TS 2 Part VI Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Copenhagen

April 30^th, 2012

A very tired Guntram descended from the car before the valet parking in the expensive hotel could open his door. He only nodded to the man and proceeded to untie his son from the baby car seat. Konrad looked everywhere with clear excitement. The bright lights decorating the façade were absolutely fascinating for the child.

“We just saved the trip to Bollywood,” John chortled, examining the large Moorish inspired building. “This looks like the frigging Taj Mahal... or Las Vegas without money.”

“The Copenhagen elite used to come here at the beginning of the Twentieth century,” Guntram said tiredly. “The Nimb is still one of the best hotels in the world. They don't serve cheap Martinis here. We are in the middle of Tivoli Gardens, a few steps from the best area of the city. If you don't believe me, ask the people at Conde Naste. The Hotel d'Anglaterre is being refurbished at the moment. I was very lucky to get a suite and a room here,”

“Together?” John asked before he climbed the large marble stairs.

“On different floors.”

“Hey! I want to sleep with you,” he protested but not too loudly. “I'll fix it.”

“It's really not...” Guntram started to say but John ignored him and went in a straight line to the receptionist. 'With his manners, it will be a miracle if we can keep the reservation,”

Walking very slowly, with his son in his arms, Guntram approached the desk, hoping to save something from the disaster but he was greatly surprised when he heard John kindly requesting the woman to change the reservations for two suites en suite. She looked for a long time in her computer and she smiled to the American before she told him that they could stay in suites 11 and 12 and that she will send a crib to suite number 12 as it was smaller and the baby would be more comfortable there.

Still smiling with a superior air at Guntram, John entered the elevator, followed by the astonished young man.

“So you can be nice to Europeans,” he huffed.

“Whenever it suits me, prince. Do you think you get money out of a posh Vanderbilt without rubbing his ego and dancing the same waltz?”

“I assume you can also read a menu in French,”

“Oh yes, but it doesn't prevent the waiters to serve sh... rubbish here. My eating improved since you're around. They must mistake you by one of the locals,” he said innocently. “Fedia is almost a Russian name, right?”

“Yes, indeed.”

“Russians have a lot of money nowadays, right?”

“They have large fortunes, yes,” Guntram answered puzzled, not truly understanding where John wanted to go. He was glad when the elevator stopped and the door opened letting him escape from the inquisitive look.

* * *

The series of taunts John had been launching since they had arrived to Copenhagen was driving Guntram to the edge. 'What's wrong with him? I did nothing to importunate him. Is he getting tired of me? Maybe. I should make myself scarce tomorrow,' he thought as he focused on his blueberry parfait.

“I've been thinking these days, prince,” John said casually and touched the baby's nose, clean from the cherry sorbet he was eating at fast pace, much to his father's concern.

'Well, at least he's honest,' Guntram thought. “May I ask you about what?”

“You and me. Simple as that.”

“There are no obligations between us, we can separate our ways whenever you want.”

“Wow, you're fast, no doubt,” John answered and took a sip from his wine. “Normally people don't let escape a fat catfish like myself, but that's not what I meant.”

“No?”

“I really like you and your baby. Maybe we could make this arrangement kind of permanent. Is not that you have someone waiting for you at home or do you?”

“No,” Guntram gulped and fixed his eyes on his wine glass.

“You could come to America. You'd like Boston. It's very much like you.”

“I thought you lived in San Francisco.”

“I was born there, but I established myself in the old Boston, en épatant les bourgeoises. Terribly funny but people have no sense of humour. Are you finished? Conor is done. Let's go before he orders coffee.”

Once they were back in the large two rooms, Guntram went to put Konrad in bed and he was fast asleep. He watched his son with a smile in his lips and briefly thought if he would be dreaming of the cherries he had eaten as “consolation prize” for eating all his purée. He kissed his forehead and draw the covers around him.

Guntram closed his eyes and let a long sigh out. It was strange not to be terrified all the time. The image of the pills flashed through his mind but he quickly discarded it. 'I don't need them here. I'm free to do what I want. I could take the train tomorrow to Zurich and be with my children.'

'I'm free again, but I have to be careful. Maybe Constantin's men found a trace about John and me. If I show up now, he could kill the boys. He's expecting me to do this. I have to find the way to contact Goran and tell him all what I know before Konrad sees me. He will know what to do and how to protect them.'

