Glorious

Matt had been having a hard day. Not the worst day he had ever had but certainly not a good one. His day had started out by waking up late, missing his alarm by 40 minutes, then spilling coffee all over his new crisp and ironed shirt. Not to mention his boss had not been happy with how late he was. After this series of relatively unfortunate events Matt had just accepted that his day was not going to be a good one.

As the day continued to churn on his mood did not improve and nor did his luck. He must have tripped 4 times already and bumped his hip into the corner of his desk enough to leave a bruise. When the time finally came for home to return home Matt found himself wondering the dark streets, meandering slowly towards his apartment but getting distracted by the large fluorescent lights littering the sides of the road.

One particular set of lights had Matt raising his head in interest. Hanging on a sign over a slightly dingy looking door were the words "GAY SEX STORE XXX ADULTS ONLY". Sure, it wasn't his proudest moment but he figured his day couldn't get worse any way so with a quick look to check if anyone would notice he opened the door and slipped inside.

Unlike Matt, Peter had been having a great day. He had woken up on time, gotten to work on time and kept his clothes neat and tidy. His day was going very smoothly and he couldn't have been happier. His boss had just come to discuss all the great work he had been doing and he knew he would be a shoe in for the promotional role. With all successes of his day so far, he was feeling pretty pumped so when the time came for him to head home he decided he wanted to go and celebrate.

For some reason the streets were relatively empty for a Friday night but Peter still wanted to go out. He entered a bar that was just down the street from his work and ordered a beer and some shots. There were a few guys mulling around but no one that Peter was particularly interested in. After downing his drinks, he decided nothing was happening in the bar and disappointingly moved on.

Nothing else was really appealing to him outside either, all the other bars he had seen looked like the first and he could feel himself growing impatient. He hadn't really expected to go home with anyone that night but he wouldn't have minded meeting some new people. Just as he was ready to give up he noticed a bright neon sign indicating to a sex store. With nothing else on for the night, he figured he could pick something up to entertain himself at home.

As Matt entered the store he noticed gladly that no one else was inside except for the inattentive cashier. He moved through the isles reading the cheesy and graphic porn titles remaining uninterested and not finding anything worth investigating further. His mood remained low even with the awkward situation he was in. Moving towards the back of the store Matt noticed a sign saying "Bathrooms". Realising that he had to go he headed towards the door and entered one of the stalls

Peter entered the store in a slightly worse mood then he had left the office with but a also with a determination to enjoy himself that night. The store was packed full of weird and colourful sex toys and rows upon rows of porn DVDs. After picking up a few DVDs and various objects from around the store including lube and condoms he walked towards the casher who had only now looked up from their phone. They quickly went about scanning all of Peter's items and rang up the cost. Just before Peter was able to pick up his bag the cashier almost hesistantly suggested that he "Try the bathrooms up back." If he was looking for some fun.

Peter was shocked at the suggestion as was about to storm out when he stopped and considered it for a moment. He had wanted to do something tonight and maybe this hadn't been his original plan but wasn't he always telling himself to try new things. With a glance at the cashier he picked up his began and began to walk towards the bathrooms located at the back of the store.

At this point Matt was just sitting on the toilet seat thinking about his life. Realising the situation he had found himself in and reflecting on the events of today, Matt began to cry. This was possibly the saddest moment of his entire life, crying in the bathroom of a sex store, but at this point the tears had started and were no likely to stop soon. His sobs were so loud that he managed not to notice when someone entered the bathroom.

Upon entering the bathroom, Peter noticed the rather loud sound of crying from one of the stalls. This is not what he had in mind when the cashier mentioned "fun" and his first instinct was to leave immediately and perhaps he should have but something kept him from leaving. The crying continued and Peter felt himself begin to feel sad for whoever had found themselves in this situation, with this in mind he entered the stall beside the source of the crying. Looking around he stall he realised that there was a relatively large sized hole cut into the stall wall. Contemplating what to do he coughed loudly trying to get the attention of the man next to him.

The sudden cough next to him shocked him into stopping his sobbing and he was immediately mortified.

"Um hi, are you okay?" The voice from the next stall called.

Matt did not want to answer but he knew that he had already been found out so hesistantly replied.

"No I guess I'm not", he said in a whisper that was barely audible.

"Oh well, do you want to talk about it?", the anonymous man said.

"Yeah not really." Matt replied, not believe that the situation was actually happening and praying for this man to leave but the man obviously did not get the memo.

After only a few short back and forth replies Peter figured he would go all or nothing as the situation was already weird to begin with.

Cautiously Peter asked, "Um ok then, did you, I don't know want to hold my hand or something?"

Matt was taken aback. What kind of person would ask to hold hands with some stranger they found crying in the bathroom of a sex store? He had no idea but considering how vulnerable he was in that moment, after a solid minute of silence he replied.

"Yes, please." He muttered back quietly.

As soon as he said it a hand popped through a hole in the wall that he hadn't noticed before while he was crying. Slowly he reached out and grasped the hand in front of him, it was warm and soft and gave him unexpected comfort.

The two men sat in silent in their prospective stalls holding each other's hands for what seemed like an eternity before Peter spoke up once again.

"My name's Peter by the way."

"Matt"