The Windows - 1. Chapter 1

A Saturday morning in early May dawned bright and sunny. The weather in New York was perfect. The temperature was 68°F, and would rise to 75°F by mid-day. The humidity was almost non-existent, and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

Bert Cooper awoke, and found himself all wrapped up in his husband’s arms. He had to pee badly, but if he got out of bed, he could not avoid disturbing Peter. He untangled himself anyway, and ran to the bathroom. When he returned, Pete was still snoring lightly. Obviously, Coop, that’s what everybody called him, had not awakened his hubby at all. He gazed down at Pete, and his heart was filled with love. “He’s so handsome,” he thought, and he kissed the sleeping beauty on his forehead.

It was way too beautiful a day to waste in bed, so Coop took a quick shower, shaved, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. He didn’t bother to put clothes on. He and Pete rarely dressed when they were home alone. The two of them laughed about it, and declared that they were always ready to make love. It was Saturday and the two men had the whole weekend to enjoy this glorious weather, and yes, to make love.

While the bagels and the bacon were defrosting, Coop opened the windows in their kitchen and bedroom. He was greeted by a warm spring breeze. He stretched out his arms, breathed in the refreshing air, and thought how wonderful it was to be alive on a day like this. He decided that he was going to wake up Pete, and after breakfast they would take a ride to the country. He pictured them motoring along with all the windows open and basking in the generous and bountiful arms of Mother Nature.

At breakfast, Coop proposed his idea to Pete, who became equally excited by the idea.

Where do you want to go?” Coop asked.

“As I see it, we have three choices. We could drive along the south shore of Long Island out to Montauk, or we could go down to the New Jersey beaches, but my first choice would be to drive upstate to the mountains. It won’t be nearly as congested. The trees must be all leafed out by now. It’ll be beautiful. I really could use a fix of the green stuff.”

“Good choice,” Coop agreed.

*****

Albert Cooper met Peter O’Connor during the first week of their freshman year at SUNY Buffalo. There was an immediate attraction, and fortunately, they didn’t have to guess at their sexual orientation. They met at a smoker for The Gay and Lesbian Coalition.

They had dinner together that night, and made a date for dinner and a movie for the upcoming Friday evening. They neither had dinner, nor went to a movie that night. Coop casually mentioned that his roommate lived in Rochester and had gone home for the weekend. They made love all night and all weekend in Coop’s room. It was torture to break for an occasional meal, and a shower.

They roomed together off campus from sophomore year until graduation. After graduation, Coop went to Fordham Law and got his law degree. Pete earned a doctorate in sociology at Columbia University. They were both very bright, and both got partial scholarships, which made things easier on their parents.

Back in New York, after undergraduate school, they couldn’t afford an apartment, so each lived with his parents, and they were in agony. Finally, they came out. Neither the Coopers nor the O’Connors were shocked at all. Pete’s siblings had all left the nest, but Coop still had a younger brother at home. They shared a bedroom, so Coop moved in with Pete. Finally, they could concentrate on their graduate studies while making plenty of love.

With his doctorate in hand, Pete landed a teaching position at NYU. Now, at the ripe old age of thirty-five, he was a fully tenured professor, and secure in his position.

Coop worked for a prestigious law firm. After three years, he informed the senior partner that he was leaving to go out on his own. The firm immediately offered him a junior partnership to stay. Four years later, he was a senior partner.

Both men were doing well, and by now they had their own one-bedroom apartment in the upscale Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Their love for each other never waned. It grew stronger every day.

*****

They were crossing The George Washington Bridge with all the car windows and their T Top roof open. The breezes were even more refreshing than they had been when Coop opened the windows in their apartment a couple of hours ago.

From there, they took the Palisades Parkway north to the mountains, and to the beauty of upstate New York. The PP was one of the most beautiful highways in the country. It was so heavily tree-lined, it seemed that civilization was nowhere nearby. Despite that, behind the trees there were dozens of charming bedroom communities. The two men kept taking deep breaths, trying to inhale as much of the glorious air as they could.

“This must be what heaven’s like,” Pete shared his thoughts with Coop.

At the end of the Parkway there were two Route 17s. The old road had a single lane in both directions. Over the years it had become necessary to expand the road to accommodate all the traffic going to and from the resorts in The Catskill Mountains. It was easier to build a new highway than to widen the old one. The original Rte. 17 fell into partial disrepair. The businesses which had once lined the road had long since fallen by the wayside, literally. The new Rte. 17 was a superhighway, complete with gas stations, motels, and rest areas.

They opted to take the old Rte. 17 and continue to commune with nature. They drove for over an hour, and found themselves in the middle of nowhere. There had not been a gas station in sight for many miles. They began to second guess their choice, and consulted their navigation system. Just about three miles up ahead there was a side road which would take them over to the new Rte. 17. They decided to get on the new highway before they ran out of gas. The GPS guided them to the side road easily and they turned onto it. According to the GPS, it would be approximately five miles to the new highway.

Halfway to their destination, they saw a little cottage up ahead. As they approached it, they spotted a for sale sign on the front lawn.

“Look at this place,” Pete said. “It looks like a gingerbread house. I expect to see Hansel and Gretel walk out of it any minute now.”

He pulled into the driveway.

“What are you doing?” Coop asked.

“We’ve always talked about getting a secluded getaway place in the country. This cottage fits the bill.”

Pete took a pen and a piece of paper from the glove compartment, and wrote down the telephone number of the realtor. He placed the pen and paper back in the glove compartment, and stepped out of the car.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Coop asked.

“I want to look through the windows and see if I can get a view of what’s inside.”

Coop jumped out of the car also, and followed Pete. As they stepped on the stairs to the front porch, Coop said, “The windows are filthy. I doubt you’ll see anything inside. Let’s go. This place is way too isolated. It’s giving me the willies.”

Pete could not be dissuaded. He stepped on the front porch and approached a window. He peeked in and Coop was right. The window was too dirty to see through. He took out his handkerchief and wiped down a small section of a window pane. Nothing happened. Apparently, the dirt was all on the inside.

He put his palms on each side of his eyes as if he was holding binoculars. Leaning on the window, he looked in. He couldn’t see much, but he could see enough that his brain registered the fact that the cottage was furnished and looked as pleasant inside as out.

Notwithstanding the fact that this was a happy surprise, when he leaned on the window, a strange feeling came over him. He felt like his stomach was filling with bile. It made him angry. He tried to figure out why he became angry instead of being concerned for his health. It came to him in a vivid burst of red light. It was Coop had made him this mad. Coop wasn’t at all excited about buying this place, and he wanted it badly. Right now, he could easily have killed his husband.

He pulled away from the window, and the acidy feeling he had in his stomach was gone, but he was still angry at Coop. There were two wicker chairs on the porch. He sat down on one and pulled out his cell phone.

“What are you doing?” Coop asked. He sounded a little exasperated.

“I’m calling the realtor. I want to buy this place.” He looked at his phone. He couldn’t get any reception.

“Shit, he said. I’ll have to call from home. There’s no reception here.”

“Good,” Coop said. “You can’t make a decision like this without me, and I’m not keen on the idea.”

“Then I’ll buy it by myself.”

Coop was shocked. Since the day they met, they had always done everything together.

Pete jumped back in the car, and beckoned Coop to follow.

“Where are we going?” Coop asked.

“Home, I want to call the realtor as soon as possible.”

They didn’t speak to each other all the way back to Manhattan.