Sense of Place

by N. R. Walker

  “Café where?”

  “No, Café Wha?,” he repeated. “Where Jimi Hendrix played! We couldn’t go in, because I’m seventeen, but Cooper, we went to where Jimi Hendrix played!”

  Cooper was smiling at Max’s enthusiasm. “That’s so cool!”

  “But then,” Max said. “The best place ever… Tom took me to Generation Records.”

  Cooper blinked, then his eyes darted to mine, and back to Max’s. “And that’s cool because…?”

  “Because it’s the best metal and punk record store, ever. Like, ever. If it’s metal or punk, they have it,” Max said. “Coop, it was so freakin’ cool.”

  I handed Cooper his reheated pizza. “I am officially the coolest guy on the planet.”

  Cooper took the plate and stared at me. “You really took him there?”

  “I did.”

  Cooper took a step closer and planted his lips on mine. “Thank you.” Then he looked at Max. “Did my credit card survive?”

  Max laughed. “Yeah, yeah. But I bought you something, so that makes it okay.”

  “With my own money. How thoughtful of you.” Cooper took a bite of pizza and spoke with his mouth full, “So where is it?”

  “Well, Tom picked it,” Max admitted. “I said I wanted to get you something cool, so Tom found you this…” Max walked over to the sofa and picked up the bag and held it out proudly.

  Cooper followed him over to the sofa, put his plate on the coffee table and threw himself onto the lounge. Max handed him the shopping bag and we watched as he pulled out a Ramones CD and a Sex Pistols shirt.

  “Oh, man,” Cooper said quietly. “Did you pick these?” he asked me.

  “Yep. I figured the Ramones were easier to listen to than the Sex Pistols, plus I liked the shirt. Well, for you. Not for me.”

  Cooper held up the white, sleeveless shirt with a washed-out Union Flag on it, and the anarchy A. “I love it.” Cooper took another mouthful of pizza and started to unbutton his shirt.

  Max looked at Cooper. “Dude. What are you doing?”

  “I’m gonna wear my new shirt,” he answered.

  “Thank God I didn’t buy you the briefs.”

  “Did they have Sex Pistols undies? Because I would totally wear those,” Cooper said seriously. He grabbed his slice of pizza and sat back down on the sofa.

  I laughed, leaned over the back of the sofa and kissed the side of his head. “I’ll leave you two to chat. I’m going to our bedroom to check emails and catch up on the critical stuff I missed today.”

  Cooper stood up. “Are you sure? Tom, you can stay out here.”

  I walked back over to him and kissed him. “I’m sure. You two can catch up, I can get some work done,” I said. “Plus, I walked the entire length of the city today. I could put my feet up. I’m old, remember?”

  Cooper rolled his eyes, but put his hand on my chest. “Okay. I won’t be too long. I’m tired, myself.”

  I looked at Max. “Thanks for a good day. I had fun.”

  “Thank you,” Max said. “Can’t wait to see what we’re doing tomorrow.”

  I groaned at the thought, and left them to it. As I walked down the hall, I heard Max say, “He’s not, you know.”

  “He’s not what?” Cooper asked warily.

  “Old,” Max answered. “He said he wanted to put his feet up because he’s old. But he’s not.”

  “I know that,” Cooper said. It sounded like he was smiling.

  “He’s pretty cool actually,” Max said.

  Cooper laughed. “Yeah, I know that.”

  Smiling, I shut the door quietly and left them to it. They could use some brother time, and quite frankly, I really needed to put my feet up. I’d literally walked all over the city and was feeling every one of my forty-four years.

  I got through a swarm of emails and replied to the urgent ones. Then I emailed Donella, my lead draftsperson, and roped her into taking on the critical jobs for tomorrow. She was more than capable of stepping up for a day, because I was spending the day with Max.

  And the truth was, I wasn’t loving my job.

  It was the first time ever that I’d not loved my job. I still loved architecture—that would never change—but I wasn’t loving my job. This bullshit with Robert had put a cloud over everything to do with Brackett and Golding.

