Dad is not gay Read online

  »I’ve no doubt whatsoever that our marriage won’t last long, wifey!«

  »I think it’s a good idea that Mom is going to study,« Anton butted in on his parents’ conversation.

  »Don’t get involved! You are occupied dealing with your secondary growth of hair,« Tom said pointedly.

  Anton perked his left eyebrow up. He swallowed a comment and left the room.

  »Continue working at the Muellers, darling! You’re doing alright with your 400-Euro-job, which is much better than studying for years and getting no job after that.« Tom fished for the rolls and ignored Zoe’s grimace.

  «You damn chauvinist! Why shouldn’t I get a job as an architect? I have a lot of ideas in my sleeve.«

  »You better live out your ideas in bed,« Tom smirked and tried to kiss her, but Zoe beat him like a nasty fly. »Step aside, you’re a ghastly husband! You should assist me instead of putting me down.«

  «Change the record! I’m not putting you down. Experience has shown that a fourfold mother won’t get a job easily.«

  »I’ve waited for this university place for one year now and on Monday I’ll be there eight o’clock on the dot.« Zoe threw her head back stubbornly.

  »If you say so,« Tom sighed.

  »What do we do tomorrow?« Zoe asked incoherently.

  »Tomorrow is Sunday and I have to coach Luca Steffen. Afterwards, I’ll have a sauna. Didn’t you listen?«

  Zoe turned up her nose. »Since when do you have a sauna on Sundays?«

  Tom shrugged. Actually, he had a sauna on Fridays.

  »Biggi and Pamela are coming tomorrow,« said Zoe and poured some more coffee.

  Tom grinned cheekily. »Exactly, and that’s why I’ll have a sauna tomorrow, darling. You can cater for them on your own.«

  Zoe looked at him reproachfully and remained silent. Tom neither liked Biggi nor Pamela. Both came from a wealthy house and they made no attempt to hide it.

  »You could bring Frederik. Pamela thinks he is nice.«

  »I see!« Tom knew exactly that Pamela was wild about him.

  Zoe took some salami and put it on her roll. »Frederik isn’t married, is he?« Her eyes plunged inevitably into his iris.

  Tom knew this look. She would keep at it until he answered. »No, he is not.« Frederik was his queer colleague – and that’s why he wasn’t popular. Tom thought he was nice even though he couldn’t deny certain homophobe features.

  »Great. So bring him straightaway. I’d like to marry him off to her. He looks absolutely staggering.«

  »Yeah,« sighed Maja dreamingly. »Dad, will you bring me an autograph by Luca Steffen?«

  »How do you know about Luca Steffen?« Tom added his daughter with the look of an eagle. »Oh no, young lady, you’ve eavesdropped on us? Good Lord, elephants bugging operation!« Tom shook his head. »Now, my eleven-year-old daughter is chasing after men.«

  »So what?« Maja shrugged. »I’m almost a woman and Frederik looks almost as handsome as Luca Steffen does.«

  Zoe giggled behind her cup of coffee. She caught Tom’s look and shrugged. »Your daughter has good taste.«

  »Fredi is cool, Daddy,« said Penny blinking at her sister.

  »Okay, girls, before you order the official wedding notice for Frederik and Pamela – or you are buying your first wedding magazine, Maja – I might clear up…Frederik is gay.«

  Hush.

  Four pairs of eyes looked at him appalled.

  »Gay?« Zoe asked aghast.

  Tom nodded.

  »What’s gay, Daddy?« Penny inquired.

  »You’re too small for it, Penny,« Tom answered and stroked her hair.

  Anton banged his glass hard on the table and spilled the content. »This is disgusting, Dad. Frederik is gay?« He shuddered as if Tom had spoken of a terrible, highly contagious disease. »How can you stand him…in one room?«

  »I thought you’re partners?« Zoe asked stunned.

  »We work together«, Tom replied, »but we have no steady partners at the police.«

  »I’ve always thought you can’t stand queers,« Zoe said in a low voice. Thoughtfully, she rubbed her nose.

