Confessions - Part 7
Title: Confessions
Written by: viggorlibean3 & okinay AKA Gayla & Gwen
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Viggo/Orlando
Disclaimer: No harm, no foul
Warning: No disrespect intended to the clergy
Note: Co-writing exercise fueled by prompt ‘hands and knees’
Note2: The previous chapters have been locked. You'll need to join texas_slash to read the entire series as we post it.
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 |
Confessions - Part 7
Startled blue eyes looked up from where they had been studying the intricate designs woven into the hallway's deep burgundy carpet as if they held all the answers. Answers to the hundreds of questions Orlando was sure to have; answers that Viggo, himself, was still searching for.
"I'm so glad you came back, Viggo." Orlando couldn't help the relief that filled his voice. He stepped back into his apartment and motioned for Viggo to join him. "Please, come inside. I have so much I need to say to you."
Viggo took a step back instead. Even though he was afraid of what Orlando wanted to say to him, he knew if he hadn't returned when he did, he'd never get the nerve to face Orlando anytime soon.
"No, I came back because I… we need to talk." Viggo could see Orlando's eyebrows shoot up and little frown lines appeared in his forehead. "Will you take a walk with me?"
"Okay," Orlando replied a bit hesitantly, not sure if the talking was going to be good or bad. He figured there was a fifty-fifty chance that Viggo might still want a relationship with him so Orlando quickly searched through his set of keys and locked the door.
While they waited for the elevator to arrive, neither man said a word. Orlando looked over at Viggo but would glance away when Viggo would look over at him. Viggo started to speak several times, but each time he held his tongue to avoid blurting out something before they'd had a chance to talk things through.
When the elevator finally arrived, Orlando was on pins and needles. He wanted to apologize again, but didn't speak for fear of sounding like a lovesick fool, which he was, but Viggo didn't need to have proof of that. He'd just gotten up the nerve to ask Viggo what he wanted to talk about when the elevator stopped two floors below Orlando's and an elderly couple entered.
Viggo groaned internally when he recognized the couple, Mr. & Mrs. Hamilton from the church. Just my luck, he thought as they all exchanged pleasantries while the elevator descended toward the first floor.
"Father Viggo. How wonderful to see you." The woman smiled at Viggo. "How very nice of you to visit our building." She looked over at Orlando and said Hello, then turned back toward her husband. "Father Viggo, he's such a Godsend, always visiting those in need. So, why are you here and dressed so… casually?" Viggo couldn't help feeling awkward at being seen without his clergy collar. It wasn't like he'd never been seen outside the church in normal street clothes; he just didn't make a practice out of it.
Orlando could sense Viggo's unease and jumped in, saying that he and the priest were going to 'scout' another basketball team, to see what they're going to be up against in a few weeks. That seemed to appease their curiosity for the moment. The elevator reached the first floor and once the doors opened, everyone exited and headed outside. After a round of goodbyes, Orlando waved at the couple as they, thankfully, walked off in the opposite direction.
"Well that was awkward." Orlando laughed nervously as he fell into step beside Viggo, who had started walking toward the park across the street. When Viggo didn't respond or say where they were going, Orlando shoved his hands in his pockets and continued walking. "You going to tell me where we're going, or am I still being punished for what happened earlier?"
Viggo stopped briefly and looked at Orlando, then started walking again. "Let's keep walking down this way. I want to take us some place private, a place that brings me comfort, a place where we can talk and not be interrupted."
Orlando nodded and kept in step with Viggo as the path they were on wove around the park into the back part of the church property. Orlando always loved the church grounds. The enormous moss-covered oak trees, rolling lawns and small pond were some of the most peaceful places Orlando could recall. It didn't surprise him that Viggo would want to come here. But if they were here, on church property, in a public place, Viggo probably wanted to end things and picked somewhere neutral where Orlando would have no choice but to comply. He could feel his stomach starting to clench as all the worst case scenarios made themselves known in his mind. Surely Viggo wouldn't go to all this trouble to put an end to things? Would he?
