The Christmas Surprise

I go through the afternoon just in different phone and zoom meetings, not really focussing on the work itself but more just trying to think of how this conversation is going to go even though Corey and I are talking again and rebuilding our friendship so to speak.

Finishing the meetings, it’s about 4:30 as I send off an email to the main bosses so that I can adjust my leave dates so I can have the extra two weeks off that everybody has been nagging me to take and I know HR will be happy they don’t have it on their books. Deep down, part of me wants it to be rejected but almost instantly, the HR department has approved my adjustments so that now I’m off from December 9 to January 23 when I get back to work.

That evening, I finish work at about 9ish after trying to get everything done because I hate having a single loose end of work despite having one of the most disorganised offices in the building and department. I head off and even though it’s snowing again, I decide that it’s easier just to walk home instead of fighting for space on the train and that I need to get something for dinner and a few other things at the grocery store,

Walking up the street, my phone rings with a number that I don’t instantly recognise although I know it’s from an Australian number “Hello, this is Blake Bennett speaking” I say with my generic phone response when I don’t recognise a number or the person calling me.

“Good Afternoon Mr Bennett, my name is Corey Walsh and I’m just returning a call after a voicemail was left on my phone this morning” I roll my eyes and try not to laugh as I hear Corey talking in a very formal business tone as he rings me.

“You’ve not changed one bit,” I say as he just laughs at my nervousness kicking back in as I talk to him even though we’ve spoken a few times and seen each other since everything that happened between us because I just don’t know how things are meant to be considering there was a breakup.

“So talk to me about this favour you wanted,” he says as I hope that I’m not getting myself into trouble emotionally as I’m opening up to Corey again because the last time that happened, we fell apart and I tried to shut him out because I was so hurt by what happened.

“Well, Bec told me to give you a call because you always have some open places on your property list that you open up to short-term leases,” I say building myself up to him saying no that he doesn’t or that he wouldn’t do it to me.

Before I can explain the situation, Corey is already putting two and two together “Hang on, if you’re wanting to know about places, that means you are finally coming for Christmas right?” he says with more excitement in his voice than my sister was which surprises me because maybe I totally misjudged the situation.

“Ok yeah I am, but it’s a total surprise to everyone except Bec ok? You can’t be yourself and go around blurting out secrets everywhere” I say to him because in the past he has had the habit of sharing secrets or ruining surprises that people have been working on for a long time always unintentionally because he just gets excited about it all. “Back on topic, I thought that you might be able to help me with somewhere because every hotel and short-term rental is eye-wateringly expensive and was hoping that you could help me,” I ask him still worried about how he is going to react although his excitement is weird compared to my complete panic stations about the situation.

“How long are you home for?” Must be a while if you’re wanting somewhere that isn’t with family or a hotel” he says as I’m still trying to not show how nervous I am as now I’m walking through the grocery store looking for food and trying to not make a fool of myself. “Probably about six weeks or so” my tone still nervous and almost seeking Corey’s approval for this to happen.

Corey laughs as he hears me say that I’m home for at least six weeks “Well I can see why you’re going to need somewhere else to stay and knowing you and what you are like, you want somewhere closer to the city than you would to your family out there”.

Sydney is geographically massive and it gets easier to tell people that you are just from Sydney than the Western Suburbs 50km (30 miles) out of the city itself because from experience most people think that when you say you live that far away, you’re living in the country or a rural area.

“That’s pretty much it, I’m staying with Bec for probably a few days or a week but that’s why I wanted somewhere to stay but like I said the hotels and Air B&B’s are eye-wateringly expensive over Christmas and New Years,” I say as Corey groans about them which makes me worried because I know he does have some places he advertises as an Air B&B himself. “The thing is that the cost of those places are going to cost me more for the six weeks than what most of my rent here costs me, so I was hoping that you had somewhere that’s a bit cheaper,” I say as Corey affirms what I said before testing my reaction to what he is about to say like he always used to.

Corey takes a deep breath before starting “I’m not going to rent you anywhere Blake” he says as I start to fight back but already admitting defeat as well. “I’m happy to pay but if you do….” Corey stops me “If you could let me finish instead of falling for my tricks again… I’m not renting you anywhere because I’m going to let you either stay with me or you can pick one of the places on the list for free,” he says as I could slap him for pulling off this same trick that he always fooled me with.

Trying to make me think the worst of the pending situation when really there is nothing wrong has been a speciality of Corey since I’ve always known him and it doesn’t matter how many times he does it, I’m always falling for his tricks.

It also takes me a moment to realise that he said that I could stay with him which would be weird given our relationship in the past and how things went between us and the awkwardness that would be there with his fiancé who he left me for and our overall past which I’m not entirely certain if she knows about.

