Getting Back on My Feet Ch. 01

My divorce came out of the blue. One day, everything was fine. The next, my wife of three years told me that she was leaving me. It was mostly amicable, but the way these things go, the paperwork and the lawyers tied everything up for months. At the end of the whole ordeal, I was thousands of dollars poorer, my stuff (or what was left of it) was in storage, and I needed a place to live. My ex sold the condo where we had lived together and moved out of state. I had to be gone by the end of the month. That chapter of my life was officially closed.

I started looking for apartments on Craigslist. My thought was that I would find an apartment to live in for six months or so until I got back on my feet and started to figure some things out, like whether or not I wanted to stay in Los Angeles, or move somewhere more affordable. Money was definitely tight, so I felt like finding a roommate was going to be the best possible scenario for me. Nothing is more depressing than looking for a shared apartment on Craigslist. The cost is high, the locations are bad, the units are gross. I was getting pretty discouraged. But still, I kept at it. One day, I was putting in my usual half hour of searching when a promising listing popped up:

"Seeking roommate to share spacious two-bedroom/1 bathroom apartment in West Hollywood. Quiet building, onsite parking and in-unit washer/dryer. Utilities included. Walking distance to local bars/clubs. Your share is $2,000 per month. If interested, email me back."

I browsed through the pictures. It definitely looked like a spacious, light filled apartment. All of the rooms were painted white, and from what I could tell, the furniture was tasteful and high-quality.

Finding an apartment with in-unit laundry is hard as hell. Before my ex and I lived in our condo, I had always had to carry my laundry to a shared laundry room and make sure that I had enough quarters to get a load finished. I was pretty pessimistic. A unit like this probably had dozens of inquiries on it already, but I decided to email about it anyway on the off chance that for once, I'd get lucky. I wrote back an email, hoping that mentioning my recent divorce might win me some sympathy points:

"Hi, I'm a recently-single 38 year old guy looking for a roommate situation. I'm quiet and neat and always pay my rent on time. I work pretty close to West Hollywood on the west side, so this would be a great commute for me. I just need a place to get back on my feet given my recent divorce."

I hit send on the email, and went about my day. I did not expect to hear anything back. Given the price, location and in-unit laundry, someone else probably snagged it already.

Later that day, I came back to my practically empty condo and checked my email. To my surprise, there was a reply from the Craigslist ad:

"Hi! I'm Marc. Congratulations on being the first to reply to my ad. After you emailed, there were 7 others, but since you were first, I thought it was only fair to offer it to you, provided of course that we both think we'd be a good fit as roommates. Would you like to figure out a time to meet in person and for you to see the apartment?" Looking forward to hearing from you!"

I couldn't believe my luck. I wrote back immediately:

"Hi Marc, nice to meet you over email. I'd love to schedule a time to come see the unit. As I mentioned, I am recently divorced, and need to be out of my condo by this week, so there's some definite urgency on my end. I can stop by anytime tomorrow, if that works for you. Text me at 555-713-2341 and we can figure out a time. Looking forward to it! -Nick"

A few minutes later, my phone buzzed with a text from Marc saying to come over the next day at 1:30. I replied back that I would see him then. I pumped my fist. Finally, after so many months of unrelenting bad news and bullshit, I finally had a small victory.

The next day at 1:00, I hopped in the car and headed over to West Hollywood to meet Marc and check out the apartment. It took about 15 minutes to get there. The building was located on a quiet street, with nice shady trees. I parked the car and texted Marc that I was there. He said to ring the bell at the front and he would buzz me in to come up to unit 201.

The building was a nicely-maintained art-deco style building that looked like it was from the 30s or the 40s. It appeared that there were about 8 units total. I got to the front door, and rang the bell. The door buzzed and I opened it. The lobby was spare, but clean. There was a staircase up to the second floor leading to a hallway. I headed up the stairs and found unit 201. I knocked on the door.

A moment later, the door opened and Marc reached out and offered a firm handshake. Marc appeared to be similar in age to myself, late 30s, and seemed to be in decent shape. He was barefoot and wore a fitted white t-shirt and athletic shorts.

