What You Will

"Are we meeting Barbie there, or do we need to pick her up?"

"We'll meet her there, she's getting her makeup done and her dress on... and everything else she needs to do. Just, please, be nice to her." Laura looked over at David with a pleading expression. He just raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, yeah, I know, we are talking about you, so I don't have to worry. But I just don't want her feelings to be hurt, and I know you are open minded, but she may not be what you are expecting."

"Well Barbie is your friend, so that's enough for me to be extra nice to her. And the only thing that makes me very apprehensive is that I'm going to have to go up in front of other people. But it sounds like I won't have to talk up there, so I don't mind escorting her on and off a stage."

She beamed him a beautiful smile and said that they might as well start heading there. The directions were pretty simple and she seemed to go to that particular place quite often. "There it is, it's called Club Try-Angles."

Laura looked back at David to see if he recognized the name, but apparently he didn't. It was quickly apparent what was making her so nervous. There was already quite a crowd building for the pageant and from the couples that were walking in, it was obviously a gay bar. She gave him a couple nervous side glances but he just grinned at her and gave her a wink, so she smiled and blushed and calmed back down. Now it looked like she was genuinely having fun.

They parked and David was about to get out and go over to her door when she reached out and pulled on his sleeve to signal him not to get out yet. "We're still a bit early, so do you mind if we sit here for a bit?"

"Not at all." He closed his door again and turned to look at her, he was reminded again of how pretty she was and how good she smelled. Laura sat back in her seat and closed her eyes, listening to the music. David turned it up a little now that he didn't have to listen to her driving directions and then sat back to listen as well.

After a couple minutes Laura seemed to work up her courage a little. "Okay, mind if I say something?" When she caught his head shake in the affirmative, she continued, "Look, I'm really sorry for ending everything the way I did back then. It was just, I had to do what I did for my kids. But it means a lot to me that you were willing to help me like this. Honestly my life has been really hectic for a while and I haven't dated anyone for quite a while. So you were the only one that I could think of that may be willing. Honestly not many guys I know would ever be willing to do this. It just so happened that you moved here at the right time. And I'm also sorry if this ends up being something you regret. But I'm going to shut up now so you can say something." She looked quite cute with that little blush as she sat there.

"You don't have to apologize to me for what happened before, or for this. I'm doing this because I want to, and you did that before because you needed to."

"But..." she started to respond.

"No buts, yes you did hurt my feelings very badly, however, it ended up being the right thing to do. You were in a difficult spot with your children and frankly as the years have gone by, I've realized that I'll never be a proper father even if I did ever have the opportunity. And, yes, I did know that you considered briefly getting pregnant for me. But it is unlikely that I would have made a good father, I need too much attention and care myself to give it to more than one other person. I'm too high maintenance," David finished with a sardonic grin.

Laura seemed a bit shell shocked. "Laura, I will always love you. But you need to be with a father as much as a boyfriend or husband. Being a mother to your children is too much a part of who you are to compromise on that."

She sat back and finally gave a bit of a nod to indicate that she understood. So David said, "Let's get in there so you can introduce me to Barbie." He got out and gave her a little glare when she opened the door for herself. Just to remind her that he still liked her to allow him to take care of her, even if they weren't dating. Laura gave him another of those secret smiles and waited for him to come around the car. This time she extended her hand and allowed him to hold it as she rose out of the car. Little did she know that it had been years since David had touched the hand of anyone. So that event was much larger for him than it was for her. For that alone, what ever happened this night was going to be worth it.

Chapter 4

The doorman greeted Laura as they entered the club, and he knew that she was there for Barbie. Apparently Barbie was pretty popular in the place and was either one of the owners, or knew them. This much David figured out from their short conversation with the doorman, but then the loud music drowned out everything as they entered the warm club. It felt very nice to come in from that freezing Utah winter air. Laura could see that he was a bit apprehensive so she held on to his sleeve to keep him grounded, which he appreciated. He just hoped that she understood that he wasn't nervous over being around LGBT individuals, it was being surrounded by a crowd invading his personal space and the sickening anticipation of having to walk out in front of the crowd. But, he figured, if she remembered much about him at all, she would likely remember those things. David had never been interested in playing the victim or bringing on drama, but he was also very honest about his limitations.

