01 - Noah / Winter /
Noah was staring at the ceiling that morning, a paper in his hands. It was 11 p.m. on a Sunday, so no work for the day, and the letter had been his hyperfixation since Friday afternoon, when it was delivered.
You’re happily invited to our wedding.
It will be held on the 12th of June, at 10:30 a.m., at the local church near the ‘Alexander’s’ tattoo shop where it all began.
You can bring a plus one!
We look forward to seeing you there, it’d make us very happy.
Ethan Bennett & Aiden Blake
He sighed. How lucky. He was pushing 29 and still not a boyfriend in sight. Watch me become a priest by 35. The worst part was that it wasn’t that he wasn’t desired, but that the subjects were… well, morons. Ignorants. Idiots. Inferior. Was it too much to ask for someone to have a decent conversation with? Noah had studied petrology, and people thought he was a weird one for doing so, because who in their right mind would study rocks?! Of course said people weren’t able to connect his job of making jewelry to his degree.
Aiden was perfect. He really was. He had a mind like no one else’s, but Noah had known there were no chances the moment Aiden had called him ‘Ethan’ during sex. He had been the second person to mesmerize him with every word coming out of his mouth. And now Aiden was getting married to the love of his life. Ethan was amazing. Smart, an affirmed author with a couple of books published already, and they both lived in Japan at the moment.
Noah traced the star Aiden had tattooed on his wrist years prior. It wasn’t as clear as before, but it was there. So many years already… Aiden never asked ‘why’ a star, and Noah never explained.
He gave the invitation one last look. A plus one, huh? As if I could find someone in only five months. Someone that matters, that is. Oh God, I’ll end up bringing my cat…!
Vanilla jumped on the bed. She was a Maine Coon as white as, well, the vanilla flower, and was judging him with those icy eyes of hers. Sometimes Noah believed she could read his mind, since more than once she had appeared the exact moment he had thought of her.
“Hey, I was kidding, alright? I’m not sad about it.”
She tapped his chest with her big paw.
“Really!”
She didn’t change her expression. Not one bit.
“Okay, fine, maybe a little, but it’s okay, it will be only one day.” He caressed her. Vanilla leaned in and rested her head on his pec, purring. “Only one day,” he repeated. “I can be alone for a day.”
“We got mail.” Charlie passed him an envelope. “You should check it out.”
Oh great, because Noah really wanted to read more shit. It probably was just the light bill. “You can do it,” he muttered, putting the pages together. He was studying the designs for a new collection of jewels. “I’m not in the mood.”
Charlie, his assistant, pursed his lips. “It’s from a big company.”
Okay, not a bill. “Cool, but not a first.”
Charlie opened the letter and read it through in silence. As he did so, Noah started sketching on a clean sheet.
“They want to collaborate with us.”
“Get them in line.” When he had met Aiden, Noah used to work at his father’s store and laboratory. Now he had his own just outside Glasgow, with a bunch of employees, and was creating custom pieces for companies and famous people. They were also known for exclusive collections and it wasn’t rare they were asked for collaborations.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“They say the CEO knows you.”
Noah snorted. “Really? The oldest trick of all. Pathetic. What’s the name?”
“A certain Victor Antonio Romero, from Mariposa Ltd?”
The pencil’s tip snapped. Too much pressure.
Noah turned slowly. “What did you just say?”
Charlie looked confused. “Victor Antonio Romero. So you do know him. Shall I respond that you accept?”
Noah took the letter from his hands. He knew he was being rude, but right then it was the last of his thoughts. Yes, yes, it was him. It was Victor.
His heart jumped and swelled with warmth, sadness. Anger. Noah brushed his thumb on the signature.
“Tell them we accept, and please book me an appointment with this CEO. I need to talk to him.”
“Sure thing.”
Charlie left, leaving him alone with his thoughts and sketches. Why now, Victor? Why… after eight years. Noah’s heart raced. A part of him was scared of being hurt again, but another was dying of anticipation. But why wait for the appointment to see him?
He grabbed his phone and quickly typed Victor’s full name and company, and there he was: mocha skin, curly black hair, a neatly trimmed stubble, and those stupidly pretty dark eyes and plump lips. In most pictures he was wearing a suit, a big difference from the past, where Victor used to wear a white tee and strapped jeans. Noah wondered if he liked the daily dress-up. He surely liked it.
An article caught his attention: Mariposa Ltd’s CEO announces divorce.
Noah frowned. It was dated a couple of years back. For his sake Noah had never, never looked Victor up on the internet, so he didn’t know anything about his private life. Well, apart from the fact he had gotten married, of course. How could he forget?
He sighed and blocked the phone. Enough. I don’t need this, but to do a good job and get referred. He took the pencil back in hand. I have other things to think about, for now.
The company building was in the center of town, tall and powerful. Mariposa Ltd. was famous for organizing runway shows and for being associated with the major fashion companies. Yet Noah had never reached out to them, because doing so would have meant getting in touch with Victor.
But that morning Noah had spent an hour or a little more in front of the mirror, and he had chosen the best clothes from his wardrobe, plus some jewels made by himself. He wanted to show him what he had missed, that fucker.
Noah took a deep breath, tightened the hold on his satchel, and walked right into the entrance door.
