27 Scent of Lilies

"Where is David, has he gone home?" Ursula looked up from the sagacious bowl in which she was cooking some soup.

"Yes," Gustav answered briefly.

"Too bad. He's so cute, I could munch on him!"

"You have a fiancé," he burbled.

"Oh Gustav, relax! I have no intention of bouncing him off you."

"Bounce? What are you saying? What...?"

"After all, you can see that you like him."

"Don't talk nonsense," he growled hostilely. "What is it with you women that you sniff romance everywhere? David is a decent, simple boy. He doesn't think about guys."

"I said you like him, not the other way around. But I think he likes you too, just a little bit."

"I asked you not to talk nonsense..."

"If he didn't like you even a little, would he put up with your behavior?"

Gustav grunted.

"He is my employee. He doesn't have to like me to put up with me."

"My father doesn't talk to his employees the way you talk to him. Nor yours."

"Because I'm not the head of a corporation with thousands of employees under me."

"Right." She didn't say anything more, but her smile suggested she had more in mind.

Gustav felt irritated. What was she even insinuating? That what, that maybe he about David is a relationship not just boss and employee? So supposedly what? A lover?

"David is not interested in guys," he announced. He hoped that this would close the discussion and Ursula's suspicions.

"Well, I don't know," his cousin smiled enigmatically.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked irritably.

"Nothing," she shrugged her shoulders. "That's just the way I gossip. I'm a woman, and we find romance everywhere. And you don't?"

Gustav pulled down his eyebrows in annoyance. What is Ursula's point? Does she just want to tease him? No, that wasn't her style. She knew how hard he went through his breakup with the boy he loved so much... No, she couldn't joke when his emotions were involved. So why? Did she notice something in David's behavior that escaped him?

No way. She must have just imagine something wrong. After all, women loved to find romance where there was none. And he? He laughed bitterly. So did he, but... But not like this. He knew that there would be absolutely no love between him and David.

***

Gustav, locked in his office, stared in exasperation at the cursor appearing on the white sheet of the monitor. His irritation stemmed from only one reason - Ursula.

His cousin appeared suddenly, completely unannounced, and decided to stay. For how long? He hoped not for long, because although he liked and appreciated her very much, if he had wanted or needed her company, he would not have gone to another country. Meanwhile, she showed up suddenly, and before three hours had passed since her arrival she had already drawn some conclusions about his life here. Conclusions, it must be pointed out, that were false.

Because it was absolutely impossible for David to like Gustav in the way Ursula suggested. It was unlikely that he liked him in any way. Ursula didn't see it, of course, but after what Gustav did to David, the boy simply had no right to like him. The only thing that kept him here was his job.

That was an obvious fact. At least for him. And for David. The boy was nice to him, because it seemed he was nice by nature. Gustav had to admit that he appreciated him for his professionalism and personality, because the boy always did his job and never complained about anything. To tell the truth, he had nothing to complain about, as he received a decent salary, above the averages in this profession. However, he fully deserved it.

Gustav's gaze went behind the open window, behind which the fragrant lilies were swaying. He liked the noble scent although it didn't bring back any memories for him, although no, I guess once, in his childhood....

He closed his eyes. He inhaled the scent of lilies. He remembered the smell from his childhood, but... only the smell. He was unable to recall any image or emotion. Probably it was a very early memory.

He opened his eyes and looked at the line where the lawn transitioned into a park. The bright green of the grass mingled with the darker green of the trees and shrubs interspersed with the white flowers of jasmine and roses. When a breeze blew from the park, he could smell this sweet, pleasant mixture of floral aromas.

It was all prepared and cared for by David. Most of the shrubs were young, so their flowering was not abundant, but there were also old shrubs properly pruned so that they did not seem so wild, but at the same time were not too deformed with secateurs. They were just perfect.

He had talent with this gardener of his. He definitely had a hand with flowers. At the time, he was mowing the lawn in full sunlight....

Gustav shook his head. He shouldn't bring up that memory. It was unfair to David. The boy was not attracted to men, so he should not do anything to make the situation between them awkward again. They had managed to straighten out past misunderstandings, but that didn't mean they had an open pass to the next ones. By no means. Gustav must behave as befits a decent, grown-up man, not like some aristocrat from a romantic fiction novel, where Alfred, who has arrived from abroad, falls in love with a dripping with sweat beautiful gardener....

But Alfred should fall in love with Janek. He should be able to do exactly everything that Gustav could not do in life. Gustav absolutely could not fall in love with David, because Gustav could no longer love. But Alfred did. Alfred still believed in love and that it was immortal and would never betray, never abandon....

Gustav took a deep breath that smelled of lilies.

David... He probably also still believed in love. He must have believed in it considering how young he was. He may have just loved someone with his beautiful, sincere love, as Janek will love Alfred. Their love didn't have to be forbidden if they both wanted it. It didn't matter that their social status separated them. Love would conquer all. True love, not the false one....

He clenched his fists. Focus, Gustav, focus! Love is beautiful, remember? Love is beautiful like David. Sincere like him. Simple like him. If it is not sincere and simple, it ceases to be love and turns into some monster of lust and licentiousness. Love is simple like David, like Janek, who had David's body and his heart.

It helped. Alfred and Janek walked through the blossoming meadow breathing in the hot air of summer. They cast shy glances toward each other. They hadn't gone all the way yet. They groped each other just a little, caressed each other's torsos and tentatively reached into their pants. Alfred wanted more, of course, but he didn't want to scare Janek or force him to do anything. He waited for the man himself to come to him wanting more, or at least to show adequate interest. Alfred was afraid that this would never happen and at the same time he was hopeful. Maybe today, in this sun, in this tall grass....

"Gustav! Dinner's cooked!"

Damn!

...In this tall grass full of flowers....

"Gustav!"

"Give me a break! I'm working!"

"You need to eat something!"

"Later, the hell!"

"No later!" the door of his study opened so hard that he was afraid they would fall out of the doorframes. "Felix told me to take care of you," Ursula said.

"After more than a year, I've finally started working, and you are doing everything to prevent me from doing so! You were sent by my father, right?"

"You're paranoid, you know."

"Ur-su-la!"

"Fine, whatever you want, your business! But I'm not going to visit you in the hospital if you get sick," she retreated to the kitchen. Cool, wonderful, excellent! Only that the damage had already been done, and Gustav could not return to the mood of the romantic scene anew.

May all the devil hijack all those supportive people who always know what and when is most important to him better than he himself. Ursula had only been here a few hours but he would definitely swap her for the quiet, kind David.