“This has been a fabulous holiday,” Leo commented as he nursed a coffee standing on the balcony that ran the full width of the house front beneath the eaves. He realised he was going to be sorry to return to London in just a few more days. The revelation that Bruno and Gretchen, though married, were in fact ‘partnered’ with Elize and her husband Frans-Josef explained as great deal — not least why Max had avoided visiting until now. Turning to where Max sat with his coffee, he asked, “What had you in mind for today, love?”
“Business, I’m afraid,” Max replied. “I need to go to see the Landesampt with Gretchen. There’s a few things to sort out with the property registration and I have to appear in person. Shouldn’t take long.” He grinned. “You wanted to do some sketching or painting?”
“If you don’t need me, then I will find a spot down there, and do some of the sketches I want to get on paper so I can paint when I get home.” Sipping the coffee, he added, “And I still want to draw and photograph you, my love — and I’ve decided on the perfect setting for it.”
Max laughed. “You don’t give up, do you?” Draining his mug, he stood, taking Leo’s empty mug, he put both on the handrail, then drew Leo into a hug and kissed him. “Okay, love. This afternoon?”
Wrapped in a towelling dressing gown, Max found Leo waiting on the bench at the front of the chalet.
“Your ‘model’ is here, Mr Artist.” Kissing Leo’s cheek, Max grinned. “Where do you want me?”
“Here!” Laughed Leo. “How’d it go in the Rathaus?”
“All sorted out.” Max frowned. “Silly really, somebody had misfiled a deed and the lease to Gretchen. It was filed with her Gasthaus registration. Anyway, I’ve provided all the attested documents they need, so it was smiles all round. Now, my love, what do you want your model to do?”
“I’ve found the perfect spot, love.” Gathering his sketch pad and his camera, Leo stood. Kissing Max, he smiled. “This way gorgeous.”
Leading max in his towelling bathrobe from the house toward the lake, he turned aside toward a copse of trees through which ran a small stream. On the further bank an outcrop of rock stood against a backdrop of beech trees with a stand of towering foxgloves to one side and wild roses among the trees.
“I want you to sit on the stone, love, facing a little downhill toward the lake.” Leo positioned Max, seating him on the now folded bathrobe. Carefully he arranged his lover, with one knee drawn up, his hands on the knee, the other leg grounded in front of the outcrop, his body half facing the position he planned to sit to sketch his subject. The arrangement of his legs left Max’s semi-tumescent penis and his scrotum displayed, framed by his torso and his thighs. Satisfied with the pose, and that it was comfortable for Max, Leo took up his camera. “Okay, Max, pick something to focus your gaze on. I want a sort of ‘far away’ look, as if you’re deep in thought, unaware of your surroundings, dreaming of … a lover — that’s it! Hold that look, it’s perfect …”
The camera clicked a number of times as Leo took numerous photos while trying to find the perfect viewpoint and angle. Out of the corner of his eye, Max watched, having trouble not to laugh at the strangeness — for him — of the situation.
“Right, love. Don’t move now. I’ll try to be quick, but I need you to keep really still while I get the rough sketch done.”
“I’ll do my best, love.” Max laughed, then resumed his carefully ‘dreamy’ expression.
Leo’s pencil and pad were already in use, and Max wished he could see how his partner drew him. An hour later, he closed the pad, walked to Max and helped him stand, then kissed him tenderly.
“I knew you were the perfect subject, my love.” Hugging his naked lover, Leo kissed him again. “Let’s go and see what Gretchen has for afternoon coffee.”
“Like this?” Max joked, his now hardening penis pressed against Leo.
“Hmm, maybe something needs some attention first.” Leo dropped to his knee, smiled at his lover and kissed the shapely ‘head’ in front of him. “Why waste the moment, love? May I?” He didn’t wait for a response, seeing it in Max’s expression. His mouth embraced his lover’s gorgeous penis and he gave it his full attention.
A little later, they walked back to the house, hand in hand, the bathrobe draped over Max’s arm and Leo carrying his drawing pad and the folding stool he used. Neither spoke, there was no need.
