Saturday, November 12, 2011

Sat Sips - Michael Mandrake Captain of His Heart

Greetings fans! Welcome to Michael's where me and BL have been hosting since Michael took over our place for 2 weeks. *laughs* 


It's been fun being here and for him we're giving you a sip of his story that he's trying to finish along with the NaNo novel called Captain of His Heart. 


Its a May/December story about an older man looking for love and hopes he finds it in a man about 20 years his junior. Anderson plays Cooper Delaney *snicker* and his other model is down below for Mario. Andrei Andrei


Here's a snippet.



After grabbing the quick bite, they headed to the bookstore as Mario wanted. Immediately, he took the quick turn to go to the military fiction section while Lonny went to the magazines.
He took a quick look at his cell phone and began to peruse the titles from left to right. Mario loved books the old school way; print books instead of the digital versions. He liked the feel of a novel in his hand but he did own a device to read other things like gay fiction and or erotica on public transportation; the stares from people about those reading selections wasn’t something he wanted to endure.
“Oh, there.” He finally saw the book he’d been searching for and picked it up to read the back cover. Mario took a quick glance to the right before shifting back to ogle the book when he saw a handsome gentleman standing at the end of the aisle.
“Hmm,” he smiled and licked his lips. His target: an older guy with nicely toned arms and a tight blue polo atop loose fitting jeans. His hair black and grey and from what he could tell a well defined face.

In truth, Mario always preferred older men who were mature and experienced. Because he and Jaz were together for so long, he never got the chance to date one. Maybe he’d be able try it out now. He wondered what this man’s story was.
Could he be married? Single? They were too far away from each other to tell if he had a ring on his hand. More importantly, was he gay?
Mario decided to get a closer look.
Casually, he strolled over and pretended to notice another book. He stole another glance and peered at his facial features.
Gorgeous.
Blue eyes from what he could tell, a narrow nose, barely a wrinkle on his face and no ring.
Again, Mario grinned and kept staring, thinking about what to say to him. He decided to give it a shot. “Hey, um, is that the new Clancy in your hand?”
The man looked up and smiled. “Yes, it is. You read Tom?”
“Yeah, I do. I loved Dead or Alive. Actually, I’ve read all his books.”
“Really?” The gentleman nodded and turned completely around to face him. “Forgive me but you don’t look like one who’d be interested in Clancy.”
“Oh? What do I look like, then?” Mario folded his arms.
“Not sure but.” He laughed and flashed a smile that could light up a small community. “Here I go again putting my foot in my mouth. I’m Cooper.” The gentleman extended his hand.
Mario didn’t really take offense, it only raised an eyebrow. At least the guy admitted he might’ve made a quick assumption. “I’m Mario. I do read other things too but I enjoy books like this more than others.”
“As you should,” he replied sheepishly. “I’ve been looking forward to reading this new one for a while. The man really writes great stories, so real like he was actually involved in the situations he creates. I can appreciate that being a former military officer.”
The young man perked up when he heard Cooper’s last statement. “You were in the armed forces?”
“Yep, Major General Cooper Delaney. I’ve been retired since 1996. I fought in Kuwait during Desert Storm.”
“Wow, seriously?” Mario’s eyes bulged. He gripped onto the small book a little tighter. A real life war hero right in front of him. A good looking one too, but was he… “That’s great. I can’t believe I’m actually standing with a war vet. I’ve always been interested in the military just never had the balls to join.”
“Eh, you didn’t really miss anything. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything but the way the armed forces has treated gays and lesbians over the years hasn’t been fair.”
Oh thank God!
Mario licked his lips and said a silent prayer, thanking the entities above that the man brought up orientation and he didn’t have to. “Very true, so you are…”
“Oh yeah, very. I got out right before they could kick me out,” he laughed. “It’s funny, overseas a lot of soldiers had no issues with us, you know? In fact, a lot of the straight ones wanted to join in just to say they’d done it but once we got back on American soil they turned on us. Thank goodness a lot of them still had enough respect to keep their mouths shut or I could’ve lost everything under DADT.”
“Very true. Hey um, so, could we talk sometime, maybe go out for dinner?” Mario wanted to know more about this man. Surely Cooper would have plenty of stories to tell. “I don’t mean to rush but I gotta get back to work.”
“Sure, let’s exchange phone numbers.” Cooper handed Mario his cell.
Young Dagosta punched in his. “So, how about we go out tomorrow night but I’ll give you a ring this evening. Is that cool?”
“I’d love that.” The grey haired man smiled. “An easy enough number to remember. He pressed the green button.
Mario’s phone rang. “Perfect. Say around seven?”
Cooper nodded and shook his free hand. “Yes, that’s fine. I look forward to chatting with you.”
“Same here. Well, lemme get outta here.” Mario looked around and saw Lonny give him the strange eye.
“Okay, talk with you later.” 

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