Just a Kiss (1 of 2)

“No–I want to see you two fucks kiss. Come on–one kiss, and we’ll let you go. I…promise.”

Eli wasn’t sure how things had gone so far south so quickly. He and Jules had just wanted to grab a drink after they’d finished working the booth at the business convention. They’d wanted to avoid the bars near the center, so they wouldn’t have to schmooze, and could just be themselves for a bit, and they’d ended up here–and now, here they were on the small deck, surrounded by these…burly fucks. Eli shouldn’t have said the word faggots, of course, much less at a volume anyone besides Jules could have heard, but now here they were–surrounded.

“Come on–it’s just a fucking kiss. It doesn’t mean anything. You think a kiss will turn you into a faggot or something?” the ringleader said, grinning a bit, getting some chuckles from the other brusiers around them. The air was thick with smoke–most of the guys in the group had a cigar or cigarette in their mouth. Eli looked over at Jules, who was just glaring back–angry at him for his stupid comment, but also a bit terrified. They were both middle aged businessmen; hardly a match for the guys surrounding them.

“N-No. Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t–”

“Look boys, if these two won’t kiss, why don’t we just kiss both of them?” the boss said, to raucous howls of his gang. They closed in, one man grabbing Jules around the shoulder and pulling him into a smoke filled kiss, while Eli, fought his way out of the circle, losing his coat, but emerging unscathed otherwise. He looked back for Jules, but he was…still kissing the man? The guys were still chasing him, but he ran out of the bar as fast as he could hailed a taxi, and headed back to the convention. Jules would be fine, he assured himself. He’d…make it back on his own.