Diplomacy

his arm, so Lucas finally sat down next to him, hunched over, staring at the floor.
    “It’s not like that, Lucas, please… I don’t know how to act in this situation.” Jack’s hand was resting on Lucas’s knee. “Because I’ve never been in this situation before.”
    Lucas straightened his back and slowly turned towards Jack, his mouth slightly open in amazement as it dawned on him. “Are you saying…”
    Jack nodded, an apologetic smile on his face.
    “You’ve never had a male lover?”
    “Well, thanks for getting that sorted out,” Jack snorted, looking away from Lucas, his hand still on the young man’s knee.
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Lucas asked, putting his hand over Jack’s.
    “Well, it’s not the type of thing you can casually add to a conversation, Lucas.”
    “So I’m the first man you’ve been attracted to?” Lucas wanted to understand this. He moved his hand to cup Jack’s chin and lifted it to make the American look up.
    “God, no,” Jack sighed as he shook his head. “I’ve always known I was attracted to men, ever since I fell in love with my best friend in high school. But even then I knew not to pursue it.”
    “So you’ve always known, just never did anything about it?”
    “Why is that so hard to believe? I grew up in this world, where everything is about how people perceive you, and the last thing they want in their world is a queer diplomat!” Jack was clearly getting worked up about it, so Lucas squeezed his hand for comfort.
    “I grew up in this world too, Jack.”
    This seemed to calm Jack down. “I know. You were just a little more adventurous than me, that’s all.”

    D i p l o m a c y | 63

    Lucas rubbed his thumb over the side of Jack’s hand. “We can take it slow, no need to rush.” He picked up the older man’s hand, turned it over and kissed his palm. “Are you hungry?” Jack shrugged, and then smiled. “I think I’m too nervous to eat,” he admitted.
    “Well, we’ll have to do something about that then,” Lucas answered as he got up from the bed and took Jack’s hand. He moved away, coaxing Jack to his feet and walked over to the large floor-to-ceiling windows. After he opened them, he walked outside onto the terrace.
    “What are you doing?” Jack asked, reluctant to follow Lucas outside.
    Lucas turned around and beckoned Jack. “Come here and I’ll show you.” He continued to walk backwards, making it impossible for Jack not to follow the enticing form. “This is the executive terrace. Private for five business suites, of which we occupy one. Now since it’s the weekend, the other four are empty, and aren’t booked until Monday.” Jack laughed and shook his head. This was his Lucas. He could see him charming the receptionist into giving him that information. “Exactly what sort of nonsense did you feed the hotel staff to assure us this much privacy?”
    Lucas looked coy. “Not much. I just told the girl at the check in that my boss liked to go outside in the buff.” Jack threw his head back and chuckled. “You’re crazy! For all we know that will ensure us an audience!”
    Lucas laughed too. “She did seem thrilled you were a naturalist.
    No, seriously, they hear ‘boss’ and ‘business man’ and they think ‘portly’,
    ‘middle aged’ and ‘saggy’, so I think they will give it a miss.” They stood on the edge of the terrace, and it seemed natural for Jack to take a step closer to Lucas, putting his arms around his waist and his chin on his shoulder “It’s nice out here. Very peaceful, you wouldn’t know you were in the city center.”
    “Well, we are about five floors up and the square is car free, so that helps,” Lucas answered, turning a little to look at Jack.
    Jack pointed at the highest point in their vista, “That’s a church?” 64 | Z a h r a O w e n s

    “The Cathedral of Our Lady,” Lucas corrected. “Should have had two towers, but the second one was cut short because they ran out of money.”
    “You’re quite the tour guide.” Jack rested his cheek against Lucas’s hair.
    Lucas matched Jack’s soft tone of voice. “It’s not my first time in Antwerp, and I like to read up on the cities I go to. It’s in all the tourist guides.” He could feel Jack tighten his hold and they stood rocking back and forth for a while. “This is nice, but let’s go back in, okay?” Lucas led Jack back to their room, never letting go of his hand.
    Once inside he turned to close the