Chapter 25 - When Sophia Met Julian
The head waiter greeted Julian warmly, and they were shown to a very nice table where Sophia was already waiting for them.
She had definitely made an effort with her appearance.
Whilst she always looked good, today she looked amazing.
She was wearing a floor-length deep green dress in a flocked material, with a short white jacket over the top.
Her hair was all piled up on her head, in a dramatic top knot with tresses escaping down each side.
She had also, more importantly, done a full face of make-up. She looked stunning.
Julian went to greet her immediately as she stood up. She shook his hand warmly as he said, “Julian Newman, pleasure to finally meet you.” He smiled his winning smile.
“Sophia De Greco,” she replied, warmly shaking his hand.
She looked at Julian, really looked at him, Callum noticed.
He could tell from her face that she liked him straight away; she had that twinkle in her eyes, he knew.
She turned to Callum too and gave him a big hug, quietly whispering in his ear.
“Well, on looks and shoulders alone, he gets a straight A.”
They sat, and the waiter came to take orders. They were at a round table, Callum sitting beside Julian and Sophia opposite.
“It’s great to finally meet you, Julian. I’ve heard so much about you from Callum.”
“All good, I hope,” laughed Julian.
“Weeeellllllll,” Sophia joked, elongating the word, as if there was a problem. “Yes, of course. You seem to be making my bestie very happy these days.”
They enjoyed a lovely long lunch. Talk came easily to Sophia, and she wasn’t at all intimidated by Julian.
She told him the story of how she and Callum ended up as roommates, how she studied fashion, and all about her atelier.
Along the way, she spoke about Matteo, her and Cal’s metalwork friend, the one who designed and made the sign for The Iron Works.
Julian listened intently; Callum observed.
He stayed mostly quiet. This was the meeting of two huge, important forces in his life; one from his past, the other from his future.
He chipped in, but let them explore, share, and get to know each other.
When Julian excused himself to go to the bathroom, Callum was desperate to know her thoughts.
“So, what do you think, Soph? Should I ditch him immediately?” he joked, with a gleam in his eye.
“I think you already know that’s not the answer I’m going to give you!
” She replied, with a smile on her face.
“He’s great, Cal. I see why you love him.
He has a… life about him that matches yours.
Yes, you’re quite different, but also very similar.
” She gave him a reassuring pat on his hand.
“I think I might just love him too, Cal. Maybe he’s bi, and I could turn him, or we end up in some weird thruple? ” She laughed at her own joke.
“Uh-huh, Soph. Whilst you and I have seen every inch of each other, best of times, worst of times… there isn’t an inch of sharing going on with my Julian,” he retorted, snapping his fingers, Louisiana style.
“From what you told me, you could spare a couple of inches and not even miss them!” She pursed her lips, making a comedic frown. His eyes were wide before they both fell about laughing.
“Isn’t he great though, in all seriousness Soph. I really think I love him”
Sophia took his hand in hers. “Cal, you and I have been friends for a long time. I see a version of you here that fills my little Italian heart with happiness. I truly hope you two work out.” She hugged him, as Callum wiped happy tears from his eyes. Her approval meant a lot.
At this point Julian arrived back at the table and mockingly joined in the hug. “What’s going on, you two?” wanting to understand. “Is everything OK?”
“Yes,” Sophia was the first to answer. Sophia was bold and not afraid to speak her truth at all times.
“Cal asked what I honestly thought of you, Julian ‘Titan of Industry’ Newman,” she paused, “and I told him, it’s not all about the size of the gauntlet, or the flashy gems it contains, but more about the nature of the man who wields it.”
All three of them fell about laughing now.
Callum was impressed with her brave attempt at incorporating his valentine’s gift into the analogy, the size of Julian’s dick also (but would Julian realise he’d told her that…
. oops!), and more importantly, the fact that, in her summary, she’d pretty much confirmed her approval.
“You know about my Infinity Gauntlet?” Julian sounded amazed.
