Coda 02 -A to Z

Most of the time that didn’t matter, but this was an election year, which meant that Jeremy was in full-blown campaign mode.
    “Zach, I want to know if you’ve thought about who you’re going to vote for in the presidential election.”
    I was woefully uneducated when it came to politics. “Do we even know who the candidates are yet?” I asked. Weren’t there primaries or caucuses or something first?
    He shook his head at me in disgust. “Zach, it doesn’t matter which talking heads the Republicrats put up as their candidates. Either way you’re voting to maintain the status quo. Is that what you want?”
    “Ummm….”
“Are you pro-choice?”
    “Sure, I guess.” Abortion’s not something a gay man has to think about often.

    “And you must be in favor of allowing gays to marry?” “Of course.” But I’d have to actually date somebody first, right?

    “And you believe in the decriminalization of marijuana?” “I suppose.” There was no way I was going to argue with a man who sold bongs for a living on that one.
    “Don’t you think you should be able to vote against our out-ofcontrol welfare state without having to vote against those basic rights? Basic rights which should be protected by our constitution?”
    “Well—”

    “Have you even read the constitution, Zach?”
    I had to stop and think about that. I didn’t remember having read it. How could I get through twelve years of public education and five years at a major university, without ever reading the constitution? “I don’t think so,” I admitted in surprise.
    He shook his head at me. “Neither has the president, Zach. Think about that.”

    He left a stack of pamphlets on the counter and headed for Ruby’s. It was going to be a long campaign season.
    Since it was Friday, all of my regular customers came by as the afternoon wore on. First there was the punk, who had left shortly after Tom, but before Ruby’s disclosure of her angel and pasta vision. Then came Jimmy Buffett. I couldn’t remember his real name, but he was a dead ringer for the “Margaritaville”-man himself. He always seemed to be embarrassed when he brought his movies up, and I could only assume it was over the terrible Hawaiian print shirts he wore. Next was Eddie. That wasn’t his real name, but he always had on an Iron Maiden T-shirt with the ghoulish Eddie on the front, and he sported the same hairdo as the lead singer. He always seemed pissed at me. I blamed the music. Last, there was Goth Girl. Black hair, thick black eyeliner that always made it look like she had been crying, and three piercings in her bottom lip. She glared at me challengingly as she paid for her movie, and then it was time to lock the doors.
    I had worried through the last hour of the day that Tom wouldn’t show, but he arrived promptly at six. He took me to a fabulous restaurant. We drank a bottle of Chianti and made small talk. There was no doubt that he was flirting with me. Afterward he drove me back to A to Z, then walked me to my car.
    “The previous owner was facing bankruptcy, so I got the building at a good price. He wasn’t much of a landlord. Do you realize you don’t even have a lease at the moment?”
    “Yeah, Mr. McBride wasn’t that big on contracts. I paid the rent, and that was enough for him.” I realized that also meant I could now be evicted at the drop of a hat.
    “I’ll be writing up new lease contracts soon. The bad news is, I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep the rent the same. The building needs a lot of work and I am, in the end, a businessman.”
    That was definitely bad news for me. I barely managed to make ends meet now. If he raised my rent, it could be a problem. “How much of an increase am I looking at?”
    “I’m not sure. I haven’t worked through everything yet.” He stepped up close to me, and my heart started to race. “Can you afford a rent increase?” Somehow he made that question sound unbelievably sexy.
    “Not really,” I managed to say. He put his hand up and brushed my cheek.

    “I don’t want to run you out of business,” he said as he stepped closer. He was now almost pressing against me.

    “That makes two of us.”
    He smiled, and I thought my knees would give out. He pushed closer and brushed his lips over mine. He smelled amazing. I leaned into him, and then he really kissed me. His tongue pushed into my mouth. I felt both of his hands grab my ass, and he pulled me hard against him. Even fully