15. Finn
CHAPTER 15
Finn
Long after we had caught our breaths and harvested the energy from the plate of fruit and a decanter of wine, Percy and I made love again. When the brimming lust of days and days of desire was spent, we were no longer in a hurry. Instead, he kissed my body, licked my most sensitive places, and sucked me until I shuddered hard enough to shake the bed. We made love late into the night, sleeping only for a few incredible minutes before Percy kissed my closed eyelids and woke me up.
“You have to come with me,” he whispered warmly.
“Huh?” Emerging from a deep, short sleep was like leaving Hades and his Underworld for the land of the living, resurfacing slowly and letting reality sink in. Before I’d fallen asleep, Percy had given me a mind-shattering orgasm and followed it by holding me tightly from behind. For a moment, it seemed like I had dreamed the whole thing, and then I realized we were still naked.
Percy tugged my hand as he got out of the bed, his body barely visible in the pale twilight of an approaching day. The shadowy figure bent down and straightened again, pulling underwear up his legs. By the time I got up, Percy was fully dressed. He took my hand after a minute and led me outside our room, down the corridor, and up a flight of stairs. We emerged on the flat, tiled roof terrace under the dark, pre-dawn sky. We stood in the middle of the terrace, my hand comfortably in Percy’s, and gazed at the eastern sky. Not a wisp of a cloud stretched there, and the fresh, bright yellow light emerged against the darkness of the night.
Percy stepped closer to me, letting go of my hand and wrapping his arm around my waist. “First day of being your boyfriend,” he mused.
“In truth, at least,” I said.
Percy chuckled.
“I could stand here all day,” I whispered. It was so slight that my eyes could hardly notice it, but the light strengthened on the horizon, chasing away the night.
We spent long minutes up on the roof terrace watching the sunrise. Percy stepped behind me, arms wrapping around my body. “You know, this trip might be enjoyable after all.”
It was my turn to laugh.
Percy’s plan for the morning was as romantic as it could be. In the cool breeze of the mountains and beneath a large bougainvillea that released its sweet scents, we sat on wooden chairs, around a wooden table, by the protective marble wall between us and the steep slope. Our table brimmed with food, from zucchini fritters to cold cuts, tzatziki, a cheese platter, and honey-drizzled, feta-filled flaky dough. Greek coffee was infinitely stronger than what I was used to, and asking for an Americano earned me a worried look from Anamaria, the owner of Apollo’s Lantern.
We enjoyed our food, and I admired my bracelet as the sun climbed lazily toward the zenith.
And when Dimitrios picked us up, we had just said goodbye to Zeus. Percy had given his friend a sweet apple as a parting gift.
Dimitrios drove us back to the house, slowing down here and there for breathtaking views of the mountain ranges and the distant, endless sea. In one place, the mountain sloped down on both sides of the road, and the Aegean Sea was clearly visible both on the western and the eastern side of the island.
Dimitrios remembered, some three and a half minutes before our arrival, that there was a visitor this morning. “Benny,” he added when he saw our curious expressions.
The relief at hearing it confirmed alerted me that there was something large and worrisome still ahead in the near future. Percy’s ex was coming, too. And however much I felt desired by Percy, there was a real and raw fear deep within me that Percy’s old feelings had never truly gone away. What if seeing his ex neatly sat next to me would force Percy to compare us? What could I offer a guy like Percy when his oldest friend and one-time boyfriend competed for him next to me?
Would he compete?
I didn’t know and I didn’t want to know. If I knew anything about billionaires, it was that Percy was an exception among them. This guy might just dislike me for having attracted Percy in the first place. Billionaires were a possessive bunch with eccentric hobbies. Richie Whatshisface could get competitive purely for the sports of it.
“A businessman,” Dimitrios said, drawing my attention back to the conversation. Something about his tone told me he was making a joke.
“Is that so?” Percy asked in an exhausted voice and I knew for a fact that Dimitrios had been joking.
“Precisely so, Percy,” Dimitrios said, amused and not hiding it.
We got out of the car. Percy wore a suspicious expression, and I came near him, letting my arm brush against his. I looked up at him. “Are you alright?”
