At the table Lucien and Willy were enjoying their breakfast and there were just other two chairs for the guests. James pulled his back and sat down, but when Jean pulled his, he found the fluffy cat, which purred like crazy seeing him and her paws started kneading the cushion. Jean looked up at Lucien, pouting as if begging for help, and the pianist shrugged nonchalantly as if to say it wasn’t his problem, and Willy just snorted shrugging the same way as well. Jean groaned, patted her head and pushed the chair back under the table. His long thin tail slipped out from the hidden opening in his pants, under the belt, he used it as a stool and crossed his legs.

6:40 am

It was time to set the stable in order and Lucien made both guests sweat. Actually, for them it was no effort at all… they cleaned here and there, Jean helped moving heavy things while James helped with the horses and the chickens. Willy took care of their single cow and checked for the fruit trees, orders and crates to fill.

Too bad Lucien didn’t warn Jean of Sunshine’s awful habit to steal hats. He had to ask James to get it back and it took him good 20 minutes to have it back, munched and dirty too… Luckily Willy had an extra for him.

12:00 am

After a good shower, a call to Theo to finally set an appointment for Sunshine’s possible pregnancy and a call to the previous owner of the Three Palms club, the group was off to get lunch downtown. They chose a nice restaurant nearby Mama Rin’s store, which they were going to stop by later for sure.

They got seated and, at turn, they ordered their meals. Both Jean and James sure caught the young waitress’ attention with their charm, making her blush.

“Mate, stop making everyone fall at your feet.” Willy chuckled and gave Jean’s shoulder a soft punch.

“Ehy, I do nothing, can’t help it if I’m gorgeous.” He flattered his lashes like a princess.

“A gorgeous mess.” Lucien bitterly added and grinned behind his glass of wine.

“Still gorgeous.” And he winked at James, who agreed with him.

“So,” Willy started to ask while grabbing a mini sandwich of the appetizers plate, “how’s Antoine doing? Is he still with Isabelle?” He’s been wanting to ask them about him since that morning.

“Sure thing, those two are inseparable!” The wolf said and he grabbed a bunch of mini sandwiches… “They are doing great, their sons too.”

“How many kids does she have again? I keep losing count.” Lucien asked.

Jean started counting on his fingers. “Hold on, there’s Malcolm… who is the first born, then the twins Henry and Ronald, then Charles, Darren, Valentine, Hogart and lastly Johnathan.” He puffed still amazed.

“Eight. And then you need to add William and Ryan from Antoine’s side. Man, what a family, haha.” L.J. added.

Willy snorted. “Of all names… He had to pick mine for his kid.”

“Does it mean you gotta call him dad?” The wolf laughed and ravenously chomped down three sandwiches at once.

“Nah, I already have my own daddy.” And he sipped sending a flirtatious look at Lucien, who turned as red as a tomato on the spot looking around hoping nobody around them heard his companion. Luckily for him, people were more shocked by Jean and James’ loud outburst of laughter.

2:00 pm

“I’ll head to the meeting then,” Lucien said while checking and adjusting the wrist watch, “it shouldn’t take too long. Let’s say… meet me at the club around 5 o’clock.”

“While I drag these two to Mama Rin.” Willy said as he closed the door of the restaurant behind himself. “If we don’t see you, I’ll release the dog to find you.” And he pointed at James with a thumb, grinning.

“Eh, won’t be a problem, he uses a lot of perfume, mate.” L.J. chuckled as Lucien rolled his eyes.

“Ugh, freaks… Later, guys.” He winked at his companion, who quickly reciprocated - it was their way to have some kind of kiss in public- and Lucien rapidly walked away.

2:30 pm

“Welcome! Finally I see you in my humble shop!” Mama Rin beamed when Willy, Jean-Claude and L.J. appeared at the door. She quickly trotted towards them, gave the rancher a nice pat on his cheek –to do so she had to stay on her toes- and approached the new comers pretty giggly.

Jean took her hand gently and kissed its back. “We meet again, ma’am. Charming as always.”

James bowed his head and lifted his hat as sign of respect. “A pleasure to see you again, Mama.”

“Oh shush, you two, and stop being so formal,” she said, blushing, “How have you two been? Heard ya went around Australia! Old Willy here told me. Oh, oh, silly old me, please, come and have a seat, I have tea and cookies in the back!”

Hearing cookies, Jean was the first to follow her behind the counter. They ended in a small room with a kitchen corner and a door giving on a small garden. There was a huge tray of freshly made cookies on the table and Jean couldn’t simply resist, he was munching one even before sitting down.

“Ohh I see your sweet tooth is still there, sweetie! Do, do enjoy.” She pinched his pale cheek and went to get the tea ready.

Jean looked like a spoiled brat… a spoiled buff brat and James was looking at him with quite adoring eyes.

Willy, instead, noticed few boxes on the ground in a corner. “New arrives, Mama? You got something for me?”

“I don’t know, darling, but feel free to open them.” She passed him a pair of scissors and he sat on a nearby stool starting to unbox. They were full of vinyl discs, music cassettes and books about music genres, artists and more.

Willy got completely lost into the books and magazines while the others talked about their experiences. The more he found, the more his mind ran around the idea of the club… he was still slowly realizing what that could bring into their lives and, frankly, he couldn’t wait to see Lucien back with the contract and the keys. He started fantasizing about what they were going to need, from the furniture to the small things to entertain clients between a show and the other… “Mama? How many magazines do you have?”

She turned to him blinking a bit confused. “Uhm… quite a lot actually, people really search for them. Why, honey?”

“I need you to keep aside for me a ton of these, even doubles, all you got about blues, jazz, swing, I need to fill a whole library.”

