by Max Hudson
“Should we make our way out?” Henrik asked, glancing first at Miss Engel and then to Charles. Charles nodded and offered his arm for Henrik to take. Laughing at this little display of affection, Henrik went along with the act and entwined his arm with Charles’.
“Auf Wiedersehen, Miss Engel!” Henrik called out right before the pair exited the shop. Before the door closed, Charles could spot the woman waving to the two men with a cheerful expression on her face. Charles knew that his secret was safe with her, at least, for now.
Compared to when they were last outside, the sun seemed less bright than usual. Charles hoped to take advantage of the newfound shade, but suddenly Henrik was tugging on his sleeve.
“Ah, I’m so sorry, but I think I forgot something back in the shop. Do you mind just waiting here for a few seconds? I promise I won’t leave you behind.” With a sort of childish grin, Henrik tapped Charles’ chest lightly before turning on his heels and heading back toward the shop. Thankfully the two men had not walked too far away, so Charles was left to stand underneath a small storefront to stray clear of the sun. Looking at his watch, Charles sighed. It felt peculiar to him that he was able to make so much time in his schedule just to accompany Henrik on these casual outings.
Moments later, Henrik reappeared from the shop’s doors. Nothing seemed unusual, albeit the two hands clasped behind his back in a seemingly secretive way.
“Did you get your item?” Charles asked nonchalantly, heading back toward the bakery without sparing a second thought at Henrik’s hidden hands. Acknowledging the question for only a second, Henrik shrugged. There didn’t seem to be the need to answer the question verbally.
As the two walked back together, there seemed to be a mutual understanding that passed between the men. There was no longer the need to fill the empty air with thoughtless words or hurried thoughts, no longer the need to carry on a conversation as if their relationship depended on it. Instead, the two men felt comfortable in the silence that almost penetrated the air. Despite the fact that they were crowded with streams of people that passed by with rushed words and hushed tones, both Charles and Henrik felt as if they could understand each other in the deafening silence.
“I’ll take my leave then,” Charles finally mustered the energy to say once they had arrived at their destination. “I’ll be a bit busier for the next few days, but feel free to call or text whenever. Trust me, it’d be a blessing to find an excuse and get out of the meeting room or my hotel room for once.” He sighed, pulling a hand to place over his face in feigned annoyance. Removing his hand, Charles looked fondly at Henrik’s beaming face. There was so much to say, so much to love about this man in front of him.
“Of course, I’ll text you every night.” Henrik jokingly teased, yet Charles was unsure of whether the tone that laced the tips of his words still carried that same ring. “Take care of yourself, all right? It was very nice of you to come back and visit. I appreciate it a lot, Charlie.”
Once more, the two men stood in silence. Charles stood only inches away from the bakery doorway, while Henrik stood only a few feet inside. There was so little space between the two men, yet it felt as if the walk to meet each other would take years to complete. With a deep breath, Charles relaxed his shoulders and closed his eyes. Would he finally let go and take initiative?
“Well… off you go then.” Henrik murmured, eyelashes cast downwards as he stared at the floor. Before Henrik could open his mouth to say anymore, Charles had crossed into the doorway and took Henrik’s wrist in his hand. With one swift movement, Charles pressed a soft, light kiss onto the corner of Henrik’s lips. But for Henrik, it wasn’t enough. Leaning in closer to Charles, Henrik returned the kiss with another of his own, this time more needy, more desperate for some sort of lasting feeling. It felt as if the both of them knew that their time together would not last forever.
“I… I need to go now.” Charles finally managed to breath out when the two men separated. A bead of saliva still traveled down his lips, finally breaking when they were far enough apart. The bottom of Henrik’s lower lip was now slightly swollen, a side effect of Charles’ own clumsiness.
Henrik could only nod at this, subconsciously reaching out to touch the slowly-bruising spot. “Yes…” He muttered, voice quiet and airy.
