Master Tomlinson

15-Life & Death

      The hard part of love was always the gut wrenching fear of it being taken away, sometimes painfully, sometimes without choice. I come to learn this within my 17 years of existing that everything I have loved has been violently ripped from my hands because of the slave trade.
I had vivid dreams of my mothers face as she screamed from the top of her lungs, and images of my pale father as they took me. And then his face. His sullen, pale, blood-thirsty face staring back at me through a tattered cage. A smile every time I would wince, scream, and cry. It was an impetuous effort to make money. All of the nightmares started to come back when I realized that I began to love again.

My eyes opened abruptly as my nightmare came to it's end. The white ceiling above was a familiar sight nowadays, as I laid here most nights and mornings suffering from insomnia. The only time it seems to get better is when I'm with Louis.
I pulled myself from bed and with a shaky hand wiped the sweat from my forehead. Once dressed, I reluctantly headed down to start my chores, since I was still a bit shaken up from the vivid nightmare I suffered through. It was getting harder and harder to wake myself up.

As I descended down and through the open space, Louis was sat in one of the chairs down in the foyer, attending some meeting arranged by some man I had never seen before. I remember him telling me about it previously, but I didn't get many details. Just that it was a business meeting. The thought made a lump form in my throat. Louis caught sight of me, as though he was waiting for my descent for some time now, and flashed me his signature sideways smile. I returned a sheepish one, and continued on to the mud room to start the laundry. I had originally been put in the office but I decided afterwards that maybe I should take it slowly, like Luke had suggested. There was more than I thought there would be, but I should've known because they used extra towels to clean up after the party. I spotted Louis' familiar bed spread and decided it would probably be smarter to finish his laundry before anything else. I began to organize according to color and category, and began to rummage through his pockets to clear them. My greens peered around the empty room and hummed curiously, as I remembered that there was supposed to be another boy helping with the washing, but didn't see anyone around. "Guess I'm alone." I mumbled to myself, continuing to search the pockets. Louis usually doesn't keep anything in his pockets, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. Don't want to tarnish anything important that might be in there.
As I came to the last pair, I noticed that it was the pants he wore to the Gala almost a week ago. I reached into the pocket on one side, and then the other, and felt that there was a piece of paper crumpled inside. Out of curiosity, I began to straighten out the paper and looked to see what it was before I threw it out. On the note was a name, phone number and address written down in ink. It was messy, and not Louis' writing. It sounded familiar to me, I swear I had heard of it before.. but I was unsure why it was significant, and still in his pocket. Regardless, I kept it with me because it might have been someone he was doing business with.

I got started on washing the laundry, but couldn't help but wonder at what point in the night he had obtained that paper. It would've had to be the second half when he said he was looking for me, but never mentioned anything. He doesn't have to mention anything, it's none of my business. I told myself repeatedly. My thoughts consumed me and sooner or later it was dinner time, and I had finished putting the last towel on the clothesline outside. My clothing was slightly wet from washing up but the air seemed to help me dry for the most part. I approached the glass doors that went to the kitchen, and through the glass I could see that most of the boys were there and talking amongst themselves. My usual seat was empty next to Luke, and he was there sitting silently as he glanced around the room. Once I came inside, Luke saw me and gave me a smile as though he was waiting for me. I peered around and looked for Louis, but he wasn't there. He must've still been in his meeting.

"You're a bit wet." Luke pointed out, chuckling at my damp clothing. "Did the water jump out and get you?" He joked around, making me giggle slightly.
"I'm just a messy boy, that's all." I confessed with a grin, before peering around the room. Everyone was now seated and beginning to get their food, but Louis still wasn't there. As I ate mine, I grew more curious about the meeting. Usually he has meetings in his office, but this time he was out in the foyer.
"Does he usually have meetings in the foyer?" I pondered out loud, looking at Luke for an answer. I remained at a silent tone so that the other boys couldn't hear the conversation. Luke thought to himself briefly, a look of uncertainty taking over his skinny face. "No, not usually. Though it's not uncommon, I think he's done it before." His answer wasn't too convincing, but I believed him anyway. I decided not to bug him further and let him eat in peace, as did I. When I was done my meal and chores, I went up to Louis' office. He let me in with his smile beaming down at me. "Hi." Louis greeted, planting a small kiss on my forehead. I smiled at his nice smell and soft touch, and began to rub at his chest gently. "Hi." I replied back, grinning a dimply smile up at his handsome, beaming face. "I came to give you this, I found it in your trousers." I remembered, pulling my gaze away from his distracting face. Reaching for my pocket, I retrieved the paper and placed it in his hand. "Not that it's my business, but who is it?" I asked softly, biting my lip and my own nosy behavior. Louis un-crumpled the page and I could see that his smile drained slightly and he kept a paused look on his face as he remembered where it came from. "It was from the guy who we kicked out. He gave the security a spiel about something and forced him to give this to me. They gave it to me when you were gone." He explained, but I was still confused.
"You don't know who he is?" I could tell from the looks Louis gave him at the party that maybe he heard of him, but didn't know him personally. Especially not good enough to be at Louis' party, but he got in somehow. Louis shook his head slightly, a look of hesitance on his face as he avoided my eyes. After a few seconds, it was replaced by a more pleasant expression. "Enough business talk, I want to see you." My curiosity was replaced by a warm, tingly feeling. I felt his arms wrap around my small waist and tighten so that we were pressed against each other. "I'm going to take you out."

And so he did, but it wasn't as fancy as the first time. It was a more casual setting, he wasn't wearing a suit, I wasn't wearing a suit. We went for a drive by the city lights and got some local pastries and tea, and sat outside of a bakery to listen to the bustling streets. His security watched from afar, letting us have our space to talk, and when we were finished we went back to the house, to his bedroom. I became used to sleeping next to him; the way he caressed my cheek and played with my hair. But he respected my boundaries, even if he didn't know what they were fully.