Orlando was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't realize Viggo had stopped walking and was speaking to him now. "What?" Orlando could barely hear himself speak for the loud ringing in his ears.
Viggo smiled softly and indicated toward a bench, asking again if Orlando would like to sit down. "Please have a seat."
Orlando quietly walked over and sat down. His heart was beating wildly in his chest; he could hardly breathe as he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He chewed on his lower lip and waited for the axe to fall.
Viggo walked away from the bench and leaned against a nearby tree. He could tell how nervous the young man was; he was nervous as well. Viggo took a long, deep breath before starting to speak.
"I want to apologize for running out on you earlier. You deserved better than that and I am truly sorry for hurting you."
"It's okay, Viggo. I…" Orlando stopped talking when Viggo held up his hand.
"No, I need to finish this. Please let me get this all out now, or I never will."
"Okay." Upon hearing the words 'finish this', Orlando's heart dropped. He dreaded the words to come now even more than he already had been.
"As strange as this may sound, you're not the first man I've been attracted to," he sheepishly admitted as he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
Viggo's quiet admission had Orlando's eyebrows crawling towards his hairline. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it, adhering to Viggo's request that he be allowed to speak.
Seeing the unspoken question written on Orlando's face, he chuckled quietly. "You are, however, the first man I've been attracted to since I took my vows and pledged to live my life as a servant of Christ and the church. The other was many years ago, back when I was in school." Viggo turned and looked out over the pond, the surface rippling as a light breeze caressed the water. "Even though I knew that it was wrong to have feelings for someone of my own sex, it didn't stop me from thinking about him, or wanting him. We were both sophomores in high school, had the majority of the same classes together, shared the same interests. Well, most of the same interests," he offered with a tight smile.
Orlando nodded, indicating that he understood what the priest was inferring.
"We were both art students who loved to draw, sketch, paint. You name it; we took to it like ducks to water. The band director had received permission from the principal to have the school mascot drawn and painted on one of the walls in the band hall and our art teacher asked Scott and I if we would like to take on the project."
"I didn't know you drew," Orlando said as he shifted on the bench, leaned his elbows on the back, crossing his feet in front of him.
Viggo shook his head sadly. "I don't. At least, not anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because of my parents." At Orlando's confused look, he explained. "They found one of my sketchbooks that was full of drawings of naked men. Sometimes it was just their hand or their profile; there were a few of a couple in a passionate embrace, a hand cradling a cheek, some with them kissing. Littered throughout these were drawings of the male anatomy in various stages of… arousal. I was a sixteen year old boy who knew what was what, had even dated a few girls, but they never seemed to hold my interest for long."
"I can totally understand that," Orlando said with a light laugh. "So what did your parents do when they found them?"
"After telling me repeatedly that I would burn in hell for my perversion, they took me outside and made me watch as they burned my sketchbooks, every last one of them. I locked myself in my room and refused to come out. They called our priest, who showed up at our house an hour later." Viggo moved from the trunk of the tree over to the bench, settling himself at the opposite end.
Orlando shook his head in disbelief. "That must have been horrible. How could they…" he started, anger filling him for Viggo's parents doing this to him.
"They lived their life by the Book, Orlando," Viggo offered quietly. "At one time, the church's view was that the sole purpose of sex - and marriage - was procreation. They have modified their stance in recent decades by admitting that it also bonds married couples closer together and strengthens their relationship. But, since the church still regards the main purpose of sex to be procreation, they consider any sexual behavior other than intercourse between a husband and wife to be a grave moral sin. The same goes for masturbation, pre-marital sex, extra-marital affairs and all same-sex behaviors. In my parent's eyes, even though I never acted on my feelings, which I had to assure them time and time again that I had not, just me having those types of thoughts was enough to send them into a tailspin."
"So what happened when the priest arrived?"
"My parents had already told him what had happened on the phone, what they had found, so there was no need to rehash all that, so as soon as he stepped foot inside our house, they asked that he 'fix' me. I wouldn't have put it past my mother to ask him to perform some sort of exorcism if she thought it would help," he recalled with a self-depreciative laugh.
