Gay For You, page 16
He had my full attention. I could smell the winds of change coming. I braced myself in case they were cold.
“There’s some emails in my inbox offering me grants to study in Europe! And I was offered a fellowship in London studying under Fiona Gabon!”
“Woohoo! I shouted, “Oh my god Sam, that’s great!” But then my face fell as the realization struck me. “But… that’ll mean you’ll be in London for a year?”
“That’s right, maybe more.” He said happily.
I was a little perturbed by how this didn’t seem to bother him. Had he even thought about us? How this would affect us? Did he even care?”
“We still have to get the logistics planned out and everything,” He continued excitedly, “But this is exactly what I wanted!”
I pulled away from him, staring at the ground.
“Oh, and I forgot the best part,” He said, watching my expression. “Everything for my significant other is covered too! Food, rent, and spending money!”
I brightened up, unable to believe what I just heard. “Really?” I asked, my world brightening a little.
“That’s right!” He said, “You can come with me too, if you choose to. This is an opportunity I can’t give up. And if you don’t want to come…” He said, his smile fading away, “I will do long distance with you. As long as it takes, and… and I’ll fly back once a month at least, and…” He was watching my face carefully, studying it.
“I’ll come with you!” I said, a great smile spreading across my face.
We kissed and hugged, and jumped up and down and celebrated together.
“But what will I do about getting my degree?” I asked.
“Well,” He said, “I was thinking about it, and since you just switched majors, you have all these general credits built up, right? Like English, writing, humanities…”
“Mhm,” I said, looking into his hazel eyes which were now calculating an answer. If there was anyone that could solve a complex problem like this and make things work, it was Sam.
“Well, you could probably transfer your credits over, to go to a college in London. I have some contacts at Oxford; it’s only an hour drive away from the city.” He paused, “Would you be interested in going there? I know I’m asking for you to give up a lot…”
“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! If we can make it work,” I said, my eyebrows coming together. What will happen? What will that look like?” I asked, fishing for more reassurance.
Well, you and I will be together every day,” He started.
“I like it already.” I said, nuzzling my nose into his chest.
“And we’d have a fabulous flat downtown, near where my residency is. I’ve seen pictures.”
“But, I thought you were short on money?”
“Room and board is covered under this type of residency. And I got a bunch of grants on top of that to cover anything extra.”
I smiled, my fears put to bed. “And what will I do with my time?” I asked.
“You’ll be a student at Oxford while you finish up your education degree. It’s the best college in the world, you know. It’s a straight shot to success.” He said.
And just like that, the future vision of me, the fear that I’d been holding onto of ending up just like my brother evaporated from my mind.
Everything would be okay.
“I love you so much, Sam.” I said.
“I love you too, Evan. I can’t wait to go on this adventure with you.” He said in his deep voice.
Epilogue
One Year Later
SAM
We were hosting a dinner party in our flat, and it was just as magical, if not more so than the pictures. I had made sure to get an interior decorator in here to make it feel cozy, yet boho chic. There was music pulsing in the background and Evan was chatting with all of our new London friends.
They were all on the couch, still delightfully fascinated at random things that seemed normal to us Americans.
One of our new friends was excitedly telling Evan about how if he goes into the park at night, criminals attack with chains.
“Oh, in America, they just have guns.” He said.
“How terrifying!” She gasped, then Evan laughed.
Just like over a year ago when I’d met him, his laugh lit up the room. I watched as it caused a chain reaction and then all of a sudden everyone was laughing.
Even now, I was unable to tear my eyes away from him.
Evan had been doing exceptionally well academically as soon as he switched his focus towards education. I’d never seen him so happy before. And he made sure to still take care of himself and he ran all over London every morning. He no longer had a swimmer’s build, though; he’d packed on lots of muscle.
This past year had been more smooth than I could ever imagine. I was working closely under Fiona, who opened my eyes to the artistic world in a way I had never imagined possible. I had filled the studio with more work; everything that was beautiful inside of me was unlocked by being with Evan.
There was just something about him that made everything else come so easily.
Earlier today, Evan chatted with Katie over Skype. I wasn’t surprised that those two had become best friends over the past few months. I’d talked with her briefly too, and she accused me of hiding something from her.
“What!? That’s absurd.” I denied, trying to keep my expression unreadable.
“You’re full of shit, Sam!” She accused, pointing her finger into the camera. “I’ve known you since I was born and I know for a fact you’re hiding something from me!”
But I didn’t have it in me to let her know about my secret plans yet — there was no way she’d be able to keep to herself the fact that I had a shining diamond engagement ring hidden in my studio.
I was waiting until after Evan finished up his degree at Oxford to pop the question. I wanted everything in our lives to fall into place around the same time. Even though I’d known I wanted to be with him forever the moment we got back together, I wanted to wait until he felt sure enough and had solid footing to make that decision.
Determined, I wanted to be the artist to the beautiful tapestry for our life.
But my best work was hanging above the king-sized bed Evan and I shared, and it was a gloriously authentic black and white painting of us. Now that I was the protégé of Fiona Gabon, I’d sold pieces like crazy as soon as I completed them for tens of thousands of dollars. However, that piece that hung above our bed was not for sale.
A Note from the author
Thank you so much for reading my book! Doing this would not be possible if not for all of you wonderful, wonderful readers!
This story was inspired by a roommate I had in college. He was a well-known, semi-famous college athlete with bright plans for his future.
However, he never had any girlfriends. At least, none that he introduced me or anyone else in our friend group to. There were rumors going around that he was actually gay, and in a secret relationship with this rich guy who was in the art program.
But nothing was ever confirmed, so I spun up this little story!
Afterword
Sign up for my mailing list to get notified when I release a new book!
http://eepurl.com/gdmJ0n
Again, thanks for reading! :)
Jeremy Jenkins, Gay For You
