Roman - Part 11

All characters involved in sexual scenes are 18+

Crowds of people scurried up and down the streets, bags in their hands and scarves wrapped around their necks. The air was crisp and chilly with Christmas right around the corner, and even though most people had already finished their shopping, I was only starting.

"I don't know what he likes!" I groaned, for the third time, "I mean, I do, but I don't know what to get him".

"You're thinking about it too much, son" dad told me, his hands full of shopping bags, "my advice is to get him the first thing you see".

I turned my head toward the shop window next to us to see a mannequin wearing some very revealing lingerie.

"Maybe not that shop" he added.

We'd been out for hours. So far I'd gotten my brother some Fortnite stuff, obviously. My mom was getting her favourite perfume and dad was getting the same thing I'd gotten him since I was five years old, which was a plastic tool box that he pretended to keep tools in, but which was almost always used to store beer.

Roman, on the other hand, was proving increasingly difficult to buy for.

"Does he stink?" Dad asked, as we walked by yet another designer cologne store.

"No" I replied coldly, "he smells great".

Dad sniggered and shoved me with his elbow. "Oh, you are in love" he chuckled.

With each store we passed, my hopes of finding Roman the perfect gift were dashed a little more, and by the time we reached the car, I still had nothing.

"We've got to get going, champ" dad told me, "your mom will poison us if we're late to the family reunion".

Dad's tone perfectly represented how I felt about the stupid family dinner. It was something of a tradition, and even mom had grown to hate it over the years, yet it continued to happen, every damn year.

"Why don't you try that place" he asked, pointing at a stand alone store that looked like it was five million years old.

"Dad, he's not an old man" I groaned, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know what to tell you, bud" he half laughed, "you've been to every store in the city".

He was almost right, and with less than a week to the big day, my options were becoming increasingly limited.

"Fine" I sighed, "I'll be right back".

The place looked exactly like I expected it to look. It was dark, dusty and the old woman behind the counter looked like she'd died years ago. She was frail, wrinkled and had a purple bandana wrapped around her head.

"Hello child" she grinned, and I could see now that her eyes were almost completely white. She wasn't looking at me, either, her gaze was held somewhere toward the ceiling.

"I'm um... I'm not a child" I said awkwardly, because it was clear that the old lady was blind.

"No" she replied, her hand helping her to find her way from around the counter as she continued looking up, "but barely a man".

I cocked a brow. I wasn't above throwing hands with a blind ninety year old.

"Wrong shop" I smiled, and turned on my heel.

"Is it?"

I stopped.

"Or are you looking for a gift for your special person?".

I looked back over my shoulder to find the woman hunched near one of the glass cabinets that was thick with dust.

"So child" she continued, running her hand an inch above the glass, "are you in love with him?"

My eyes widened. How did she know?

"Sight is not the only form of seeing, you know" she smiled, showing unfortunate teeth, "we see with our hearts, too, but you young people rarely allow yourselves to do it".

"I uh... I really gotta go" I said, feeling more uncomfortable by the second.

"You want to impress him" she said, her hand now paused over the cabinet, "but you're worried that he'll spend more on you, than you will on him".

Who the hell was this woman? I gawped at her, scratching my head and watching as she fumbled her fingers onto the handle and slid the glass door open.

"He will" she cackled, "his gift will dwarf yours, but only in cost". She took out a box and returned to the counter, and with one gnarled finger, she beckoned me forward and I gulped.

"You're seeing with your eyes, sweet child" she smiled, "do I frighten you?"

Yes. She did frighten me, but I also didn't want to be rude, so I swallowed the lump in my throat and walked over.

"There" she nodded, "your heart has guided you, and that is how one chooses the perfect gift for a loved one".

I forced a smile until I remembered she couldn't see. "Um... Yeah" I said.

She opened the small box whilst staring blankly above my head. If this was some type of scam, I had to admit, it had me going. When she finally turned it around to me, I rolled my eyes.

"I really have to go" I said, and as I turned, her hand lashed out and grasped my wrist.

"You will leave here with this" she nodded, "and you will give it to him".

For a brittle old woman, her grip was strong. I stared from her discoloured fingers back to the box and sighed.

"How much?"

"It is of no value to me" she said, and I could see why.

It was a black necklace with a sliver of emerald hanging from it. I was no expert, but it was obvious that it was broken.

"Happy Christmas, David" she whispered, and pushed the box toward me.

I stared at her, my heart beating hard in my chest as I tried to make sense of the place. I didn't believe in this voodoo witchcraft stuff, but the woman had startled me.

"H... Happy Christmas" I replied, and left twenty dollars on the counter as I scurried out of the place.

By the time we got home, half of my family was already there. It's not that I hated most of them, it was just that if the house burned down and they were all trapped inside it, I'd go for ice cream with Roman.

My cousin Sherry was an insufferable bitch, just like her mom, Chrissie. She was older than me by a year, and had always been a thorn in everyone's side. They lived in London now, because Sherry had gotten some modelling contract, and naturally, she'd been telling everyone who'd listen ever since.

"It's awful hard work" she told me again, "so much harder than life here".

"Right" I nodded, ignoring her and her stupid new accent that she never had before.

"It really makes you grow up, you know?" She continued, "living in the big city, away from all of this. It makes you realise how sheltered people are here".

