Page 57 of The Titan and the Trainer

They were both working on the day itself, which was a Friday, so Callum met Julian at his office at 5 p.m., and they travelled back to the penthouse together. Julian was intrigued by the size of Callum’s gift when he saw it. The box was massive, wrapped in red heart-patterned paper, with a huge red satin bow. Callum could barely carry it. Immediately, Julian questioned his own smaller gift to Callum, wondering if he’d made the right decision or not.

In the car, Julian was hyper with excitement and Callum just laughed at him as they held hands in the back seat.

At the penthouse, Martha had excelled herself. The dining table was properly set with a white cloth, and a black silk table runner with embroidered red hearts. She’d put red floating candles in shallow glass bowls with red rose petals, alongside a huge, red-themed floral table centre. There were helium balloons at either end, with more dotted around the penthouse. She’d even changed the lighting to red: something Callum hadn’t even worked out how to do.

Callum hauled his present over to the low unit by the window, which still featured his small, framed photo gift, but sitting alongside it was Julian’s gift to him in a box. Yes, smaller than Callum’s, but still a decent size, neatly wrapped in metallic red paper, and carefully placed in front of it was a card. Callum made great play of putting his box alongside this, with his card propped up in front in the same way. They both took a picture of this, finding it comical, making memories.

They went to get changed and ended up on the bed for some ‘them’ time, creating memories of a different nature. After this, they decided to go for a quick swim, then showered and got changed for dinner.

Callum’s stake in Julian’s dressing room had grown. He now had some drawers on the left-hand side, some wardrobe hanging space, where a collection of his clothes hung, and most importantly, shoe racks for a selection of his sneakers. He’d gradually been leaving things there after each visit, which caused him a few issues when trying to find a specific pair of jeans, or that new mustard jumper. Is it at Julian’s or at home? But he just lived with it.

Fortunately, he had enough sportswear that he could easily distribute it evenly between both, and he also just wore Julian’s if needed, rather liking the feeling that they had been tight to his body, sea kelp scent faintly lingering.

They showered and dressed nicely, Callum in his favourite skinny black jeans, with a black polo shirt that had a red stripe around the neck and arms. It was very fitted, and he liked the way it made his arms look massive. Julian picked simple blue jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt, sleeves rolled up and the top three buttons open wide.

“Mmm, you know I love it when you do that,” Callum said, his hand reaching into the open top, gliding over his manly chest and fuzzy pecs. “And that’s exactly why I do it,” Julian replied, smiling tenderly. They kissed. Julian’s hands were on Callum’s waist, and they shared a nice moment, looking into each other’s eyes. They kissed again, then headed for dinner at 7:30 p.m. as arranged with Martha.

She had tall, modern crystal glasses with a fresh strawberry in the bottom of each, and was pouring chilled champagne for them as they walked through the door. The red lighting had been reduced to low throughout the penthouse, nice music in the background, all creating a lovely, relaxed mood for dinner.

Callum had wondered if it would be odd, her being there, but in honesty she loved both of them, and they felt completely comfortable around her. Plus, he was sure she would disappear as soon as the main meal was served anyway.

They took their drinks down to the sofa, where after a Happy Valentine’s toast, chink of glasses, and a happy kiss, they decided to open cards and presents, whilst Martha finished preparing dinner.

Julian was so excited that Callum said he could open his card first. Callum had found him a nice simple one, made by a local crafter who sold their makes in Chelsea Market. He and Sophia had visited the previous Tuesday on his day off, and as soon as he’d spied the card, he knew it was the one. The base was simple brown cardboard, but it was embossed with a repeating heart pattern. There was a thin red frame around it, and the central focus was a clear glass heart, with red and gold slivers of colour running through it like marbling. It was simple, but something about it caught Callum’s eye.

Julian carefully opened the brown envelope. As soon as he took the card out, he was intrigued by the heart. “Is this real glass?” he asked.

“Yes,” Callum replied. “I just saw it and loved it.”

“I love it, thank you,” Julian replied. He opened the card and read what Callum had written, which was:-

‘To Julian,

my ‘hairy, beary, solid, fit, man mountain’ on our 1st Valentine.

You make me happy.

I ‘L’ U (still too soon!),

Love Cal. xxx’

Julian beamed and didn’t say anything for a moment. He seemed really touched, and Callum noticed his eyes were glistening. “Ah, you big lummox,” Callum said, crushing him into a big hug. “You ok?”

“Yes, I’m good, thanks. This is the first Valentine’s card I’ve ever received, and it just means so much to me that it’s from you, and I have you in my life now.” He kissed him. “Thank you, Cal,” he added, wiping his eyes. “Now you should open yours, please,” grabbing his card from the unit.

Callum felt the card in its red envelope. He opened it carefully. The front had two cartoon figures of avocados, exercising in little white shorts, vests and trainers, with the tagline ‘I’d flex for you, but I don’t want to cause a scene. Happy Valentine’s Day’. Callum laughed, it was funny, especially considering their shared history. He looked at Julian, “Brilliant card, very apt!”

He opened it now to read the message:-

‘To my wonderful Cal,

You know what you mean to me – you’re my entire world.

Meeting you has been the highlight of my life.

I ‘L’ word you….

Julian xxx’