Page 1 of Gift of You
1
LOUIS
December 23
“Fuck. Fuckity, fuck, fuck,fuck!”I muttered harshly under my breath as I hopped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and hastily tied it around my waist. I threw open the door, steam chasing me into the living space as I raced over to the front door and threw it open. “Fuck!” I exclaimed again as the cold December air slammed into me, but I didn’t stop as I stepped out onto the metal balcony that ran the length of the building and allowed residents access to their apartments from the outside.
I knocked on the first door I came to, waiting impatiently for it to open while I concentrated on not freezing my balls off in the meantime. There were many regretful choices I’d made in my life, but at the moment, I couldn’t think of any quite as stupid as running out onto a metal balcony in nothing more than a towel in December.
I was about to give up and try the next door when the one in front of me was abruptly pulled open.
“I’m so sorry to bother you, but...” The words died on my lips as I caught sight of the man filling the doorframe. With salt-and-pepper hair—more salt than pepper at the temples and in his beard—and piercing blue eyes, he was easily one of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen. So different than the look of jaded boredom most men my age in the city affected, this man had a rugged weariness about him, as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.
He didn’t say anything, but his eyebrows drew up in question, reminding me that I’d stopped speaking mid-sentence.
“I’m s-so sorry to bother you,” I stammered. “But I’m in town for my friends’ wedding, and I’ve just realized I’ve forgotten all my toiletries.”
“Five-and-dime’s on the corner.”Five-and-dime?Had I stepped back in time? The door started to swing shut, but I frantically threw my hand out to stop it. “Please. I have to be at my friends’ wedding in an hour, and I’m officiating. I can’t be late, and I don’t have time to run to the... the five-and-dime.”
He glanced up and down my body, his gaze inscrutable, then let out a rough sigh. “Wait here.” He turned and retreated inside, leaving me shivering in the cold in nothing but my towel.
I couldn’t believe I’d gotten myself into this position. I was meticulous when packing, always setting items out well in advance to ensure I didn’t forget anything, but somehow my Dopp kit had been left behind, and unfortunately I hadn’t noticed it until I was already in the shower.
Moments later—moments that felt like hours in the freezing cold air—the man returned with a bottle of Head and Shoulders and a wrapped bar of generic soap. I may have been bald, but I still required adequate moisture for my scalp, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d used anything other than body wash, but I didn’t want to appear ungrateful, so I took the items in hand. He started to shut the door before I could even mutter a thank you, but I stopped him once again.
“Do you have deodorant or a razor? Oh! And a toothbrush?”
“You want to share another man’s deodorant?”
“Well, no. I thought perhaps you’d have a spare?”
“I’m not a drugstore.”
“Yes, well. I guess this will have to do. Thank you!” I called out as I rushed back to the apartment next door, adjusting my glasses before they slid off my face. Slamming the door behind me, I raced back to the shower and jumped in, water still running though colder than when I’d left, and quickly finished bathing.
Fifteen minutes later, dressed in my classic pinstriped navy suit and looking immaculate despite the circumstances, I yanked open the door to the apartment, nearly tripping over something on the threshold. I looked down to find a nondescript brown paper bag sitting just outside the doorway. Looking left and right but seeing no one, I picked it up and peered inside, letting out a gasp as I spotted a toothbrush, travel-sized toothpaste, deodorant, a small can of shaving cream, and a razor. Momentarily stunned, I stood with my mouth agape, but was shaken out of my stupor when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Shifting the bag into my left hand, I pulled out my phone with my right.
Jonathan
Where are you? You should have been here by now.
On my way!
The ceremony starts in 45 minutes.
And I’ll be there in 20. Relax Jon-o
I could practically hear him cursing from here.
2
MATTHEW
I lockedthe door and flipped the sign in the window to “Closed” before turning the light off and plunging my small bookstore into darkness. I didn’t need the light to get around. I’d been taking the same route—front door to the back stairs—nearly every night for the last eleven years. Though it had only been a little over a year that I’d been traveling that path alone.
Owning and running a bookstore had been my wife Allison’s dream, and we’d worked together side by side to make that dream a reality until she’d fallen ill with cancer two years ago, eventually succumbing to the disease ten months later. Saying goodbye had been, without a doubt, the hardest thing I’d ever done, though every day since felt just as hard as the last. Whoever said time healed all wounds was full of shit.
Time stretched out endlessly, but it didn’t heal a damn thing.