With one last look behind him, Charles turned away and headed back toward his hotel. Ah, how sweet the air tasted and how bitter it all felt. Had the trip to Zurich been more of a blessing or a curse?
Chapter Nine
The week passed by rather slowly, much to Charles’ disappointment. Perhaps the past few days had been a sort of tradeoff, as Charles found himself growing increasingly bored with the workload he had been dealt with since the two week extension had been placed on his office. The board members didn’t seem to care, but the essential employees had already begun to tire since the beginning of the week. With a fatigued mind, Charles propped his feet up onto his hotel room study desk. What day was it again? There were only five days left until he returned back to New York.
Stifling a quick yawn, Charles’ phone suddenly buzzed from across the room. Normally, Charles would not have made the trip across the room (believing that any text that important could have just been made as a phone call instead), but the trip had somewhat changed him. Instead of lazing about in his chair, Charles hauled himself out of his seat and finally trudged over to where his phone sat charging. It seemed that his suspicions had been correct. Henrik had just sent him a text.
Charles quickly slid open the message, being careful not to seem too eager to respond to the text. With a brief glance over it, Charles understood. Henrik had invited him out to dinner, something they had discussed over late night calls during the past few days. Although Henrik had asked, there wasn’t truly a need for a response. Charles would have always said yes, no matter the circumstance.
And just like that, the two men had set the date for a Friday night, only three days before Charles would inevitably have to board the plane back home. Of course, he had yet to tell Henrik about this arrangement, but how could he? The topic had not yet come up in conversation and Charles knew that it would simply break Henrik’s heart. There was no need to say anything as long as both parties were oblivious.
On that particular Friday night, Charles looked at himself in the mirror. His hair had been properly done, though there wasn’t much to do with it given the tight coils it was in. His suit was also the best one he owned, some custom designed excuse that he had received begrudgingly from his father a few months prior. Simply put, Charles looked quite put together. Any other member of the company would have mistaken his look as one to go see an important board member. Their reasoning would have been correct- after all, he was dressed to impress.
Charles stepped into the hotel lobby and quickly hailed a cab. Henrik had sent the restaurant directions a few days prior, and after checking that it was indeed not Andrea’s restaurant, Charles showed the directions to the driver. With a flick of his wrist, the driver sped off, seemingly familiar with the location. Charles wondered how many times the driver had been in this sort of situation, where a man who seemed to be too dressed up for the night had entered the car doors, shown him the directions to a formal restaurant, and then sat back and relaxed? The only difference between Charles and those men was this- Charles could not relax.
The cab doors swung open and Charles briskly thanked the driver, shoving a couple tens into the driver’s hands without bothering to count the change. He was sure that Henrik had already arrived, not needing to spare a glance at his buzzing phone to know that this was the truth. Upon approaching the entrance, a waiter took Charles’ name and then led him inside. The restaurant was gorgeous and crowded, but Henrik stood out long before Charles had begun to intake his surroundings.
When Charles was finally directed to the two-person table Henrik was already sitting at, the American man felt his breath catch in his throat. Simply put, Henrik looked stunning. Charles had not realized th
at it was even humanly possible for Henrik to look as good as he did, despite the fact that Charles was sure he had already reached his peak during their carnival date. Shaking his head, Charles smiled. He was so, so in love. It was embarrassing.
“Charles, are you all right? Please, take a seat.” With a menu in his hands, Henrik gestured toward the seat across from him. The table was small enough that if Henrik would reach out during their meal, he’d be able to take Charles’ hands in his.
With one final sigh, Charles complied and sat down. There was so much to say, so much to do. Yet, he could not find the words. After what felt like hours had passed, Charles finally opened his mouth. “You… you look good.” Charles wanted to mentally slap himself. Was that all he could muster? A sad excuse for a compliment?
