The Contract

by D. C. Hall

  “Do you really want me to answer that?” Williams was grinning now. Nathan's cheeks burned at the look in his eyes, but he wasn't backing down.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “You seem like the type that would accidentally say it during sex.” Williams watched the color in Nathan's face spread down at his neck as the sheepish look overtook his face. His eyes went to the floor.

  “That only happened once!” His embarrassment grew when Williams burst into laughter. “It’s not that funny!” He was genuinely getting upset now. That had been one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. Williams was still laughing, but now was clutching his ribs. He got himself under control and looked up at Nathan. There was a surge of guilt when he saw the hurt on his face. “It's pretty late. I should probably go to bed.” Nathan started to put the cards back in the box.

  “Wait, Nathan. Please don’t leave, yet. I don't want to end the night with you mad at me.” Williams said. He pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his ribs. Sitting next to Nathan, he took his hand in his.

  “I’m not mad.” Nathan responded softly, feeling Williams squeeze his hand. He kept his gaze on the floor. It was the truth. He wasn’t mad, but he didn’t like someone laughing at him like that. It especially hurt because Williams’s opinion meant a lot to him.

  “Maybe not. But, I don't want you to be embarrassed or hurt either. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He pulled his hand back before running his fingers through Nathan's hair. “I'm sorry for laughing.” Nathan leaned his head against the contact, but still wouldn't look at Williams.

  “Look, Nathan…” He wasn’t sure what to say next. He moved his hand again to the small of Nathan’s back. “I… That wasn’t really why I said you would say it first.” Nathan shifted slightly. “I said it because you’re very open with affection. It's one of the reasons I'm jealous of you. I've never been good at showing people I care.” He propped his chin on Nathan’s shoulder.

  Nathan finally caved and turned his head to look at the other man. “You’re doing pretty good, right now.” He said, giving him a small smile. Williams felt his cheeks heat up as warmth filled his chest. Nathan pressed a kiss to his forehead before wrapping him up in his arms, careful not to hurt anything he had broken.

  “But,” Nathan started. “Since you did laugh at me, if the situation ever arises, you have to say you love me first.” Williams knew that Nathan was making a joke out of this, but it made his heart flutter. If he didn’t watch it, he really would fall for him. He’d worry about that later. Right now, he was just focused on how nice it felt to be in his arms.

  “I'll keep that in mind.”

  ***

  It was a few weeks later, and Christmas was around the corner. Right now, Nathan was seated in front of the piano while Williams sat in a seat next to him, watching his fingers move along the keys. He was good. It made Williams understand why his hands looked so nimble. After a while, Nathan stopped to crack his knuckles.

  “I don't think I've played in about three years.” He stated.

  “You're very good.” Williams said, getting a smile from him.

  “When I was a kid, I thought I'd be putting on shows by now. I always thought I'd have an opera house to play and sing in.” his fingers moved idly, pulling out a soft tune.

  “Why aren't you?” Williams questioned. “You've got the talent for it.” Nathan chuckled.

  “I can't sing.” He said. “Besides, things change. It's not really something I want anymore.”

  “What do you want?”

  “That's a good question.” Nathan didn't stop playing as he looked up at Williams, but he did falter on his note for a moment. “I've been thinking about that a lot lately.” He said. The question repeated in his mind before answering back, ‘you’. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he had stopped trying to convince himself it wasn't true. “I don't think I really know. What do you want? In the future, I mean.” He looked back to the keys as Williams thought about the question.

  “I honestly just want to be happy. Maybe, I could spend some time just trying new things, going places I haven't been.”

  ‘Could I make you happy?’ Nathan thought. Williams leaned back in his seat with a sigh. A few moments went by before Nathan spoke up again. “I have something to talk to you about.”

  “Yeah?” Williams couldn't help the hopeful tone in his voice. He wasn't sure what he thought might happen.

  “It's about our contract.”

