Jamie - The Journey Begins - 19. CH19 Europe Sun Sea and ...

“Hey Jamie,” Ben mumbled out, half asleep… finally. He looked cute all sleepy with his head resting on my shoulder.

I couldn’t help but smile to myself. I think Ben was super excited about traveling overseas for the first time or “abroad” as he put it. He struggled to just chill out on the flight. He did finally get some sleep for a little bit - thank god. Going abroad, such a British way of speaking. Some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth at times, he’s a surprise and a half.

Ben … well I too … hardly slept a wink on the first half of the flight - wasn’t until I got us both a few JD’s and coke under his belt that he got all sleepy, drifting off against my shoulder.

Cattle class isn’t the most comfortable at the best of times, all crammed into our seats like sardines on a plane, although it was nice to drift in and out of consciousness with Ben curled up against me.

Finally, in what only seemed moments since I’d closed my eyes, the lights in the cabin came back up. Slowly everyone started to wake up and move around. Gently I shook Ben’s shoulder. “Good morning sunshine! Did you enjoy your nap?” Ben’s face had that sleepy cuteness going on.

“Oh hey, Jamie. How long did I sleep for? Are we almost there…?” Ben had that little kid that’s just woken up - you know that all dopey, not quite focused on what’s happening around - look.

“Yeah, you’ve been out for about three hours.” The look of shock on Ben’s face was hilarious. “Hey Tex,” I smiled cheekily at him, leaning in closer. “When we land, let’s head to the club lounge. We can use the showers there to freshen up a little, okay? Just in case you’re wondering I wasn’t planning on having my shower alone…” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively … “that’s for sure.”

“What - are we going to-get-it-on in every country we visit?” Ben’s face warped into a smile.

I flashed a devilish smile at him. “That was my plan.”

The hustle and bustle of the cabin and other passengers snapped us back to the here and now. We had both unfortunately slept through the last meal’s service. Our stomachs were growling at each other. “Shoot Jamie, I really need to eat something. By the sounds of it, I’m not alone,” Ben reached over and patted my very empty and noisy stomach.

“Yeah, let’s get off the aircraft and find some food, hey, then showers.”

Getting off the aircraft and thru customs wasn’t too hard. As we walked up to the passport control counter, one of the officers smiled and waved me over. “Come on Ben, let’s go here,” pointing to the… well hot is the only way I could describe the guy. Ben followed along - his head was swivelling around taking in the surroundings to the tune of our stomachs still growling.

“God, I need food Jamie!!”

..o0o..

I politely smiled and handed my passport over the counter, “Guten Morgen – Good Morning”, the hottie behind the counter smiled and looked between Ben and me.

“Guten Morgen beabsichtigen Sie, sehr lange in DeutschLand zu bleiben, Herr Spence?-

Good morning do you intend to stay in Germany very long, Mr Spence?”

The hot guy continued to look at my passport.

“Wir, mein Freund und ich. Sind nur für den einen Tag hier, dann weiter nach Frankreich. (We, my friend and I, are only here for the one day, then on to France.) I pointed between Ben and me.

It was clear to anyone watching that Ben didn’t speak German at all. He had the whole deer in the headlights look happening, plus that and my failure to mention that I spoke German had him a little freaked out.

“Jamie,” Ben placed his hand on my shoulder, “is everything okay?” A look of concern was slowly crossing Ben’s face. “When did you learn German? You never mentioned it before.”

I turned slightly sideways to face Ben. “I learned German at high school. I did a couple of languages. Sorry I never even thought to mention it. It’s all okay. ‘Lukas’ here is just asking how long are we staying, just normal stuff.” Relief washed over his face.

As ‘Rudolph’ I read his Id tag, smiled a little. Leaning closer to the screen between us, “spricht Ihr Freund Deutsch, Herr Spence? - does your friend speak German, Mr Spence?

“Nein, aber ich kann für ihn übersetzen, wenn du mich auch brauchst- No but I can translate for him if you need me too.

