Chapter Two

They didn’t run from the event, hand in hand, find a secluded room somewhere, tear off each other’s clothes and have mad, sweaty, passionate sex with each other.

It was a relationship built through segments. Before the party ended, they did leave together. Ronald knew the moment William sat across from him at the coffee shop on D Street. He was an extraordinary man. They had exchanged phone numbers as people do in the getting-to-know each other phase. And Ronald went back to work after that first weekend thinking about William but didn’t understand the etiquette about how dating worked.

He had lovers in the past. He had a long-time boyfriend in college. The two of them started out as study partners and ended up in bed. He was confident with his life and had just enough in it to keep him occupied. But what he found was the bed at the apartment wasn’t always so welcoming after work. His pillow, while spongy, wasn’t as comforting as he once thought. Now that he knew a man like William was in the world, it was hard to think of anything else.

“You’re supposed to call me,” the voice said on the other end. It was two weeks after the event. The number came up on the caller ID, but Ronald didn’t assign William’s name to it because he didn’t consider it.

“I wasn’t too sure about how all this is supposed to work,” Ronald admitted. Talking to William was easy. Somehow the man just came like a blank page, presented before Ronald, and he just needed to fill him with words. “I’m not exactly versed in the proper procedures when it comes to relationships.” And he had to think if that was the right word to use. One thing Ronald always considered, choosing the right word made the difference between adulation and criticism.

The voice on the other end of the line was airy like William was in an open space while he talked, or the call was on speaker phone. That’s the way Ronald remembered it. “I thought we hit it off well,” William went on. “And I waited for you to call me. But you never did. So you left me with two options.”

“And what were those?” Ronald asked.

“Either you lost your phone after you put my number in it,” William started. “Or you were abducted by aliens, and your phone was out of network range.”

“And that’s it? What about if I wasn’t interested in you,” Ronald toyed. “You might not have been that interesting to me. Maybe I found you dull and unimpressive.”

“Do you always go right for the insults when you’re interested in someone to see how they respond?”

“No,” Ronald disclosed, “Just with you.”

“See that tells me you were thinking of me enough over the last two weeks to consider the second real conversation we had wasn’t rehearsed. It’s a natural response and a glimpse into your feelings for me.”

“I see,” Ronald replied. Coolly sophisticated and intelligent, William was a handsome, athletic man at the beginning of his career in the military. “What happens now?”

There was a long pause. The kind of thing that is important because the next words weren’t impulsive, they were a product of consideration.

“We get to know each other.”

***

And they did. They hit it off. It was everything a strong relationship needed, and Ronald fell in love with William. But there was hesitation because William’s term at Quantico was finite. He made the most of his time away from the base. They spent leave enjoying each other’s company. Ronald took William around Virginia and Maryland, showing him the sights that only a resident can do without overloading William with the fodder tourists devoured.

From Old Alexandria to random, little-known haunts always better than destinations on tourist maps, Ronald and William had a powerful relationship, which was meant to last. And yet, Ronald knew, as much as William, a time would come when William received his orders, and he’d get an assignment that might take him to the far side of the world for a few years.

Ronald wasn’t opposed to long-distance relationships. He had work that sometimes took him on assignment for weeks. And he returned home to Washington, to William, and they had direct interaction while he was away for any length of time.

The same went for William. Sometimes he had a training assignment that took him out of the country. Ronald knew not to ask. He cared for William, and it was important where he went or what happened to him while he was on communication black-out. But Ronald knew better than ask when William returned. And it was as if he’d just stepped away for a day, and nothing troubling had happened to him.

Ronald met Renee, William’s sister, a few months after William and Ronald moved in together. The woman had similar features as William. But Ronald wondered if it was something his brain put together as a souvenir instead of facts. Because that’s how nostalgia worked, it took the negatives and filed them away because Ronald didn’t want to face the depressing parts when it came to his relationship with William.

***

“We should get married,” William had said one night while they strolled through the strip mall at Potomac Mills. It was after seven on a Thursday night. William had another long assignment coming up. It took him out of the country. That was as far as he went with the details.

“I’m sorry?” Ronald said because it sounded like William said they should get ‘harried.’ But Ronald knew harried had something to do with feelings of demands or harassed.

William stopped walking. They were standing together on a bleached concrete sidewalk outside a storefront business that sold shoes. And William suggested again. “We should get married.”

It was a moment Ronald considered. Once William received his orders, it was anyone’s guess where the random posting happened. He had some considerations on the long-term post. But the options were limited. The only absolute William had to look forward to once he received the orders was his time at Quantico was over. He’d move out of state, maybe ship out of the country. And he had a few years at destination unknown.

“You’re serious?” Ronald asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know where I’ll end up. I’ve got this last assignment.” He looked at his shoes. It was April in Virginia. A little chilly after sunset and they had dinner together, and then they went for a walk. It was natural, random. And William’s suggestion wasn’t a question. It was, well, a thought. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Haven’t you?”

“I have,” Ronald confessed. “It’s not just something that comes up on a Thursday night.”

William smiled and shook his head. “Does everything have to be on a calendar with you?” he asked. “I bet if I looked at your plans, there’d be something penciled in for an event. And you probably have a spreadsheet that points out the pros and cons of our relationship, and you’d see which side more points had before you asked me.”

“Maybe,” Ronald admitted and made a mental list to delete the document on his laptop. “But I never brought it up because I wasn’t sure if it’s something you wanted.”

“That’s the problem, for you to know if it’s something I wanted, you have to bring it up.”

“Is that what you’re doing right now?” Ronald asked. “Are you bringing it up?”

“No,” William said and took Ronald’s hand. It wasn’t something he expected of William. It wasn’t that William was against public displays of affection. It just never came up. “I’m saying it because I want to marry you.” He started walking, steering Ronald back to the parking lot, holding his hand. “I love you. When you love someone, you want them with you, wherever you end up.”

“Well, I’m not saying that I can’t get an investigative journalist job anywhere I go,” he said braggingly. “And it’s not like we have any real commitments here that can’t wait. It’s not like my mother can’t just visit when we’re settled, wherever that might be.”

“So, is that a yes?”

“Want to wait until you get back before we hammer out all the details?” Ronald knew William wanted something but wasn’t a fool about rushing head-long into a life-long commitment without a little preparation.