Nothing's Ever Simple

I just wanted to apologise for the slow start, after the very tragic recent events here in Sydney, I didn't feel comfortable with how the story was going so I elected to rewrite the story which is why it has changed and been a bit slower than I wanted. This story dedicated to the Memory of Luke and Jesse 

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Meeting The Dates

My normal 6 am alarm wakes me up even though I’m just working from home today, I like to keep my routine as normal as possible as I lay there in my bed just thinking about what is going to happen with both Lachie and possibly his boyfriend this morning and then Seb this afternoon.

It’s probably the fact that my catch-up with Lachie is no more than coffee and two acquaintances getting to know each other more than what we already do is what makes me so nervous about all this. Thinking about it, my mind is focused on the negatives because “What if we don’t really click on anything in the few minutes of chat at the park? Would it become weird and awkward if we do see each other again?”

Then, if I do get to meet Lachie’s boyfriend, is he going to hate me and think that I’m trying to muscle in and snatch Lachie from him and he’s really gonna hate me and that means Lachie won’t want to be friends at all?

Getting out of bed, I tell myself to just stop thinking about all these stupid hypotheticals and get down to the gym because I know Tui is going to be there waiting for me.

Tui and I couldn’t be any more different when we hit the gym because Tui is 105kg of pure muscle and is close enough to 6’4 in height whereas in comparison I’m your typical White boy that’s probably just under average height and that probably needs a good tan though I do have a pretty good body.

I quickly get ready and head for the gym where Tui is already waiting for me “Sorry bro, I got caught up” I say as Tui’s ever-chilled demeanour never makes anything an issue “Chill J Bro, I’m early” he says as I can’t but notice he went with his Rugby shorts for the gym today which show off everything.

How Tui and I became good mates is a weird story because through my first job in the city, there was a girl working there who had a friend’s cousin's brother-in-law had just moved across from Samoa to play Rugby League in Australia and he was doing a personal training diploma and wanted some clients so I jumped in.

A lot of people dropped off pretty quickly but Tui was pretty cool and we hit it off straight away as friends because he didn’t know a lot of people in Sydney so I think any friendships he made he appreciated. The only downside of this friendship is knowing that Tui is 100% strictly straight because he is absolutely smoking hot with a smooth-muscled body and his legs are amazing.

We work out for about 90 minutes as Tui pushes me hard and it’s exactly what I needed this morning to get my focus on as we finish up leg day and it’s absolutely burning but there is something about that feeling I love. Tui looks at me as I grab my towel “You absolutely burnt through that J Bro… what’s going on?”

I wipe the sweat off my legs as I look at Tui “What do you mean bro?” I say looking confused because it didn’t feel much different to normal when Tui is pushing me hard. “Well, you were ultra-focused bro… I struggled to get you to stop out there because you were a machine and I know when you got problems, you just overfocus.”

Thinking about what Tui says I realise that he is probably right because I find myself going to the gym to stop thinking about things like I did yesterday. “Nothing major, just some personal stuff on my mind,” I say as Tui looks confused at first but then the penny drops that I mean romantic-wise. “Huh… oh yeah… can’t help with that” he says laughing as I nod my head.

“Never expected you to help” We both laugh as he looks at me with a smile “Suppose I better know what’s going on with my best client and good friend so I can know what is happening when I train him tomorrow,” he says as I smile and we sit down in the café area of the gym. 

“It’s nothing major, Just meeting up with a guy that I only know through walking the dog like we’ve chatted heaps at the park but this is the first real social thing but he’s bringing his boyfriend so I’m overthinking” I know Tui probably really doesn’t care and this whole situation is totally different to him but he asked.

Tui looks at me “If you’ve been you then he won’t have a problem, we got nothing in common but are good friends” he says as I nod my head and realise that it’s quite true that if I just be myself then there’s nothing to worry about. We have a quick bite to eat as he tells me about Norths trial game against Souths and where he thinks that he’ll play in 2024 across what competition which isn’t at the NRL level but he’s happy to be playing regularly.

We head to the locker room and I can’t help but admire his body as he changes into his other work shirt before I grab my bag and just head home and take a shower checking the time and see that it is still only 8:30 so I’ve got some time to get ready and then head down to the café and chill for a bit.

Looking through my wardrobe and it feels really out of place in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney because most people are jam-packed with expensive brand stuff and I look and most of my clothes either come from Big W or Kmart even though they look good, they usually only a 10th of the price what everybody else wears.

