Gus put the finishing touches on the dinner he had picked up from Gram Debbie's house. He thanked his lucky stars again that DJ had so many wonderful recipes and had given this one to Debbie before leaving on his vacation. It was a miracle that his dad wasn't ten times bigger than he was and had somehow managed to remain trim and fit, considering all the gourmet meals his hubby fixed him. At least Jason wouldn't have to worry about that. Gus could cook, if push came to shove, but neither he nor Jason relished the job. But tonight was big and when Gus mentioned it over the fantastic Sunday dinner spread that DJ had cooked just before Christmas day, the sweet man had taken Gus aside and suggested that he could give him the recipe to a meal that was known to be Jason's favorite. Gus had accepted and then turned on the charm on Christmas day in order to convince his Gram Debbie to make it. She still had the magic hand in the kitchen.



It was their Fifth Anniversary as a couple. Five years ago, during that historic trip to the Vermont ski lodge that they had gone on right after Christmas, Gus and Jason had finally admitted their attraction to each other which had been brewing since they first met. It was on that night that they first touched and Gus could still remember every moment of it. He couldn't help comparing his relationship with Jason to that of his Dad and DJ. It had taken them nearly five years just to admit that what they had together was real love, and Gus knew they had gone through a lot of shit to get to that point. Outside of the one slip up that Jason made a while back, the two of them had been rock solid in their relationship. He couldn't imagine it being any other way for all the years to come and he wanted to show Jason how grateful he was. He wasn't that certain he could have survived all the pain that Dad and DJ had suffered to get to where they were now.



Life couldn't be better at the end of 2022. Everyone in their large extended family was doing very well. Actually, his sis had toned down a lot lately. She always seemed to have something on her mind, but Gus put that down to this being her first year at college. He knew how much pride JR took in her academic prowess. He wasn't surprised to see her putting her nose to the grindstone, even to the point of giving up a social life. Gus had heard Gidge complaining that JR never seemed to want to join in on any of the extracurricular activities that college life offered, but her complaints had diminished now that she was more seriously involved with her new love, Kevin. It was a little surprising that JR didn't relax much at all from her studies, however, since she had always maintained excellent grades and still had time for fun before. He thought about asking her about it, but didn't want to be the prying older brother so he tabled it for now.



The best part of all was that both he and Jason were really happy at their jobs. It had been three months now and Gus loved teaching. There was nothing more satisfying to him than finding that rare artistic mind and encouraging it..helping it to grow and mature. He had a number of students in his classes that took to his lectures and demonstrations like a duck to water. He reflected back on what DB had told him about being a Professor. Ben loved it just as passionately and had actually been an inspiration for Gus to consider going into the profession. Now he understood why DB felt the way he did and why it hurt so much when he had to retire because of his health. He prayed that would never happen to him. Gus wanted to be a gray haired old Professor still imparting his knowledge to yet another generation many, many decades from now.



Thinking of his students brought a big smile to Gus' face. He knew he was a popular teacher. Word spread fast in the academic lounge and most teachers knew where they stood with their pupils. The flirting had toned down a lot after the first couple of weeks, especially when word spread that the teacher used to be a student at the same place and everyone knew that he had a steady live-in boyfriend. Jason's visit to the classroom a few weeks later had confirmed what the students had already heard. Even the few male students who had flirted stopped after that...all except one. Jackson Fillinger seemed to have a problem with boundaries. He still openly drooled over the handsome young Professor, but he was far too good a student for Gus to want to have him moved.



Jackson came from a wealthy family and always seemed so lonely. Gus had been impressed with the kid's enthusiasm for the history of the arts. He had even shown Gus some of his drawings that he had made for his life class. Gus was impressed. He had that same vibrancy as DJ had, but Gus could also sense an emptiness behind the bright images. It was intriguing to Gus' artistic mind. He had found himself drawn to the melancholy behind Jackson's happy exterior. He had talked about Jackson to Jason and been warned not to get too involved. Gus had bristled slightly although he kept his opinion to himself. It irritated him that Jason might think he couldn't set and control the boundaries between teacher and student. After all, he never told Jason how to conduct his work life. It had been quickly dismissed, however, when Gus made it a point not to bring Jackson's name up anymore after that one time.



Christmas had come so fast. It had seemed like only days since Gus had first stood in front of his podium in the classroom. Now they were on holidays. JR had finally loosened up enough to agree to a ski trip with the Tyler family. Dad and DJ had decided to relive one of their fantasy vacations together in New York City. As a result, he and Jason were on their own between Christmas and New Years. Jason had been unable to get any time off work because of a problem that had come up with one of their projects. Jason had agreed to work through the holidays in order to earn brownie points with his boss. Gus hadn't minded that much. He knew how much the job meant to his lover. As a result, however, he had discarded his earlier plans to relive their ski trip in Vermont for their Anniversary and opted for a cozy intimate dinner for two at home instead.



Now he sat with the table all prepared and waited for Jason to arrive. The dining room was lit by candlelight only. The silverware glistened, the champagne flutes stood tall and empty waiting for the chilled bottle of champagne that rested in the silver ice bucket nearby. The smells from the kitchen permeated the entire apartment. Gus stood ready, dressed in his most attractive dark brown silk shirt and his tight fitting tan slacks that hugged his body in all the right places. Now, all he needed was his man. Finally, he heard the key in the front door. It was his turn to greet Jason the way the darling man had greeted him that first night after school started.



