Mistletoe Balls - 1. Story

“Did you know the Ancient Greeks considered mistletoe an aphrodisiac and believed it aided fertility?” Although already on her tiptoes, Nell still had to stretch to be able to whisper into Eugene’s ear.

“Aha.” He eyed the couple kissing under the little green bouquet his sister had hung up strategically in the quietest corner of the room. “You think Kyle and Lara are trying for kids?”

But Nell was not so easily deterred when she was in full lecture mode. “It’s those berries. They look like tiny balls.” When Eugene didn’t react to her words Nell helpfully supplemented, “Testicles? Nuts? You know, the stuff dangling between your legs?”

“I know what’s dangling between my legs, thank you very much. What’s this about anyway? Read a book lately?”

“I’m a florist. I need to know these things. And it was an Internet article, actually. Very interesting by the way. If I believed what it said though, I could never sell those plants to anyone ever again in good conscience.”

“Think of families having teenagers.”

“Exactly.”

“Or women of childbearing-age in general.”

“Hmm…”

“You shouldn’t go near them. I can’t imagine Andrew being a father.”

“Hey! Let me tell you that my husband—”But then she stopped mid-sentence and elbowed him in the side so hard, it made him yelp. “Look! Jackson is standing under the mistletoe!”

Eugene rubbed his ribs and protested, “What the fuck, Nell! That hurt!”

“Yes, yes.” She waved her hand around impatiently. “Go over! Hurry! Kiss him!”

He snorted. “Sure.”

“How long have you been crushing on him? Eh?” He didn’t say anything, so she answered the question herself. “Seven years!”

“Shut up, Nell!” People around them were already looking their way, and he didn’t want to talk about this. Not even a little.

As always, his sister didn’t listen. “Remember when Andrew showed up with him at my birthday party? You were instantly smitten.”

“Smitten? Who the hell says that?”

“And you decided to study fine arts, art history, and anthropology why?”

“Because art and history were my favorite classes in school!”

“But when Dad asked you before you knew Jack, you told him you hadn’t decided yet.”

“Because I hadn’t.”

“Sure. It had nothing to do with the fact that Jack is a renowned art conservator. Right?”

“Of course not! How stupid do you think I am?”

“Oh shut up! And who believes you anyway? Go, he’s waiting for your kiss.”

“He’s waiting for a kiss, not necessarily mine. I heard he’s been around the block a few times while I was gone.”

“People exaggerate.” When he still made no move to go and kiss Jack, she looked around carefully and then said, “He asked Andrew if you were coming tonight. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Probably to check with Anastasios to see if it really is my day off and to make sure I’m not skimping on my duty.”

“Stop being a moron, Gene. He’s only a silent partner of Anastasios’ studio. He would never try and tell him how to run his business.”

Later, Eugene couldn't be sure if it was the strong Christmas punch, his sister getting to him, or an unusual bout of misguided courage. What he did know was that he had pushed his glass into Nell’s hand, straightened his Christmas sweater, and made his way across the room. To Jack. Their eyes locked, and his heart thumped. Then, at the last moment, Xander-fucking-Green materialized out of nowhere, took Jack’s face in both of his hands, and kissed him. On the mouth. There was only a brief expression of puzzlement on Jack’s face, before he closed his eyes and accepted the kiss. They really got things going then. Make-out session of the year. And all the while, Eugene stood frozen in place in the middle of the room, gaping. Jack had seen him coming, and he still kissed Xander. Not just a casual kiss, but a real one. With tongue, and teeth, and lots of spit. Eugene now became aware of several things. Everyone in the room was staring at him. Then the snickering began. To add to his embarrassment, he was still wearing the plushy, red Santa hat Nell had put on his head earlier, complete with white fur trimming and a bobble. He felt a blush creeping up his neck and face. More and more people seemed to be openly laughing at him.

He had to get out!

Avoiding everyone’s gaze, he walked right through the living room, into the hall, and out of the main door. It was cold outside, and he was freezing within minutes. His coat was still hanging in his sister’s hall closet. Not that he cared. He kept on walking, ignoring the vibrating phone in his pocket. Just a little further and he would be home. Luckily, he still had his keys on him.

