Samuel handed the menu to Jaume.
He gave it a glance then said to the butler: "It seems all right to me. Has Kiril seen it?"
"Thank you, Sir. Yes, he has already approved it."
"Very well. Are all the rooms ready?"
"Certainly, Sir."
"Je me recommend. Our guest will be here in three hours. Everything must be ready."
"Certainly Sir. Do you have other orders, sir?"
"No, Sam, thank you."
"Thank you, Sir. And... if I am allowed, happy anniversary, Sir."
"Thank you, Sam."
Jaume quickly went upstairs, to the bedroom.
"Are you ready, Kiril? You really look wonderful in your light blue suit."
"Yes, it still fits me. Do you remember? You advised me to buy it, the first time we met. Do you know that I feel a strong emotion?"
"Me too, very much. Do you think they will all come?"
"Yes, love. I think we couldn't have a better way to celebrate our fourth anniversary. Do you think it will be a surprise?"
"I'm sure. Are the gifts ready?"
"Sure, love, we checked them at least three times. They are in their rooms."
"Yes, it's true. I just feel so nervous. Everything will go smoothly, don't you think? Will they be happy?"
"I really think so. They all love us. Come on, let's go, or we'll be late."
They asked their driver to take them to the airport, then they sent him back home. The flight from New York was arriving in five minutes. The director of their New York branch phoned that all their guests from Europe arrived according to schedule.
The flight arrival was announced. The two stretched their necks to search for their friends.
"Here they are!" Kiril exclaimed excitedly.
They were all there - Miguel and Juan, Carlos and Pablito, Mikel with his Juan, Alvino, Mario and Pippo, Emili with Jorge. They greeted them cheerfully. After offering them something to drink at the airport bar, they took them to the subway - in fact, officially, for their friends, they still were just two luxury hustlers...
"We need to leave now, we have made arrangements for your rooms. We'll have our anniversary dinner there. Then we will have all the time we need to talk - for you to bring us up to date on everything."
Pablito approached Jaume and said: "You spent a fortune to pay for all of us. The air fare, the hotel and everything. I know that you don't have money problems, as you work a lot and have very good clients, but it was still madness!"
"No, Pablito. The only cost was the plane. For the... hotel, we took advantage of an occasion we had. And anyway we were too happy to have you all here for this celebration."
They chatted the entire trip. Then, leaving the subway in the elegant part of Boston where their home was, they guided their friends there. They looked like a group of tourists, all with their luggage, following their two friends. Arriving in front of the house, Kiril rang the bell. Samuel came to open the door.
"Gentlemen, welcome. Please enter... The staff will accompany you to your rooms so you can refresh yourselves. Dinner will be served at 7:15 and will be announced by a gong. The dining hall is here on the ground floor, behind that door."
Everybody entered looking around curiously. The staff, in livery, were waiting in a row near the wide and elegant stairway.
Mario, expressing the thought that was rising in everybody, exclaimed: "But... this is not a hotel. Why are we here?"
Jaume and Kiril smiled; and Jaume said: "A little joke. This is our home, Kiril's and mine. Anyway, welcome to everybody."
They all looked around astounded and Carlos asked in a mild voice: "This is not a joke, all of this?"
"No, it's true. We wrote you that we had a good life, didn't we? But we will explain later. Now go upstairs and rest a while, you must be tired from the journey. We'll wait for you here on the left, in the Autumn lounge."
The guests went upstairs, guided by the personnel who took their luggage. After a while the first friends came downstairs.
"Mikel! We can at last meet your Juan. Tonight there will be two Juans here, we'll try not to cause any confusion."
"You can call me Jan, as they call me in Germany." Mikel's lover answered with a smile.
They started telling each other what had happened over the past years, completing the news that in part they'd already exchanged by mail. Jan was likable, reserved but not shy, and seemed to be at ease with the hosts he had just met.
"Mikel talks about nothing except you two. You really are the most beautiful couple in the world, as my Mikel always says. Now, I can understand why he was so impressed by you two."
At that moment Emili entered: "Jorge will be here in a moment, he's almost ready."
"Emili! You can't know how happy I am to meet you again. And I am really glad that Jorge became your boyfriend. Are you well, together?"
"It really seems so. Even if I still ask myself why he wanted to be my lover. He is half my age, he is a young man. I am an old man, nowadays!"
"Emili, don't say silly things. Beside the fact is that Jorge always liked mature men. But what I don't yet know is how you met, and decided to be together."
"Wasn't it you, Jaume, who gave him my address, when he wrote you that he wanted to study German?"
"No, Emili, it was me." Kiril answered.
"Well, I gave him lessons for two years, and we became friends. And do you believe me if I tell you that for two years we did nothing? I knew about him, and I think he immediately understood about me, but nothing."
