THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
Alexandre

Written by Lady Poetess
egiggles at moose-mail.com
/~bbp

Please do not reproduce on any website without permission. This
story has no resemblance to anyone dead or alive.


ONE

"Hey, Despatie, you wanna come or not? We're gonna start the bash
without you." Michael Phelps called out over the noise in the bar.
"You're still not hung over Athens, are you?"

Alexandre Despatie gave his friend the finger and a grin before
turning his back to the man. "Start without me," he mouthed to
Michael and then laughed into the phone.

"Don't ever do that shitty dive again on me, Alex," the voice at the other
end said.

"I won't, TL," Alex answered. "Will you forgive me?"

"Is something troubling you? I wanted to ask but I never had the
chance after the platforms and you left before I could find the
opportunity - "

Alex's free hand traced the edge of the collar of his T-shirt as
he leaned against the wall and couldn't help but to smile. Dear
Tian Liang, his nemesis in the pool and the only man who cared
enough to ask about Alex's well-being. His coach blasted him for
that unforgivably bad dive in round five that cost him a bronze
medal and everyone in the Canadian dive circuit let their
disappointment at him evident. He wasn't going to complain to TL
though. Mathew, that fucking son of a bitch they'd both hate if
Mathew weren't friends with them, sneaked in with a stunning
dive that grabbed him a silver medal, causing TL to be bumped down
to third. It was bad enough to lose to a cocky team mate poised to
steal TL's place as the darling of the Chinese dive contingent,
but TL received a less forgiving reception than Alex's own
handlers when he got a bronze medal instead of a silver medal.
Alex was bitter over his performance but he knew he had it easier
than TL.

The warmth of TL's palms on his back was still fresh in his mind,
as was the comforting embrace TL quickly gave Alex at the end of
the platform finals more than a month ago before TL was whisked
along by his people. Alex had watched from the sidelines,
abandoned by his own people, as TL sat isolated in his seat, the
man's face in his hands, and Alex wanted to run across the hall
and somehow drive away TL's disappointment. He'd let his tongue
trace the contours of TL's lips and they'd find a bed where they
would make love at leisure like he'd always wanted them to instead
of the quick, furtive couplings in between tournaments behind
their strict handlers' backs.

They would meet again when the international diving tournament
season began next year but Alex couldn't bear to wait and in the
meantime having to settle with only their rare telephone calls.

"Why don't we quit diving?" he asked TL on impulse. "We can
finally see each other more often, babe, and we don't have to keep
pretending anymore. I want to see you every day, TL," Alex
confessed as he pressed his forehead against the wall. It was
easier than he expected to convey what he had kept repressed
inside his heart and the relief of freeing these emotions cut
through the rigid barriers protecting his heart from deviating
from the rigid determination to be the king of the divers. Through
years of discipline and drive, his loneliness cut down these
barriers into the ground. "I cannot bear to be with you for only a
few hours before we fly our separate ways."

"Give up diving? Alex, have you been drinking?"

Alex pressed his free hand over his forehead. "I don't drink, TL,
you know that."

"Yeah, I've sometimes thought about running away from everything.
I would get on a plane and surprise you."

"And we'll actually get to fuck more than once and actually sleep
together once we're done," Alex finished for TL.

"Exactly," TL said wistfully. "But we won't be happy if we quit."

"I know," Alex agreed with a sigh. "Diving is in our blood."

The way their minds seemed to work concurrently to the point that
they often had the same thought at the same time was what made
them realize a few years ago that they could be more than just
bitter rivals. It started with a quick hello when they crossed
each other's path and evolved into tentative chatter on the
poolside benches over the months where they eventually became each
other's emotional anchor. Their life of rigorous training made it
difficult for them to maintain a social life and it was probably
natural that they eventually became lovers. It started with a
playful water fight in a pool after the Atlanta games that ended
up in an unexpected kiss and their story hadn't ended yet, not if
Alex had anything to do about it.

"I'll drop by and visit you," Alex said. "Yeah, I'll do that," he
said as his determination crystallized. "Your parents would love
me."

"They hate Americans and I don't think they will care that Canada
is an entirely separate country," TL said in a bemused tone.

"I can be very charming when I want to," Alex offered. "Come on,
TL, just think, I'm near you the entire day, we can learn about
each other's bad habits, and just think, man, you can have my cock
and asshole anytime you want when I'm with you - me, man, the
cutest diver outside China, all yours. People want me. They
analyze my package on the Internet. And you get me. You're the
luckiest son of a bitch in the world and you'll be fucking nuts to
say otherwise."

"Well, okay, come over. Book a hotel room just in case my parents
don't agree."

"Get your own house then, TL," Alex suggested with a chuckle.

"And where will I get the money to do so?" TL asked with a snort.
"You have sponsorship deals and groupies. I have to compete for
the motherland. You will be a media figure once you retire. If I'm
lucky, I'll be a coach and if not, I'll be working for minimum
wage in an electronics factory."

"Don't. Marry me. We'll be media correspondents and commentators
in our own show or even start our own business," Alex said, still
young enough to counter TL's fatalistic pragmatism with his own
optimistic idealism. He sobered for a moment. "I'm serious about
the marrying me part, TL."