Nell had encouraged his crush, had even hinted that Jack liked him too. But Eugene felt Jack merely tolerated him as the annoying little brother of his best friend’s wife. Which he was. So he never admitted to Nell that she was right. But he’d had this dream of Jack and him falling madly in love and working together in their very own studio. It was what had motivated him to study so hard in school. It was why he had apprenticed at places all over the country and abroad, so he could complete his portfolio. With this goal always on his mind, he’d soaked up new techniques and preservation methods. He wanted to impress Jack with his knowledge. Show him he wasn’t that high school kid anymore, but a man who understood Jack’s passion for historic art. A man, who Jack could finally let himself fall in love with.

Damn you, Nell!

What had he been thinking? He should have known better, after he had overheard friends talking about Jack changing lovers like one changes underwear. Only back then, he hadn’t believed that. With his head full of plans and brimming with anticipation, he had been ready to woo Jack out of his socks. But Jack kept ignoring him. And then Jack had shown him up, had deliberately embarrassed him in front of their friends and family. Eugene finally got it. His dream of a future with Jack had been just that. A dream.

Time to move on.

***

Eugene opened the backdoor to the studio where he’d been working for almost 12 months as a junior conservator. He wanted to catch his boss Anastasios and personally give him his resignation before he went off to the museum. He owed him that much. Over the past year, the man had been more than his boss; he’d become a mentor and friend.

Anastasios would understand. After all, he had been there last night and witnessed Eugene’s walk of shame out of his sister’s house.

Anastasios looked briefly at the envelope in his hand and then motioned for him to sit down. It was as if his boss had been waiting for this, as if he’d known what Eugene was about to do. He still let him talk, let him explain, before he read the letter. He took his time while Eugene squirmed in his chair.

“Eugene, we’ll talk about this in a minute. I just have to make a phone call. Could you wait outside, please?”

“Sure.” Eugene was confused but left the room.

When he was called back inside, the room smelled of freshly brewed coffee. Anastasios gestured for Eugene to sit down again and pushed over a cup of coffee.

“You’re a very talented conservator, Eugene. The best I’ve had in years. I don’t want to lose you over Jack not being able to pull his head out of his ass.”

“What?” Eugene was shocked. He’d never heard words like this from Anastasios.

“I just talked to my brother. He is a sculptor, who also works in ceramics over in Domino Falls. He agreed to lend me one of his apprentices in exchange for you. And in spring, you’ll be going to Thessaloniki.”

“Thessaloniki?”

“Thessaloniki, Greece to be clear. Almost everyone in my family is either an artist or a conservator of historic art. We are somewhat famous actually.”

“I know. That’s why I wanted to work for you.”

“You will learn from my father, as everyone in my family has done. And only when he deems you ready, you will come back and work for me. By then, I will have paid off Jack, and the studio will be mine. You will get over your foolish crush on that silly man.” He winked. “Greece has some very fine men. What do you say?”

Eugene didn’t need long to think about this. And a few months later, he found himself being hugged and kissed by a chatty older woman, who turned out to be Anastasios’ mother, and insisted on being called Fiona, nothing else’.

***

Eugene was carrying a bag with an assortment of Greek wine, and another one with baby toys. He had sworn never to come to one of his sister’s Christmas parties again, but here he was.

Two years ago, he had escaped this house deeply embarrassed. Now he knew he should have stayed, and, as Anastasios’ father had put it, held his head high with eyes on fire. But Leon had much more to share than just his knowledge of how to conserve monuments. Apprenticing with him had changed Eugene. And when Leon had called him his honorary son, he couldn’t have been prouder.

Nobody but Nell’s husband Andrew knew he was back. Eugene wanted it to be a surprise. When his sister had joked that, in a heroic self-experiment, she had proven the Ancient Greeks right, he’d immediately known he was becoming an uncle. Now he couldn’t wait to hold fifteen-month-old Lucy in his arms.

“Can you reach the bell?” Nikandros, Fiona and Leon’s youngest son, balanced tiny marzipan cakes and a plate with kataifi, a traditional Greek dessert, in his hands.

“No, I’ll just knock the door with my foot.” But before Eugene could do that, the door opened to a beaming Andrew.

