FREE FLYING HEARTS -- A collection of short stories from Tonig73

..... 10 .....

They stayed for dinner, of course they did.  Larry threw a few things together, he was as good a cook as Jaz was, and they all sat down to seafood linguine, garlic bread, and a beautiful colourful salad.  Mom sat next to Laurent, not wanting to let go of his hand, nor he, hers.  They both would have eaten with one hand of they could.  Larry's face ached from his permanent smile, watching his love and Carina's mom talk, and smile at one another, both so happy that they had met, that they would be in each other's lives now.  They had to leave eventually, but not before exchanging contact details, promising to be in touch soon.  They were family now.  They all hugged each other a million times more, Carina's mom really not wanting to let Laurent go.  He sighed deeply as he waved them off down the road.  He placed his hand over his heart as Larry hugged his back, muttering "Thank you, Carina.  You have wonderful parents."  He knew, as weird as it sounded, even in his own head, that he and Carina would be having, literally, a heart to heart.  That he would be talking to her often.  And that thought alone made him smile.

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"What are you doing ?"  Laurent was perched on a stool, on tiptoe, as tall as he was, rummaging around the back of a high shelf in the office.  He'd found piles of paperwork, and shoe boxes full of receipts from the cafe', but not what he was looking for.  

"Laurent, what are you ....."

"Have you seen my camera ?  You know, the good one.  I need it for tomorrow."  They'd cleaned up after dinner, and after all the excitement of the day, they now turned their attention to the fact that they would be watching Pierce compete tomorrow.  And Laurent, all of a sudden, needed a decent camera to take, what else, some decent photo's.  

"Can't you use your phone ?"  Larry asked.

"No ..... Larry, c'mon, you should know this.  If I try to take photo's of him going more than 5 miles an hour, it'll come out blurry.  No, I need a decent shutter speed, and an auto shutter, so I can take a series of shots, then I know I'll get at least one good one.  It's important."  he pouted.  

"OK, but it's late, here, let me help you."  Larry started shuffling things around in the cupboard underneath the shelf, as Laurent stopped, suddenly, mid search.  

"Have you found it ?"  Larry looked up.  Laurent was holding an envelope, with his own name written across the front of it.  He scrunched up his face, flipping it back and forth, wondering what it could be.  Why would an envelope, containing a note or a letter, he presumed, in Larry's writing addressed to him, be hidden in the back of a cupboard ?  Larry gulped hard, recognizing it immediately, completely forgetting he had put it there.  Completely forgetting to tear it up after he had written it, over a year ago.  Laurent stepped down off the stool.

"Larry ?  Do you wanna tell me, or do I read it ?"  He wasn't worried, or angry, or upset.  He didn't know what there might be to get upset about.  Just slightly confused.  Larry gulped again, looking up into Laurent's eyes, as his face changed and grew softer as he recognized the pure fear in Larry's face.

"Larry ?  I don't have to ..... but I'd like to know what it is, at least.  Whether I need to be worried ...."  It had occurred to Laurent then, that if it was hidden, as it had appeared to be, he wasn't supposed to find it.  And against his better judgement, his mind working overtime, he imagined the worst.  It was fear driving his thoughts too, even though he knew he trusted Larry, 100 %.  Larry was still in shock, somewhat, he hadn't managed to utter a single word.  Until now.

"I, um ..... I'd forgotten about it.  Fuck !"  He took the envelope from between Laurent's fingers, turning it in his hands as he sat down. He looked at his own writing, knowing exactly what was written on the page that lay within the envelope.  Remembering his feelings as he wrote the words, still sure some of them would be smudged because of the tears that had fallen as he wrote them.  Laurent could see the pain and the turmoil in Larry's eyes.