"Ask me again after you've met my parents."

"Oh, as if such a trivial matter will change my mind," Alex said
cheerfully.




TWO

Tian Liang owed his sexual education to Alex. He wasn't sure
whether he was gay, hell, he didn't even think of being gay
because such concept was outside his comprehension. He only knew
that he was vaguely unhappy and his few sexual encounters with
women weren't satisfactory. He assumed that it was due to an
inadequacy of his part, but the size of his cock or the quality of
his performance never mattered when he first fucked Alex. It was
the first time he experienced an orgasm that had him shaken to the
core and he threw himself into touching, tasting, and exploring
every part of Alex's body with an enthusiasm he never knew he had.
He might not be a virgin when he had Alex, but in a way, he might
as well be.

He had no other male lovers because unlike Alex, he lived in a
society where gay life was non-existent unless he knew where to
look and he certainly didn't know where to look. But it didn't
matter because Alex was everything he had dreamed of and more. It
was strange how life dealt him his cards because he never expected
a rival, a non-Chinese rival especially, to step in and fill up
the empty places he never knew he had inside his heart. He would
never forget what Alex meant to him even in his last breath. But
he also knew with increasing despair that what they both wanted
could never be. Alex was destined for greater things while TL, he
knew he would have to be here and play the responsible eldest son
to his family.

Ah, his family. His old-fashioned family would never approve of
his sexuality, except perhaps his younger sister Tian Li whose
exposure and embrace to Western cultures made her a constant
target of the other family member's exasperation. Tian Li, who
preferred to be called Lily much her parents' consternation, had
pronounced Alex 'adorably cute' to TL the moment Alex walked into
the Tian household.

TL smiled as he stood at the kitchen doorway and watched Alex
charm TL's mother like no one else could. A week ago, his family
was prepared to loathe the Westerner who had the nerve to
challenge TL's greatness, but from the moment Alex grinned and
greeted them in passable Mandarin, he was systematically winning
them over. Right now he was telling TL's mother about the antics
of some former Hong Kong star expatriates in Canada and making her
laugh. TL had never heard his mother laugh in a long time. She was
always cooking, cleaning, and making sure that the household was
functional that TL realized, with a sobering dismay, that he had
long stopped viewing her as a human being and instead as someone
he'd taken for granted without realizing it. Had she always had
those lines around her eyes and lips? She was fifty-nine now. And
she was telling Alex in halting English that Alex was "really
cool". TL would bet that she caught that phrase from Alex himself.

"TL, there you are!" Alex said cheerfully, spotting him. "Your
mother and me have just returned from a day of shopping. I never
knew that we can eat so many different parts of so many animals in
this world."

"Wait until you've tried my mother's stewed chicken feet," TL said
with an evil smile. He squeezed back Alex's hand under the table
where his mother couldn't see, for they were careful to portray
themselves as just friends to everyone around them. Still, it hurt
to act as if what they had was something to be ashamed of.

On impulse, he gave his mother a hug. She screeched in surprise.
They were never a family given to open displays of affection. TL
had never heard his father tell her that he loved her in public
but their love and affection were nonetheless there, a palpable
force evident in how he held her hand as they crossed the street
or how he just held her hand absently as they watched in the
evening the wide-screen TV bought from the generous governmental
compensations reaped from TL's diving successes. "I love you,
Mom," he said a little awkwardly. He wasn't prone to public
displays of affection, after all.

She blushed and, saying that men didn't belong in the kitchen,
drove both men out of the kitchen where she reigned with an iron
will.



"You are quiet," TL said as he hugged his ankles and rested his
chin on his knees. "I told you not to sing karaoke with my father
and the uncles."

Alex laughed. He was always laughing, except when he was about to
dive, where he was always acting as if every dive was his last
chance to prove himself. "No, it's not that," he said as he
climbed onto the separate bed TL's parents had set up for him in
TL's bedroom. "I just realized that nearly everything in this
house came from your continuous success in diving."

"Yeah, things are better now," agreed TL. "Maybe one day I'll get
a car."

"That's why you won't have me, right, TL?" asked Alex softly.
"Your family needs you and you will sacrifice your own happiness
for them."

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"No, don't be. I expect no less from you. I am crazy about you
because you are so sensible, so wise, and so responsible. It's
hard to believe that you're only four years older than me because
you do so much compared to me," Alex said.

"And I'm cute," TL teasingly reminded him. "You love my hawk-
shaped nose and my smile."

Alex chuckled. "Yeah," he said. He sighed as he glanced at TL's
bare torso. "It's really too bad that you don't feel comfortable
fucking with your parents sleeping next door because I'm really in
the mood for some hot loving, babe."

TL swung a leg off his bed. "Screw my parents," he declared
fiercely as he pushed his thumbs down the waistband of his shorts.
"Suck my cock, Alex," he ordered. He swallowed as Alex's lips
parted to take his cock in. "But let's not make too much noise,"
he amended before losing himself in Alex's expert cocksucking.