People were still arriving, so it wasn't jam packed. Through the gaps in the crowd they could see the decorations proclaiming the 2016 Queen's Pageant. With her fingers still pinching his sleeve, Laura guided him through the crowd to a rather tall and slightly muscular drag queen. She had a beehive style blonde wig on and a pink sequins glittering evening dress. She seemed to be in high spirits as she talked to a few friends, and possibly admirers. As they approached her David discovered his reason for being there.

"So he just walked out after I told him that, no, for the last time, I was not going to leave my wife and kids now that marriage was legal for us here. He has a nice dick, but I love my wife and kids to death for supporting me even in this backwards place. But, thank god for Laura, she got me an escort for the night. And guess what... he's straight!" She was hit with a bout of giggles and caused everyone around her to start laughing as well. David definitely felt a strong blush coming on to hear himself being talked about by others.

"Everyone look at Barbie, I'm going to have the only straight man in the place on my arm... speak of the devil, here's my best friend!" She pulled Laura into a very tight hug but then seemed to remember her dress and pushed her back away.

"Hi there sweet gal, I see that you aren't letting that jerk Thomas keep you down."

"Not me, honey, he doesn't know what he's missing, but he will after a while." She had quite a confident swagger about her, and David found her smile and attitude infectious. Internally he made the decision that even if it wasn't as a favor to Laura, he would have done this for her if Barbie had asked him regardless.

"Barbie, this is David, your arm candy for the night." Of course he went the rest of the way pink at being referred to as this, but either she didn't notice or she figured that it would match her dress.

"Oh goodness, you're taller than I hoped. It will look so nice that I'm not towering over you. And Laura was definitely right about your build. You make me look positively feminine. Thank you so much sweetie." Laura ended up with a large lipstick mark on her cheek.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Barbie," David gave her a small bow of his head. It is David's manner of greeting, he prefers that to physical contact, especially with strangers.

"Ooooo... tall, dark, handsome, and genteel... it's a good thing you are straight dearie, or I would have to beat them off with my handbag." She walked over next to him and he bent his right arm so she could place her hand through the crook and onto his forearm. "How do we look, Laura?"

"You two look perfect. You're going to win for sure. I better go get a seat, they are filling up fast." She walked over to David, gave him a tight hug, and whispered in his ear, "Thank you so much for doing this, I owe you big time."

The hug lingered a little longer than either of them were expecting. And when Laura parted from him she seemed to have a small confused expression on her face. And her posture seemed like she was holding herself back from going back in, perhaps for a kiss. But she shook her head a little, barely perceptible, and then went to sit down. Barbie guided him over to stand in the line forming for the contestants. It looked like they were about to get started.

"So, my best friend tells me that you and her used to date a number of years ago?"

"Ummm... yes, that's true. Today was the first time I've seen her in years." It took him a second to respond, getting used to talking to new people would always be difficult.

"Did you break it off, or did she? Not that I'm trying to be invasive or anything, just curious."

"She did."

"Well, you must not have been all that mean or anything, otherwise I doubt that she would have called on you for this, no matter how much her best friend was in need."

"I would hope that she would not remember me as being cruel, no."

"So, if I may ask..." She left the question hanging, and even for him it seemed obvious what she wanted to know.

"I would not betray her confidence any further than to say that I was something she wanted but not something that she needed." His tone showed that he wasn't upset at the question, but that it was a closed discussion. Barbie just smiled and nodded, apparently she had learned what she wanted to.