"You must be Nick! Nice to meet you, man. Welcome! Come in, but just take off your shoes if you would. I find that it helps keep the dirt from the outside to a minimum."

"Hi Marc. Nice to meet you in person. I gotta say, I am glad to have found this place. The past few months have been rough, so I really needed a win."

"Totally understandable. I actually got out of a relationship a few months ago myself, so I can definitely understand what you're going through."

I took in the scene. The entire unit appeared to have hardwood floors. The walls were all painted a stark white, and there was relatively little in the way of decoration. There was an open kitchen to my right, and a dining area to the left. The ceilings were high, and the whole place had an airy, light feeling. There was a large sectional sofa in the middle of the main room, and a large TV was mounted above the fireplace. The fireplace itself was filled with large candles. Overall, it was a tidy, well-designed and furnished apartment.

"Let me take you on a quick tour." Marc said. "As you can see, this is the main room. Sofa, TV, kitchen and dining room all in an open floor plan. As you can see, I don't have much in the way of furnishings, but I imagine you might have some stuff you'd bring to the equation."

"Yeah, I have a few things, but honestly, lots of my furniture belonged to my ex, so she took most of it."

"Down the hall this way are the bedrooms and the bathroom. I've been using the second bedroom - your room - as a home gym. Here it is."

The bedroom - my room - was painted in the same stark white style as the rest of the apartment. In the corner was a bench with some dumbbells of various weights lined up on the floor. There was a yoga mat rolled up leaning against the wall.

"Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, I've been working out at home. Not sure when I'll be ready to go back to the gym." Marc said. "Obviously, I'll clear this shit out of here when you move in. Moving on, this is the bathroom."

The bathroom connected via a doorway to my bedroom, with a separate doorway on the other side, which I presumed connected to Marc's room. In keeping with the rest of the place, it was tidy and well kept. There was a scented candle on the countertop, but it certainly seemed like Marc kept a pretty neat house.

Marc walked ahead and opened the other bathroom door. "This is my bedroom," he said. Marc's bedroom appeared to be a little bit bigger than mine, and was furnished in the same spare style. There was a bed on one wall, covered in a white duvet and some throw pillows. There was a small desk in the corner by the window, and a TV against the opposite wall. The only other decorations were some tasteful black and white photos of muscular male torsos.

Marc didn't really give off a "gay vibe" or anything like that, but given the location of the apartment in West Hollywood, the neat housekeeping, and the tasteful male photography, I could put two and two together. It didn't bother me, honestly. He seemed like a nice, responsible guy, and I was just happy to have found an apartment in my price range with a short commute to my office.

"Down the hall on the left is the washer/dryer," Marc said. "It's really rare to have in-unit laundry, which is one thing I love about this place."

"Definitely. I'll never have to worry about running out of quarters again," I said.

"Well, that's pretty much the full tour. Would you like to have a beer and go over the details?"

We went back to the dining room and Marc grabbed two beers from the fridge. We sat at the little dining table and Marc cracked open our beers.

"Nick, you seem like a pretty personable guy with neat habits. I'd be happy to have you be my roommate. Like I mentioned in the ad, your share would be two thousand a month. There's tandem parking, but I work from home, so I'm happy to let you have the outside spot. I keep pretty regular hours. I'm not a big partier, but as you know, it's only a short walk to the bars and clubs."

"Yeah, definitely. I'm not a big partier either. To be honest, I haven't gone out since before my divorce. Maybe I'll get out of my shell a little bit now that I'm single again."

"One other thing I should mention, in the interest of full disclosure. I hope it's not a problem for you, but I'm gay."

"Marc, no problem on that front at all. I've had plenty of gay friends. So don't worry about it at all."

"Well, in that case then, let's call it a deal. Feel free to move in whenever it is convenient for you. Didn't you say that you needed to be out of your ex's condo this week?"

"Yeah. To be honest, I'm all packed up. Most of my shit is in storage. I can start moving in tomorrow."

"Great!" Marc said. He pulled out a spare set of keys with a garage door opener and slid them across the table. "Nice to have you aboard, roomie!"