“O-oh! Well, you look very good too-”
“No, no. Wait,” Charles didn’t let Henrik finish his thought as he straightened his back and looked more seriously into Henrik’s eyes. “You look very stunning tonight. I am taken aback.” He stated plainly in his best German, being careful not to mess up his accent or mispronounce any words.
Upon hearing this sudden confession, Henrik stifled back a slight chuckle. “Oh, Charlie. You didn’t have to. I think you look lovely, as I said before. But you always do! I cannot compliment you any further than I have for the past few days. Thank you.”
With reddened cheeks and shaky hands, Charles managed to laugh at his own foolishness. He probably looked more like a middle school boy than he did a businessman in his late 20s. Henrik had brought out the youth in him- something even Charles didn’t realize he still had.
“Look, this is a seasonal dish. Would you like to order it? I’ve heard that this type of fish is only good during the summer…” Henrik trailed off, pointing to an item on the menu that was too long for Charles to read. Of course, the choice of meal didn’t really matter to Charles. As long as Henrik was happy and content, the choice really couldn’t have mattered less. By the sound of things, Henrik wanted to try the dish. So, Charles agreed.
The rest of the night was spent talking, although Charles had to admit that some of the food deterred them from the conversations at hand. Henrik had picked the restaurant wisely, though there was no surprise as he was a restaurateur himself. When the topic of selection finally came up, Henrik once again stifled a laugh and set down his utensils.
“Ah, your cousin, Andrea, actually helped me pick it out. She told me what she could remember from your meal preferences. Turns out you were quite the picky eater, weren’t you?”
Henrik laughed as if this was the funniest thing in the world, as if Charles’ unfortunate eating habits as an immature teen had been the most dynamic joke anyone had ever told him.
“Oh dear… I suppose I was. Damn that Andrea- what is she even doing, talking so much about me as if she’s been by my side all these years.” Charles sunk deeper into his seat. Andrea had once again managed to sneak her way into their conversations, whether that had been her intention or not. Upon hearing Charles’ sudden outburst, Henrik could not help but laugh. It was sort of endearing to see the man in front of him worked up about such a simple thing.
“Well, I’m sure Andrea had good intentions. To be fair, I don’t think I know much about your early childhood. But I think it’s the same for you.” A waiter had approached the table silently and replaced their empty wine glasses with ones filled with a golden champagne. “Oh, I don’t think we ordered this…”
“Don’t worry, I got it while you were in the restroom.” Charles waved his hand as if to dismiss Henrik’s doubts, inspecting the glass before taking a sip. The liquid bubbled slightly as it slipped down his throat. The tingling sensation was one that Charles hadn’t realized he missed so dearly.
Despite the initial silence, Henrik suddenly gasped, setting down his champagne glass as he reached for his suit pocket. “I can’t believe I almost forgot…” He muttered under his breath, just soft enough that Charles could only tilt his head in confusion at what the Swiss man had just uttered. “Give me a second,” Henrik fiddled with his pockets before pulling out a small box, wrapped neatly with a simple blue ribbon. Looking at it, Charles wasn’t sure how the box had managed to fit inconspicuously in Henrik’s pockets.
Henrik reached over the table and placed the box neatly in front of Charles. “Go on, open it. It’s for you!” His face beamed as he said this, watching expectantly as Charles cautiously picked up the box and weighed it in his hands. It didn’t feel too heavy, nor did it feel too light. Whatever item was in it was hard to pick out just based on feeling alone.
Charles took his time to pick away at the ribbon, eventually receiving an annoyed plea from Henrik to just hand over the box and let him do the work. Charles shook his head, set on opening the box himself. Eventually the man complied, however this was only after the ribbon had been tightened to the point where it felt impossible to open it with one’s hands.
“There.” Henrik huffed, shoving the box back into Henrik’s hands with a sort of embarrassed push. Henrik had turned his head to look the other way and acted disengaged, although Charles could spot him glancing to observe his reactions.
