by Max Hudson
Chapter Eighteen
A new ball meant a new suit. I was starting to amass a collection. This time, however, I opted to match Bertrand. We stepped into the New Year’s Ball in the Green Chapel Casino arm in arm in our complimentary suits. Mine was a bright leaf green that faded into a darker forest green in a gradient from my shoulders to my feet. Bertrand’s was the exact opposite going from dark to light. He was also wearing a circlet; made from leaves that I had woven together. I had extra time and thought it would look perfect on him. I was right of course. It made him look like a king.
I was nervous about the ball; how could I not be? All the guards were instructed not to let Felix in and we hadn’t seen him since he made his vague threat. Still, I had a feeling he wouldn’t be stopped so easily. Stuff like this never was easy.
“Oh my God Gavin, this is incredible!” Arthur ran over to me and swung his arms around my neck.
“Hey Arthur.” I glanced up to see Lance following behind with a cup in his hand and an askew party hat with the new year on it on his head. “Hey Lance.”
“Thanks for inviting us,” Lance said, then nodded his head politely to Bertrand.
I hadn’t seen them in so long, but they had been supporting me all this time long distance. The least I could do was invite them to my millionaire boyfriend’s party.
“Arthur.” I leaned closer making sure Bertrand couldn’t hear me. “I told you it would work out.”
Arthur crossed his arms and refused to look at me. “And I hold that the universe did so just so it could prove me wrong.” His face softened. “But I’m glad it did. You’re much less annoying now.”
“Hey,” I whined but Lance swept Arthur into his arms and pulled them both back out into the party.
“We’ll catch you both later,” Lance announced and then they disappeared.
“What was that about?” Bertrand asked, amusement on his face.
“An inside joke,” I explained. “I’ll tell you later.”
He nodded and took my arm once again. The dancing hadn’t started yet, so we milled about getting stopped by literally every person there. Of course, they all wanted to talk to the host. It was here that I felt a little out of my depth. When I went to the ball with Claudia, we basically ignored everyone, but Bertrand had to be a social butterfly. But he seemed to recognize how out of place I felt. Every time we walked up to someone to talk, he would introduce me the same way, as confidently as the first time: “This is my boyfriend, Gavin Griffin.”
Every time I heard it; I felt a little less alone.
After having a glass of wine and talking to what felt like a thousand people, finally people were starting to dance. It wasn’t Bertrand’s more traditional dance music, although I knew that was coming.
I took his hand and pulled him out into the crowd. This was the kind of dancing I understood. We bopped to a pop song with a lot of saxophones and electronic beats. We looked ridiculous but I ended up laughing so hard it didn’t even matter.
That all changed when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and my eyes went wide. Not only was Felix standing behind us, a blood red velvet suit on, but a man I’d only ever seen in articles and videos, Edward Knight.
“Bertrand.” It was strange hearing Edward’s voice in real life. It had a jovial quality but there was an edge to it as well.
Bertrand turned and I saw too many emotions pass over his face. “Father. Felix.”
“Come with us,” Edward said and turned. He expected us to follow and he wasn’t going to wait.
My heart pounded as we followed him. What choice did we have? The two led us into a side room where Felix quickly kicked out a couple who was making out in there so we were alone. I wished Claudia were here, but at the same time I bet she wouldn’t be too keen on seeing her father.
“How did you get in here?” Bertrand asked Felix.
“Hire guards that aren’t as easy to bribe.” Felix winked.
“I’m humoring you Felix,” Edward sounded as if he was bored of all this already. “Get on with it.”
“I will.” Felix huffed. “We had a deal which lost me the casino and you promised to uphold the terms father, is that correct?”
“Yes Felix, I remember, it was hilarious that you’d fall for that. We’d made such a big deal out of New Year’s Eve being the day you got the deed.”
Felix turned a little red, probably frustrated to have his stupidity aired out like this. I doubted he could run this place at all.
“Well Bertrand held out on me father. He didn’t give me everything he received that night.
I glanced at Bertrand to see if that was true, his face went pale.
Felix smiled. “If I can prove that is true, doesn’t that nullify the agreement?”
Their father nodded. “Yes. If you can prove it. And at last we are getting interesting.”
Felix’s gaze fell on me next and I felt my blood run cold.
“Gavin Griffin on this day one year ago did you kiss a man in a dark bar in Chicago?”
“Yes,” I said slowly. I kissed Felix though, so what did that have to do with anything?
“A man who you couldn’t see the features of. My brother so lovingly described that night on the way home since he was already celebrating his win with a few drinks and I wouldn’t realize until the next day how I’d been cheated. He still considered us brothers at the time. I didn’t think it was true until you showed up at that dinner.”
I spun around to Bertrand. “That was you?” Bertrand was the Green Man? But his eyes? I looked at them again. God I was so drunk that day I probably was seeing things.
Bertrand nodded slowly. “I am.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“You can talk about that once I kick you out of my casino,” Felix interrupted us. “So, as you can see father, he received a kiss and didn’t give it to me. So, the deal wasn’t valid.”
