“Oh darling, I know exactly what you mean.” Taylor touched gently on Hugo’s shoulder “I think, if I had more time, I would still be up until 3 A.M working on things. And Amanda would still yell at me to go to bed.” a light chuckle escaped him. “But, I digress.” Aerating his wine by swirling it loosely in his glass, he brought the rim up to his lips. It had such lovely tones to it, knowing he probably would never drink a wine as expensive as this.
Raising his glass to Hugo’s he sat back, a soft smile tugging at his lips “And hopefully, sailing along smoother paths. Not working ourselves to death and such.” and another sip was made, careful eyes watching him from the rim of his glasses.
Taylor crossed his legs, his hand resting on the arm that held the wine glass “I would like that actually, it’s not too often I get to spend time with such lovely company. I think it would make Amanda quite happy to know I’ve made a friend. “he pressed the glass to his lips again “She always worries about me working too much, or stressing myself out. It’s rather sweet actually. Knowing that she cares so much for my..” he chuckles again “Well being..” shaking his head, he aerates his wine again, almost looking off into the distance as he thought.
“How is your son by the way?” he asks, as he leans forward to take a piece of cheese for himself “Ernest correct? Is he doing well? Amanda mentions him sometimes..often in- not so savory situations.” he hides his mouth for a moment, trying to hide a slight smile “Not that that is bad- no- I know Amanda can get into trouble sometimes I- hope I didn’t offend you in any way that was-” oops, that was bad Taylor.
Hugo let out a sigh, a sound that was familiar to every parent around the world. A sound that said: I love my child, but sometimes they are really testing my patience. Offering Taylor a comforting smile, he replied: “Don’t worry! I know Ernest is in a troublesome age, at the moment.”
Taking another bite from the cheese plate, he mused over his son a little more, before adding: “But it has gotten better, since we adopted Duchess. I think, the sense of responsibility a dog like her is giving him, is doing him quite good. His mood swings has gone less aggravated and he definitely has less time to get in trouble, now that he has to walk her every day. A dog of this size needs a lot of exercise. Duchess definitely knows how to tire out my son.”
A warm smile had spread almost automatically across Hugo’s features, as pictures of his son happily running along the piers with Duchess came to his mind. Yes, getting the dog, definitely had been a good decision alltogether. Speaking of good decisions…
Taking one more sip from the wine, he gently placed his glass down on the coffee table, turning in his seat to properly face Taylor. Hugo didn’t consider himself a coward, but he found, that this was actually rather stressful. His palms had gotten sweaty almost instantly and his throat felt dry, despite the wine. And all that even though, he already knew that Taylor was quite positively inclined towards Hugo, if their shared night in Hugo’s room a couple weeks ago was any indication. Yet.
They haven’t had any proper in depth talk about their expectation from each other, or their inclinations towards each other. In short, Hugo wanted to take their dating to the next step and was afraid of being turned down.
“I’m serious, though”, he began, rubbing his sweaty palms on his thighs, “About wanting to do this more often… with you, that is. I-… I’ve grown quite fond of your company, Taylor. In a way, that I haven’t had the chance to feel in a long way. And while I may be a little too old for all those adventurous things, people in romance novels like to do everyday, I would really love to… get romantically involved with you… properly.”