  Tom was looking for the right words. He hadn’t got anything against queers, but on the other hand, he had nothing in common with them either. »As long as they leave me alone, everything is fine.«

  »Queers are really lousy,« Anton threw in, »how they are running around, so cuddly.«

  »Frederik is not cuddly,« Maja said. She fixated on her teacup and, finally, shrugged. »I don’t see anything wrong with it but it’s a pity.«

  »Why?« Anton asked curiously.

  »Because he is so damn good looking and so nice,« Maja laughed, »now I can’t marry him anymore.«

  Tom joined in her laughing. Frederik was in fact so attractive that all female colleagues buzzed around him like flies, even though his sexual preference was an open secret.

  »So you’ll have a sauna tomorrow evening,« Zoe finally said.

  »Yes.« Tom stood up and got another cup of coffee.

  ***

  »Good morning, Tom!« Mark signaled to Tom and pointed to a young man in his early thirties in a blue shirt and jeans. Tom has already seen him countlessly on TV. His brown hair was cut in a modern way and it framed his perfect face very well. Obviously, Luca Steffen did not need much make-up at his shootings. He smiled at Tom friendly and held out his hand. »Hello! I’m Luca. Luca Steffen.«

  There they had the legendary actor and ladykiller of the German nation, the ›LoD‹!

  Tom took the offered hand and, immediately, felt nervous butterflies in his stomach. While two hazel eyes studied him amused, an electric shock went suddenly through him. Still shocked, Tom completely forgot to introduce himself.

  Mark gave him a pat on the back. »This is Tom. Tom Weidemeyer, your coach. He’ll prepare you for your shooting for the next four weeks. You got practice room number three on your own.« He waved at them and disappeared into his office.

  Electrified, Tom stared at his hands. He felt as if he had touched fire.

  His vis-à-vis smiled at him free and light-heartedly. Three striking laughter lines emerged next to his eyes.

  Tom tried to smile while trying to interpret the emotional chaos inside him.

  His heart was in his mouth!

  Good Lord, he admonished himself, Luca Steffen was only a person – actor or not! And he was not the first public figure he met.

  They entered the training room which Tom locked for safety.

  Shaking his head, he turned around and tried to concentrate upon his mastery: sword fight.

  »Okay, Mr Steffen, let’s start! Four weeks isn’t much time.«

  »Of course, but please call me Luca.« He smiled at Tom and touched his arm.

  Good Lord, he is electrifying my nipples!, Tom thought panically. Simultaneously, a shiver ran down his spine. »It’s cold in here,« he said to overplay his uncontrolled trembling. His pulse was racing while Luca’s arm still rested on his arm. His touch burned into his skin like a heating pad.

  »I don’t know the first thing about sword fight, but in four weeks I have to be well up in it so that I won’t step out of line as the heir to the Egypt’s throne.« Luca winked at Tom.

  Tom cleared his throat.

  Did Luca Steffen compromise him? Horse hockey, Tom scolded himself, Luca was a ladykiller and men were not his cup of tea!

  »I’ve brought the sword I’ll use at the shooting,« Luca replied while Tom tried to enlarge the distance between them. He couldn’t explain to himself why this guy made him that nervous. Finally, actors are only ordinary people.

  Luca raised his left brow. »You’re the best, I’ve been told.«

  »Yes? Well, probably.« Tom nervously wiped his hands and forced himself to smile. Then, he got his sword out of his bag and put on his mask. Actually, he was always fighting without this nasty thing, but Luca has never handled such a sharp weapon and his face was sacred to him. One never knew how clumsy
he would be – TV star or not.

  Suddenly, Luca put off his shirt and threw it upon the bench.

  Tom caught himself sneaking a glance at Luca’s chest. Good Lord, this guy was so muscular as if he had never done anything else but fighting. He looked like a natural fighter!

  Tom was taken aback.

  Was he envious, crazy or just impressed?

  »Is everything okay?« Luca laughed nervously. He laid his towel around the neck und pointed at Tom’s shirt. »Don’t you take off your shirt?«

  Tom avoided looking at him. His physical reverberations were absolute irrational.

  What was wrong with him?

  He didn’t fancy men!

  Silent, Tom grabbed hold of his sword.

  »Is it wrong to take off the shirt?«

  Tom stared at his pupil in disbelief.

