Marcus in Retrograde Read online

  Contents

  Marcus in Retrograde

  1. Chase

  2. Marcus

  3. Chase

  4. Marcus

  5. Chase

  6. Marcus

  7. Chase

  8. Marcus

  9. Chase

  10. Marcus

  11. Chase

  12. Marcus

  13. Chase

  14. Marcus

  15. Chase

  16. Marcus

  17. Chase

  18. Marcus

  19. Chase

  20. Chase

  21. Marcus

  22. Marcus

  23. Chase

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Dating while demi was a form of damnation.

  Chase Garcia was sure of it. From people in the LGBTQ+ community who didn't know what 'demi' meant, to the perfect-on-paper dates that sparked nothing, he was just getting tired. He wanted a good night's sleep.

  But the neighbor's dog would.not.shut.up. Leaving a note for the man sparked a message board war, and still--the dog kept barking.

  Creating a new life was not easy.

  Marcus Romano decided it wasn't something he'd recommend to friends--if he had any. From working to afford the insanely expensive Greenwich Village apartment to sussing out if his coworkers even liked him, he was just worn down. He just wanted to be a good neighbor.

  But Pollux had decided the neighbor's wall was a bark target, and the first notes arrived soon after.

  When a neighbor is nearly mugged and Pollux does his real duty to help, Chase and Marcus call a truce. A poorly timed peek at Chase's audio book collection, scratching in the walls, and a manic dog throw them together--literally.

  Chase finds his demi-dud dating life suddenly broken, and Marcus has finally started to settle into his new life as well.

  Good luck has a half-life, though: Chase is faced with his past and Marcus finds himself in retrograde...

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Marcus in Retrograde

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 2019 © S.A. Sommers

  Cover: JRA Stevens for Down Write Nuts

  Formatting: Down Write Nuts

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  Excerpt from “UNTIED” by Katherine Rhodes used with permission from the author.

  Created with Vellum

  CHASE

  THAT. FUCKING. DOG.

  Bark! Bark! Bark! All night long.

  I liked dogs just fine, but that miserable fleabag just kept barking, all night. I mean, we were on the sixth floor of the building, what the hell was there to bark about? A curtain? A chicken bone? Someone stole his pig’s ear?

  I’d buy him the whole hog if he’d just shut up for one night.

  Staring up at the ceiling, I blew out a breath. I had thought that once Grumpy Grampa Able Woolworth had moved out from next door, I’d get some peace in my life.

  Nope.

  Now I had Growler the Barking Moron next door.

  Just like with Able Woolworth, I knew that the landlord wasn’t going to do shit about the dog. He never did shit about anything until we threatened to talk to the building owner or the city about the violations.

  Mr. Hernandez, the owner, was awesome, though. We all got together and asked him for new windows last year, and had them in a month. He thanked us because the heating costs went down over the winter.

  Right about now, though, I was ready to petition for sound proofing. I had two hours left before I had to get up to go to work, and I was listening to Lassie yipping about Timmy down the well.

  This was stupid.

  I sat up in the bed and ran a hand down my face. There was no point in this. I was going to have to try and sleep in the living room again for a few nights. If I had to switch the living room and bedroom I was going to be pissed—but not as pissed as I’d be if I couldn’t get my sleep.

  Grabbing the blanket and pillow I moved to the couch. Thank God I had made sure the thing was comfortable enough for sleeping when I bought it. I didn’t think it would be me sleeping on it.

  The two hours I had left flew by once I’d finally been far enough away from the damn dog to ignore him.

  “Hey, Marcus, you look like shit!”

  Patsy. I reached my hand out and shot her a middle finger, which immediately got her laughing. I took a sip of the tea in my hand and stumbled to my desk. I dropped into the chair and let out a sigh as I woke up the computer from sleep.

  “Trouble sleeping, Chase?”

  I tossed a look over my shoulder to my cubemate. Felix sat there, dressed to the nines in all the newest and hottest fashions, sporting nude lip gloss and just a little touch of eyeliner.

  “What ever gave you that idea?”

  “Because you look like you could carry my groceries home in those bags.”

  I fucking hated Felix Germaine. The man was a smarmy asshole who drank thirty dollar bottles of wine and ate at Wayan. I’d bet his lip gloss was from Bergdorf and his socks were silk.

  “Piss off, Felix,” I stated. “Where’s your bear?”

  He sniffed, and turned back around. “Aaron had to go to his parents this weekend, for family reasons. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

  “Good, maybe he’ll screw some of that arrogance out of you,” I snapped.

  He gave a distressed little yelp, and looked terribly offended that I would mention [whispering]: sex at his workplace. Whatever.

  God, I could’ve used a good lay myself.

  Sighing, I took another sip of my tea. I had a pile of work I needed to focus on, and it sucked being a half-awake graphic designer. Things didn’t go as planned when the mouse slid across the screen as I jerked awake again.