“Well Bertrand.” Edward turned to us. “Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
I liked excitement in my life, but their father seemed to love playing with other people’s lives to get his kicks. He liked watching deals that didn’t involve him, so he could keep his hands clean while watching all the fallout.
Bertrand looked so defeated and deflated. “I don’t.”
“I can’t play favorites. I honored the deal back then, so I have to honor when it was broken too.”
“Wait.” I glanced up and everyone’s eyes were on me. “What were the exact terms of the deal?”
Felix had a wide grin on his face. “Everything he received that day he would give to me and everything I received that day I would give to him.”
“That day. Interesting. And the day was December 31st correct?”
“Yes, are you stupid?” Felix asked.
“Well then you came here for nothing Felix. I kissed Bertrand on January 1st. I know that for a fact because I kissed him as soon as the countdown finished. And if you don’t believe me, there are two witnesses who were there who can back me up on that and I happened to invite them to the party.”
“You’re right.” Bertrand’s eyes lit back up and he stood up tall again.
“What do you have to say to that Felix?” His dad asked, turning to him now.
Felix was turning so red it was almost purple.
“By being here you are violating the restraining order I got against you Felix,” Bertrand said firmly, all of his confidence back. “I will not hesitate to call the police and have you escorted out. Unless you would prefer to walk out of here with some of your dignity intact.”
Felix looked furious, more than furious, pissed out of his mind. He didn’t have any final cunning threat, no “I’ll get you next time”, he just turned around and marched out without even promising to come back. Maybe that was the last we would ever see of him. Good riddance.
“I’m glad I came to the party, Death,” Edward said as soon as Felix was gone. “Good show you two.” He laughed and he
aded out, probably to enjoy the rest of the party or to terrorize someone else for entertainment. I was sure he was never getting an invite back and hopefully he wouldn’t pop back in until the next four years were up and the casino was officially Bertrand’s. I was hoping for a lot.
But in all that excitement one thought never left my mind. “Bertrand, why didn’t you tell me?”
Chapter Nineteen
Bertrand was silent for a moment as he paced away from me. “Do you hate me for keeping it from you?”
“No. Bertrand. I don’t. I just want to know why. All of this would have been easier if you had just told me as soon as I stepped into your office asking for a job. I would have fallen into your arms right then.”
“I made a deal with myself,” Bertrand started quietly and finally turned around to face me. Then and there I saw his eyes and realized they were the ones I was looking for this whole time. When I was drunk, they were blinding, but if I looked hard enough the greens shined out from the brown that seemed to glow next to them. All of it together made beautiful green gems that I refused to see.
“What kind of deal?”
“That if you showed up before New Year’s, that I wouldn’t tell you if you didn’t recognize me. I wanted to see if we could fall in love without that. I was worried I wouldn’t live up to what you thought I might be like. I wanted you to get to know the real me and how standoffish and serious I am.”
“I like those things about you.” I rushed toward him and grabbed his hands.
“You are too kind to my faults.” He blushed slightly, which was a difficult thing to get him to do. “I knew you were drunk and I knew that can affect your emotions. I felt some kind of spark when I met you. I wanted to make sure it was real.”
“You were right,” I said. “I felt a spark too and every time we kissed. And even now.”
“So, you aren’t upset?”
“No.” I laughed slightly as I shook my head. “In the end you were probably right to keep it a secret. I was a little blinded by that night. I’m glad you gave us a chance to find love more naturally.”
“It was difficult to stay neutral. I’m not sure I quite managed to do so,” he said thoughtfully. “I probably cheated a little.”
“I won’t tell, if you won’t,” I said winking.
“Shall we rejoin the dance?” He asked, taking my arm in his.
We stepped out into the party and took our positions as we joined the dance that had sprung up while we were gone.
We twirled. “You told Felix about me but not Claudia?”
He carefully avoided my feet. “I was with Felix at the time, and rather drunk myself. He asked me where I had been and I was too excited to lie.”
“O.K. but why didn’t you tell Claudia. She and I thought you assumed I was a spy for Felix.”
“I didn’t tell Claudia for the same reason. I think she is a great judge of character so she’d be able to help me discover your true personality. I didn’t want to bias her toward you. I honestly was surprised you became such close friends. All I told her was that I was interested in your resume and wanted to learn more.”
“After this is over you have to tell her and hope she doesn’t get mad,” I said in a singsong.
He grimaced. “I don’t know if she will be as forgiving as you were.”
I giggled at his expense as he twirled me around.
“I have one more question,” I said as he pressed me against himself and swayed.
“I won’t hold anything back ever again,” he promised.
“Why, a year ago, did you make that deal with me?” I asked. “The first one. It felt so strange.”
In the low light I could just make out another blush. Two in one night? It must be a record.
He cleared his throat. “I thought you were attractive and I wanted to make sure I saw you again.”
“You know,” I said slowly. “You could have just asked for my number.”
He frowned. “I—”
“You don’t have to explain. You couldn’t resist making a deal and being mysterious. You should have listed that in the “things Gavin had to get used to” section of your confession.”
He smiled wryly. “You love it.”
“I do.” We spun and danced and I sort of kept up with him. “And obviously it worked. I moved thousands of miles away just to find you.”
