The Most Valuable Antiques/Chapter Two

"How long have you and Kaden known each other?"

After I hung up the call with Anastas, I asked this question to the man with the rose on his forehead, who simply introduced himself as "Glaucio" earlier. He sat on a ragged and shabby lounge chaise, which was tactically placed close to the bed Kaden was lying on so he could lock his hands with his. The gesture in itself was rather wholesome and made for a tender moment between the two. I felt the overwhelming temptation to audibly express my delight at such a such gesture – though I resisted, knowing it was likely inappropriate of me to do so.

Glaucio, upon hearing my question, opened his mouth to speak, then promptly closed it. He frowned, as if he was struggling with his memory. Kaden squeezed Glaucio's hand, and the rose-bearing man finally said, or rather asked in English, "What year is it?"

I blinked, amused by his question. I was about to answer before Kaden quickly interjected, also in English, "For God-father's sake, Glaucio, we're not old men."

"Not yet, anyways. Or at least physically, because I definitely feel the aging mentally and emotionally!" Glaucio let out a hearty laugh, then looked to Kaden with mischievous intent, "Although you're possibly an old curmudgeon yourself, darling."

"It's called being an old soul. You would know that, you know," Kaden weakly smiled at him as he said this, and the both of them chuckled. This caused me to chuckle a bit too. Both men looked up at me with shocked expressions.

"You understand what we're saying?" Kaden asked before coughing (Glaucio was quick in giving his partner's back several firm pats).

"Of course I can," I calmly replied in perfect English. Their expressions shifted from shocked to relieved after hearing what I said. "Now," I said, my eyes meeting Glaucio's gaze, "back to the question I asked you."

Glaucio sighed. "Hmmm…" He closed his eyes. From this, I assumed he was deep in thought, possibly navigating through rivers of memories within his head. I glanced at Kaden, who maintained his hold on Glaucio's hand while also rolling his eyes.

"It's 2026, by the way," Kaden reminded his lover as he squeezed his hand again. "We met in high school," he continued, "in our—"

"—third year."

As they both said in unison, Glaucio's eyes fluttered open. He gazed at Kaden dreamily, who smiled sheepishly while his cheeks flushed with rose-red. Observing their interactions, the only word I could come up with to describe the two was simply adorable.

"How old are you both? You seem to be around my age, but I may be wrong," I asked them, and then I thought to myself, "Though I'm never usually wrong."

"I'm sure I'm twenty-nine or thirty years old," Glaucio said, though interestingly enough he sounded uncertain. He then raised both his hands and started… counting on his fingers, for some reason. With my eyebrows raised, I shot a confused glance at Kaden, then watched as he sat up straight to retrieve the glass of water placed on the dresser to his side. He sighed, then emptied the glass in a single, quick gulp.

"He's twenty-nine, I'm twenty-eight," He said in a low, hoarse voice. "Also, he tends to… obfuscate stupidity on purpose, for whatever reason."

"You wound me with such accusations! I do no such thing," Glaucio smirked.

"Please Glaucio, I'm tired and ill," Kaden groaned, followed with a cough that sounded less genuine than his earlier fits.

"From the mythematics I did in my head, I presume you two have known each other for maybe… nine or so years?" I guessed with little confidence in my calculations. Admittedly, my husband was always better with numbers than I was.

"You're off by three years," Kaden stated, "it's been twelve years."

"I'm surprised you remember the number so precisely," Glaucio said. He leaned closer to Kaden and planted a kiss on his forehead. I noticed Kaden's cheeks had once again flushed with a rosy shade of red. Again, I had to resist the temptation to audibly express how adorable I found them.

"Someone has to do the maths around here, and clearly it isn't you by a large margin, my dearest," Kaden remarked sharply, but his expression softened once he said "my dearest". Glaucio smiled at him once more, then released his hand from Kaden's in order to maneuver himself into a more comfortable position on the chaise, where his palms supported the weight of his head and his legs were crossed over each other.

"Twelve years," he said in a quiet but relaxed tone. "Maybe we are old men."

"Not old enough to be antiques, however," I added, catching both Glaucio's and Kaden's attention. "I'm in the business of selling them, I would know."

"Is that what the shop below is for?" Kaden asked inquisitively as he played with his empty glass.

"It's a mix of things, like antiques, crafts, and such," I answered.

"And it's also an inn, based on what I knew already," Kaden said.

"You're correct, though we rarely have patrons wanting to rent out the flat above the store," I said. "You two are the first we've had in awhile."

"What sort of antiques are you in the business of selling?" Glaucio inquired with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"The most valuable antiques, of course," I winked after replying to his question. They both nodded, though Glaucio perked his head to the side and appeared to be deep in thought once more, though his eyebrows were scrunched up and his smile became a frown.

"Is something troubling you, my love?" Kaden said to his partner.

"I just got what he said," Glaucio said in a low voice. "‘The most valuable antiques' is the name of the store translated to English. I can't believe I didn't catch onto that sooner."

Admittedly, I let out a chuckle, which had been muffled by my hand over my mouth. "Seeing as you seem to be proficient in la langue française, I assumed it was easy to guess."

"Pardon, I can be a bit slow on the uptake," Glaucio said while smiling abashedly and scratching the back of his head. He then laughed his bashfulness off, allowing for his cheery smile to return on his image. This caused Kaden and I to start laughing as well.

Once the laughing died down, I noticed Kaden setting his glass on top of the wooden dresser by his bed. I approached his bed, then said, "Kaden, your glass is empty. I'll fill it for you if you'd like."

"Thank you, Elias," he said. I paced towards the dresser he'd set the glass on and picked it up. I was about to leave the room for the kitchenette until Kaden called out for me.

"Wait," he said. I stopped in my tracks. "What did you and your husband talk about on the phone?"

I turned to face him, then said, "He'll be returning from the crafts department shortly – I've informed him of what occurred with you in the store earlier. I neglected to mention your names sadly, but he made it clear that he's very willing to help you and Glaucio get better in the coming days."

Both Kaden and Glaucio exchanged worried glances.

"He also said he's looking forward to meeting you both," I said reassuringly. Upon hearing this, they loosened up, both letting out sighs of relief. I turned back to the doorway and said, "You two stay put – I'll be back with Kaden's glass of water as soon as possible, and I'll also return with more questions for you both." I left the room, closed the door behind me, and headed for the kitchenette.

However, before I could enter the kitchen, I began hearing the sound of footsteps from the bottom of the stairs, and then the voice of a man speaking with a Russian accent.

"Elias'ka, darling? I've returned home."