My German Lover : Part 14, chapter 2

"WE'RE GOING HOME!"

Taking Paul by the arm, Herr Funk walked him over to the Führer... and before Paul had time to realize it, he was standing right in front of Hitler...

"Mein Führer", Herr Funk said... "This is the young man from Paris I've told you about the other day... Mein Führer, this is Herr de Brion!"

Hitler looked at Paul then smiled to him and shook his hand, as photographers were taking pictures...

"Herr Chancellor... It's an honour", Paul had no choice but to say... "I must say it's quite a surprise for me, meeting you today..."

The Führer grinned, then said to Paul:

"AH! Paris! What a beatiful City! (...) And you're such a young businessman... You represent the future... You're the reason why we're working so hard to built a New Europe, so young people like you can thrive! And France will be a big part of that dream!", Hitler said to Paul, holding his hand and looking at him straight in the eyes, with his steel-blue eyes...

"Yes, Herr Chancellor...", Paul politely replied...

"And that's why France must help us defeat England...", Hitler added...

Paul didn't have time to answer that, since many other guests were waiting to be introduced to the Führer. Paul gladly ceded his place to others! Thank God, Paul thought: It's over!

Later, Paul said good-bye to Herr Funk as well as to his business partners, then he walked so fast through the Mosaic Hall, you would have thought he was running for his life! He felt sick, and wanted to leave as soon as possible...

He gave a guard the ticket he had received earlier, and the guard made a call...

"Your car should be here soon, Sir", the guard told him a few seconds later...

"Thank you!"

"Heil Hitler", the guard shouted!

Paul didn't answer. He Walked to the doors, which were opened for him by two other guards. Paul passed them and went outside where, minutes later, he saw a familiar car enter the Court of Honour... "Thank God", Paul thought to himself... "Not too soon..."

When the car stopped, Paul got inside and said to Will and Lutz:

"Let's leave this goddamn place as fast as possible..."

"That bad?", Will asked...

"That bad!", Paul answered...

While they were driving up on Hermann-Göring Strasse, Paul asked:

"Do you know a place where we could go to have a strong drink? I need one right now!"

"...I was thinking about the same...", Lutz answered, grinning... "I need a strong drink too"...

Will drove them to a pub he knew and where the three friends had a few drinks. After a while, Paul started to relax...

"... You met the Führer?", Will asked, after Paul had told them about the party...

"Yeah! And thank God, we only spoke for a few seconds..."

"Shit! (...) And how is he in person?", Lutz asked...

"... Not as I had imagined", Paul answered. "For once, he was not screaming, like he always does when we hear him on the radio... He was calm and very polite! He warmly kept my hand into his... but what impressed me most are his cold ice-blue eyes... It's like if he could see through me..."

"Yeah... I've heard about those cold eyes...", Will answered.

"Anyway! Enough about that damn party! (...) Turning to Lutz, Paul said to him:

"Now I want you to tell me about Klara... If you want to, that is..."

"Hey, you're my friend: I've nothing to hide from you...", Lutz answered, grinning...

Then Lutz went on to tell Paul what he had already told Will earlier...

"So it's over?", Paul asked...

"I guess so!", Lutz answered.

"And how do you feel about it?"

"... I don't know... I feel sorry, but at the same time, I'm glad it's over..."

"I think you made the right decision Lutz: That girl didn't deserved to have you!", Paul answered, smiling to his friend...

"...Maybe...", Lutz replied.

"Hey Lutz: You're a great guy... I'm sure that, soon, you'll find a nice girl you'll fall in love with... With a stunning look like yours, it won't take long...", Paul said, laughing...

"Hope you're right! And in the meantime, at least... I have Franz for good sex...", Lutz said, grinning...

"Yeah. But please Lutz: Take care of him... don't exploit him! And don't hurt him, please", Paul said.

(...)

"I know you've been very honest with him...", Paul continued to say... "But nevertheless, I'm just afraid he's going to suffer... and I wouldn't like to see that..."

"Hey: Don't worry Paul... Franz keeps telling me he's not in love with me... so..."

Paul was not surprised to hear that. It was obvious to him that Franz didn't want to loose Lutz, and had decided to suffer in silence...

"Yeah... Well, just be nice to him, will you?", Paul added...

"But I am...", Lutz answered.

"Good!", Paul said.

Paul thought that, if Franz had chosen not to tell Lutz he was madly in love with him, he had to respect his decision, and so he didn't push the subject any further with Lutz...

"... Now guys, I don't know about you..." Paul said... "But I'm exhausted! It's been a long day... What do you think we go back to Charlottenburg and hit the sack?"

"Good idea", Will answered... "Let's go back...".

"Hey: What are your plans for tomorrow?", Lutz asked...

"... I was planning on showing Paul the Olympic Stadium...", Will answered.

"Will you give me a call?", Lutz asked...

"Sure!"

True enough, the day after, the three friends as well as Ludwig went to visit the Olympic Stadium and Paul was very impressed by the huge and beatiful structure...

They visited a few other places, then decided to go back to Will's house since it was getting cold, and snow had started falling...

"It's a lot colder here in Berlin than it is in Paris...", Paul observed...

