My Birthday (Part 1)

My birthday was this past Saturday and even the remnants of a hurricane couldn't ruin the most special b-day I've had in a while! To sum up my day in one word, I'd plainly have to say: "divinely dee-licious!"

I spent most of my weekend with The Voice.

I picked him up Friday evening from a nearby friend's house and then we both chilled at his apartment. I met his roommates and was thoroughly impressed! They are a straight couple and so sweet together; they made me feel incredibly welcome. Truthfully, I preferred having the place to ourselves last weekend but even with them around, they were cool and didn’t bother us.

The next day, The Voice entered the Ollie Road Race in South Boston/The Waterfront, a five-mile run to benefit the South Boston Neighborhood House. I got up extremely early, showered and walked to the subway station. By the way, this was my first time on the Silver Line. Essentially it was just a cheap imitation of a real subway line but whatever, it was pretty nice. I arrived at the Bank of America Pavilion and immediately spotted him warming up. He introduced me to a few of his co-workers who instantly took a liking to me. They were doing the two mile walk and after some friendly prodding, I signed up and joined them on the walk.

The ladies asked the "usual suspect" questions (job, school, fun, etc.) and as I found out later, I was stamped "APPROVED!" and ready for packaging. The walk was a great deal of fun however, I was disappointed that the walkers were on the same track as the runners because as the lead runners returned, they nearly knocked this poor old lady walker over and then proceeded to almost get in a fight with her! Profoundly upsetting! Everyone was out there to raise money for a good cause and have fun and yet s*** like that still happened.

I made it back in 30 minutes and waited for The Voice who timed in at about 43 or 44 minutes! He was sweaty and dripping everywhere but I didn't care. I gave him a hug and told him I was exceedingly proud of him and couldn’t wait to see him do his thing in the half-marathon next month. We split after a while and met up with another friend who gave us a ride back to my neighborhood. I felt a bit awkward because I'm not used to "bumming" rides from anyone. He let us off at my barbershop (The Voice goes to the same barbershop! Pretty surreal, eh?) and I went home to relax.

A few hours later, I picked him up from his place and he was rocking it with his black knit dread cap, slim grey jeans, black dress shoes and tight belt buckle under the black polo shirt. As James Earl Hardy would say, he looked "jood!" We jetted over to Texas Roadhouse and he called ahead while we journeyed.

"He's efficient and makes himself useful!" I thought as we cruised down Route 16.

Now children, pay attention because this was my favorite part of my day! As we stood there, waiting to be seated (only a minute wait), he suddenly spun on his heel and turned to face me. He slipped his hand around the small of my back, his fingers gripping me tight and quickly pulled me toward him and kissed me! And no, not some peck on the cheek. I'm talking tongue action people! My heart swooned and froze.

"What are people thinking?" "Is someone going to say something?" "Oh my God! I can't believe he's really doing this right here, right now!" "Damn, that feels real good!"

A million thoughts raced through my head but after he pulled away, I was thoughtless and breathless.

He asked, "Did you like that?" I simply nodded in response.

That is a memory I will never forget. Why? I have always wanted to date someone who is overwhelmingly comfortable with their sexuality and bold enough to evince public displays of affection (PDA). As Alicia Keys would say, "no one, no one, no one!" has EVER, EVER done that! In the past, I've snuck kisses in public or held hands but usually when no one was around or in a secluded area. If someone happened to pass by, I broke it off. Nevertheless, I had to come back to earth because "Red Bull The Voice gives you wings!" and I was soaring somewhere between the stratospheres of infatuation and sprung.

"I don't care what anyone thinks!" he explained later, "I like you and we should have a right to display our feelings just like everyone else does ... I wish someone would say something ... !"

I've always been comfortable with my orientation but never had the opportunity to explore PDA's with any of my past romantic partners; they merely weren't mature emotionally. However, The Voice, who hasn't ceased to amaze me this past week and a half, is unlike anyone I've encountered or dated before.

But the night wasn't over yet and things were about to get a little more interesting.