I met Douglas Reitzel a little after midnight, September 9, 2006. I was at the Necto to see my friend Robert Mitchell, when I ran into my old friend Donnie, whom I hadn't really spoken to in about 10 years. I gave him a hug, and when I turned around there was this hottie boy (Douglas) glaring at me; I thought maybe he was hot for Donnie and that he wanted to hurt me or something. That's certainly what it looked like. I said something to him about that, just as I always do in such situations, and he said that was just the way he looked and that he didn't want to hurt me. I talked to Donnie some more, and when I turned around again Douglas was gone. I later ran into him again on stage, while dancing with another guy I met that night named Steve. Douglas used this opportunity to reiterate that he wasn't a bad guy, and this time I really felt that he wasn't, and then I suddenly found him all kinds of interesting. I already knew he was cute. But now I wanted to know more. I told him that if he was interested in Donnie that he should pursue him because Donnie's a great guy.
After the bar closed Steve & Douglas both invited me to join them for food & conversation at a nearby pizza place. It was odd, because I'd just met them separately and had been attracted to both of them, with Steve openly showing interest. That might have prevented me from going with them, but having learned that Douglas wasn't the bitch that I'd assumed him to be earlier, I wanted to see what else was hiding beneath the surface, and I wasn't sure I'd see either of these guys again, so I just went along with the fun, and agreed to meet them there. When I arrived at the pizza place (they went ahead while I chatted with Jeremy & Robert) I got in line with Douglas, while Steve fended off the annoying advances of a drunken shmuck. I liked the way Douglas smiled when I told him I was there to see him; he has a really great smile. I asked Douglas some personal questions, wanting answers for queries that kept popping into my head, and he seemed to answer them all honestly. The emotion in his voice cut into me, and was one of the amazing things that I'll always remember about that night. Eventually we all had to call it a night, and I said my goodbyes.
I wrote about Douglas a few days later, and tracked him down on myspace, so he could have access to what I had written. I found Steve as well, and did the same for him. I still don't know if I'll ever see them again, or if we'll get to know each other any better than we do right now, but I hope that we do. Something tells me it would be worth the effort.
POETRY INSPIRED BY DOUGLAS:
09/11/06 - IF LOOKS COULD KILL
10/04/06 - HOLDING DOUGLAS