“Ah, yeah,” he said. “I just hate this sort of thing.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” he said, resigned. We walked into the house while Dimitrios pulled the car away. In there, Judith’s laughter ran against the walls and ceilings. It ricocheted against the floor, bounced off an antique vase, and struck me so hard that I halted.
Just as I thought we were about to interrupt a private conversation, I noticed that it wasn’t just Judith and Benny sitting on the terrace but the entire family, as well as two other people. Everyone stared politely at Judith, who was quivering with laughter, and the man who sat next to her was grinning, beaming with pride at having told a mildly successful joke. Emily, sitting at the head of the table, legs crossed under her butt and elbows propped on the surface of the table, wore a peculiar expression as if awaiting a punchline that promised to fall flat.
“Oh, Benny,” Judith bemoaned, gasping for air. “Tell them about Phill.”
“Who, darling?” Benny asked loudly.
Percy’s arm stretched in front of me, making sure I didn’t move forward.
“Phill, Benny, Phill. The one who goes fishing,” Judith said.
Something clicked on the distant face and the man lit up. “Ah, of course, yes. Now, listen here, my friend Phill likes fishing, alright? That man will go fishing no matter what. Sun, rain, snow, he’ll be out there. One Saturday, he hooks something big. He’s reeling it in, sweating bullets, imagining the massive fish he’s caught. Finally, after an epic struggle, he pulls up… an old boot. Not just any boot, mind you, but one with a story. Phill starts wondering who owned this boot, where it came from, and what adventures it’s seen. He looks at it, turns it over, and, get this…” Benny paused dramatically. “And he says, ‘Guess I’m having shoe soup for dinner!’” He clapped his hands loudly in the next instant, leaning back in his chair, and laughter pealed upward.
“Oh, dear Lord,” Percy whispered in horror.
“Have mercy,” I whimpered.
Judith slammed her wine glass on the table and fanned her pursed lips in panic, close to spitting her wine.
“Charming,” Lawrence said, a small smile on his lips.
“Isn’t it, darling?” Alicia said to Lawrence.
The two people I didn’t know wore polite expressions that hardly masked their apprehension.
But it was Emily who stabbed us in our backs. She lifted her gaze and met Percy and me. Percy pressed his finger against his lips, stepping backward and pulling me with him toward the stairs, and Emily pulled on her mischievous smirk. “Oh, look, everyone. Percy and Muffinn are back.” She folded her hands innocently under her chin when everyone else lit up and looked at us.
Percy was caught in the middle of a throat-cutting gesture when the guests at the table turned their heads.
I took Percy’s hand off his throat and pulled it down, holding it between us. “Smile, darling,” I said.
“I am smiling,” he said, his lips stretched to bare his teeth like a rabid dog.
“Maybe a tad more warmth,” I suggested.
Percy pulled me by my hand forward and forced politeness into his smile. As we crossed the large interior and neared the terrace where the thin, white curtains were parted to let the air in, I saw more of the gathering. The people I didn’t recognize wore elegant and minimal clothes. They were both around the same age as Lawrence and Alicia, and their matching gold rings revealed their relationship. The woman wore a cream dress that was neither too revealing nor too conservative, while the man’s shirt was white, and his sleeves rolled to his elbows.
Benny, however, wore a Hawaiian shirt on beige khakis and brown flip-flops. His black hair was thin and thinning right before my eyes. Long, black strands were combed from the right side over his scalp to the left, and thick beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. He wore a cropped mustache that shaded the spacious area above his upper lip. For a man suffering from the heat so much, his dark eyes were surprisingly clear and sharp. When we stepped through, Benny was in the middle of chewing a very large bite of a chicken drumstick, his fingers red from the tomato paste, which gave the flavor to orzo and chicken. He quickly took a napkin and wiped his fingers clean, then produced a handkerchief to dab his forehead.
“Ah, darling, it’s so wonderful to see you,” said the woman, getting up.
“Julia,” Percy said warmly, kissing her on both cheeks. “And Neil.” He gripped the man’s hand, and the two embraced each other.
