And The Heart Grows Fonder

And The Heart Grows Fonder Part 2

CHAPTER 1

Paris, France

Lincoln Huntington stared into the darkness of the night sky from the restaurant at the apex of the Eiffel Tower in France. The black, quiet vastness rolled on forever like a void. It encased the luminous buildings and dwarfed the late night hustle of Parisians milling on the sidewalks.

The serenity of the moment gave Lincoln the odd feeling of being trapped in one of those snow globes where the fake pristine scene of the city and its Eiffel Tower was encased in glass. From inside that globe, Lincoln imagined a moment in time could be captured and held. Forever.

He glanced at his smartphone; the screensaver read 11:35 pm. He grit his teeth at the late hour as he waited for his best friend and work colleague, Matsenêste King, to arrive. Lincoln rested his chin on his steepled hands on the table.

He had originally been seated with his four younger kids along with his beau, Rees, before he had opted to shuffle the kids back to their three bedroom suite at the ritzy hotel so he could meet Mat alone.

Lincoln smiled grimly. Rees had done an about-face as soon as the phone rang. All genuine smiles with the kids until he overheard and understood the gist of Lincoln's phone conversation with Mat. Lincoln had to hand it to Rees; he had still been all smiles with the kids, albeit insincerely. Distrusting. Lincoln didn't think the kids had caught on, thank God. He didn't want to give them the impression he was on shaky grounds with Rees.

Lincoln had already managed to defuse the explosive argument they had after their arrival.

Lincoln had just put the kids to bed for the night when Rees asked that they have a good talk.

Uh, oh. Warning bells had gone off in Lincoln's head almost immediately. Lincoln took a lucky guess as to what Rees wished to discuss: the third lover in their relationship, Lincoln's job. Rees had been incensed before, getting on his case about his increased work hours. Lincoln reminded him that he had told Rees that the job and kids came with the package, and there would be no exceptions. Rees insisted the demands from his job had worsened and Lincoln needed to actively try to reduce his workload.

"Get an assistant!" Rees said.

Lincoln shrugged his thick shoulders. "I already have an assistant."

Rees bristled. "Get another one!"

They had gotten into a back and forth until one of the kids had woken up to use the bathroom. Then when Neecy went back to sleep, Rees further accused him of bringing the kids on their weekend getaway to use as a buffer zone between them. Lincoln denied it, though they had been a certain level of welcome distraction from the dreaded "we need to talk" discussion mantel.

Lincoln grinned wryly. Having Mat meet him on his trip in the middle of dinner to engage in an impromptu meeting was not helping to maintain the falsehood that everything was hunky dory.

Lincoln raised his head, elbows resting on either side of his flat red wine aperitif and untouched plate of feta wrapped with prosciutto. He stared at his open hands, then clenched them into fists. Both of his legs and his left arm were bionic, but through the magic of nano-technology, he could still feel the tiniest frisson of pressure made on his skin. He uncurled then curled his fingers into fists and squeezed. He thought of the power of possibility he could achieve with his two hands, and sighed.

The power to make the pieces fall where I want them to, he thought, crushing his fist painfully. And yet, I can't deny Rees the advantage.

Lincoln exhaled as he closed his eyes, thinking that Rees was right. For a while now, he had thought there was something missing in his life; that becoming a triple amputee had made him feel the need to replace the emptiness with work. A quiet but undeniable longing for... Lincoln frowned. For what? He hadn't meant to become an ardent workaholic. It had just... The job demanded all of you. Lincoln smiled sadly, making his position as Audrianna Maxckmillian's aide akin to having a jealous lover on the side; just as Rees had reiterated.

Deep in thought, his long fingers laced in front of him, he was still able to deduce the evenly paced footsteps that drew up behind him for who they belonged . "This had better be good," Lincoln said to his friend without turning to meet his face.

"This warrants it," Mat replied, a touch of Texas rolling off his tongue. Mat brought his heavy body solidly down in the seat opposite Lincoln. He wore his blond hair long, slicked back with a side part. He was mixed with Cherokee Indian but you would never guess by the remarkably teal blue of his sharp eyes and beach body golden tan skin. Mat brought his fist to his mouth and he looked out to the glittery, alive landscape of the old Paris city. Mat hissed, "What a view."

Lincoln's brows met with agitation and he laughed under his breath as he took in Mat's profile. "The situation at home must be really bad if it's got you in a pensive mood," Lincoln drawled, trying to mimic his friend's Texas accent. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Lincoln did not achieve the affectation that much.

Mat just looked at Lincoln, staring at him with the same emotionless eyes for what seemed like countless minutes. The uncommunicative message there made Lincoln develop a disheartening abrasion in the pit of his stomach. And before Mat could open his mouth to relay the details of the urgency, Lincoln cursed, "Holy shit."

***

Mat and Lincoln left the restaurant. Lincoln was dubious as to the reaction the news of him ducking out early of their long awaited vaca would get from Rees. At the hotel, Mat waited in the lobby to give Lincoln some alone time with his family.