Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Hastily made plans were not his thing. Benson reveled in planning things to the T and then going over them a few times to assure himself that all would be good. But, desperate times, as they said…
He called in a few favors and soon he had a night that was going to be as perfect as he could make it.
After texting Luka when he’d pick him up, Benson called Rogan again, asking for yet another tip or ten on what he should wear. The man was a miracle worker and had a suit and two tuxedos sent to his apartment, as well as all the other accessories down to socks and cufflinks.
The tuxes were borrowed pieces from the best designers, and beautiful. He had them in the garment bags and the accessories in a small suitcase. All of it was brought down to the limo when it came for him, and he sat in the back, congratulating himself on a job well done.
At the door of Luka’s apartment, he knocked and didn’t wait long. Luka was there in a suit, looking so lovely, Benson could have lost his mind in that very moment. “Damn, you look amazing.”
“My suit is off the rack, but thanks. You look…ten times what that suit costs and more.”
“Thanks. I think we look very dapper and even better together. Your car awaits, young prince.”
Luka stopped him for a long kiss first, and then he asked, “Where are we headed?”
“No hints. Just know, we have a wonderful night ahead of us.”
They went to the car, and the door was opened for them. As soon as they were both seated, Luka said, “God, this feels…weird.”
“Weird good?”
“We’re in a limo, how could that be bad?”
“Right.”
As they rode, Luka grabbed his hand to hold it. “Thanks for sweeping me off my feet. This has been…nice so far.”
“Glad you said so far, or I’d think I was getting the brushoff.”
“Not a chance. I’ve been looking forward to this all day. In fact, I called off a rehearsal for this.”
“Luka, I don’t want to interfere with your career.”
“It’s a pre-rehearsal with the cast. We’ve scheduled a few of them before we start rehearsing with Monty. Don’t worry, I’ll be top of my game.”
“Even though you hate it.”
“It pays the rent, and that says a lot in this town.”
He owned his apartment, but he remembered how hard it was to pay the rent when he’d started out, and how many roommates it took to accomplish it. “You live alone?”
“I didn’t always. This last play made it possible. I was making scale and over, so I could do it, if I skipped a few luxuries like meat and internet. I still have internet, though, if I go downstairs and around the block to the nearest coffeehouse. So, I have adjusted.”
“Poverty makes a man have ingenuity. I learned where all the free lunches in the city were, how to find the most reliable roommates, and where the washers and dryers were easier to mess with to get a few free loads done. Man, I’d almost forgotten all of that.”
“I want to forget, and soon. Ingenuity or not, it’s exhausting.”
Benson further remembered that. “Yes, it really is. I’d offer to help, but I don’t want it to ever seem like I’m treating you…like some…”
“No, that would be tacky to just start leaving money on the nightstand. I get it, and believe me, if I need your help, I’ll ask. It’s not easy to do, no, but for now, I’m okay.”
“And you might be better after tonight. You see, I can help, if not handing you money, which would, I agree, be tacky.”
“Oh? Like making this entire play just to help me? And…meet me?”
Benson felt his throat closing, and he nearly choked on the air he’d just inhaled.
“Wow, your eyes can get very wide when you’re surprised.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one. I’m not stupid, and I’ve watched Flash Dance about a million times. I always envied Alex’s warehouse.”
“God, me too! I loved her place. I dreamed she talked him into moving in with her and they lived there happily ever after.”
They laughed as Luka said, “Well, I don’t have one of those, so we won’t be doing that.”
“Okay, well, let’s see where the night takes us, and I may start looking for an abandoned warehouse to renovate.”
Luka moved in, kissed him softly and brushed his face with his fingertips. It was an intimate kiss, one that was usually reserved for people in love, but Benson thought that, possibly, they already were.
He refused to let himself settle on that thought for long.
They pulled over on a quiet street in SoHo, a street that looked like it must have since the twenties.
Windows and doors behind gates, the ornate metalwork around each alcove, and metal and glass doors that led to apartments upstairs.
It was the best part of the city, Benson thought. Those throwbacks to the past.
Double parked, they couldn’t take long, but they didn’t need to, as the driver opened the door and they got out quickly.
The café was small, perfect for the evening, and once Benson opened the door, ushering Luka inside and to their quiet, beautiful escape.
There were only seven tables and as many booths, but the size of the place didn’t matter. It was so simple and elegant, twisted twig chair backs, small, lace-covered tables with one tapered candle in the center of each table on a tarnished brass holder.
The floors shone and were original tongue and groove; the walls plastered, with the original brick coming through in spots. Benson thought it the most beautiful place in the city.
“This is great, but is it open?”
“Yes, but only for us.”
Just then, the owner, Frank Delinio, came from the kitchen and rushed over to them. “Sorry, Mr. Carter, I was checking on the food. The chef has prepared the meal you requested, and I have the wine breathing.”
“That’s wonderful, Frank, thank you.”
He pulled out Luka’s chair for him in the center of the dining room and then took his seat just as Frank began filling their wineglasses with the best Italian wine the place offered.
“Tonight, for your dining pleasure, the chef has prepared a Caesar salad, minestrone, the finest rolls, his special lobster ravioli, and finally, a specially prepared Sicilian lemon gelato.”