Chapter 2:

The next day I picked up a U-Haul and drove to my storage unit. I spent most of the morning loading up the truck. Given that most of the furniture had gone to my ex, I was able to fit everything into the truck in one load. I cleaned out the last of the shit from the storage unit and settled my bill at the front office. At the very least, I wouldn't have to be paying for Public Storage every month anymore.

Once I'd loaded the last of my stuff, I closed the tailgate on the truck and headed off to my new apartment in West Hollywood. I was pretty happy to finally have a solid living situation, and to be putting the painful last six month behind me.

I parked the truck in front of the new apartment and opened up the trailer. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to get this stuff out. All I really had were some boxes of books and papers, a desk that I planned to set up in my bedroom, a mattress and a box spring, and a few other odds and ends. I didn't have much else in the way of furniture or anything like that. I started off hauling the boxes of books into the lobby and up the stairs, leaving everything right inside the door to unit 201.

I was about halfway through moving all of the stuff when Marc got home. He dropped a stack of papers onto the table by the entrance and started helping move stuff without me even asking him. Together, we got the last of my boxes of random shit moved and then we moved the mattress and the box spring. We set up the mattress and box spring in the middle of my room. I could worry about getting a proper bed frame later on. The room was a mess of boxes strewn all over the place, the desk in the corner, and the naked boxspring and mattress in the middle of the room. I was spent after spending all day moving stuff.

"I'm gonna return the truck, Marc. Do you think you'd be able to pick me up? It's not too far away."

"Sure thing, buddy," Marc said. We left the unit, and Marc followed me in his Honda as I went to the U-Haul place to drop off the truck. On the way back, we just talked idly. Marc asked me why my marriage had ended.

"Honestly, I think she was cheating for the last year we were married. She was gone at odd hours. Had a lot of random "work events". Shit like that. Think she just decided she could do better. Gotta say, though, it's a confidence killer for sure. I haven't even thought about dating or getting back out there."

"I feel ya man. My ex boyfriend just up and left one day. After 5 years. Said he "wasn't feeling it" anymore. Left without more warning than that. Actually, he used to live here with me. The second bedroom - your room - we shared as an office."

It felt a little weird thinking that now I was sharing the same apartment that Marc used to share with his boyfriend of five years. But I put it out of my mind. We got back to the apartment and I started sifting through the detritus in my room, tidying up books, rearranging the desk, putting sheets on the bed. It was about 9:00 when Marc knocked on my open door.

"Hey dude, want to take a break and have a beer?"

"Sure, that sounds good. I've been working on this shit all day. My back is killing me from moving all of this junk. Time to call it for the night."

We grabbed some beers from the fridge and plopped down on the couch. Marc turned on the TV to ESPN. I enjoyed the cool beer and half listened to the SportsCenter update.

"So Marc, how long have you been single?"

"About six months now, I guess," he said.

"Any prospects on the horizon?"

"Not really. I've hooked up with a few guys, but nothing serious. What about you? Any plans to get back out there?"

"I've thought about it. I just don't know if I'm ready yet."

We sort of let the conversation die there. We listened to SportsCenter in silence. After about ten minutes, I said "Well, I guess I'm gonna hit the showers. My back is killing me after lifting all those boxes today."

"Happy to work out the knots in your back, if you want," Marc said.

"You know, sure. That sounds great." I was getting pretty comfortable with my new roommate. Marc definitely felt like a friend at this point. I didn't feel weird about him offering a friendly massage.

"Lie down on the floor."

I lay face down on the floor with my head resting on my crossed arms. Marc comes over and straddles me. Immediately, his strong hands are working on my shoulders. I could feel his thumbs work my tight muscles.

"Ahhhh - Marc, that feels amazing," I sighed.

"You're really tense, man."

Marc worked his way down my lower back, slowly working out my tight muscles. I just lay there, enjoying the sensations as his strong hands worked me over. After about five minutes just enjoying Marc's strong hands kneading my tired muscles, he broke the silence.

"Nick, this would be easier if you took off your shirt."

"Sure, man. No problem."

I stood up and took the shirt off. Marc was behind me, and once the shirt was off, his hands were back on my shoulders. He worked my shoulders for about 15 seconds, and then he let his fingertips graze down the sides of my torso. He rested his hands on my hips, and then he reached around and rubbed up my abs until he got to my pecs. He squeezed my pecs and I let out a low moan.

