So it was just me, Art, and two guys walking
around Hyde Park towards Winter Wonderland. I never knew that one simple
question can turn out into a disaster.
We were there, battling the cold wind, as we
had the obligation to tour a friend of a friend around who will be going back
to the Philippines after a 3-year stint here.
While strolling, I just asked them, “Will you
be going to Rich’s party?”
“No, I wasn’t invited,” said Ben. “How about
you?”
“Well, I was invited by his best friend,” I
quipped.
“Really? I wasn’t invited as well,” Art said. “I
think I’ll just wait for him to invite me.”
“Oh, if ever you’ll attend, you will see his
bf there,” Ben added.
Suddenly, Art’s face gone pale. He stopped for
a moment, and asked, “What did u just [say]?”
Ben suddenly knew what was going on, and he
just laughed, laughed and laughed some more. “Oh sorry, what did I say again?
Lol.”
Art suddenly felt cross. “I really heard it.
What did you say?” Well frankly, if you
heard it already, why ask a second time?
“You know that I was just joking, you know how
I am. Right Josh?” At the back of my mind, I can see Ben perspiring from the inside.
“But, he’s a Christian, isn’t he?” Art said. Seriously?
The guy leaving the UK finally spoke. “Well,
some say they’re Christian, but they don’t really act Christian. We just don’t think
they are anyway. They just tell us that to make themselves included in society.”
This is nuts. Seriously. I’d so wanted to bang
the guy’s and Art’s head on the wall.
REWIND
So all of the people involved, including your
truly, belong to his church congregation situated in Tottenham Court Road. It
has been almost a year since I started attending, with Art inviting me to a
session of praise and worship. With the cute singers and good-looking young
adults praising the Lord, I got hooked up.
I met this friend in question, Rich, in a post-church
dinner event in town. So we got along well, and based from his mannerisms and
everything else, you can tell he’s gay. After catching up, seeing his posts in
FB and Twitter, he is definitely one of us… and he even confirmed it to me. His
boyfriend, by the way, is smoking hot.
-----
Apparently, given Art’s reaction, he wasn’t
told about Rich. I felt bad about Art, because he knew the person for a longer
time than me. Or maybe he’s just trying to be naïve. It’s really obvious.
Given his reaction that was cold, winterish and really uncalled for,
it was all the more that I think that this narrow-minded individual is no good to be
my best friend. That’s why I shifted all the dynamics to Edric, my midweek drinking
buddy.
There will come a time Art, where I will
introduce my boyfriend (if I finally have one) to each and every one of you.
How will you deal with it?
Abangan.