"He didn't pay in... nature, like me, then."
"No... Then, two years ago, he tells me that he wants to make love with me. So, suddenly, straight and clear. He tells me that for a long time he's desired that, but that he didn't until that day dare to approach me. But he wanted to do it, because he felt he was falling in love with me. So I told him..."
"He told me he was too old for me. That he really liked me very much, but that I had to find someone my own age." Jorge said entering.
Emili grabbed his waist with his arm, kissed him, then continued: "But Jorge said I had to stop acting so silly, because he was serious and that he would prove that to me."
"And I undressed in front of him, and undressed him, so he could no longer say no..."
"Right. But he showed me, because three days later he came to tell me that he found a job in the Liberty hotel as a receptionist, and so he could stop hustling. Only to be free and with me, in my bed."
"And I am now the most faithful hustler in all Sitges, because Emili is my only, exclusive, affectionate client. Jokes aside, Emili is the sweetest man who ever existed. I never felt so good as when I am with him. And I'll never get tired of making love with him. Ah, by the way, thanks for the double bed, it was really a nice and gentle thought."
Mario and Pippo came downstairs, and soon after, Juan.
"Those parcels that are on our beds with our names on them, when are they to be opened?" Mario asked.
Kiril answered: "Whenever you want."
"But, it is us who have to give you a present and not vice versa. When can we give you our present?"
"After dinner, when we will eat the cake."
"Pippo, I'm glad to meet you." Jaume said shaking his hand.
Pippo held it without letting go, and smiling said: "I'm glad I meet you now. If I met you before, I think I would have been terribly jealous of you. I ask myself how Mario, after having met you, came back to me again."
"I was just a tourist attraction. You are his home country. Nobody ever leaves the certain for the uncertain, no matter how exotic it could be. Anyway, you have no reason to be jealous, as you see your sailor always comes back to his port."
Juan approached Kiril: "I opened your present. I couldn't resist. It is splendid, I don't know how to thank you."
Kiril, with a naughty and mischievous smile, answered him in a low voice: "Juan, I know that I stole from you, your only man. I had to get you to forgive me, didn't I? And I'm really afraid that you are losing out in the exchange..."
Juan blushed a little and answered: "Yes, after him, only women. But I didn't forget Jaume. I missed him very much, I must confess. Only... coming here... I noticed that Pablito doesn't lose sight of me for a single instant. And I was somewhat tempted..."
Jaume told him: "If only it were like that... I would be glad, because I like you both very much. And Pablito is a delicious boy. You haven't married yet, anyway, true?"
"No. Not one of the many girls seems to be the right one for me, so for now. I'm in no hurry. When I find the right person, I'll willingly fall into the trap..."
"Even if it was a boy?" Jaume asked him slyly.
Juan looked at him somewhat surprised, then said: "Honestly, I never considered that, but... who knows?"
Just at that moment Pablito, with Alvino and Miguel came downstairs.
Kiril whispered to Jaume: "We didn't do it on purpose, but Juan and Pablito will sit next to each other, at dinner."
Pablito, who had not overheard them, approached Jaume: "Listen, that friend of yours, Juan, makes me want to die. Do you know that I really lost my head for him? But you really were the only man he went with? Does he really like only girls? Don't I have any hope?"
"Play your cards well, Pablito. Don't surrender at the first obstacle. Who knows if the incorruptible Juan will not be tempted just by you? Anyway, at the table, you will be sitting side by side. Just... don't overdo it, agreed?"
"You'll always remain the King of Sitges, even if you are absent for such a long time! Do you know that we all miss you? It is no longer the same as when you were there. Even among us hustlers, there are a lot of new faces, who are not worth your little finger. And not mine either, to tell the truth."
They all chatted together while the appetizers were served. Then the gong was struck and they went to sit at the table. It was a lively and merry dinner party. Jaume noticed that Carlos and Miguel, sitting side by side, seemed to get on well. Alvino was the only one, for the moment, who seemed not to be paired up. He was talking with everybody. He was cheerful, but he was not chasing after anyone, and no one seemed to be chasing him.
After dinner, the cake was served, and they exchanged presents. They chatted until late, and finally went to bed.
When they were alone in their bedroom, Jaume and Kiril embraced and kissed: "Are you happy, stallion?"
"Happy, colt."
"Four more years like these?"
"No, you've made two mistakes."
"Two mistakes? What do you mean?"
"The first is 'four years' - they are not enough for me. And the second is the 'like these' - I want them to be even more beautiful, I know you can do that."
"I agree, stallion. But now cuddle your colt, who's been dying with desire all evening long."
They started to make love, with the gentleness and passion they always shared.
