by Oliver Rill
“We could go drown our sorrows at yours?”
“Yeah, but I’m never going to meet anyone at mine!” I retorted, and scowled out of the window.
“You aren’t ready to get to know anyone yet.”
“What’re we going to drink then, Aaron?”
“The drink will depend on why we’re drinking. Are we drinking to forget Matt, or is there another reason?”
“We’re drinking because the world’s a shit tip!”
“Whoah! That sounds like a heavy red whine to me! Dark and depressing.”
“Shrink, trainer, bodyguard, driver, friend, sommelier and now comedian too! Aaron, you are sorely undervalued!”
“I’ll just stop here and run in to get some. Be back in five.”
“Good idea. I’m not sure I’ve got any in the house.”
I sprang in the pool and swam for a bit, before I collapsed onto the sunbed and poured my heart out to Aaron. I told him about the house in Santa Barbara and how I itched to have it, but had to wait.
“And you think that that’s going to cure all your worries? Different area, change of wall paper and you’re cured? How safe can you feel rattling around an empty house?”
“You didn’t see it. It’s, well words can’t describe it. It’s simply awesome! Romantic, cozy. Not just a shell. There are sweeping stairways, multi-level floors, balconies, little steps up and down. To see it is to love it.”
“And what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to have to speak to the owner or the agent.”
“And what’s happening with you and Matt?”
“Now he’s not around? Yeah, I miss him. But better than I thought. I felt a bit down at the weekend, but now I’m back at work and I can’t get this house out of my head. It’s keeping me occupied, you know what I mean?”
“And when did you last go jogging, or to the gym?”
“That’s another thing. Matt always spurned me on there. The diet, that’s ok, Gavin knows what to cook and knows what I should eat and what not. But as far as exercise goes, I only did that because Matt pushed me into it.”
“You can’t give up now, Oli.”
“I was never really athletic. I was built for comfort not speed. I wouldn’t do anything of my own accord.”
“I’m not really into jogging, you know. I go to the gym and you’re welcome to tag along.”
“You see? That’s exactly it. Matt never said ‘you’re welcome to tag along’ or anything like that. He said: ‘Come on Oli, I’m going to drag you through the hills!’ then there’d be another type of sport as a reward. There’s a big difference between saying ‘come along if you want’ and saying ‘come on, we are doing it’ do you see?”
“Right. Ok. We’re going straight to the gym after work tomorrow, get it?”
“That’s the way to do it!” I grinned, relieved that Aaron would take on the role. I was sure that I would get in the way of his training and he would think me a lightweight weakling, lifting my ten pound weights while he lifted fifty pound dumbbells.
“Don’t worry, it’ll take you at least five years to reach my figure.”
“I’m never going to get a figure like yours. I don’t have the genes or the will power.”
“We’ll get you there with the help of a few powders.”
“I’m just aiming for a strong back and no beer belly. If lose a bit of flab too, that’s a bonus.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You look fine to me. A little light, maybe, but that’s ok.”
“Thanks. That was Matt’s patient influence.”
“Tell me, I’m sure it’s not the done thing, but since I’m sitting here drinking beside the pool with the boss in his house. Would it be ok to jump in there?”
“God yes! Go ahead, make yourself at home. It’s beautiful, not too warm and not too cold. Go on! I’ll go get another bottle, this one’s nearly dead.”
Aaron didn’t need to be asked twice. He sprang in while I trotted off to the pantry and got a bottle of red, opened it in the kitchen and came back.
“And? What’s it like?” I called out.
“You were right. It’s perfect. I’m going to stay in for a bit.”
My cell phone shrilled out.
“Hey, Oli. Dimitra asked about your number again. Did she call?” Aristo’s dulcet tones rang down the line.
“No, I’ve not heard anything. That’s interesting! Hey, just to keep you up to date. Matt has left me.”
“No! Really? That’s awful. How’re you doing? Should I come back earlier?”
“It’s ok, ‘Risto. Stay there and get yourself a sales girl.”
“I will. As soon as I can. And if there’s anything you need, give me a call, ok?”
“Thanks, Aristo. You’re a good friend.”
I studied Aaron thoughtfully as he climbed out of the pool. I still wasn’t sure if I found his body sexy, or just a bit too much. I threw him a towel, he grabbed it and dabbed the worst of the water off. He stretched out on the sunbed next to me, just as Matt would have done.
“Aaaahhh.” He gave a long, heartfelt sigh. “That was good. Thanks, Oli.” How could anyone have that mass of muscle? They knotted and rippled in the sun. His thighs were like tree trunks, his arms and shoulders enormous, his chest a mountain of hardened flesh, even his six-pack looked hard and well defined as newly wrought iron.
“And where are we going to find you a new guy?”
“Before I answer that, I need the answer to another question.”
“It’s not small.”
His prompt answer brought a burst of laughter that shook my body. “I didn’t mean that! But I’m glad for your sake. No, I wanted to know you think about your job. How long do you think you want to do that?”
