Requests

The Bar (part four)

"Well, this is awkward," Yo said, rolling his eyes at the situation he'd just found himself in. Of course, now that he and Ming were together, he would have had to tell Ming about his past eventually, but he would have preferred a different setting. "Let's go somewhere quieter to talk, shall we?"

Ming frowned, but took Yo's hand as they walked up the steps in the back room of the bar. This time they didn't go all the way to Yo's greenhouse, they stopped about halfway up at a door marked, "Private." Montri stepped out from behind the desk, surprise on his face.

"Boss, I didn't expect you for a few hours," Montri said, rushing to start the coffee maker and straighten a few papers that were scattered on the desk. "The bar's not even closed yet."

"It's a weird night," Yo answered, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll be in my office. Do we have anything that can't wait until tomorrow?"

Montri shook his head no, so Yo continued, "Then let's push everything off.  I'm not taking any calls tonight."

"Your father ... ," Montri started to remind Yo about the visitor he expected.

Yo shook his head, "I'm sorry, please call my father and tell him that I have to cancel. See if he can reschedule for tomorrow and tell him I'll explain when I see him."

"Of course, I'll bring in some coffee as soon as it's ready," Montri bowed them through the inner door, but Yo stopped him.

"I have everything I need in my office, and you can tell the rest of the Fairies that none of you are allowed in my office for any reason except a life and death emergency until tomorrow at the start of business," Yo informed Montri in a firm tone. Yo was the boss, but those boys were always trying to get away with something. And listening in to private conversations was their favorite kind of trouble.

"Yo, why did that guy call you Boss?" Ming asked as he, Forth, and Pha took seats inside Yo's office.

"I was going to explain tonight," Yo laughed, holding Ming's hand. "I thought I'd be able to break it to you more gently, but I guess this way works too."

Yo looked over at Forth and Pha, who both looked a little stunned and he smiled at them ruefully. "I suppose I'll have to explain about you two as well. The universe sure has an interesting way of keeping me on my toes."

"How do you know my friends?" Ming asked, giving Yo a confused look. "I brought them here to meet you, but it seems like you already know them."

"I don't know either of them well," Yo's words seemed to make Pha angry, but the tall man couldn't really disagree. It wasn't lost on Pha that one of his best friends was in love with the boy he'd always loved but had lost because he was too much of a coward to stand up to his parents.

"So where should we start?" Yo asked, leaning back a little, getting comfortable. He hadn't taken the one behind his desk, but sat on a loveseat with Ming, facing the two recliners on the other side of the room with a coffee table between them.

"Start with how you know Forth and Pha," Ming said, still holding Yo's hand. Yo squeezed his lover's hand and smiled to let him know it was going to be okay.

"Well, Pha was my boyfriend for a little while, when I was in my senior year of high school," Yo answered. "We weren't together for very long, but it wasn't exactly an amicable break up. And Forth was my one night stand, so it's a little awkward."

All the other men in the room seemed upset by his description of events. Forth was mumbling something that sounded like, "It's only awkward if you call it a one night stand while you're talking to your boyfriend." And Pha shouted, "I wasn't just your boyfriend. You were the love of my life!" While Ming just sat still looking shocked.