  I didn’t know what he was playing at, or what he was after. But I had bigger things to worry about.

  I had to spend another day trying to up the ante in the cool stakes tomorrow with a seventeen-year-old punk kid, then spend the weekend with Cooper’s parents.

  My apartment, which had been just mine for four years and now was Cooper’s home as well, was going to be very crowded for the weekend. With people who didn’t particularly like me.

  And the weird thing was? I was looking forward to it.

  It meant a lot to Cooper, and I wanted it to work out for him. I wanted his parents to like me, to like us. Not for my sake, but for Cooper’s.

  I just hoped once they saw us, together, in our home, that they’d see the real us. That we were just a normal couple. Age differences aside, we were just a normal couple.

  I had a quick shower to wash the grime of the city off me and crawled into bed. Not too long after, Cooper slid in behind me, and wrapped his arm around my waist. He kissed the back of my head. “You impressed Max today.”

  “He had fun.”

  Cooper wriggled closer and nuzzled my neck. “What you did today… It means a lot to me.”

  I rolled over to face him and he hitched his leg over mine. His hand cupped my cheek and he kissed me. “I really do love you, Tom.”

  “I know,” I whispered. “And I really love you.”

  He smiled, and closed his eyes as if he were basking in sunshine. “I wish I could spend tomorrow with you and Max.”

  “I wish you could too,” I said. “But I don’t think I’ll be earning any cool points with Max tomorrow. We have a very important dinner party we need to get produce for.”

  “You’re taking him grocery shopping?”

  “Yep.”

  “Yeah, you can hand your cool-card in,” Cooper said with a smile.

  “I have in-laws to impress, remember?”

  “In-laws?”

  “Well, your parents.”

  “In-laws?”

  “Wrong word choice, again, huh?”

  “Hmm,” Cooper hummed. “On a scale of one to ten on the romantic marriage proposals, that was about a minus eighty.”

  “I didn’t ask you!”

  “You called my parents in-laws.”

  I chuckled and pecked his lips. “One of these days I might ask you for real, and you’ll shoot me down and break my heart.”

  “You have been asking me for real,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll only say yes when you get it right.”

  “You’re impossible.”

  “Ah, Tom, that’s not getting it right. Were you even trying?”

  “I wasn’t even asking.”

  Cooper sighed. “You’re impossible.”

  “I learned from the best.”

  Even in the dark, I could make out his grin. He kissed me with smiling lips, but then he stifled a yawn. “I know this is a first,” he said, “but I’m too tired to do anything tonight.”

  “Oh, thank God,” I said with a laugh. “I wasn’t kidding about having to walk five hundred miles today.”

  “Aw, my poor baby,” Cooper said in a baby’s voice. “Did dat bad teenager wear you out today?”

  I dug my fingers into his ribs, tickling him and making him squirm. “Yes, he did. He’s almost as bad as you.”

  Cooper laughed. “I don’t make you walk from one end of the city to the other.”

  “No, you wear me out in other ways.”

  “Better ways?”

  “Much better ways.”

  Cooper pecked my lips with his. “Good.” Then he rolled over and wiggled back against me. “I need big-spoon cuddles.”

&nbs
p; I laughed into the back of his head, but I nuzzled my nose into his hair, and put my arm around him. “I’ll always be your big spoon.”

  He snorted. “Unless I’m being the big spoon. Then you’ll be my little spoon.”

  “Always.”

  “Mmm, cute. But no marriage proposal should ever involve spoons.”

  I sighed. “Goodnight, Cooper.”

  * * * *

  I’d forgotten how teenagers could sleep. Max stumbled out of bed around ten, and according to him, even that was getting up early. The good part was, it gave me plenty of time to read emails, make phone calls and basically work from home for a few hours.

  Max griped about having to go grocery shopping, but once I explained it meant a lot to Cooper, he was okay with it. “He wants everything to be perfect for the dinner party tomorrow night,” I said. “It’s kind of a test by your parents of sorts, whether intentional or not, that Cooper and I are serious.”

