“I booked us a table at Club 45 for dinner,” Francis mentioned.

It was Sunday afternoon and Francis, Merrick, his boyfriend Joel and Gideon sat in Gideon’s lounge room in his city apartment.

“I’m not going,” Gideon informed them. He sat crossed legged in the over large single sofa as the other three lounged around on the large sofa. Gideon refused to leave his apartment and thus they had converged on him, forcing Gideon to face his birthday together.

“Sounds good to me,” Merrick answered, ignoring Gideon.

“I’ve been wondering what that place is like,” Joel replied.

Merrick and Joel made an odd couple as far as Gideon was concerned. Joel, with his pale skin, fair hair and a good foot shorter than Merrick, looked like he could break if Merrick were to lean on him. Merrick, with his muscles and workout regime was the complete opposite. Yet they were in a stable, long-term relationship having met at The Blue Bar some years past. Envious of their relationship, Gideon would never admit it out aloud. Merrick had found someone to share his life with, something Gideon had not. It was also the age difference, Joel being five years older, that first concerned Gideon, given his dislike for older men. However, there was little not to like about Joel, except when he too played along with Merrick and Francis’s games at annoying Gideon.

“I looked it up on the web, and it sounds nice. A relaxing sophisticated environment for mature social gatherings.” Francis recited.

“I’m not going,” Gideon told them again.

“So I guess that means we’ll be the youngest there,” Merrick asked.

“It’s possible.” Francis told them as they all watch for Gideon’s response.

Gideon knew there was no way he’d be allowed to spend the night of his birthday at home. It didn’t matter how much he protested, his friends would hang around until Gideon gave in, they always did.

“Fine. What time?” Gideon asked.

“Seven, does that give you enough time to get ready?”

Gideon looked at the clock above the stove. A little after four, he huffed before standing.

“Pick me up at six thirty.” Gideon left the room; the bathroom door slamming a few seconds later.

Despite the name, Club 45 was not designed for the mature aged patrons as Francis led on. Located at 45 West Terrace in the city, it was an inclusive restaurant where couples could dine and be free to be romantic if they so choose without feeling intimidated by their environment.

They arrived to pick up Gideon on time, however Gideon had another meltdown before being convinced to leave the apartment. He understood his friends eagerness to celebrate his birthday but this was the one Gideon would love to have ignored. Maybe in a week’s time he’d be more inclined to do something but that night all Gideon wanted was a quite evening.

The restaurant was elegantly detailed with white covered tables and high back black plush chairs. Small glass vases with dainty pink flowers ready to bloom; complimented by the pale pink serviettes and the dark oat walls and floor did not detract the bright friendly atmosphere. High ceilings with spotlights scattered at different heights gave a wave effect of shadows across the room. The ambiance was pleasant and the smells within the restaurant enticing.

Seated at square table by a nice young man name Rick; Joel, who sat to Gideon’s left leaned over and murmured, “Ask if Rick is free later this evening.”

Gideon scowled and replied, “Not my type.”

Which wasn’t true, however Rick looked like he was in his early twenties, if not late teens and Gideon wasn’t going there.

Joel laughed and said, “At your age you can’t be picking and choosing anymore.”

The three laughed as Gideon lifted the menu in front of him and ignored them.

After ordering their dinner, no cute waiter on the side, all three tried to engage Gideon in conversation but he continued to sulk.

“Fine, Gideon. If you’re going to be like that, for everyday now for the rest of your life I’m going to remind you how old you are,” Francis told him. She sat to his right, with Merrick across from him.

Seated by a nice young man by the name of Rick. Joel leaned over to Gideon and murmured, “Ask if Rick is free later this evening.”

Gideon scowled at him and replied, “Not my type.”

Which wasn’t true, however Rick looked like he was in his early twenties, if not late teens and Gideon wasn’t going there.

Joel laughed and said, “At your age you can’t be picking and choosing anymore.”

Gideon lifted the menu in front of him and choose to ignore them.

After ordering their dinner, no cute waiter on the side, all three tried to engage Gideon in conversation but he continued to sulk.

“Fine, Gideon, if you’re going to be like that, for everyday now for the rest of your life I’m going to remind you how old you are,” Francis told him.

“Oh please don’t. It’s bad enough I’m old.”

“Life begins at thirty.” Joel told them.

“People who are thirty say that to feel better about turning thirty,” Gideon replied.