“Yes, of course,” she confirmed. “Who do you think he got it delivered to, and who made such a fantastic job of wrapping it? The red bow was one of my own.” She smiled, content in her work.
“Ah, wow, thanks. Yes, it was amazing.”
“Cal loved his Lego too,” she added quickly, not wishing to belittle Julian’s gift.
“Yes, we’re hoping to finish it this weekend,” Julian added. “So, Sophia, I’m interested to hear all about your business. Where is your atelier?”
“I’m on West 37th Street. I managed to find a unit with a decent frontage that opened out at the rear, so my team had a place to work, with room for consultations, fitting rooms, the design studio, and storage.
It’s working well, and business is good.
” She liked talking about the store and was rightly proud of what she’d achieved.
“West 37th Street,” Julian said, looking in that direction. “That’s not that far from here. Maybe we could stroll there after lunch, and you could show me?” Sophia was over the moon at this. If she hadn’t already decided she loved Julian, he’d just clinched the deal.
“Starting a business in the city is hard, Sophia, it sometimes feels like the world is against you, I bet,” Julian added thoughtfully.
“Yes, absolutely. The first few years were hard work, then the pandemic struck and all social activity died overnight. That could have been a real turning point for me.”
“What did you do?” Julian asked. Callum could tell he was genuinely interested.
“I flipped the business to making high-quality fabric facemasks, which we sold online. A friend helped me with an e-commerce plug-in for my website, and we turned our focus.”
“Wow,” Julian said. “That is really impressive.”
“We survived; many other businesses didn’t. We still did our usual couture work, but with greatly reduced volumes. The face masks kept my team employed, so they weren’t struggling to survive on basic government furlough, and I kept the business afloat.”
Julian raised his glass to her, and she raised hers. “To Sophia, well done for surviving in tough times.” Callum joined them, clinking his own glass. He smiled, but immediately, worry returned, thinking about his ailing business.
“Now we need to sort out The Iron Works and get Cal and Jack back on track,” Sophia said. Callum kicked her under the table, making eyes at her. Why oh why did she have to bring it up right now?
“Yeah, thanks for dragging that up, Soph!” he said.
“Oh, sorry… I didn’t realise it was a taboo topic,” Sophia replied, now worried she’d spoken out of turn.
“It’s something Julian and I have been talking about, Soph, but we’ve more to discuss on it.” He looked at Julian as he said it.
“He’s told me all about their asshole landlord.
I’m sure he just wants them out, which is why he’s making life so difficult.
I bet he’s got a real estate deal in his back pocket.
It’s all very underhanded. I’ve got my team doing a bit of digging on Mr Cott.
Callum and I are going to talk once we know a bit more.
” He looked to Callum, putting a reassuring hand on his knee.
He could see Callum wasn’t happy this had come up, and knew those same feelings of failure were probably gnawing at him.
“Let me see if I can sort us some more drinks,” Julian said to change the subject, looking for their waiter. He was summoned, and they moved to other topics.
When Callum excused himself to use the bathroom, Sophia instantly leant in.
“Shit, I’m sorry if I’ve caused an issue there, Julian, bringing up The Iron Works.
I mean, I know Jack’s giving him a hard time, but I didn’t realise it was such an emotive topic for him.
” She genuinely regretted even mentioning it. That was very clear to Julian.
“Don’t worry, Sophia, he’s just a bit touchy about it. He knows I’m desperate to get involved, but I need more information, and I have to tread carefully on this.”
“Yes, so it seems,” she added, thoughtfully.
Callum returned, and they enjoyed social time. They were all relaxed, fed and watered.
“We should get the bill,” Sophia said.
“Oh, there’s no bill,” Julian confirmed. “This goes on my account. I have a retainer with the restaurant.”
“Wow, thanks, Julian. That’s very kind of you,” Sophia added.
They left the restaurant and Callum did wonder whether they truly were going to stroll, but he hadn’t seen Julian texting Markus. When they reached ground level, Sophia planted herself in the midst of them both, linked arms and they strolled in the direction of 37th Street.
