by H L Day
"Who says I got you one?"
"Well, you better have, or we might just be done. Already."
"We only got together a week ago. When do you think I've had time to go shopping?"
Indy made a sound that could only be interpreted as disgust. "Just looking up Ben's number. I bet he would have gotten me a present. And an elephant."
"What?"
Indy coughed. "You know, the small matter of the elephant you promised me, which I still haven't gotten. Some people might say you're not trying that hard, Paul."
The elephant. Right. I was hoping he'd forgotten about that. "You'll get the elephant." Even if it kills me.
"You know I'm only joking. About the elephant, anyway. I was hoping for some sort of small Christmas present though, considering I got you one."
A tingle of warmth circulated its way through my body. "Yeah? What is it?"
"You'll find out later. Hadn't you better be getting back to your dinner before they send out a search party?"
I sighed. Calling Indy had only made it worse. Now I had to tear myself away from the warmth of his conversation and go back to the stiff formality of dinner. "I'll see you later."
Indy blew a noisy kiss before hanging up. At least I assumed it was a kiss and not a raspberry.
How long had I been in there? Five minutes? Ten? Deciding another couple of minutes wasn't going to make a lot of difference to the level of disapproval I was going to face, I made another call, and Gabrielle picked up straight away. I didn't bother wasting any time on niceties. "What color is your elephant? I need it."
"Well, hello, Paul. How lovely to hear from you. Did you have a good Christmas? We had a lovely Christmas. Thanks for asking. You're always so considerate."
"Gabrielle..." I made my voice as plaintive as possible. "I'm currently hiding in a bathroom from my family and I need to make my boyfriend happy by managing to find him an elephant on a day where all the shops are closed."
"Huh? Well, you're not having mine. Go to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and win one like everyone else."
"Win one?"
"Yeah, they're prizes on one of the stalls there."
"What do I have to do?"
"No idea. Gotta go. Speak to you later."
From the frosty looks I was on the receiving end of when I got back to the table, I figured I'd been gone even longer than I'd thought.
My mother sniffed. "We held the fish course for you."
I smiled at her. "Did you? Thank you. You didn't have to. I could have skipped it."
My uncle Jack leaned across the table. His nose was red, which meant that he was already more than halfway to being drunk. "We were talking about your love life while you were gone."
The smile dropped off my face. "Were you? How nice." I scanned the length of the table. "All of you?"
My mother waved a hand. "He exaggerates. Clive was telling us about a friend of his that has a niece. She's looking to settle down and start having kids, so naturally your name came up as a suggestion."
I stared at her. She was actually serious. I felt like I was in some sort of surreal movie. Did none of them know me at all? These people were meant to be my nearest and dearest. But it was like every word I said fell on deaf ears. "I mean sure, as long as she's comfortable with her husband and the father of her children being gay."
My grandma lifted her head. "Gray?"
"No, Grandma. Gay. Sleeping with men."
She nodded and went back to her scrutiny of her plate as if she was trying to work out why her fish was invisible.
I turned my attention to my father. I was used to letting things drop. It was just easier, but Indy was right. I needed to start standing up for myself or I was going to find myself aged forty and still having the exact same conversations about my sexuality and life choices. "So just for clarity's sake..." I let my gaze drift over everyone seated around the table. "...I'm gay. Not bisexual. The year I lived with a man wasn't some wild aberration. It's not going to change. I'm not going to get married. Not to a woman anyway. I—"
"Where's my fish?"
I paused. "It's coming, Grandma. So yeah... fully gay."
My mother looked slightly miffed. "Well, you can't blame us for being confused. Apart from Simon, or whatever his name was, you're always single."
I was never going to get a better opening. "Actually, I'm not. I'm seeing someone."
"I hope it won't have bones in. They get stuck in my teeth."
"I'm sure it won't, Grandma. You'll be fine."
"Who are you seeing?"
That was my brother, who'd finally decided to get involved in the conversation.
