Another Inferno
Carnal Monologue # 6
Part #1 – Mr. Wallace Ambrose
Loretta
He had to be the most decadent man I have ever known. And that’s saying something because I’ve come across a few characters in my time. But that’s a whole other story I don’t have time to go into right now. And I don’t want to either, so there.
Know what he said to me the very first time we met? He told me he was and I quote; “The lowest form of white trash” I would ever meet. And of course I didn’t believe him. In fact I think I might’ve even laughed at the outrageousness of the remark. I mean here we were in this very nice restaurant having lunch. He was interviewing me for the position of this upscale and quite successful boutique he owned called Monkey Shines located on Park Avenue and he was telling me this about himself. His name was Ambrose and he was from the south. At one time he had been a popular model doing mostly print ads and a few TV commercials. But over the years he had gained a considerable amount of weight so those days were long gone. Now he dressed in white on white and taking the way he did he looked and sounded like a character out of a Tennessee Williams play. We were eating and having drinks and in general having a good time when that remark came out. And like I said, I laughed because I didn’t think it was serious.
I gave him my resume’ and he sort of dismissed it with a kind of off handed gesture…”I don’t need to see your credentials” he said…”I can tell just by talking to a person whether I want to hire them or not.” Then he ordered another drink and we continued talking. Around three o’clock he paid the check and told me I was hired All I needed to do was show up at the boutique at nine the following morning and Louise the departing manager would show me around and introduce me to everyone. When I asked about the salary he asked what I was earning at my last job, I added a couple of hundred to what that figure was and told it to him. He looked at me with a half smile on his face and said that he would pay me two hundred more.
Outside on the sidewalk shielding his eyes from the sun he asked what I was doing that night. He explained that if I was free there was a gallery opening he was going to and it would be great if I could accompany him…”It’ll probably be boring but there will be a lot of people there who are current or potential customers for the boutique. You could meet them and maybe pass out a few cards.”… I thought about it for a moment and said yes. It would mean moving a few things around but why not.
It was great to finally have a job after all those months of sending out resumes’ and interviewing.
At eight thirty I arrive at the address he gave me. There were people in formal wear all over the sidewalk with drinks in their hands talking and laughing…”Isn’t that against the law?” I wondered as I made my way through the crowd. Inside I found Ambrose waiting there all dressed and looking quite elegant for a man of his weight. “Isn’t it awful?” he said….”I had no idea it was going to be such a mob scene.” …Then he took my arm and said “let me introduce to Adrien Wells, she one of the owners and one of the biggest Dykes in town. But she knows how to pick artists and make them big even when they aren’t very good.”…Adrien weighed in at close to 300 pounds and had this big throaty laugh…”Welcome” she said to me, “there’s food, drinks and all sorts of other stuff. Plus the art of course. And don’t forget they’re for sale, each and every one.” Then she told Ambrose how awful he looked, he returned the compliment and they both laughed. “You’re with the worst human being in the city.” she told me. “I’d be careful if I were you.” …It was clearly a routine they’d perfected. After that I met several people Ambrose I ought to meet then he got lost in the crowd and I circulated a little. He had given me a stack of cards for the store so I passed them out while looking at the paintings and talking to people. We got back together about an hour later when he came up behind me and said; “Had enough?”…I told him sure and we left. Rather than go home right away we went to this little bar down the block for a nightcap. It was as though he knew everybody at the opening and told me all sorts of gossip about them; most of it sexual. Two thirds of the attendants from what I could gather were either homosexual or bi. And from what I could perceive so was Ambrose.
After a few drinks he said; “We better go, tomorrow is your first day and you don’t want to be late.” He paid the check and we got into a cab. The idea being that he would drop me off first then continue on to his. Somewhere along the way the cab made a sharp turn and we were thrown against each other and the next thing I knew we were kissing. Don’t ask me why. The liquor probably. But there we were clinging to each other like a couple of teenagers. And some instinct or maybe it was his urging had me kissing his stomach and below. That’s when I heard him tell the driver to forget the address that I had given and replaced it with his own. After that he gave me his undivided attention.
We got to his place and stumbled out the cab and up the stairs. By this time his clothes was all in disarray but we didn’t care. Plus it was one o’clock on the morning and there was nobody around. Three flights up and we were into his apartment working our way to the bedroom while discarding all of our clothing. What can I say? It was a surrealistic scene that never seemed to end. Who knew that a man of his weight and age could be so energetic or inventive?… And when it was over we both slept a bit then went into the kitchen for coffee. I told him that I was seeing someone; he told me he was too. A Latino guy named Louie. Said that I would meet him soon. We were both a little baffled about how things turned sexual between us and agreed that it wouldn’t happen again just because it wasn’t a good idea. No, it wasn’t a good idea at all. Then we went back down to the street where he got me a cab and waved goodnight. By that time it was close to four in the morning. What a night I thought. What a way to start a new job.
The Stark Naked Pen 