My German Lover, Part 27, chapter 6 (Conclusion)

So we had a last beer and then left the nightclub.

We hailed a cabdriver and on our way to the hotel, Heinrich said:

“We must go back there before you leave Berlin guys…”

I grinned and answered:

“Well… that would be hard. You see, we leave early morning, the day after tomorrow…”

“…So soon?”, Mike asked…

“Yup. Didn’t I tell you we don’t have a direct flight to Martinique?”

“No…”, Mike answered, with a surprised look on his face…

“Darn”, I replied, chuckling… “Well… we’ll have to make a “small” détour…”

“A détour? What do you mean?”

“Um… We have to go to Montréal first, before we go to Martinique…”

“Montréal? You never said anything about Montréal…”, Mike said…

“Surprised, huh?”

“A lot…”
“Well… that was meant to be a surprise… I’ll tell you all about that later…”, I finally answered, smiling…

“Shit. That means I won’t see you again before you leave guys, because I’m off tomorrow…”, Heinrich said. “I’ll give you my email address and give me your, so we can keep in touch…”

“Good idea…”, I replied…

We exchanged our email addresses and as the cab stopped in front of the Adlon, Mike and I got out of the car and I said to Heinrich:

“Hey pal… We had a lot of fun. I also gave you my address in Martinique, so you know where to find us if you ever decide to visit the island. You will always be welcome to stay at my house…”

“Thanks a lot pal. Thanks for everything. We’ll keep in touch, huh?”

“…Sure will…”, Mike and I answered…

A bit later, as we were walking into the hotel Mike looked at me and said:

“Montréal, huh?”

“Yup”…

“You’re the devil…”

“Will you accept to make love with the devil tonight?”

“Ohhhhh… I just can’t wait to get a piece of that cake…”, he answered, trying to grope me…

“Not in here. Let’s go to our room…”, I answered, laughing…

We ran to our room… and… had a lot of fun for the rest of that night. And let me tell you we didn’t play card! Ohhhhhh no!

Two days later, very early in the morning, a cab took us to Tegel Airport. As we were sitting aboard the plane, waiting for take off, Mike said:

“Adieu Berlin…”

“Yes…” I said… “Adieu”. I love that city…”

“So do I… I sure hope we’ll get the chance to come back one day…”

“Yeah…”

On our way to Montréal, I started to think about why I wanted Mike to see the city where I live… 

Before we left Martinique, I had told Paul I wanted to take Mike to Montréal, to show him around…

I had explained to him that I knew one day, I would have to go back to Montréal, to further me education. And in the past, Mike had told me about his dream of becoming an architect. He had no intention at all to keep working for Club Med all his life. But in order to become an architect, he would have to go back to France, to study there.

So I thought that maybe… just maybe… if he had a chance to visit Montréal… and if he liked the city, well… maybe he would consider moving back there with me, to study there.

Paul thought that that was a good idea, and he had wished me good luck!

Of course, I was not going to tell Mike about my plan. No. I would only show him around, hoping he would like what he would see… For the rest, well… we would have to reach the river, before trying to cross the bridge, as Paul likes to say…

Later, as our plane was about to land at Montréal International Airport, I turned across to look at Mike and I said:

“Welcome to Montréal babe…”

“Yeah… I’m glad I’m here. So I’ll see where you live and all…”

“Yup!”, I answered, with a big smile on my face.

We went through the custom controls and for once, I didn’t get searched. And neither did Mike.

As we were walking out of the customs, we saw my parents waving at us. We ran to them and hugged.

“Welcome to Montréal”, my dad said to Mike, hugging him… “We’re so happy to have you here with us… I hope you will enjoy your stay…”

“Thanks”, Mike answered with a big smile on his face. “I’m glad I’m here…”

As my dad was driving us home, my mum turned to look at me and said:

“Oh Jack, before I forget, I must tell you that your brother Robert met your friend Richard the other day, and so Richard knows you’re in town. He said he will wait for you to call him as soon as you get here.You won’t forget to call him, huh?”

I rolled my eyes and answered “no”…

Once at our house, my mum said:

“…Well… we’ll let you unpack, then come back downstairs for a lunch…”

“Fine”, I answered…

Mike followed me to my bedroom, and we started unpacking. A few minutes later, someone knocked on my door and we heard my brother Robert ask:

“Jack… Mike… are you in there?”

“Yes.. come in bro…”

“JACK… MIKE…”, my bro shouted out, coming into my room to hug us…

We hugged for a while then Robert sat on my bed while we finished unpacking…

“…You must tell me all about your trip to Europe…”, he said…

“Well… maybe we won’t tell you “ALL”….”