I had two choices. Fob them off and get around to that part later on, or spill all the details now. I fiddled with the napkin, trying to decide whether it would be better or worse to make the announcement in front of extended family.
Anthony smirked. "Are you sure he's real?"
I leveled a glare his way. "Yes, he's real. Actually..." I switched my attention to my mother and father. "...you know him. Or you know of him anyway."
My mother's brow wrinkled as if she was working her way through a list of prospective candidates. She gave a little headshake. "The only person I can think of is Donald."
"Donald?" The name rang a bell but I couldn't place it. "Who's Donald?" And then it dawned on me. Donald had worked in accounts for the last God knows how many years. When I was seven and used to tag along with my dad to work because that's the fun sort of childhood I'd had, Donald had to have already been in his early forties. A fact which would now place him firmly in his sixties. "You think I'm dating Donald?"
My mum shrugged one elegant shoulder. "He's gay."
I stared at her aghast. "He wears tweed suits, smokes a pipe and has a comb-over. I mean, I'm all for not basing everything on looks, but what could you possibly think we have in common?"
"Will it be salmon?"
I let my gaze flick back across the table. "No idea, Grandma. You'll have to wait and see."
Her expression turned baleful and she went back to staring at her plate.
I took a deep breath. I needed to get this over with, if only for the sake of my poor grandma who was going to have a full-blown tantrum if her plate stayed empty for much longer. "It's Indigo. Indigo Rogers-Henderson."
My dad frowned. "Do you mean Archibald?"
I couldn't help the smile that hovered on my lips. "Nobody calls him that. Even his parents call him Indy."
My mother tilted her head to one side. "So you met at the firm's party?"
I scrunched the napkin between my fingers. "Erm... yeah. Let's go with that." The alternative wasn't exactly dinnertime conversation. Although, I suppose I could have just gone with meeting him in a bar, which was sort of the truth.
Neither of my parents seemed happy with the news, both of their faces demonstrating slight distaste. "That's got to be better than Donald, right?"
My mother sniffed. "Donald is a very influential man with great contacts. Whereas Indigo is..."
I narrowed my eyes. "Is what?"
It didn't escape my attention that everyone around the table seemed to be enjoying the show. They were probably relieved that someone had offered an alternative to stocks and shares, and how profit margins for the coming year would compare to the previous one.
"What your mother is trying to say is..." I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
My mother waved her hand. "It's fine, Reginald. I've got this. He has a reputation for having been a bit wild in the past. Some of his behavior has been somewhat... unbecoming."
I'd stumbled into a period drama. "Somewhat unbecoming?"
She sighed. "Sleeping around with unsuitable men..." I guessed my ex-boyfriend would come under the category of unsuitable so I couldn't really argue with that one. "...I did hear..." She lowered her voice as if the walls had ears. "...that there may have been possible drug use involved. I mean, you only have to look at him with all the tattoos and piercings to kno
w that he's..."
I prompted her when she seemed to have run out of words. "He's what?"
She exchanged glances with her husband. "Like I said, wild."
My father nodded. In fact, he'd been nodding enthusiastically throughout her whole speech. I'd already known that my parents were stuck-up. But even I hadn't realized they were quite this bad. I directed a question to my father. "You seemed perfectly happy to talk to him at the party. I didn't see any accusations of him being wild there."
My father shrugged. "We had to keep up appearances. A public forum isn't the right place to question someone's lifestyle choices. Besides, he can do what he wants as long as his devil-may-care attitude doesn't infect our son."
"Infect!?" I couldn't believe I was hearing this. They were making Indy sound like a disease.
At least my mother had the sense to look slightly sheepish when I glanced at her. She gave a weak smile. "Anyway... it's not like whatever you have going on with this boy is serious. It's only been a couple of weeks. Then hopefully you can find someone more suitable."
"Like Donald?"
