The Summer of 1981, Part 26: Everlasting Love

[Padraig]

For those of you who would like to catch up, here are links to the earlier chapters:

Part 1: The Best of Times
Part 2: Wasn't That A Party
Part 3: The Boy From New York City
Part 4: The Voice
Part 5: Feels So Right
Part 6: Sausalito Summernight
Part 7: The Waiting
Part 8: All I Have To Do Is Dream
Part 9: Urgent
Part 10: The Theme From The Greatest American Hero
Part 11: Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through
Part 12: Life of Illusion
Part 13: America
Part 14: Deep Inside My Heart
Part 15: Mister Sandman
Part 16: Hard To Say
Part 17: Bette Davis Eyes
Part 18: Limelight
Part 19: Cool Love
Part 20: Don't Let Him Go
Part 21: Physical
Part 22: Hold On Tight
Part 23: Medley
Part 24: I Love You
Part 25: The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)


Any feedback is very much appreciated - I would love to hear from those of you who have been reading. Or if you just want to reminisce about some of your favorite music or memories from 1981, please feel free to share. Thanks!!


__________________________________________________

Our time has come
All my dreams have come true, darling
Two hearts as one
Loving me, loving you

Open up your eyes
Then you'll realize
Here I stand with my
Everlasting love

Tug didn’t notice the slight chill in the air as he strutted along the sidewalk for two reasons: 1) he had dressed for inclement weather with a coat and long pants, and 2) he was pre-occupied trying to commit his wedding vows to memory.

I need you by my side, there's no need to hide…

You’ll never be denied everlasting love…

He arrived at his destination and had to turn sideways just to fit his colossal shoulders through the doorway.

“Mr. Yates, so good to see you again,” said Salvatore Columbu, the dark-haired owner of the tailoring shop, from behind the front counter. Sal was in only his mid-thirties but had been running the business for over a decade, since it was left to him by his father. In addition to repairs and alterations, he also made all of his own clothing designs and had been a long-time favorite of the locals when they needed a truly special outfit.

“Sal, I keep telling you to please call me ‘Tug.’ Mr. Yates is the name of my father.”

Sal rushed up to his customer to shake his hand. “OK, OK, Tug, how are you doing?” As he spoke, Sal could tell the 18-year-old had gotten quite bit larger since his last visit, but under his coat and clothes, it was difficult for him to tell exactly how much bigger.

Tug reached out his meaty paw and pumped Sal’s smaller hand up and down. “Very well, Sal, very well. Just getting ready for the wedding.”

“What’s left to do?”

“Not much – we’re very much on target for the date. Other than getting my tux and memorizing our vows, I think we’re pretty well set.”

“I’m sure you’ll have no problem with the vows during the ceremony, Tug. It’s been very evident for quite some time that you two were deeply in love,” said Sal.

“Thanks, Sal. From the very start, it felt like we opened up our hearts to one another, you know? We looked into each other eyes and could just see the love inside, burning strong.”

“And now you two will be together forever.”

Tug nodded in agreement. “Exactly! No more goodbyes for us. We’re going to spend the rest of our days in each other’s arms.”

“Excellent! So, are you ready for me to take your measurements for the tuxedo?” asked Sal.

“I am indeed. What do I need to do?”

“Well, Mr. Y-…um, Tug. Let’s go to the back room.” The tailor motioned for the strapping lad to follow him toward the back of the store, and he led the way to a small private dressing area. “I need you to disrobe and only keep on the clothes you will be wearing under the shirt and pants of the tuxedo.”

“No problem,” said Tug. He took off his black windbreaker and his tight blue polo shirt and hung them on a hook on the wall, revealing his massively muscular upper body to the tailor – bowling ball shoulders that rippled with power, bulging biceps with crisscrossed veins, beefy square pecs the size of two ripe melons, and rock hard abs with unbelievable definition. Sal’s eyes grew wide as he gazed at the smooth sinew that completely covered Tug’s hyper-masculine torso.

“Good heavens, Tug! You look so much bigger than last time.”

Tug smiled and hit a double bicep pose, filling his arms with size and strength unimaginable to most men. “Thanks, Sal. I’ve been working out really hard the past few months, and I just broke the 300 pound barrier. Some people think I have too much muscle, but I don’t think I can ever be big enough.”

“300 pounds! Goodness!” exclaimed Sal as his face began to redden.