“Percy, you look good,” Neil said.
“So do you,” Percy said. “Finally making good use of that gym membership?”
“You know it, son,” Neil replied.
“Let me introduce my boyfriend, Finn,” Percy said. “Finn, these are my godparents, Julia and Neil.”
I shook hands with both while Benny cleared his throat and had some water surprisingly loudly.
“And let me introduce Benny, darlings,” Judith said.
“Percy-boy,” Benny said, getting up with a grunt. His smile was toothy and overly warm. He yanked Percy’s outstretched hand and clapped Percy’s shoulder with the other hand hard enough that my boyfriend gasped. “I’ve heard so much about you, young man. Judy here won’t shut up about her little Percy. And here we are, at long last, all gathered at the same place. I can finally put some faces to all these names.” He continued shaking Percy’s hand throughout the impromptu speech.
“The pleasure is mine,” Percy said politely. “We’ve all been looking forward to meeting you, Mr…”
“Tupper. Benjamin Tupper,” he replied. “But don’t bother with all that. Benny sounds just fine to me. And you and I have a lot to talk about, Percy-boy.” He laughed like he’d said a fine joke.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Benny,” Percy said. His hand was released in a slippery sort of way and it flew back a couple of feet before Percy could stop it.
It was my turn to meet the man of the hour and I found that I was oddly excited. Benny’s hand was bigger than mine. He was all bigger, although in a proportionate way. He gripped my hand with what I could only describe as a much wetter grip than I had expected. “Finn Muffin, is that correct?” Benny asked. “What were your parents thinking?”
“Oh, er, no, it’s Connolly,” I said, distracted by the strangled laugh that almost left Emily’s throat.
“Of course,” Benny said in a tone that sounded as though he didn’t quite believe it, but it didn’t matter to him either. His attention slid off me like it was water and I was a particularly oily Finn. He turned to the table and raised his wine glass. “You have all been so wonderful today that I would like to make a little toast. You’ve welcomed me to this family like one of your own, and for that, I thank you. And now that we are all gathered here, I would only like to say that I am honored and humbled, privileged if you’d like, and very much…ah, honored to be here.”
“But do you think he’s honored?” Percy whispered into my ear, disguising it as leaning down to pull a chair out for me.
I bit my lip hard and poked Percy in the ribcage.
“To the family,” Benny Tupper finished.
A confused murmur of “here, here” rippled around the table, and glasses went up, although Percy and I hadn’t had glasses to lift yet.
Percy and I sat down so that Percy was between me and Benny, and for that silent sacrifice a whole new level of attraction to Percy opened up in me.
“How sweet,” Judith said, taking Benny’s hand into hers once he said down.
Benny Tupper put his other hand over Judith’s. “And, of course, to the queen of my heart,” he said, his voice dropping deeper.
Judith laughed like a schoolgirl and pulled her hand away, waving Benny away while squirming shyly in her seat. “Oh, you devil,” she said. “You and that silver tongue of yours.”
Benny laughed and turned to Percy, who was just serving me a place of orzo and chicken from Nektaria’s kitchen. I noticed that Nektaria was absent and Dimitrios never joined us after the drive. “Now, Percy-boy, let me tell you, I’ve been on this island for less than a day and I can’t help but wonder how you never invested here.”
Percy’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but he smoothed out his expression. “Oh, well, this is one of the rare places that hasn’t been completely gentrified with tourism. It’s why I like this island.”
“Of course, of course, but tourists are still here, and their pockets are full of this Monopoly money. Let me ask you this: what will they spend their cash on? Trinkets? Nonsense. We could provide some premium entertainment. Look here, I was thinking, rentable submarines. I don’t know how nobody’s thought of this already. It’s the quickest way to unimaginable profits.” He dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief. I wondered if he struggled with heat because this afternoon had all the makings of a fine Mediterranean day, with the breeze lifting off the sea and the temperature never crossing eighty-six.
“Do you have submarines?” Percy asked.