Like with anything else he dreaded, the contest proceeded rather quickly. Very soon the announcement for it's commencement occurred, and all too soon after that they were the next in line. David tried to keep his blushing at a minimum and to pacify his stomach by trying to recite one of his favorite stories inside of his head. It was difficult to balance his dream world and paying enough attention to walk Barbie through her paces and then know when to guide her back through to the other side.

She seemed very delighted as they walked over to the table that Laura was sitting at. She was sitting with one girl that David had never seen before and had reserved two open chairs for them. The woman sitting with Laura appeared to be rather young, but very pretty. She wasn't dressed for the pageant, but she was dressed rather nicely. She was very feminine, though, so he just figured that she was either a bottom lesbian or she was here to see a friend in the pageant. Barbie hugged Laura with tears in her eyes before sitting down.

"That was so great, you guys definitely got the biggest applause." Laura was beaming a huge smile at both of them, her eyes were dancing with mirth.

"Oh, go on you, don't get my hopes up like that." Barbie pulled a tissue out of her handbag and wiped her tears away before they ruined her makeup. Then she noticed the girl sitting with them and said, "Hi there, I've seen you in here a few times, but I've never caught your name."

With a pretty blush and a really quiet voice she responded, "Circe... and you are Barbie, everyone knows you."

Fanning herself she replied, "Goodness gracious, when I get home to my lady she's going to have to spend a lot of time deflating my ego after tonight. Maybe I should try to find a boy toy to bend me over and put me back in my place before I go home." Laura and Barbie busted up laughing, David and Circe sat there blushing.

When she had finally recovered Laura turned in her seat and introduced herself, "Hi Circe, my name is Laura and the guy in the tux is David. You have a great name, I love Game of Thrones as well."

Circe blushed harder and muttered a little, "Not Cersei Lannister." But she shrugged it off as if used to the mistake. Laura had gone back to convincing Barbie of her impending victory, so she didn't even hear her.

David did, however, and asked her, "Were you named for the Greek goddess of magic? From Homer's Odyssey and Hesiod's Theogony?"

Her mouth dropped open and she gave a little gasp, in that manner he knew that he had hit the mark. "How did you know that? No one has ever gotten that reference before." She was looking at him with an amazed expression.

"Oh, don't be surprised at that," Laura laughed. "He's like that, wicked smart."

"I just read a lot." David's face was burning up with embarrassment.

Circe fidgeted a bit and got a bright red blush before swiftly pushing forward and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Sorry, but I promised myself I would kiss the first man that ever understood my name." She had the sweetest smile as she looked at the floor in embarrassment.

David was surprised at the stern response from Barbie. "Circe, I know what you are and you need to tell him if you are going to be doing something like that. He's straight, and here as a favor from Laura." This confused him, but it seemed to horrify Circe. She scrambled out of her seat and fled through the crowd and out the door. But to David's eyes the look on her face wasn't embarrassment, it was fear.

He leveled a questioning gaze at Barbie, but Laura didn't seem to be too surprised. In response to his unasked question Barbie said, "Look, I don't like to out anyone, but I had to in this case. Circe is a transsexual. So I hope that she didn't offend you or anything."

David sat back and his mind was flooded with questions, but none of them were for Barbie and Laura to answer, so he kept them to himself. Laura, however, responded to her, "Don't worry hon, don't let it ruin your night. Something like that would never offend him."

"I hope that's true, I'd feel just terrible if it turned out to be a bad night after doing me such a huge favor."

This time he spoke up for himself, "Everything is fine, Barbie, and what I did with you was no favor at all, for either you or Laura. I was happy to help and I sincerely hope that you win." She beamed a smile at him and everything was alright again. But he felt it necessary to further add, "Besides, while I appreciate Laura's discretion a ton, I will cop to not being entirely straight, just mostly."

That seemed to shock Barbie quite a bit, "Without being too pushy, what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, it means that I am attracted to femininity but not necessarily always women. It's just mostly women. I am quite open sexually, so really the only thing I'm not is entirely straight." None of this was a surprise to Laura, so she just smiled her special little smile and placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze to show her support and appreciation.