  “Coming out to get drinks tonight?”

  I screamed and jerked so hard in my chair I slammed my knee on the desk. That sent a new string of swear words out of my mouth as I grabbed my now-throbbing joint.

  “For the love of God and Baby Jesus, Jeri,” I growled.

  “You woke him up.” Felix chuckled.

  “Did I?” Jeri asked. “Dude, you shouldn’t come out with us tonight.” She paused a beat. “Are you coming out?”

  “Honey, he already came out,” Felix said, “he just forgot to get dressed while he was in the closet.”

  “Felix!” I snapped. “Yes, Jeri, I am coming out tonight. Maybe the stupid dog will have shut up by the time I get home.”

  “Dog?”

  “My neighbor has a dog and it just keeps barking.”

  “Landlord?”

  “Oh please,” I groaned. “Don’t you remember the toilet incident?”

  “Ooh, that’s right.” Jeri grimaced. “He’s a useless jackass. Got it. What are you gonna do? You can’t keep falling asleep at the desk.”

  “If it happens again, I guess I’ll give him a warning.”

  “Mmm.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Mmm? What does that mean?”

  “You’re going to need help to switch the living room and bedroom.”

  “No I’m not.”

  I totally was.


  I almost gave in and asked her for her husband’s help moving things, but then I thought of one more option.

  Shame. Maybe I could shame the guy into keep his dog quiet. There were ways to do that and I was sure other people in the building would be right there with me about that bark bark barking.

  But it would have to be fun. Or funny. I was always a little bit chicken when it came to confronting people about things that inconvenienced me. My mother had said I was more Canadian than American when it came to my ‘ope, sorry!’ policy.

  And…I ruined my morning thinking about my mother.

  Yay.

  “So after he whips the container of floss out and pulls out like two feet of it,” Noah said, “he starts flossing at the table like his life depended on it.”

  “At Per Se?” Jeri asked.

  Noah nodded. “At the table at Per Se.”

  We were all trying not to laugh. Noah had the worst luck dating. His brother Uriah made a go on motion because he—and the rest of us—didn’t trust ourselves not to burst out laughing.

  “Well, his dentist must be proud because he cleaned his teeth so well, I swear they were squeaking.” The poor guy let out a sigh. “The dessert comes out and he’s staring at it like it had a Face Hugger in it. It was a fabulous looking chocolate dome, the kind they melt with a warm sauce to reveal the real dessert inside. He sits back and shakes his head. ‘No, no, no. I said I wanted fruit.’”

  “Fruit. At Per Se,” I managed.

  “I was so tempted to ask the waiter to get him a side of apples from McDonald’s down the street.” Noah shook his head. “I was so glad he was picking up the tab.” He leaned his cheek on his fist. “I thought.”

  “Oh, my God, no,” Lena gasped.

  Slowly, Noah nodded. “Yep.”

  “Dine and Ditch?” Jeri asked.

  “Oh, no. No. He forgot his wallet.”

  That was the end of us. We collapsed into roaring laughter as poor, feckless Noah smirked and chuckled at his own misfortune. The poor guy had been on so many bad dates over the years I’d known him, most of us had told him to write a book about them.

  “So what happened?” Jeri asked.

  “I had not forgotten my card. I paid. Through the ass, I might add, which was why I didn’t want to go on a first date to Per Se. But he went and made reservation and brought the floss.”

  I nudged him with my elbow. “How much?”

  He canted his head and stared at me. “With or without the glass of Chateau d’Yquem?”

  “Holy shit,” Lena exclaimed. “He did not.”

  Once again, Noah nodded slowly. “He did.”

  “Total bill,” Uriah said, prompting him.

  I saw the pain in my friend’s eyes. “Nine hundred fourteen dollars and thirty-three cents.”

  Everyone sitting around us whistled.

  Uriah leaned forward. “It gets better.”

  “Worse, Uri…it gets worse.” Noah let out a long-suffering sigh. “I pay half my rent to get out of this restaurant and get out of this date, right? And we get outside and he asks if I can call and pay for an Uber.”

  “No. Way,” Jeri said, calming down enough to interject. “What did you do?”

  “I pulled out my wallet, hand him a five and a condom and told him to go get fucked.” He folded his arms.

  We all burst out laughing again, and I held up my hand for a high-five. He obliged after a moment and joined in the laughter.

  It was only the latest in the long line of poor Noah’s terrible track record with dating. He just couldn’t seem to find the kind of guy he could even get home to bed with, never mind a second date. And if he did get to a second date, it was the disaster the first one had managed to avoid.

  “How was Felix after I stopped by?” Jeri asked a few minutes later.

  “Just as rude and awful as you can imagine. That guy needs to be slapped off his pedestal, and soon,” I answered. “Most of the time, the other gay guys I meet are supportive and there’s no competition. He’s just terrible. He’s a total mean girl.”