I saw a glint, almost wink in Rudolphs’ eyes for a second, “Sie sehen sehr müde aus, vielleicht kann ich Ihnen einen Platz vorschlagen, um sich auszuruhen und ein Bier zu bekommen? - You look very tired. Maybe I can suggest a place for you to get some rest and beer?

“Meine Schicht endet in einer Stunde, du könntest deinen Freund in einem Hotel ablegen und mich an einer Bar treffen, die ich kenne. Bock Haben? - My shift ends in one hour, you could drop your friend at a hotel and meet me at a bar I know, if you want?”

I could feel my face flush a little. I tried to keep a straight face. “Das ist sehr nett, aber Nein, das ist meine... Das ist meine Freund. That is very kind but no, this is my... This is my boyfriend.”

Rudolph smiled, “Can I have your passport please,” looking at Ben speaking perfect English. Ben and I looked at each other in shock, as he handed his passport over as well. “You are staying for one day only, Mr Rush?”

“Ah yes,” Ben’s voice was a little unsteady.

After a few keystrokes, Lukas handed us both back our passports, “Enjoy your time in Germany, goodbye.” And with that we were through. My mind was spinning a little. What just happened? He was hitting on me, cheeky bugger.

“I can’t believe how much nicer the border-customs staff were to you, Jamie.” A look of surprise was still on Ben’s face. “It was like when they saw your Australian Passport, they couldn’t do enough to help us, which is great, I guess.”

Ben’s eye narrowed a little. “I’m kind of feeling a little out of my depth here now. Plus, when you started talking to that tall blonde border guy – Rudoph right? - it seemed like he was almost flirting with you or something?”

"It's because they think we're a country of guys on the beach, cooking shrimps on the BBQ, ha-ha.”

Ben just rolled his eyes and smiled. “It’s because you’re all so, outdoorsy… sexy."

"Well my, thank you, Ben, so kind. And yeah you were right, he, Lukas, was trying to flirt. He asked me out for a drink when he finished his shift.” Ben’s face flushed for a second. But I told him that you were my boyfriend, he backed off. Anyways, there is no way I’d do something like that to you, Ben… ever…okay?" Ben smiled and shook his head. Taking the opportunity, I slapped him on the ass and ran off towards the club lounges where the change rooms were.

I could see that Ben was trying not to show his inner emotions, but I think I saw a little flash of ‘green eyed jealousy’ come over him for a second, I decided to play it down, as it was harmless enough, and I meant it. I wouldn’t do that too him ever. ‘I think-well I know - the whole Sam thing-what happened in LA - taught me a huge lesson. Plus, I really like Ben, not that I didn’t like Sam-I did. Just the connection to Ben is, stronger…different.

As we slipped into one of the private bathrooms, which I think were designed for one person, but anyways, I was given one of those thousand-watt smiles. “So what did you want to do in here again Jamie?”

..o0o..

"Oh god, Jamie, that was a fantastic idea. I feel so much better after that shower and food."

“You forgetting something Ben?”

“Yeah okay, the sex was red hot too.”

“Come on Ben, we’ve got twenty-two hours left here, let’s get out and see the place. What do you want to see first?”

“Maybe some sexy German guys in those shorts and suspenders?” an eat-shit grin spread across his face. “Let’s find a traditional clothes store and I’ll buy you a Christmas present you can wear for me.”

“Yeah right, and you can kiss my ass - I’d look like an idiot.” I smirked at Ben as we walked through the terminal building.

“Your ass would look fantastic in those shorts! Come on Jamie, please.” Ben whined.

“Maybe… we'll see. First, let’s get our asses to the ticket booth and get these transport cards sorted."

After buying our ‘Frankfurt cards’ we hopped on the train directly to the Städel Museum. The only way to describe this place is ‘amazing’ - everything from paintings and modern art from 1300’s to today.

From there, it was a short walk wandering through the city and along the river. “My god, Jamie! This place is so beautiful! You’d think that Germany would be all clinical and plain, you know because the Germans are so efficient and procedural, right?”

“Yeah, I know, but there is so much to them and their country. You should see Berlin and Munich - just beautiful. It wasn’t what I expected. The only way to describe those cities is, beautiful!! I’ve never seen so many beautiful parks, gardens and old buildings.”

