“B-bi.” I make a sound, maybe. My fingers spread the collar of my shirt.
“I beg your pardon?”
I clear my throat. “Bisexual. I’m bisexual.”
“Oh.” Seth looks more surprised than I expected. “Since when?”
“Since always.”
“And you’re just telling me now?”
“Why would I have told you before?”
“You mean it’s something… Private?”
“It’s not a secret if that’s what you mean.”
“Well, it was to me.”
“It’s not like I tell everyone I meet, especially clients.”
“No, of course, I understand…” He looks nervous, more nervous than before. My explanation has not reassured him at all. It seems to have done more harm than good. “We won’t fool anyone anyway, even if you did go around flaunting your sexuality to the four winds. Nobody would ever believe that someone like you could be with someone like me.”
I’m not sure I quite understand what that means. OK, we are different; a couple—hell, did I really use that term?—Unlikely, but not impossible.
“Oh my God.” Seth puts his head in his hands. “This is getting big and complicated, too complicated for me. You know I’m not good with pressure, lies, and fear. I’m such a mess with it!”
“Listen.” I put my hands on his shoulders. “We’ll find a solution to this big mess.”
“Mess you provoked,” Seth adds.
I smile.
“I’d like to clarify that.”
“Mess I caused and all by myself.”
Even Seth is smiling now. “Thank you for saying that.”
“Does it make you feel better?”
“No, but it’s a start.”
“A start… All right.”
Seth sighs.
“You have to trust me, Seth, OK? I know it seems like a big mess right now, and I don’t have a plan yet, but you have to trust me and let me handle this.”
He nods slowly. “I trust you.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not like I have a choice anymore.”
“That’s not very encouraging. But I’ll take it.”
Seth’s face becomes extremely serious. “We are in your hands, Mr Kennedy. All four of us.”