"What did he do?" Orlando turned sideways on the bench, tucking a leg beneath him.
Viggo leaned back, draped his right arm over the back of the bench. He looked at Orlando as he continued. "He asked if there was some place we could go to talk, just the two of us. We had a picnic table in our backyard, and it was far enough away from the house that what was said between us would not be overheard, so that's where we went. He said that he wouldn't rush me, wouldn't force me into talking, said that I would talk when I was ready. I was angry and embarrassed and didn't want to speak to anyone about it. For a long while we just sat in silence together. Finally, he turned to me and said that even if I did nothing else, I needed to ask God for forgiveness because I knew that what I was doing was a sin. He also said that I was welcome to come to him anytime, and that what was said between us would never be repeated."
Viggo stood and stretched, raising his arms above his head, reaching for the sky.
"So, did you go see him?" Orlando asked as he tried - and failed - to keep his eyes trained on the man's face, not on the strip of skin that Viggo's raised shirt uncovered. He remembered touching that skin earlier and his fingers tingled, wanting to feel it again.
"Eventually," Viggo answered as he leaned against the back of the bench. "I was still embarrassed, but he assured me that I wasn't the first person he had counseled for these transgressions. The more I went, the more open I was. At first, I saw him once a week, and then later, two and three times a week. I told him about Scott, our friendship, the crush I had on him, about how I felt uneasy around girls… everything. It was like a dam had burst and I was helpless to stop it. After that, we started talking about religion in general, the differences between them, why things were the way they were."
Orlando folded his arms on the back of the bench, resting his chin on them. "So that's when you decided to become a priest," he guessed.
Viggo nodded. "Yeah, but I still had two more years of school to get through. I became involved with the kids at the church, helped them with community service projects, helped Father Carmichael with services, things of that nature. My meetings with him continued; he was the one who helped me get into seminary school."
"So what happened to Scott? Did he ever know about your feelings for him?"
Viggo felt an overwhelming wave of sadness as he thought about the young man. "No," he said as he looked down to where Orlando was seated on the bench. There was no mistaking the sadness in Viggo's eyes. "He never knew, at least I don't think so. I never made any overt gestures towards him, nothing more than what a friend would do. We worked on the art project together, but about half-way through, his father received new orders from the Army and they moved."
Orlando felt horrible for the other man. Taking a chance, slowly he reached out and lay his hand over Viggo's where it rested on the back of the bench. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Viggo's thumb lifted a fraction, capturing Orlando's beneath it. "Thank you. So." Viggo took a deep breath and squeezed Orlando's fingers. "Enough about me, tell me about what it was like for you growing up."
"Well, mine isn't nearly as interesting as yours. I knew pretty early on that I was gay. I think I shocked my parents during dinner one evening when I blurted out that I was gay after asking for the mashed potatoes." Orlando laughed fondly at the memory. "But, you know, somehow I lucked out with my parents and they were very accepting, not to mention protective, of me. I knew at the time I was very fortunate to have them on my side." Orlando picked Viggo's hand up and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles. "I'm sorry you didn't have it that easy."
"It's okay." Viggo replied as he moved from his position behind the bench and sat next to Orlando. "My parents were only doing what they felt was right for me at the time. Plus, we're talking about a twenty-year time difference, so a lot of things had changed during those years. I'm glad you had it easier."
"Sometimes I think I had it too easy," Orlando whispered quietly.
"You wouldn't be who you are today if not for the life lessons you encountered along the way. I'm sure things weren't always so easy for you, right?"
Orlando shook his head, his curls brushing the top of his shoulders. "No, not always. The first time I had someone treat me differently because of my sexual orientation was a big shock to me."
"What happened?" Viggo placed his hand over Orlando's and squeezed the long fingers to encourage him to continue.