She gave a slight shrug. Oh my God! They'd seriously prefer me in a relationship with a man more than thirty years my senior than with a tattooed and pierced bartender. Fury started to simmer. "Actually, it is serious. So I wouldn't be planning our break-up any time soon."
"I like tuna steak too."
I directed a tight smile in my grandma's direction, but all my focus was on my parents. "I suggest you get over whatever hang-ups and preconceptions you have about him before you meet him as my boyfriend."
My father didn't even try and hide his grimace. "Listen, it's fine for now. Have your fun. But when you finally stop messing about and join the business, you're going to have to be a bit more careful about the image you're projecting. Archibald Rogers-Henderson, despite his name, isn't going to fit in with that image. Maybe if he sees sense too and goes to work with his father, then we might be able to work with it. But until then..."
The fury erupted into a red-hot explosion. I stood, past caring who was there and what they might think. My hands shook as I stared at my father.
"Sit down, Paul."
I shook my head. "No, I won't sit down. Neither of you listen to me so I'm going to spell it out really clearly. I'm not joining the business. Not now. Not ever. I have zero interest in it. I've been telling you the exact same thing over and over again for years, but for some reason you don't believe me. I can't think of anything worse than sitting behind a desk all day, and when I say all day, I mean all day because you work ridiculously long hours. The only reason you and Mum are still married is because you hardly ever see each other."
I risked a glance at my mum, surprised when she didn't bother to argue. "I'm not interested in any shares either, so feel free to write me out of your will. I really don't care. And I'll see who I goddamn want to see because it's my life not yours. And if that's Indy then I don't need your agreement. I don't need your approval. I don't need anything from you. Disown me if you want." My outburst was met by stunned silence, nobody seeming to have a clue what to say in response to my little speech. I guessed the only thing to do after that was to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and win an elephant."
The kitchen staff catering the dinner had obviously grown tired of waiting for the nod to deliver the fish course and had started bringing it out anyway. My grandma stared at the dish which had been deposited in front of her. "I don't like prawns."
I rounded the table and kissed her on the cheek. "Sorry about the prawns, Grandma." And then I left. It was noticeable that no one tried to stop me.
Chapter Sixteen
I KNOCKED ON INDY'S door, clutching the elephant in my arms. It was by far the most expensive Christmas present I'd ever bought anybody once you totted up the cost of the cab there and back, and the sheer amount of money I'd had to dole out on a stupid shooting game I wasn't very good at to gain enough credits to win the damn thing. Mind you, at least it had stopped me from thinking about the events back at my parents' house.
Indy opened the door and I held the elephant out. "Merry Christmas."
"I asked for purple."
I shoved him out of the way and walked inside. "You have no idea the lengths I had to go through to get this. They had two colors, pink or blue. I decided that if I got pink, you'd probably accuse me of re-gifting the same one you gave me, so I got blue. I'm not taking it back, so it's blue or no damn elephant."
The elephant was plucked out of my arms and set aside, Indy's gaze fastening on my face with a slight frown. "What's wrong?"
I shrugged my jacket off. "I told you they only had blue."
"Not with the elephant. With you."
He pulled me into his arms, meaning there was no way of avoiding the concern written all over his face. "Nothing." Indy squeezed me tighter leaving me with only two options: give in, or shrug him off. I gave in, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his shoulder. It felt good, his body heat slowly leaching into my limbs that felt frozen from having spent so long outside. I breathed him in, luxuriating in the familiar scent of him.
His hand rubbed soothing circles on my back. "Talk to me, Paul. What happened?"
I'd made a decision in the cab. I wasn't going to tell him about my parents' reaction to the news we were dating. It was Christmas. There was no need to drag him down with family squabbles, particularly when one of the biggest bones of contention was him. Only now, wrapped in his embrace, I didn't want to keep secrets from him. It wouldn't be a great way to start our relationship. "I had a bit of a disagreement with my parents."
"After dinner?"
