Henri joined them in retrieving tiny shards. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“I’m okay.” She sniffed. “But the bowl isn’t. I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz!”
“It’s okay, Tessa. It’s a bowl. I have plenty of those, and they didn’t cost a small fortune like the ones you play.” Actually, his mother had paid a couple thousand for the monstrosity. Henri couldn’t find it in him to care. Perhaps Tessa’s playing left her with a special affinity for bowls in general.
With a festive tablecloth hiding them from view, Sebastian met Henri’s eyes. Something in their coppery depths hadn’t been there before. Under the guise of reaching for the same broken pottery, Seb clutched Henri’s hand for one brief moment.
“What?”
“Tell you later,” Seb replied.
Because of the joint effort of the band members and their assorted “plus ones”—or perhaps in spite of—soon the table filled with a holiday feast. Turkey, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, corn, and rolls lined up in various dishes. “You didn’t have to do this,” Henri told them. “I said I was okay spending the holiday alone.”
Colton (or was it Parker?) said, “Yeah, but you didn’t handle the ‘alone’ part well, so why trust you to manage feeding yourself?” He glanced from Henri to Sebastian and back again, a smirk on his lips. No use telling him,“He’s just a friend.”For all his Bruce Lee delusions, his powers of observation otherwise worked fine.
They sat down at the table, Jake with Maggie, Colton with his brother, gangly Michael with petite Tessa. “Why didn’t you bring someone?” Henri asked Michael.
Michael’s face purpled and Tessa gave a tinkling laugh. A cough barely disguised Michael’s, “I did.”
“Where?”
Tessa laughed again. Oh. Oh!
Tessa and Michael? Someone needed to be the voice of reason. “Will this affect the band?”
“Dude, where did you think ‘She’s Ethereal’ came from?” Michael picked up Tessa’s hand and kissed her knuckles.
Tessa nodded at Sebastian and then focused on Henri. “Not allaffectsare bad. You’ve been hanging around the wrong bands.”
A “Hey, pass the green beans” from Jake ended relationship conversations and started the feast.
No one questioned Sebastian’s presence in Henri’s house or life. Instant acceptance. Whatever capacity he filled met with the band’s approval, apparently. Henri relaxed. “Sebastian here is the reason I can now hit a high C.”
“Oh, that must have been a wild night.” Colton snorted, and Jake guffawed at Michael’s casual comment.
Henri buried his face in his hands. Sebastian patted his back. “You have your hands full with these folks, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
The sniggering died. After a while Michael asked Sebastian, “You’re a vocal coach?”
Tessa answered for him. “He’s a star performer with the North American Opera.”
“I’ve asked him to work with us, refine our sound.” Henri hadn’t considered mentioning future plans yet, but why not take advantage of the moment? Michael might not be open to the idea of working toward replacing Henri’s vocals with his own on the “Ethereal”video before its release. He’d recruit Tessa to help convince the guy.
“Can you help me?” Michael broached the question on his own. Good, better for him to accept the challenge voluntarily. Those lyrics needed Michael’s vocals, especially since he’d written the song for Tessa.
Sebastian fit right in to the group, wrapping a huge hand around the back of Henri’s neck. “If I can get him to stop huffing like a marathon runner in the middle of a line….”
Either they’d already decided Sebastian was Henri’s lover and didn’t care or his status didn’t matter. Period.
After dinner an enthusiastic Michael disappeared into the study with Sebastian. “Loo, loo, loo, loo, loo, loo, loo, loo,” reminded Henri of his first week at Sebastian’s house, what seemed like years ago instead of months.
As they were leaving, Tessa rose up on her toes to whisper in Henri’s ear, “You have our approval. He’s a keeper.” She pecked Henri on the cheek and climbed onto a chair to repeat the process with Sebastian before joining Michael by the door.
The band left, leaving Henri with Sebastian in the foyer. “Earlier you said you’d tell me later. What did you mean?”
Sebastian took Henri’s hand. “There’s been too much going on in my life to consider adding someone on a permanent or semi-permanent basis. And I’d sworn not to use you as a crutch to prop me up while I regain my footing. But seeing you there, not caring about an obviously expensive broken bowl and more concerned for Tessa and her embarrassment, it finally hit home what a decent person you are.”
Now there was an accusation Henri didn’t hear every day. “Sebastian. I’ve been in and out of rehab for years. I was front man for a band called Hookers and Cocaine, for crying out loud, and for the first few years tried to live up to the name. I’m anything but a good person.”
“Yes, you are.” Mimicking Michael’s earlier gesture with Tessa, Seb brought Henri’s fingers to his lips. “And in that moment I realized something.”
“What?”
“I’ve always dreamed of someone like you.”
Best Christmas gift ever.