Walking along the riverside was just amazing - the warm sun on us, people just going about their business, with laughter and occasional music from parties along the water - it was just the perfect day, really. I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d tried.

We came to a stop at a little bakery, desperate for some food again. After talking to the staff inside in my least rusty German, I think the girl behind the counter took pity on us because we seemed to come out with a pile of food that I don't remember fumbling my way thru ordering - but what the hell?

We sat down on a garden bench across the roadway from the bakery, enjoying the warm sunshine and proceeded to munch our way through our selection of local treats.

The only sounds were from Ben: “Goddamn! Delicious! I wouldn’t have believed it, Jamie, if I hadn't seen it for myself. This has totally changed my opinion of Germany.”

“Wait till we get to the beer halls and the gingerbread houses…”

Ben looked at me like I was mad, "The what you say… Gingerbread houses?"

"Well okay, they're not actually gingerbread houses you can eat, they just look like it." Ben laughed, stood holding his hand out for me to follow. We walked off, Ben still shaking his head at my description. He was looking around like his head was on a swivel pole - it was like this the first time I came to Germany.

As we continued our around-a-city-in-a-day journey, we wandered around the city centre and made our way to the Eschenheimer Turm, the old part of the city. It’s one of the last parts of the old medieval defences of the city that remain past the 1800’s. Ben’s description and mine too was starting to sound like a broken record - “wow, just amazing.”

Walking up behind Ben, wrapping my hand around his waist and pulling him back a little towards me, gently I placed a kiss on his neck and paused for a moment, taking in the surroundings and Ben too - one of those deep memories you’ll hold onto forever no matter what the future holds for us.

Just in front of us, a group of locals walked past and offered to take a picture of us with the old ramparts behind us. “Vielen Dank, dass es sehr nett ist, ja bitte,” yes thank you, that is very kind.

I think that is what I said, quickly offering my phone and they clicked away so I must have been somewhere right, ha-ha.

During the conversation, I was able to kick off, using my high school German ( wow - Frau Jorgen would have been proud of me. See Frau, I was listening… sometimes.)

We got chatting to the two couples that stopped, Peter and Mia, and Michael – Mitt for short - and his girlfriend, Lina, were keen to show us around the city. Thankfully they spoke fluent English so I didn’t have to try out my German too much and leave Ben out of the conversation.

“Jamie, du sprichst Deutsch gut, (Jamie, you speak German well),” Mitt smiled as I tried to work out what he said. When I smiled after decoding it, he burst out laughing. “You have to speak more German today. While you’re here, it will help you get better. You are doing very well, considering you have not used it for a long time, no?”

“Years, Mitt, years.”

“It got a good working out at the airport this morning though, Jamie?” I felt my face light with a little bit of embarrassment. At least Ben was cool with the flirty stuff from Lukas - it could have gone so badly, but a lot to be said in just owning it, the flirting, from the get go. Anyway, it’s not like I didn’t tell Lukas that I was with Ben - I thought I made it pretty clear from the start. Couldn’t help but laugh at Mitt’s encouragement though. These four are really nice, damn, and we just met them randomly. How’s that happen?

“Jamie, you sound really good, like a local,” Ben smiled. “Take Mitt up on his offer while we’re here. You sound cute but weird-as Jamie."

I wasn't quite sure how to take that and gave Ben a curious smile. "I mean you lose your Australian accent completely when you speak German.”

Peter and the rest of them nodded along with Ben. Apparently, it was so weird to hear my Aussie accent come back when I spoke English that it seemed even stronger when switching between German and English. Well, duh…

After ragging on me about English v German, we all headed off for some late lunch - well, a really late lunch as it was 5 pm local time now. So, I guess it’s more an early dinner or something. Whatever, I need food. The feast we had at the bakery had filled us up more than I thought. Normally, I would have been dying of hunger by now without food. As we walked along, everyone was talking over each other almost. The girls were teaching Ben some basic phrases in German - I caught a few phrases they were teaching him - they sounded sexy too, something about riding me like a stallion, which caused me to turn my head and smile a very suggestive smile at him. It worked too - Ben’s face lit up like the sky on July 4^th.