Orlando turned to look at the man next to him. "I was in line for a promotion at a hotel where I was working but was passed over. I couldn't understand why and went to speak to the boss. I was standing outside her office when I heard her speaking on the phone to someone else, saying she would never promote a faggot as long as she was manager. I've never forgotten the hurt, shame, and rage I felt at that moment."
"Orlando, that's horrible!" Viggo was furious on behalf of the young innocent man. "What did you do?"
"I walked out of the hotel and went to work for their competitor down the street. I heard later that the manager was fired for comments she made to some of cleaning service, not knowing that one of the girls could understand English. I got my revenge in the end by becoming assistant manager within a year and had the pleasure of not hiring her when she came to my hotel to interview. Poetic justice, don't you think?"
"Yes it is. We try to teach people acceptance; unfortunately, there are people in this world who don't follow the same rules. I'm sorry you were subjected to that type of treatment, Orlando." Viggo glanced down at his watch and noticed how late it was getting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for us to stay here so long."
"Viggo." Orlando took a deep breath; he didn't want Viggo to leave when they were just getting to know one another. "Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"
"Tonight?" Viggo's heart caught in his throat. He wanted to go anywhere Orlando was but he didn't want them to get caught up in each other again.
"Yes, unless you have other plans. I understand if you do." Chewing nervously on his bottom lip, Orlando didn't see blue eyes watching him closely. "I'd like to make it up to you after what happened earlier."
"You don't have anything to make up for, but yes I'd love to join you. Where?"
Where? Orlando thought about the various restaurants near his home and decided to take a chance. "My place? I promise to keep my hands to myself." Orlando couldn't help grinning and Viggo chuckled in return.
"Okay. Should we stop and pick something up or do you have something you can make for us?"
"We could pick up some Chinese take-out, if that's okay? I do have some wine we can open."
"Sounds good. Lead the way."
From the window of his office, Ian watched the two men as they rose from the bench and made their way towards the gate at the back of the property. He smiled, noticing the way their shoulders brushed as they walked and offered up a silent prayer that God watch over them until their safe return.
Note: Everyone still with us? :o)
Part 8
Written by: viggorlibean3 & okinay AKA Gayla & Gwen
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Viggo/Orlando
Disclaimer: No harm, no foul
Warning: No disrespect intended to the clergy
Note: Co-writing exercise fueled by prompt ‘hands and knees’
Note2: The previous chapters have been locked. You'll need to join texas_slash to read the entire series as we post it.
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 |
Confessions - Part 7
Startled blue eyes looked up from where they had been studying the intricate designs woven into the hallway's deep burgundy carpet as if they held all the answers. Answers to the hundreds of questions Orlando was sure to have; answers that Viggo, himself, was still searching for.
"I'm so glad you came back, Viggo." Orlando couldn't help the relief that filled his voice. He stepped back into his apartment and motioned for Viggo to join him. "Please, come inside. I have so much I need to say to you."
Viggo took a step back instead. Even though he was afraid of what Orlando wanted to say to him, he knew if he hadn't returned when he did, he'd never get the nerve to face Orlando anytime soon.
"No, I came back because I… we need to talk." Viggo could see Orlando's eyebrows shoot up and little frown lines appeared in his forehead. "Will you take a walk with me?"
"Okay," Orlando replied a bit hesitantly, not sure if the talking was going to be good or bad. He figured there was a fifty-fifty chance that Viggo might still want a relationship with him so Orlando quickly searched through his set of keys and locked the door.
While they waited for the elevator to arrive, neither man said a word. Orlando looked over at Viggo but would glance away when Viggo would look over at him. Viggo started to speak several times, but each time he held his tongue to avoid blurting out something before they'd had a chance to talk things through.
When the elevator finally arrived, Orlando was on pins and needles. He wanted to apologize again, but didn't speak for fear of sounding like a lovesick fool, which he was, but Viggo didn't need to have proof of that. He'd just gotten up the nerve to ask Viggo what he wanted to talk about when the elevator stopped two floors below Orlando's and an elderly couple entered.