Having another shower to make sure I’m at my best, I wash my body and let the water run over my naturally smooth body, it feels good to relax and after the gym session because it reminds me about how many bigger issues there are in the world than my petty worries about what someone will think about me.

Getting out, I just put on a white T-shirt with a Black linen shirt over the top and a pair of jeans before putting my shoes on and then my usual necklace which was a gift from my late grandmother that I never go anywhere without wearing. I head out just after 9 and wander down to the Café which doubles up as a bookshop and I take a few minutes to have a look around because I need another good book and want to fill up my bookshelf before walking over to the café area and sit down. 

“Morning sir, can I take your order or are you still deciding?” the young waitress asks as I tell her that I’m just waiting for somebody else to arrive as now the nerves are slowly kicking in again. I’m sitting there as my phone buzzes 

Lachie: “Hey, just leaving Nick’s place now so we should be there in 10 minutes… sorry we’re late”

Me: “No worries, glad I got a table for 3”

Lachie: “Good catch”

It doesn’t feel like 10 minutes when I see Lachie wearing a black and white striped t-shirt and chinos and see him walking with who I can only assume is Nick walking in wearing a black Nike hoodie and jeans as I spot them coming in the entrance and realise that I actually recognise Nick.

“Hey” I say standing up as Lachie pulls me in for a bro hug which Nick doesn’t seem too worried about as he takes his turn to pull me in for a bro hug so I guess there’s no suspicion right now at the very least. The waitress comes over quickly as the others sit down “Can I get you guys anything?” she asks as we give our orders.

“Can I just get the My Eggs scrambled with Smoked Salmon and a Gorgeous Green juice” Nick starts as Lachie just wants coffee and an Almond Croissant whilst I just go for Coffee and Apple and Raspberry bread.

The waitress takes down the order in her phone-like device and then asks us “Just for when we put it through is that two bills or one because we don’t split at payment” she says as Lachie goes to say something but I stop him. “It’s all on the one bill, I’m paying for this,” I say as both Lachie and Nick look surprised.

“I know I didn’t need to do that but I’m more than happy to do it and if it goes well then we can do this regularly and just take turns paying for it all” I say as Lachie smiles and nods which Nick does as well and in my mind I’m so grateful that Nick is actually pretty cool with the situation.

We’re sitting there just chatting about the Café and bookshop before Lachie turns the conversation onto getting to know each other better “What do you do for work Jayden?” he asks.

“I’m the Digital Marketing Manager for a Major Wine Distributor” I say as Nick’s ears perk up. “Wine Distributor? That means you get free wine right? This friendship could work out well” he says as Lachie hits him. 

Nick rubs his arm as Lachie looks at me “Good work you’re going to drive Jayden away before we even become friends” I just laugh. “It’s fine, that’s the first question anyone asks once I tell them that I work for a Wine Company it’s not what do I do, it’s do I get free wine… even my Mum worries about that more.”

The atmosphere between the three of us is amazing as I manage to talk about what I do for the wine company so much better than what I could do in the interview which hurts because when I do get to list my achievements I’m actually pretty proud of what I’ve done because we’ve gotten 8 new contracts and started to promote and send globally and I like to think my marketing plays a big part of that.

“Yeah so that’s my day job, we generally have 3 office days and 2 home days but I prefer to work in the office just for the social aspect of things and my job is pretty chilled so I don’t mind being in there,” I say as the boys just nod their heads. 

Continuing to talk about my work for a bit is good and I get a confidence boost about it because it reassures me that I know what I’m talking about “I know what you do Nick, but what about you Lachie?” I ask curiously because he’s never spoken about work when we’ve spoken.

“I’m actually in the Media Relations department for Sydney airport which is actually how Nick and I met because he was doing a story about the airport and the day-to-day operations and I was the Media Liaison and we got chatting and it went from there,” he says as the two share a kiss and I smile because it’s such a nice story. “Yeah, TV 3 were doing the “Boarding Call” series about the operations of the airport and I was put on doing the lead-up story for Newsline and met Lachie there and we just clicked and the rest is history for two years in March.”

Hearing the story of how Nick and Lachie met is interesting as they talk about the details “You don’t remember the date of that?” I ask just curiously because something goes through my mind as they talk. “Yep, March 7,” Lachie says with a smile as he cuddles in and I have a laugh about that.