"No. In the middle of it. Remember me saying when I called that we hadn't even gotten to the fish course?" I felt Indy's nod, his chin brushing my hair. "Well, we didn't really get any further. At least, I didn't. I left."
"What was the disagreement about?"
With my face tucked against him, there was no way for Indy to see my grimace. "Does it matter?"
The hand on my back stilled before picking up where it had left off. "Yes, it does if it's upset you this much. Tell me?"
"Well, it was a couple of things... them refusing to acknowledge that I won't be working for them one day was one of them."
"And what else?"
I winced, straightening up so I could see him properly. If I was going to tell him, I wanted to be able to see his reaction. "It started with the usual crap. Their head-in-the-sand attitude to me being gay and coming to work for them. Then we got on to you. They're not huge fans of yours, it would seem. You're apparently too wild." I frowned as I remembered what else my mother had said. "Did you take drugs?"
Indy's eyebrows shot up. "Not unless chemo counts."
I stepped back, breaking the embrace, and moving over to sit on the sofa. Indy followed and sat next to me. "So yeah, to cut a long story short, we argued about you. I lost my temper, said a few home truths, and then walked out. I think I disowned myself."
Indy bit back a laugh. "I'm sure it wasn't quite that bad." He paused as if considering whether he should say what he was thinking. "Am I allowed to tell you that I'm glad you finally stuck up for yourself?"
He was right, in a way. I might not have picked the best time and place, but at least they might get the message now. "I guess so." I laughed. "I think you might be waiting a long time for your invitation to dinner though."
Indy shrugged. "I'm used to it. I just don't want..." His forehead creased and he stopped talking.
"Don't want what?"
His eyes lifted to mine. "I don't want to come between you and your family. I'll understand if you're here to tell me that it's way too much hassle. I won't be happy about it, but..."
I stared at him incredulously. "Are you serious? I just spent two hours and more money than I want to think about winning that damn elephant for you. No way are you going to suggest calling it a day between us." I straddled him, flattening my hands against his chest and pushin
g him back against the sofa. "You're not getting away from me that easily just so that you can date another fireman."
Indy grinned, but there was a definite hint of relief in his expression. "I was thinking of moving on to another of the emergency services. Maybe a paramedic or a policeman. "
I leaned forward, capturing his lips. "No firemen... no paramedics..." I paused for another kiss. "No policemen... no doctors... no nurses... no vets."
Indy cupped the nape of my neck, our kisses starting to become more heated; a certain part of his anatomy was rising to the occasion against my ass. "Got it. Just you. Just one grumpy Paul."
I sat back up. "Good. Glad that's clear. Now, thank me for the damn elephant."
He started to unbutton my shirt. "Thank you for the elephant. I made a mistake requesting purple. Stupid me. I got the words purple and blue mixed up, so thank you for rectifying that error. I'm extremely grateful."
I shrugged the shirt off my shoulders, Indy's hands immediately going to my bare chest. "Now, take me to bed."
He grinned, his eyes sparkling. "Alright, Mr. Bossy. I'm guessing from that attitude that you're planning on topping. You're going to have to fight me for it."
I stood up, pulling him up alongside me. "Oh, like that, is it? Let's see what you've got."
INDY SAT CROSS-LEGGED in the middle of the bed, unwrapping the present I'd brought for him. He laughed as he unfolded the shirt. It was a carbon copy of the one I'd ruined. I'd figured that was the next best thing to fixing it. And he had looked good in it, so there might have been a small amount of self-interest involved. He held it up to the light. "How did you manage to get the same one?"
"Either witchcraft or... I might have found the other one and examined the label while you were in the shower. Will you stop making such a fuss about it now?"
Indy placed the shirt and the wrapping paper on the nightstand next to him. "Of course. Now when you fix the buttons on the other one, I'll have two."
I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah! Keep waiting for that." When he made no move to get off the bed, I coughed.
He smirked. "Are you alright? Need some honey and lemon?"