Viggo groaned internally when he recognized the couple, Mr. & Mrs. Hamilton from the church. Just my luck, he thought as they all exchanged pleasantries while the elevator descended toward the first floor.
"Father Viggo. How wonderful to see you." The woman smiled at Viggo. "How very nice of you to visit our building." She looked over at Orlando and said Hello, then turned back toward her husband. "Father Viggo, he's such a Godsend, always visiting those in need. So, why are you here and dressed so… casually?" Viggo couldn't help feeling awkward at being seen without his clergy collar. It wasn't like he'd never been seen outside the church in normal street clothes; he just didn't make a practice out of it.
Orlando could sense Viggo's unease and jumped in, saying that he and the priest were going to 'scout' another basketball team, to see what they're going to be up against in a few weeks. That seemed to appease their curiosity for the moment. The elevator reached the first floor and once the doors opened, everyone exited and headed outside. After a round of goodbyes, Orlando waved at the couple as they, thankfully, walked off in the opposite direction.
"Well that was awkward." Orlando laughed nervously as he fell into step beside Viggo, who had started walking toward the park across the street. When Viggo didn't respond or say where they were going, Orlando shoved his hands in his pockets and continued walking. "You going to tell me where we're going, or am I still being punished for what happened earlier?"
Viggo stopped briefly and looked at Orlando, then started walking again. "Let's keep walking down this way. I want to take us some place private, a place that brings me comfort, a place where we can talk and not be interrupted."
Orlando nodded and kept in step with Viggo as the path they were on wove around the park into the back part of the church property. Orlando always loved the church grounds. The enormous moss-covered oak trees, rolling lawns and small pond were some of the most peaceful places Orlando could recall. It didn't surprise him that Viggo would want to come here. But if they were here, on church property, in a public place, Viggo probably wanted to end things and picked somewhere neutral where Orlando would have no choice but to comply. He could feel his stomach starting to clench as all the worst case scenarios made themselves known in his mind. Surely Viggo wouldn't go to all this trouble to put an end to things? Would he?
Orlando was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't realize Viggo had stopped walking and was speaking to him now. "What?" Orlando could barely hear himself speak for the loud ringing in his ears.
Viggo smiled softly and indicated toward a bench, asking again if Orlando would like to sit down. "Please have a seat."
Orlando quietly walked over and sat down. His heart was beating wildly in his chest; he could hardly breathe as he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. He chewed on his lower lip and waited for the axe to fall.
Viggo walked away from the bench and leaned against a nearby tree. He could tell how nervous the young man was; he was nervous as well. Viggo took a long, deep breath before starting to speak.
"I want to apologize for running out on you earlier. You deserved better than that and I am truly sorry for hurting you."
"It's okay, Viggo. I…" Orlando stopped talking when Viggo held up his hand.
"No, I need to finish this. Please let me get this all out now, or I never will."
"Okay." Upon hearing the words 'finish this', Orlando's heart dropped. He dreaded the words to come now even more than he already had been.
"As strange as this may sound, you're not the first man I've been attracted to," he sheepishly admitted as he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
Viggo's quiet admission had Orlando's eyebrows crawling towards his hairline. He opened his mouth but quickly closed it, adhering to Viggo's request that he be allowed to speak.
Seeing the unspoken question written on Orlando's face, he chuckled quietly. "You are, however, the first man I've been attracted to since I took my vows and pledged to live my life as a servant of Christ and the church. The other was many years ago, back when I was in school." Viggo turned and looked out over the pond, the surface rippling as a light breeze caressed the water. "Even though I knew that it was wrong to have feelings for someone of my own sex, it didn't stop me from thinking about him, or wanting him. We were both sophomores in high school, had the majority of the same classes together, shared the same interests. Well, most of the same interests," he offered with a tight smile.
Orlando nodded, indicating that he understood what the priest was inferring.
"We were both art students who loved to draw, sketch, paint. You name it; we took to it like ducks to water. The band director had received permission from the principal to have the school mascot drawn and painted on one of the walls in the band hall and our art teacher asked Scott and I if we would like to take on the project."
