They met at the Circle Bar named aptly for its location at Lee Circle.  Also where the parade route for the Krewe of Muses would run through and be about halfway for both of them.

 

Raf was walking over from his hotel off Canal Street.  He and his friends were in town for the Mardi Gras festivities, but planned to take off before the actual Fat Tuesday celebrations.

 

Likewise, Pablo was on foot – heading east on St Charles Avenue from the Garden District where he and his friends had staked out a great little spot to watch the parade across from one of the boutique hotels in the vicinity.  The purpose of his visit was primarily to see family in the Greater New Orleans area with half-hearted intentions of trying to score tickets for Superbowl XLVII mainly due to the incredible prices third-party sellers had listed them for.  An accomplished author, he’d had a goal to write at least a thousand words a day on his trip to incrementally progress on the manuscript he was working on.  Pablo knew his subject matter, however, the inspiration (the words) just hadn’t been there whenever he sat down to write.

 

He would later realize how those first steps along the path of Muses would lead to so much more than simple inspiration…maybe even leaving him a little muse.

 

Pablo and Raf had been messaging online a couple days before – initial introductions, playful and witty banter, some sexual innuendo and trading of pics as eagerly as little boys traded baseball cards.  After building up great rapport as well as the idea of one another in their minds they’d decided to meet up for a drink.

 

Raf arrived at the Circle Bar with his buddies just a couple minutes before Pablo.  They were sitting in the back of the bar past the skinny walkway of this better-known New Orleans institution known for hosting musicians, though not necessarily of the jazz genre.  While his friends sat drinking their PBRs, Raf instead chose to stand and sip his beer – there was just that right amount of nervous excitement welling up inside of him.

 

Pablo reached the entrance of the Circle Bar with the start of a sweat beginning to break – he didn’t realize how much the crowds would slow him down as he zigzagged through vendors of food, mom’s with strollers, and clusters of young folks holding plastic tumblers containing some sort of adult beverage.  Nor did he plan on ducking and dodging all the giveaways the Muses would throw out to the crowds including their collectible glittered shoes; released piece-meal amongst the waves of beads coming off the floats, which is the real currency of carnival parade goers.

 

He looked at the entryway and took a deep breath.  Here goes.

 

Treading slowly along the skinny walkway he stared around to see if he might recognize Raf’s face from among the bar patrons.  Nobody familiar.  He continued further just before he came to the back of the bar when Raf had leaned over to check if he had yet arrived.

 

With ice-cold beer in hand, Raf smiled warmly when he first made eye contact with Pablo greeting him with a Hello and outstretched arms.  Pablo reciprocated with a hug then stared into Raf’s eyes when he felt a spark of electricity surge through his body.  He could feel Raf’s vibe, his vibration.  All these thoughts rushed to his head followed by a sort of euphoric no-thought moment.

 

Then calm.

 

Pablo gleaned back at Raf and immediately began sensing his shoulders relax, his neck loosen up and his breathing slow down.  He was in remarkable ease.

 

Once again he wore an ear-to-ear smile; next asking Raf if he wanted a beer as he leaned against the end of the bar.  Raf nodded.

 

After grabbing another PBR for Raf and one of the local brews, an Abita Amber, Pablo sat down at the bistro cocktail table where the group had been perched.  Raf made the introductions – his friends Tim and Duncan had been together for a couple years.  Pablo keenly remembered Raf’s comment when chatting online about how he was feeling like the third wheel on his friends’ trip.

 

They chatted and broke the ice over a round of beers.  Tim and Duncan still had dinner plans that evening making an offer to Pablo to join the group for dinner.  Not being particularly hungry at the moment he declined checking to see if perhaps Raf would want to continue watching the parade, which he indeed did.  So the two went away for their dinner as planned bidding farewell to the bubbling lovers.