“Huh?… Oh… yeah, sure…”, Robert answered, going red in the face…

I was laughing my heart out…

“Hey bro… mum told me you have a new girlfriend…”

“Yeah… But this time, it’s serious Jack. I’m really in love… Really. I think she’s the one for me. I told her a lot about you, and she knows you’re here. And of course, she wants to meet you…”

“Sure…”

“Why don’t we go out tonight and have a beer… you could meet her…”

“Not tonight bro. We’re bushed. It was a long flight, and with the difference in time and all…”

“Oh, sure. Maybe tomorrow night then…”

“Sure. Why not. What do you think Mike”

“Great. That would be great…”, Mike answered, smiling…

“Oh and Richard wants you to call him…”, my brother said…

“I know. Mum told me.”

“I told him about you and Mike, and he says he’s happy for you…”

“Good. I didn’t know how to tell him… I was a bit anxious about that.”

“So. I’ll let you two finish unpacking. Then you will come back downstairs, won’t you?”

“Sure… We’re almost finished…”, I answered.

Robert left the room and closed the door behind him.

Mike sat on the bed, looked at me and asked:

“Who’s that guy? That Richard…”

I looked at Mike, walked over to the bed and sat next to him.

“Do you remember the first night we met… I told you that I had fallen for a guy, but that I had made a big mistake, since he was straight?”

“Oh yes. I remember…”

“Well that guy was Richard…”

“Oh. (…) I shouldn’t have asked…”

“Hey babe… I have no secret for you. None whatsoever…”

“So… will you call him?”

“…Sure. Why not. I’m no longer in love with him. I’m in love with one guy, and it’s you…”, I answered, giving him a sweet kiss… “If he wants to see me, maybe he could join us tomorrow night… to have a beer with us. Would you mind?”

“Not at all. If it’s alright with you, then it’s alright with me…”

“Good. Would you give me that phone over there? I’m gonna call him right now, before I forget.

Mike gave me the phone and said:

“…Maybe I should leave you alone, so you can talk to him more freely…”

“Stay where you are, you silly. I told you. I have no secret for you.”

As I was about to call Richard, I stared at the phone for a while… then looked at Mike and said:

“… You won’t believe me… but I forgot his phone number…”

“Hey… you’ve been away for quite some times now… It’s only normal…”

I finally got Richard’s phone number and called him…

He was glad to know I was back, and agreed to cross over to my house at eight, the night after.

The day after, I took Mike on a tour of the city. We went to visit the Olympic stadium, then we went to visit Old Montréal. Mike couldn’t believe his eyes…

“Hey… If I didn’t know better, I would think we’re in France…”

“I know…”, I answered, laughing… “The province of Québec is a chunk of France transplanted in North America…”

“Well, it’s beautiful…”

Was I happy to hear him say that? You bet I was!!!

Then we went to see the Université de Montréal (Montreal University), the McGill University, the University of Québec at Montréal… and finally Concordia University…

I’m sure you have no idea why I wanted Mike to see those universities…

After our visit there, we went to Île Notre Dame (Notre Dame Island…), to lose a few bucks at the Montréal Casino. That island is located in the center of the majestic St.Lawrence River and from there, you have a fantastic view of Montréal’s skyline with it’s skyscrapers and all…

As soon as we got there, Mike looked at the Casino and said:

“Shit! I’ve never seen a building like that before. It’s so futuristic…

“Yeah”, I answered grinning… “First, let’s go the terrace on the roof of the building…”

“Wow”, Mike said, once we were there… “What a view…”

“Yes. And did you know that the island here, where we’re standing, is a man-made island?”

“You’re kidding. It’s so big…”

“Nope. I’m not kidding. In the 1960’s, this island was created from scratch. Tons and tons and tons of backfill were needed to create it, and the other island you see over there was expanded. That “Île Sainte-Hélène”.”

“But why?”

“…To host Expo 67. The Montréal Universal and International Expo… Since then, most of the pavilions have been torn down, of course. But you see that huge transparent geodesic “bubble” over there?”

“Un-huh…”

“Well… that’s the Biosphere… it’s the former United States pavilion. Now, water is the focus in the new Biosphere, a center for observation of the environment, in particular the ecosystems of the St.Lawrence and of the Great Lakes…”

“Do you think we will have time to visit it?”

“Not this time, I’m afraid. You will have to come back to Montréal for that…”

“Yup!”

“And the building on top of which we’re standing…”

“The Casino?”