"I didn't know you drew," Orlando said as he shifted on the bench, leaned his elbows on the back, crossing his feet in front of him.
Viggo shook his head sadly. "I don't. At least, not anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because of my parents." At Orlando's confused look, he explained. "They found one of my sketchbooks that was full of drawings of naked men. Sometimes it was just their hand or their profile; there were a few of a couple in a passionate embrace, a hand cradling a cheek, some with them kissing. Littered throughout these were drawings of the male anatomy in various stages of… arousal. I was a sixteen year old boy who knew what was what, had even dated a few girls, but they never seemed to hold my interest for long."
"I can totally understand that," Orlando said with a light laugh. "So what did your parents do when they found them?"
"After telling me repeatedly that I would burn in hell for my perversion, they took me outside and made me watch as they burned my sketchbooks, every last one of them. I locked myself in my room and refused to come out. They called our priest, who showed up at our house an hour later." Viggo moved from the trunk of the tree over to the bench, settling himself at the opposite end.
Orlando shook his head in disbelief. "That must have been horrible. How could they…" he started, anger filling him for Viggo's parents doing this to him.
"They lived their life by the Book, Orlando," Viggo offered quietly. "At one time, the church's view was that the sole purpose of sex - and marriage - was procreation. They have modified their stance in recent decades by admitting that it also bonds married couples closer together and strengthens their relationship. But, since the church still regards the main purpose of sex to be procreation, they consider any sexual behavior other than intercourse between a husband and wife to be a grave moral sin. The same goes for masturbation, pre-marital sex, extra-marital affairs and all same-sex behaviors. In my parent's eyes, even though I never acted on my feelings, which I had to assure them time and time again that I had not, just me having those types of thoughts was enough to send them into a tailspin."
"So what happened when the priest arrived?"
"My parents had already told him what had happened on the phone, what they had found, so there was no need to rehash all that, so as soon as he stepped foot inside our house, they asked that he 'fix' me. I wouldn't have put it past my mother to ask him to perform some sort of exorcism if she thought it would help," he recalled with a self-depreciative laugh.
"What did he do?" Orlando turned sideways on the bench, tucking a leg beneath him.
Viggo leaned back, draped his right arm over the back of the bench. He looked at Orlando as he continued. "He asked if there was some place we could go to talk, just the two of us. We had a picnic table in our backyard, and it was far enough away from the house that what was said between us would not be overheard, so that's where we went. He said that he wouldn't rush me, wouldn't force me into talking, said that I would talk when I was ready. I was angry and embarrassed and didn't want to speak to anyone about it. For a long while we just sat in silence together. Finally, he turned to me and said that even if I did nothing else, I needed to ask God for forgiveness because I knew that what I was doing was a sin. He also said that I was welcome to come to him anytime, and that what was said between us would never be repeated."
Viggo stood and stretched, raising his arms above his head, reaching for the sky.
"So, did you go see him?" Orlando asked as he tried - and failed - to keep his eyes trained on the man's face, not on the strip of skin that Viggo's raised shirt uncovered. He remembered touching that skin earlier and his fingers tingled, wanting to feel it again.
"Eventually," Viggo answered as he leaned against the back of the bench. "I was still embarrassed, but he assured me that I wasn't the first person he had counseled for these transgressions. The more I went, the more open I was. At first, I saw him once a week, and then later, two and three times a week. I told him about Scott, our friendship, the crush I had on him, about how I felt uneasy around girls… everything. It was like a dam had burst and I was helpless to stop it. After that, we started talking about religion in general, the differences between them, why things were the way they were."
Orlando folded his arms on the back of the bench, resting his chin on them. "So that's when you decided to become a priest," he guessed.
Viggo nodded. "Yeah, but I still had two more years of school to get through. I became involved with the kids at the church, helped them with community service projects, helped Father Carmichael with services, things of that nature. My meetings with him continued; he was the one who helped me get into seminary school."
"So what happened to Scott? Did he ever know about your feelings for him?"
