Chapter 10 – Smile, Lukas.
Saturday had come around rather quickly and thankfully brought to an end a busy week. The Marcon shoot was only days away now, and with yesterday's arrival of Emily Jones things had got a little hectic. Tino had been rushed off his feet running between meetings, setting up lunches and organising Francis's schedule so that he could squeeze enough time in the day for everyone while still getting used to his new job. Francis had also kept true to his word and genuinely seemed to be trying to turn over a new leaf. He treated Matthew and Tino to a free lunch on Thursday to thank them for their hard work and Tino hadn't sent a single bouquet of flowers to anyone on his behalf, apart from one to Emily Jones's hotel room, but that was strictly business and making a good first impression or so he had been told. And though Francis however did still enjoy the occasional flirt with a model or stylist, he had toned it down considerably.
Even Arthur seemed pleasantly surprised at Francis's new approach to his work and even he had not been so highly strung the past week. Truth be told, Tino wouldn't have noticed this if Matthew didn't gush at him one afternoon when they had snuck into the copy room together to have a breather for 5 minutes when there was finally a gap in the day that Mr Kirkland had actually noticed how hard he had worked at making sure an important advertising meeting was a success.
It had also been nearly two weeks since Lars had been staying with Lukas, Tino and Emil. At first Lukas was worried about how Emil would react and adjust to seeing Lars after such a long time and had expected it to be a negative reaction. But he had been surprised at how quickly Emil became comfortable around his father and how much Lars had taken to Emil. Lukas would get up in the mornings to find that Emil was already awake and speaking to their dad over breakfast and had stopped sleeping in and relying on Lukas to wake him. Something about this unnerved Lukas a little as he wondered if Emil would revert back to his old ways once it was time for Lars to leave again, but more so he was comforted by Emil's more independent behaviour.
It was early, around 10am, and Lars and Emil had gone for a walk as the weather was nice and fresh, leaving Tino watching TV on the couch still in his t-shirt and boxers that he had slept in up in their apartment and enjoying some time to himself. Lukas was down in the bookshop just finishing ringing up some geography textbooks for a customer when the bell above the door chimed again as more people entered.
"I'll be right with you." Lukas said, not looking up from the sale until he handed a paper bag with the books in to his customer and they had turned to leave. Then he walked around the counter to approach the pair that had come in but stopped when he recognised one of them.
"Oh, mornin' Christina." He said relaxing a little, eyeing the taller blonde man who was with her. "Tino's upstairs if you wanna go up through the back." Lukas pointed behind him to the door leading to the stairs to his apartment.
Christina had a huge smile on her face, which wasn't out of place for her, but this morning it was wider than usual as she shook her head,
"Nope, we're actually here to see you, Lukas! Do you have a minute to chat? I think you're gonna wanna hear this!" she said enthusiastically.
Lukas looked between Christina and her companion for a moment before simply nodding and slipping past them to flip the sign on the front door to 'back in 10 minutes'.
The three of them took a seat in the back room and Christina introduced Lukas to Berwald. The two shook hands and Lukas then sat with one leg crossed over the other and listened as Christina began to tell him why they were there.
"So, I'm guessing that Tino already told you about Icon covering Lucille Marcon's book launch next week," she said, matter of fact.
Lukas's brows furrowed slightly at the fact that Tino had not, and this was the first time he was hearing about this. He wasn't sure whether to feel hurt and upset that Tino hadn't thought to mention this to him, or trust the fact that his friend must have kept this from him for a reason. Trying not to seem too bothered, Lukas flipped his hair from his face with a small jerk of his head and folded his arms.
"What does that have to do with me?" he said coolly, his gaze studying Christina's face.
She looked a little taken aback at Lukas's casual reaction as she shifted in her chair a little and took in a breath.
"Well, to cut a long story short, originally we planned to build a set for this shoot to make it seem like Lucille was in a bookstore setting signing a copy of her book and stuff but it was all staged. This was gonna be lots of hard work on Berwald's part," she nodded toward him, "so Tino had the idea to use your store to host the photoshoot. Francis and Arthur weren't too fond of the idea and they shut it down, but Lucille found out that they had consulted this without her she was furious. She said that as a writer she would prefer to be in a real bookstore setting doing a real book signing and not just stood in front of a flimsy set. She was quite passionate about it actually. So basically Francis and Arthur have agreed and want to use your store." Christina finished and rubbed the back of her neck a little, "Sorry that was a lot to take in."
Lukas was speechless and fiddled with the strap on his watch for a moment. He could feel his palms beginning to become clammy as he processed exactly what it was that Christina was saying.
"So, what you're saying is, is that the Lucille Marcon wants to hold a book signing here. In my store. And an article will be published in Icon?" He spoke slowly, not quite believing the words that were coming out of his own mouth and prayed that he hadn't grasped the wrong end of the stick.
The grin from earlier sprang back to Christina's lips and she nodded so hard that her long earrings clattered around her. "Yes! It was Tino's idea, but Francis will most likely take credit now." She laughed.