Luka smiled at him and said, “Lemons. Nice touch.”
“I’m telling you, it’s wonderful.” To Frank, Benson said, “Thank you very much. I’m sure we’ll enjoy the meal immensely.”
Once Frank had gone back to the kitchen, Benson’s eyes landed on Luka, only to see a little line between his eyes that wasn’t usually there when he was happy.
That line was almost constant when he was stressed about something.
That was something Benson had seen early in their short time knowing one another.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Benson wanted to scream. That definitely meant something was wrong. “Tell me. Please. If I got the menu wrong, anything, please.”
“It’s not the menu. It’s just…is this place usually open tonight?”
Benson saw his mistake right away but wanted to correct it. “I didn’t buy the place out to hide you. I swear it, and you’ll see that I don’t want to hide you, in the least, at our next destination, I assure you.”
“Oh? And where is that?”
“A surprise. And the second destination is why I wanted this to be just us. A quiet pause before a noisy center. There will be times I want you all to myself, but won’t be able to have that, so when I can, I’ll try to get you alone.”
“Okay, then. I forgive you.”
Benson laughed aloud. “Forgive me?”
“Well, I had made you out to be this terrible man who was ashamed to be seen with me. I have forgiven that man.”
“I guess I’m grateful?”
“You should be.”
It was a lovely dinner, and delicious to the point that they were both moaning loudly. Frank and the chef came out twice, leaving the dining room with smiles each time. When they weren’t eating and moaning, they were laughing.
He’d never laughed so easily with anyone. The guy that everyone warned was cranky, serious, and an overall prick at times, his smile lit his face like the best spotlight on the grandest stage.
“This was the best gelato I’ve ever had, and if this is really from those lemons? I am going there the second I can.”
“They are the lemons. I had them sent over especially. But to be sure, we’ll go one day and you can taste it for yourself.”
“I’d love to. I’d love to go there to taste the lemons, to Hawaii to taste the pineapple right off the plant. I want to see, feel and taste the world, the world I never thought I’d experience.”
They were so alike. That was one of the first things he did once he had any money was travel. “I’ll take you to the Irish countryside to taste the best Irish ale, and to Germany to have sausages that will make you insane with delight.”
Luka ducked his head a little. “It shows how…how I’ve been nowhere. I must seem so simple.”
Pinching his chin and gently forcing his head to rise, Benson’s voice was soft but sincere as he said, “Not simple at all. Just young on this world and working hard to get to all the places of your dreams.”
“You’re…there’s got to be something wrong with you.”
Wanting to lighten the mood and change the subject, Benson pulled his hand away and said, “I fart in bed.”
Luka stared at him, slack-jawed, before he burst out with laughter that soon had tears streaming from his eyes. He and Benson both laughed until Frank came back with their salads.
“Thank you, Frank,” Benson said as he caught his breath.
Frank was smiling ear to ear, and told them, “I always see you smiling, Mr. Carter, but this is different.” To Luka, he said, “You’ve made an already happy man much happier. You must be a good guy.”
Luka reached out for Benson’s hand and squeezed it. “He makes me one.”
Frank left them again, and Benson chided him. “You are a good person, Luka. You’re driven, but that doesn’t make you bad.”
“I’ve made no friends, I’ve had no relationships, I barely speak to my mother. I’m not great, believe me.”
Benson’s heart broke to hear that. “Driven, Luka, means that you’ve given yourself tunnel vision.
You’re so focused on dragging yourself out of your station that you don’t have time for anyone or anything, or you think you don’t.
I’ve done it, and believe me, I’ve caught myself doing the same thing a hundred times.
I’d be in my dorm room, on the computer, a breath away from creating my masterpiece in software, and my roommate would remind me I hadn’t been to class in a week.
I had barely eaten. You don’t have people who can do that for you. That’s okay, because you do now.”
Luka’s face glowed a little as he said, “Okay. You’re in charge of not letting me live in that…tiny dark tunnel.”
“It is rather tiny and dark, and it’s hard to see that light at the end. We both chose professions that are a long shot for success, and yet, we’re both successful. That says something.”
“That the tunnel may be tiny and dark, but we’re heading down it in the right direction?”
Benson nodded slowly. “We are. Now, let’s enjoy this meal so we can get to your big surprise.”
They ate the most delicious dinner Benson had had in a long time, and when they finished the gelato, Luka was begging to head to Italy the moment he could take a break from the play.
“I’ll plan a trip next summer. I’m sure the play can do without you for a few weeks.”
“A few weeks?”
Benson nodded and waved Frank over to the table. “Yes, you need time to fully explore such a wonderful place.” To Frank, he gushed, “Everything was perfect. My compliments to the chef, and my assistant will be by with the wine this week.”
“You’re too generous, Mr. Carter. Thank you.”
After Benson escorted Luka out, Luka asked about the wine. “Oh, well, as a tip for Frank, I’m sending him a rare vintage I found the last time I was in Italy. I have three cases of it and will part with one to show my appreciation for tonight.”
“That’s…weird. I didn’t know that was how things were done. I thought you would just pay money.”
“Oh, he was paid with money, but as I said, this was a tip.”
“Oh. Okay, well, so I should invest in that kind of thing when I’m disgustingly rich?”
“Yes. For sure,” he said with a wink.