Leo watched as Max prepared to go to work. The two weeks in Bavaria seemed, in a sense, a distant memory, and Leo could almost sense that the Max he’d shared there, was a different person to Max Fennister, KC, the barrister expert he lived with here. He was still loving, attentive, considerate — but there was a constant tension in him, eating away at his spontaneity and enjoyment of simple pleasures. Max felt this as well, and it bothered him that he’d lost the spontaneity they’d shared in the chalet overlooking the ‘see’ in Bavaria. Somehow wearing lederhosen here in London, in private, just wasn’t the same …
“Do you miss Walchensee, love?” As if reading his mind Max asked as he finished tying his tie.
“Of course.” Leo grinned. “But I’ve got you right here, so the most important part of Walchensee is still with me.”
“You say the nicest things.” Max laughed briefly, blowing a kiss and wishing he could take advantage of his lover’s nakedness. “I think I got the better gift …” Smiling he watched as Leo pulled on a bathrobe over his naked body. “I’ve been thinking. You need a proper studio. I know you’ve always worked in your flat, and it may work for your photography, but isn’t the lighting wrong for painting? My aunt always talked about the need to have ‘north light’. And this flat faces south-west and yours faces east!”
“True, but it’s not essential.” Leo replied as he followed Max into the dining area where he’d laid out their breakfast while Max showered. “These days you can achieve it using lighting. That’s what I do. I backlight a wall behind me and use the reflected light in the same way you would in a north facing studio — like the ones in Talgarth Road.” He grinned, helping himself to muesli. “It’s not perfect, I could really use a larger room with a higher ceiling, but it serves — and, no, I wouldn’t want to live on Talgarth Road with the traffic heading for the M4.”
“I wondered how you managed.” Max added, grinning as he spooned yoghurt onto his muesli. “Would it help if we found a place that gave you a proper studio? I’ve been thinking that maybe we need to look for a place that gives us more scope and you a proper studio.”
“It would, but it would mean moving out of London, love. I certainly can’t afford the sort of rents or the purchase prices for anything in the city — and neither can you,” he added as Max made to reply. “There is a property that would work — belongs to an aunt — it would need some work, but it’s never going to be as convenient to the city for you as this place.”
“That’s not a problem, love.” Draining his orange juice, Max dabbed his lip with the paper napkin. “As long as I can access a rail service into one of the main stations … where is it?”
“Near the Epsom Race course. It’s a fairly large property, the old girl is fairly well-off.” He grinned. “Her hubby was a QC … you’ve probably heard of him, Sir Jonathon Ewell. Anyway, it’s Edwardian, I think, and has a sort of barn on the grounds I could turn into a studio.”
“You’re related to Jonathon Ewell?” Max laughed. “Well I’ll be damned. You could say I’ve heard of him … he was head of the Chambers I did my Pupilage in. I must have seen him every day for four years …”
“By marriage … My aunt is my mother’s elder sister. A bit of an old dragon, but she’s always had a soft spot for me. Time I paid her a visit anyway. She won’t sell, but I might be able to persuade her to let us rent it — and the Trust would love to have the flat freed up …” Leo paused, frowning in thought. “I’ll sound her out.”
“You don’t have to, my love …” Smiling, Max rose collecting his dishes. “I’m pretty sure the property portfolio I inherited includes a couple of places you could turn into a studio. Let me run it past my agents and we can then make a decision.”
“I’ll sound my aunt out anyway — Epsom appeals. Lot’s of memories of visiting her there, and exploring the house.” Leo pulled his bathrobe tighter as he watched Max putting the briefs he’d been working on through the night before back into his elegant briefcase. “And I think you’ll love it.”
“It sounds nice, and if you’d be happy there …” Max walked across and hugged him. “Then let’s explore it.” Glancing round the living room, he added, “This place has been nice, but I think it’s time to move on — too many reminders of how I had to suppress myself …”
Lady Ewell welcomed them with a warm smile.