“I was there that day” I say laughing a little bit as they both look at me curiously. “You were filming in the Domestic Terminal because I remember it was you doing the story” They both nod and stunned how our lives had an intersection without knowing who anybody was at that time and even before Lachie and Nick had started dating.

We keep having coffee and finishing food it’s Nick’s turn to talk “I mean we all know that you are a presenter on TV3 but what’s the process with that and how’d you get on TV3?” I ask as Lachie rolls his eyes. “You really didn’t need to ask Mr Newsreader about what he does and show off” I laugh and put my hands up feeling guilty but Nick doesn’t stop.

“Pretty much was still in Uni when TV3 was starting up and they were looking for new faces so thought why not send a video profile in and they had me working on Junior Journal their equivalent of BTN and then just went to Newsline and then onto TV3 news pretty quickly doing mostly fill-in but now the B week Late Night newsreader,” he says as Lachie looks surprised at the shortness of Nick’s spiel about his career.

I don’t want to go all fanboy on Nick, but I know that Mum has a TV crush because, with her work as a teacher, she loves showing the kids Junior Journal and watches the late news with Nick on it so I think she’ll be disappointed but then also fangirling because Nick is popular. “So that’s why you’re only there every second week” I ask actually curious because TV3 use a different sort of news process than everyone else.

“Yeah, we use an A Week and B Week system, so the early morning, midday and 3 pm news plus the late news have different presenters each week but then we could be on call for anything and then need to be on standby for breaking news,” he says as I don’t really want to bore the conversation but I am fascinated by the whole process.

We’ve been sitting there for a good hour and a half just talking and it feels like we’ve all been friends for years which is all I wanted. Nick’s phone goes off and excuses himself to take the call before he comes back quickly looking pretty serious “I’ve gotta head into the studio, you alright to get home?” he says as Lachie nods and kisses him and tells him that they’ll talk later

“Did that go alright?” I ask stupidly as Lachie looks at me and then looks worried that something is wrong like I didn’t like Nick. “Yeah, Nick seemed to really like you from what I could tell but I’ll check with him this afternoon, it was a bit of a weird situation I suppose about "Hey come meet my new friend" but I’ll let you know,” he says as I nod my head.

“Yeah, I was worried that he wasn’t going to come or be super cold and jealous that maybe I was muscling in,” I say as Lachie shakes his head. “No way, Nick probably doesn’t have a jealous or bad bone in his body, he cares about how people feel and quite often he takes the news pretty hard but he’s got a heart of gold and why I love him.” Lachie’s love for Nick comes through strongly and puts our friendship on firmer footing.

I head over and pay for the bill as Lachie stands up and still tries to give me the money for the brunch this morning but I shake my head not wanting it “Nah, it’s my treat and good to get to know people” I say as he smiles and nods. 

Wandering out of the Café Lachie looks at me “I really enjoyed this morning and I think Nick did as well, so we should do this every couple of weeks or at least you and I can do it a bit more regularly” he says as we hug and I walk back to my apartment a lot more relaxed about things as I stop off at the Supermarket to grab something for lunch and head home.

One of the companies we work for are looking at creating a Vineyard B&B weekend stay program and wants us to create a marketing structure which something slightly different from what I normally do but I really enjoy this sort of thing and still think that staying in the job is for the best.

The afternoon rolls on as I watch Air Crash Investigations on Disney+ while I’m working and although it’s probably a strange combination it’s actually really productive and time flies until I look and realise that it’s already 4:15 and that I should get ready to meet Seb.

Having another shower, I try to make myself look good because York Bar is a pretty fancy place and I don’t know how much I’m going to fit in, especially with how hot Seb is as I looked through his Instagram and saw so many overseas trips including two this year as opposed to my lifetime of zero overseas trip.

I get dressed putting on the same type of t-shirt I wore today with a denim style over-shirt and a pair of chinos and decide to just let my hair sit however to give off that casual but still stylish vibe. The whole scenario of drinks with Seb is totally different to the coffee this morning because even though it’s not formal or anything, the whole vibe is different. 

Seb insta messages me: 

 “Just a heads up, I’m running early so I’ll probably be there in 15 minutes but don’t feel you need to rush 😊”

“Well, that’s one thing less I have to worry about,” I say to myself checking myself out in the mirror as I grab my keys and wallet and head to the bus stop because I can get the bus up to Central and then the Tram into the city.