The four Germans were amazed that I was from Australia and Ben the US and wanted to know how we met up, you know, being from opposite sides of the planet. Reasonable, I guess. "It's a long story, guys - totally by accident.” I smiled at Ben for a second. “But if we find beer and food, I’d tell you the whole thing. Okay, I’m starved!”

Ben chimed in. “It’s a story and a half, but I need some food too.”

..o0o..

“Okay,” Mitt grabbed Lina’s hand “Kommen Sie auf – Let’s go (Come on let's go).” We headed off, wandering down the backstreets that looked like they were out of a storybook: the old section of the city we were in was all cobblestone roads and narrow little sidewalks with pretty flowers outside some shops. Others had ultra-modern décor going on, but it all worked well.

Mitt and Lina promised that the place we were looking for was just around the corner and they were right. The street opened out to a small courtyard with all these really cool and pretty shops. I’d mentioned to Peter that I wanted to get something as a surprise for Ben. Thankfully Ben didn’t speak a word of German, so Peter and Mia told me where the shop was that I needed.

“Hey, Texas!”- Peter had given Ben a nickname because of his southern drawl, plus he overheard me call Ben ‘Tex” a couple of times, I think. “You can come with Mia and me. We will show you the shops. Leave the Kangaroo here.”

They all burst into laughter. “Kangaroo… really!” I couldn’t help but laugh - it was funny.

Funny also that Peter had noticed Ben’s southern accent. It had softened a little from what you would normally hear from Texans, apparently. When I listened to him chatting to Mia, it was true it had since we first met in Austin - a lot really. Guess my Australianises was having a subtle effect on him.

Smiling, I let out a little laugh and turned to Mitt. “I hardly noticed Ben’s accent now when he speaks - guess I’d become accustomed to it.” I shrugged my shoulders.

Mitt smiled. “It’s quite interesting to listen to the two of you talking. Your Australian accent isn’t as strong as you know, the crocodile man – Steve Erwin. But it’s very strong, more English sounding, whereas your boyfriend is very American.”

I went to correct Mitt, as Ben wasn’t really my boyfriend - well we hadn’t done the whole, exclusive thing talk. I stopped.

“What’s up, Kangaroo?” Mitt pulled me out of my head - obviously my deep thoughts were giving me away.

“I was going to say that Ben wasn’t, isn’t-my boyfriend. We haven’t really said it to each other, you know.”

"Well, if he's not and you're traveling around Europe together, walking along holding hands, kissing alongside the river, what do you Australians call it?”

“Smartass.”

Mitt looked at me strangely. “Ist das nicht eine wütende Art, jemanden anzurufen?” (Is that not an angry way of calling someone?)

“Oh yeah, sorry I meant that you were being… cheeky, rude but funny too.” Germans - always straight to the point no bull-shitting around. “Yeah, good point I guess. He is my boyfriend."

Hmmm, Texan boyfriend with a sexy accent and … Goddamn! When Ben returned I did notice it. Yes, it made me go all weak at the knees.

Peter and Mia grabbed Ben and whisked him off while Mitt, Lina and I headed off to the other stores. After trying on a few different sets of ‘lederhosen,’ finally, I settled for one set. Lina said it looked good on me and was trying to get Mitt to get one too, but no dice. Thankfully, I had my trusty backpack to stash my purchase in so Ben was none the wiser.

After finishing up and Lina trying in vain to get Mitt to buy one as well, luckily for Mitt, we met up with Ben and Mia a few moments later. “How’d you go, Jamie? Did you find anything for your niece and nephews?”

“Nah, it wasn’t what I was looking for really - most of the stuff in the stores was more super tourist stuff. I was looking for something authentic, you know,” I responded, smiling away and trying to sell that I’d lucked out as we all started to head towards the town square, which was only a hundred feet away from the Römerberg.

Mia jumped in. “You should see the beautiful things Ben bought. His family will be very happy, I think."

