Up in the Air 2: West Coast

by George Loveland

  “Well, I’ll be giving him what for if he ever does.” She reached out and grabbed his cheek. “You’re a handsome fella and he’s lucky to have you.” Gran turned to me. “So don’t fuck it up.”

  “Gran!”

  “I’ve been watching too much of that RuPaul’s Drag Race.” She giggled. “I’ll leave you boys to wash up. I’m going to get myself to bed. Remember I’m sleeping next door to your room and the walls are like paper.”

  I winced at the implications of her words and glanced at Antonio. He stared at me with furrowed brows for a moment, and then his face turned beetroot as he caught on to the meaning.

  Gran roared with laughter and kissed us both goodnight.

  Chapter Twenty

  The front door slammed, and I sat upright. It was more difficult than expected because Antonio’s arm was stretched across me.

  “James?” I called out.

  “Morning. No, it’s me. I’ve been out to get the papers,” Gran replied. “Aren’t you up yet?”

  I looked over at the clock. It was half past eight.

  “No, Gran, but we are now.”

  Antonio shifted in the bed and mumbled something in Italian. I tickled him to no effect. Then I nudged him until he grumbled and opened his eyes. A small smile grew on his face.

  “Come on, Gran’s here. She’ll bring tea in here in a few minutes. Get up, unless you want her to see everything.”

  “You mean, like this?” He rolled to his side, pulled the quilt down and proudly showed off his morning wood.

  A growl escaped me before I could do anything about it, and I bobbed down and took him all in. He groaned in response, and whimpered when I stopped. Just in time too, because Gran knocked at the door and we only had a moment to shuffle things around, so she couldn’t see anything before she walked in.

  “Boys, it’s nothing I’ve not seen already.”

  “You’ve not seen me naked,” I said.

  “I have. You’ve come home drunk more times than sober, and often walked around naked until I pointed you in the right direction.”

  “Gran, you’ve never told me,” I cried out, my skin hot.

  “I’ve never had the chance to use it to embarrass you before. Now you have a nice man, I can get my own back.”

  “Please do, signora,” Antonio said with too much glee.

  Gran giggled at the name. “I’ll get some breakfast on. You can finish what you started and come out and join me. I want to give the flat the once over before I go.”

  “You don’t have to do that.” I ignored her other jibe. She was playful at the best of times and I knew she wanted a reaction from me.

  “I know I don’t, but I’m going to do it anyway. Won’t take me long. What you boys got planned?”

  “I don’t know actually.” I turned to Antonio. “What do you want to do?”

  He shrugged. “We can have a date. In London. Be tourists.”

  “You need a good breakfast then. It’s pricey in London. Last time James took me up there I couldn’t believe the price of a sandwich. Shall I do you some lunch too?”

  “No, Gran, we’ll be fine. We’ll share a sandwich up there.”

  “Alright then. You’ve got ten minutes, and we dress for breakfast, so you’ve only got a few minutes to—”

  “Gran.”

  She chuckled as she left the room.

  I shook my head, and then turned to Antonio. “You want a date, huh?”

  “Right now, I want to fuck you in the shower. I need to get rid of this and get cleaned.”

  I jumped out of bed, grabbed a condom and a towel to wrap around me. I threw a spare towel to Antonio, who was still hard. He looked pained as he wrapped it around his waist.

  We ran from my bedroom to the bathroom and as soon as I got the water started Antonio took the condom and pushed me inside. The water rushed over my back and Antonio used his thumb to press at my hole. I arched into his hand and gasped when he replaced his thumb with his cock. My body was ready for him, needed him, and with a few quick thrusts he groaned and bit my shoulder, sending me over. We pumped the last remnants of our orgasm out and then used the shower for what we were meant to. It reminded me of being in Vegas and the shower big enough for a rugby team. Except this home shower was the right size.

  We shared smiles as we dried off, knowing looks at what we had done.

  There was a minute to spare when we got to the dining room table, unless Gran had waited for us to come out of the shower before she’d served up breakfast.

  She’d gone all out. A full English fry-up with ingredients I knew weren’t in the fridge last night. James and I paid money into her bank account each month without her knowing, because she would never accept cash from us.

  Breakfast started in silence, except for Antonio playing footsie with me. Gran began the conversation by asking about the restaurant in LA, which was good because I could join in and describe it.

  Antonio in turn asked Gran questions about her life, her husband and then about me. I tried to quieten them down, but soon Gran had us both in tears of laughter as she recounted tales of me in my younger years.

  She never told him about the nights I’d cried in her arms, or when my exam results had come back and I’d failed most of them. She told good stories, things I’d forgotten, which made me sad but also let me feel good about myself.

  When we’d finished, Gran put her pinafore on and told us she was starting in the bathroom while we cleaned up the kitchen.

  A minute later, her voice carried through the flat. “Max, you’ll have to clean the shower. I’m not going in there while that thing is in there.”

  “What thing? I shouted back as I dried my hands.

  “Oh no,” Antonio gasped.

  “What?”

  “I didn’t throw the condom away.”

  In unison we took in a sharp breath and I probably went as red as he had.

