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Matthew glanced toward the piano to admire Marcel wistfully. His elegant fingers danced across the keys bringing beautiful melodies to life. When their eyes met, his lover sent him a tight smile.
He brushed the ring in his pocket again before he sighed. Best to turn his attention to his tables. As he refilled a glass of water, that table sat empty. Matthew wondered about it. The couple that reserved it were running late, he supposed.
He turned his back to it and made his way to the kitchen to collect the next course for the mother and daughter in the corner. Behind him, he heard Marcel trail off before the end of a familiar song and began the opening cords of Nightingale.
He looked and, sure enough, The Angel and His Dear were back. He nodded his thanks to Marcel and walked quickly.
The head chef stood next to the door and peered out to the dining area. “That’s the third time this month,” she declared, her eyes shining and a little star-struck.
He smiled at her. “I missed them the last time they came in,” he admitted.
Marcel had told him about their visit though. His love had gone from skeptic to collecting stories about the two. Unlike this time, with a simple no-show at the reserved table, that visit had began with a woman’s estranged brother quietly entering the dining room and asking to talk.
He collected the plates for his table. After delivering them, he made his way to the two men. They sat facing each other with their fingers laced together. His heart squeezed with longing at the sight.
“Good afternoon, welcome back.”
The angel smiled warmly up at him. “Good afternoon! Thank you very much.”
His dear never looked away from his angel’s face. “We’d like the five course tasting menu and a bottle of Chateau Beychevelle.” Despite the lack of a ‘please’ the man came across as polite and grateful, though that may only have been the glowing demeanor of his companion.
“Of course, sir.”
He moved away to turn in their order to the kitchen and get their wine. Along the edge of the dining area, Antoine stood watching them. “Angel’s looking well today,” he commented.
Matthew nodded. “He certainly looks better than he did the first time I saw them come in. Only five courses today, but I’d appreciate it if you check to see who else might have reservations for the table?” The couple notoriously lingered over wine for hours while they basked in each other’s company.
“You alright?”
The question surprised him, and Matthew blinked in confusion. “Of course.”
He smiled a bit skeptically. “If you need to talk, you know you can come to me.”
Matthew moved back and forth in the dining room. The Ritz was an occasion for many of their patrons. His goal was always to enhance the experience. In the recent days and weeks, he found incredible solace in bringing other people joy.
He avoided Marcel’s gaze as he brought the bottle of wine to the table. He showed them the label, but only the dear actually looked at it. The angel kept his eyes on Matthew. He felt like those blue eyes saw into him. It should have been uncomfortable, but, instead, calm washed over him.
A few times, he noticed that they avoided facing Marcel at the piano. He wanted to promise he wouldn’t read their lips again, but he also hesitated to bring it up. He smirked at how embarrassed his love had been to be caught. He would never do it again.
As he brought out their second course, Angel gazed up at him solemnly. “Are you doing alright, young man? You seem a bit down.”
“Angel,” his dear chided.
“Hush, dear. You noticed too.”
Matthew felt his cheeks flame. “I apologize, gentlemen. If you like, I can request another server for you? We want you to have the best possible – “
“Oh, no! Dear boy, we’re as impressed with your professionalism as ever. I only, well.” He glanced down at the table and over at his partner.
Despite his dark glasses, the man gave every impression of rolling his eyes. “You and the piano player have a fight?”
“Crowley!” his angel hissed.
His eyes widened in shock. “Excuse me?”
Blue eyes glared into dark glasses. “I apologize, dear boy. All we meant to say was that you and your young man keep… well, I recognize the looks you keep sending each other.”
“Angel,” Dear stopped him, patting his hand. “It’s none of our business.”
“Of course,” he agreed. “I apologize for prying. It is not our business.”
Matthew walked away in a daze and gratefully realized that his tables were all settled in for the moment. He stepped to one side for a break. Around the dining room, people enjoyed their special occasions. His heart clenched. He reached into his pocket and touched the ring again.