“Well if we don’t travel to Paris, Rom and London soon, I’m going to have to go back to being a bouncer, dealing with the nocturnal drunks.”
“Really?”
“You think this is a completely undemanding job, don’t you?”
“Well, you do have to drive me from A to B then hang around till I’m finished.”
“I thought so and I would have spoken to you about that. You don’t have any faith in me. Of course I drive you from A to B and wait till you’re finished. In the meantime I also get to know some really interesting people. I’m not kidding you. I like driving you about. You’re quite open and tell me about things, we discuss stuff. I’m not only a driver, I’m your confidant so to speak and there are really worse things in this world than driving a snazzy car around, flying to Greece and now, lying next to the pool in Hollywood and supping red wine. But you could ask me to do more, but you won’t because you don’t like asking for help with stuff. It would never occur to you to ask me to … I don’t know… let’s say, buy you new underwear, or a birthday present for your mom. Book a table in a restaurant, fill up the Thunderbird. Those sorts of thing.”
“They are all things I can do myself.”
“Of course you can. But while you’re in the office, I could be doing those things. It would kill time and I like doing them. You don’t like to ask, but you will do anything for other people. Just if it’s important, then you do demand it – using any means. But you won’t ask for anything, at least I’ve never seen you ask.”
“Wow, Aaron. You’ve impressed me.”
“I’m just making observations.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Ok, let’s move on to the other point then. How’s project ‘new boyfriend’ coming along?”
“Oh yes. I do have something to say about that. But it’s confidential. Normally everything I say to you is confidential, you know that.”
“Of course.”
“When I came here, I had absolutely nothing but the shirt on my back and a few friends. I started to earn a little, well a lot of money. Then I met Matt and it was ok. I asked myself at first if he was just being nice to me because I was the boss. But then it was
more than just being nice and I started to think he was interested in me. Me. Not Mr. Airline. I don’t have to explain that to you. You’re just on a completely different level.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Since then it’s a completely different ball game. Can Am isn’t a small company with a handful of airplanes anymore. We have a complete network of routes, a proper fleet of planes. I was in the papers, on the TV. We aren’t a limited company like United or Delta, with shares. I’m the sole owner. That means I am an unbelievably rich man in the eyes of other people, like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg. And people know me from my appearances on TV and bigger than life posters. I’m not a celebrity, but damned near to it. I’m just glad I manage to avoid the media most of the time.”
“People are more interested in Kim Kardashian’s backside!”
“Well thank God for that! But when I do meet someone, they are always going to see a guy with power and money and fame first. That’s not a criticism. It’s just what goes through people’s mind first when they meet me. But in reality, I’m just a normal guy. Just me. Real flesh and blood. All my friends know that.”
“You think that everyone who meets you, wants your money?”
“Not necessarily. Maybe they want to glow in my aura, a better job, fly for nothing, drive a Porsche for a blowjob, see how the other half live. I don’t know.”
“Wow, which of us has the better cards?”
“There’s always a bit of mindfuck behind it, isn’t there? I suppose the worst of everyone I come into contact with just so I give nobody the chance to prove otherwise, or even start to fuck me over in some other way.”
“Oli, I think you think it over too much. That’s me, the dumb bodybuilder telling you. You don’t have to let yourself be used, you use other people. It doesn’t matter what their motivations are for getting you into bed, you just have fun, then wave good bye. That’s the way I do it, anyway.”
“Yeah, but one night stands? Really? I want more than that. Love, trust, safety – you know. And of course damn good sex!”
“I think you can forget that.”
“Let’s drink to that! Down the hatch!”
We chatted long into the night until Aaron said “Oli, should I get a bucket for you tonight?”
“No, I don’t’ think so. I hope you never have to do that again. But it is probably time to turn in. How much have you had to drink?”
“Well, enough anyway. I’d better make my way home.”
“Definitely not. I’ve got two guest bedrooms here. Stay.”
“Was that an order?”
“Jawohl! Come on, let’s go to bed. Everything is there in the room, you just have to climb into bed, shut your eyes and wait for the sandman.”
Next morning I was woken by the clink of cutlery. I opened my eyes to see Aaron standing beside me with a tray. There was coffee and muesli with yoghurt and honey.
“Good morning! Here tuck into this, I’ll wait for you upstairs.”
“You didn’t’ have to do this!” I exclaimed. “I could do …”
“I know, I know. But do you remember our conversation last night?” Aaron interrupted.
“Erm, no. Thank you, Aaron. But stay here and … Where’s your coffee?”
“Upstairs.”
“Then go get it and join me.”
My cell shrilled out.
“Dimitra here. From Sifnos. You remember?” My head felt amazingly clear for the morning after, but I felt a raging thirst.
“Yes, yes, I remember. Have you had time to think?”
“I sell for 600,000 Euro.”
“For my house?”
“For my house!” She countered energetically.
“That’s a lot of money.”
“It best house in Sifnos!”
“You strike a hard bargain!”
“You want or no?”
“Aristo will contact you and make a proper contract at the notary. I will own the house from the second of January and on that day you will get the money. We will rent it for the rest of this year as we have until now.”