"The shoot is on Wednesday so there isn't really much time to prepare. There are a lot of things to work out so we'll need you to come by the Publications ASAP, Francis sent us to-"
Berwald held up a hand to cut Christina off,
"He hasn't even said yes yet. Might not want to." He said, looking from Christina to Lukas, "What d'ya think? It'll be a lot of hard work but we'll do most of it. If there's anything you're unsure of you can ask me. Don't feel pressured into sayin' anythin' yet if you wanna think about this."
Lukas didn't know what to say, and just gawped at Berwald. The sheer fact alone that one of his favourite authors wanted to do a book signing in his store and that he possibly would get to meet her was enough to have him astounded, not to mention what it might do to his business. But he wanted to talk this through before coming to a decision.
"Can you excuse me for a minute please?" Lukas said as he stood up hastily, hardly waiting for a reply from Christina and Berwald before he raced up the stairs to his apartment two at a time. He threw the front door open and almost stumbled as he tripped over the rug in the hallway. When Lukas appeared in the doorway to the living room he found Tino lay on the couch with a spoonful of ice-cream paused halfway to his mouth, glancing at Lukas from the corner of his eye.
"Lukas? What's up?" Tino asked, his voice laced with concern before finishing his spoonful and setting down the tub of Ben & Jerry's on the coffee table.
"Why didn't you tell me about Lucille Marcon? Your friends are downstairs in the back room and I don't know what to do." Lukas's cheeks were a little flushed and he scraped a hand through his hair as he sunk into the couch next to Tino. Although usually quite calm and collected, Lukas tended to get flustered quite easily when he had something on his mind or when he was overwhelmed.
Tino gasped, "Lu, I didn't tell you about Icon working with Lucille in case you wanted to meet her or something and I wasn't able to arrange it for you. I thought it might be better if you didn't know that I had met her before you ever got the chance!" he spluttered, "And what do you mean my friends are downstairs? Who is it?"
"Christina and some guy called Berwald, they're here to ask me if the can use my bookshop to host a book signing for Lucille." Lukas said, his eyes wide and searching Tino's.
After taking a breath and composing himself he continued, filling Tino in about what Christina had said regarding Arthur and Francis changing their minds about Tino's idea to use his bookshop and that Francis had sent Christina and Berwald to propose this to him formally.
Tino brought his hands up to his face and cupped his cheeks as he let out an excited squeal. "Lukas, this is amazing! You've said yes right?"
Lukas's face crumpled a little as he shook his head, "No, I don't know if I can. Tino, this is huge. What if it goes wrong?" he said; his voice no more than a whisper.
Taking Lukas's hand in his, Tino squeezed it tightly, his large brown eyes boring into Lukas's as he tried to will some confidence into his friend.
"You deserve this Lukas, and if I didn't think you could do it I would never have suggested this in the first place. Just think about how many people are going to come to your store after this, especially if Lucille wants to host a signing here! It was only a photoshoot and interview originally! It's not every day a book lover gets to meet their favourite author, right?" Tino enthused, earning a shy smile from Lukas, who nodded and squeezed Tino's hand back in return.
After a little more consulting with Tino, Lukas had invited Berwald and Christina up to the apartment to go over all the details for the preparation that would take place over the next few days. Lukas would go with Tino to Icon on Monday morning for a meeting with Francis and to meet Lucille, then on Tuesday Berwald would spend the day in Lukas's store to set up lights and move in any props or furniture that they may need for the big day on Wednesday. The more they made solid plans the more content Lukas' seemed to get and Tino had sat back and not said much, enjoying seeing his best friend having a moment in the spotlight.
When there wasn't anything else left to discuss and Berwald and Christina began to gather their things to leave, Tino took the half full trash bag from the kitchen as an excuse to go with them to Christina's car. Leaving Lukas in the living room with a fresh and well needed cup of coffee, he followed Berwald and Christina down the outside steps that lead down from their balcony to the street below. As they approached the bottom, Christina said her goodbyes to Tino and headed for her car leaving Berwald and Tino to talk.
"Ber, who was it that told Lucille about Francis and Arthur rejecting the idea of using Lukas's bookshop? Only you and I were in that meeting…" Tino asked when Christina was out of earshot.
Berwald turned to Tino and smiled coyly, "It was Matthew. I think he's a bit infatuated with her." He said, and a low rumbling chuckle escaped him at Tino's wide eyed expression.
"Oh, of course! Matthew! What a hero, I need to thank him on Monday!" Tino beamed, though feeling bad for forgetting that Matthew was also in their meeting.
Then, a silence fell between Tino and Berwald, and Berwald seemed to be lingering in case Tino had anything else to say. As they stood there on the pavement Tino rather bashfully thought about how handsome Berwald actually was. He was dressed in a black high turtle neck jumper and dark jeans and casual trainers, much different to the white shirt and dirty overalls he wore to work. Tino had the sudden urge to hang out with Berwald and find an opportunity to get to know him a little.