When his eyes sought Marcel, he found him looking at him. Matthew tried to smile, but it faltered when he looked back at the music. Abandoning his break, he moved toward the kitchen to check on the dessert for one of his tables.
When he approached that table again, they were talking. He paused to give them space, but a lull in the music carried their chatter to him.
“It’s just so hard to think about so much lost time, Crowley.”
“We’re making up for it, aren’t we?” He lifted his partner’s hand to his lips.
“Yes, of course, but I only wish we’d been braver years ago,” he said wistfully.
“What’s that saying, angel? If wishes were horses, then beggars would nurse their bruises when they got thrown off?”
“Really, my dear!”
For the first time in hours, Matthew’s smile turned genuine in amusement. “More wine, gentlemen?”
“Thank you!”
He continued serving his other tables as his legendary patrons made their way through two more courses. The longer his shift went on, the more he thought about lost time. He wondered if he was brave enough to take the risk that seemed bigger every day.
For the first time in hours, he let himself meet Marcel’s gaze. His heart sunk a little when he only got that familiar nervous smile in return.
When he made his way back to the Angel and his dear for their final course, the angel met his eyes kindly. “May I offer you some unsolicited advice, dear boy?”
From anyone else, he would have smile politely and seethed inside, but this man honestly looked apologetic for the question. “I’ll be interested to hear it.” To his surprise, Matthew meant it.
“For two people to grow closer, one person has to take a step.” He reached out for his dear’s hand as he said it. “It can be terrifying, but one of you has to be brave enough. And, I get the sense that it will have to be you.” He smiled kindly. “Your young man reminds me a bit of myself in that regard.”
He wanted to argue. There was no way he could know anything about them, but last few weeks already reframed in his mind. Suddenly, he remembered the desperately too tight hug from that morning instead of the tense silence the night before. A dozen other moments came to mind that added weight to the idea that Marcel wasn’t falling out of love with him but just afraid to lose what they had.
“If I’m honest,” he murmured, “I think I’m scared to move us forward because what we have is so important to me. Maybe he is too.”
“That’s why it’s a risk,” Dear took a sip from his wineglass with his free hand. “But maybe it’s not quite as big a risk as you think?”
“Crowley?” His angel raised a brow. “I thought you said we shouldn’t interfere?”
“Not interfering, angel,” he protested. “Just noticed that there was more than one man in here rubbing a ring in their pocket like a worry stone.”
Matthew’s eye’s widened in shock. His mouth gaped. The angel smiled adoringly at his partner. “Is that why you walked the long way round to the lavatory?”
The rest of his shift passed in a blur. His tip from the Angel and his Dear was exorbitant as alway, but it was their words he treasured.
That night, as the staff closed out the evening and cleaned the dining room for the new day, he walked over to Marcel at the piano. “I’ve got another angel story for your collection.”
His love grinned and a few other server stopped in interest. Matthew ignored them all. He braced himself and dropped to one knee.
Marcel gasped. “I, uh, what?”
His heart slammed into chest, but he forced himself to be brave. He slipped one hand into his pocket and drew out a simple band engraved with music notes. “Will you do me the honor of -”
Instead of letting him finish his question, Marcel dropped to his knees beside and kissed them back into his mouth. They lost a moment in each other.
When he finally pulled back, he thought his joy might be outshining the lights. “Is that yes?”
Marcel nodded rapidly, obviously too overcome to speak. He fumbled in his own shirt pocket and pulled out a silver band with scrolling details. “It’s not much,” he choked out. “With my debts…” His tears overflowed.
Matthew kissed him tenderly. “We’ll figure it out. You’re what I need. You’ll always be what I need.”
Slowly, he became aware of their audience. Susan grinned widely, and Antoine passed out champagne glasses. As the newly engaged man helped up his fiancé, he decided this was perfect.
He had Marcel and his little Ritz family. And, he promised himself, the next time the Angel and his Dear came in, he had some people to thank. In that moment, he slipped his own ring on his finger and lifted a glass. “To Love, Music, and – “
“And champagne!”