Movement II: The Catacombs
Faint sounds of sizzling and an incredible smell gently eased Marcus awake. Sitting up he felt his joints crack as he stretched and began his recovery from sleeping on what turned out to be a surprisingly uncomfortable couch. "Oww," Marcus groaned as he twisted and turned cracking parts of his body he didn't know could crack.
Dressed in gym shorts and an undershirt, Marcus padded his way towards the sounds and smells, which were not surprisingly coming from the kitchen. Dressed in jeans and a flannel button up, Esca was hard at work on eggs and bacon.
"Mornin'," Esca mumbled as he prepared the plate. Marcus hoisted himself into one of the kitchen table chairs with a grunt.
"Good morning," Marcus yawned.
Esca placed the plate in front of him before returning to the stove and making his own breakfast.
"Where's Cub?" Marcus asked as he polished off his eggs and started devouring his remaining bacon.
"School," Esca replied.
"Does he go in the costume?" Marcus chuckled.
"He just goes down the road to a neighbor. Mr. Aquila hired a private tutor who lives in the house a little ways away. She's the only person who can get him to actually act like a human being," Esca said. There was a hint of jealousy in his voice. Like he had wished he'd been able to get Cub to act like a boy. "I just don't know how she does it." He took a seat in front of Marcus and began to eat his breakfast.
"He's a good kid," Marcus's voice still had the deep, sleepy hum. "You're doing fine."
Esca sighed, though Marcus didn't know anything about parenting, it was obvious his words were comforting to the young, unexpected father.
Marcus dumped his empty plate in the sink and began to wash the dishes. "Mr…." Esca held his tongue. "Marcus, please let me do the dishes."
Marcus ignored him and continued to rub them down as he placed them in the dishwasher. "You have any plans for the day?" Marcus asked.
"I can work around whatever you're doing," Esca replied.
"That's not what I meant," Marcus shrugged. "I was wondering if you wanted to visit my uncle's grave with me."
Esca nodded, "Yeah, I'll go."
Marcus chuckled with a twinge of sadness, "Figure if I'm going to sell his villa I should at least see his grave."
Esca turned off. Instantly he became slightly colder as he placed his own dish in the dishwasher before silently heading off to the cottage. Marcus didn't know what he said to piss Esca off. Shrugging he went to go shower and get ready.
The cemetery was quiet. It was a warm spring morning with only the sound of chirping birds accompanying the two men standing in front of the grave.
Esca wondered how much longer they'd be. He'd spent a fair amount of time visiting Uncle Aquila since his death. It was a habit Esca had already gotten used to since he lost Sarah.
He should visit Sarah's grave before they left. It was quite convenient that the two of them were buried in the same cemetery.
"I'm a monster," Marcus stated matter-of-factly.
Esca turned and looked up at the man who was much taller than he. He stared at Marcus waiting for an explanation.
"I…" Marcus tried but stopped. Esca faintly wondered if this giant was going to start crying, then he realized the fact that he wasn't crying was probably what spurred this revelation. "He did so much for me and I never met him. I only talked to him a few times when we started the company."
Esca looked back down at the grave. He didn't know what to say so he figured it was best to say nothing.
"He probably wouldn't recognize me on the street if he passed by," Marcus shrugged.
"Let's go. I should show you something," Esca said as he began walking back towards the car. He'd visit Sarah another time. There was something Marcus needed to see.
"This door is locked, the lawyer said there wasn't a key," Marcus said as the approached the mystery door at the end of the hallway.
Esca pulled a single key from his pocket and unlocked the door. "He gave this to me. Figured you'd break down the door anyway," Esca shrugged.
The room was small. It seemed to be nothing but storage. A small bookshelf was at the opposite end of the room. Esca went straight to it and grabbed a large brown binder. Opening to the first page to check if it was the right one he handed it to Marcus.
College Sensation: Two University of North Texas Students Start Wildly Successful Online Network. It was the Dallas Morning News. Marcus remembered the article. It was written after a few big names had invested in the site. He laughed at the goofy pictured they'd decided to print of him and Steve, his business partner. The whole article was here.
The next page contained the Washington Post, New York Times, Business Weekly. There were all here. All of the articles from when the company blew up and became a business sensation.
"He kept up with me?" Marcus was surprised by how weak his voice sounded.
"Turn the page," Esca laughed. "This next one was always his favorite."
Marcus returned to the binder turning the page. Campus's Most Eligible Bachelor: Marcus Aquila.
Marcus sputtered with laughter. Uncle Aquila had the campus newspaper's front-page article from the Valentine's Day just after his incredible success. The picture was of him in only jeans on the stage at the date auction he'd participated in. He was flexing for the bidders.
"Oh my god," Marcus laughed. Marcus had dropped out just after that semester.
"He was really fucking proud of you," Esca said. "He talked about you a lot."