"Thanks, Mia. I couldn’t have don’t it without y’all helping out. I had no idea what the sales staff were saying to me, none.” Ben smiled, a little embarrassed looking.

The six of us came to a stop. Both Ben and I looked on amazed. “Wow, the place looks just like gingerbread houses crammed into one another. This is amazing, Jamie! I thought you were crazy when you told me we were going to the Gingerbread house… right? I’m speechless… it’s so beautiful! It looks like a fairy tale picture, something we read in books as kids.” Ben’s face was filled with wonderment. “Thanks, Jamie, for bringing me along with you,” he said, grabbing me into a hug. Then he paused for a second, staring straight into my eyes, like he could almost see my soul. “Thank you.”

I was searching his face. It was…he looked so happy. “My pleasure, Tex.” I leaned in laying a gentle kiss on his lips. An older lady walked over a few moments later and told us that we looked a beautiful couple. I thanked her and we both gave her a hug. I was just about to thank her again when Peter nodded, and jumped in, using more local slang to convert my textbook-schoolboy German. When he explained to her that I was from Australia and Ben from the US-Texas, she was amazed, so sweet.

To be honest, I hadn’t really used any German since Oktoberfest a few years back with Gav and the boys. Then it was ‘Prost’ and more beer. So since high-school finished - it had been a long time. Surprisingly, I’d remembered a lot more than I thought.

Our attention turned back to the old fountain in the centre square. It dated back to 1400 something, the perfect backdrop to get a selfie with our newly found German friends, a nice pic to remember the day with.

Then it was time to get our late lunch with a few beers, pretzel and apfelwein (like cider but way better) underway, so we headed over to the gingerbread houses and got into it, Mitt lead the way.

After a couple of apfelweins, I excused myself for a moment to go to the bathroom, trying to be as ninja-like as possible, taking my backpack with me. Quietly ducking into an empty bathroom stall I started to strip off, changing into my Lederhosen to surprise Ben. I quickly folded my clothes up and put them back into the backpack, stepping out from the stall and checking myself out in the mirror. “Damn, Jamie, you look good if I don’t say so myself!” I remarked, throwing my backpack over my shoulder and heading out. I almost crashed straight into Mitt.

"I've told the guys on stage that you're coming out as a surprise for your boyfriend." Again, these guys with ‘boyfriend’ – “They’re going to play some music and stuff to make it fun. Just go with it, ok Jamie?”

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “Mitt, Ben is going to either love this or die of embarrassment or kill me.”

We both laughed. “Come on. Time for you to maybe-die, Kangaroo.” Taking a deep breath, I followed Mitt out and as soon as he appeared the guys onstage started to play some umpa-pa-umpa-pa music.

Without looking around the room much, I made a beeline for Ben. “Jamie, what the…” was all he managed to get out. The look on his face when he turned around with only a few yards between us was priceless, somewhere between shock and surprise.

Then his smile lit up the room. Ben stood up and turned towards me, “My god, you’re crazy… when did you get this?” Waving his hands up and down in front of me as I walked up almost against him now, he said “But damn you look good in it!”

The smile on Ben’s face said it all, that, plus the mix of applause and banging of steins on the tables - obviously, the locals liked it too.

I couldn’t help myself. Ben looked so cute, I leaned in and kissed him. The guys on stage started calling out, which broke us apart.

“Hey you, no kissing your boyfriend yet. You have to come here,” said the older guy with the microphone pointed to a random spot on the stage.

I turned and looked at our new friends for salvation. They were too busy swiping their hands at me telling me to go. “Okay-okay, jeez guys.” Reluctantly, I turned and walked away to the stage, not quick enough though. Ben managed to lay a slap on my ass as I walked off. I didn't know what to do. I turned back and looked him up and down, mouthing "What the fuck," whilst grinning.

Ben just wiggled his eyebrows at me and shooed me away. Turned out not to be the only ass slap I got on my way to the stage- seems Ben started off a trend. Laughing to myself, after a few more slaps and offers of Snapp’s, I finally did take one person up-on for courage andarrived at the stage.

