Mint and apricots

26. Mint and apricots

After he got off the bus, it didn't take Sam more than five minutes to get to Gabriel's door. During his short walk – as had happened during the twenty minutes he had spent on the bus and the previous four days –, the boy could not help but keep thinking about how little he was comfortable with Luc's plan.

Not because he believed that this gimmick had some logistical imperfection, it wasn't that. But since Luc had called him, four days earlier, and told him that the solution to their problem was to be Gabriel's guests every Sunday afternoon, a sense of panic had begun to grow in Sam. And all that anxiety was nothing but deep embarrassment at the idea that Gabriel had offered them a place where to...

Fuck, Sam concluded in his own mind. Luc and I are going to meet to fuck at his friend's house every Sunday afternoon. After all, these are things that people do all the time, aren't they? They go out for a drink together, go to the cinema, for a walk, or they meet to fuck in another person's bed. A person I met practically the day before yesterday, among other things. That's great, really great.

Needless to say, he did not agree with the plan. Needless to say, he was so ashamed to show up at Gabriel's place with such premises. Needless to say, Luc couldn't have cared less about his protests, not when, as he had reminded Sam on the phone on Wednesday, Sam was making his life so difficult. So Sam had capitulated, recognized that he had to compromise and said yes. But deciding to please Luc hadn't made it easier for him to make peace with that idea.

When he reached out to ring Gabriel's doorbell, the muffled echo of Wham!'s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go came from inside the apartment and the crazy volume of the music hit Sam in the face as soon as Gabriel opened the door.

"Hey, Sam! Happy New Year!" the landlord shouted over George Michael's voice, reaching out to give him a welcoming pat on the arm.

"Ha-Happy New Year to you too," Sam exclaimed, letting out a laugh in the wake of that absurd situation.

Strangely, despite all the thoughts he had had running in his head up to that moment, the appearing of Gabriel's radiant face with the accompaniment of that song was enough to relieve him some.

"Come on in, I'll be with you right away," the boy on the threshold announced, leaving the door open and running into the house.

Sam barely had time to accept the invitation and close the door behind his back before the volume of the music was suddenly lowered to a human level and Gabriel was back from the stereo station with a vaguely contrite look on his face.

"Here you go. Your eardrums are safe now," he announced. "Sorry for the disco effect, but every now and then I like indulging in some crazy joy."

Sam chuckled: "You should not be sorry. I did it too, at times, when I lived alone."

"Has its perks, hasn't it?" Gabriel agreed, giving him a wink. "Let me put away your coat for you."

Sam nodded and took off his jacket, remaining in jeans and his red and black plaid flannel shirt, open over a cotton T-shirt. While Gabriel put his coat in the closet at the entrance, Sam took a few awkward steps in the living area, putting a hand on the back of his head in the meantime.

"Sorry I'm early. I'm always afraid of being late and then the opposite happens. I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Are you kidding? That's no problem at all, take a seat," Gabriel invited him in a calm tone, pointing to the sofas in the living room before reaching the kitchen counter and retrieving the kettle. "I was making myself something hot to drink, because the heating only works when it feels like it. Would you like some herbal tea or do you find it an old people's habit? Answer honestly, I am aware of me being an old-fashioned old man."