"Really?" Marcus was dumbfounded.
"Yeah!" Esca said. "I'd be too if my son had done as much as you had by the age twenty-two."
"But I wasn't his son…"
"Close enough. You were the closest thing he had to a son. You were his only family."
"Jesus," Marcus breathed. "So wait, you knew about me and what I did before I got here?"
"Yeah, I knew," Esca smiled. "It'd be hard not to. I asked because I didn't want to seem like a stalker."
"Oh," Marcus flushed at the idea.
"I'll leave you to it. Lunch will be ready in a half an hour," Esca said bowing out of the room again.
I didn't want to seem like a stalker? Esca replayed the conversation in his mind countless times. He was so awkward! Truth was he had kind of been a stalker. Marcus Aquila was so gorgeous. Ever since he started working for Uncle Aquila when he was fifteen he'd been enamored with the nephew.
Esca was making a grilled chicken salad for he and Marcus to share. He hoped Marcus liked salad.
"So um…" Marcus cleared his throat as he sat down at the kitchen table.
Esca jumped.
"So do you have a boyfriend?" Marcus was rubbing the back of his head nervously.
Esca chuckled lightly, "No, the little man makes that a little difficult."
"Oh right," Marcus was having serious difficulties making eye contact.
Esca placed a bowl of salad in front of Marcus, "Why the sudden interest?"
Marcus stared at the salad, "No reason."
Lunch was nearly silent besides the respective salad chewing. Esca didn't mind, he much preferred silence.
Marcus hated the silence. It was so awkward. Why did he bring up Esca's love life again? He was going to let it go.
Marcus never really got close to many people. He's always just had a string of acquaintances. The only person who that hadn't been true for was Steve. He and Steve had been friends since high school and even through the hardest times that arose from the business speed bumps.
Steve had been his only real friend. That should have made Marcus sad, but for some reason it really didn't bother him in the end. What DID bother him were the strange feelings he was getting about Esca. He never depended on people and he never felt like he missed someone even when they were in the next room.
All of this seemed to compound in Marcus when he thought about Esca. And shit, he knew the guy for like twenty-four hours. But even a straight man could admit that Esca was absolutely beautiful.
"What?" Esca asked almost sounding annoyed.
"Huh?" Marcus asked afraid that a bit of salad was falling out of his mouth.
"You're staring at me," Esca deadpanned.
"I'm…" Marcus didn't remember staring but now that he thought about it maybe he had been. "I…"
Esca stood and slowly made his way towards Marcus. Marcus felt his pulse instantly quicken and his breathing shorten. Was this happening? Esca got closer with each step. Esca leaned, his face so close Marcus would barely need to move to lock lips with the man. Marcus hoped his face wasn't begging for the connection he felt so desperate for.
Then, like a rug being torn out from under him, Esca grabbed Marcus's plate and walked away. Marcus almost moaned with desperation. No person had ever had that effect on Marcus, male or female.
Esca flipped on the stove again and began preparing a grilled cheese sandwich. A sign, no doubt, that Cub would be barreling down the hallway soon enough.
"I have to meet with the lawyer in an hour, I think I'll go ahead and head out for that," Marcus said, his voice surprisingly weak.
"Okay," Esca replied as if nothing had happened. Maybe nothing had happened; maybe this was all in Marcus's head.
"I'm assuming you would like to sell the villa?" Mr. Norton sighed as he read through more documents pertaining to the will.
"Uh," Marcus assumed that was what he was going to do, but knowing that Esca and Cub lived there changed things. "Maybe?"
"Maybe?" Mr. Norton was concerned.
"What would happen to the people that lived there?" Marcus asked.
"They'd have to find somewhere else to live… simple as that. But it's not like you're going to be living here so there's no need for servants to be living on the grounds even if you didn't sell."
"But if I didn't they could still live there right?" Marcus was hopeful.
"Of course, but what good is that going to do anybody? They need to find other work anyways… unless you intend to move here."
Marcus didn't have an answer.
"Okay, here's the deal Mr. Aquila," Mr. Norton said as he placed down the papers. "Take a few days to decide what you want to do. Clean out your uncle's belongings and organize everything. If you want to make the sale, there are plenty of buyers interested. Here's a document from one of those buyers," Mr. Norton slid one of the papers he'd been reading. "The bid there is probably the highest you'll get for the property and it is very generous."
Marcus looked down, one point five million dollars. The number made him feel sick to his stomach. The villa was beautiful and large, but for some reason the offers he'd imagined were never that high.
Marcus walked in a few hours later. It was like he owned the place. Esca shrugged, technically he did, but he hadn't lived here. He hadn't cared for Uncle Aquila. He didn't truly understand what it was like. "I have beers!" He cheered holding up a plastic bag.
"Eh?" Esca raised an eyebrow.