"Shit, Marc...what are you doing?"

"Shh..." he replied, as he nibbled my earlobe. His hands rubbed up and down my chest. He started to tweak my nipples, and I was instantly rock hard. My nipples are hardwired to my cock. It's like he knew exactly which buttons of mine to press.

"Nick...Don't worry about anything. If you want me to stop, I'll stop."

At that moment, I didn't want him to stop. He spun me around, and his lips found mine. Our tongues battled furiously as we kissed and I melted into his strong arms. I never thought I would find myself so turned on by another man. Marc pulled his shirt off and I got to admire his lean and muscular torso. His hands rested on my hips and we kissed again, his hands wandering all over, eventually resting in my ass. He hooked his thumbs under the waistband of my athletic shorts and boxers and lowered them to the ground. Now fully naked, I stepped out of them, my hard cock bobbing in the air.

He quickly lost his shorts as well, and we were both naked. He drew me back to him, biting my neck. Without fabric in the way, our throbbing cocks ground against each other. The sensation was amazing. With his finger, he traced a circle around my nipple, and I felt my cock throb as he pinched it. His hand made its way down to my cock, fondling my tight balls and lightly and playfully tugging on the shaft.

"Nick, this is a very sexy dick!" he said, as he lightly jacked me off. He traced his index finger from my balls to the head of my cock, where a bead of precum was rapidly forming. He expertly took the precum onto his finger and licked it off. "Yum!"

Marc pushed me onto the couch, and before I knew what was happening, his warm mouth had engulfed my aching cock. I gasped as I felt his mouth go to work, running his tongue along the sensitive ridge where the head meets the shaft, and working it into my pee-slit as he fondled my balls with his fingers. I had never had such a good blowjob in my life. He licked up and down my shaft and jerked me off at the same time, I couldn't stop moaning.

"Nick, babe, your cock is so hot! I love it!"

He shifted gears, and went from focusing on the head of my penis to taking it as far as he could into his mouth. I was in ecstasy. Marc then started jerking himself off as he continued to deepthroat my cock. Pretty soon, I started to feel my balls tense up. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer.

"Marc, dude, I'm about to cum!"

"Do it, Nick! Cum for me!"

And with that, I let loose a geyser of cum. I must have blasted four or five thick ropes into Nick's hot, waiting mouth. He took it all, not letting a drop go to waste. Clearly this guy was a pro. A few seconds later, he groaned and shot his own load all over the floor where he was kneeling. He continued to suck on the head of my cock until it started to go soft. It dropped from his mouth with a plop. I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath from what was undoubtedly the best blowjob I have ever received.

Marc got up off his knees and sat beside me on the couch, with his arm draped over my shoulders and his fingers lightly brushing against my nipple. My head was leaned back with my eyes closed, coming off my post-orgasm high. Marc's other hand gently stroked my thigh, letting it rest close to my now-flaccid cock.

"Well, Nick, did you love it? Did you love recieving your first gay blowjob?"

"Whoa there buddy..."First?" Who says there are going to be more?"

"You sure seemed to be enjoying yourself." Marc said, as he pinched my nipple, a little more aggressively. "Besides, I've sucked and fucked dozens of "straight" guys. Many of them multiple times. Sexuality is a spectrum, and sex is fun, regardless whether it's with a man or a woman. I think every guy should try gay sex at least twice. First to see if they like it, and twice just to make sure!"

"Fuck, Marc... I dunno. I'm not gonna lie, it felt great...maybe the best head I have ever gotten...But I also feel really weird about it."

"Babe, don't worry about it. Everything is totally OK. We were just having a little fun. You got off, I got off. If you didn't like it, we don't have to do it again. But if you did like it, well...let's just say there's a lot more I can show you."

With that, he gave my soft dick an affectionate squeeze, and went into the bathroom and closed the door. I heard the shower start to run, and I sat there on the couch a bit dumbfounded at what had just taken place. Was I gay now? I definitely enjoyed it. But I hadn't sought it out. I had never had any attraction to men, apart from the passing curiosity. Over the next few months, I would learn a lot more about my sexuality.