“Well, I am 6’4”. I need a lot of muscle to be really powerful at this height.” Tug then kicked off his shoes and reached down to unzip his pants, carefully removing the black slacks one leg at a time, and then hanging them on the back of a nearby chair. Tug’s legs were supremely well-built towers of muscle that extended out of a pair of white briefs stretched firmly across his jumbo-sized glutes.

Sal stared at Tug’s legs in amazement. “It’s a good thing I didn’t use old measurements for your tuxedo, Tug, because you would have bulged out right through it. It looks like you have grown all over!”

“You think so?” Tug asked with a smirk on his face. He turned toward the wall mirror, hitting a most muscular pose to inflate all of his brawn to its maximum size. “I keep thinking I need to get my chest bigger. And my arms. And my lats.”

Sal just stared at the behemoth in front of him, not knowing what to say while the muscular teen was flexing.

Tug eventually finished admiring his body and turned back to the tailor. “I’m ready, Sal. Just remember, though – the wedding is still a month away, and I’ll probably add a few more pounds of muscle by then. So leave a little room all over, OK?”

“Gladly. We’ll start with your neck,” said Sal. He took the measuring tape out of his pocket, and knowing that his short stature made measuring Tug difficult, he picked up a small step ladder from the floor. He positioned the ladder behind the mammoth teenager and stepped up to the top rung.

Sal gasped slightly when he got to the top, because up close, Tug’s neck was simply enormous. It looked like a column one would see in front of a colonial home – thick and strong and round, without a single weak spot to be found, and secured to his trunk with an impenetrable set of broad trapezius muscles. Sal gingerly wrapped the tape around the giant and measured his neck, all the while enjoying the lingering scent of coconut shampoo that Tug had washed his hair with that morning.

“23 inches!” said Sal, with more than a hint of surprise in his voice.

“I’m guessing by your reaction that you haven’t seen one that big before?”

“Your neck was the biggest I had ever seen, Tug, and it was only 20 inches on your previous visit.”

“Good to hear, Sal. Three inches in only six months – I’m guess I’m growing like a weed!”

Sal could feel his brow getting a little sweaty as he admired the musculature of his client, so he reminded himself to adjust the thermostat downward as soon as he could. Knowing that he would never be able to get his arms around the teen’s gargantuan chest and back, he then unwrapped the tape from Tug’s neck, gently lay one end of it on Tug’s left shoulder, and took one step down on the ladder.

“If you could just grab that end, please, and wrap it around your chest, right at your nipples.”

Tug did as he was told and maneuvered the tape in front of his chest, holding it in place with his left hand, and then handed the end back to Sal with his right hand. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” Sal took the end on the right side and attempted to measure the width of Tug’s chest, but the tape was about seven or eight inches short. “Goodness, Tug, this 60 inch measuring tape is too small for your chest –I can’t believe it!”

“Like I said, I’ve been working out pretty hard, trying to put on some good quality muscle. Once you get a taste of being big, you want more and more. You become addicted to the growth.”

The redness on Sal’s face deepened, and he climbed down the step ladder to fetch another tape. He searched his work area and found a tape measure going to six feet, and then cranked up the air conditioner as he passed the thermostat. Sal climbed back up the ladder and asked Tug to wrap the new tape around himself, which he did willingly.

Sal checked the numbers on the tape and read the result to Tug. “OK, this one works. Wow! Your chest is 68 inches!”

“Awesome! Only two more inches and I will be up to 70!”

Sal shook his head in disbelief. “I’m only 5’6”, Tug – that makes your chest two inches bigger than my height! You’re a muscle monster!”

“You’re kidding! Wow, I never thought of it that way before.”

“I’ll try to remember not to make you angry.”

Tug laughed. “Yeah, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

Sal slid the tape down the v-shape of Tug’s barn door lats, tightening the slack and gently caressing each of Tug’s wings as he went downward. When he reached the nadir of Tug’s torso, he asked, “Could you position the front of tape across your belly button, please?”

“Sure thing.” Tug adjusted the position of the tape for Sal, who looked down to see the total.

“Yikes. Only 33 inches! That’s less than half of your chest measurement!”

Tug smiled at the result. “Cool beans, Sal. It’s been tough keeping my stomach lean while growing the rest of me. Good to know that all that seemingly endless jogging up and down the beach hasn’t been for naught.”