"Yeah! Winters are cold and windy in Berlin...", Will answered... "And it can get very damp too! That's the worst part, I think".

Later, Will looked at Paul and said to him:

"Hey! You're day-dreaming..."

"Sorry! I was thinking about Paris...", Paul answered, smiling...

Since Ludwig was sitting with them in the car, Paul couldn't say to Will he wished they were in Paris instead of Berlin, so they could kiss and make love! Here in Berlin, with all those people around, it was not possible to even think about kissing... Paul was badly missing the physical contacts with his lover...

That night was Christmas Eve... and they had a lot of fun. Will played some Christmas carols on the piano, and they exchanged their Christmas presents. And of course, they were all impressed by Paul's proverbial generosity...

"I wish my brother Hans could be here with us tonight...", Lutz said, a bit sad...

"He's older than you are, isn't he?", Paul asked...

"Yes... He's twenty-five... and actually, his regiment is stationed in Norway...", Lutz answered...

"In his last letter, he wrote that it's very cold up there... and that he wished his regiment could be transfered some place else to the South...", Lutz's mother said...

"Poor Hans! He must think I'm lucky to be stationed in Paris...", Lutz said.

"That's exactly what he wrote in his last letter...", Lutz's father replied, laughing...

"Let's just hope this war ends soon, so our sons can come back home and have a normal life...", Lutz's mother added.

"I don't see the end of it", Will said... "When we flew to Berlin the other day, our pilot told us that every day and every night, the Luftwaffe keeps bombing London and other major cities all over England... but that doesn't work, I guess... since the british are not begging for peace yet! (...) In fact, our pilot said the British are fighting back, and every day, many of our planes are shot down...

"Well, let's not think about the war tonight... and let's celebrate...", Will's mother said.

"You're so right Mrs Von Rundstedt... And let's thank God: Our sons are well, and are in no danger! Even Hans in Norway is safe, since it's very quiet on that front...", Lutz's father said.

"Let's drink to peace...", Will's father said, rising his glass of Champagne...

"To peace!", they all answered...

Over the next few days, Paul had several meetings with his German business partners, and a few deals were made...

The day before they flew back to Paris, Paul was attending one of his meetings, and Will was all alone with his mother, having a coffee with her...

"Son... Is there something you would like to tell me about you and Paul?", she asked, smiling...

"Huh?", Will answered, a bit puzzled...

Will's mum took her son's hand and, looking at him straight in the eyes, she said:

"I'm your mother, you know... I gave life to you and I've raised you! I can see through you Will... and there are things you just can't hide from a mother, however hard you try. I've seen the way you look at Paul... and the way he looks at you..."

Will was blushing and it was obvious to his mother her son was very ill at ease...

She tenderly smiled to him and said:

"Whatever you do with your life Will, always remember that I love you, and I'll always support you, you understand? And whenever you want to talk about you and Paul, I'll always be here to listen to you. I will never ever condemn you... Besides: Paul is a very nice young man, and I know he's a good man. And I can see how happy you are when he's around you! All I want is for you to be happy in life! The rest is not important to me..."

Will raised his eyes to his mother and smiled...

"You know mum... it's not easy to speak about those things... I can't even explain them! All I know is that I love Paul. And he loves me! What harm are we causing to others?"

"...I know Will... But you know most people are not as broad minded as I am! Your love for Paul is a very dangerous one... Please: Be very very careful... I fear for your life!", she answered.

"Don't worry mum... We are very careful! We took all the necessary precautions to make sure no one will discover our secret. We act very cautiously, I swear. (...) Does dad knows?"

Will's mother started laughing, then answered:

"Do you think your father would see a thing like that? Of course not! He has no idea! And I'm sure it never reached his mind... Do you want me to talk to him about that?"

"Not now mum! I'm not sure I could deal with that for the moment..."

"When you're ready, tell me... But remember Will: Your father loves you very much... I'm sure he would understand and I have no doubt he will support you. Don't presume otherwise..."

"You may be right mum... but I'm just not ready yet to talk to him about that, that's all!"

"...First, you have to start feeling comfortable with yourself!"

"Oh it's not that mun... I feel very comfortable with who I am... I can't explain why I'm in love with Paul, but that's the way things are, and I accept that! It just that... (...) I don't see why I have to explain my situation to others? If I were straight, I wouldn't have to explain anything, would I?"

"...Well... I guess we all presume that everybody is "straight", as you say... So there's no need to explain anything about that... But you're different Will, and you know how people are: They tend to reject differences... Sometimes, differences have to be explained..."

"...Yeah... anyway, don't tell dad for now... And don't tell Karin nor Ludwig..."

"Oh, don't worry about Karin finding out: Sometimes, I wonder if she's living on earth, or on some other planet! (...) With Ludwig, it's different! He's a very wise guy, you know... and he admires you so much. If there is one person I wish you could talk to, it's Ludwig... He needs you, Will... And I have no doubt he would understand! One day or another, he will find out about your secret... Do you think you will be able to hide the truth from him, if he goes to Paris to visit you next summer? If you don't tell him and he discovers the truth, he will be hurt to find out you didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth..."