Marie Sexton - Coda 05 - Paris A to Z (5 page)

She seemed pretty sure of her opinion, and I knew better than to try to argue with her. “Im sure youre right,” I said. Although I wasnt sure at all.

T
HE
last few nights leading up to our trip were a blur. We had to make sure the store was covered for the week we were in Paris. We had to pack. We had to make arrangements for Geisha. I made haphazard lists on receipts and napkins, which Angelo invariably threw away.

The night before we left, I had ridiculous, frantic dreams: leaving only to find out that Id left the store locked with the keys inside so nobody could get in, and running around an unknown hotel in France while Cole complained about the bill. At two in the morning, I woke with a start. Angelo slept peacefully next to me.

I lay awake for close to two hours, and when finally I slept, it was only to return to that insane dreamland. Jon and Coles ceremony was about to start, and in the way of all dreams, I couldnt find my pants. I begged Angelo to stay in the room with me, and he said that I needed to hurry. Everybody was waiting on me. To top it off, I really needed to pee. The door to every stall in our hotel room (yes, our hotel room had stalls, as well as a snack bar) was locked, and I couldnt very well use the plant in the corner because somehow everyone would know, and Angelo was yelling at me—

My eyes didnt open, but I rose up, out of the hotel room with stalls where I wore no pants. I connected to my body, which was also without pants and very much in my bed. And I really did have to pee.

“Go away,” I said. Or tried to say. I didnt think it came out that way.
“Get up!” I felt the bed shift as Angelo crawled onto it, and then he was pushing me, shaking me, practically jumping on me. “Wake the fuck up!”
“No.” I tried to grab him and pull him close to me. We still made love in the morning more often than not, and I was already anticipating the

feel of having him underneath me and the pleasure of sliding into him as he arched against me.
“No time for that,” he said, like he could read my mind—at this point, he probably could—and then his weight was gone, and the cool air hit my flesh as he yanked the comforter off of the bed. “Matt and Jared are gonna be here in less than fifteen minutes, Zach. Unless you want us to drag your ass to the airport in your underwear you better get dressed.”
I rolled over onto my back and cracked my eyes open. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. And then I sat straight up in bed, suddenly wide awake. “Its already seven oclock? Why didnt you wake me up earlier?” I asked.
“I tried!”
“When?”
“Twice now. You said you were gettin up—”
I was out of bed now, trying to find some clean pants, trying not to be irritated. “You could have tried harder—”
“Fuck, Zach! Why the hells it my fuckin problem anyway? How fuckin old are you? You cant set the goddamn alarm clock yourself? Dont bitch at me bout it, man. I been tellin you to get up for the last two fuckin hours—”
Of course he was right, but it didnt stop me from being annoyed. Id had too little sleep, and I was facing a ridiculously long day of travel with an estranged ex waiting for me like the grim reaper at the end of it. And I
still
had to pee.
The phone rang—probably Matt or Jared calling to say they were on their way. It was a relief because it meant Angelo quit throwing F-bombs at me long enough to go answer it. And I finally got to go to the bathroom.
A few minutes later I was dressed and tucking the last of my toiletries into my suitcase. The good news was, our bags were mostly packed. In addition to our suitcase, we had one carry-on with some puzzle books for me, a book and
Paris A to Z
for Angelo, plus both mp3 players. One of which was dead.
“Did you grab a charger?” I asked Angelo, who was still annoyed enough that he wouldnt look at me.

“No. Didnt know that was my fuckin problem too.”
Shit. Ten minutes from now hed have forgotten all about it, but until then, hed be completely unbearable. “Can you tell me where it is?”
“In the second bedroom.”
“Can you get it?”
“Why the fuck cant you get it?”
“Because Im not allowed in your room, remember?”
His head snapped up to look at me. He looked puzzled. I was expecting him to snap back. We rarely argued like this, but when we did, we tended to not pull our punches. But this time, he just stared at me, completely mute. Then he walked over to me. He took my hand in his and led me to the closed door of his room. He opened it and led me in.
I hadnt been past the doorway since wed moved his furniture in more than two years before. There wasnt much in the room. A dresser where he still kept his clothes. The twin-size bed was made, but I knew it hadnt been slept in for weeks. Months. Maybe, I realized at that moment, as much as a year. It was covered with books and laundry and boxed puzzles wed worked over the last few months.
He grabbed the charger off of his dresser and pressed it into my hand, stepping up close to me and looking up into my eyes. “Hasnt been my room in a long time,” he said quietly. “I thought you knew that.”
It was such a tiny thing, and yet it touched me. Hed kept himself apart from me at first, and Id accepted his rules, even when they broke my heart. For nearly two and a half years now, Id loved him, and lived with him. Id worked with him and cooked for him and made a home for him. And all that time, I hadnt quite realized that all the barriers were coming down.
I brushed his hair out of his eyes. “Thank you,” I said.
“Dont thank me yet, Zach,” he said, grinning up at me. He put his arms around my neck, pulling me down as he stood on his toes to meet me. His lips were soft but insistent against my own. His thin body pushed against mine. “Ive had this bed six years now,” he said, “and it never has been used properly.” I knew hed never let a man into his apartment back in Arvada, let alone into his bed. Just the thought of what he was suggesting made me moan, and he laughed, grinding harder against me. “Think we have enough time?” he asked.
But before I could even answer, Matt pounded on the door—and of course we could always tell it was him because anybody else wouldve just rung the damn bell—and I sighed. Matt didnt bother waiting for us to answer. We heard the door open, and he yelled out, “You two ready to go?”
“Sure are,” Angelo said, although only loud enough for me to hear, and the glint in his eyes told me he meant something very different than Matt did. But he kissed me quickly on the chin and let me go. He turned and walked out, leaving me standing alone in his room.
Except it wasnt his room anymore.

T
HERE
were apparently no direct flights from Denver to Paris. Between the layover and the twelve-hour flight and the time change, wed arrive in Paris around nine-thirty the following morning. Twelve hours on a plane would normally have been hell, but it turned out Cole had booked us all in first class.

“I cant believe this!” Angelo said. “Must have cost him a fortune!” “He can afford it,” Jared said.
Matt, being so tall, was especially happy to have the extra leg room.

Hed lightened up a lot about the whole Super Bowl thing, but I could tell he was still apprehensive about facing the man whod spent so many nights in Jareds bed. It was a feeling I could relate to well. The thought of seeing Jon again had my stomach in knots. I felt I could have faced him on my own, but the idea of dealing with him and Angelo together was enough to make me sick. I felt like Id barely eaten in weeks.

I turned to look at Angelo, sitting next to me, reading. His long black hair hid his face from me, and I resisted the urge to reach out and brush it aside. He didnt look at me, but he seemed to sense my eyes on him. He reached over and put his hand on mine, squeezing my fingers briefly before letting go to turn the page.

The two years since Vegas had changed us. More importantly, theyd changed him. He was stronger now, and far more secure in our relationship than he had been back then. Still, I wasnt sure what to expect once we got to Paris. In Vegas, wed only had to see Jon once, at dinner, and then those few minutes the next day when he showed up to apologize. In Paris, wed be spending a week with him. I hoped Angelo would handle it better than last time.

“Matt, look at this,” Angelo suddenly said, handing his book across the aisle to Matt. “Its about your amazed moments! This guy had em too!”