OM 2206

Mika was sitting in a lounge chair in the garden of his Tuscany home. He was looking out over the green hills which would soon be painted red, yellow, orange and brown by the autumn chill. He loved this time of year. It was just warm enough to sit outside, but the blazing hot summer sun had changed into a friendly, softly glowing ball. His dogs seemed to enjoy it too, they were playing and running around in the grass, seemingly never running out of energy. Even Mel, despite her age. The fur around her eyes and nose was turning white, but if you saw her darting around, you wouldn't think that she was already 10 years old. Mika wondered how many more summers they would spend together, the three of them. The three of them, and ofcourse, the very important fourth addition to the family, who came to interrupt his thoughts before they turned into melancholy, by appearing behind him and placing a kiss on top of his head.

"It's nice out here, right?" the handsome Greek said, as he started carefully massaging Mika's shoulders. His grip was strong, but tender, and Mika closed his eyes and leaned his head back a bit, enjoying this treat after another long day of work. "Less knots..." the man behind him mumbled. "Good, very good".

"Better than last time?" Mika asked.

Andy nodded. "But that's not surprising, last time I did this you hadn't slept for a whole week!" Mika blushed. He knew Andy did not like when he didn't take good care of himself, but once he was in work mode, even Andy could not stop him. And some things were simply more important than sleep, like his beloved Beirut...

Again, it was like Andy could read his thoughts. "You did so well," he said softly, "I am so proud of you."

 Mika smiled. The I ♥ Beirut concert had indeed become a huge success. What started out as an idea for a livestreamed concert in his backyard, had turned into an international production with big names from all over the world involved. Mika was proud of what they had put together in such a short amount of time, but even more proud of the amount of money they had raised, all of which would go to associations that would help rebuild Beirut after the terrible blast that had struck the city in August.

When the pandemic started, his concerts were cancelled, and the whole world went into lockdown, he could not have imagined that a few months later he would organise a livestreamed concert which he would consider one of the most important concerts in his career. And all that while the pandemic was still very much ongoing... He shook his head, it were mind boggling times.

Andy took the head shaking as a sign that he should stop the massage. Mika was being very quiet, but that was okay. Tonight he needed to hear only one thing from him...

He went inside, and a few seconds later he reappeared with a card in his hands, which he handed over to Mika. Mika opened the card and inside was... a plastic card? He stared at it in confusion for a few seconds, until he saw what was written on it. "Four Seasons Hotel". It was a hotel key card! He looked back at Andy, who had a sparkle in his eyes. "Is this for us?" Mika asked. Andy nodded, "we have a reservation for... tonight!" Mika looked surprised, but also excited. Andy wasn't normally the spontaneous type, so he had not expected this!

Andy smiled, pleased with the happy look on Mika's face. Little did Mika know that this wouldn't be the only surprise of the day! He leaned in for a kiss and whispered "you deserve this, Mika."

 Mika kissed him back, but pulled away a few seconds later and squeaked "I have to go pack my suitcase!"

He darted inside and went upstairs to their bedroom. Andy followed suit, a grin plastered on his face. He tried to hold back his laughter as he shouted up the stairs: "it's just for one night! All you will need are a toothbrush and clean underpants. Maybe not even a toothbrush, it's a 5 star hotel, they will take care of everything!"