“Yes… Well the Casino is house in the former French pavilion from Expo 67… And the other building you see right there to your left is the former Québec pavilion. Now, the two pavilions are connected…”

Of course, we stayed for a little while at the Casino, and of course lost all we had bet…

As we were walking towards the river shuttle, to cross back to the Montreal Island, Mike asked:

“What’s that over there…”

“…That’s the speed-way. It’s an international caliber speed-way and that’s where the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix takes place each year…”

“Shit… I wish we were here to see that…”

“I’m telling you dude… You’re gonna have to come back to Montréal…”

“I know…”

I was beaming. Really I was!

Once back on the big island where the city of Montréal is located, I showed him the “Ville souterraine” (Underground City…).

“I’ve never seen a thing like that before…”, Mike said, stunned…

“I know. It’s huge. It’s a set of interconnected complexes in and around downtown Montréal. In fact, it’s the largest underground complex in the world…”

“How big is it?”

“I’m not sure. Something like 30km of tunnels, spread over an area of something like twelve square kilometers... Something like that. Those tunnels are connecting more than 60 residential and commercial complexes with one another, including shopping malls, hotels, banks, office towers, museums, UNIVERSITIES, several metro stations… two commuter train stations and so on…”

“… I suppose it’s a great way to escape the winter…”, he said…

“Yeah”, I answered, laughing… “You know, during winter time, if you live in a residential complex connected to one of the tunnels or if you have a metro station under your building, well you can leave your coat at your apartment and go everywhere you want, never having to go outside…”

“…That’s great…”

We visited a few other places and then I said to Mike:

“…Hey… we gotta go back home. It’s almost dinner time and don’t forget that tonight, we’re going out…”

“Oh yeah…”

When we got back to my house, my brother Robert was already there, along with his new girlfriend…

“…Bro… meet Julie…”, Robert said, with a big smile on his face…

“Hey! I’m glad to meet you…”, she said, hugging me…

Then she hugged Mike…

“I heard a lot about you two…”, she said to us…

“So… you don’t mind because…”, I started to say…

“…Because you two are gay? I couldn’t care less about that. As I always say: “Live and let live”, you know…”

“…Good…”, I answered, giving her a pleasant smile…

And of course at eight, my friend Richard came over to my house…

He rang the door and when I opened it he said:

“Hey… Give me a big hug pal… I missed you so much! You look great! Just great…”

“You too pal…”

We hugged then joined the others… and a bit later we took two cabs to Old Montréal. We went to Place Jacques-Cartier, and sat at a sidewalk café where we had a few drinks.

“Pinch me, Jack. I must be dreaming… We’re in Paris, huh?”, Mike asked me, laughing…

“Nope. Montréal. You’re really in North America, not in Europe…”

“I can’t believe it…”

That night, we had a lot of fun… talking, jocking and all…

And at one point, as Mike got very much into a big discussion with my brother and his girlfriend, I turned to look at Richard and asked:

“…So pal… How’s it going…”

“I’ve miss you a lot Jack, if you care to know…”

“Hey… I do care about you. You’re my best friend. I’ve already told you before: I’ll always be there for you dude…”

“Yeah well you have Mike now…”

“So what? Yes, I have Mike. And I’m very much in love with him. But you should be happy to hear that I’m over you…”

“Yeah. Maybe. To be honest, I’m a bit jealous of Mike…”

“What? You must be kidding… Hey pal… you’re straight. You could never have loved me the way Mike loves me. Never. So don’t be jealous of him…”

“…Maybe I should have let you blow me that night…”

“Stop that nonsense Richard. You’re not funny. Not at all.”, I said…

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you…”

“…So… Who’s your girlfriend nowadays?”, I asked…

“Shit. Don’t ask me. I just broke up with my “latest flame”. A slut. A real slut. I don’t know why, but up to this day all the girls I’ve been going out with were all sluts…”

“… Probably because they had heard you have a big dick…”, I answered, laughing… “But don’t worry… I’m sure someday you will find a nice girl to go out with, and she won’t be a slut like the others. But hey… do you want to fall in love, or are you just looking for sex?”

“…I have never fallen in love with a girl before, so how would I know?”

“Well… the day you fall in love, you will know…”

“Hope your right. Anyway, your back…”

“…But I’m not staying. We’re going back to Martinique in two days?”

“WHAT?”

“…Yes… Didn’t Robert tell you?”