  “Which one of you boys is getting rid of this condom for me?”

  “You do it,” Antonio said and nudged me in the direction of the bathroom. “I need to look sweet and innocent in front of your gran.”

  “It’s a bit late for that. You owe me,” I said as I took slow steps to the bathroom.

  Neither of us looked Gran in the eye as we said goodbye to her. I knew I would hear about it at every chance she got, and James would probably already know. She was a keen texter.

  “What do you want to do?” Antonio asked.

  “I don’t know. A museum maybe?”

  He scrunched up his face.

  “You’re not a museum person then?”

  “No, and I don’t think you are either.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, not my thing. We could walk about until something takes our fancy.”

  “In this weather?”

  February was colder than normal this year, and with the threat of snow every other day, I didn’t really fancy walking around town.

  “I guess not. What do you want to do?”

  “I asked you first,” he said. “This could go on a long time, what’s your favourite thing to do?”

  “We did that already.”

  Antonio rolled his eyes, but the smile on his lips spoke volumes. “Okay, what’s your second favourite thing to do, something you do on your own, when you are down?”

  My heart skipped a beat. In the few days we’d known each other I wondered if I had told him about the down days. There was only one place I would go, but not many people got it. Especially as I spent so much time there. I’d never taken anyone else. A part of me wanted to keep it secret, but then I thought about how Antonio had travelled over five thousand miles to be with me.

  “I’ll take you there, but you can’t laugh, okay?”

  “I promise. Will it be warm?”

  “I can’t guarantee it.”

  I took him by the hand to the bus stop and swiped my travel card to get on board and used my debit card for Antonio. He argued with me but shut up when I gave him a peck on the lips
and went upstairs.

  I took the back seats and ushered him to take the window seat.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.”

  I pointed out various places of interest to him. There wasn’t much to see on the journey, but I was able to show him where I went to school, the nearest tube station to the flat and the general direction of Gran’s house.

  He asked questions as we went along, and when we got closer to our destination, he guessed where we were going.

  “The airport?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You work there though.”

  “Not really. I have meetings here, and sometimes training, but mostly I’m passing through.”

  “What’s special here then?”

  “There’s a viewing spot. We can watch the planes take-off and land.”

  “You enjoy that?”

  There wasn’t any malice or sarcasm to his voice. It was genuine interest. I nodded, and then kissed him.

  “Come on, it should be quiet this time of day.”

  We got off the bus and went hand in hand to the viewing area. There were a couple of people huddled together under the shelter, and someone off to the side who I recognised by his jacket.

  “Hey, Stuart, what’s been going on today?”

  “Max, good to see you.” He held out his hand for me to shake. “You’ve missed it. Air Asia has bought one of the new airbuses and it landed this morning. I couldn’t make out the numbers on it though, but I think I got them all. Maybe you could check it on your phone for me?”

  He noticed Antonio for the first time and held his hand out.

  “Sorry, this is my friend, Antonio, Stu. He’s over from LA.”

  “Your friend or boyfriend?” He dragged out the word.

  “I hope boyfriend,” Antonio said and shook Stu’s hand.

  Stu’s eyes twinkled, but his attention was taken by the landing of a 747.

  “Can you see the numbers, Max? I can’t tell.”

  I squinted until I could come up with the numbers I thought they were, and then checked them on my phone. We spent the next ten minutes going through the numbers Stu had in his notebook and watching the planes as they took off and landed.

  Antonio shivered, and I knew it was time for us to go. I didn’t want to bore him. We said our goodbyes, and I told Stu I’d see him next time I could. Antonio and I walked towards the bus stop in silence before he reached for my hand.

  “He’s a nice guy.”

  “Stu? Yeah, he is. We’ve known each other for years. He and his wife used to come here. They were both in aviation back in the day, and they liked to come and watch the planes. I met them both, but then his wife got sick and she didn’t come anymore. He’s been coming on his own for the last couple of years now.”

  “Why do you come here then?”

  “It’s what my mum used to do. Since I was a kid I’ve always loved planes. She used to bring me here after school or during the holidays and we used to watch the planes together.”

  “Is that why you wanted to be cabin crew?”

  “No.” I sighed. “It’s the closest I’m going to get to actually flying though. So it will do.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “What?”

  “Settle. You always settle for whatever’s given to you.”

  “I don’t.” My words were sharp.

  “Don’t take it the wrong way, please, but I’ve noticed it.”

  My stomach turned at the thought of the old man he had seen me with. “Because of that first night?”

  “No.” He squeezed my hand to stop me talking. “Because you always agree, you say yes too easily. Going out when you didn’t want to, ending up sick. You should go for what you want.”

  “What if I don’t know how?”

  “Then we find a way.”

  “We?”

  “Yeah, we.” Antonio kissed me long and deep.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  We got some coffees in the airport terminal before we took the tube into London. As I’d shown Antonio my favourite thing to do, I told him it was his turn. He was silent for a while, and then told me he knew, and asked to use my phone so he could work out directions.

  “There’s no signal underground between the stations,” I said with a grin.

  He tickled me in return. I gasped and giggled until he stopped.