"Goodness, you two were quite a pair. Sounds similar to the way Laura has always been since I've known her. I've always told her that she should consider picking up a girl friend and trying that out for a while if she couldn't find any eligible guys." At this Laura blushed a bright red, apparently her sex life was not something she anticipated being open for discussion.

But she was saved from having to go into further detail by the announcement that the winners would be chosen presently. After all that he had seen with how popular Barbie was, it came as no surprise that she won the contest. Pretty much everyone in the entire club received a hug from her as she did her victory lap, and her lipstick had long since been peeled away by so many kisses.

She finally made it back to their table and set the bouquet of roses on it. After that they called for rounds of celebratory drinks. All three tossed back a few and eventually the club owners joined their table to polish off the night, everyone celebrating Barbie's crowning as the 2016 Queen.

Chapter 5

Eventually the party died down and the music stopped. There were only a few regulars and the owners left along with Barbie's party. Apparently she was either a co-owner or one of their dear friends, because they were just as happy for her as Laura was.

"Now that had an even better turn out than we expected. We'll have to do this every year from now on."

"Definitely. And we should think of something to do for Valentine's Day. Maybe a Ball or something?"

"I don't know, Pete. Some of our more vocal dykes may not want to have their only hang out to be a monument to ideals that they feel constraining."

"Well... you can't please everyone."

"True, but for Valentine's Day let's do something a little more inclusive. The Ball idea is a good one, but for that special day let's do something else. We want all of our people to have a place to go to and have fun"

They were all brainstorming for a bit. David honestly didn't feel like he was a part of the conversation being his first time there and only knowing two people, only one of them well. But he did have one thought. He kept it to himself though. But, leave it to Laura to be observant.

"What do you think, David?" She shot him a little devious grin, probably saw the light go on behind his eyes.

"Ummm... I'm new here, and not exactly your target audience, so are you sure that you want to hear what I think?"

Barbie shot him a bright smile, "Of course, sweet cheeks, any idea can be a good one. Besides, like my besty said, you're wicked smart."

Clearing his throat and blushing furiously he stated his idea, "Well, people like to dress up but not everyone likes to dress up as what other people think they should be. So how about something of a Renaissance costume party. And instead of a dance, have a play?"

Laura smiled, "Wow, that would be fun."

Everyone seemed keen, but the prominent remaining question was, "What play should we do?" Finally all looking back at David for inspiration.

"That choice is easy. For an environment such as this, there is only one great choice... Twelfth Night, by David Shakespeare." The look they gave him told David that they didn't understand why that play was so perfect, other than Laura who giggled into her hand, but instead of explaining it to them he just said, "Trust me, read the play, it is perfect for a club like this. It's fun and romantic and it's comedy is very topical indeed. The subtitle for the play is What You Will."

"Well I agree with him," Laura voiced her support, and Barbie joined in as well.

"We only have just over a month to prepare, so I'm going to create a flier for it and post it at the entrance and inside the club this week," said one of the owners. "Better do the casting next week and if we don't get enough volunteers we'll have to go to a backup plan. I doubt that will happen, though, our gay community here in Salt Lake is quite artistic. In fact, this may be the most popular thing we've ever done here."

Everyone seemed to be very excited and they agreed that since it was his idea and he also had the most experience with plays, and especially Shakespeare, of anyone present that David would be the director of the production. He resisted at first, having never been in such a role, but they finally convinced him that he was the only choice. So finally he just accepted the inevitable, but he did have one condition.

"Fine, I'll direct. But if I do, then Laura has to be Olivia in the play."

"What!? No way... Olivia is way too big of a role for me."

"Olivia is the main female role. And ideally she is a woman that is mostly straight and definitely interested in the main male character, but capable of being surprised that she actually also likes girls."

Barbie gave an evil chuckle, "Oh yeah, I vote for that as well. That is perfect." Laura was trying to come up with a further argument but her blushing ended up getting the better of her. So that part was taken care of immediately.