“No. He just said you were coming back…”

“Well yes. I’m gonna go to College at Fort-de-France…”

“…But why? Why aren’t you coming back for good?”, he asked with tears in his eyes…

I must say I was taken aback by his reaction. I wasn’t expecting that… and I didn’t know how to react… So I took a few seconds… and finally I answered:

“Look Richard. As I told you… I’m really in love with Mike. Madly in love with him. Where he goes, I go… And for now, he’s working at Club Med. So I’m going back to Martinique, to be with him. That’s the way things are Richard. I’m sorry…”

“Yeah… you can say that…”

I just didn’t know what else to say… so in the end I said:

“…But why wouldn’t you come down to Martinique during the next Christmas holidays? We could have lots of fun, you know. And it wouldn’t cost you much, since you would be staying at our house…”

“Yeah, maybe. We’ll see about that…”, he answered, grinning…

At least, he was grinning. Better than nothing, I thought to myself…

Eventually, we all went back to our house and as Richard was about to leave us he hugged me tight. Then he looked at Mike and said:

“You take good care of him, huh? He’s my best friend…”

“Sure will dude. Don’t worry…”, Mike answered… “I love him, you know…”

“Yeah. I know. And you…” Richard started to say, looking at me… “You come back… you hear? If you’re serious when you say you’ll always be there for me… well… it’s here that you should be…”

After Richard was gone, Mike and I went to my bedroom to go to sleep. We took a quick shower and as we were about to go to bed Mike looked at me and said:

“… Is he in love with you?”

“What?”

“Richard. Is he in love with you?”

“Are you kidding? He’s straight… You know what I’ve been through because of him. And all of that because he’s straight….”

“Yeah well… from what I saw, I’m not so sure about that. I’m telling you Jack…”

“Oh shut up, you silly”, I said, laughing… “You don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Maybe…”

“Come to bed now, and let’s go to sleep. I’m exhausted…”

“Yeah. So am I…”

The rest of our stay in Montréal went smoothly. We had lots of fun, visited many other places and Mike just fell in love with the city! Just as I had hoped…

As our plane was taking us back to Martinique Mike said to me:

“We’re gonna have to come back to Montréal. Soon…”

“Oh we will…”, I answered, grinning…

After landing at Fort-de-France, we went through the custom controls and as we were cleared, I look up and saw Will and Paul, standing there with their driver, waiting for us…

Of course, they knew we were coming back and had decided to come to the Lamentin Airport to fetch us…

Minutes later, we were all hugging…

“How was your trip to Europe?”, Will asked with a big smile on his face… “We’re so happy that you’re back…”

“The trip was fantastic”, I answered… “We saw all that we wanted to see, and we did all that we wanted to do…”

And of course, a smile crossed Paul’s face…

“…We even paid a visit to Paul’s sister…”, I added…

“You saw Catherine?”, Will asked, a bit surprised…

“Sure. I suppose Paul told her that we were going to Paris cause when I called her to say hello, she wasn’t surprised to hear that we were in Paris, and she invited us for dinner…”, I explained…

“Yes… Yes… I must have told her…”, Paul said… “But I don’t remember…”

Sure, I thought to myself. Sure!

“Oh… and she had a very special gift for us…”, I said…

“Oh yes?”, Paul asked, intrigued…

I turned across to look at Mike and said:

“Let’s show them, huh?”

Mike nodded and so we showed to Will and Paul our gold chains…

“Hey… they are just like mine…”, Paul said. A bit surprised…

“Of course Paul…”, I answered, before explaining everything to him…

“(…) I’m happy that she gave those chains to you my friends. Very happy”, Paul finally said, with tears in his eyes…

As we were getting nearer and nearer to Bagatelle, Mike said:

“…Well… I guess the fun is over. I’m going back to work the day after tomorrow…”

“Well, since you’re not working tomorrow, I hope you will stay with us at Bagatelle until then…”, Paul asked Mike…

“Say yes, say yes Mike…”, I said…

“…How could I say no to you. I just can’t, and you know it…”, he answered with a seductive smile.

“Good”, Paul said… “Then it’s settled…”

At bagatelle, everybody there greeted us with broad smiles…

And later, when we walked into the drawing room, I burst out laughing, looking at a new, very big screen TV…

“What’s that?”, I asked…

“Oh… that’s Paul’s idea…”, Will answered, shaking his head in discouragement… “Like if the old screen was not big enough…”

I turned to look at Paul and asked:

“…And I suppose the VCR is plugged to that big screen TV?”

“Right on!”, Paul answered, beaming…

During that evening, as Paul and I were alone for a moment, I told Paul about the video:

“I think you will like it Paul… I think it’s good. When do you watch to see it?”