  “Hey, no fair. How come you’re not ticklish?”

  “My brother used to do it all the time when I was younger. I learnt to stop reacting and he got bored and found other ways to torture me.”

  “He was a bully then?”

  “No, he was the best. Especially when I was bullied at school. He stood behind me and made the kid run away.”

  “Sounds great. I can’t wait to meet him.”

  Antonio took my hand in his and brought it to his lips. “You will, soon I reckon.”

  “Wait, you’re not taking me to meet your brother now, are you?”

  “Well—”

  “Antonio!”

  He laughed. “No. But I told him I was in London. He has some business meetings coming up, so maybe you can meet him then.”

  “Okay.” I was nervous already to meet his family. Even though I’d met Luisa, his brother would make the relationship seem more real. “Where are you taking me?” I changed the subject before I got too much into my head.

  We chopped and changed tubes until we got to Bayswater. I knew a couple of things about the area but had never been there.

  “I stayed here once with my brother for a business meeting. We came here after it was done.”

  He pointed to an ice rink and bowling alley.

  “We’re going bowling?”

  “No, we’re going skating. Come on.”

  “I’ve never skated in my life!”

  “Then I’ll show you. It’s easy.”

  When I landed on my arse for the fifth time, I threw the words back at him. Antonio laughed, but helped me up and showed me how to skate, again.

  It took two more falls before I managed to go around the rink once without falling and another two times holding his hand before I let go and went by myself.

  “Go,” I told Antonio. He’d hovered around me long enough. I could see him itching to race around the rink.

  “You sure?”

  I nodded, and he took off. He lapped me a few times before he joined me for a couple of circuits, holding my hand. It wasn’t to steady me, or keep me up, but to hold my hand. Feeling confident, I looked into his eyes and nodded. I was ready for this. Then my feet went the wrong way and I landed hard on my arse and dragged Antonio down and on top of me.

  “You can’t wait to have me on top of you, huh?”

  I laughed and winced at the same time, but appreciated it when he got up and off me and helped me up. We agreed we’d had enough for the day and skated back to change into our shoes. My feet and arse were relieved to be on a steady surface again.

  The sun was setting when we left the ice rink, but it was too soon. I wanted the day to go on. “How long are you here for?”

  “A week. I had to book a return flight, but I can change it if I need to. You hungry?”

  “Yeah.” My stomach gave a growl at the thought. “I’d better call Gran though to see what she’s done.”

  Gran, as I had expected, had dinner for us planned, so we grabbed a sausage roll each and headed home.

  She was talking to someone as I opened the door to the flat. I called out to her and was surprised to find Jane sat with Gran on the sofa.

  “Jane, what are you doing here?”

  “Nice to see you too, Max.” Her eyes landed on Antonio and she grinned.

  “Sorry, good to see you.”

  Antonio coughed.

  “Sorry, Jane, this is Antonio.”

  “Antonio? I heard about you but thought you lived in Los Angeles. Didn’t know you lived in London?”

  “I don’t,” Antonio said as they shook hands.
“I flew over for Max, because of what happened.”

  “A knight in shining armour, I like it.”

  “It’s nice to see you, Jane, but what are you doing here?”

  “I’ve got a couple of other meetings before your hearing at one o’clock, so thought it best to speak to you as soon as possible and hear everything from your side. Hopefully I can give you some pointers or something that will undo what Graham has done.”

  “He’s going to make me lose my job, isn’t he?”

  “Only if you let him. You must stay silent in the meeting and only respond to questions from the interviewer. Otherwise it won’t look good for you. I’ll be there, but I can only say so much.”

  “Okay. Where should I begin?”

  We sat down on the sofa. Gran brought me a cup of tea and carted Antonio off to the kitchen with her. I told Jane everything from when James changed our flights over up until I was told I wouldn’t be working the flight home and the meeting at the head office.

  Jane listened to everything and only questioned me a couple of times, then got me to repeat everything. When we finished a third time, I was exhausted but relieved.

  “I think I have everything,” she said. “I’m going to throw a couple of curve balls, ones that will put Graham on the spot. Should make him fluster enough to show he’s been targeting you. James has already given me his report on Graham from the Joburg flight.”

  “You think he’s gunning for me?”

  “Yeah, and I think you’ve known it too. Any idea why?”

  I shook my head. He’d been mean to me for as long as I could remember.

  “Okay. I’ll let you get your dinner, it smells gorgeous, and I’ll see you for the meeting. Be there early, okay?”

  We said our goodbyes, although Gran was put out because Jane didn’t stop for dinner with us. As soon as I let Jane out, Antonio had his arms around me and kissed me on the cheek.

  “It’s all going to be okay, you’ll see,” he said.

  Gran called us to the dinner table and asked us about our day. There weren’t as many questions as there were the night before, but it felt good to have her there with us. Once we finished dinner, we told her to leave the washing up. She said she wanted to be in her own bed and to get home before her soaps started. My body ached from the amount of times I’d fallen on my arse earlier, and all I wanted was to stretch out on the sofa with Antonio and watch some crap television or a movie.