Ink & Flowers (13 page)

Chagrined, Luke went back to unloading boxes of miniature terrariums, his hands shaking dangerously.  Great, now what was he supposed to do? He couldn't miss Cooper, he
couldn't
. But he couldn't very well go up to Beth and tell her that his sort-of-boyfriend might be stopping by, and could she let him know if he did? The idea sounded worse than death.

One of the terrariums slipped from his sweaty fingers and crashed to the ground.
Shit
. He wasn't normal. Maybe he should try anxiety medication again. Or perhaps he should just eat more often.

"Luke, are the gerberas in?"

Gerberas.
Luke looked up, startled. Cooper got gerberas a lot. Beth poked her head around the corner, her expression sharp. "Luke, gerberas."

"Oh, yeah, in the cooler."

"Get me two bunches, please."

Luke trotted into the cooler to grab the flowers, hands gripped tight around them. He brought them to Beth, forcing himself to speak. "Who are they for?"

"A customer, obviously, back to work." She grabbed them from him and moved to leave. Luke tried to follow her instinctively. "Luke, I need those unpacked. Clean that up, please," she nodded at the smashed terrarium and left.

Luke swept the glass up as quickly as possible, listening desperately for some clue. The noise of the register, Beth talking, crinkling as the flowers were wrapped. Plastic. Then at last, a curt, low voice. "Thanks, see you later."

It was Cooper, he knew it was Cooper! The door chimed, and Luke flew out to the front. "Was a man here with tattoos?"

Beth blinked at him. "Yes, why?"

Luke frantically tore at his apron. "I need to go on my break."

"What, right now?"

"Yes!"

"Well, all right, but—"

Luke didn't wait for her to finish. He ran to the door, pulled it open and walked right into his Aunt Marabeth.

"Luke, where do you think you're going?"

Luke ignored her, desperately looking around. At last he spotted Cooper, already across the street. "Cooper!" he called, but Cooper didn't hear him.

Aunt Gloria was there too. She grabbed Luke's arm, digging her fingernails into his skin. "Luke, what is going on, did you
pierce your ear
?"

"Not now, Auntie!" Luke pulled at her, desperate to be let go. His hands were clammy, adrenaline spiking painfully through his veins.

"Yes, right now," said Aunt Marabeth. "Luke, we're here to talk to you about something serious."

"Auntie that's great, but can it wait like five minutes?"

"No, it cannot. Now, you look at me, Luke." Marabeth grasped his shoulders, her gloved hands digging in even harder than Gloria's had. "Your aunts and I have discussed it, and we decided that for us to continue to provide financial support for your school, you're going to have to follow some ground rules."

That was enough to tear Luke's eyes from Cooper, who was quickly disappearing down the street. "What? You're kidding, right? That money's mine for school, from Grandma and Grandpa."

"Yes, and they gave it to us for safekeeping to make sure you didn't do anything foolish."

Luke stared at her for a long moment, hoping she could see the shock and disgust on his face. She was staring him down evenly, but Luke could see that she was chewing her lip.

"Fine," he said. "Take it, I don't want it anyway."

He lifted his arm up and shoved Marabeth's hands off of him. "Luke!" she gasped, but he had already broken away, darting across the busy street to where he had last seen Cooper.

It was getting late in the autumn, and the air was crisp and cool, the setting sun bright in his eyes. He ran full tilt along the sidewalk, desperately searching for Cooper. He spotted him a couple hundred feet ahead, turning a corner. No, no, he couldn't lose him.

When he turned the corner he found himself in a residential area, tall oak trees lining one side of the road and leading into a park and a ...

Graveyard.

"Cooper!" he yelled, darting in between the trees towards the graveyard.

He was nearly clothes-lined by Cooper, his arm reaching out from behind a tree to grab Luke around the chest and pull him close. "Luke, what the fuck are you doing here?"

"What are
you
doing here?" gasped Luke, desperately trying to catch his breath. Cooper! He'd found Cooper. He looked awful. He had at least a day's worth of stubble, and his hands and arms were coated with white drywall powder. His clothes were old and ragged, too, and looked unwashed.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Cooper said sadly, picking up the flowers from where he'd set them down and glancing at the graveyard up ahead. "I can't go yet, her, uh ... her parents are there."