"Say, Ber, do you want to go out of the office for lunch on Monday? Get out of the madness for a while? Especially now that you haven't got as much work to do, would you be able to spare half an hour?" Tino said before he could stop himself.
Berwald's cheeks caught a slight pink tinge as he adjusted his glasses and averted Tino's eye for a moment. Tino was beginning to regret asking as Berwald stood in front of him taking a while to answer.
"Mm, I'd like that." He said finally, and Tino let out a breath he hadn't even realised he was holding in relief.
"Great! We'll I'll see you on Monday then." Tino said with a smile as Christina beeped the horn of her car impatiently, waiting for Berwald.
"Yah, see you Monday Tino." Berwald mumbled to Tino as he turned and walked briskly towards Christina's car, his face an even deeper shade of pink. Tino stood on the pavement and waved them off until they turned the corner.
Humming a tune to himself in content, Tino swung the bag of rubbish he was holding over his shoulder and walked around the back of Lukas's shop and off the street into the alleyway where the large trash bins were kept. He grimaced a little has he picked his way through the litter that was strewn across the floor and made a mental note to call the waste collection agency and request a clean-up. Just as he'd tossed the bag into the bin and slammed the lid closed, Tino heard the voices of Emil and Lars coming up the street as they were arriving back from their morning out. Excited to tell Emil the news about the Lucille Marcon signing, Tino began to make his way back towards the opening from the alley and out onto the street, but he stopped suddenly and pressed himself against the wall out of sight when he heard their conversation as they passed him, wanting to listen.
"You can come and stay with me in Norway. I don't want you ending up like your brother, so you need to make sure you get an education. It might help if you had some time to yourself with me and you could look at some of the colleges in Oslo?" Lars said to Emil. They had stopped at the bottom of the staircase leading up to the apartment.
Tino heard Emil hum in thought before he replied. "I don't know, Dad. I'm not even sure what I want to study at college. I was thinking of just getting a part time job to help Lukas with some bills and take a year off?" Emil said rather timidly.
Lars sighed, "I don't think that's a good idea, Emil. What about studying something universal like engineering? There's good money in it and you can get jobs all over the world…"
Tino was straining to keep listening to the conversation as Emil and Lars began to walk up the stairs. He could hear blood was rushing through his ears and he gritted his teeth, feeling anger boiling up inside. Since the beginning he knew that Lars must have had an ulterior motive for coming to stay with them but didn't want to think too much of it, hoping that this was simply just a father trying to make amends with his sons. But instead Lars was hoping to slyly win the affection of his youngest son by playing the doting father, probably knowing fully well that Lukas would see right through his bullshit right away. Although Lars may not have meant anything malicious by saying that he didn't want Emil to 'end up like Lukas' Tino couldn't help but wonder what else Lars had been whispering into Emil's ear.
Not wanting to cause a fuss and ruin the evening for Lukas as he told his family the news about hosting Lucille's book signing Tino held his tongue for as long as he could as he sat around the table at dinner. He smiled through the toast that Lars had raised for Lukas, cheered as they clinked their glasses and made small talk, but when Emil and Lukas got up to go through to the living room, Tino stood up and insisted that he would clear away the dishes and that Lars should stay and help, leaving the man of the hour to celebrate with his brother. Lukas was on his fourth glass of wine by this point and didn't object as he sauntered into the living room and flopping down on the couch with Emil.
Lars and Tino cleared the table in silence, and only once the dishes were all piled by the sink and Lars was stood close enough to Tino that they could talk without being overheard did Tino clear his throat.
"So, when are we going on vacation to your place then? I've always wondered what Norway was like." Tino said, his voice sickly sweet as he pulled on the rubber gloves. He didn't look at Lars and kept his gaze on the running water in the sink.
"I heard you talking with Emil earlier outside the apartment, and I was wondering if Lukas has an invite to come and live with you too?"
Stealing a quick glance at Lars, Tino saw that his face was a picture of distress, but that soon faded when Lars pretended to be puzzled.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said with a shrug, taking the dish towel from the hook on the cupboard door and tossing it over his shoulder.
Tino laughed, "Oh I think you do. I'm not going to tell Lukas, but I will make myself very clear. You've already caused both of your sons a lot of pain, and you're lucky to have a second chance with them. Please don't meddle in their life or out stay your welcome or you'll just lose them forever."
Turning to finally to face Lars, Tino narrowed his eyes at him, trying to read the emotion on his face and to wait for his reply, but Lars said nothing. Sighing, Tino's face returned to its normal happy expression as he turned his attention back to washing the dishes.
A:N: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading if you're here! I hope you're enjoying this fic so far.
Please leave a review if you can, or pop a favorite on if you're following this story. I'm posting this on both here and on AO3, and I'm not sure if I should continue posting on here. Let me know if you're an active reader and I'll keep posting on here too if that's the case.
See you next chapter!