A suitable Partner

Jim knew from the very beginning that he was different from the other boys of his age.

As he grew up he realised he was developing emotional feelings for his boy friends than girls, and was ridiculed many a times,for his peculiar behaviour and his friends had labelled him 'Gay'

Once in school the teacher found his behaviour weird and called up his mother to complain about Jim.

His mother conveyed the message to his father.

Jim had never seen his father in such a state before.

He confronted Jim,his face red , his mouth foaming, and his eyes blazing fire. Jim felt a shiver run down his spine.

"What's the matter with you?", he thundered.

"Why are you behaving weierdly?"

"Are you going to make us the laughing stock of this town?"

He went on bombarding Jim with questions, without giving him a chance to explain.

"This is the last I'm going to hear about this nonsense of yours or you will have to face consequences."

Jim's father was a tyrant and ruled his house with an iron fist Jim decided to curb these feelings and keep them on hold for time being.

As years passed his sister 'Ray' became the cynosure of everyone's eyes and his parents doted on their daughter, who grew up to become a successful banker and was earning  good money.

Jim withdrew more and more into his shell and was struggling with his emotions which he found difficult to suppress , though he tried very hard.

His sister got married to Brian,

a pompous guy who always made fun of Jim for his walk and the tonal quality of his voice.

Brian was a tall handsome guy, very loving and attentive to his wife and respectful towards his parents. Jim hated Brian but tolerated him only for his sister.

For his parents Brian was the son they always wanted , they felt the sun rose and set with him, and Brian played the role to the hilt.

Finally Jim graduated from college, found a job and moved out of his parent's home and breathed freedom.

Now he was free of bindings, no one could stop him from expressing his feelings  to whoever he wanted.

Jim was attracted to many guys at his work place but he was scared to approach them, what if they objected his approach.

One day as Jim was surfing net, he came across a dating site which was exclusively for gay men . It was a God sent opportunity for him.

He was not sure about the credibility of these sites, some of them could be fake just to extract money from gullible people.

Anyway, he thought of giving it a try, he prepared a fictitious profile of himself with a false name and got himself registered.

He started scouting the site to find a perfect match.

He was amazed to see the number of guys there, most of these men were married and leading a dual life ,they were scared to come out in the open, very few of them had their pictures on their profile as they preferred to remain anonymous

He zeroed in on a profile which he felt was matching his ,they both shared similar hobbies.

The guy's name was Larry and he was  single. 

He clicked on his profile and typed a 'Hi'.

He was waiting anxiously for a reply and was surprised when he immediately got an answer

"Hi there, I'm Larry".

"Hi I'm Ben"( which was Jim's fictitious name)

"Happy to know you Ben ",

And so started Jim's first love affair which engulfed him completely. They would chat way beyond midnight discussing their likes, dislikes, aspirations, goals , ambitions everything. 

Jim wanted to exchange phone numbers but Larry was trying to play safe.

He said once they meet they could share numbers.

Larry was  an expressive guy, who would shower Jim with loving words and praises which made him feel special.

Jim was on cloud nine ,this was the first time he felt so loved. He was in a daze, he had lost his appetite, the food tasted like chalk ,the only thought on his mind was Larry, he wanted to hold him and hug him, he had never felt about anyone this way, ever.

Larry was a bit reluctant to give out his personal details so Jim too held back.

Larry had a picture on his profile but Jim had a feeling it was not his real picture.

Jim was unfazed, he was basking in Larry's love and he didn't want anything else.

Jim and Larry's love affair had been going strong for a month and they thought that it's the right time to meet. Their first date where they would see eachother.

A get together for the gay community was being held on the 15th of the month and they decided to meet there.

It was going to be a costume party and everyone had to come masquerading as some historical character. 

After a lot of discussions they both decided to dress as Romeo and juliet. Jim would go as Juliet and Larry as Romeo.

At last, the day arrived. Jim was super excited, after all, he was going to meet the love of his life.

Jim rented a beautiful red velvet gown and sent its pictures to Larry who loved it very much and in return Lary sent him a picture of his teal blue silk suit which Jim approved instantly.

Jim purchased a blond wig and also some makeup choosing a bright red lipstick. He wanted to look beautiful for Larry.

They decided to message each other once they reached the venue.

Jim thought it was better to dress in the rest room of the party hall.

He reached early to prepare for his big day.

He started applying his makeup and the red lipstick, hoping Larry would appreciate the effort he was making for him.

It took him more than an hour finally he was ready ,he looked in the mirror and loved what he saw. The blonde wig suited him perfectly.

Larry had already reached the venue and was waiting eagerly for Jim.

At last he was ready, one final look at the mirror and he walked out of the rest room.

The hall was packed, decorated with balloons and fairy lights, everyone looked so happy, so many characters laughing, hugging and kissing each other, they all had let their hair down and some were gyrating to the music.

Jim's eyes were searching for the blue silk suit.

His heart pounding by the second.

Suddenly he felt a huge pair of arms enveloping him from behind, a wave of thrill spread all over his body.

"Hello ! my beautiful Juliet."

He heard a whisper in his ear.

Jim was thrilled to the core, his whole body burned with passion , he was delirious and felt as though he would faint. He closed his eyes and leaned against Larry ,wanting the moment to last forever .

Larry slowly turned him around Jim opened his eyes to look at his soulmate.

His heart missed a beat, his face went rigid and mouth dry, he felt as though someone was choking him.

Standing before him was Brian, his sister's husband and his parent's favourite son.

Jim was tongue tied,

Brian was Larry!

He couldn't believe it.

His world came crashing down, he felt suffocated and wanted to get out.

Larry tried to reach out to him but he brushed his hands away and with faltering steps ran out of the venue.

Larry was surprised at Jim's behaviour, wondering what went wrong.

Jim hailed a cab and reached his apartment. He felt so letdown. He started sobbing, dejected that life had been so cruel to him. The day he had been waiting for anxiously had ended in a disaster.

He wondered how his parents would react if they came to know of Brian's deception. Ray would be so heartbroken, she doted on her husband.

Jim decided he won't blow the whistle on Brian, he was now history.

A minor setback was never going to bog him down.

He logged on to the dating site again and started looking for a suitable partner, mentally preparing for his first date again.