“Details,” Benny said dismissively. “We will get the submarines once we negotiate where to park them. What we need are a few local officials getting an invitation to this party, Percy-boy. Think we can arrange that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Benny,” Percy said in a small, polite voice. “I’m not sure submarines are in my industry. I can’t imagine what it takes to keep them in shape.”
“I can’t imagine who would rent them,” I muttered.
“And what do you do, Finn?” Benny asked. It was a generous smile that dispelled my brief thought that he was asking me a very pointed question.
I smiled, holding a bite-sized piece of chicken on my fork. “I’m a stay-at-home boyfriend at the moment.”
“How fine,” Benny said without a trace of irony. Perhaps the lack of it made me feel like I was being mocked.
“And you, Benny?” I asked.
Too late, I realized I had walked into a trap. “Everything, my dear friend. Everything under the Sun. I am far too humble to recount all of my businesses, but the successes of my career have been thoroughly documented. See here, I started my career as a junior editor in a small, local paper in Nebraska, but the small-town life wasn’t for me. I always knew I was destined to do more. And for the best part of my life, I worked tirelessly to improve the human standing in this planetary community.”
I stuffed my mouth with chicken to keep it occupied. The question of whether we weren’t already at the top of the food chain was best swallowed on the man’s first evening. Perhaps he really couldn’t handle the heat. Perhaps he’d had too much wine.
Percy diverted the conversation to Julia and Neil’s flight here and the few days they had spent in Athens.
“What a magnificent city,” Julia said. She spoke about visiting all these ancient agoras that only existed in my imagination, but my attention kept drifting to Benny, who flirted with Judith in ways that made Alicia and Lawrence as innocent as a priest and a nun.
And through all of this, Percy’s leg kept touching mine under the table. I wanted, more than anything, to take his hand and drag him upstairs where nobody could bother us, but that would be deeply uncharacteristic after spending days acting like an old couple. So I resisted the urges and waited for another endless dinner to wind down.
Alicia and Lawrence seemed fascinated with everything Benny had to say. Judith was smitten. Emily expressed something like genuine interest, almost like she was bored and wanted to see how it would all play out. It was my Percy who was caught in the middle of it all. And it was as though Benny wanted to seduce Percy as much as he wanted to seduce Judith. He continued clapping Percy’s shoulder with abruptness and strength that made my poor man cough.
I spotted Nektaria later in the kitchen and slipped from the deck to greet her.
“Dinner was delicious,” I told her.
She shook her head, her curls flying around furiously. “It did not turn out how I planned.”
Nektaria had said this about every single dish I had praised since arriving here. “Why haven’t you joined us tonight?”
Her gaze jumped to Benny on the terrace and back to me. “Every year, Finn, whether Percy is here or not, a businessman comes with big plans. I cannot stomach this.” Her Greek accent showed strongly in the last sentence.
“Do they ever succeed at what they’re trying to do?” I asked.
Nektaria measured me for a moment, then cocked her head to one side. “They often try to reach Percy through his mother, thinking women must be weak when their sons are praised. Thinking men would smell the reeking scam on them. They are wrong. Lawrence only pays attention to his wife and lets things play out however they like, but Alicia…” Nektaria wore a proud little smile as she shook her head. “She sees more than she lets you know.”
“Then I guess we’re all safe,” I said, hoping to assure her. But Nektaria said the very thing we all knew. We were in a pretty sour pickle here. Judith laughed so loudly at something nobody else found funny that it made my heart clench.
“Not all of us,” Nektaria pointed out sadly.
And I had nothing to say to that. Benjamin Tupper reeked of dishonesty, even if I pretended he hadn’t dismissed me as unimportant after exactly one and a half seconds of speaking to me. And he might not be trouble for the core family, but he would be trouble for Judith.
“Here,” Nektaria said, thrusting something forward before I realized she had been keeping her hands busy all along. I looked down and found a large slice of orange pie with an extra scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, the sweet juice the pie was soaked in pooled around the slice on my place. “A big one for you, Finn.” She said those words almost like she was verbally pinching my cheek, but I couldn’t hold my grin back.
Just then, all problems in the world could be solved with a slice of orange pie.