An Italian boy in Camford Pt. 09

When the big day dawned, all went according to plan. Tom, Luke, Dom and Aidan were all wearing Italian designer suits. Sandro was wearing a stylish, but more reasonably priced, Italian suit, his pony-tail carefully brushed and bunched. There were not a lot of other guests: a few business friends of Liz and her three female employees, and a few friends of Aidan. Mr and Mrs Satterthwaite were smartly dressed, as was Aidan's brother. After the short service with a brief address and a few puffs of incense, the reception was held at an hotel near the church, which was in a smart suburb of the city. There were a few short speeches after the excellent buffet lunch.

Next day, Tom and Luke accompanied the bridal pair to Tom's home town, where they hoped to introduce Aidan and Luke to Tom's father. When they got to the house, the door was opened by a woman whom they did not recognise. She turned out to be Tom and Liz's father's new partner. She was much nicer and more friendly than Mr Appleton's previous mistresses. She told them that he had given up drinking and was looking for some sort of job.

She was delighted to hear that both Liz and Tom had tied the knot. When Mr Appleton came home, his son and daughter broke the news of their respective unions, and he seemed to welcome the news, even Tom's announcement that he was gay. He seemed a lot better, and before they left, Tom and Liz gave Elaine, his new partner, their phone numbers. They both felt relieved that some sort of relationship with their father had been restored.

Tom and Luke had a few days at Rockwell's Barn before returning to Italy. Sandro and Dom also were there until the term began. Jon told them that David was planning another season in Italy in two years time, because he had been invited by a good friend of his, Antonio di Sicilia, an Italian composer in the melodic style, to sing the leading role in di Sicilia's new opera. The composer was having difficulty in finding a venue for the premiere. Rome, Milan, Naples and Venice were all fully programmed. Luke offered to talk to Cornelio about having the premiere in Trabizona, if the composer agreed. The other thing that Jon told them was that David was going to retire from the stage after that season. He would be nearly sixty by then and was fed up of the constantly travelling lifestyle of an international artist. David and Jon would find a house in Camford and return the flat in Fountain Street to the college from which they had purchased the lease.

The end of Sandro's undergraduate days marked the end of an era in his life and the end of this story. In his three years, Sandro had changed, as all undergraduates do, from a boy to an adult. But he had learned a lot about engineering, about culture, about life and about love. Above all, he had met the man with whom he was to share his life. His English was now as fluent as that of a native speaker, though he still had a noticeable Italian accent. Dom had returned to the world of relationships after several years of computer geekishness, to have his life and that of his grandfather transformed by coming out as gay. The boys were looking forward eagerly to life together, but their future after Sandro's year in Camford was as yet unknown. Much would depend on Dom's achievement in his exams and his subsequent career. The author hopes to continue telling the story of their lives in a future sequel, provided that Sandro gives his approval!

THE END