Chapter 34

I knew the ma?tre d’ slightly from many previous visits and discovered that Charles knew him similarly. On the way to our table, we each spotted one or two acquaintances, though none that we’d known in common prior to that evening. I commented on this when we were finally seated at our table, saying, “Funny, we seem to have traveled in totally different subsets of the same circles.”

“Greater Atlanta has a population of over four million, of which considerably more than ten percent would statistically be gay,” I said. “Add to that the fact that it has been sort of a gay mecca for decades, and I would guess the percentage to be much higher than ten. I certainly don’t know more than a tiny fraction of that number, so I guess it’s not too strange that we never met before, and I’m sure that we didn’t.”

Changing the subject, I said, “Do you think it’ll be safe for us to stop by my condo on the way home? I really do need to gather some clothes and things.”