a letter for every kiss

Chapter 3

A day had passes since Tony's sister had gone to see her editor. Things had gone well so that same night she invited everyone that lived and worked at the house to join her for dinner.

With everyone together at he house, it didn't seem like a big party was occuring but there was definitely a celebration. For the meal they drank aged wine that had been saved for a while and afterwards music was played and drinks kept being served with the desserts.

As the day kept on going, people started migrating to the living room. The family radio played music which attracted most people to sit on one of the couches, preferably near the fireplace, as they ate slices of cake and drank champagne.

"I think I like this one!," Hugh said exclaimed as Josefina had put a new song on.

He got up and started dancing, all the while he was smiling and laughing.

Tony was still sitting on the couch, hiding his face with a pillow.

“Can someone dance with me?” he was looking at Tony but quickly pulled one of the maids to dance with him. She giggled and tried to keep up.

At some point Hugh looked out the window and declared with easy that he would get to see the stars the next night.

—

It was cold, enough for the ghost of every breath to linger in the air. Tony still felt uncomfortable. He rarely left the house, especially for such activity.

A bit ahead, his sister was walking besides Hugh. The man was already looking at the sky with the binoculars. Large sleeves pooling on his elbows.

He looked back, at some point, smiling at Tony. A sort of invitation to make him walk closer to them.

Now that they were by the lake they had a privileged view of the sky, standing on top of the rocks that were its beginning. The binoculars were handed to Tony and he looked at the sky, focusing on the tiny white dots. Hugh nudged his arm and Tony knew he wanted him to look at the moon. It was very detailed, all the highs and lows visible almost as if you were besides someone, looking at the blemishes in their skin.

“It's—” Tony wasn’t speechless per se, in fact, his mind was aiding him with too many words, causing him to gape and choose.

“Magnificent,” Hugh ended besides him.

The binoculars were lowered after what felt had been long minutes. Tony looked at the trees, taking everything in when the sound of slashing water made him look down. Josefina was already dipping her toes in the cold water. She smiled at her brother though he couldn’t make up that much when it felt like everything was so dark and dull in contrast with the sky.

Still, Hugh took hold of his hand and led him to the riverside. His face was vivid under the glow from the moon, even his freckles were seen by Hugh.