  “Just remember that on Wednesday, he wears pink.” Jeri giggled.

  “Yeah, a pink thong.” I sighed.

  Jeri looked terrified. “You’re kidding.”

  “Oh, no, I’m not. I’ve seen him when he comes back from a lunch time shopping trip to wherever he gets that shit from uptown.”

  “Oh, that was more than I needed to know…” She grabbed her beer and took a swig from the glass. “So, do you need me and Dan to come over and help you switch the rooms this weekend?”

  I stared at her, and then slumped in the chair. “Damn it. No. I'm not giving up this fight yet. I’m going to see if I can publicly shame him into teaching the dog to hush.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.” I nodded once. “But keep next weekend open.”

  MARCUS

  POLLUX PULLED THE LEASH SO HARD I was sure he had pulled my shoulder out of it’s socket. Where this little thirty pound mutt got his power, I had no idea, but at the end of the leash, he was dangerous.

  I finally managed to answer the phone ringing in my hand after getting him back under control.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, Marcus!” My mother’s happy tones came through, and it brightened my mood immediately.

  “Hey, Mom,” I answered, carefully checking both directions on the one way street. I had learned that the hard way when I was almost taken out by a taxi at two in the morning.

  “How’s the new place?”

  “I have a couch, TV and bed, Mom. Same as when I left. I’m living out of cardboard boxes and Hungry Man microwave meals are as gourmet as I’m getting right now.”

  “You really need a dresser, Marcus. Why don’t Dad and I drive down this weekend.”

  “Mom. Stop. It’s fine. I knew this was the way it was going to be when I moved down here. I’m okay with it. The point was not a dresser, the point was the job.”

  “Right, right.” she admitted. “How’s that going?”

  I chuckled. “Same as it was yesterday, Mom.”

  She laughed. “Okay, all right. I might miss having you around the house a bit, Marcus. I’m suffering empty nest.”

  “Charlene and the kids are three blocks away. I’m sure she’d be happy to send her beasts over to you once in a while to remind you why young people have kids and older people retire and have empty nests.”

  She started laughing. “I know, I know. I just miss coffee and bagels with my boy.”

  “Aw.” I swooned a bit. I was totally my mom’s favorite and I knew it. I didn’t try to exploit it though. “You knew this had to happen. I couldn’t make it as a voice actor in Troy.”

  “You were doing fine with the books,” she said, sadly, but I knew she was playing the guilt card at this point.

  “Yes, but I can’t just live on books, Mom. If I ever want to do movies, I have to be closer to the action.” I smiled and pulled Pollux back on his leash, away from the over-groomed Pomeranian he was currently sniffing in consideration for a hump. “I’m still doing the books anyway, and they haven’t let me near their editing equipment yet. I’m still in training.”

  “Training? Four years of college…”

  “It’s orientation, Mom. Just showing me around, getting me used to the place, the people, the policies. Next week, I’ll start shadowing their Vivid editor.”

  “And how’s my granddog doing?” I could hear the laughter in her voice.

  “He’s peeing on every tree and making New York his,” I answered.

  God, I loved my parents. They were just the best and I was so lucky to have them. Even though I knew Mom was honest about her missing me, I also knew that she and Dad were proud of me, and they were willing to do anything for my two older sisters.

  Charlene, Christy-Anne, and I had sat down when I made the decision to move to New York City. It was time for our parents to enjoy retirement, and they were young enough to do that. We all knew Mom lived for her
kids—she was an award winning math teacher after all. So not having any of us at home was going to be tough. Charlene promised to bring the grandkids over often. Christy-Anne promised she would take Mom out to coffee at least once a week, and I promised I would always answer the phone and do my best to visit once every two months.

  I’d been in the city a week. Mom called every day. Dad called every night. It was just so them.

  “And how about you, Marcus? Found anyone worth marking?”

  “Mom, ew. I don’t pee on my dates.”

  “Marcus Chastain Romano, ew.”

  We both burst out laughing. She might have been an award winning teacher, but that was math. English was fun with her. She tried to be funny, but often accidently made a sexual innuendo. Which was fun once the three of us were old enough to get the jokes that had often sent my father running for a napkin to prevent a spit-take.

  “All right, Mom, I gotta get going. Pollux looks like he’s ready to wine and dine every bitch on the block and I don’t think the owners would appreciate that. I’ll talk to Dad tonight.”

  “You’re avoiding my question, Marcus!”

  “Gotta go, bye!” I called, teasing her and closing the connection.

  She’d laugh the rest of the day. I would too. Mom really thought I was a smooth operator and would have lured the partner of my choice to my bed and my life in the first two days I was here.

  I hadn’t even been to the bar down the street yet. Moving, new job, creating the audiobooks—I was exhausted.

  Pollux, thankfully, had decided he was done pissing on every tree and hydrant. He did his business near the curb and I quickly picked it up with the bio-degradable bag, and chucked it in the trash bin on the corner.