Hope that Arthur respected him.
Hope that their relationship could last.
Chapter Eighteen
Arthur
On the sixth of May, Arthur was waiting for Jesse at the intersection of Sixty-Fourth Street and Stony Island Avenue, intermittently rubbing his hands together while constantly shifting his stance. Dear God, the fair was only a few feet away! And in less than half an hour, Arthur would finally be able to experience it. Over the last several weeks, Arthur’s heartache over his rejection from the fair had slowly waned, and even though he sometimes still found himself feeling foolishly wistful about what might have been, he was mostly able to focus on whatwas. More precisely, he had managed to shift the energy he’d been spending on trying to secure a spot in the fair over to rekindling his relationship with Jesse and fixing things with Emma. All in all, Arthur was trying to view his rejection as a blessing, rather than a curse. Finally, he was free to let go of his obsession to reclaim the prestige of his family name. At least, temporarily.
Arthur hadn’tcompletelyabandoned his hopes surrounding that just yet. He still hadn’t managed to rid himself of the desire to be more than the nearly ruined son of Warren Hughes, for instance. Neither had he freed himself from the profound yearningto win his parents’ love. Or, if not their love, then at least their respect.
Consequently, Arthur still hadn’t invited Jesse to visit him at his home. Instead, he and Jesse had been spending their Saturdays in Bridgeport, just as they had been prior to that extremely unfortunate night in February. It wasn’t that Arthur wasashamedof Jesse, exactly. Rather, Arthur mostly only wanted to avoid potential ridicule from either his parents or his neighbors over his and Jesse’s friendship. In truth, he hadn’t wanted to broach the topic of him having a male companion with Gertrude, either. Quite simply, Arthur just wanted to enjoy his relationship with Jesse in relative peace for as long as possible. Luckily for him, newspapers were predicting that the fair would be extraordinarily crowded. And so, Arthur hoped that he and Jesse might spend their time there unnoticed by others in Arthur’s social circle. Hopefully the other families from Prairie Avenue would be too consumed with the fair’s wonders to pay them any mind.
Yes, it was Arthur’s sincerest hope that the World’s Columbian Exposition might provide him and Jesse with some temporary anonymity in public. And Arthur was oh-so-ready to revel in it.
Fifteen more minutes passed before Arthur finally caught sight of Jesse walking toward him. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, Arthur held his hand up high and waved.
“There you are!” he exclaimed.
Jesse’s soft laugh only barely reached Arthur’s ears while he was still so far away. Once Jesse was finally close enough to touch, Arthur wasted no time taking the opportunity to do exactly that. He placed a hand on Jesse’s shoulder and squeezed.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
Jesse’s cheeks reddened in that wonderfully familiar way of his.
“God, I love that blush of yours,” Arthur said, keeping his voice low.
Jesse sighed. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I know.” After one more firm squeeze, Arthur removed his hand to search for the tickets inside his inner breast pocket, raising his eyebrows a couple of times in a playful manner while he fished for them. “I’m so excited!”
“I can tell,” Jesse replied as Arthur retrieved the tickets.
Arthur handed one to Jesse, who immediately began studying it with interest, his eyes focusing on the printed image of Benjamin Franklin. After a moment, his eyes flitted over to the portrait on Arthur’s ticket.
“George Friedrich Handel,” Arthur explained.
“I know. He’s a composer, right?”
Arthur grinned. “He is! Mr. O’Connor, have you been studying up on the fair?”
“Only so that I might keep up with you.”
Humming, Arthur said, “I bet it’s more than that. I bet you’re excited.”
“Not in the least,” Jesse said with a smirk. “But we’re here, so...”
“Wearehere! I can’t even believe it!” Arthur sucked in a fast breath. “We’re here!”
Jesse huffed a laugh as he started toward the entrance. “Yes, well, let’s get it over with.”
Arthur knocked Jesse with his elbow in retaliation for his horrible comment. Good God, the World’s Columbian Exposition was an experience meant to be savored! Not something to rush through. Hopefully Jesse would learn that for himself once they were inside.
Thankfully, there were only ten people ahead of them in line at the entrance. It wasn’t long before they showed their tickets to the man at the booth and stepped through the break in the fence. Arthur held his breath for the first few steps, only finally releasingit when he realized that, from this particular spot, the fair wasn’t exactly thrilling to look at.
Arthur looked over at his companion as he fought back a frown. Jesse was staring up at the building to their left, his brow furrowed and eyes narrowed.
“What’s this one?” he asked. “I thought the buildings were supposed to be white.”
