He just wanted to see his face and look into his eyes one more time.
Then one afternoon in the middle of August, as Luis was returning from an afternoon at the Internet café, he ran into Jase’s snooty friend with the red hair. (He never could remember his name. It was something that began with an Sh: either Sheldon, Shelby, or Shannon; he could never get it right.) Jase’s friend was in the vestibule collecting Jase’s mail. While he was placing it in a large leather briefcase, Luis greeted him and said, “I hope everything is okay with Jase. I haven’t seen him around for a while. I was just wondering, is all.” He pretended they were just casual friends so the friend wouldn’t suspect anything. He still wasn’t sure about this guy’s relationship with Jase, and he didn’t want to say anything inappropriate.
The guy smiled without looking him in the eye. He was the type that didn’t bother with small talk. “He’s fine,” he said, then rolled his eyes. “He’s in Alaska for a month. He’ll be back around Labor Day. I’ve been forwarding his mail. Although I’m not sure why I’m doing this. He never gets anything important at this address.”
Luis smiled and said, “Isn’t that nice for him?” then ran up to his apartment and wrote Jase a letter. He figured if he sent Jase a letter to his New York apartment, the friend would pick it up and forward it to Jase in Alaska. It wasn’t a long letter; just a note inviting Jase to dinner on the Friday following Labor Day weekend. When he dropped it in the mailbox that same night, he crossed his fingers and looked up at the sky, praying Jase would answer him before it was too late.
* * * *
A week later, Luis pulled a small envelope out of his mailbox with a return address from Alaska. It was just a short note. He opened the envelope and read it aloud right there in the vestibule. “It was nice to hear from you. I’m glad you’re doing better now. I’m returning to New York the Friday after Labor Day. I’d love to have dinner with you…for old time’s sake. Best, Jase.”
Luis folded the letter neatly and put it back into the envelope. Though he wasn’t much of a cook, he decided to plan a dinner in his apartment for Jase. It would be quieter there and they could talk openly one last time. And he wanted Jase to see he was doing well now. The last time Jase had seen him he was lying in the middle of a ruined apartment, with loose feathers floating through the air and shards of broken mirror on the floor. For some reason he couldn’t explain, he cared about what Jase thought. He didn’t care about what anyone else thought of him. But with Jase it seemed to matter.
* * * *
Jase must have gone directly from the airport to Luis’s apartment. He showed up at Luis’s door that Friday night with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a suitcase in the other.
Luis hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. “Come in,” he said. “It’s so good to see you. I was afraid I’d never see you again.” He took the flowers and held them to his face. “They smell wonderful. I love fresh flowers.”
Jase lifted the suitcase and laughed. “Sorry I have this,” he said. “I didn’t have time to go to my place yet. This has been a long week.”
“A week with four Thursdays?”
“Exactly,” Jase said.
When the dog saw Jase, he jumped out from beneath one of the new black leather sofas and ran across the room to greet him.
While Jase bent down to pet his head, Luis laughed and said, “I haven’t seen him this happy since I dropped Chinese takeout on the floor a week ago. He really does love you.” When he mentioned the word love, they both stopped moving for a second.
At first, Jase was quiet. But he was smiling as if he couldn’t control the direction in which his lips were turning. His face flushed and he said, “How did you find me? I didn’t even tell the landlord where I was going, and you know how Mr. Gordon likes to know everything.”
Luis took the flowers from him and crossed into the kitchen to put them in a vase. “I’m very clever,” he said. “I have my ways.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Jase said.
“Actually,” Luis said, “I ran into Sherbet down at the mailbox one afternoon.”
“Sherman.”
“Whatever,” Luis said, concentrating on the flowers. “He was collecting your mail and he told me he was forwarding it to you in Alaska. It wasn’t that difficult, really. I just sent you a letter and it was forwarded.”
“I’m glad you contacted me again,” Jase said.
“You are?”
“Yes,” he said. “I wanted to see you again, too. I think about you often.”
Luis wasn’t sure where this was going, so he changed the subject fast. He didn’t want Jase to say he was still in love with him. If he had to reject him a second time, it would kill him.
“I think about you, too. I’m glad it worked out for us to get together tonight. I’m leaving for Vancouver on Sunday morning. I have the ticket and I’m almost completely packed.”
Jase ignored his comment about Vancouver and walked into the living room. “I see you’ve made a few changes in here.” He was looking down at a small French table with two gilded chairs. The table was covered with white silk and it had been set with elegant white china, pure silver, and delicate crystal goblets.
Luis came out of the kitchen and placed the flowers in the middle of the table. “Do you like it?”
Jase shrugged. “It’s fine,” he said, without elaborating. Then he rubbed his jaw and said, “Why did you want to see me again? I was a little surprised.”
Luis arranged a flower that was sticking up too high and said, “I’ve said goodbye to everyone. I wanted to say goodbye to you, too.”
“Will you be going to Vancouver with Melvin on Sunday?”
“He’ll take a later flight,” Luis said, with a forced, upbeat tone in his voice. “Melvin doesn’t think it’s a good idea for us to travel together. His family is very prominent in Vancouver and he doesn’t want to draw any attention.”
Jase frowned. “I see.”
“Melvin treats me very well,” Luis said. “He’s been there for me when I needed him. I can’t tell you how happy I am.” He walked back to the kitchen to open a bottle of Asti Spumonte.
“Will you and Melvin be living together like a real couple?” Jase asked.
“I’m not sure I understand.”