Page 16 of Something Like Hail

“Yeah,” Noah said, grippinga palm that was slightly sweaty. “You sound surprised.”

“I didn’t get any photosthis time. Marcello said he was sending me a surprise.”

“Oh.” He felt his cheeksblushing. “I hope you’re not disappointed.”

“I hopeyou’renot!” George said, laughingamiably. “Ready to go? I’m starving!”

Noah nodded, confused when George gesturedthat he should enter the house. As it turned out, he was only beingled to the garage. Together they drove to an Indian restaurant, andthere the evening progressed in a fashion much simpler than whatHarold had coached him for. Noah didn’t struggle to makeconversation or keep it going. George did all the talking. He owneda construction business and seemed to love his job because herambled on and on about it. He also liked traveling to othercountries, stopping by local construction sites to see how thingswere done differently. Dinner lasted the better part of two hours.Noah enjoyed himself, not having experienced the cuisine before.George was excited to discover this and ordered small dishes forhim to sample. They even had dessert and some sort of mango drink.Once the bill was paid, George leaned back in his chair, belly alittle larger now, and smiled.

“You’re a great kid,” hesaid.

“Thanks for the meal,” Noahreplied. “That was amazing!”

George’s smile widened. “Would you beinterested in coming home with me?”

Did it matter if he wasn’t? Noah had beenhired for a very specific purpose. Dinner was just a preamble, butmaybe part of that was pretending to be on a normal date. “Soundsgreat!”

George tossed his napkin on the table andgot to his feet, looking pleased. Once in the car, they didn’tdrive straight back to his house. They cruised around, Georgetaking them to a construction site he owned to proudly show it off.To Noah it looked like any other not-yet-finished building. Aconcrete foundation and steel frame were in place, surrounded bymounds of dirt and a few portable toilets. He made sure to actimpressed anyway, asking questions and nodding with interest at theanswers.

When they finally returned to George’shouse, it got a little weird.

“Care for something todrink?” George asked, but he didn’t wait for a response. Instead hetraipsed to the kitchen, returning with a tall glass of yellowliquid. Noah could smell what it was before it was handed to him.Pineapple juice.

“Thanks,” he said,accepting it but not bringing it to his lips. “You aren’tthirsty?”

George shook his head, still smiling. “I’mfine. Drink up!”

Highly suspicious, Noah was searching for anexcuse not to drink when he remembered Harold’s advice. It mightseem like George was trying to drug him, but he’d been assured thatwasn’t the case. Noah took a sip. He didn’t taste alcoholeither.

“What kind of music do youlike?” George asked, turning to a large stereo system.

“Anything,” Noah responded.When country music filled the room, he wished he’d been morespecific. Nothing made him think of his hometown like a twangyguitar and lyrics about lonely truckers.

“It’s good, isn’t it?”George asked, nodding at the juice. “Fresh from this morning.There’s plenty more in the kitchen. Don’t be shy.”

The man sure liked his juice! Or wanted Noahto like it. Maybe this was part of some weird fetish. Noah had onceseen an X-rated Japanese cartoon where the woman was— Well, it wasway weirder than this, but maybe George had a thing for belliesbulging with juice. Noah emptied the glass, only slightly surprisedwhen George refilled it. Then he patiently listened to a lectureabout how industries change. Maybe there really was something inthe juice, because Noah found aspects of the discussioninteresting.

“So you see,” George said,“wars might advance our technological capabilities, but naturaldisasters are what force the construction industry toevolve.”

“That’s really cool,” Noahsaid, draining his glass of juice.

“Care for a refill?” Georgeasked.

“No thanks,” Noah said,shaking his head. “I really need to use the restroom.”

“Right thisway!”

George led him through the house to a smallroom that definitely didn’t have a toilet. Only a bed and a shelfloaded with towels were inside. Strange. George wanted to get downto business? That was fine, but Noah wasn’t kidding. He really hadto— Oh.

“You’re very handsome,”George said, taking his hand.

“Thanks,” Noah responded,his mind racing. How was this going to work?

George took his other hand. As they facedeach other, Noah realized he wasn’t into this. At all.

“Can I kiss you?” Georgeasked.

“Sure.”