Jason walked into the room looking tired. He had really wanted to get away for the holiday and re-visit that wonderful weekend in Vermont when he had finally admitted to Gus that he was in love with him. It had not been easy keeping those feelings locked up inside. Once they had both accepted what was right in front of them all along, the dam had literally burst and they couldn't get enough of each other. It hadn't mattered then whether they were having full blown sex or just touching fingertips at the dinner table. Every move made them feel more connected. Jason was so grateful that both their families had accepted their love so openly. It had made their lives so much easier than many gay men had been forced to live. Jason was well aware of how lucky they were.



Even their years in college had run smoothly. They were living in a much better time in their Country than their parents had. There was still plenty of homophobic pricks out there but at least the laws of the land offered them all the same protections as their heterosexual counterparts. Jason had even had one Professor who showed an obvious dislike for him the minute he saw Jason with Gus in the beginning of their Sophomore year. He had picked on Jason relentlessly over little things. Jason ignored it for a time but one day the man went one step too far and called Jason a dirty little faggot to his face. Jason had controlled his temper and simply reported the man to administration. The Professor was reprimanded and lost the necessary points towards his tenure. His class with Jason was given to another Professor. It was the only open abuse either of the couple had ever been forced to endure during their college days.



The only cloud over their four years at Carnegie Mellon had been Jason's mistake with classmate Tom. Jason had been thinking about that incident a lot in the last week before Christmas. It was a ghost of the past that Jason had thought was long dead and buried and then, one week before the employees would get time off for the holidays, the ghost walked back into Jason's life and all the fears of losing Gus had crept back into Jason's mind.



Jason had confronted Tom over what had happened that night when they returned to school after the weekend. Tom had simply said, "nothing much, as I remember it", and then criticized Jason for just walking out like he did in the morning without a single word. He had done his best to make Jason feel guilty, as if he had treated Tom like a spurned lover or something. Jason had tried to get more information...his memory was so cloudy about the whole thing...but Tom would only ignore him. For some reason Jason got the feeling that Tom remembered more than he let on. The two avoided each other after that and only ran into each other when they both had gone to the free clinic the school provided to be tested for HIV. Jason had been supremely happy when that test was negative, including a follow up test later. He vowed never to drink to excess again as long as he lived. He would have never spent one more minute anywhere near Tom if they hadn't been studying for the same future. It had never occurred to Jason at the time that this was the one thing that could cause a problem down the line.



The day at work had started out pleasantly enough. Jason was pleased that he had been given some very high profile assignments practically from his first week at the new job. He was the darling of his bosses and he knew it. He worked hard for it too, often working any overtime they asked of him. That was why he wasn't surprised when his number one head honcho came into his little office that morning and looked around. Mr. Breyer smiled at Jason and suggested that he gather up his things because he was being moved to a larger office. He informed Jason he would need it since they were assigning him an assistant. Jason knew his work had won raves around the office but very few of the designers were given assistants of their own so early in their careers. Jason had felt honored and looked forward to meeting his assistant with great enthusiasm. All he knew was that the young man was a new hire who had just returned to the States after joining and then quitting a firm in England. Apparently he had gotten homesick.



One hour later, Jason received the surprise of his life when Mr. Breyer returned to Jason's new office with the assistant in tow. The smile died on his face almost instantly when old nemesis Tom Ulrey stood there with his hand outstretched. It had never occurred to Jason that they could end up in the same Company, let alone the same office. Tom had acted so cool about the whole thing, never letting on that there was any stress to be had with the situation. Jason quickly followed suit. This was his job, after all, and his boss stood there with the biggest smile. Jason was smart enough not to air dirty laundry in front of the man who held his future in his hands. Both men waited till Mr. Breyer left with a cheerful, "get to know each other" parting, before they let their guard down.



It had been awkward at first, but Tom seemed to have matured quite a bit since Jason had last seen him. The man made it clear that he looked forward to a wonderful future with the top notch firm and that he wanted nothing more than to be a great assistant to his old class mate. Jason was wary but by the end of the day he had felt slightly more comfortable around Tom. There had been no familiarity with any of Tom's actions. They had simply gotten their work done and nothing more. Actually they seemed to work very well together. They had similar visions about the project they were assigned for their first collaboration. By the time Jason drove home, he was only concerned about one thing....should he mention Tom to Gus or just say nothing.



He had left work with the plan to say something to Gus right away, but by the time he got to his door he had backed out of it. He reasoned that it would be best to see how things went with Tom as his co-worker first. They might not even work out together. They could easily assign Tom somewhere else. Besides, it wasn't like he was dating the man. They would only see each other in the office and never anywhere else. He and Gus had long ago agreed to never mention the man's name again so, reasoned Jason, wouldn't he be breaking that vow by bringing up Tom's name now? He knew that just the thought of Tom had been painful to Gus so Jason had clung to the idea that he was saving Gus from any pain by keeping his mouth shut. He knew that Gus realized how important Jason's job was to him so he convinced himself that Gus would appreciate not knowing something that might jeopardize Jason's job or their relationship. Let sleeping dogs lie, Jason told himself.



When Jason saw what Gus had done for him to celebrate their Fifth Anniversary, he felt his heart swell with the love he felt for the man. He had just left the burden of an anxious office behind him and stepped into something so wonderful. He was so relieved to have his life with Gus. It was an island of peace in his hectic world. He and Tom and the whole team that had been assigned the emergency project had worked their butts off and gotten such a short break for Christmas, but none of them had this to come home to...Jason was sure of that. He told himself again that he had made the right decision to keep Tom's name out of their home as he planted a deep and loving kiss on Gus' beautiful mouth. He wasn't letting anything or anyone ever come between them. Not if he could help it.



To be continued........................