See how they glisten

These are my friends, see how they glisten

These are my friends 

Matt and I were both up early. I was moving on to my final LA gay and Matt was headed off up the coast ahead of a work thing. I felt sorry for him that he had to do work stuff on a Sunday. He told me that he could give me a lift to the subway as he would be passing it on his way out of town. We had coffee and packed our respective suitcases. Matt’s was nearly the same size as mine despite the fact that I was travelling for a year and he was going to be away overnight. The subway was only a few blocks away so it wasn’t long before I was being dropped off. Having said goodbye and thank you properly back at his apartment I gave him a big “Thanks for everything, Mary” as I jumped out of the car.

I got the subway and made my way north to Hollywood to meet Sal who would be Gay 35 of my travels. Sal was a guy I had met a couple of years ago through my friend Simon. We had struck up an immediate rapport and had quickly become good friends, which if you know Sal, is inevitable. He is such a sweet, funny & caring guy. There had been some mild flirting on my part when we had first met but it led nowhere, other than a great friendship. I had stayed with Sal for a week in 2010 for Halloween in NYC. During that stay I acquired a new favourite hobby of trying to make Sal feel uncomfortable by telling him he was my one unrequited love. He took it in good spirits and had perfected an exasperated look to use on me. While in NYC I had confided my 80 Gays travel plans to Sal. He was one of the first people I had told about it and he was a great sounding board. He has such a positive outlook on life and is great at giving good advice. Quitting my job and going off for a year didn’t seem anywhere near as scary having talked to him about it. He was originally going to be Gay 1 but had moved from NYC to LA. I think this was in a vain attempt to escape me but I tracked him down and was now staying with him for a couple of nights in LA.

The Getty

Sal had insisted on picking me up from the subway station. I stood waiting for him to arrive, not sure which direction he would be arriving from. I heard a familiar voice shout “Jess” (a long story) and I turned in the direction it had come from. I saw Sal bounding up and we had a big hug. I couldn’t believe it had been a year since we had last seen each other. We simultaneously said “So, tell me everything” as we began a big catch up chat. Sal has an amazing ability to talk for a very long time without pausing for breath, but with going off on a tangent numerous times. Our conversation was interrupted by a stop at In & Out burger to pick up some lunch. By the time we had done lunch we were pretty much caught up. LA was working for Sal, he looked well and happy, was busy with various projects (Sal is a slash person) and had a growing circle of new friends. After a post lunch trip to the gym (for Sal, not me) we headed out to the Getty Museum.

See how they glisten

The Getty, up on the hill, on a sunny autumn afternoon is an amazing place and I really liked it. We spent a bit of time walking round the grounds and gardens first before heading in to the Museum. Sal always brings out my childish side and we would do stupid things like point at the paintings where you could see naked bits, stand still next to statues for as long as we could  or look a modern sculpture and say in a very loud voice some ridiculous comment on what we thought it looked like, trying to out-bizarre each other with our descriptions. We ended up following a couple of gay guys and played “What’s their story?”. I guessed that they were on a date, probably a third or fourth date. It seemed like a third or fourth date venue. We spent a couple of hours at the Getty leaving as the sun set turning the white buildings a lovely orange colour. You could easily spend a day up there.

Sal was up for going with me to see Sara(h) Squared for dinner as it was their last night in LA before they were returning to London. We headed to Santa Monica via the shops as I decided I needed some new trainers. Sal had been a help in NYC when I had been trying on trainers and was torn between two pairs (his help had been to tell me to get both pairs, which I did). The first place was a bust with nothing that I liked (trainer-wise) but the man in the store gave me directions to another store that he said had a better selection. He was a little flirty and overly helpful and Sal and I both had our gaydar going off. He wrote down a phone number telling it me it was the number of the other store just in case I couldn’t find it. Sal teased me once we were out of the store that it was probably his own phone number. He told me to phone it to see. I didn’t. Sal dropped me at the second store and told me he would find a spot to park up. I found a pair I liked almost straight away and I was at the desk paying for them when Sal walked in. He approved my choice of style, which was lucky as my credit card had already been swiped.

Me with Sal & Sara(h) Squared

We headed to Santa Monica and met up with Sara(h) Squared who were already safely ensconced at the bar of a hotel and nearing the end of their first cocktail. I introduced them both to Sal and he was instantly chatting away to them. I got to sit back and observe for a while. It is always nice when your friends get on when they first meet. The girls were both soon being a little giggly and flirty with Sal and I was pleased that it wasn’t just me who had that reaction when I had first met him. We had a cocktail at the bar before heading off to find a place for dinner, followed by a post dinner nightcap. Ricey and I both had something alcoholic, Sal opted for water as he was driving and Spangles had a cup of tea. It was soon time to say goodbye to them for a final time and there were big hugs all round. On the drive back to Sal’s he said to me that they both seemed like really nice girls. I agreed, saying “They have their moments”.

“These are my friends, see how they glisten” 
Lyrics from My Friends from the musical Sweeney Todd