Inside the box laid what seemed to be a tie, one that was a crisp black color, decorated with embroidered flowers. Upon further inspection, the flower seemed to be the Edelweiss, a flower native to the Swiss Alps. The tag on the tie noted that it was made almost a hundred years ago, much to Charles’ surprise. Where had Henrik received such an item?
“Do you like it? I picked it up at the antique shop. I know it’s not much… but I wanted to give you something to remember Switzerland by when you leave. I understand you may not get the opportunity to visit again for a long time.” The latter sentence was said with a melancholic tone, Henrik quickly shaking his head as if to chide himself for saying something so pessimistic during their night out. “It reminded me of a tie my father always used to wear. I really hope you like it.”
Charles placed a hand on his forehead in shock. Of course he liked it- he loved it. There weren’t enough words in the English language to describe the feelings that he had as Henrik explained the meaning of the gift. It was simple, yes, but the thought that had gone into it meant so much to Charles who usually was so occupied with work that he neglected to take care of himself. Simply put, he was touched.
After collecting his emotions, Charles set the box back down on the table and smiled in Henrik’s direction. It was a warm smile, nothing short of comforting to Henrik who had spent the past few minutes fidgeting with the tablecloth in anticipation of Charles’ reaction. “I love it. Thank you, thank you so much. I actually… I have something too, if you don’t mind.”
Quickly, Charles found the small ring box that Miss Engel had handed him days before. As Charles slipped the box from out of his pocket, he could feel a slight redness begin to tinge his cheeks. Of course he was embarrassed- he had never done such a thing for anyone before. Besides, weren’t rings only given when one was serious about a relationship? It felt surreal that Charles was the one taking initiative like this.
“No,” Henrik couldn’t help but gasp when Charles opened the box in front of him and delicately lifted up his hand. A few people had begun to look over at their table, but the two men did not seem to care about the stares they had begun to attract. In that moment, they only had eyes for each other. “This is beautiful, Charlie. I don’t know if I can accept such a lovely gift…” The ring slotted perfectly onto Henrik’s index finger, though Charles was a bit disappointed to see that it wouldn’t fit on his ring finger specifically. Nonetheless, the silver matched with Henrik’s skin tone perfectly and caught the light at the perfect angle. Charles was proud with his selection.
“No, it’s only natural. After all, you gave me this tie. You didn’t even need to give me anything at all, really.”
Henrik could only sigh at Charles’ insistence, but decided not to argue back. Besides, there was no point. They were both too polite for their own go
od and felt embarrassed at the prospect of actually receiving gifts from the other. Still it seemed that the two men had both thought of buying gifts from the antique shop for each other. Charles wondered if Miss Engel had planned this out all along.
Once Henrik was done gushing about how pretty the ring looked and Charles was done inspecting the stitchwork of the vintage tie, the two men paid the bill (after a brief moment of arguing who would be the one to pay) and left the restaurant. Thankfully Henrik had driven himself to the restaurant, so both men decided to drive back. This time, they had agreed to spend the night at Charles’ hotel room rather than travel all the way back to Henrik’s apartment. It would be a nice change in scenery, anyways.
A quick car ride later, the two men arrived at the hotel. Upon looking at his watch, Charles made note of the time. It was sometime around ten in the evening, though he was sure that sooner or later the time wouldn’t really matter. Charles rushed to the other side of the car and opened the door for Henrik, both of them laughing at such a sight. It was a bit old-fashioned, Charles had to admit, but if it had cheered them both up, then the embarrassment was worth it.
As the two men entered the building while making small talk, Charles spotted one of his coworkers sitting at the lounge area near the hotel entrance. There sat Rebecca, holding up a newspaper while taking a sip of a glass that contained what appeared to be whiskey. Gesturing for Henrik to follow him, Charles strolled over to where the lounge area was and tapped Rebecca’s shoulder. The woman jumped only slightly and turned around to face the men. Upon realizing who had tapped her shoulder, Rebecca’s expression went from a hardened to a softer grin.