, had been murdered and the man who later tried to kill Chris had assaulted Des. The brutality occurred right in this room. Chris wanted Des to sell the place and move someplace, anyplace else, but Des resisted the idea. He had clung to his home through all of Chris’s gentle encouragement to move on.
    But he sold the furniture.
    Chris slipped onto the love seat and pulled David down beside him.
    “So what’s this big surprise?” Chris asked. “Something really juicy, I hope.”
    “Oh you’ll love it, I know you will.” Des had barely parked his delicate rump on the Savoy when he jumped back up, too excited to sit still. “First though, you just have to sample Kozi’s sushi. He got it all ready for me, just hold on, I’ll go get the fi rst tray—”
    Des vanished into the kitchen, a wisp of scented air. He was back almost immediately carrying a massive split bamboo tray on which an array of Japanese delicacies were artfully arranged.
    There was kappa maki, and nori, crab rolls and soba noodles, along with a bowl after bowl of wasabi, sesame oil and shoyu for dipping.
    Chris grabbed a pair of chopsticks and dove in. David gingerly followed suit, though his skills with the sticks were never strong and he favored his fi ngers when Des refused to allow him to use a fork.
    “So are you two all set for next week?” Des asked between bites of nori.
    “Next week?” David looked puzzled.
    It was Des’s turn to roll his eyes. “The party. Have you forgotten already? It’s Halloween.”
    “I don’t know, Des—”
    “David, you promised.” Des looked at Chris. “Didn’t he promise?”

    L.A. BYTES 65
    “Chris...” David said.
    “You did promise,” Chris reminded him.
    “Oh, you’ll have fun, David. Really, inside that gruff bear is a silly old queen just dying to get out and have some fun.”
    Chris almost burst out laughing at the look on David’s face. He patted David’s muscular thigh but David wasn’t into