"Excuse me" I smiled, as the door finally sounded.

"Well look at you" Mike beamed up at me, "from the boy who ran into my house in his underpants to the man in a tux!"

My face reddened but I smiled back at him.

"Hey Mike, my dad's in the back trying to hide from the rest of the family. He has beer".

"Beer?" He said, rubbing his hands together, "a man after my own heart".

I watched as he wheeled himself through the chaos and then I turned to the most beautiful man on the planet.

"Sorry, it's invite only" I joked.

"And what would a lowly boy like me have to do to get an invite to a prestigious event such as this?" He asked, stepping closer.

"Some very naughty things" I whispered, and our lips met until Daryl, my hideous little cousin gagged behind me.

"MOM!" He screamed, scarpering into the living room.

"Sorry about him" I sighed as Roman came in, laughing.

"Is it frowned upon to kick a ten year old?" I asked, and he leaned over my shoulder and whispered in my ear.

"Just do it when nobodies watching" he said, "that's what I do".

The two of us laughed again as Sherry appeared and her evil eyes began to sparkle.

"How do you do?" She asked, doing something that resembled a curtsy.

I could tell that Roman was on the verge of cracking up as she presented him with her hand, and he reluctantly kissed it.

"Uh... Good" he nodded, stealing a glance at me, "how um... How do you do?"

"Spectacular" she breathed, "care for a dance?"

Roman gawped and I pulled him away.

"This isn't the twenties, Sherry" I said, pushing him through to the living room, and she quite literally stomped her heel and hurried off.

"Sorry about her" I said, and Roman turned back to me and kissed me once more.

"Stop saying sorry for your family" he grinned, "I'm in love with you, not them".

I smiled back.

"Well" he added, "I might be a little bit in love with your mom".

We laughed again until Uncle Rick walked over and stood next to the two of us. If the rest of my rancid family were bad, Rick was the worst.

"My Daryl" he said, resting his beer can on his large stomach, "said you two boys were up to something".

His southern drawl poured from his plump face and made me shiver. Roman seemed unbothered.

"Now I don't know what my brother allows in this house" he continued, "but I ain't having my son seeing that type of thing, y'hear?"

I clenched my jaw and opened my mouth to have an explosive showdown with my homophobic uncle, but Roman squeezed my shoulder and smiled at the man.

"Of course" he said, and Rick looked at him like he was dirt, and turned back toward the kitchen.

"What the fuck was that?" I snapped, but he grinned at me and kissed my cheek.

"Don't let the assholes get you down, Davey, I have a surprise for you".

With one hand, Roman yanked me from the room and up the stairs. I was still furious with Rick, but I'd deal with that later. For now, I was curious as to what Roman was about to surprise me with.

My bedroom was dark and chilly, but he pushed me in and closed the door.

"You need to clean your bedroom, Davey" he scoffed, picking up a sock and throwing it at me. "Happy Christmas".

We kissed once more, and it was as spectacular as it always was.

"What's the big surprise?" I asked, as he pulled away and watched me through the darkness.

"Can you speak French?" He asked, and I cocked a brow.

"Uh... No"

"Good, because neither can I" he said, and I was becoming more and more confused by the second.

Roman slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a card which he handed to me.

"Open it" he nodded, so I did.

I slid the card from the envelope and stared at the picture of the Eiffel Tower, and my face dropped.

"You didn't" I gasped, my eyes on his.

"Open".

I pried the card open with shaky hands. As amazing as the idea was, I'd gotten him a freaking necklace! I felt sweat begin to form on my body as I read it.

I'd love you anywhere and everywhere. But for Christmas, I'll love you in Paris.

"Roman" I breathed, reading it again, "Roman I can't... This is... This is too much".

He grinned at me and held my face in his hands.

"We leave tomorrow" he told me, "one week. You and me. And maybe some French people, because they live there I suppose".

I felt tears in my eyes as I gawped at the card again. I couldn't believe it. Then the realisation hit me like a truck and I sighed.

"I'm so sorry" I groaned, and pulled the stupid old box from my locker, "I was going to get you something else, it's just... I went to some crazy shop, and the old blind woman was probably a witch or a scammer or something, and I..."

He took the box and held my hand.

"Davey" he whispered, "you're the only thing I want".

I sighed again. He'd gotten me a trip to Paris and I'd gotten him a twenty dollar box. I cringed as he opened it, and cringed even harder as he stared at it.

"I can bring it back" I said, "I just... I can... I... Roman?"

I gawped at him as tears began to roll down his cheeks. Oh god, I'd screwed this whole thing up. Of course I'd screwed it up, I got him a fucking box with a broken necklace! Why was I so fucking stupid!?

"I'm really sorry" I winced, and when he looked up, he was smiling and crying at the same time.

Roman pushed his hand into his shirt pocket and pulled out a green rock. I studied it for a moment, wondering what it was, until he took the necklace out of the box and held the rock to the shard of emerald. It was a perfect match.

"How did you know?" He gasped, wiping his eyes.

"I... I uh... The witc... I mean, the woman in the shop, she said... What is it?"

Roman sniffled and laughed wetly as he shook his head and dried his eyes again.

"It's mine, Davey" he whispered, "my mom got me this before she died, and I lost it a few years ago".

My eyes widened and a rush of shivers rippled through my body.

"Thank you. Thank you so much".