Pictures of You

Chapter Twenty-One

The place that Walter took me wasn't the kind of place I usually frequented. It was a beautiful, elegantly decorated restaurant with crisp white tablecloths, gold candle harbours and a live pianist playing in the corner of the room. It was a long way away from the Nando's or McDonald's I was used to.

I'd dressed up and was wearing the one and only shirt I'd brought with me, but still felt underdressed. Walter wore an elegant long purple silk dress with long glittery earrings. We know doubt looked a right odd couple. It didn't bother me though. I was happy to be out with my friend. It would be the first proper time we had spent together, just the two of us and I was looking forward to getting to know him a little better.

The waiter took Walter's name and showed us to our table. He left us with a drinks menu, which had about ten pages just for wine. 'You fancy a bottle to share?' Walter asked.

'Sure,' I said, and started looking through the endless bottles. I saw words like fruity, oaky and smooth. I didn't really know which ones made a good wine. I didn't know much about it. I just knew that it got me drunk.

The waiter came back and Walter ordered the bottle he wanted. I was relieved that he had taken the lead, as I didn't want to look stupid and uncultured. When the waiter came back with the wine, he asked if we wanted to taste it.

'Ash,' Walter said, asking if I wanted to for the honours.

'Oh, sure,' I said and a tiny amount was poured into my glass. I took a sip, giving it a few seconds before nodding, to suggest it was okay. I didn't really know if it was okay or not, but I assumed that Walter wouldn't have ordered it if it tasted like piss.

The waiter poured us both a glass. Walter made a kind of hmmm noise, so I figured it must be a good one.

'Here's to you,' he said, holding up his glass to toast.

'Me?' I said. 'What have I done that's so special?'

'You're kidding, right?' he said. 'What you're doing is incredible.'

'I haven't really done anything, ' I said. 'That's the problem.'

'Oh no of course not. You've only travelled to the other end of the country to take a chance on love. You've risked opening yourself up to getting hurt because you saw a chance of happiness. And all on your own at just sixteen years old. That's nothing, right?'

'But I haven't got anywhere. So far the whole trip has been a waste of time. There's a good chance I'll go home in a few days in exactly the same position I was in before.'

'He messaged you back, didn't he?'

'Finally, yeah. But I could have done that from home. I'd probably be a lot further along too if I hadn't scared the life out of him by coming down here. Whichever way I look at it, I can't say that I've improved either of our lives by doing what I've done.'

Walter shook his head and looked at me sternly. 'Maybe you will meet him, maybe you won't. But are you honestly telling me that nothing good has come from your visit? I've only known you a few days, but can already see how much you've grown I'm confidence.'

I laughed. 'Confidence is something I've never been short of.'

'Maybe when you're at home in your own surroundings. But what you've done is step out of your comfort zone. Have you ever been away on your own before?'

I shook my head, without even having to think about it. I'd been away a couple of nights on scout camp, but other than that, I'd never travelled without Mum and Dad.

'Well here you are in one of the busiest cities in the world. When I first met you in the pub on that first day you looked so nervous. You couldn't even travel the tube on tour own.'

'And I probably wouldn't still without help.'

'But you can do it now.'

'Yeah, it's not all that hard when you get the hang of it.'

'And there's a few people who are more than happy you're here.'

'Apparently Alex isn't one of them.'

'He'll come round. But what about that handsome young friend of yours.'

'Ben?'

'Yeah, I can tell how crazy about you he is just by looking at him.'

'Yeah, he's been a good friend.'

I wasn't too sure how Walter meant that. Ben was just a friend; totally platonic. I knew that he felt the same about me too.

He didn't dwell on the subject much longer. The waiter came back and we ordered our food. I fancied just a straight forward burger or some nachos, but instead ordered pan fried duck breast with a black currant jus, served on a bed of smashed potatoes. This place was far too posh for my palate.

'And then there's Glad and I,' he said, carrying on from the previous conversation. 'I know I'm glad to have met you, and she feels the same. So how can you say that your trip has been a waste of time? Your presence has been a privilege to all of us who've gotten to know.'

'That's really nice of you to say,' I told him. He had made me feel much better about myself. He was right. I'd gotten much more from this trip than I'd ever expected, even with Alex still out of the picture.

'Anyway, enough about me,' I said. 'I want to know more about you. How long have you lived here?'

'Here in Camden, or here in London?' he asked.

'Both,' I said.

'Well, I've lived in London on and off for my whole life. I lived in Brighton for about eighteen months somewhere in the middle of that time. I used to do a drag act. I worked in bars abroad a few times too over the summer when I was in my forties; Gran Canaria mostly, but Ibiza a couple of times.'

'That must have been amazing,' I said excitedly. 'I'd love to go travelling or work abroad.'

'Well there's nothing stopping you. You're young. There's plenty of time for setting down and getting a sensible job later if you want to. But you should make the most of your youth. It doesn't seem two minutes since I was your age, now here I am, an old man.'

'You're not old,' I said.

'That'every sweet of you to say,' he said, 'but the fact is that I'm in my seventies now. I have more years behind me than I have ahead. Don't get me wrong, I've had a good life. Mostly.'

There was something in the way he said, Mostly that made me think there were some demons in his past too.

'And how about love? Has there ever been a special man in your life?'

I tried to think back if Walter had ever told me that he was gay. I was jumping the assumptions based of his mannerism and the way he dressed. But I felt bad as soon as I said it, in case I'd gotten it wrong. He put me out of my doubt with his next sentence.

'There was,' he said. He paused and looked thoughtful. 'I remember that first day I met you in Glad's back room. I said I'd tell you all about it when we had more time. Well I guess that's now, if you still want to hear.'

I nodded. 'Yeah, I do,' I said. 'Tell me all about it.'

Author's note

So a couple of chapters getting to know another character; Walter. Hope you enjoy. As always, votes and comments always welcome.