  Max nodded, and only after a long stretch of silence did he reply. “They’re trying to make an effort, you know.”

  “Your parents?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “They didn’t like it at first, as you know. But what you said to them about pushing Cooper away kinda hit home. Well, for Mom anyway.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Max looked around the fresh produce store, and shrugged. “Mom told Dad she’d intentionally lose her husband before she’d ever intentionally lose a child, and she warned him not to make her choose.” Max picked up a durian and studied it like it was from outer space. “I don’t think Dad would ever let it get to that. He loves Cooper, and what Coop said was right. If they didn’t care if he liked boys or girls, then they shouldn’t care how old they are.” He held up the spiky fruit. “What the hell is this?”

  “It’s a durian,” I said. “And I think your parents just want him to be happy.”

  “He is.”

  “I know.”

  “What do you do with it?”

  “Pardon?”

  “A durian. What do you do with it?”

  “It’s a fruit. And I have no clue. Apparently they’re banned in some places of Asia because of the putrid smell. Why anyone would actually taste something that smelt like skunk, I’ll never know.”

  Max dropped the fruit and wiped his hands on his pants. “Eww. That’s just nasty.”

  I smiled. “I think your parents just need time.”

  “They miss Cooper.”

  “He moved to New York before we were together. He’d still be living away from home if he was with me or not.”

  “I know that. They know that,” Max said. “But they still miss him.”

  “They’ve still got you at home,” I said, as though it lessened the loss.

  “Until next year, then I’ll be going too.” Max shrugged, and spoke as though he couldn’t have cared less. “I think Mom always hoped he’d come back to Chicago… But then he met you, and I think she knows he’s not going anywhere in a hurry. I think that’s what scared her the most, you know.”

  “I’m not holding him ransom here or anything,” I said.

  Max rolled his eyes. “I heard them talking one night, not long after you and Cooper visited. It’s not really about you. It’s about Cooper moving away and settling down. They weren’t expecting him to bring anyone home, let alone you.”

  “Let alone me?”

  “Yeah, you’re like twice his age.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” I said. I was going to ask him if it bothered him, but I suddenly didn’t want to know. Instead, I said, “Thanks for being honest with me.”

  Max shrugged again. “No worries. You know, growing up we were never that close. There’s five years between us, so we were always at different schools, at different stages, know what I mean?” he asked. “It’s only now that he moved away that we’re kind of getting on better. We make the effort to talk more, I guess.”

  “Cooper was so excited that you were coming.”

  “I came a day early to spend some time with him,” he said quietly. “I didn’t let him know I was coming in case he said no.”

  “He’d never say no, Max,” I said softly. “He wishes he could have taken today off work to spend with you.”

  “Yeah, he said that. It was good to catch up with him last night,” Max said with a bit of a smile. “He’s real busy with work, isn’t he?”

  “He is,” I agreed. “But you’re more than welcome to come and stay any time.”

  Max gave me a half-smile. “Don’t tell him I didn’t call him on purpose. He’ll be mad.”

  I grinned at him. “Deal.”

  My cellphone rang, and when I pulled it from my pocket, Cooper’s name flashed on the screen. I handed the phone to Max. “Here. You talk to him.” I turned and looked over the rows of fruit to find what I was after.

  “Hey,” he said into the phone. “No, we’re in the grocer’s. Tom’s picking mangoes…” There was a moment’s silence, then he said, “No, that’s not a euphemism for anything. He’s honestly looking at mangoes.”

  I laughed, but let him talk to Cooper while I picked all the fresh produce on Cooper’s list. As I got the register, Max handed me back my phone. “He needs to tell you something.”

  I took the phone. “Hey.”

  “I’m so fucking jealous of you two right now.”

  “Oh, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t be,” he said. “I just wish I was there, that’s all. Max said he’s had a pretty good day.”

  “Not as cool as yesterday.”

  “Well, no. But that would take some beating. What I was calling for, it looks like we’re going to wrap up the Baurhenn job today. It’s all but done. Louisa just needs to go over the job file and sign off on it.”

