By our second month, we were going away together two weekends a month, from Friday until Sunday night. Even the townspeople had become accustomed to us walking through the streets arm-in-arm, something I thought we would have real problems with. But apart from the sneers from the local thugs, everyone left the two of us alone.
In fact, during those first four months, the only time I became worried for us was when Simon’s ex, Nate, tracked him down. He did all he could to try and win him back, including asking him to go through a civil partnership, but Simon just kept telling him he was happy with me and he wanted nothing to do with him.
Finally Nate got the message and left the town, but not without begging Simon once more to move abroad with him. It was as we came to the end of our fourth month I received the phone call from Simon, asking me to meet him no later than eight o’clock at the Italian restaurant where we had our first meal as a couple.
"Leon, I think we need to talk."
"What's wrong?"
"Look, just meet me at the Italian place where we had our first meal," he said before hanging up abruptly.
Whatever he wanted, he sounded serious, and I assumed he was going to tell me it was over, he wanted to end our relationship. Still, if he was, I wasn’t going to let him go without a fight. I showered and shaved, dressed in my best black shirt and trousers, the same outfit as I wore for our first night, and made my way to the restaurant.
Arriving ten minutes before eight, I walked inside and was surprised to see Simon already sitting at the same table we sat at that first night.
“Hi babe,” he said as I walked over to him.
He definitely didn’t sound like someone that was about to end a relationship, but I couldn’t for the life of me think what he couldn’t have told me over the phone.
“Hey.”
“Sit down, I’ve already ordered drinks.”
“What’s this about?” I asked nervously, my mind swirling with all the negative thoughts possible. I braced myself for the two words, it's over, I dreaded to hear.
“All will be revealed shortly,” he replied.
“Simon, I’m not being funny, but if you’re trying to break it to me gently that we’re finished, I’d rather you just came out and said it.”
“Finished with you? Where the fuck did you get that idea from?”
I just thought… I mean, the way you asked me to meet you here, and the fact you’ve been a little distant this week...” I trailed off.
“Leon, believe me, I am not finished with you. Now sit down, have a drink, and wait for our meal.”
The only other thing I could think of was that he was treating me as a sort of fifth month anniversary present. Whatever it was though, the fact that he had said he wasn't ending our relationship caused intense relief to wash over my entire body and I sat down opposite him slowly. Raising his hand, the waitress came rushing over, a bottle of Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Champagne and two chilled glasses in her hand.
Placing the glasses carefully on the table, she expertly opened the bottle and filled both of them to the brim. Picking up his glass, Simon raised it toward me, and waited for me to do the same.
“To us, Leon,” he said, tapping my glass with his.
“To us,” I repeated, still wondering what the fuck was going on. “Have you been promoted?”
“Nope.”
Taking a sip from his glass, Simon reached forward, and took my hand.
“Please calm down. I swear, I am not ending our relationship and nothing bad has happened.”
It was easy for him to say that, yet my body trembled violently with worry about what he was going to say.
“So what’s going on, then?”
“Let’s eat first. I’ve already ordered anyway, the same we had our first night together here.”
“Well, I am starving. I guess whatever it is can wait for an hour,” I said, taking a sip from my glass and feeling the moisture instantly returning to my dry mouth. My trembling slowly began to ease.
Once again Simon raised his hand, and once again the waitress came rushing over, this time with our starter. Slowly, the two of us began to eat, Simon tucking in heartily while I just picked slowly through the Bruschetta. Eventually though, I managed to finish, only for our main course to appear in front of us in record time.
Simon had certainly learned a lot over the last few months. He knew I couldn’t resist the stuffed squid, and unlike the Bruschetta, I devoured everything on my plate without picking or taking my time.
“I guess it’s time for dessert now,” I said. “And I reckon it could be creamy strawberry Tiramisu.”
“You reckon right,” Simon replied. “Now if you’ll just excuse me a minute, men’s room calling.”
“Sure, no rush.”
As he walked toward the bathroom, I picked up my glass and drained it in one gulp. Champagne was a drink I normally avoided like the plague, as it always made me feel far too horny and gave me a massive headache the next day. After about ten minutes, I began to think that maybe he wanted this night to be exactly like our first. I was about to get up and head to the men’s room when he finally came back and sat in front of me.
“Thought you’d done a runner out the back,” I said, laughing nervously.
“There is no way I would ever do that to you,” Simon said. “Now relax, here comes dessert.”
As the waitress put the plate down in front of me, I looked up at Simon, and smiled.
“It really is our first night all over again. Thank you.”
“The night’s not over yet.”
Simon smiled, picked up his fork, and began to eat his Tiramisu, all the while glancing toward me. I picked my own fork up and went to put the piece I had cut when I saw something glinting in the middle of the slice.
“What the fuck!”
“What’s wrong?” Simon asked.
“There’s some glass or something in this slice.”
“Are you sure it’s glass?”
Picking my fork back up, I scraped the Tiramisu away from the shiny object and looked up at Simon who was smiling broadly. Reaching forward, he picked the object from my plate, took hold of my left hand and looked at me.
“Well, Leon, will you move in with me and become my civil partner?”
Staring at him, I felt a lump forming in my throat, and nodded weakly.
“Yes, I will,” I managed to croak, and as Simon slipped the thick gold, belt buckle ring onto my engagement finger, everyone in the restaurant began cheering and applauding in unison.
The lump in my throat grew larger. I couldn’t believe I had thought he was going to leave me. This was the last thing I had expected, and as the waiters and waitresses all came over and shook our hands or kissed our cheeks, the tear that had formed in my eye slowly trickled down my cheek and dripped into the remainder of my champagne.
“So, Leon, are you ready to come back to ours and spend the first night of our engagement together?"
“You better believe I’m ready,” I replied. “By the way, did I tell you just how horny champagne makes me?”
“No, you didn’t. Let me just pay and then we’ll get out of here.”
The End
About The Author
Julez S. Morbius is the pseudonym of an engaged father to nine children, four of his own and five stepchildren. He is also partially disabled, having been born with a neurological condition that has caused his nervous system to deteriorate over the years and finds writing to be the way to express his feelings, and fantasies.
Having been writing for less than five years, Star Search, published by Naughty Nights Press in November 2011, was his first release. This was followed by an appearance in the gay male anthology The Boy's Club, also published by Naughty Nights Press, where he had two stories, Opposites Attract and Room for Two.
His second stand-alone release, Addicted to Charlie, came out in June 2012, quickly followed by Naughty Hot Shots - Reunited at a Reunion, which earned him his fir
st ever bestseller certificate from his publisher, NNP, and then shortly after that his next Transgender release, Naught Hot Shots - Top Of The Class, which earned him yet another silver star at All Romance Ebooks on the very first day.
Julez has several stories, both gay male and transgender, currently on the editing table of his publisher that he hopes will be out to his fans shortly. A recent surgery to assist him in his mobility has added to the unfortunate delayed releases, but now that Julez is on the mend he has jumped back into the wonderfully busy process of working with his editor to cultivate his upcoming works.
Julez now considers writing to be his main occupation, and continues to write, mainly in gay male, transgender and cross dressing genres.
For The Love Of Leon Page 4