  Did he mean it?

  Luca was standing in front of him, his perfectly curved mouth slightly opened, underneath was the hairless body of a divine stripling.

  Tom shook his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

  Why was he thinking about Luca’s mouth?

  His girls at home had got him all confused with their worship of their film star and now he compared their comments with his real vis-à-vis.

  That was it!

  Luca smiled at him disarmingly and grabbed his sword, too.

  Tom took off his mask and scrutinized Luca’s weapon. »Fortunately, you are well-built. Otherwise I would have had real problems teaching you fencing.«

  »Why?« Luca asked surprised.

  Tom swallowed. »Well, your sword is pretty front-loaded. This makes it easier to learn the technic, but it’s a problem for slim men who need a tail-heavy sword. With your sword a powerful blow turns out even more gigantic.«

  Luca listened in awe. »You really seem to know a thing about fencing. And swords.« Slowly, a smile played around his lips.

  »Let’s have a look at the blade! It shouldn’t be too hard otherwise it’ll break and I’ll get hurt.«

  »Rather not, even though I think nothing can disfigure a real handsome man like you,« Luca joked while Tom’s finger glided over the blade.

  In fact, he was watching more Luca out of the corner of his eye than the weapon in his hand. In order not to stare at him any longer, he gave back the sword and took his own sword to polish the blade, even though he did this after every training lesson.

  »Okay, still a few more words before we start. We are training with a partner, not with an opponent. In films it might be different.« Tom breathed in. He had difficulties to concentrate with Luca around. »We start with basic techniques. Watch out that you advance with every step. You raise your sword from the middle of your body and you move in for the first strike horizontally, approximately in an angle of ninety degrees.« Tom performed a strike, Luca was able to imitate after the second try.

  »Very well, now I show you how to parry the opposing sword. You always have to parry the attack with the short side of your blade, the arms stretched and your knees slightly bent to get more stability. The tip of your blade has to show forward.«

  They practiced again attack and defense.

  Tom was surprised about Luca’s talent and flung his mask into the corner after half an hour.

  »Now I show you ox and ox-parade,« said Tom and took his stand in the middle of the room. He showed Luca how to handle the sword with one hand to hit the opposing sword and not to be hit. »Don’t forget to protect your trunk!« Tom warned. »Doing the ox, the strike has to be done diagonally. You have to raise it above your head aiming at the collarbone, but you have to be aware to pull towards the rips of your opponent.«

  »I would have never thought that fencing makes such fun,« Luca called after one and a half hours sudorific fight. He took his towel and dried his glossy chest.

  »Women will love you even more.«

  »Hm.« Luca did not seem to be able to work up any enthusiasm for the promised female euphoria. He just changed the subject. »How did I tackle my first lesson?«

  Tom looked at him without answering.

  »I guess I made a bad job, didn’t I?« Luca smiled apologetically and held out his hand as if he had played tennis.

  »No, no,« Tom hurried up to answer, »you were good, excellent, in fact. Not a scrap of a beginner.« He took Luca’s hand ignoring the queasy feeling.

  »Really? Thank you!« Luca winked mischievously and let Tom’s treacherous heart jump.

  Good Lord, his body went berserk when Luca was around!

  He could not help thinking of Zoe.

  God, earlier he had been so nervous when she was around. But now he was not standing in front of his wife. He was standing in front of Luca Steffen, the famous German actor, the worst ladykiller of the whole nation and he felt as if Luca’s reverberations plunged into his brain ready to hypnotize him. It was enough to drive him mad!

  »Do we see us tomorrow?«

  That was an absolutely unnecessary question! Luca has booked him exclusively for four weeks.

  Tom nodded and moved towards the door. He urgently needed a cold shower.

  Of course, Luca followed him. »Are you training for a long time?«

  Tom – distracted from Luca’s athletic chest and his emotional chaos – needed some time to answer. »I’ve been fencing for twenty years now.«

  Luca stopped, taken aback. »For twenty years? How old are you, then?« He looked Tom up and down and brought him to blush with shame.

  »Thirty-one.« Embarrassed, Tom moved on to the locker room and ignored Luca’s piercing look. He opened his spint and pulled off his shirt.