  “Oh?” His heart sank a little. There was a fear in the back of his mind that Nathan was going to say he didn't want to keep working for him.

  “Do you think we need to make any changes to it?” Nathan asked, never looking up from the piano keys. The slow music seemed to flow with the conversation.

  “I don't think so. Do you?”

  “There’s two things. One is that only I can end the contract.” He finally stopped playing and looked to Williams. “The other is the sex part.”

  “…What changes did you want to make?” Williams asked. Maybe, he didn’t want to stop working for him, but now, he thought that he might just not want to sleep with him.

  “It's not so much that I want to change stuff.” He moved to straddle the piano bench and closer to him. Nathan placed his hand on Williams’s knee and squeezed. “I just want to make it clear that if you decide that you don’t want me as your accountant anymore that I won’t hold the contract over your head. And I want you to know that you aren’t obligated to sleep with me. I don’t want to force you to do anything. And I'm sorry if I have made you do anything that you didn't want to.”

  Williams felt his throat tighten. He laid his hand over Nathan’s before responding, “You haven’t. Everything I've done has been because I wanted to.” Nathan looked like that eased a part of his mind.

  “Good.” He moved back in place to play some more.

  “So, does this change anything? Is there a new plan?” Williams asked.

  “How about, no more plans.” He looked back at him with a smile. “Let’s just be us.” Williams smiled back and nodded.

  ***

  Christmas had arrived. It was still early, but Nathan had gotten up to help cook before he was going to his parents’. Gertrude and Theodore had come back to spend it with Williams. Since their daughter had her baby, she wanted to have a quiet Christmas to relax.

  “So, how long are you two in town for?” Nathan asked. He was chopping vegetables. Apparently, he was the only one in the room who didn’t know much about cooking.

  “We’ll be here for the week. Don't worry. You two can go back to being by yourself soon.” Gertrude answered. Williams rolled his eyes.

  “Come on, Gertrude. You know that’s not why I asked.” Nathan said. He sat his knife down and moved over to her. “I just missed you is all.” He hugged her around her shoulders, and Williams grinned. It was amusing for him to watch how Gertrude reacted to Nathan. She liked to act like she still disliked him as much now as she did when they first met. But, he could tell that she liked him more than she had ever liked any of his boyfriends. Not that he could blame her.

  “Don’t you put your hands on me.” She said, but still laughed. “Oh, alright.” She hugged him back around his waist before pushing him away gently. “There’s no need in all that mushy stuff.”

  “It’s Christmas. If there was ever a time, it would be now.” Nathan responded. She shook her head at him.

  “Are you going to finish chopping those, or are you going keep trying to be lovey dovey?”

  “I could do both.” Nathan said and wrapped his arms around Williams’s shoulders. Williams didn’t even look from what he was stirring, just leaned his head against Nathan’s cheek. Despite what he was saying, Nathan still let go to start working on the vegetables again. It wasn’t long before he was supposed to be leaving anyway. “Are we doing gifts when I get back, or did you want to squeeze that in before?”

  “We can do it later.” Williams responded. Gertrude and Theodore
exchanged glances at that. “Just don’t forget to take what I got for your family.”

  “I won’t.”

  It wasn’t long before he was throwing on his coat and headed out the door. That left Williams alone with Gertrude and Theodore. They continued cooking in silence until Gertrude decided she should break it.

  “You two are doing gifts?” She asked. Williams nodded as he closed the oven. Everything would be ready soon. “What did you get him?”

  “I got him a record player.” He answered.

  “You got him an antique?” Theodore chimed in.

  “No, they make new ones, now. He likes music. So, I thought he might enjoy it.” He leaned back against the counter, still not aware of where the conversation was going.

  “So, have you two made anything official, while we were away?” Gertrude asked. Williams furrowed his brows for a second.

  “Um, no.” He answered. “We’re still the same as we were.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Why?” Williams questioned. The other two exchanged glances again. “Did I miss something?”