“Oh I don’t want to watch it in advance. I will watch at the same time as the others. I was thinking about inviting the family for a special dinner not next weekend, but the weekend after. What do you think?”

“That would be perfect…”, I answered, smiling…

That night, Mike and I went to bed and before we went to sleep I turned across to look at him and said:

“Um… I have something I’d like to propose to you…”

“Oh? What…”

“Curious, huh?”

“Well…”, he answered, grinning…

“Okay okay… Do you remember when you talk to me about your contract renewal with Club Med… and you said the Chief of the Village had offered to you to live outside the Club, should you choose to do so?”

“…Yes”

“Well when you told me that, I began thinking that… maybe… you could move in with me…”

“Move in with you? But where? I don’t make enough money at the Club to pay for an apartment. And we would have to pay for our food. We can’t print Franc bills, you know…”

“I know silly”, I answered, laughing… “But we could stay at our house…”

“You mean to say your dad’s house. It’s not your house. And it’s not mine either…”

“Maybe. Nonetheless, while we were in Montréal I had a long talk with my parents about that…”

“Oh? When?”

“When I sent you to do some shopping with my brother Robert…”, I answered, grinning…

“Ohhhhh. That’s why you wanted me to go with him, huh?”

“Yup! Anyway. I talked to my parents about my plan… and in the end they said they had no problem with that… So we could stay at our house and we wouldn’t to pay a rent…”

“… I make enough money to pay my share of our food bills. That wouldn’t be a problem. But then, there’s another problem…”

“What?”

“How do you think I will do to go to work at the Club each morning. I don’t have a car. And I can’t drive a bike to go there every morning…”

“Solved”, I answered, laughing…

“Solved? What do you mean?”

“I have solved that problem! See, starting next week, I’m going to attend College at Fort-de-France. So each morning, I’ll have to drive to Sainte-Anne… to take the ferry to Fort-de-France, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well… each morning, I’ll drop you at the Club. Then when I’m back from Fort-de-France, I’ll pick you up at the Club. If you haven’t finish working by then, I’ll just come back later to pick you up. And when I don’t have to go to College, you’ll take the car and keep it. That’s all. As simple as that!!!”

Mike looked at me for a while, thinking. Then a big smile crossed his face and he said:

“I’ve already told you… you’re the devil. The devil himself” (…) Your plan might work you know… But first, I have to check with the Chief of the Village to make sure his offer is still on the table…”

“Un-huh. Anyway, tell him you’ve already signed a lease… That way, he won’t be able to retract his offer…”

“You’re good Jack. You’ve got everything figured out, don’t you?”

“Yup. When I bite into something, I’m like a dog: I don’t let go easily…”

“Okay. I’ll talk to the chief the day after tomorrow…”

“No. Tomorrow morning. Please. I’ll drive you to the Club, and I’ll wait for you at the gate. I want to know as soon as possible…”

“Okay okay…”, Mike answered, laughing… “Come here, and kiss me…”

I don’t need to tell you what happened next, do I? Right on!

When we woke up the morning after, we got a quick breakfast and then I drove Mike to the Club. I waited for him at the gate, and when he came back, he was smiling a dazzling grin…

“It’s settled…”, he said, hopping into the car. “I’m moving in with you, for better or worst!”, he added, laughing…

“Don’t worry babe. I know it’s going to take some time before we get adjusted… But it’s gonna work just fine! I swear to you it will… Now, we have some shopping to do!”

“…Some shopping? What shopping?”

“We can’t only live on love and fresh water, you know. We have to eat sometimes. Have you ever heard about grocery? We have to do our first grocery.”

“Oh. Right! Where are we going to do that?”

“At Sainte-Anne. And if there is something we don’t find there, we’ll go to Le Marin. As easy as that. But I think we’ll find all we need at Sainte-Anne… And I’ll stop by the ATM to get some money…”
“I have some you know…”

“Yeah. No problem. Anyway, my dad pays me a monthly allowance, so…”

“He pays you an allowance?”, Mike asked, with a surprised look on his face…

“Yes”, I answered, grinning… “I think he wants to make sure I will keep on studying… And he said he would increase it, should we decide to move in into our house… to help me bay the bills…”

“Hey. I understand your dad doesn’t charge us a rent for the house. That’s very nice of him. But let’s make things clear between you and me: I’m paying half the bills with you. You will not pay for me, and neither will your dad, okay”

“Fine with me. Fair enough” I answered, grinning…

So Mike moves in with me, and I was in heaven. I started to go to College, and things were working just fine.