“Good. 600,000 Euro on two January and we make contract.”
“I’m probably going to send an architect over to have a look at the building and make some measurements. He will need to look at the inside and the outside of the building.”
“You call when you want him in house. I stay here. Thank you. You come in summer?”
“I’m not sure, Dimitra. Maybe in August, or at the end of August. We’ll see.”
As Aaron returned with his coffee, I was grinning all over my face.
“I don’t know what to do first. We have to get to the office as quick as we can anyway. I have to ring a notary and Aaron, and appoint an architect. You remember that house I wanted? In Kamares?”
“Yeah, that one in Greece? Did she agree to sell?”
“Yes. That was her on the phone.”
“Wow! Congratulations! That’s awesome. Right. Up, out of bed! Don’t let’s sit here any longer. But tonight we are going to the gym. Just so that you know.”
“’Risto? I’m going to send you over a contract. Go to the notary with it and let Dimitra know that she will have to come and sign it. You have to sign and you’ll need proof of identity, too. You’ll get power of attorney and the contract.”
“No way! She took the bait? How much?”
“600.”
“That’s way too much.”
“It’s pocket money. Would you do that for me?”
“Tomorrow? Yes, of course. And when can you move in?”
“Next year. January 2018. I think there’s a lot of alterations I’m going to have to make though. It’s divided into four apartments right now, or rooms or whatever it was.”
“Finally, eh? You’ve been pining for your own place here for ages.”
I dialed Debbie’s number.
“My darling Debbie! How are you?”
“Cut the crap. If you call me, I know that there is a ton of shit coming this way. What is it this time?”
“Oh come on, you love me really and the jobs. Admit it. On a scale of one to ten, where am I as your favorite client?”
“Way under zero! So? What do you want this time?”
“Have you ever been to Greece?”
“Just Santorini, Mykonos, Skiathos … yes!”
“And wouldn’t you like to go again? And this time the client is paying. What do you think?”
“Oliver, you know who my father is and you know that I earn good money myself. If I want to travel, I get a ticket and go. This isn’t that enticing.”
“I’m buying a house on Sifnos, one of the Greek Islands. It needs a few alterations to the building, etcetera.”
“Good God! Those houses are crap. They’re barns covered with wallpaper.”
“And the only person who I can think of to change a barn, with or without wallpaper, into a beautiful house is you, Debbie. You know you can’t refuse.”
“I’ve just booked a vacation in Australia, with a very nice friend.”
“You’re going to have to change the date, or get it done before then.”
“And if I change the date, then I’m going to have to work through my leave days and she’s going to hang around all day on her own.”
“She?
“Good God, Oliver! Do you think you’ve patented homosexuality?”
“But I thought you and Aristo …”
“No we didn’t. That little gossip! We kissed, that’s all. No reason to flip out. He’s very sweet and we were tipsy. Has that never happened to you? In a club, in Florida, for example?”
“I didn’t think you were … well … you just look so feminine.”
“Are we swapping clichés now? You don’t wear high heels either.”
“I can’t at the moment. I have a knee injury. Okay, so do you want the job or not?”
“You want it doing yesterday, I take it?” Irritation could be plainly heard in her voice.
“If possible, Debbie, yes please.”
“Ok so here’s the process: You get an architect to survey the building and make suggestions. We’re probably going to have to rip the thing out and rebuild. First we need a floor plan. Nothing can be done until I have that, get it? Then I want a really nice room, in a really nice hotel for two weeks. A rental car and a ticket with at least business class. For two people! Understand?”
“When you put it like that, Debbie. What can I say, but of course. It might be better if you find the architect or surveyor or whatever though. I don’t have a clue about all that.”
“Ok, it’s a deal. By the way, I’m not picking up next time you ring!”
Sitting alone in my office, I had to laugh out loud. I sat in my office and smiled. Debbie had for the first time shared a part of her private life with me. In spite of her grumpy nature, she was beginning to trust me. I softened a little towards her. Why was it always so hard for homosexuals to trust? Even each other? Especially each other?
“Aaron? I need underwear. Enough for two weeks. So let’s say around 14 pairs.”
“Ok. What size?”
“Haven’t a clue. Sort of medium? Or small? Have a look at what there is then you decide.”
“Any particular make, color, style?”
“If we carry on like this, I may as well buy them myself!” I bristled.
“The things I get myself into! I’ll pick you up for lunch. See you later.”
On the way to the parking lot at midday, I bumped into Melvin, who confided that it had worked out as planned with the banks.
“They are going down protesting, but they are going to loan us the money without the shares.” Melvin presented proudly his efforts to me.
“I think we ought to consider whether we should move ours. It might be worth moving some money over to Switzerland. It has two advantages, we could use them to make the banks think twice about holding out on us and at the same time, reduce some of the risks and have a new source of cash if the necessity arose.”
“Can we do it after lunch?” asked Melvin who looked as if he was a bit in a hurry. I clapped Melvin on the back.