“Leonides,” she greeted her nephew, accepting his kiss on her cheek. “Mr Fennister I presume?” She offered her hand to Max, her eyes twinkling. “I believe you trained in my late husband’s Chambers.”
Taking the offered hand, Max resisted the urge to kiss it and instead simply held the delicate, yet strong, fingers in his as he replied.
“I did, Lady Ewell.” His amusement flashed through. “He was quite a slave driver. Very demanding of us poor pupils.”
“I can believe that.” Her laugh was musical. “He could never quite leave the courtroom behind.” Stepping aside, she invited them inside and shut the door.
“Thank you for inviting us,” Max said, unbuttoning his overcoat.
“It’s a pity the weather’s so disobliging, I’d thought we could take tea on the terrace, but it’s far too chilly and wet. Never mind.” She watched as they hung their overcoats in the entrance lobby. “We can be quite snug in the small sitting room and you can see the garden and the barn Leonides thinks he can convert into a studio.”
The room she led them into at the back of the house had French windows that opened onto a terrace and faced the garden. Comfortable chairs were arranged around a coffee table where a tray with tea cups, small plates, milk jug and sugar bowl waited, and she indicated that Max should sit as she turned to Leo.
“Leonides, dear, would you fetch the tea pot from the kitchen? You might need to boil the kettle again before you fill it. Oh, and bring the cake stand with you.” As Leo left on his errand, she seated herself and smiled at Max. “As you and Leonides are partners, I think we can be a little less formal, Mr Fennister.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’m Frances to my friends.”
“Thank you.” Max returned the smile, instinctively liking this upright and very elegant old lady. He suspected her husband, the late Sir Jonathon, had not been allowed to be in charge of this house, though he probably never realised it. “I’m Max to my friends and Leo …” He saw the slightly raised eyebrow. “Short for Maximillian I’m afraid. My father’s choice.”
She laughed. “And you’d rather it wasn’t quite so pompous. I can understand that, Leo hates his full name, so I’m being naughty and teasing him today.” She paused as Leo returned with the teapot and a two tiered cake stand laden with small cakes. “Just put them on the table my dear.” Turning back to Max she said, “I knew your parents, of course. I’m pleased to say you take very much after your mother.”
That made Max laugh. “I’m relieved to hear it! My father terrified me most of the time.”
Lady Ewell poured the tea and invited them to enjoy some of the delicacies, leading the conversation into a wide range of topics. Max found himself amused and then slightly awed by the skill with which the old lady drew information out of him and Leo. Learning in the process that she was herself a qualified lawyer, though she’d left practice when she’d married.
After a brief tour of the house, actually smaller than it appeared, though it boasted a large sitting room at the front, a dining room, study, the small sitting room and four bedrooms upstairs with two bathrooms and two small ‘servant’s’ rooms in the attic. The garden was extensive and, as Frances Ewell pointed out, worth far more than the house, and the ‘barn’, though small, had a mezzanine and was substantially built and dry.
Back in the house, the older woman wasted no time getting to the point.
“The house, and I’m sorry to say, the garden needs a lot of work, Leo, but it would be a very good investment for you.”
“I can see that, Aunt.” Leo glanced at Max. “I can certainly raise the deposit to buy it from you, but I’ll need a large mortgage.” Addressing Max, he asked, “What do you think, Max?”
“A mortgage won’t be a problem, love. Nor will the renovations.” To their hostess he said, “My family trust can be persuaded to underwrite us and they have a property management arm that will know how to manage the work needed. We’ll make this our project and our home — but, Frances, where will you move too?”
“I’ve been wanting to move into town, for a while, my dear. I have a very nice flat in the West End. Perfect for my needs. I’ll give you the details for my solicitors and you can get your people to handle the business.” She smiled, glancing from Max to Leo. “I think you’re exactly what Leo needed in his life, Max. I’m sure you’ll both be incredibly happy here and your mother would have been delighted to know you had someone in your life you really love.”