"Oh." Luke glanced over and noticed the couple standing at a white marble grave. They were both grey-haired and looked older than their years, somehow, standing with their shoulders slumped and their heads bowed.

"God, Cooper, why do you do this to yourself?"

Cooper sniffed, wiping a hand across his face. "I ... I don't know, I'm just trying to get the nerve to go and talk to them, you know. Apologize. They come here every Friday too. But, you know, I'm chickenshit. I usually just wait for them to leave. Then go put these there." He gestured with the flowers.

"Well, let's go do it now," said Luke, not at all anxious to get back to work and his aunts. "I'll go with you."

Cooper shook his head. "I
can't
. I'm too ... I'm too fucking scared. 'Sides, they don't even really speak English, I don't think."

"What do they speak, Cantonese?" Luke looked up at Cooper. "Is that why you asked me if I speak it?"

"No." Cooper sniffed again. "I mean, yeah, but it's not like I need you to do my apologising for me. I'm gonna go do it soon. Sometimes I ... follow them home. That sounds creepy ..."

Luke laughed. "Yeah, a little bit."

The couple were leaving, the man with his arm around the woman as they walked slowly away from the grave. Cooper glanced at Luke. "You probably gotta get back to work."

"No," said Luke firmly. "I have a little while."

 "I—" Cooper was silent for a moment, watching them walk away. "Do you mind?" he asked finally. "Translating for me, I mean. I know what I wanna say."

"No," Luke shook his head. "Not at all." He was lying, of course; the idea made his stomach churn. But he was determined to be strong for Cooper.

Cooper took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He kicked the ground, shoved his hands in his pockets. "All right," he said. "All right, I'll do it."

They followed the couple, a few paces back, Luke feeling more than a little creepy. Cooper was silent, his face down. He was still holding onto the flowers. Pink gerberas in a yellow plastic wrap. They looked nice.

They waited a minute after the couple went into their house. Luke was waiting for Cooper's cue, and he seemed to be readying himself. He was clenching and un-clenching his fists, wiping his eyes and then shaking his hands out. Clenching them again he finally spoke "Okay, let's go."

It was a nice house, mid-sized with plain white siding. A small red cord knot with an embossed gold symbol hung in the middle of the door. Luke recognised it to mean good luck. His grandparents had always had something similar hanging in the hallway.

He glanced at Cooper, who took a deep breath and knocked sharply on the door. Luke wondered briefly if maybe they should have cleaned up a bit before coming, but then there were noises from inside, and the door opened.

It was the man, his neat grey hair slightly mussed and his eyes red.

"Yes, we are busy," he said.

"N-Néih hóu," said Luke with a quick nervous bow. Was that right? He hoped that was right. The man stared at him suspiciously. "My name is Luke," he continued in Cantonese. It sounded horrible, choppy, and he was sure he was doing it all wrong. It felt weird even to hear the words coming out of his mouth. He'd almost forgotten he could do it. "This is Cooper ... Liam Cooper."

The man's eyes widened and he turned to look at Cooper. Cooper shifted nervously and then extended a hand. "Hello, Mr. Leung. It's good to finally meet you."

Mr. Leung reached out a hand and let Cooper take it. He glanced back into the house and then stepped back to let them both in. "Come in, come in," he said in English, and then in Cantonese to Luke, "I'll go and get my wife. We may be a minute."

"He's getting his wife," Luke repeated to Cooper as Mr. Leung disappeared upstairs. "He said it might be a minute."

"Okay," Cooper sighed, rubbing his face again. "I guess we should take our shoes off."

"Yeah."

They did so, and then Cooper grasped Luke and pulled him, unsuspecting, into a deep hug. He felt warm and strong, and Luke nearly melted into him right there. It was good to have him back. But Cooper was shaking. His hands were unsteady even as they gripped Luke. "Thanks for doing this, Luke. I really, really ... well, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Luke replied. He was going to be late getting back to work, but it  didn't matter.

Mr. and Mrs. Leung came down the stairs a few minutes later, looking a bit more composed. Mrs. Leung shook Cooper's hand and invited them into the living room for tea. Cooper and Luke sat in the living room as if awaiting death row while they made tea, and when it was at last presented, they each took a single polite sip and then set it down on the coffee table. Luke's hands were shaking again, causing him to nearly spill the tea. It was a miracle that he didn't immediately spit it up, he felt so sick.