“Wow, he really is being stubborn about this, isn’t he?” Joel commented.

“Whatever, I’m going to the bathroom?”

They could laugh all they wanted, but it really mattered to Gideon he was now thirty. As his day progressed, and he received telephone calls from friends and family, he began to realise that not only was he thirty but he was still stuck in his pre thirty lifestyle. He was single and suddenly he was no longer satisfied with that. Somewhere along the line Gideon imagined he'd have settled down at thirty. Instead, he found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. He loved the life he had but how much longer could he continue before they started looking at him as he once looked at them.

At the sink, Gideon washed his hands lost in thought. When the door to the bathroom opened, a gentleman several years older stepped in and immediately eyed Gideon over. Annoyance quivered down Gideon’s spine reinforcing his desire never to be like that. As the man passed Gideon, he watched in the mirror as the gentleman took another glance his way.

It was enough to make Gideon lash out. “What are you looking at?”

The man’s eyes met Gideon’s in the mirror, the smile on his face salty. “It’s not a crime to admire the view.”

“Screw you,” Gideon replied as he went to leave.

It happened quickly, giving Gideon no time to respond. Yanked around and forced back against the door, Gideon seethed as he glared into the man's brown, almost black eyes. His bronze skin, darker under the dull lighting made him appear more intimidating.

Not sure what he was expecting, it certainly wasn’t the sudden soft touch of lips against his, nor the body contact. The man’s weight pressed against Gideon’s in a sexual way, his hips gently thrusting forward. A sweetness Gideon only knew in the most intimate of relationships stole his senses. The gentle tracing of tongue over his entice Gideon further. The rough, threatening exchange he expected never came. The kiss grew in strength as Gideon’s eyes closed and his body melted. Fingers against his neck gentle stroked his hairline as nails moved back and forth in rhythm with their tongues. Intoxicated, Gideon didn’t come to his sense until the man pulled away.

Eyes half lidded, the man leaned forward, his hot breath against Gideon's ear and said, “Don’t you mean to say, screw me, sir.”

Gideon’s eyes widened as his realised where he was and what they were doing. The sight of the bathroom and the musk smell from the man mixed with the sanitized room brought Gideon back to reality. Not realising his hands had made their way to the man’s waist, Gideon pushed him away.

The man chuckled before moving towards the stalls. There was a moment Gideon’s emotions regarding older men resurfaced, threatening to break him but those quickly turned to anger. Fear he would make a scene; Gideon slammed the door open and stormed back towards the table.

“I want to go home now.”

Everyone looked up and then returned to their conversation ignoring him. Gideon stood for a moment before forcing himself in his chair. Arms crossed over his chest, Gideon angrily stared at each of his friends, making them feel uncomfortable.

“Ok. What now.” Francis reacted first.

“Oh. Nothing. Sexually assaulted in the bathroom is the normal thing to expect from a place like this.”

“Who was sexually assaulted?” Joel asked.

“Me.”

“You were gone for five minutes. Not even that. Who was it?”

“I have no idea. A creepy older guy hit on me.”

“You should be please about that. Someone still thinks you're young.” Merrick joked.

“You know what. Screw you too. I have good reason to not be comfortable around older men and you know it. And if I get sexually assaulted in a bathroom, I'd expect my friends to be more sympathetic.”

There were shocked mute expressions on the three faces staring at Gideon.

“Is there a problem here?”

All four stared up at the man standing beside their table.

“You.” Gideon spat.

“Me. As the owner of this restaurant I hope everything is to your liking.”

Gideon blanched at his words. Owner.

“No. It's not.” Gideon replied.

From the corner of his eyes he saw his friends move uncomfortably in their seats, their discomfort obvious. The attention received from other patrons around them didn’t go missed by Gideon. All he’d wanted the whole day was to not celebrate his birthday. Was it too much to ask? Rather than make the day any worse than it had been, Gideon let out a deep breath, turned to the man beside them and said, “It's my birthday and I'm yet to receive my free glass of wine.”

With raised eyebrows, the owner stared at Gideon.

“I see. Then allow me to arrange something for you.”

Gideon crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to acknowledge his friends.

“Were you really assaulted by that man?” Francis leaned close and quickly asked.

“Yes.” Gideon gruffed.

“Oh my. Where do I need to go to get that?”

Gideon’s head whipped around to stare at his friend.

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, Gideon. Look.”

Francis took hold of Gideon’s face and turned it towards the bar.

