Chapter Text
Nathan O’Casey reread all the plans for festivities inside his office as the cold wind blew. He wondered how winds in early November can be so chilly. He crossed his legs as he looked around for his colleagues. It was 8pm, 5 November, bonfire night. St. Helen Park, where the ruins of the abbey of St Helen was situated, is always a site for locals to enjoy food, drinks, shows, and, above all, fireworks. Nathan had to prepare for everything as the head of the Heritage Trust at St. Helen Park and Abbey. He braced himself again as the cold wind blew.
Nathan had to thank Guido Franzoni, his musician husband, for the whole thermos of black coffee. He started dating Guido after Guido, and his team of musicians, played on St. Cecilia’s Feast Day. He could feel the goose bumps after listening to Guido performed his violin solo. Guido called his goose bump joy in French term “frisson”, and whenever Guido whispered in his ears, his staccato also gave his goose bumps. Nathan thus called his boyfriend Signor Frissoni, while Guido calls him Mr. O’ Goosey. Nathan now looked at the text, and laughed at all the goose jokes Guido did in his chat: Goose Morning, Have a goose day, and many others. Adding up to all the jokes, Guido was kind and observant. Last night, when he noticed Nathan coughing before bed, in the morning Guido brewed him some best black coffee, from Guido’s brother, Giorgio, who owned an Italian coffee shop. He sipped and smiled to the photo of Guido in his telephone background.
Today marked their first-year wedding anniversary, and sadly, they were both too busy, as the restaurants they loved were fully booked when they finished their work. Nathan had to work at the park until 9 pm, or even almost 10 pm, while Guido was playing at the Town Hall, finishing at 10 pm. So last night, they had booked a restaurant, had the best dinner and some great drinks, danced at a bar, and then, when they came back home, slept like a log.
Nathan crossed his legs. The tingling sensation in his bladder first appeared when he was walking in the park, filled with visitors. He knew his bladder was quite large, compared to others in the team, and his husbands, but he needed to take care of his need because he was going to be very busy. He was going to use the toilet, but Amanda and Joshua asked him to meet them at the ticket counter, because there were some mistakes in the computer system. He fixed the programmed, and when he was going to move away, with portaloos in sight, he heard, from Joshua’s counter, an old man speaking harshly.
“I won’t give a damn about tickets. It has always been free since I was a child. We can just walk in. I don’t have the tickets. Why do I need one?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but the money from the tickets will be used by the Heritage Trust to rehabilitate the abbey. And we have sold tickets for about five or six years.” Joshua explained.
“I know and I will always come here every year to yell at you people. How awful you are! This is a Christian festivity, where people should enjoy for free.” The old man turned to people at Amanda’s counter. “You don’t have to pay. Don’t listen to them.”
Nathan knew this face well. The stingiest crank, Mr. Decker. Nathan moved forward, as his bladder felt quite full. Nathan always panicked when he met Mr. Decker, but this time he thought he could keep calm. His bladder throbbed a little, but he was sure he was fine. His bladder was strong enough, and large enough.
“Mr. Decker, thank you for visiting every year,” Nathan calmly spoke, seeing an old woman coming through the crowd, “I’d love to talk to you about our next year plan for a free entry, because we need to know the effective ways of gaining money from donation, especially from rick upper middle-class.”
“Don’t say that to me, you Irish fool!” Mr. Decker pointed at his face. Nathan squirmed. Perhaps his anxiety had lessened the size of his bladder. Before Nathan could say anything, the old woman pushed Mr. Decker away from the queue. Nathan smiled. He had called her in case of emergency, just like this. She was Mrs. Decker.
“I always know where to find you on Guy Fawkes Day, James! What you did had nothing to do with activism; it was a rant! Don’t disturb them! I do apologise, Nate. I would treat you to some afternoon tea some time. Come home now, James!”
There was a little fight between them, but it, fortunately, ended happily as Caroline Deckers managed to take her ranting husband home. Nathan and Joshua sighed as they could continue with their job. Nathan felt more relaxed, but he had to grab his crotch tight. It seemed his relaxation didn’t work quite well with the situation of his bladder right now. Nathan headed in the direction of the toilet, where he passed Emily and Pete, the security guards, and smiled at them. Pete seemed to be in the same situation like him. He noticed that Pete had a small bladder, and that was the reason why he worked so close to the toilet, with Emily to help out. Before the big event starts, his stronger need to urinate had to be dealt with.