"I think we near finished up the ones that were in the fridge," Marcus said loading the loot.
So this drinking at night was going to be a thing…. Maybe Esca would use tonight to talk to Marcus about what was to happen to the villa (and Esca's home).
Later that night, Cub's eyes couldn't stay open. Esca chuckled as he made it to page three and his little boy was already out like a light. Esca debated not going back over, but he didn't want to let Marcus down. As he walked across the lawn he saw that Marcus had already taken a seat on the porch and positioned the beers so they were chilling.
It was quiet for a long while, the two young men enjoy the evening and the beers. "What's it like?" Marcus asked his voice laced with nervous energy.
Esca could guess what he was after, but he enjoyed torturing the poor soul, "What's what like?"
"Sex…" Marcus replied. "I mean with a guy."
Esca chuckled, "Much like it is with a girl except more masculine I'd imagine."
Marcus's lips pursed before he seemingly forced himself to look away. He took a swig from his beer and continued looking out into the night. Esca opened his mouth to ask Marcus why he was curious, however instead of words coming out, Esca got a face-full of Marcus.
Marcus pressed himself against Esca hard. The desperate kiss filled with bottled up emotions erupted as Marcus passionately grabbed both sides of Esca's face, framing their kiss.
It seemed as though throughout the entire kiss all Marcus's mind could conjure was a string of obscenities with the word "stop" sprinkled among them. His body, however, would not let his mind have any control.
Esca's body seemed to have more control, "What are you doing?"
Esca's words had no trace of how he felt. Was he mad, happy, turned on? Marcus stared without a word, without an explanation. What had he been doing?
"You okay?" Esca asked this time Marcus could tell that he was at least not angry.
"Your bed or mine?" Marcus growled. He wasn't entirely sure he'd meant to say that, but the cheesy line seemed to do the trick. Esca smirked grabbing Marcus by the arm and leading him back into the villa towards Uncle Aquila's room. It was right then that Marcus realized he didn't have a bed. "Oh no," Marcus froze.
Esca tilted his head before realizing what Marcus was feeling. His face told Marcus he felt similarly. "Couch," Esca said already pulling Marcus's shirt off and dropping it in the hallway.
Marcus fumbled with Esca's belt as Esca pushed the two of them onto the couch. Marcus managed to undo Esca's trousers and began to yank them down.
Marcus stared at Esca's exposed manhood, his eyes wide with fear and lust.
Esca grabbed Marcus's cock through his jeans, making the man writhe under his grasp. Both began to furiously strip off their remaining clothes before rubbing their naked bodies together.
"I want you to fuck me," Marcus whispered.
Esca stopped rubbing and stared in disbelief. "That's what you mean by 'sex with a guy'?"
Marcus nodded, wasn't that straightforward?
Esca seemed even more excited if that was even possible. "Condoms?"
Marcus chuckled, "my suitcase."
"Oi, came prepared?" Esca said diving into Marcus's suitcase and retrieving the orange package from the zipper pocket.
"My secretary has a strange sense of humor," Marcus laughed before sobering. "Is this going to hurt?" Despite his worry, his dick stayed rock hard and seemed to pulse with excitement.
Esca disappeared into the bathroom. "This oil should do the trick," he said returning with what looked like massage oil. Marcus took a deep breath as Esca positioned himself behind the beautiful man. Marcus was happy he was lying on his back; it turned him on that he could still look at Esca.
The first push sent shivers of pleasure and pain through Marcus's body. It felt like everything was tingling before the pain really hit him. Esca was slow as he navigated further inside.
Then something magical happened, all the pain he'd felt previous dissipated and a new sensation of wonderful bliss blossomed. Marcus moaned unapologetically.
"Esca," Marcus whispered closing his eyes.
Esca, thrilled by Marcus's reaction aimed for the same spot. Every time he hit it Marcus felt that angelic pulse of pleasure.
It was long before Marcus's cock was desperate for attention. Esca wrapped his fist around it and began pumping. "Oh GOD!" Marcus yelled as he exploded across his chest, leaving trails of white spread about from just below his chin to his groin.
Though he didn't say anything, Esca's blissful expression led Marcus to believe that he'd just come as well. In that brief moment post-bliss, Marcus couldn't help but worry that he'd been bad or too quick to come. In reality that was the first time he'd ever experienced anything like that, he couldn't have had control anyway.
"I'll get you a towel," Esca said leaping up and pulling off the condom before disappearing into the bathroom again.
"You want to spend the night with me?" Marcus asked as he wiped himself up.
Esca frowned, "Sorry Marcus, not really my thing. I'll see ya in the morning."
"Oh yeah, that's cool," Marcus tried to play it off. "See you in the morning." He rolled over on the couch and stared off into the distance. Suddenly what he and Esca had just done seemed wrong…