Sal could feel the sweat dripping down his forehead as the sheer size of the new and improved Tug Yates overwhelmed his senses. He stepped off the ladder to get the measurements from the lower half of Tug’s body, and he was most impressed that Tug’s thighs, at 34 inches, were an inch bigger than his waist.

After Sal had gotten everything he needed for the tuxedo, including his nervous attempt to measure Tug’s inseam without touching him in an inappropriate manner, his client made a special request. “Sal, could you measure my biceps for me? I’m really curious how big they are right now.”

Sal nodded, wondering why the air conditioner hadn’t cooled off the room yet. “Of course, Tug. I would be happy to.”

“Thanks, man.” Tug flexed his left bicep and lowered it down to the level of the tailor’s chest. Sal positioned himself just under the hulking bicep, near the armpit, and breathed in Tug’s scent – a combination of Irish Spring, Hai Karate, Old Spice, and musky muscle sweat – and felt as intoxicated as if he had just downed a half-dozen beers. Slowly, he wrapped the tape around the gigantic bicep and measured its immense girth.

“Just a hair over 24 inches,” said Sal, with a slight tremble in his voice.

The giant hunk smiled and flexed as hard as he could – with Sal holding the ends tightly around the appendage, Tug’s arm swelled up and snapped through the tape around the peak of the bicep. “Sorry about your tape, Sal. Sometimes when I get excited, I can’t control my muscles. I mean, I was hoping to get my arms that big by the end of the year, and I made it four months early. Can you believe that?”

Sal was feeling more than a little faint. “I can scarcely believe it, Tug.”

“Yeah, and if I keep growing, I won’t be able to buy clothes in the stores anymore. I’ll have to get everything specially tailored by you, and I’ll have to come in all the time to get measured. you'll be seeing me forever and ever.”

“Really? Oh, Tug, that would be the sweetest thing I’ve ever known.

Tug smiled, and then hit a series of poses for the tailor – double bicep, most muscular, side chest, side triceps, and lat spread. “Do you like measuring big musclemen, Sal?”

Sal didn’t answer, but rather just stared up at the flexing behemoth. He was sweating profusely but didn’t seem to either care or notice.

Tug looked down at the tailor. “Sal, why are you all wet? What’s going on, buddy?”

Sal continued to simply stare and sweat, not answering Tug’s question.

Tug tried again. “Why are you all wet?”

“Why are you all wet?"


-----------------------------------------------------


Tug opened up his eyes and realized he was ensconced in his sleeping bag on the beach, with Ben lying right beside him. It was still very dark, but he could see Ben’s head as it was only about six inches away, and he had a rather surprised look on his face.

Before Tug could speak, however, he noticed his forehead was moist and reached up to wipe it with his left hand. He looked at his hand, and then looked back at Ben. “Why is my forehead all wet?”

Ben, still looking surprised, gave a hesitated response. “Well, you were asleep...and, uh…I was, um…”

Suddenly, Tug felt a drop of rain land on his head, followed by another, and another. Within five seconds, a downpour began to cover the beach.

Ben looked up to the sky, looked down at his friend, and finally came up with an answer. “I just woke you up to let you know it had started raining. Let’s get inside before we’re drenched, OK?”

“Thanks, Ben. I guess the nice weather was not going to last forever.”

The pair scrambled out of their sleeping bags, grabbed their belongings, and headed for Ben’s aunt’s house.

[Padraig]

Sign. Swoon. The incomparable Rex Smith (if only I looked that good in a white shirt and tight leather pants) and Rachel Sweet singing their 1981 summer hit, "Everlasting Love."

P.S. If I ever get married, I am totally wearing a headband. So hot! :-)

Everlasting Love

[memorex414]

Ahh the ipso facto lie as I like to call it. The boys just need to have a serious chat without intervention...plus based on the beginning I don't think this will have a happy ending...thus so is life...but great chapter!

[Padraig]

Hi Memorex -

There's lots more "storytelling" coming up in the next few chapters, focusing more on advancing the plot and less on muscle growth.

Thanks for reading!!

[michaelv2]

Just getting caught up. The tailor fantasy is really well done here, thanks. And what was the real reason for the "rain" on Tug's brow? Will these two ever make it to the wedding? Can't wait to find out!

[Padraig]

The rain on Tug's brow wasn't actually rain ? it was from the kiss that Ben had just planted there (at the end of Part 25).

As always, thanks for reading!