She frowned, but then smiled seeing the excitement on his face. “What you and Lucien up to?”

“Oh you’ll see!” He quickly said, not letting the other two spoil the news. He got up on his feet holding few books in his arms. “Come on, let’s start gather material! You two, get up and help me!”

Jean pouted with a cookie still in his mouth and James sighed and got on his feet. Mama Rin simply shook her head and went to get new boxes in another room.

4.30 pm

After the 5th box, Willy finally checked the time and decided what they packed was enough for the moment. They gathered quite a nice amount of material, magazines, vinyls, biographies… Willy was far from done though, but they had to go. He reached over Mama Rin’s counter and insisted to pay for the material. She complained and tried to convince him it wasn’t necessary, but the rancher insisted even more, took 300 dollars out from his wallet and shoved them in her hand. “And if it’s not enough, I’ll give you more next time!” He said angrily, but leaned over to give her a kiss on her cheek and chuckled at her grumpiness.

5:00 pm

Willy, Jean and L.J. arrived at the club location earlier just in case and waited for a while, talking to the few people in the street and have a coffee at the bar nearby. Jean was the first to notice Lucien, to hear his steps actually, and the trio hurried up to meet him.

“So? How did it go?” Willy asked him almost unable to keep his excitement under control.

With a swift and elegant move of wrist, Lucien took out the bunch of keys he had in his pocket and played with them, grinning. “As you can see, the local is ours.” And with the other hand he showed the signed deed and contract.

Unexpectedly, Willy grabbed him by the waist and lifted him, pirouetting and laughing euphoric.

“Ohi, ohi, easy! You’re making me dizzy!” The blondie laughed and patted him on the shoulders. “Put me down, silly.”

Willy obeyed and brought a hand to his hair. “Haha, sorry sorry! Come on! Open the door!”

Lucien sent him a look full of pride, recomposed himself and headed to the entrance.

The place was quite… desolate indoors… it’s not been closed for long, but looked as if been abandoned for years. The hall wasn’t big, it was a long corridor covered by an awful carpet and it led into the main room. It was a small theatre, at the end there was the stage, on the left what used to be a bar and on the right where once tables and private booths were. Now it was just dust and decay. Everything needed to be changed.

The group walked in looking around contemplating the conditions of the place. Willy had a fast pace and it was very clear his mind was giving birth to many idea altogether. His companion was quite surprised, pleasantly stunned to see such eagerness from him, thing that actually made his heart fill with pride and adoration.

On the other hand, Jean and L.J. were having a couple of troubles with the situation. The smell of the place was too strong for James’ nose and Jean gave him his precious handkerchief, which made him feel a bit better as he placed it over his nose and mouth.

Willy noticed them and went around in search for the emergency door, he found it on the right of the stage and he opened it to let the air flow. “Don’t worry, wolf, we’ll get an air conditioning system working, hehe.” To which, James replied with a thumb up.

“What’s up there?” Lucien suddenly asked. Everyone looked at the high ceiling noticing a dark mezzanine with no staircase to give access to.

“Let me.” Jean winked and quickly walked up on the wall to reach the place. “Oh wow… it’s full of old furniture. It’s pretty big as a room too.”

“Is there a ladder?” Lucien asked.

“Nope. Just ropes.”

Lucien groaned. “We’ll get it fixed too…”

“It has a wonderful view on the stage though, you could use it as private office or VIP booth.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see. We have a lot to do first.”

Willy got closer to the pianist, wrapping an arm around his waist. “You have paper and pen?”

“I always do.” He opened his shoulder bag and took out his usual note block and his pen.

“Thanks. Ok… Let’s start signing what we need to do first…”

It ended being a very long list… Many things to clean and to be replaced, many others to be added for necessities… It took them a long time to set a first phase down.

“No wonder the previous owner told me the place was a money pit.” Lucien commented seeing the long list.

“You need a monetary support?” Jean asked, leaning over his shoulder.

At that question, Lucien simply snorted and pinched his nose, making his retreat. “Not even in a million years, mon amì, we can easily afford it, don’t worry, but we’ll surely need your muscles.”

Jean turned up his nose then grinned at that request. “Won’t be a problem for that.”

“Guys, it’s almost 7pm, can we go? I can’t stand this smell anymore…” James was pretty pale and he really needed to change air. Jean took him under his arm and led him outside, excusing themselves.

Seeing them go out the front door, Lucien realized it was time to settle things down and close for the day. He packed all the papers while Willy closed the emergency door and turned off the lights, but before he could even think to follow their friends out, Willy grabbed him by an arm and pulled him against his chest and pressed his forehead against his, towering over him. Lucien blinked a bit shocked, looking up at him in his eyes, but he soon realized his lover’s intentions and he smirked. “Excited, hm?”

“Very.”

“They might be watching, you know?” Lucien chuckled.

“Let them.” He shrugged.

Slowly, they leaned closer to one another, tilting their heads just enough for their noses to not crash, and let their lips softly brush into a tender, almost shy, kiss. Hands roamed around, Lucien’s to the other’s nape, Willy’s to his back, slowly tightening their grip on the other as their kiss deepened into something passionate, intimate, something of their own and only theirs. It’s been a very long time since they felt that warmth between them, too many things to take care of, too many changes … too short free time to share together for a true moment of passion… As they slowly lost themselves into the moment, they soon realized how much they needed it and how much risky it was getting. Lucien forced himself to end the kiss with a peck and pulled away regrettably. They were both panting and craving for more, their cheeks incredibly hot and flushed, their eyes drowsy and full of desire. They hugged, leaning one against the other, pressing their faces into the nooks of the neck of the other. They remained like that for a short moment, alone, in the middle of the big room, smiling and both happy to bring back music in their lives for real.

See you sooooon!

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