The city was busy with a mixture of tourists and locals. It was another unusually warm day with clear, bright blue skies.
When they reached the store, Julian was intrigued by the name.
Between them, they explained the apartment-sharing story.
Sophia gave them the guided tour. Her team were all working today and there were no clients present, so she was able to show Julian everything.
Her team were similarly interested in the handsome, tall guy being shown around the store.
Julian was fascinated by her designs, commenting that they were works of art, not just sketches.
Sophia loved this, eyes bright and happy as she took him through some of the designs she was currently working on.
Julian was particularly interested in an unusual suit design, with an upturned collar and bright inner lining.
“Wow, I love this,” he said, picking up the sketch and admiring it closely. “Could you make me something like this?”
Sophia looked at him intently. “Are you serious?”
“Hell yes. I love this design,” he quickly added.
“Wow, yes. I’d love to dress you,” Sophia added, eyeing up his figure.
Callum looked on, amusement in his eyes. Seeing his best friend and his boyfriend so excited, talking ideas and getting along so well was a huge relief.
Sophia transitioned into full designer mode, and within minutes she was sketching ideas, pulling out fabric samples and talking design concepts.
Callum popped to Starbucks for coffees for them, and as it was a Saturday, it was rammed.
By the time he returned, they had already fleshed out two different design ideas.
Julian was blown away by Sophia’s talent; she knew he was happy to pay for bespoke designs; and Callum was just glad they had finally met, and all was well.
The final task before they left was to get Julian’s measurements.
He was wearing dark charcoal formal trousers and a tight-fitting camel wool sweater with a thin white T-shirt underneath.
He stepped up to the podium and removed his sweater, handing it to Callum.
Sophia had summoned her assistant Rolando over to assist with the measurements.
Callum had encountered Rolando previously.
A nice enough young lad, but very gay, and a bit too camp for Callum’s liking.
Rolando was in big gay heaven now and sped across the room, eager to get closer to Julian.
He had his tape measure out in an instant, hands-on with Julian, a little too much for Callum’s liking, capturing his vital statistics.
Rolando called out measurements as Sophia noted them on the new client form.
There was some double-checking of numbers when it came to Julian’s upper arms, shoulders and thighs, Sophia not quite believing the figures Rolando was calling out.
“The measurements are right,” Rolando insisted, “he’s just very well… built!” Callum saw Rolando clearly eyeing up Julian’s bulge as he said it, apparently fixated on it.
“Inside leg?” Sophia asked.
“With pleasure,” Rolando replied. Julian could see how flustered Rolando was now, and how irritated Callum was watching this. He decided to have some fun.
In his deep and sexy voice, he slowly said, “How do you want me, Rolando?”
Rolando gulped, went very red-faced, and suddenly appeared to come over rather hot.
“Err, if you could just stand, back straight for me, please, but open your legs a bit wider, that would be… great.”
Julian obliged, making eyes at Callum and Sophia over Rolando’s head, as he nervously went in with the tape measure. Let’s just say Rolando got even redder and hotter taking that specific measurement.
“Right,” declared Sophia, double-checking her form, “we have everything we need. I’ll get on with it, and if you could pop in, say around the 28th of Feb., I’ll have a mock-up patterned for you to try before we commit to final stitch.”
“Great,” said Julian. “Can’t wait to see it.”
“Just to double-check, you’re not planning anything that will change any of these measurements, Julian? This is going to be very fitted to your body,” Sophia said.
“Well, no, apart from more training with his guy,” he replied, indicating Callum.
“I’m working on his abs and core mainly,” Callum confirmed, “so nothing that would make a big difference for you, I think.”
“OK, sounds good,” said Sophia, still updating her notes.
“Maybe if he’d let me pump some iron at The Iron Works, I could develop these arms,” Julian jokingly said, flexing his upper body. He looked every inch the Titan, every muscle of his upper body straining against the thin white cotton.
Rolando excused himself and quickly left the room.