26 Heart to Heart Talk

Could this be Gustav's wife? This thought came to David's mind in an instant completely freezing him. What do you mean, Gustav is married? And he did such things with him? Impossible! I mean possible, but...

The Norwegian woman was tall and beautifully built. She had prominent hips and even more prominent breasts making her a really sexy person. If she was Gustav's wife, David, with his petite bones and more subtle beauty was her opposite, so maybe that's why Gustav felt like such a radical change...?

"Why have you gone pale?" asked Ursula Meiden. "Are you sick? Or do I speak Polish badly?"

"No, no, you speak well, just... I'm surprised. I didn't know anyone else would live here besides Mr. Meiden..."

"No one but me will live here," interjected Meiden.

"Well, well, Gustav, don't be like that," the woman descended the stairs and, taking Meiden's hand, hugged her head to his shoulder. They were the same height. "Don't be like that! I always wanted to live in a palace."

"Then buy your own!"

"But I grew up listening to stories about this place, not another. Grandma Eugenia was so wonderful to me! You don't remember her, but I spent more years with her. Ah, David, right, you probably don't know. I am Gustav's cousin. Our grandparents were brothers. I'm not Mrs. Eugenia's real granddaughter, but she was always good to me and I adored her as a child. That awful cousin of mine didn't want to see me at his place, but I couldn't just give up and asked Felix to bring me here..."

"I still don't want you to stay here..."

"You know Felix Krauze, don't you?" She asked totally ignoring Gustav.

David nodded his head.

Was she Gustav's cousin? Their grandparents were brothers? Is that why they share a surname, not because they are married? David breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled. But wait, why am I relieved? He thought and suddenly blushed.

Ursula let go of Gustav's arm, who greeted this with obvious relief. Now she focused all her attention on David.

"But you really are cute! I don't think I've ever seen such a pretty boy!"

"Thank you," he replied politely.

"Ursula, come on. Can't you see that you're embarrassing him?"

"Oooooh..." she looked at her cousin but obeyed his command. "Anyway, I'm glad to meet you, David. I don't know yet how long I will stay here..."

"Not long," interjected Gustav but was again ignored.

"...However, I'm counting on you to devote some time to me and become my guide to the area. Grandmother Eugenia told me a lot about this place, but the world she knew was the world of a hundred years ago. It's different now, of course..."

David glanced uncertainly at his boss. Meiden was clearly unhappy with his cousin's presence, but not to the point of being mean to her. He gave the impression of someone whose privacy was very much invaded, but of all the people who could do that, Ursula was probably the least unwelcome. I guess as cousins they were quite close. Maybe they were childhood friends?

David suddenly remembered that childhood friends are a popular romantic trope. A couple that has known each other forever at some point begins to feel something more toward each other....

He felt his cheeks reddening again and something unpleasantly turned over in his stomach. What the hell?

"I'm talking here, and you seem to have come to talk to Gustav!" Ursula laughed a little awkwardly. "Excuse me, boys. I'll go to the kitchen..."

It was true that David had come here to speak with Gustav, but the situation had changed dramatically. Now there was Ursula in the palace....

"I don't..." he wanted to wriggle out.

"Let's go toward the park!"

Was it a suggestion or an order? David didn't know, but his legs began to move on their own. He lowered his head.

"Okay."

For a while they walked side by side in silence. All that could be heard was their footsteps on the grass and the air wheezing between the spokes of the bike's wheels. David's mind was blank. Whatever he had prepared to talk about evaporated as soon as Ursula appeared. The silence that reigned was awkward, but David had no idea how to break it.

"Ursula is like an older sister to me," Gustav spoke up suddenly. "She's only five years older than me, but when I was a child, she took care of me a bit like a mother."

Older sister? Mom? This definitely didn't look like an introduction to romance. Could it be that there was actually nothing of the sort between them? David's heart hit harder, joyfully.

"She was worried about you, wasn't she?"

"Yes. David, I... I'm really sorry. Once, a long time ago, someone I knew betrayed my trust. He betrayed me. When I saw you yesterday, it was... Let's just say the bad memories took over me."

"Your girlfriend?" Only when he asked this question did David realize how rude it was.

"My... boyfriend."

David's feet stopped on their own. The bike's wheels stopped turning. David raised his eyes to Gustav. Gustav also stopped, turned toward him but didn't dare to raise his eyes.

David had before his eyes a truly handsome man, well-built, with a beautiful, masculine face and hair in which gold shimmered copper in places. He was elegant, somewhat refined (he was, after all, the countess's grandson) but also gave the impression of being frail. Despite all his rage against everyone, he wasn't evil. He did bad things, but David didn't have a completely clear conscience either. People make mistakes, especially when they are hurt and in pain. Gustav apparently suffered because of his boyfriend. An ex-boyfriend.

"Oh, so you like guys," David was himself surprised at how pathetic his remark sounded.

"Not particularly," Gustav confessed. "I liked him."

So he's the monogamous type? But then what about David? Why did he start groping him? Was it some kind of uncontrollable lust, a moment of weakness or actually just a punishment for invasion of privacy? David will never get himself to ask this. Ever.

"You know, I've never before with any..." he said instead. "So when you... Well, I started to wonder if I was gay and..."

"You shouldn't do that. To check like that. Maybe I'm not in the right place to give you advice, but sometimes it's easy to fool yourself. Treat a momentary elation as love or let a one-time adventure disrupt your whole life. You can't be hasty in such matters, otherwise you can reach the wrong conclusions and mess up your natural, correct rhythm. I know it's my fault..."

Well, yes, after all, David loved Berenice. He dreamed of her. He desired her. He missed her when he didn't see her, and when he did see her he thought she was still too far away, because he wanted to touch her, caress her... This with Gustav was totally surprising. Totally unexpected. It was like a ride on a roller coaster - once was an interesting, exciting, even enjoyable experience, but if he were to do it every day... Hm, he would definitely prefer a gentle carousel ride alongside Berenice.

Yes, definitely yes. This time with Gustav was simply an intriguing adventure. He had tasted the man in his life, it was nice, even very nice, but he couldn't turn it into an everyday thing, as the case with Greg proved.

David took a deep breath.

"Nevertheless, you rushed to my aid, Mr. Meiden," he said, smiling. "Thank you. I would have managed on my own, but you couldn't see about it, so you rushed to my aid. You are a really good man."

Gustav looked at him surprised, then shyly looked away and David's heart beat harder. Wow, Meiden is really an impressive man, really handsome and attractive if he doesn't look at a man so hostile....

Wait, wait, attractive?

David felt an exciting shiver run through his body. This was something completely new to him. Why does he find Gustav appealing?

"Well then," he said strangely confused, "I only came to clear up a misunderstanding and ask if I still work for you, Mr. Meiden?"

"Of course."

"Um... Today I have nothing to do in the garden, so if you don't have any instructions for me..."

"Of course, you can go home to rest."

"In that case, I'll see you on Monday!"

"Yes, until Monday!"