Getting on the bus, I get a couple of text messages in close timing

Lachie: “Today was great and Nick really enjoyed meeting you because I’ve talked about you; He just had a story to cover for one of the partner Networks”

Mum: “How is the date going?”

I text Mum back first before texting Lachie

Me: “I haven’t met up with Seb yet, but I’ll fill you in tonight if it doesn’t go too long and late”

 Lachie: “Sweet, I’m walking the Dog tomorrow I think so hmu when you’re going”

Both Mum and Lachie send me a thumbs up although Mum initially sends me a thumbs down because she has never quite got the hang of using emojis,

I don’t know why, but on the tram, I take a selfie just to boost my confidence and I take a good look at it and actually think that I look good for a change so I decide to post it and almost instantly the first person to like and comment was Seb.

Seb: “Looking hot”

I blush almost immediately at the comment as Seb messages telling me where to find him at the bar and I wonder how anyone is going to believe that I’m the guy who is going to be meeting Seb.

The tram stop in the middle of the CBD is actually right outside where I need to go and it’s weird in my mind that this place I’ve probably walked past hundreds of times to and from my way to the office which is only a couple of blocks away. Heading in, the exclusivity of some of the areas stuns me as I head up to where Seb has told me to meet him which is a rooftop bar inspired by the Mediterranean Coast as I head up to the top and see Seb waiting for me as I get welcomed into the bar.

Seb grabs me and pulls me in for a hug and a kiss on the cheek which is more than I was expecting but it feels nice “Finally nice to meet you bro” he says as he is pretty tall and bigger than I expected him to be but is so damn hot as I notice his hair sitting all curled up today which lucky he was standing there I wouldn’t have noticed him.

“Want a drink or something to eat?” he asks as I nod for both things, I get a Lime Vodka Soda which is what Seb is drinking as well and we sit down at a table and he just orders us a Sliders platter.

For a guy with so much confidence, Seb looks so nervous right now as we sit there in an awkward silence “This place is nice, I’ve been past here so many times and never actually realised this was the York Bar” I say laughing as Seb looks surprised. “Really? You’ve never been here?” I shake my head as the “Westie” in me really comes out.

“Then guess you got the right person to ask you here,” Seb says with a chuckle as I can still see him looking and feeling nervous. “Yeah, I said yes to the right guy asking me out,” I say as Seb has a smile on his face as I look at him.

“You seem pretty nervous?” I ask him as he just nods slightly before shaking his head. “I know, it sounds stupid about having drinks with a friend because like I’ve Bungee Jumped in New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe and been Skydiving twice but yeah this is worse” he says laughing as I put my hand on his hand to make him feel better as he smiles.

We just enjoy the music and the vibe “So what do you actually do for work?” I ask Seb as I know that he posts a lot on Instagram but have no idea what he actually does. “I’m a Travel Blogger not just an Instagram poster” he says laughing a bit as I nod my head.

“That seems really cool, how’d you get into that? Is that the links you put up?” I ask as he nods and gets a lot more confident now as he talks about it. “Yeah it is, I was actually a full proper journalist at the local paper and when the guy who was doing all the travel stuff couldn’t do a hotel stay that he was supposed to review so they organised it for me to do it and it was really fun and thought I could do this a bit more and it all just went from there,” he says quite happy and it’s fun to learn a bit more about Seb.

The two of us chat about the trips he’s taken and compare the fact that I’ve only travelled around Australia and that was for work such as the 2 trips to Adelaide and the 1 trip to Perth. We keep chatting “So who do you work for now? If it’s cool me asking?” I ask Seb which I don’t know like I did with Lachie and Nick brings the conversation down.

“It’s cool, I’m freelance so basically just for my own blog and content but at the same time I produce some content for the Apex Group that they put up on their site and my blog” he says as I nod and laugh that our pathways could have slightly crossed had I got the job there.

Things have chilled out as we talk “So tell me about yourself a bit more Jaydes” he says using the name that I use on Instagram and Twitter which I created when I was in High School and never changed”.

“I don’t know what there is to say that you probably don’t know, I work as a Digital Marketing Manager for a Major Wine distributor, I grew up out at Richmond which is why you can work out why I go for the team that I do, I’m living in the inner suburbs nowadays and that’s about it,” I say as Seb nods.