  “Oh, that’s excellent!” I said into the phone. I handed my credit card to the cashier and paid for the groceries.

  “I think they’re having celebratory drinks somewhere,” he said. “I should be there for that, but my parents and Max…”

  “Tell them to have a little party at the office,” I suggested. “That way your parents get to see where you work, and Max can go. If it’s at a bar, then he can’t, and Cooper,” I said, “he wants to spend time with you.”

  “I know,” he said with a groan. “I’ll see what I can organise, and let you know. Are you still right to collect my parents from the airport?”

  I looked at my watch. I had three hours. “Of course I am.”

  “Tom, thank you.”

  “You can pay me back later.”

  “Dude!” Max said beside me, obviously hearing what I’d said to his brother. “Ew.”

  I laughed into the phone. “Cooper, I’ll speak to you later.”

  We got home, I put everything away and checked emails, while Max spent the next two hours glued to his phone. His interest in doing anything was kind of wavering, but then I said we were heading to the airport, and he saw my car.

  “Holy shit, dude!” he cried. “You serious?”

  I laughed. “Cooper loves this car.”

  “I can see freakin’ why!” he crowed. “Can I drive it?”

  “No freakin’ way,” I copied his tone.

  Max grinned all the way to the airport. Whether or not he knew I was nervous and needed some reinforcements, just like Cooper, he took charge. He chatted and kept me busy the whole time. His parents came through the terminal gates, searching the crowd. I think they were looking for Cooper, but they spotted Max and both of them smiled.

  Then they saw me.

  Andrew, Cooper’s father, tried to smile but failed. However, Paula, Cooper’s mother, managed just fine. It was a brief but polite hello, and the attention revolved around Max, which was fine with me.

  Max told them all about the shirts he’d bought yesterday, for himself and Cooper, and the music he’d got. But then we got back to my car, and he started talking about it.

  He assumed he’d be sitting in the front again, but I threw
my thumb towards the back seat. Max grumbled at me but he did climb through to the back. I’d never had anyone in the back seat of my car, so Max and Paula were the first. Which left Andrew in the front with me.

  And funnily enough, he spoke to me. It was about the car, but it was unprompted conversation. Admittedly, I didn’t know a great deal about cars in general, but I knew enough about this car to have a conversation with Cooper’s father.

  “Where is Cooper?” Paula asked from the back.

  “At work,” I said. “He’s wrapping up his first project. It should be signed off this afternoon. Well, he’s hoping it will be. The developer is driving him insane.” Then I said, “Actually, he won’t be home till late, so he’s hoping we can all go to his office. They might be having a little party to celebrate the completion of his first solo job. It’s, um…it’s kind of a big deal.”

  “Oh, okay,” Paula said, unsure.

  “But he’s going to call to let us know,” I told them. “It’s just unfortunate timing that this particular job is being signed off on on the same weekend of your visit. But that means he’s free for the rest of the weekend. I think that’s what he was aiming for. He’s looking forward to having you all here.”

  In the rear vision mirror, I watched as Paula smiled then frowned as she must have remembered something. “Oh. Cooper presumed he’d have some work to catch up on tomorrow, and he told me not to get extra tickets to the show.”

  Max snorted. “He told you that because musicals suck.”

  “Max,” Andrew chastised his son. “I’m sure Cooper would go and suffer along with the rest of us for the sake of his mother.”

  Max nodded in agreement, and Paula rolled her eyes. I couldn’t help but laugh. Not that what Andrew had said wasn’t funny, just that I’d never expected Cooper’s sense of humour to come from his dad.

  “Well, Cooper has a dinner planned for you tomorrow night,” I told them. “So while you’re out at the show, it will give us time to get it all ready.”

  We got to the apartment, and I showed them to the spare room. “I had housecleaning change the linen today,” I told them. “Max, you’re on the sofa.”

  “Oh, nice,” he said. “Kick me out.” Then after a second, he cocked his head. “You have housekeeping? So I didn’t need to make my bed this morning?”