  »You’ve started fencing at the age of eleven?«

  Uh, he could calculate!

  »Yes.«

  Luca threw his bag next to Tom’s and took out his shower gel.

  Hesitatingly, Tom slipped out of his tracksuit bottoms and stowed them away in his bag. »I’ve watched too much of Sindbad,« he finally joked.

  Luca laughed. »I’ve loved these films, too. That’s why I’m shooting in Egypt. To fulfill my childhood dream.« He shook his head. »Blimey! How can one handle a sword with eleven years?«

  »That’s no problem, swords for kids are just smaller,« Tom replied cheerfully. »Anton, my eldest son, has also started at the age of eleven.«

  Luca’s look rested on him and sent him shivers down his spine again. »You’ve got an eleven-year-old son?«

  »Anton is thirteen.«

  «Gee! You’ve started early. I’ve one daughter, but she is only six as yet.«

  »Are you married?«

  »No, it was rather a faux pas.«

  Tom did not get into it. With every second he got more and more the impression to come under Luca’s spell. He was completely confused.

  Without taking his eyes off, Luca stripped naked. »Do you have more kids?«

  »Yes. I’ve got one more son and two daughters. Benno is seven, Maja eleven and Penny is three years old.«

  »Four kids? That speaks for itself. So you’re married?«

  »Yes.« Tom grabbed his shower gel.

  »You’re still ripe, lad.«

  Did Luca look at him lecherously?

  Good Lord!

  Tom began to sweat.

  He opened his mouth to reply something, but he couldn’t think straight. Insecure like a school boy, he grabbed his towel and turned. He went to the first shower and turned on ice-cold water. That was all he needed – a hard-on!

  »Tomorrow is Monday,« Luca called over the roar of the water. »Elsenhauer said, you’re on holiday and we are already going to train in the morning.«

  »Yes.« Tom smiled and forced himself to look at Luca’s face even though he was desperately interested to know what a ladykiller had to offer down below. »We’ll start at ten. Be in time!« Tom left the shower room and hurried up to leave the club. He was sure that Biggi and Pamela would still sit in his living room to put ideas into Zoe’s head, but everything was better than being around Luca.r />
  This guy made him fucking nervous.

  More than he could need!

  ***

  »Where are your sports shoes, Frederik? We gotta go to the operation training.« Questioningly, Tom looked at his colleague who stormed out of the common room with reddened cheeks. »Luca Steffen is in town, did you know that?«

  »As far as I know, does he have his residence in Hamburg, Frederik; that means, he stays here from time to time,« Tom answered piqued. He wasn’t in the mood to talk about Luca.

  Each time, he thought of him, his perfect body appeared to his inner eye and chased a fast train through his stomach.

  Yesterday, they had trained for five hours and had so much fun that he had completely forgotten that he had trained with the heartthrob of his wife. And now, there was hardly a minute he did not think of Luca.

  »Really? Goodness! I missed out on that.« Frederik got his sports bag and followed Tom outside.

  They ran to the neighbored building which was released for demolition.

  »Oh, how I hate operation training. We always have to scramble about in these shabby houses to arrest each other,« Frederik murmured.

  Tom grinned. »Just imagine, you are allowed to have it off with the detainees.«

  Frederik stood still, his eyes screwed up. »You probably think that queers are uncontrolled sex machines, aren’t you?«

  »Are you in a bad mood today,« Tom replied disapprovingly.

  »Do you think of sex with every practice you’re doing?«

  »No.«

  »Look! Me neither. The fact that I’m gay doesn’t make me to an uncontrolled nymphomaniac.« Frederik passed the glass door and headed for the building next door.

  »Do male nymphomaniacs exist?« Tom asked more himself.

  Frederik shrugged. »No idea. At least, I’m none.«

  »What do you like about Luca Steffen? This guy screws one woman after the other, at least, in his films. I don’t want to know how many wet dreams he has already caused my wife.«

  Suddenly, his colleague stood still and looked dreamily into the distance. »Luca Steffen has got a charisma like no other. When he raises his left brow and impishly smiles into the camera, I got randy and could make it with him.«