The guy with the microphone - Hans - was laughing as much as the crowd. “I think I’m the lamb to the slaughter here. “What the hell did Mitt and the guys set me up for?” I mouthed under my breath. Okay, let’s dust off my German. How bad could it go, right? “Guten Tag, mein name ist Jamie.” (Hi, my name is Jamie.)

“Guten Tag Jamie, ich bin Hans.” (Good afternoon Jamie. I am Hans.)

“Wo sind Sie und Ihr Freund von Jamie?” (Where are you and your boyfriend from, Jamie?)

I smiled at that, it sounded… okay? Normal? For someone to call Ben my boyfriend, I was warming up to it. “Australien und Amerika – Texas.” (Australia and America – Texas.)

Hans gave me a strange look for a moment. I was trying to think if I’d said anything wrong. I panicked, “Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut - kann ich bitte Englisch sprechen?” (My German is not too good - can I please speak English, Hans?)

“Yes, please, Jamie,” Hans Smiled. “You did very well though.”

“Danke, Hans.” (Thank you, Hans.)

“Okay, Jamie from Australia. Why are you wearing Lederhosen?”

I could feel my face turn bright red. "My…"I stumbled for a moment - just go with it, I guess - it's going to be too hard to explain that he's not my boyfriend yet. I don't think, or is he? Oh, fuck! Who knows? I don’t… “…boyfriend, the Texan over there.” I pointed straight at Ben. “He wanted me to buy this as a present and see me in it.” I stopped for a second and smiled an embarrassed smile. “Um-so I thought why not here.” I waved my hand around as if I was showing the place off to a salesman. “It’s such an authentic setting, don’t you think, Hans?”

A huge smile came over Han’s face while he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Yes, Jamie, this is fantastic. Okay so,” Hans stopped for a moment, leaning in close to my ear away from the microphone, quietly asking me, “What’s your boyfriend’s nam once more?”

“Ben, Ben Rush from Texas, USA.” I couldn’t help it, I was grinning like a sixteen-year-old lovestruck kid.

Hans pulled back a little and smiled such a kind and warm smile. It made me forget that I was in a foreign country, in a food hall in front of total strangers. I felt so comfortable and home. Weird.

“So, Ben from Texas, USA,” Hans bellowed out, “please come up here on stage with Jamie from Australia.”

I looked over at Ben. He looked like he was going to die with embarrassment. Peter, Mia, Mitt and Lina grabbed him and almost marched a very reluctant Ben halfway through the crowd to the stage. They were going nuts. The locals seemed to enjoy it when people get pulled up onstage or have the total shit embarrassed out of them. It was fun after the initial embarrassment wore off though.

Finally, Ben came up on stage. He grabbed my hand and held on to me for mutual security, I think, with a very deer-in-the -look on his face. I get it now - he pretty much didn't understand what everyone was saying as the crowd was now speaking more German than English for some reason. "It's all good, Ben," I said, looking at his poor scared face. "They're saying mostly that we look good together, or they want to bring us home, because we're cute." That seemed to make him relax, well except for one dickhead that yelled out, "Du kommst mit mir nach Hause, wenn du einen echten Mann willst!” (You come home with me if you want a real man.)

My eyes went straight to the loudmouth. Ben picked up on whatever had been said pissed me off big time. I was about to put my best German cursing to use when Hans jumped in.

“He is going home with a real man. Why would he go home with you?” The place burst into laughter. Hans decided the next ten minutes of our lives was going to be memorable, to say the least. He had us playing trumpets and doing bad yodelling, although Ben wasn't too bad. He's got a nice singing voice. The one loud mouth was soon forgotten. Another of Ben’s many talents - he can sing! A few times I’ve heard him sing around the place has been nice – me, I sent a few people deaf.

Finally, the entertainment ended, Hans succeeded in getting the rest of our party up on stage ringing cowbells in tune while the female singer on stage started signing a local German folk song. The whole place joined in with loads of cheering at the end. It was a great way to end the day.

