The Sweet Tooth

by Margot Larson

  “Aww…..look at that face, so cute,” Solomon pinched Mathieu’s cheek, “but I’m not falling for it this time. We can pack a lunch and find a place in the park that isn’t hidden behind some bushes. You bring your pad and pencils and I’ll bring my camera.”

  Mathieu slunk up to his boyfriend seductively, “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay in today?”

  Solomon kept his face straight, “I’m sure.”

  ***

  Lunch was packed in a matching but larger version of Solomon’s new insulated bag and they were supposedly ready to go by 13:00 but Mathieu was stalling in every way possible. The first tactic was to take a shower, then he couldn’t get his hair to behave (like he ever could), then he didn’t know what to wear because it was hot but there was a breeze and he didn’t want to get a chill, then he couldn’t find his shoes. By the time Mathieu was dressed Solomon was ready to throw the Irishman over his shoulder and carry him outside whether he wanted to go or not.

  Solomon grabbed up the lunch bag, slung it over his left shoulder, his camera went around his neck and Mathieu’s artist bag went over his right shoulder, “Let’s go,” he called to his boyfriend in the bedroom, “move your sweet arse or I’m gonna kick it all the way to the park.”

  “Ha,” Mathieu countered coming out into the living room, “like you could catch me.”

  “You’re standing right there and I’m in front of the door. Where do you think you can go where I couldn’t catch you?”

  “Umm….the bathroom?”

  “If you’re done, can we go now?”

  Mathieu put on his pouty face, “You’re no fun anymore.”

  “You….out….now,” Solomon pointed from his partner to the door.

  Mathieu realized he’d lost the battle and moped as he picked the blanket up from the back of the sofa and made his way out his door and down the stairs. From where he stood across the street the park didn’t look too crowded though it was a bright, sunny day. Solomon stepped out the front door, took Mathieu’s hand, gave it a squeeze and led the way into the park. The Irishman wanted to be in the park but at the same time he didn’t. He shied away from and didn’t make eye contact with anyone they passed by and flinched at any loud noises. He was sure he’d be having an attack if it weren’t for the medication in his system but he tried not to think about it. He focused on the man holding his hand; he watched Solomon blink and smile, he listened to Solomon breathe and talk, he kept pace with Solomon’s steps and told himself that Solomon wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

  They found a place to sit that was close enough to a group of people Mathieu believed were tourists but far enough away for Mathieu to be comfortable. The artist took his bag from Solomon and attempted to distract himself from his surroundings. He sketched out the children’s play area, the walking path, added some random children and adults and finally Solomon lounging on the blanket. As Mathieu began to color in the sketch Solomon decided to take a short walk to take some pictures. The first picture he took was of his partner sitting cross legged on the blanket with the sketch pad in his lap and a serious frown on his face. Mathieu begged Solomon not to leave him but Solomon said he’d only be a short distance away and never out of his sight-line.

  Mathieu returned to his coloring as Solomon walked away. Every few seconds Mathieu looked up to make sure Solomon wasn’t too far. Things were going fine until Solomon got distracted by a group of tourists who held out their cameras to him and asked if he would take a group picture for all of them. At the same time a group of four women approached Mathieu to see what he was sketching. The artist knew they were there as he concentrated on his work harder and did his best to ignore them. One of the women didn’t get the message his body language was telling her and as he looked up to see if Solomon was coming to his rescue she leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder.

  When he felt the touch Mathieu was alarmed and scrambled to get away. When Mathieu moved so quickly it frightened the woman and she let out a little shriek. The other three women were startled but recovered quickly and tried to reassure the artist that their friend didn’t mean him any harm. A couple of other people had gathered close by drawn by the small commotion and they blocked Mathieu’s view of Solomon. His head started to spin, his breath was coming in short gasps and he put his hand up to ward off the women but they didn’t understand what was happening and kept trying to soothe the distressed artist. One of the women picked up the sketch pad and held it out to him. He grabbed it from her and clutched it to his chest like a shield. He couldn’t understand why the women wouldn’t just go away and leave him alone.