The owner arranged glasses on a tray before opening a bottle of wine.

“Look at him Gideon. He’s so hot. How can you be complaining if you got groped by that man?”

“It was more than being groped.” Gideon grumbled but he couldn’t help but now admire the man. Tall and extremely masculine, Gideon experienced a shiver down his back as he remembered his encounter in the bathroom. For a brief moment he’d almost begged for more. But it was wrong. The environment, the situation; the last thing Gideon wanted was to be taken advantage of by an older man. Even one as enticing as the owner of the restaurant.

“We didn’t mean to imply what happened was right. It’s always been an issue with men falling for your good looks before they know you better. But you’ve always been able to look after yourself Gideon. It’s not that we don’t care, it’s that we know if the situation did get uncomfortable you’d be able to take care of yourself.” Francis said as their attention once more fell back to their company.

“If he really did sexually assault you and you want to leave, then we’ll leave. We didn’t come here to ruin your birthday.” Merrick added.

At that moment Rick appeared, placing a bottle of red wine on the table with four glasses.

“Please accept this wine as a gift from Mr St Clair.”

Gideon glanced from the wine to Rick, then to the bar where the owner stood staring at Gideon. With a smile, he gave a nod to Gideon, who ignored it before turning back.

“Thank you.”

Rick left and taking the bottle, Gideon poured himself a glass and said, “I’m not sharing this.”

All three friends glanced between each other and said nothing.

And drink the entire bottle, Gideon did. By the second glass, Gideon had relaxed and the atmosphere between the friends fell back into a rhythm. They joked forgoing the ones about Gideon’s age. Their dinner arrived and as much as Gideon disliked the restaurant, the food was to his liking. With the wine gone, Gideon barely noticed when Rick took the bottle and replaced it with a second. This bottle Gideon shared with his friends as he lost his inhibition and began enjoying the evening. When the third bottle arrived, a note attached read - Brett St Clair, his phone number and the messaged; call me. They were all left speechless.

“Are you kidding me?” Gideon said as he screwed the note up and tossed it a Francis.

“Ah, Gideon. Don’t be like that. You’ve obviously left an impression.

“He told me to call him sir.” Gideon replied.

Silence around the table confused Gideon, expecting his friends to say something.

“What!” Gideon asked.

Merrick and Joel couldn’t hide their laughter.

“He likes you.” Francis chucking.

“Who the hell attacks another man in the toilet and then gives him their number. Don’t you find that a little extreme?”

“Not like that’s never happened at The Blue Room.”

“Well no but he’s… old.” Gideon groaned.

“Oh please will you get over the whole age thing already? It's getting old Gideon.” Scorned Francis and Merrick snickered.

Gideon stared at his friends. It was bad enough he was turning thirty, then to be molested by an older man. Something he was sure he’d finally grown past. Then given his number on a bottle of wine. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t sympathise with him more. Defeat washed over Gideon and taking the bottle of wine, he stood and left the restaurant.

“That went well,” Merrick said.

“That boy is an idiot most times,” Francis said finishing her drink.

“I still can’t believe he’s behaving this way because of his age.” Joel replied.

“Gideon has always been hit on by people older than him. It all started in high school when one of the female student teachers had a thing for him. His immaturity back them put him in a situation he wasn’t comfortable with. Not his fault at all but they made him believe it was. When he got older, he didn’t take any crap from anyone he deemed to old. Why he thinks he’s now one of them, because he’s turned thirty, I don’t understand. He’s nothing like those people.” Francis said.

“He’ll realise that soon enough.” Merrick replied.

They sat in silence for a moment before Francis pulled out her phone and called Gideon. After a quick conversation she said, “He’s going home to get drunk. Alone.”

“I guess that’s the best thing for him right now.” Joel replied.

“Right, so another round of drinks then?” Merrick asked.

“Sure why not, this place is really nice,” Francis told them.

“I agree we should definitely come here more often,” Joel replied.

“What happened to that name and number, do you still have it?” Merrick asked.

Joel stared at him and Merrick quickly replied, “You seriously did not think I was asking for me.”

Joel raised his eyebrows and Merrick rolled his.

“I tucked it into Gideon’s back pocket. Didn’t even notice.” Francis replied.

“I wonder if he’ll find it?” Merrick asked.

“If not, we’ll make enquiries into getting another copy before we leave.” Francis suggested as they ordered another round of drinks.