  “No, it’s just that you two seem a bit more comfortable with each other. I just wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss anything. Anyway, how was your Thanksgiving?” She said. Williams opened his mouth to answer before shutting it again. He looked at the ground, and Gertrude knew she had asked a good question. “Eugene?”

  “We don’t have to talk about Thanksgiving.” He responded, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.

  “I think we should.” Theodore chimed in. He wanted to see the answer to this one. Williams waited a little longer. Should he mention Martin? Probably not, but that only left one other thing to talk about.

  “I had dinner with Nathan and his family.” He said, and saw the grin that Gertrude gave him.

  “You met his parents?” Williams nodded to answer. “But you two aren’t official?” He shook his head. “I hope you know that you two have done this completely backwards. You’re supposed to tell each other you like each other before you meet their family and start sleeping together.” Gertrude added bringing a blush to his cheeks. He couldn’t even say she was wrong.

  “How about we change the subject? You have a granddaughter now. We could talk about her or how your daughter is doing or your son in law.”

  “We can talk about all that over dinner. I just had to see what was going on here while we were gone.”

  Nathan had pulled up outside his parents’ house and struggled to get inside with the gifts he had brought. Instead of using a bag to bring every thing, he had stacked them. Using his knee, he managed to knock on the door. His brother finally came and opened it.

  “Hello, Santa.” Brad said.

  “Yeah, yeah. Just help me before I drop this.” Nathan replied. Brad grabbed a few boxes off the top and brought them inside. “The one on top is what Eugene got for everybody.”

  “Speaking of him, where’s your boyfriend?”

  “He’s not my! You know what never mind. I’m tired of arguing with you.” Nathan sat the rest of the gifts down by the wall.

  “So, he is your boyfriend.”

  “No, he’s my friend who is a guy. He’s also my boss. So, that would be inappropriate.”

  “But sleeping with him isn’t?”

  “Shut up, Brad.” Nathan responded. His brother looked over the stack of presents. “You didn’t get one so don’t even look.”

  “Oh, come on. You got everyone something but me. What gives?”

  “It’s what happens when you’re an ass to me, all the time.” Nathan knew he was going to get those puppy eyes from his brother. He chuckled before reaching in his back pocket and pulling out an envelope. He handed it over. “Merry Christmas.”

  “I knew you couldn’t leave me out. You love me too much.” Brad grinned as he took the envelope and opened it. He pulled out the paper inside and read it. His smile shifted to confusion as he furrowed his brow. “I’m confused. What is this?”

  “What that means is that whatever you decide you want for a business, I’ll back it.” Nathan stated. He knew how bad Brad wanted to start something up. The biggest thing that was stopping him was that he never had the money to do it.

  “I can’t take that. It would be too much money.” Brad said and tried to hand it back, but Nathan refused to take it.

  “No, it’s not. Eugene pays really well. This could get whatever you want off the ground. And if you’re worried about your money after you get started, I can help with the accounting stuff.” Nathan said and watched as Brad put the paper away in his pocket.

  “You’re sure about this?”

  “Yeah. I don’t need all the money, and this could help you out.” Brad grabbed him and pulled him into a bear hug. Nathan hugged him back.

  “I have the best brother ever.” Brad said, hugging him tighter. Nathan tapped his back.

  “Can’t breathe.” He squeaked out.

  ***

  It was several hours later that Nathan got back to the mansion. He made his way to the kitchen where everyone else was sitting. They had been done eating for a while but hadn’t moved to another room yet.

  “The desserts are still out if you want any.” Gertrude offered. Nathan gave a small huff and put a hand to his stomach.

  “I’d like to, but I think I might explode if I do.” He replied before sitting down next to Williams. He handed over a book. “Dad wanted me to give this to you.”

  “Will you tell him I appreciate it?” Williams said, taking it and looking at the cover. It was one of Tony’s newest books that he had published.

  “Sure.”