“Hey, prince, is everything fine with the little one?” John asked from the other side of the door, getting Guntram out of his reverie.

He looked around and saw his son peacefully sleeping. “Yes, everything is OK. I'm coming in a minute.”

“You said that just an hour ago,” the man said casually and Guntram felt his world crumbling down. He gulped and walked toward the door and opened it.

“Is it true?” He asked.

“What?”

“About the time. An hour did you say?”

“It's 11 p.m. and you went in there at 9.30 p.m. Did he fight against bedtime?” John shrugged and walked back to sit in the large black leather upholstered sofa in front of the fireplace. “The champagne is getting warm.”

“I'm sorry for my delay,” Guntram answered mechanically and dropped himself next to the big man. “I lost track of time watching him.”

“Yeah, he's a nice little fellow. Did you already choose the tank model you gonna use when he decides to have a girlfriend?”

“Not yet,” Guntram answered but his mind was shouting him that his short lived sense of freedom could be very dangerous for his son. 'What if you do it again, in the middle of a train station and the police catches you? You need this man to control you now that you don't have your pills. You're a nuts case, Guntram. Admit it and everything will be better.' Suddenly, fear gripped his heart once more and he looked at the man serving the two glasses, oblivious to his discomfort.

“This should be good, according to the sommelier,” John commented.

“Did you order strawberries too?”

“No, they are included in the pack.” He took one of the shimmering red fruits and held it in front of Guntram's lips. “Try one, they're really sweet.” He had a hard time to control his shivering back when the soft lips inadvertently caressed the tips of his fingers. He bent back to the coffee table and took one of the glasses and offered it to Guntram to hide his embarrassment.

“Thank you,” the youth muttered with a smile and waited for him to get his own glass.

“To the most beautiful person I ever met,” John made a toast before he drank his champagne.

Guntram looked at him like a rabbit in front of the wolf and sipped his drink. “I mean it,” John said and kissed him on the lips. “You're simply stunning,” he muttered, deepening the kiss as his tongue darted through Guntram's lips. The man's arms laced his waist and he roughly pulled him up, muttering “bed,” without removing his lips from the mouth.

John couldn't wait a single moment he started to undress Guntram, kissing each inch of skin he was revealing as he muttered some words of love.

Guntram let John do as he wanted and tried to return some of the kisses but the man's eagerness made impossible to take a step backward or try to move, so efficiently he had trapped him in his arms. 'Konrad was like an eager child too,' he remembered for the first time in a long time. 'Why do I do that, now?' he realised. 'I never compared Constantin with Konrad since I was in his hands,'

He fell on the bed and before he could readjust his position, John landed on top of him, almost knocking the air out of him. “Slow down!” he protested but John silenced him with a kiss and sloppy caresses to his face. Somehow Guntram found endearing the man's attitude as he couldn't feel any evil emanating from him or that something was calculated or devised to bend his will. 'Funny, I'm charging him for each kiss, but he's not making me feel like a puppet. He only looks for company.' He relaxed and let himself go with John's pleasure.

Still trembling after his climax, John gathered in his arms the body that was driving him mad. The soft and shy smile he got from Guntram, made him feel proud and rejuvenated. “Hey, did you think about what I told you at dinner?”

“What?” Guntram asked distractedly as he kissed John on the cheek with real tenderness.

“Moving with me to the States,” he said a bit shocked. “To Boston. I have a nice house and there's no mother in law around.”

“Are you serious?”

“After this? I was never so serious in my life. There are very good schools in America. Best in the world.”

“I know,” Guntram answered mechanically as his mind processed the information. “Harvard is there.”

“He's a bit young to consider it, but why not? So, are you coming with me?”

“We said this was only for the holidays, John,” Gunram started to tell as he looked for a way to lessen the pain his refusal was going to cause to his partner. “We never considered to continue for longer than this. We have not much future as it is. We already spoke about it.”

“Yes, but that was before. You told me you are here trying to get rid of a bad past relationship. Why not starting again with me?”

“With you?” Guntram asked incredulously. “We don't know each other. You know nothing about me.”