  Solomon took the last of the group’s photos and turned to check on his partner but all he could see were people standing around and blocking his view. When he realized that the people all have their backs to him and were looking toward his picnic spot he momentarily froze before bursting into a run. As he broke through the crowd he saw Mathieu surrounded by four stooping women. The women had their hands up and were gesturing to him in calm down motions. Solomon threw himself onto the ground and took the shaking artist into his arms, “It’s okay Baby. I’m here. You’re alright. Just breathe for me.”

  When Mathieu recognized Solomon’s voice he buried his face in Solomon’s shirt. He heard Solomon telling the women that everything was fine and he’d make sure Mathieu knew that they didn’t mean him any harm. After the women left and the rest of the crowd dispersed Solomon returned his attention to his partner. Mathieu’s breathing slowly evened out and Solomon thought the man in his lap was asleep but was proven wrong when golden-brown eyes turn up to meet his crystal blue.

  Solomon ran his fingers through Mathieu’s curly brown locks, “Are you alright?”

  Mathieu closed his eyes again and nodded against Solomon’s chest.

  “Do you want to go home?” To Solomon’s surprise Mathieu shook his head this time. “Do you want to eat?” Again Mathieu shook his head. “Do you want to lie down?” This time Mathieu nodded. Solomon rearranged himself so Mathieu could rest his head on Solomon’s leg. “I’m going to have a sandwich. I’ll try not to get crumbs in your hair.”

  Mathieu replied with a sleepy, “Okay.” But Mathieu didn’t sleep; every once in a while, even though his head was resting on Solomon’s leg, he opened his eyes to make sure his partner was still there. He hears Solomon munching away on his lunch and felt the occasional brush of fingers through his hair (he suspected crumbs were the reason). The munching he was listening to gradually triggered his own appetite and the brunette sat up to have a sandwich for himself.

  Solomon waited for Mathieu to be done with his lunch before he said, “I’m sorry I left you alone for so long and didn’t realize you were in trouble. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “I knew they were watching me and that they were closer than I was comfortable with but when one of them touched me I was startled. I certainly didn’t expect to be touched. Everything happened so fast after that. I didn’t want them to come any closer or touch me again. I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t go away and leave me alone. Then you were there.”

  “What symptoms did you have?”

  “I was dizzy and short of breath. I think I would’ve been okay if the woman hadn’t touched me or if there had been just one woman standing by me. But with the four of them standing over me….I couldn’t take that.” Mathieu took his journal out of his bag and Solomon watched as he made notes about the day’s events. “I forgive you.”

  Solomon didn’t have to ask what for, “Thank you.”

  CHAPTER 23

  “Can somebody be nervous and confident at the same time?” Solomon asked his partner who was lying in bed even though it was going on ten.

  Mathieu had just climbed back into bed after making himself some tea and toast for breakfast. He had decided to spend a lazy Sunday in bed since Solomon didn’t want a full breakfast that morning, “You’re nervous about telling them but you’re confident it will go well because you have
a solution, right?” He had surrounded himself with his art supplies so he could work on the tarot card submission.

  “That’s it exactly,” Solomon said as he eyed the Irishman, “Please don’t get any toast crumbs in the bed.”

  “I won’t but if I do I’ll change the sheets and send these with the laundry tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” Solomon did a pirouette, “How do I look?”

  “You look great, like usual, why? You got a date?”

  “Yes, with Anders and Adrian.”

  “Ooh…a threesome. Nice. I guess you’ll be too tired for me when you get back.”

  “Yup, sorry.” Solomon climbed across the bed carefully dodging art supplies and reference material to straddle his partner and give him a kiss.

  Mathieu tries to lie back on the bed and bring the blonde with him but Solomon broke away, “Sorry, Love, gotta go.”

  “Tease,” Mathieu moaned when his partner climbed off the bed. “You have the cheques?” Mathieu asked as he got out of bed himself to see his partner off.