  “What did your brother think?”

  “He was hesitant at first to accept, but he took it. Here’s a tip. Don’t ever let him hug you when he’s excited. He’s like a python.”

  “Good to know. You want to do our gifts now?”

  “We can.” Nathan responded. They stood and went to where they had the others’ gifts put back. Gertrude looked down in confusion when they both slid a gift in front of her and Theodore. “Merry Christmas.” Nathan said with a smile.

  “Which one is mine?” Theodore asked and Nathan pointed to the one closest to him. He opened it while Gertrude watched. He pulled out a mystery book and a new watch. “Thank you, boys.” He said slipping the watch onto his wrist. Gertrude started on hers after. She had also gotten a book, but hers was a romance that Williams knew she had wanted. The other item was a sweater. Nathan had help picking out what color she would like. He had never heard of anyone having vermillion as a favorite color, but he had managed to find one.

  “This is very lovely. Thank you.” Gertrude said. She looked over to Theodore who had already opened his new book. “Teddy, don’t you think we ought to leave these two to their gift opening?” She asked. Nathan gave her an odd look, but he didn’t say anything.

  “They’ll be fine. Just pretend we aren’t here.” He responded, not looking up from his book. Gertrude gave him an irritated look.

  “Teddy, get up.” She said. He sighed but did as he was told. They said good night and were on their way. Nathan looked over to Williams.

  “What was that about?” Nathan questioned.

  “It’s not just your family that thinks we’re together now.” Williams responded. Nathan gave him an exasperated look. Gertrude was the last person he would have thought would believe that. Although, he felt honored that she hadn’t threatened him about leaving Williams alone.

  “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

  “At least you know they like you.” Williams responded. Nathan decided not to push the subject. He lifted the rather large gift onto the table and scooted it towards the other man. Williams started unwrapping it and found paints, brushes, and a few large canvases.

  “I wanted to get you a book too, but I couldn’t find any I thought you would like.”

  “Nathan, this is more than plenty.” He said, holding the paints up an
d looking at what colors he had. “Thank you. How did you know what brand I liked?”

  “I didn’t. I asked mom what her favorite kind was. I hoped you two had similar taste.” He bit his lower lip as a blush crossed his cheeks. “You’ll have another present waiting in your room later.”

  “Really?” Williams asked. He had an idea what he might mean. “Does it have to do with an activity?” He propped his arm up on the table and rested his chin on his wrist. Nathan almost couldn’t look directly at the wolfish grin he was getting.

  “Maybe… It’s also a bit of a test, if I’m being honest.” Nathan watched as the grin fell and was replaced by a look of confusion. “We’ll worry about that later.” Williams passed him his gift and watched as he opened it. Now, he was mildly concerned about what was waiting for him. Nathan grinned when he got the gift open. “This is great. Thank you.” He was pulling the record player out of the box and setting it on the counter. He plugged it in before setting the disc that Williams had gotten on it. In just a moment soft music was coming from the speakers. The record was one that Williams had picked out as a weak attempt at dropping a hint about his feelings. He didn’t think that Nathan understood that though.

  Williams looked at him with wide eyes as Nathan pulled him from his seat and pulled him close. Nathan was looking at him with bright eyes as they started a slow dance. Williams felt like his stomach had flipped as his cheeks took on a pink tinge. “I love it.” Nathan said softly. Williams felt his heart skip a beat. For a split second, he thought that Nathan was going to say he loved him. Not that he was quite ready for that, but he was aware of the growing emotions he felt for him. He was pulled closer until his head rested on the taller man’s chest. He let his eyes drift shut as they swayed back and forth. Maybe, this was a better gift than he had anticipated.

  ***

  Nathan stood in front of Williams in the bedroom. There were two boxes sitting on the end of the bed. Maybe he should back out of this one. Williams would understand if he said he wasn’t ready for what he had originally planned for tonight. No, he trusted Williams with this. He’d go through with it.