 

Raf and Pablo were left at the table with beers partway drunken barely able to focus on anything else besides each other.  They were coherent.  The replies matched the questions each one had for the other being both relevant and revealing.  Yet the sexual tension was incredibly immense between them.  It was as if each question was just another way to be a little more of a flirt and a reason to put one’s hand on the other’s shoulder, nape or other part of the body affectionately.  Raf mentioned how it was great that it wasn’t awkward at all.  Pablo would reinforce that thought lobbying to Raf about their “chemistry”.

 

This is how the Nola Beaux and Wander Lover got together.  For 36 hours, they would taste the best of their oyster, the city of New Orleans, creating memories they’d never forget.

***

They would remember the first date at Le Bayou for burgers and Abita ales with the alcoholic waiter who refused to give no less than the best service to them.

 

In their mind and bodies, they would hold the memory of the steamy, passionate shower sex at night when they initially consummated their meeting.

 

Either would smile at their fortune thinking about Sweet Gilda at the Hilton Garden Inn’s restaurant who made them omelets the next morning saying how she who wouldn’t let the guys go hungry despite being closed for breakfast.  Just fill in the comment card, my babies!

 

Pablo would find the Mardi Gras masks in the hotel lobby and ask Raf to take photos of him then together.

 

Raf will recall bringing Pablo up to the Hilton’s rooftop pool and being the only ones up there as he told him an interesting fact about how otters hold hands when they swim out to sea or sleep so they wouldn’t get separated.  And they would float on their backs trying to mimic the same.

 

They would remember the trip to the praline shop in the French Quarter then being redirected to the Lafitte Visitor Center to use the restroom.  Here they would find a serene garden with fountains and beautiful plants – an oasis of peace amidst the carnival madness… a perfect setting for them to be just a little more honest about how their time, although ephemeral, seemed to flow as if they’d known each other for years.

 

There would be the memory of dancing on the stage at the Bourbon Pub together like go-go boys and smoking cigarettes although neither was actually a smoker.  Of course, there’s also the tale of how within the first five minutes of meeting another bar patron, that patron would buy them both cocktails because of how sweet they looked as a couple.  Then within 10 minutes would flash them his junk and within 45 minutes would display a bag of crystal meth, which then had them rethinking the actual cost of those free cocktails.

 

The guys will be able to tell the story of how around 4am, Pablo would walk back arm-in-arm with Raf to the hotel having found out that his flight was a day sooner than he thought wanting to make the most of the time they would have left.

 

Pablo would reminisce the last night with Raf holding each other while they slept only to rise 3 hours later as Raf began to pack his bags shoving clothes strewn with beads quickly into his carry-on.

***

Then the goodbye kiss.  Both of them hadn’t known what their time would have created in each other.  Their feelings weren’t lying to them and neither was the fact that they lived in different cities.  This was true.

 

Pablo would remember stroking Raf’s coppery-red hair and grasping at his nape looking at him wanting to say more and do more.  He resisted future proche thinking opting instead to be present.  To be here.  No past.  No future.  Just here.

 

One last kiss.  Make it count.

 

Raf could summon up pulling Pablo into an embrace and giving him a deep, satisfying kiss.  One that would communicate to Pablo how their time would mean so much to him.

 

Raf would remain in the hotel waiting for his cab to the airport with Tim and Duncan.

 

Pablo would depart walking through city streets on the way to the ferry terminal to get back to the West Bank.

 

The walk back alone was a thoughtful one.  Pablo dwelt on circumstance.  Thinking left-brained while being so in touch with his heart.

 

As he boarded the ferry he became keenly aware that only a couple of folks had boarded the ship.  He went out on the deck as the boat began to leave the dock noticing the morning fog hover over the current of the Mississippi.  He was on his way to Algiers to complete the first part of his journey home.

 

He looked down at his phone remembering it was still only about a quarter past seven.  Seeing his newsfeed for the day, one particular piece stood out to him – a quote from Paulo Coelho:

 

Really important meetings are planned by the Souls long before the bodies see each other.

 

He looked up smiling as he felt the breeze on the upper deck of the boat thinking to himself no other words could as precisely describe what the last 36 hours for him meant.  He was inspired.  He found his muse.