As we were about to get off stage, Hans grabbed my arm. "Jamie and Ben, for being such good company, please enjoy this on me," he waved his hand and a few waiters walked out with a few plates of food and a round of beers. We both Iooked at the piles of food.

“My god -we won’t have to eat again for a week, Jamie!”

We all thanked Hans and headed back to the table. Ben and I even got a few cheeky looks from a couple of guys in the crowd on the way back to our table. After stuffing ourselves stupid, it was time for us to go before we said our goodbyes. We did the whole Facebook friend thing. Our four new German friends said they were thinking of coming to Australia next year, so I offered to be their local guide if they were in my part of Australia, even offering to put them up for a bit.

From what I remember of the building plans Adam showed me, my new townhouse had some space, and I’m sure Adam could pull a rabbit out of a hat if we needed, an empty place here or there. What are best friend property developers for, right?

A quick goodbye to Hans and we left our new friends at the food hall. I wanted to get to the ‘Main Tower Observation deck’ before we left. The view of the city at night time was supposed to be just ‘amazing…’ that word again! And My god it was.

..o0o..

Ben was standing in front of me, looking out at the beautiful city of Frankfurt below. I’d wrapped my arms around his waist and was just quietly taking it all in. “What a day,” and yes, I was still wearing my lederhosen. Apparently, Ben wasn’t going to let me change till we were in the club lounge at the airport.

“Oh my god, Jamie. Frankfurt has been fantastic, more than I could possibly have imagined. I can’t wait till we touch down in Nice! I can’t believe that I’m going to France.”

I pulled Ben a little closer. “You’re going to love it. The Cote d’azure is just amazing. I think if I had my choice of places to live, it would be in the top three.”

Ben smiled a little unsure. “What are the other two?”

“Well, I love Australia. It’s such an amazing place, plus its home, right? Although I feel pretty attached to Texas lately.”

“Really” Ben blushed.

“Yeah, Lucas has moved down there now,” I smiled trying to keep a straight face, but it didn’t work. We both burst out laughing.

“Hmmm, that’s good to know. I like your cousin and he’s cute too!” Ben shot me an eat-shit grin.

“Lucas and I don’t share.”

“That’s too bad,” Ben replied without giving anything away.

I guess if I’m going to have the whole exclusive talk. Now seems like a good time. “Hey, Ben,” I leaned in and placed my chin on his shoulder, pulling him into me a little, "I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just gonna blurt it out, okay?” Ben craned his head around a little so he could see my face a little. “I'd like us to become exclusive, if that's still a thing you ask." I wasn’t sure if I was being a total dick or what, never been that unsure of myself. Ben wriggled around, now facing me.

“Yes, it is, Jamie. I’d like that, a lot.”

I pulled Ben into a little-secluded spot to the side, as we'd been surrounded by kids - they were almost as entertaining as the city lights. It was like having my niece and nephew around us, but I wanted Ben to myself.

Quietly, I wrapped my warms around his waist, pulling him in closer. We seemed to just stare into each other’s eyes for ages till I proceeded to almost kiss the lips of his face, only stopping when the chimes rang letting us know the place was closing soon. We'd lost track of time totally. “Shit, look at the time! We’ve got 45 minutes to be back at the airport.”

I was a little panicked, but didn’t need to be - the Uber ride was less than ten minutes to the airport. We headed through baggage check and the security gates, into the club lounge with twenty minutes to spare, so had a couple of drinks, then headed down to our hour-and-a-half flight to Nice.

After getting seated and ready for take-off, I noticed the flight was only three-quarters full, so planned to ask the cabin staff if we could move to an empty row. Before I had a chance, the guy next to me asked, so Ben and I enjoyed a flight spread across three seats.

“Jamie?”

“Yeah?” I looked at Ben who had that freshly fucked look about him although we’d only made out for an hour.

“Thanks for a fantastic day. I loved every moment of it.” A cheeky smile wrapped his face. “Particularly when you were going to sort the guy out in the food hall. That was cute, my fireman.”

I went a little red in the face, well a lot really. I leaned in and kissed Ben. “Licked it! You’re mine!”