  They kissed again at the front door, “Yes. Wish me luck.”

  “Good luck though you won’t need it. Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  ***

  Adrian was more than surprised when Anders called and said that Solomon wanted to meet on Sunday at the restaurant. As he walked to the restaurant several scenarios ran through his mind from Solomon announcing his break-up with Mathieu to the two of them getting married to Mathieu’s disorder being a scam to Mathieu having some sort of incurable disease; if there was something bad that could happened to Mathieu, Adrian thought of it though the Welshman preferred the first one. When he got to the restaurant, fashionably fifteen minutes late, Solomon and Anders were already there and waiting for him.

  Solomon got up from his barstool and asked Adrian to sit down. They didn’t exchange handshakes or hellos and Solomon didn’t thank him for coming. The blonde removed an envelope from his pocket and handed Anders and Adrian a piece of paper from it. The two men looked down at the paper in their hands.

  Anders was the first to ask, “What’s this?”

  Solomon took a few deep breaths, “It’s a cheque for your investment funds.”

  “I didn’t ask for this.”

  “No, I know you didn’t but something happened and I have to tell you about it.”

  Anders looked from Solomon to Adrian who just sat and looked at the cheque in his hand, “What happened?”

  “I made an investment and it didn’t work out. The cheque is my repayment to you for the loss.”

  “I don’t understand. Investments lose money all the time. Why are you paying us back?”

  Solomon paced in front of the bar, “Because it’s a lot of money and it didn’t just get lost it was stolen. A corporation was set up to attract investors and after a couple of weeks the people behind it disappeared with all the money. I should’ve known something wasn’t right. Everything looked too good to be true but I didn’t see it. I’ve been going out of my mind over this.”

  “This is why you’ve been so stressed and angry lately? And you feel like you have to pay us back? Why? It’s not your fault they money was stolen. You couldn’t have known what these people were planning.”

  Before Anders could continue Adrian finally spoke up, “You feel guilty because you lost all our money and now you’re paying us back with your money. I find it quite interesting that you find it okay to gamble with our money but not your own. How much did Mathieu lose?”

  “I never said I didn’t take a loss too and Mathieu didn’t lose anything and even if he did it wouldn’t be any of your business.”

  “Oh, that’s funny. You lose our money but not your lover’s. Did this investment take place before or after my incident with Mathieu?”

  “I didn’t lose any of Mathieu’s money because he never gave me any to invest. I can’t force him to give me his money. What’s your problem? Why are you turning this into something about Mathieu? I’m paying you back what was lost. Just take it.”

  “I just want to know.” Adrian demanded, “Was it before or after?”

  “The investment was before but the loss was after. Happy now?”

  “I can’t take it,” Anders held the check out to Solomon. “It’s not your fault. I assume the police or proper authorities were notified and reports were filed and these people are being sought.”

  “Yes, but Anders I want you to take the money. If the people behind this are caught and any money retrieved we can work it out later. I don’t want you to be out anything. As far as I know the authorities aren’t any closer to finding these people and I don’t know if they ever will. If they are smart enough to do this they’re smart enough to get away with it.”

  “Are we the only ones who lost money in this?”

  “No, a few others in my office had clients that lost and I found out that some other firms were hit as well.”

  “Are the other advisors in your office paying back their clients too?”

  “No, they’re letting the authorities handle things. Anders, we’re friends and I want to pay you back. Please, take the money.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me, I’m cashing this cheque,” Adrian was adamant then asked, “But if you lost too how can you afford this? Did you take out a loan?”

  “Sort of. Look, I don’t want to go into it. It doesn’t matter anyway. Your money is gone and I’m paying you back. That’s it. Period. The end.”

  “It’s Mathieu’s money, isn’t it?” Anders asked quietly and held out the cheque again, “I can’t take it. I’ll let the authorities handle it. My loss wasn’t that great. I won’t miss this.” Anders gained a whole new respect for the Irishman.

