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| The halcyon days of yesteryear |
Quick backstory: A few weeks ago I got an email offer from Universal boasting heavily-discounted rates for annual passholders like me on certain nights at Cabana Bay, their newest on-site resort hotel. I texted Ric and later talked with him about us possibly booking a couple nights and enjoying a nice weekend at the parks like we've talked about doing for years. He's done similar weekends at one of Universal's other resort hotels, Portofino, with Gary and also another time with Scott when he was down from Indy and he said it was a blast each time. No doubt, I thought, Universal, like their mouse-eared neighbors a couple miles down the road, does a critically-acclaimed fantastic job making on-site resort guests feel special.
He was up for it but, as usual, tried to make this less about him and I and more about him and someone else. This time Christian. He does this constantly. The one time he didn't pull this crap was the New Orleans trip back in '07. He couldn't. At that time he was low on alternate friends to try to wiggle into our deal. But anytime Ric has a younger, cuter more appealing prospect, even really just a budding acquaintance (which this Christian guy is) he wants to make it more about them than us. I guess I never seem to get the obvious...there really is no "us." No, not the sexual way, that never was and never would be, but just simply friends. Ric doesn't enjoy friends for the simple benefit of companionship and shared experiences most of the time. It's usually about what he can get from them.
At first I was okay with the idea of him inviting Christian along for one of the weekend days despite my foreknowledge of the likely scene, ie. he'd almost exclusively be talking with him, dragging him on rides, trying to man-handle him at every juncture with me in tow like a wobbly third wheel, slowing them down. And once Ric got to that magical point in his drinking then I'd be fair game for any degrading insults he thinks hilarious to cast my way. Oh what joy.
But then Christian wanted to come down (he lives near Tampa) a day earlier and stay with Ric. So even though Ric whined about paying half the hotel charge for a night with me and got me to concede to paying 75% of it he was going to pay for another night for just him and Christian all by himself, not asking Christian for anything. (We'd originally planned booking Cabana Bay at an incredible $74/night rate but the offer I got was for non-weekend days and that didn't work with Ric's time off so we went with Royal Pacific at the "special" discount rate of "only" $215 a night. For me, a Comfort Inn, Motel 6 kinda guy, this is outrageous. Especially as it's a hotel accommodation in the city I live!)
Now with the latest text he wants to bring this boy toy into our room. Oh yes they'll have their own bed but what, I'm going to have to listen to them grunting like warthogs and smelling "that smell" from two feet away? Or, worse yet, this kid will be like many of his past "boyfriends" and find me more appealing thus setting off a night of good ol' fashioned Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots 'tween two fat old drunken queens.
I'm getting too old for this drama.
I cancelled my reservation and texted Ric that I couldn't get the time off from work. Oh the text was worded so it seemed I was pissed at my job for doing this to me. Texting makes it oh so easy to lie.
He texted back and said if he had to he'd be able to put Christian up at his house for the night we were going to stay together. He didn't express any remorse over the situation really. I think he's probably relieved.
So next weekend I'll just be doing the usual. Hanging out with my only true friend: myself. As usual.