“I guess I was making sure I’d found someone as dramatic and mysterious as me.”
I rolled my eyes and followed his footsteps.
As we continued to dance and figure out different things, I was also thinking about the future. I loved Bertrand. I wanted to be with him forever. Maybe I’d propose next year, on New Years of course. It was quick but when you found someone you loved, why wait any longer? I probably couldn’t work as a dealer after that, but I bet I’d have fun wandering around the casino like Claudia and Bertrand, making sure customers were happy and playing a few rounds just so I could tip the dealer everything I won. I still wanted to do weddings however, I found them surprisingly the most intense part of my job.
“Where have you been?” Claudia put her hands on our shoulders and shook us a little.
“We’ve been around,” Bertrand said enigmatically.
He couldn’t trick Claudia. “Something happened. And you will be telling me about it later.”
“Of course, Claudia,” I promised for Bertrand. We’d need to have a long talk explaining everything.
“I just wanted to tell you they are starting the countdown soon. It’s almost midnight!” She clapped her hands excitedly. “I’m so ready for this new year.”
“I think it’ll be a great one,” I said, turning to Bertrand once again.
“And every single one after that,” he promised.
The lights all turned bright green as the music stopped and everyone began counting down the last minute.
At “60” I put my arms around his waist.
At “50” he pressed his forehead against mine.
At “40” Claudia gave us a thumbs up and looked so excited for the countdown to continue.
At “30” I whispered. “Bertrand?”
At “20” he said, “Yes?”
At “10” I said, “I love you.”
“One!” The whole room shouted and we both leaned forward and kissed each other. It was the most intense kiss we’d had so far. His arms held me so close to him and I breathed him in so deeply. I let my hands wander through his hair and grip it as he slipped his tongue into my lips. We were kissing far after everyone else was grabbing glasses of champagne and dancing again.
We finally broke apart and looked at each other. His eyes were perfect and I was a fool for not seeing it before.
“I love you too,” Bertrand said softly rubbing circles into my back.
Behind him, I could just see the little green chapel sitting in the middle of the entire party. One day we’d get married there. I just knew we would.
“Gavin.”
I blinked, coming back into the moment. “Yes?”
“I won.”
I looked at him confused. “What are you talking about?”
“Earlier, when we were speaking in the other room, you said you came out to Las Vegas here to find me. So, I won the bet we made when I hired you.” His smile was just devilish.
“You are the worst,” I said, and didn’t mean it.
He just laughed his jovial laugh and spun me around and around again like he was going to spin us into the New Year.
Epilogue
Gavin Griffin was the love of my life. He was laid out next to me on his beach towel as the sun began to set on our second night on our honeymoon. I let my fingers trail up and down his tanned back and he hummed into the towel below him. I looked at the gold band on my finger and the way the fading sun’s rays glinted off the emeralds encrusted into it. I loved knowing Gavin had the same one on his finger.
“That kind of tickles,” Gavin said, his voice muffled by the towel his fac
e was shoved into. I couldn’t imagine how he could enjoy lying flat on his face like that.
“Does it?” I asked as I only let my nails dance across his skin, tracing thin white lines up and down his back.
He shivered underneath me and I was barely touching him. It was almost like a curse, though I saw it more as a blessing: when either of us touched the other it felt magnified by a thousand. He admitted it to me one night and I was surprised he felt the same as me. We had an almost supernatural effect on each other. It proved to me that we were somehow destined to be together.
“If you keep going like that,” Gavin said, raising his upper body up onto his elbows. “We’re going to have to go inside.”
“So, you’ve finally caught on to what I want.”
“There are easier ways to ask for sex,” Gavin said in his deadpan. One of the things I loved about Gavin was that even though he loved dramatics as much as I did, he knew when to come down to earth. He challenged me at every turn, he kept me on my toes. I had regrettably gotten the trait from my father that I needed to constantly have something to fight for or fight against. When I was a child, he was always setting up deals and bets with me. It gave me a need for them. I didn’t like to make the ones my father did. The ones that hurt people. The ones that drove me and Felix apart. Gavin and I had gentle bets, interesting bets, and ones he came up with that delighted me. But tonight, I had a perfect one.
“Gavin.”
“Yes dear?” He asked as he sat up on the towel.
“I have a wager for you.”
“Interesting.” He sat up a little straighter. His attitude was laidback, but I could see from the glint in his beautiful dark blue eyes that I had piqued his interest.
“The terms are this: whoever makes the other come first wins.”
His lips curled into a smile and I saw a red dusting on his cheeks. “And what does the winner get?”
“Why, he gets to come next. And bragging rights of course.”
“This is ridiculous but I love it, let’s go.”
We packed up the towels and our umbrella and headed up the beach back to the little glass house we had arrived at yesterday. We were on a private island my father purchased at some point and then gave to me for a birthday gift when he forgot to buy me any other presents. It was a thoughtless gift and one I never had a point to use until now. For one of the few times in my life I was thankful my father was so careless. Gavin’s eyes when he saw the ocean and put his toes in the wet sand for the first time was worth it all.