  “Mathieu’s money? Is it?” Adrian didn’t know how to react he just stared at the cheque in his hand. Why would Mathieu give Solomon money to pay him back especially after what he did? Slowly it dawned on him; Mathieu did it because he loved Solomon. It didn’t have anything to do with him at all. He didn’t know if he disliked Mathieu more or less because of it.

  “Please, just take the money.” Solomon didn’t wait for either man to respond; he turned and walked out of the restaurant.

  ***

  Solomon broke into a run once he was outside the restaurant and didn’t stop until he had exhausted himself. He wasn't too from home but he didn’t want to go there yet. Solomon knew Mathieu was spending the day in bed so he went to the park to think. He found Mathieu’s favorite spot (behind the shrubs) and dropped to the ground. He didn’t expect them to fall at his feet in gratitude but he didn’t expect Anders’ quiet acceptance or Adrian’s anger at Mathieu. He wished they had yelled at him or showed some sort of dissatisfaction at the way he handled their money. Solomon thought it’s what he deserved. He could handle their yelling and their disappointment but he was not quite sure how to handle what did happen. He heard his mobile tweet; the text from Anders read ‘call me when you’re up to it’.

  ***

  Mathieu looked up from his sketching when Solomon entered the bedroom, “How’d it go?”

  Solomon moved over to his side of the bed and slid over to be next to his lover, “Can we not talk about it?

  “Sure. Are you hungry? Want me to fix you something?”

  “No.”

  Mathieu dropped his sketch pad on to the floor along with the reference material he had been using, “Come here,” he opened his arms to the blonde.

  Solomon slid into Mathieu’s open arms, “Love you.”

  “Love you too.”

  When Solomon’s breathing slowed and evened out Mathieu carefully untangled himself and headed for the kitchen. As he walked he recalled the last time he tried to serve Solomon lobster macaroni and cheese and what a disaster it turned into but he smiled when he thought about how far he’d come since then.

  Mathieu hated cooking lobster; the poor live things; he had one brought over this morning (for which he paid very well) and he had put it in
the fridge wrapped in damp newspaper to keep it moist until it was time to cook it.

  He removed the large pot from the cabinet, filled it with water and set it on the stove. Once the water was boiling Mathieu took the lobster out of the fridge, unwrapped it, cut off the rubber bands holding the large claws closed and with his eyes closed dropped it, head first, into the boiling water. The two pound lobster would take twenty minutes to cook so while he waited he set another water filled pot on the stove for the macaroni. After the pasta boiled for eight minutes he drained it, rinsed it under cold water and set it aside. There was still time left for the lobster so he moved on to the next step. Butter was melted in a saucepan over medium high heat and one small diced onion was added. The Irishman stirred the pot to mix the onion with the butter. That had to cook until the onion was softened and translucent, about five minutes. While he waited for the onion to cook the timer for the lobster went off, he drained the water from the pot and set the lobster aside to cool. The brunette stirred the onions in the butter for the rest of the five minutes then transferred it to a small bowl and set that aside next to the macaroni.

  He needed the lobster shell for the next step so he had to remove the meat even though the lobster hadn’t cooled down as much as would’ve liked. The first thing he did was remove the large claws from the side of the body by twisting them away. To remove the head from the body he held the lobster’s head and body firmly, twisted and pulled. Mathieu used a spoon to scrape out all the tomalley from the body and the head. The Irishman used scissors to cut along both sides of the shell under the lobster’s belly and peeled off the shell carefully to remove the meat. There was still some tomalley on the meat so he cut that off and removed the back of the lobster meat that still had some of the black vein. Finally, Mathieu turned his attention to the two claws. He broke each lobster claw into individual knuckles and holding both pincers of the claw he firmly pulled the small pincer outwards and pulled out the bony stem from the inside. He used the back of a large, heavy knife to break the claw shell. When enough of the meat was revealed he removed the claw meat in one piece. He removed the meat from the knuckles in much the same way then repeated the steps with the other claw.