In the following days, they took their friends to visit Boston and its surroundings. They noticed that Carlos and Miguel were becoming inseparable. Jan and Mikel were a very sweet couple and it was only a little before that they had celebrated their eight years of life together. Also Jorge and Emili evidently fit well together. They only worried about Alvino, but their friend didn't seem to be bored or sad. About Juan and Pablito, they often chatted together, but the fatal spark didn't seem to have happened yet.
The week they had offered to their friends, was already coming to an end. Everybody was making preparations for leaving, when Alvino went to talk with Kiril.
"Sorry, I wouldn't like to seem a cheeky imp, but... can I stay here at your place a few more days?"
"But sure, of course, Alvino, you can stay as long as you like. We would be really happy to have you."
"I think I'll need just a few days... See, the reason is that... I have the feeling that something is starting with your gardener, therefore..."
"Do you like Bill? He is a handsome boy, and if he is game..."
"If he's game? He's game! It's already four days we've been making love, and he asked me to stay here with him. He says that he can find me a job, and..."
"But, Alvino, you can stay here as long as you want, not just days, even months. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. And if we can help you get settled, we will do that more than willingly, as soon as you are sure about your decision. You know that you can count on us, don't you?"
"Thank you, really thank you very much. I'll try not to be too a big burden..."
"Alvino! No ceremonies among friends, understood?" Kiril insisted with a smile.
They saw all the others to the airport.
Just before boarding, Pablito confided to Kiril: "I finally made love with Juan, last night. He is a knockout. Ah, if you knew how much I like him! And he told me that he will come to Sitges, that he likes me. Cross your fingers for me, Kiril, because I'm falling in love with him..."
"But you know that he continues to chase the skirts, true? Don't delude yourself too much, Pablito."
"I can always try to make him forget the skirts. One like him, who likes to take it at least as much as to give it. That likes to give head and drink to the last drop... he doesn't give me the impression of a straight man. In my opinion, he has just to convince himself that he too is gay, and the game is done."
"First, if you try to... convince him, possibly he will escape - it's not easy for some people to accept being gay, admit he really is. Second... even Jaume didn't succeed, remember that."
"But Jaume didn't even really try. And then, who knows, perhaps I can beat him at least in one thing! I really like Juan very much. Cross your fingers, Kiril, please..."
At the same time, Juan was talking with Jaume: "Do you know that I'm afraid I have almost a crush on Pablito? Incredible. But that boy has something special, he fascinates me. And also in bed, he knows how to bring out the best in me. He makes me hope it will never end... I asked him if we can meet again, I told him I would like to go see him in Sitges. He seems happy..."
"Juan, I'm really friends with Pablito. If you started something serious between you, I would be really glad. Write me, let me know. But be careful, don't make Pablito suffer, don't play games with him."
"You know that I would never do such a thing, Jaume. With you, haven't I always been honest? I will be with him too. Anyway... it is different than with you. I feel that boy attracts me very much, and not just physically. I thought about that, after last night, after we made love for the first time... You see, Jaume, I feel like... I think that I too am gay."
"And does that scare you?"
"No, not at all. But it amazes me. Is it possible that it took me so long to understand ?"
"Perhaps you are just a bisexual..."
"Perhaps. Anyway, even if that is the case, I have to make a choice, sooner or later. For the rest of my life, I cannot continue to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. And Pablito's solution seems to me so beautiful, do you see? I told you a few days ago, that no girl attracted me to the point that I desire to spend all my life with her... Pablito does, though!"
"Best wishes, Juan. I hope you can see clearly into yourself, and that you decide with Pablito the right thing for both of you. Have a good trip back home. I hope we will not have to wait all these years before we meet again."
They all said farewell, then Jaume, Kiril and Alvino, went back home.
When they were alone again, Jaume said to Kiril: "We've had a really wonderful anniversary. And with good prospects for the future - Pablito and Juan, Carlos and Miguel... and perhaps also Alvino with our Bill. I'm really happy."
"Yes, me too. Even if it means that we have to look for a new gardener."
"What? You aren't thinking about firing Bill, are you?"
"No, not firing him. But if he and Alvino become a couple, then we will have to help them get settled and find another job for Bill and a job for Alvino. I think it would be better not to have Bill as our employee, if he becomes the lover of our friend. It could become a difficult situation for both, our friend and our employee."
"Yes, I see. But anyway, we'll see. It's not a done deal. There's nothing certain yet... apart from our love."
"I agree. So, stallion, come here now. All these speeches about couples made me horny."
"Here I am, colt. I too felt the desire before, a long time before..."
"Ah, really? And from when?"
"So many years, from the first time I saw you and was struck spellbound in front of you."