“I mean, I’m happy to take any place that you’ve got that you think that I’d like, I’m happy with anything as long as it’s close to the city and I can park a car,” I ask without making any reference to the obvious elephant in the room talking about staying with him and how our friendship is at the moment and making things more awkward than what they still are.

“Alright, well I’ll send you a list of places that I’ve got that I know you would love and you can plan out and let me know what you like because these aren’t places that I really fill before selling or renting out long-term,” he says as we both agree to the plan and I insist on him telling me the cost of what each place would be although I know that he won’t do that.

Finishing up at the grocery store, I head home with a few days worth of food and at least for a while the snow has stopped which is a nice change and it’s not blowing straight into my face as I walk into the headwind that has picked up and finally get to my apartment and head inside.

Cooking dinner, it always amazes everyone that for as long as I have been living on my own, I’ve never really mastered cooking as much as I’ve tried and wanted to, and my relationship with cooking has never been fantastic. Following the packet's instructions as closely as possible my efforts won’t ever win me any Michelin Stars but I’m happy with the effort that I got because it tastes relatively good and it’s not going to poison me.

After finishing dinner, I get my laptop out and already Corey has sent me a list of places which surprises me but then at the same time, it really shouldn’t surprise me given that he is the most organised person that I have ever met with everything neatly organised including separate drawers for the different types of underwear he has.

Having a look at the list, these are all amazing properties that Corey has managed to build up and it’s phenomenal how much he has managed to do since graduating from Uni in his property development as well as buying and selling. The list of places that he has sent me is more than what I could’ve expected but across the four there are four totally different options that I can look at.

Property 1 is a place about 5-10 minutes outside the city, it’s a two-bedroom apartment that is fully furnished and has access to a full private gym downstairs and is a close walk to the nearby train station and other public transport options. The views that the apartment has are absolutely amazing with a view straight towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House which would be amazing for New Years.

The second place is on the other side of Sydney and is probably about 15 minutes away, this one is more of a townhouse and has three bedrooms but is in a nice spot though not as luxurious as the first apartment but is I still close to the city.

I quickly rule out the third place on the list because it is almost exactly the same as my apartment here in the US, it’s right in the CBD which would be amazing but the small size would just make me feel like I’m back at home and I don’t want that.

The fourth place is arguably the most amazing and sits in a spot where I’m close to the city although the furthest away but at the same time I’m closer to my family than any of the others and I just need to get onto the M4 motorway to get out to visit my family. The apartment is a penthouse in Olympic Park that has an amazing 360-degree view looking towards the city as well as out towards the Blue Mountains as well. The apartment has some of the most amazing features which make the decision even tougher. Tossing up between places is tough because I want to be right in the city but then still near my family as I start looking at places that could be more long-term as I start to realise that this trip could be an exploration in potentially moving back more permanently.

I close my laptop and head to bed, only changing my clothes and not bothering to have a shower as I lay there for a while thinking about the trip and what I want from this trip.

The next morning, I have a look at flights and make the decision and like most flights to Australia from America, you have to go through Los Angeles and transit through LAX to get out to Sydney which makes the flights both easier and tougher. In the end, I book my tickets, through the method that Sophie sent me as I confirm all the details flying economy class into Los Angeles, spending a few hours at the airport there and then onto a business class Qantas flight into Sydney.

It's just after lunchtime when there’s a knock at my office door and Sophie walks in “So you’re actually doing this then? You got where you’re staying?” she asks as I make a decision on the spot about the place that I want to stay for the six weeks. “Yeah, I’m staying with my sister for a few days before staying at a place near the city that is really good and somewhere settled for the time.”

Sophie raises her eyes at the last part of my comment “That doesn’t sound like someone who wants a quick visit, that looks like someone that might be trying to replant their roots back home” she says as I deny the fact that is what I might be a possibility deep down.

“Nah, I’m just responding to everyone nagging me about taking leave and spending quality time with my family and all that stuff you know,” I say as she nods not fully convinced by what I have to say about my visit back home. We go through some of the work that needs to be managed and done so that Sophie can make sure it’s done as she is going to monitor everything for me despite it not being her exact department but with a shortage of staff she can take control.

Sitting there, instead of working Sophie and I just start talking and planning about a quick Christmas party between our little group of friends given that it’s now only a week before I leave and it’s only a couple of days difference between me heading to Australia and Katie heading to Hawaii for her Christmas break with family.

Knowing which of the places I want, I send Corey back a message as I think that I’m going to surprise him out of all the options that he sent me, but in the end, I’m the one who ends up the most surprised. “That’s the one I thought you would pick”  he replies much to my surprise but after everything that happened between us and all the time that we spent apart and not talking to each other.

