8. Day Eight
Day Eight
T he answer was: because we weren’t only strangers anymore. Peter proved that the next day.
“Did you really send an assassin after Sonny?!” I asked as soon as the door opened. It was a good thing no one else lived on this floor.
“No?” Peter frowned as I pushed past him into the penthouse, nearly vibrating with nervous energy. “I went to speak with him personally.”
I stopped in my tracks, then turned my head slowly to look disbelievingly at the suited man.
“Sonny is terrified of you,” I said, gesticulating wildly. “He paid me more than he should. That man is someone who counts every cent. What did you do?”
“Words can be mightier than an assassin’s blade,” Peter shrugged, not dispelling my belief that maybe, if that method was more efficient, he would not hesitate to hire a professional killer to do his dirty work for him. “I just politely informed him I personally know the CEO of the company which owns half the street his bar is on. It would be a shame if his lease would not be extended.”
“Man, you play dirty,” I said. “I don’t know if I should admire your moves or be afraid, as another hopeless cog in the giant machine of the class divide.”
“Don’t. Please do not be afraid,” Peter looked at me with alarm. “That was not my intention…”
“Relax, dude,” I laughed. “Friends do underhanded things for each other.”
Peter straightened up, nearly puffing up his chest when I called him my friend. I realized I had not only forgotten to use sir when addressing him but called him dude as well. Oh well. The ship of formality sailed away, never to be seen again if I had my way.
“Did mister Sonny apologize?” Peter asked doggedly.
“You could say that.” I giggled. “I believe there was ‘sorry’ and ‘please’ among all the calls to ‘get that lunatic off my back’.”
“Splendid,” the corner of Peter’s mouth twitched up. “With that sorted… here’s the next gift.”
I took the envelope gingerly. That was so far the smallest of Peter’s gifts. But who knows, maybe it would have the biggest impact?
“C’mon, what is this?” I asked impatiently, trying to look over frozen Leo’s shoulder.
“I have… a lemur?!”
I grabbed the card out of Leo’s hand, reading the contents quickly.
“In a Zoo , thank fuck,” I gave a sigh of relief.
“Oh, of course in a Zoo, why would I think otherwise,” Leo gave a sheepish laugh.
“Because your man is over the top and I wouldn’t put him buying you an exotic animal out of the question?”
“Yeaaah. But also, he is not my man.”
“Maybe not yet,” I muttered under my breath and Leo pretended to not hear my comment. “Anyway, there’s a link on the card.”
“I will grab my laptop!”
Leo rushed off while I plopped down on the couch. He dealt with setting up the laptop quickly and put in the link. Apparently, it was a prerecorded video of a lemur just named Leonard.
“Finally, we can see Leonard in sweet, sweet technicolor,” I rubbed my hands together. “Are you ready?”
“Why does it have to be Leonard?” the blond man groaned. “Leo, it’s Leo!”
“Does Peter know that?”
“Everyone knows that! He should have taken the hint when he saw me being called by that moniker by every damn person in his presence. It’s not like I told him to…” Leo paled and stared off into the distance. “Damnation, did I? I think I told him not to call me Leo. Or that he wasn’t worthy of using my name.”
“And you don’t remember that?”
“Listen, at some point I started seeing red whenever he was bothering me. So, I may have said some harsh things…” Leo crossed his arms.
“Let’s see… so him using your full name is Peter respecting your request?”
Leo pointed a finger at me.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. That bastard still pushed my boundaries, and the gifts are just another example of that. But Peter waiting for my permission, for being worthy to call me by my name… it’s kinda…”
He hugged a pillow and buried his face in it so I couldn’t understand his mumbled words.
“What was that?” I poked him in the side.
“It’s kind of romantic, alright! Don’t judge me.”
“I said nothing.” I held my hands up. “But does that mean you will let him call you Leo?”
“That,” Leo said in a serious tone. “Depends on how funny Leonard is.”
Then he hit play.
Leonard the Lemur was hilarious.
“Leonard? Really?
Leo is my name, darling
Make good use of it.”
I read the haiku to Peter, a wide grin on my face.
Something like hope flickered across the millionaire’s stoic face.
“Raymond, I am in need of your counsel. Does it mean he was dissatisfied with me naming the lemur Leonard? Or that… or that I can finally use his name?”
“Ha! At least you asked. You are learning. Ladies and gentlemen,” I narrated to the non-existing audience. “We are here to witness a monumental event!” I professed the piece of paper with the Haiku, showing it around. “Peter Amberland is herby given the privilege of using a name he holds dear. You are worthy,” I said and kneeled in front of Peter, presenting the scrap of paper as one would a ceremonial sword.
With shaking hands Peter reached for it, his fingers dragging gently against the three little letters he fought so hard for.
“I did it,” Peter whispered to himself, his touch reverent. Then he looked at me and before I could stop him he fell to his knees as well and… hugged me?! “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I did not expect the hug, but maybe I should have. By this point, I knew the stoicism was only a mask that hid the constantly churring lava of feelings inside Peter.
For just a minute, I let myself melt into the warm embrace.
OK, so maybe it was several minutes before we extricated ourselves from each other, both of us embarrassed.
In the safe tradition of my reporting, I explained to Peter how the provided video of Leonard was absolutely hilarious. The band of black and white and gray lemurs, with their big orange eyes, was a bunch of chaos gremlins and watching them at their enclosure was a joy. But one particular feeding time video made Leo nearly fall off the couch with laughter.
“Not gonna lie, it was a masterful touch to ask the Zoo to make the popsicle treat for the lemurs rainbow-colored,” I said.
“Oh? I did not ask that of them?” Peter said, confused. “Weren’t those colors just layers of different organic juices to provide interesting flavors and enrichment for the animals?”
“Dude, pal, boyo. Your gay ass named a lemur after your male unattainable lover and sent him a video with an LGBTQ+ flag in a popsicle form. That’s the gayest thing either I or Leo had ever seen. It’s even more hilarious if it was done by accident. Oh man, I need to tell Leo. He will be in stitches.” I started reaching for my phone, but then I had a light bulb moment. “Actually, you are going to clue him in. That’s your homework. I have to go now. Bye!”
I scampered away with a grin, hoping my bait to make those two idiots talk to each other more would work.