I was working full time at local retail store had been with them for about 3 years when I had a customer come in. While assisting this gentleman he inquired if I did any side work. I explained yes I did what would he be interested in. He wanted me to help him to redecorate his den. He was probably in his late 40’s to early 50’s I was in my early 20’s at this time. It had been a while since I had contact with anyone who was gay other than my brother.We lived in the suburbs of a large town in the south. I imagined that he could pick up that I was gay as I found out years later when I started to deal with it head on most everyone knew and I didn’t fool anyone. We introduced ourselves him telling me that his name was Matthew. I set up a date and time to visit his home to give him a quote on the job.Matthew lived in between where I lived and my work so one evening after work I proceeded to go by his home for a quick assessment. We went into the den having nice conversations, when he asked me are you gay? I explained