Viggo felt an overwhelming wave of sadness as he thought about the young man. "No," he said as he looked down to where Orlando was seated on the bench. There was no mistaking the sadness in Viggo's eyes. "He never knew, at least I don't think so. I never made any overt gestures towards him, nothing more than what a friend would do. We worked on the art project together, but about half-way through, his father received new orders from the Army and they moved."
Orlando felt horrible for the other man. Taking a chance, slowly he reached out and lay his hand over Viggo's where it rested on the back of the bench. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
Viggo's thumb lifted a fraction, capturing Orlando's beneath it. "Thank you. So." Viggo took a deep breath and squeezed Orlando's fingers. "Enough about me, tell me about what it was like for you growing up."
"Well, mine isn't nearly as interesting as yours. I knew pretty early on that I was gay. I think I shocked my parents during dinner one evening when I blurted out that I was gay after asking for the mashed potatoes." Orlando laughed fondly at the memory. "But, you know, somehow I lucked out with my parents and they were very accepting, not to mention protective, of me. I knew at the time I was very fortunate to have them on my side." Orlando picked Viggo's hand up and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles. "I'm sorry you didn't have it that easy."
"It's okay." Viggo replied as he moved from his position behind the bench and sat next to Orlando. "My parents were only doing what they felt was right for me at the time. Plus, we're talking about a twenty-year time difference, so a lot of things had changed during those years. I'm glad you had it easier."
"Sometimes I think I had it too easy," Orlando whispered quietly.
"You wouldn't be who you are today if not for the life lessons you encountered along the way. I'm sure things weren't always so easy for you, right?"
Orlando shook his head, his curls brushing the top of his shoulders. "No, not always. The first time I had someone treat me differently because of my sexual orientation was a big shock to me."
"What happened?" Viggo placed his hand over Orlando's and squeezed the long fingers to encourage him to continue.
Orlando turned to look at the man next to him. "I was in line for a promotion at a hotel where I was working but was passed over. I couldn't understand why and went to speak to the boss. I was standing outside her office when I heard her speaking on the phone to someone else, saying she would never promote a faggot as long as she was manager. I've never forgotten the hurt, shame, and rage I felt at that moment."
"Orlando, that's horrible!" Viggo was furious on behalf of the young innocent man. "What did you do?"
"I walked out of the hotel and went to work for their competitor down the street. I heard later that the manager was fired for comments she made to some of cleaning service, not knowing that one of the girls could understand English. I got my revenge in the end by becoming assistant manager within a year and had the pleasure of not hiring her when she came to my hotel to interview. Poetic justice, don't you think?"
"Yes it is. We try to teach people acceptance; unfortunately, there are people in this world who don't follow the same rules. I'm sorry you were subjected to that type of treatment, Orlando." Viggo glanced down at his watch and noticed how late it was getting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for us to stay here so long."
"Viggo." Orlando took a deep breath; he didn't want Viggo to leave when they were just getting to know one another. "Would you like to join me for dinner tonight?"
"Tonight?" Viggo's heart caught in his throat. He wanted to go anywhere Orlando was but he didn't want them to get caught up in each other again.
"Yes, unless you have other plans. I understand if you do." Chewing nervously on his bottom lip, Orlando didn't see blue eyes watching him closely. "I'd like to make it up to you after what happened earlier."
"You don't have anything to make up for, but yes I'd love to join you. Where?"
Where? Orlando thought about the various restaurants near his home and decided to take a chance. "My place? I promise to keep my hands to myself." Orlando couldn't help grinning and Viggo chuckled in return.
"Okay. Should we stop and pick something up or do you have something you can make for us?"
"We could pick up some Chinese take-out, if that's okay? I do have some wine we can open."
"Sounds good. Lead the way."
From the window of his office, Ian watched the two men as they rose from the bench and made their way towards the gate at the back of the property. He smiled, noticing the way their shoulders brushed as they walked and offered up a silent prayer that God watch over them until their safe return.
Note: Everyone still with us? :o)
Part 8