Starlight Stories Rich and Love: Burns Song

Chapter 19: The Fume of Sighs

When Smithers opened the mansion door, Marge jumped a bit and turned swiftly around, dropping the feather duster in her hand. "Oh, it's only you," she said, splaying her fingers across her chest in relief. "What are you doing back so soon? Is something wrong?"

"Oh..." He leaned back against the door as he closed it, tilting his head back against it as he clenched his eyes shut. "Yes," he said in something halfway between a hiccup and a sniffle. "Very wrong."

"Oh, dear, what is it?"

"Mr. Burns doesn't want to be married to me!" He put his arms around her shoulders and fell against her, crying.

Marge gasped. "Oh, my, are you sure?"

"He...he said he's not sure. But why else would he rebuff me all these times? Why else would he have turned so cold..." Seeing her avert her gaze with a pursed lip, he said, "I know, to you he seems cold all the time, but with me...oh, he has this lovely, radiant warmth, and when he's tender, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I just haven't seen much of it lately." He walked over to the wine cellar and poured himself a glass of Merlot.

"I think he does love you. He just isn't very good at showing it."

"I know he loves me. But he's so damn stubborn; he doesn't want to admit that he's bisexual." He sipped his wine. "And it's kind of hard to have sex with a man while you're denying you find men sexually attractive."

"Isn't it a little early to be drinking?"

"Isn't it a little early to be sticking your nose into other people's business?" He took another sip. "Sorry for snapping. This whole situation with Monty has me tense." He rubbed his temples. "You want anything to drink?"

"Oh, I couldn't–"

"I make a mean Long Island Iced Tea."

"Hm...I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Smithers assembled various bottles of liquor and a fresh lemon and spoke as he measured out the ingredients. "He says I'm the only man he's ever wanted. But that is such BS. You know, I've noticed him checking men out before. A decade ago, even. But I always thought I was deluding myself, seeing what I wanted to see." He finished up her drink and gave it to her as he sat at the kitchen table with her.

"Maybe once he sees how accepting people are of you, he'll realize he has nothing to fear."

"That's the thing. In the circles we run in, people aren't accepting of me. They tolerate me, at best."

"I wouldn't be friends with people who would treat Homer like that. Maybe he just needs to get new friends."

"That's easier for you to say. You're freer to choose your social group. We have little choice but to hobnob with the wealthy elite, since so many important business deals are made through such connections."

"Well, you can still meet with your high-society snobs for business but get a new set of friends for socializing with."

"I'd like to. Monty's not very social, though. If he spent the rest of his life interacting with no one but me, I think he'd be all right with that. Hell, I'd be all right with that." He took a long sip of his wine. "I don't understand, I do everything I can to make myself attractive for him. I've started working out more, I wear that cologne he loves, I had my teeth whitened, I–"

"Are you sure he is bi? Maybe he was just experimenting with you and wants to be straight again." She saw the devastation in Smithers' eyes as he considered the possibility. "Oh, no, I'm sorry, Waylon, it's probably not that."

"It couldn't be, he – you should see the hungry look he gets in his eyes when we're about to make love. The look he used to get..."

"I'm sure he still finds you attractive. You said he's in denial about liking men, right? That must be it."