They did a sixty-nine on TL's bed before hungrily kissing and
sharing the juices each man spilled into the other's mouth. They
were still kissing when TL's thick cock impaled Alex on the bed
and pumped the man into a hard climax. They took turns with each
other, rediscovering their bodies and pleasuring each other, lost
in their private world until weariness forced them to sleep in
each other's arms.



Alex tried not to count the days as he ran after TL, shouting with
laughter, and pounced on TL until they rolled onto the ground and
ended up giggling as they looked into the each other's eyes. It
was a dusty roll down the hill slope and they almost fell into the
muddy ditch but all they felt was the shared bliss they had in
each other's presence, playful or serious.

"I'm falling in love with you," Alex murmured before burying his
face in TL's shoulders and half-sighed, half-laughed. "I don't
want to go home."

"Training will resume in a few weeks' time and we have to forget
this for a while," TL tried to say in pragmatic calm but his arms
tightened around Alex. "Fuck!" The rare expletive was drawn from
him for it wasn't easy to stay sensible when his heart was being
torn to pieces. "Maybe it's better if we have remained rivals."

"No, don't say that," Alex said with a shocked gasp. "I know this
fucked-up situation we have is affecting our performances but I
won't give up knowing you this way for all the gold medals in the
world. We can do this. We can keep meeting like this until we
retire in a few years and then we'll find a way to be together."

"It doesn't feel right," TL said with a humorless smile.

"But we have each other," Alex told him. "And to me, that's all
that matters." He rolled off TL reluctantly to lie on the ground
beside the man. Turning to look at TL, he said, "I'm glad I came.
Your family is okay and I'm sure your sister suspects that we are
sleeping together, but I'll fit in well. We'll fit well too, I
think. I know now that I want to spend the rest of my life with
you."

"But my family..." TL sighed. "They would never accept a gay son.
Neither would my neighbors. My family will be shamed if I come out
and my career." He cursed and pressed his face into Alex's chest.
"I want to be selfish, Alex, but I can't. I'm so sorry."

Alex shut his eyes tight. "Yeah, me too, TL," he whispered.





THREE

"Are you still talking to me?" TL asked.

Alex nodded and smiled weakly. "Yeah, TL. How have you been?" As
he made conversation with nonchalance that he didn't feel, he bent
to warm himself up.

"Fine." TL hugged himself although the pool was far from cold.
They both watched the crowd as Mathew Helm climbed up to the
platform for his dive. "You're close to Rommel now, I see."

"He's just a friend," Alex said. "Not that it's any of your
business," he said, his smile letting TL know that he didn't mean
that. "But yeah, we're not sleeping together if you're worried
about that."

"I shouldn't be. I gave up my claim on you after I asked you to
let me go," TL said. Unable to look at Alex, he turned away to
hide the pain in his eyes.

Alex couldn't bear that. He had been furious at the way their
lives were that prevented them from having a life together but he
had never blamed TL for the darkness that seized him in the last
half year that had him throwing himself into training with a
vengeance. "You let me go," he reminded TL. "But I'm always here,
TL, and you know where to find me if you want me back." He cursed
and smashed his fist into the wall. "Maybe I will move on one day,
but I want you to know this, TL. I don't think I will ever give
anyone else what I've given you because you have the best of me."
He cursed once more. "Good luck to you," he said and he had to
leave. He had to walk away from TL.

"I told my parents about us."

Alex stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at TL in disbelief.

"I told them everything. I got down on my knees and wept," TL
softly whispered, "because I can't bear to live if I can't love
you. You know what they said?"

"I don't know. What?" Alex asked, taking a step towards TL.

"They wondered when I would tell them because my parents suspected
that we were more than friends quickly after they met you and saw
how you were with me. They weren't pleased but they had my brother
and sister to give them the grandkids they wanted so they weren't
too torn up. They would like you to drop by again one of these
days. My father wanted to learn some Bruce Springsteen songs for
the upcoming karaoke competition." TL smiled weakly, hopefully.
"So, Alex, will you take me back?"

"Of course, TL," Alex whispered. He laughed as he took TL's hand
and shook it. And then he gave himself up to the moment, damn
whoever might be watching them, and embraced TL hard.

"By the way, we may not have a problem with me coming out," TL
whispered into Alex's ear.

Alex looked at him questioningly.

"I stumbled upon Robert Newbery fucking the shit out of Hu Jia in
the changing room a few minutes ago. Not a bad way to reward Hu
Jia for his tens."

"But Robbie's married!" Alex exclaimed.

TL shrugged without concern. "I guess the motherland can be
persuaded to turn a blind eye if she wants to keep her best divers
even if they happen to enjoy sleeping with men."

"But TL, Robbie's married," Alex said once more. "I don't believe
it. His poor wife. That bastard!"

"How about me? I just got back with my boyfriend and all he cared
about was my biggest rival taking it up the ass with a married
man."

"Biggest rival? Then what am I?" Alex demanded, giving TL a
playful shove.

"We'll see," TL promised. "I'm going to defeat you."

Alex laughed. "Don't bet on it."

TL nodded, smiling agreeably. "I think we both will do well," he
said to the man he loved. And he was right.