Sitting at my desk, I’m trying to get my mind focused back on work matters but all I can do is think about Corey last night telling me that I sound like I want to move back to Sydney permanently when I don’t think I’ve ever thought about it and then Sophie saying so as well is making me think maybe I do

In all honesty, I’ve never thought about moving back because since moving away, I haven’t been home and my family members have come to visit me and then when COVID hit there wasn’t a chance to head back and it didn’t really bother me that I couldn’t go.

Thinking about it, I realise that a lot of my concern has been the questions surrounding what happened between Corey and me because very few people actually knew about my romantic relationship with him other than thinking that we were just friends that had a massive falling ou over something, which thankfully neither of us ever talked about. Answering relationship questions is always tough especially now that I’m still single and being 30, makes Mum pressure me into why I’m still single and haven’t settled down finding someone.

I don’t know whether my parents and all my siblings actually know that I’m gay but at the end of the day, I’ve never hidden anything about my sexuality but then at the same time I’ve never really openly said that I’m gay or talked about it around my family.

The only person that definitely knows about me being gay is my sister Bec but that was by pure accident when she walked in on Corey and me having sex one afternoon when we thought everyone was away visiting relatives while I had exams and work commitments going on. The moment she walked in on us was probably the most awkward and interesting moment that I’ve ever had because being caught having sex is bad enough but at the same time when you’re with another guy who has his cock deep inside you and nobody knows that you are gay.

Thankfully, I’ve got a sister though who was relaxed about what happened and never pressured me about the situation and kept my secret about being into guys but also she was amazing at keeping Corey’s secret because for him it was a lot more complicated given that he wasn’t gay and still had relationships with girls.

I switch my head back to work and head into a meeting that is all about delegating the work that will be there whilst I’m away and I’m hoping that there are no issues with what I’m putting on the shoulders of the others because I know my load of work will be adding to theirs even though Christmas is a quieter period. Thankfully, most people respond well to my charisma and charm which allows me to delegate a lot of the work across the department and I hope that it’s my charisma and cute looks that make me a good manager and not just an obligation.

My list of work has been whittled down significantly which puts a lot of my pre-trip stresses away as Sophie sends me a text as I wander out of the meeting room “Xmas drinks at our place, 7:30 tonight and be there” she texts me as I’m surprised considering that only a couple of hours ago we were going to have them in a few days, not tonight,

I reply to her text asking “Why the change to tonight?” just curious about why she changed it and like most of Sophie's responses I just get a shrugging emoji which is always a great help. I manage to leave work a little earlier than “normal” which for most people is already after finishing time as I leave just after 6:40 pm. Getting home, I quickly change clothes and have a shower as I get naked and let the water run down my body and although I’m not what you would say is ripped but I’m still pretty fit although I might be a bit more solid than what I once was when I moved here, I am still happy with how I look and still feel pretty hot.

Getting dressed, I get ready to head to Sophie and Katie's place after trying to find something to put on given that I wasn’t expecting to go out tonight. I catch an Uber over to their apartment and already there are so many of our friends and colleagues there, I quickly see that this isn’t just a Christmas party but also a farewell party and I realise that this was planned in advance rather than just this afternoon.

I talk to everybody for a while before finding a moment in the corner where I’m sitting with Coco as Sophie comes over to me “So are you actually looking forward to heading home for Christmas and are you going to keep hiding your feels?” she says to me in her pointed way as I shrug not sure.

“I don’t know, I mean my ex, if you can call him that is playing a big part in my trip home and we are still friends and all that I guess, but have had limited contact and talking to him the past few days and it just sort of relit something because after we were talking it was just like old times when we would be together talking in bed or staying together,” I say as Sophie just nods and puts her arm around me and looks at me.

“Whatever happens is meant to happen in the world” her words are no different to what they are usually are whenever someone comes to her with a problem or wants advice which is probably why she is so carefree about everything unlike the stress heads that Katie and I are. “I know you’ve told me what happened before, but the fact that he wants to stay connected is a good thing and maybe you can get a proper sense of everything and maybe you don’t need to keep running from it all because just maybe that’s why you don’t go home or have such doubts about doing it, now stop moping in the corner with Coco and get back talking,” she says with her energetic attitude which is clearly boosted by a few drinks.

Sophie’s words ring in my head as I realise that maybe the reason that I’ve thought that I needed to stay away from home and here in the here working (Covid aside) is that I’ve been trying to not confront my demons both with telling my family that I’m gay although I’m sure that they know but mostly that I’m just running away the whole Corey factor given that nobody really knows what happened.