“I like what I've seen so far. No one entirely knows the other ever. I know that your past relationship was really bad. You're afraid almost all the time, looking over your shoulder. You remind me of one of those beaten children. Was he violent with you?”

Guntram disentangled himself from John's arms and put distance between them. “It was... bad. I don't want to remember it, please.”

“I'm not going to hit you or hurt you. If we don't like each other, we split our ways. No hard feelings.”

“It's never like this,” Guntram muttered. “You all say the same and then I pay the consequences.”

“Well, it's hard to let someone like you go away.”

“I can't have a relationship with you. I want to go back with my previous lover,” Guntram said with a quiet voice. “I don't know if he wants me back, but I want to see him one last time.”

“That's bad for me,” John sighed, leaning is back against the headboard. “It's not that I'm in love or anything, but we could be something together.”

“I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to hurt you,” Guntram apologized heartbroken.

“You didn't hurt me. I'm fine,” John retorted with a hollow smile.

“Yes, I did. I never thought you were serious about me. You came onto me in a way that didn't leave much room for commitment, John.”

“One person can change his mind, can he?”

“Yeah,”

“Hey! That's my line!” John protested with a forced smile. “Your former boyfriend, where does he live?”

“In Europe.”

“I see. Even a brute like myself knows Europe is big. Where in Europe?”

“Zurich or Frankfurt. Depends on the day of the week.”

“Air pilot or bus driver?” John asked with a grin.

“He works in a bank.”

“That's pretty boring. When did you meet him?”

“We started to live together in 2002,” Guntram answered and John whistled.

“Was he a paedophile?”

“I was nineteen years old! We were together till 2009!” Guntram protested.

“That's a lot of time. How old is he?”

“Didn't I tell you that it's very impolite to ask people's age?”

“I'm forty three years old and you must be less than thirty years old. You can tell papa John about your boyfriend. Two crazy young rascals living in... Uruguay?”

“He will turn fifty five next November, John and we lived here, in Zurich.”

“What the fuck, prince? He could be your father! Twenty-five years difference? You should seriously consider me before you go back to him and have to take him to the nursing home,” he exclaimed playfully. “Is he not very old for you?”

“We never felt the age difference. Well, I'm not the most outgoing person in the world, John. I fell in love for him.”

“What went wrong?”

“Everything. We both are guilty of what happened,” Guntram admitted quietly. “Leaving him was the greatest mistake of my life.”

“Did you leave him?”

“Sort of, but essentially I was the one who walked out of the door.”

“And you had a child in the meantime?”

“Yes, I did. Conor is the most important person in my life.”

“Sorry to break the news to you, Fedia, but no guy in his right mind will take you back. You left him and now come back with a child hanging from your arm? Fedia, that's a lot to ask from any guy.”

“He was not a saint, too.” Guntram retorted obfuscated. He took a deep breath in. “I have no right to ask you this, John but I need your help.”

“You really have no right to ask this. I've just asked you to move in with me and you turned me down for a guy twice your age,” John retorted sounding obfuscated.

“I'm sick in the head,” Guntram confessed after a long silence.

“Yes, I can see that. Does the guy know you're coming?”

“No,” Guntram whispered. “I want to set things right with him but I don't know how. I used to take pills for my nerves but I'm not using them any longer. Sometimes, I lose track of time, like tonight. I swear I didn't realise about the time.”

“Prince, you need a doctor.”

“No, I need you to come with me to Zurich, please.”

John thought for a long time before he gave his answer. “Fine, I'll take you to Zurich, but you will give me a chance.”

“A chance?”

“Yes, two weeks with me; one in Paris and another in... Can you think of any other romantic city?”

“Paris is fine.” Guntram agreed with a broken voice. “Bruges is very nice, too. I was never there.” 'Constantin should lower his guard if I don't show up in Zurich for two weeks. I could contact then Goran directly. I have to find a way to stay low,' “I only have one request,” he said.

“Hey, I'm making you the favour,” John protested jokingly. “Shoot me, prince.”

“Let's stay in small places. All this luxury drives me very nervous. I'm afraid all the time that Conor could break something,”

“I'm trying to impress you!”

“A normal room is more than enough for me. I don't need much.”

“All right, we go and stay wherever you want, but you have to tell me something first.”

“What?”

“Your real name.”