“Well I can assume there isn’t a boyfriend on the scene” he says as I shake my head and then look at him and ask the same question to him. “Not for a while actually, I did have one a while back and he was amazing but we just drifted apart and it could’ve ended better if I was totally honest” as he thinks about it and I feel bad for asking.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up…” Seb shakes his head at me. “Nah it’s totally fine, I brought up the topic and I mean for everything I show off, I keep that hidden and it is actually good to talk about it because Nick taught me a lot about life when we were together and I probably could have been a better boyfriend.”

I don’t take too much notice as Seb name-drops his ex-boyfriend because it’s such a common name as we keep talking. “Can I ask something and I don’t want you to take offence to my question because I don’t mean anything bad by it but why did you ask me out tonight?” I say as I know that it’s probably not worth asking but when I look at Seb and our surroundings.

“Cause you’re a fun guy to talk to, most people cling onto me and want something out of me when they interact and aren’t genuine but I’ve always enjoyed when we’ve talked because you’re straight to the point and say what you think, I like that and helps watching you get so hot” he says as I blush because I know people say that I’m cute but never outright hot like this.

I go to speak three or four times but can’t find the words that I want to say because I’m totally embarrassed that he said that out loud because even though I’m totally out and gay, I wouldn’t say that I’m really that out and keep a lot of things to myself.

Seb rubs my hand and just looks at me “I didn’t mean to make you all embarrassed” he says as I shake my head and laugh. “What are you doing Saturday night?” he asks me as I look at him and tell him that I don’t have any plans which I don’t because I’m not a hugely social kinda guy.

“Do you wanna come to Mardi Gras with me?” he says as I look surprised because I’ve never been to anything to do with Mardi Gras and all that. “There’s a pretty chilled party down at one of the hotels on Oxford Street and would be good to get out there and I’ve got a ticket” he says as I don’t know what to say because it’s totally different to anything I’ve done before.

“Ah, sure… I’ve never been to Mardi Gras before or done anything like this so I might look out of place” I say to Seb as in my head he is probably thinking what have I got myself into when I talk about myself and prove how totally different I am to him.

Seb smiles “Well there’s a first time for everything,” he says as I nod my head and think about things for a moment and agree to it because it will be a good experience and I need to push myself beyond my boundaries and just explore new things.

“I’ll let you know the details when I fully get them before Saturday,” he says as I smile and we get ready to head off. “Which way you headed?” Seb asks as we go downstairs and I tap on my Opal Card at the tram stop.

“Down to Central then onto the bus home, don’t really drive much so this was easier to get here and go home” I explain my process to get here and home which is usually my work one as well as he taps on as well. “I thought you’d have some fancy way of getting home,” I say as he laughs and just shakes his head.

“Well at home I do but the tram stop is right outside my place in Kensington so this is so much easier” he says as we stand waiting for the tram but the first one that comes is the L2 that goes to Randwick instead of Kensington where Seb needs to go so I wait the extra 3 minutes it takes as we get on.

Looking at Seb, I can see how his fit muscled body clings to his tight shirt more than I did up at the bar “You didn’t have to wait with me?” he says as I shrug and don’t mind waiting with him.

“Thanks for tonight, I was so nervous” Seb puts his arm around me as if it feels normal for us to be doing this on the tram as the old lady sitting across from us smiles and tells us how cute we look.

“How long have you been together? Must be a while because I can see how you look at each other how much you adore each other” she says as Seb laughs and I look embarrassed as we look at each other to decide who is going to answer. “Well, if we’re honest tonight was our first date” Seb says as his choice of words surprise me a lot more because I never thought he’d use those words but I guess that he would considering how nervous he was.

The tram gets towards Central where I need to get off and Seb stands up “I’m glad that we had tonight cause you probably guessed that I like you” he says we’re back to almost being teenagers with how nervous we are and the way that we are talking to each other about how we feel towards each other. Standing up, Seb hugs me tightly while we stand there in the tram and he kisses me on the cheek and holds my hand as the tram pulls into Central.

“I’ll let you know about Saturday night probably tomorrow with the details but I hope you don’t say no” he says as I smile and give him a kiss on the cheek which is the first time that I’ve ever kissed anyone in public and get off the tram and head towards the bus stop.

On the bus ride home, I’m feeling so damn excited about everything that happened today because my coffee catch-up with Lachie and Nick was so good and we all just clicked but then with Seb, it felt differently more sort of like when you find that someone special. The two of us probably couldn’t be more different on the surface and although I couldn’t exactly scratch it I know that there is a lot more that I want to know about Seb and hope that I can in whatever form that it goes with.