"So," said Cooper finally. "This is long overdue."

Luke echoed the sentiment in Cantonese, although Mrs. Leung nodded before he was finished. She was very pretty, her hair coiffed glamorously and her dark eyes round and sweet. Luke wondered if she looked like her daughter.

"I guess I just," Cooper glanced at Luke, and then back at the couple, "I want to say how sorry I am. I ... I never meant—" He gave a sudden intake of breath and pressed a hand to his mouth. He looked like he was trying desperately not to cry. "I never meant to hurt—" he tried again, but his voice cracked and he had to press his hand more tightly over it.

Mrs. Leung was crying too. She reached forward and pressed a hand to Cooper's forearm. She glanced at Luke. "You can translate for me, right?" she asked. "Please, please tell your friend that we don't blame him for what happened."

"She says she doesn't blame you for what happened," Luke translated, and Cooper glanced at him through teary eyes.

"What happened caused so much suffering," agreed Mr. Leung. "There's no need for any more. Please tell him we forgive him."

Luke translated dutifully, and Cooper lifted his face from his hand to stare incredulously at him. "Really? They really said that?"

"Really," confirmed Luke.

"Okay," whispered Cooper, and Luke saw Mrs. Leung squeeze his arm reassuringly, smiling a little through her tears. "Okay."

*~*~*

They left quite quickly after that, without finishing their tea. Luke didn't think that the three of them would ever grow to be fast friends, but it seemed they'd at least reached some sort of closure. Cooper left the flowers with them, and they thanked him for them. Then Cooper and Luke walked back to the flower shop in silence. Cooper stopped to embrace Luke again before he went back inside, and Luke felt himself almost collapse with exhaustion and relief.

"I'm gonna go home now," said Cooper. "Get cleaned up."

"
Promise
you'll be there when I get home," said Luke.

"I promise. I'll even pick you up tonight, okay?"

"You'd better."

"I will."

Cooper drew him close again, and, after a moment to gauge Luke's reaction, pressed their lips together. Luke didn't even care that they were in public and that Beth could probably see them through the window. It was so good to have Cooper back. He didn't care who saw them kissing.

They had to break apart eventually, and Luke ducked back into the shop, watching Cooper walk away with a pang of longing and worry. Beth was standing behind the counter with her arms folded.

"Your aunts had some things to say to me," she said crossly.

"Oh," said Luke. "Um, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I had some things to say to them too.
Good lord.
Now, please, I need that order finished tonight sometime."

"Right," said Luke, and he ducked into the back to finish up the longest three hours of his life.

*~*~*

Cooper was there to pick Luke up at ten, just as he'd promised. He'd showered and shaved and was wearing his nice clothes again, the designer jeans and too-tight T-shirt. Luke waited to lock the door before jumping to hug and kiss him. Cooper's arms were warm and strong, and his big hands slid comfortably over Luke's back as they kissed. Luke could feel himself getting heated up, pressing into Cooper, and he forced himself to stop. At least until they got home.

Cooper made a proper apology as they drove home. "I can't believe I made you worry like that. I'm such an ass."

"It's fine, I sort of ... talked to your ex."

"What? Charlie?"

"Yeah, I mean I cleaned the house a bit ..."

"I noticed."

" ... and I found his number, so I called him. He said you, you know, disappear a lot."

Cooper sighed and drummed the steering wheel. "Yeah, I ... I was just not in a good place, you know? I guess I still relapse a lot, but I think I'm getting better. What else did he tell you?"

"Just ..." Luke bit his lip. "I guess some not very nice things. But I can see how he was probably biased."

"Nah, don't make excuses for me, Luke. I deserved what I got. I was ... I was really terrible to him. I'm glad he left me, honestly, I would have."

"So ..." Luke could feel his hands shaking again, an uncomfortable lurch in his stomach. "What does that mean for me?"

Cooper was silent for a while, his eyes on the road. "It ... here's the thing, Luke. I can't say much for me, but I learn from my mistakes. You know? I know I messed up with Charlie, and I ... I was probably on my way to messing up with you, but I don't want to. I want to get better."

Luke felt a shiver of elation. That was what he'd wanted to hear. "Do you think it helped? What we did today?"