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“Where are you going??” Howard shouted.
He could barely hear his own voice above the roar of the crowd and music. A bit of panic was setting in as he noticed Vince shifting his body to fit between a couple next to them
Vince turned and saw Howard’s tiny eyes growing wide with concern. Even now, halfway through their trip and in the middle of Times Square, Howard remained unconvinced that celebrating New Year’s Eve in New York was a good plan. He moved back towards the larger man and placed a well-manicured hand on Howard’s shoulder.
“Calm down, just think about corduroy and jazz ‘oward, it’ll be alright” Vince cooed leaning close in to Howard’s ear so as to be heard. He straightened up and flashed a grin at Howard, hoping that as long as he projected cool, calm, and collected, Howard’s anxiety would subside enough for Vince to leave and get another drink for them both. It was almost midnight and Vince was not about to ring in the New Year without something bubbly tickling his nose. He hoped Howard’s mustache would be doing the tickling after the champagne was gone, but that was another matter entirely.
Howard’s hand rubbed absently over the leg of his brown cords as he took a deep breath. He’d opted for warmth rather than fashion, checking the weather channel compulsively while they were getting ready in the hotel room.
“Aren’t you even a little bit cold, Vince?” he asked, casting a wary eye up and down Vince’s sequin-clad frame.
“Nah, I’m too excited! Besides, there’s loads of body heat from all these people and dancing” – Vince shook his hips to illustrate – “keeps me well-warm.” As his hips continued to rock Howard watched the lights around them reflect off of the mirror-ball suit and had to admit to himself that Vince was looking very good this evening.
“We need champagne!” Vince announced. He looked around to see where he might be able to get a couple of glasses, preferably those tall ones that looked like small vases. “I’m just going to see where they got theirs, so stay here alright?” he continued, nodding his head in the direction of a small gathering of people.
Vince watched Howard’s head nod in an unconvincing manner and then began making his way over to the other revelers. It seemed like they tried to give him some direction but Vince really couldn’t pick up much of what they were saying. He continued along until he saw a door – a pub perhaps? Vince turned the knob and entered a small corridor.
“Oh thank god, we thought you weren’t coming!” a woman shouted from behind him. Vince noticed a small earpiece attached to her head and the clipboard in her hand.
“Sorry, wha –“ Vince tried to ascertain what was happening as the woman wrapped her arm around him and ushered him down the hallway.
“We’re all set, we just need to strap you in, ‘kay?” the woman went on. “This way, come on.”
“Um, yeah?” Vince felt out of his depth, and quickly thereafter, out of breath. The woman had led him out of the small building and up so many flights of stairs Vince had lost count. It was much windier at this altitude and Vince found himself wishing Howard was there to wrap his jacket ‘round Vince’s shoulders. Then he made the mistake of glancing to his left. And down.
Before he could say or do anything else a large man was helping him over a steel barrier that clearly existed for people not to climb over and settling him into a harness. Vince stared open-mouthed as straps and buckles were connected and tightened. Someone popped a helmet on his head and clicked the safety clasp in place under his chin. Behind him he heard a voice say “we’re a ‘go’ for the drop.”
“Wait, wha-” Vince tried again but the man was climbing back over the barrier. Vince was alone and had a feeling like he was on top of the world. Oddly enough, not in that good way people usually talk about that feeling. He wrapped his arms around the pole in front of him and was finally able to get a proper look at what was happening below him.
There was Times Square and all the people out to celebrate the New Year. Where was the ball they dropped though? Vince had been able to see it so clearly from the ground with Howard. He thought it strange to be so high up and not have an even better view.
Vince’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden illumination of everything around him. He felt the pole shift followed by the sensation of falling in slow motion, like being on an elevator. As the glowing metal under him moved closer to the ground, Vince’s brain cell clicked the pieces together like the safety snaps holding him in place.
“HHHHOOOOOOOWWWAAAAAAAAAAARRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!” Vince screamed at the top of his lungs, eyes searching wildly for the only man wearing a brown corduroy suit in New York on New Year’s Eve.
When the countdown started, Howard had turned around to face the clock
“Where are you, Vince?” he’d muttered under his breath, looking around for that reflective outfit. Leave it to Vince to be getting off with someone ten seconds before the exact time Howard had decided to confess his love.
Sighing heavily, Howard looked up at the glittering ball making its descent. His small eyes picked up on a shape near the top of the sphere. Was that? No, couldn’t be. Surely that’s not – but, as the clock ticked to its last second and the ball hovered just above the earth, Howard knew for certain. Strapped to the top of the Times Square countdown ball, screaming bloody murder for the world to see and hear, was Vince Noir.
Howard began to giggle, thinking to himself how fantastic of a story this was going to be. He decided he would let Vince tell it, in glorious detail, on the way back to their hotel. Just one time though, because once they were back in the room, Howard was going to make sure both of their mouths were occupied with other things.