Chapter 15 #2
He nodded vigorously and moved into Benson’s arms. “I don’t even want to see the other. This is the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen.”
Benson kissed his head. “Still, I want you to choose.”
Luka didn’t want to argue, but he cried quietly for a moment. Benson held him through it, then Luka recovered and asked in a tiny voice, “Can we see inside?”
“Sure, babe. Let’s go inside.”
The inside was all wood. Walls, floors, beautiful cabinets in the kitchen, archways that were carved in twisted knots. The view from the window in the attic held him speechless. He stood at the window with Benson holding him around the chest from behind.
He could see for miles, trees, snow, hills and mountains, the sky so blue it was almost tangible, the clouds so white they rivaled the blankets of snow.
“I saw just this window and knew this would be perfect for us.”
Luka nodded and imagined himself sitting at a desk, writing in the quiet, seeing the seasons change…
“Baby, I want this for us. We beat so much, and now, it’s time for us to give back. Let others get a leg up, and…I’m going to give you something for Christmas that…”
“What could you give me more than this?”
Benson turned him around and held him. “Well, I was going to tell you about this later, when we were actually at the hotel, but…I have placed a hundred million into a fund for scholarships for NYU. Business and Drama, but…”
Again, he burst into tears, but Benson wasn’t finished.
“Okay, and it’s only for those in severe poverty, like us, like we were, and it’s going to be you that is in charge of it. When we’re back in New York, when I have to be there to work, you can raise money, and work with people to place even more in the fund.”
Luka was speechless, and he thought he’d cannot breathe if Benson went on any longer.
“Me? I know nothing about how to do that.”
“You won’t be alone. I’m not throwing you to the sharks.
I will help, and I have others who will walk you through it.
I have full faith in you. You and I are passionate about this, about getting others out of poverty.
School is only one thing I want to do. I want to do so much more.
My company is good, it can be run from anywhere, and I can have the best people running it without me so I can start other companies and help people get good jobs.
I have a lot of plans, Luka, and you…you inspired me. You did.”
Luka fell so in love with him at that moment, he would have married him if he could. “Together. I want to do it with you.”
“When you’re not writing, you’re going to be busy with this. Don’t worry, I have plans for you,” he said, laughing.
“Good. Good, so…being I love this house, I will probably judge the others harshly, but I’d like to see it. I need to get all this over with so we can fuck like rabbits for at least seven hours.”
“You got it. I think you might love the next place too, but you’ll see for yourself.”
He didn’t need the blindfold again and got to see the land and the sweet little ranches, cabins and the town that was as pretty as a picture.
“I know small towns are scary, but this one has a lot of gay people in it. A friend of mine recommended it. Gay sheriff, commissioner, business owners.”
“What’s it called?”
“Apishipa Creek. Isn’t that lovely?”
Luka sighed, “I wonder what it means.”
“I’ll find out for you.”
Off onto a dirt road they went, and Luka watched the trees as they stood out tall on either side of the car. “I love this. I love dirt roads.”
“I was going to have it paved.”
Luka turned on him. “Don’t you dare!”
“I thought you liked the other house!”
“Well! I might change my mind!”
Benson laughed and pointed. “Well, we’re almost there. Keep an eye out for it.”
The next cabin was only one story, but there was a small house at the back, and a huge yard with trees, hedges and a beautiful rock garden.
The house was old, the wood a beautiful silver, the porch surrounding the entire big house. “I love this.”
“I do too. I like no stairs.”
“Why?”
“I want to save all my energy for you,” he said with a wink. “Let’s go inside.”
They went inside the house, and a woman was there, smiling as they did. “Hello, gentlemen.”
Benson stepped to her and shook her hand. “Margaret, I’m Benson, nice to meet you in person. This is Luka.”
“Oh, it’s so nice to meet you both,” she said, shaking Benson’s hand and then Luka’s. “Well, what did you think of the Twin Pines property?”
“We loved it, but I am dying for Luka to see that guesthouse.”
“Of course! Let’s go out and see that now, and then you both can wander around the house and yard. I’ll be here in the living room if you have any questions.”
Benson took Luka outside again, and he saw in the back was a long yard that dropped off, and he went to that drop off and saw a view that was even more beautiful than the attic window in the other house. “Benson! This is incredible.”
“I like that it’s in steps,” he said, gazing down. “Ten feet, maybe twenty, and I think she said there was a trail over to the north there all the way down.”
Luka could see the ridge of the mountain went in both directions, and he thought about walking there, on top of the world. “I like this place. I love this.”
“Let’s see the guesthouse.”
“Yes, let’s go.”
The guesthouse was a miniature of the larger house, but without the wraparound porch. Inside, there was a small kitchenette, an immense window overlooking the scene he’d just seen off the edge of the mountain.
After staring there for a long moment, he looked around at the smaller bedroom and bathroom, then they went into the house to find three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a chef’s kitchen that even Luka knew he’d love to use. “I might actually learn to cook.”
“Stop. I’ll cook. I don’t trust you.”
“Mean!”
“Yeah. So?”
Luka laughed as he walked around the home, then went onto the porch and walked the entirety of it. Benson just leaned on the porch railing, smiling at him. “You look happy.”
“How could I not be?”
“Good. What suddenly became my greatest need is to make you smile.”
Luka remembered himself how miserable he had been. For years, he went through the world as if it were against him. Every person felt like an enemy; every place he was suffocated, he felt like he was the target of the world’s disdain.
He’d come by it rightfully. When he went to school as a kid, he was scorned and hated. If it wasn’t the homophobes, it was the rich kids looking down on his thrifted clothes.
It had made him untrusting and caused him to hate the world.
Benson’s smile was real. In his eyes was love. He’d never thought he’d have that, or truthfully, he didn’t think he could accept it.
He grabbed Benson’s hand and took him to the overlook, staring at the landscape as he built up his courage.
“Benson, I can’t believe you. I keep worrying that I’ll wake up and be back in my apartment, alone, watching the snow build up on the street.
I…I’m in love with you. You already know that, but…
I think, for the first time, maybe, I see how much you love me, and it’s not the houses themselves, or anything like that.
It’s that you got these places because you could see me in them. Because you wanted me to be happy.”
Benson nodded and whispered, “It’s all I want in the world now.”
“Okay. Then marry me.”