“You’re late.”

“A conservator is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely—”

“When he means to. You’re a wizard now, Gene?”

“Gene?!” Nell came rushing over, and he had barely time to hand the bags over to Andrew, before he had his arms full of a teary-eyed sister and a gurgling niece.

“Gene!” He could feel her tears dampening his shirt. “You smell like cookies and ‘Aqua de Gio’!”

“I—Ouch!” A little fist was buried in his hair pulling it painfully.

“Jeeeen.”

“Well, hello little princess!” Eugene took his niece out of Nell’s arms, so he could look at her more closely. “She has Andrew’s mouth.”

“And your eyes.”

“You think?”

“Oh yes. Sometimes I think I carried yours and Andrew’s baby, instead of mine. We should have called her Andrea Eugénie.”

“I like Lucy better. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

“It was Mom’s favorite song.” They still missed her after all those years. “You’re back!” She hugged him once more. “Now introduce me to this hot Greek man; maybe we can kiss under the mistletoe.”

Eugene took Nikandros’ hand and pulled him closer. “Nikandros, meet my sister, Nell, who is a greedy bitch.”

“Hey! Don’t call me that!”

“Bitch?”

“Greedy.” She jabbed Eugene’s chest with her pointy finger. “I carried yours and Andrew’s baby. Remember? Now I want one of my own. With your man!”

“No kissing foreign men!” Andrew took his daughter from Eugene and kissed his wife on the cheek. “They can babysit while we’re trying for Lucy’s brother.”

“No way!” Eugene winked at Andrew. “Andrew, Nell, Lucy…meet my boyfriend, Nikandros, whom only I will kiss under that mistletoe.”

They went over to the buffet table where Nell poured them her famous Christmas punch. Eugene tried to keep the glass out of Lucy’s reach. “Your daughter has grabby hands.”

“That she gets from her uncle.”

“Not that again.”

Eugene didn’t look for Jack. He didn’t even ask if he was there. Instead, he searched for the mistletoe. When he spotted it hanging in the usual place, he took Nikandros’ hand and made his way across the room so everyone would see them. They kissed. First tentatively, but it became heated fast. Soon they seemed to have forgotten where they were.

Andrew stepped beside his best friend, who was staring at the kissing couple. Without turning his head, Jack said, “It hurts more than I thought it would.”

Andrew shrugged. “It didn’t have to end like this. You screwed up royally. This is the man you loved for nine years, and you let him slip through your fingers. Congratulations.”

Jack shook his head. “No. It’s okay. He is happy. That’s what I always wanted for him.”

“He could have been happy with you.”

“Andrew. We’ve talked about this.”

“You battled leukemia. And you won.”

“It was a close call. I could never have burdened him with this. He was so young, so full of plans.”

“Plans involving you.”

“He would have insisted on staying here. I couldn’t have asked him to do that. And I didn’t know what the future would bring.”

“The doctors are still very optimistic.”

“Leave it, Andrew. It’s better the way it is now.”

“You could have had this, with him. How does it feel? Seeing him kissing another man?”

“What do you want to hear me say, Andrew? It hurts, okay! It fucking hurts so much. It’s ripping me apart.”

“You took that option away from him. You never gave him the chance to make his own decision. If he ever learns about this, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

“Be that as it may, he has moved on like I intended him to do. He has a gorgeous boyfriend of his age and is happy. It makes our little charade from two years ago worthwhile.” He paused. “Sometimes, love means having to let go.”

“So you do love him.”

“I do.” Jack threw one last look across the room, but Eugene and his boyfriend were no longer there. “I’m going home.”

“Or you could kiss me and tell me you love me.”

“What?”

“It’s what one does under the mistletoe.” Eugene pointed at Andrew, who was holding a small, green-leafed twig with white berries over their heads.

“But…but…your boyfriend…”

“I just took a page out of your book. Nikandros is just a friend. He hopes to find someone here eventually, but that won’t be me. Never me, because I have had my eyes on the prize for nine years now, and I will finally snatch it. Later, I’m going to tell you exactly what I think of your little charade.” He smiled at Andrew and mouthed a silent ‘Thank you.’ before he did what one does under the mistletoe. Finally with the right man.