Tommy's Third Year at College Pt. 02

I had spent so much of my spare time that term involved in the opera that I scarcely had time to think of my boy in Italy. But at the party that ended the last night of the opera, I wished that he was there to join in the celebration. I broke the rule that we had made previously and called him the next day on FaceTime and told him how much I was missing him. But within six weeks, he would be back home again, and I started crossing off days on the calendar.

Chapter 66 Martin: The Dunchester International Mozart Competition

Dunchester is a small town near the Fosse Way in the English midlands that has built up a worldwide fame with its International Mozart Singing Competition, held every few years. Entering it is the first step that many singers take to launch their professional careers. Agents and impresarios are in attendance looking for new vocal talent and the auditions for entry are extremely rigorous. It was the first of several competitions that Tommy's father David entered in his days of study with Dr Marcello Fabioni before he became an established professional singer. He came second in the tenor class back in the late nineteen-eighties. So it was scarcely surprising that David should enter his star pupils like Gregory Rushford for the competition.

During the time that I had known my boy Tommy, I had not previously met David Singleton-Scarborough on his own. As a sophisticated globe-trotter, he was a very interesting man. We set off from from Camford for Dunchester immediately after the end of the Pentecost term. A car journey is often a useful place to exchange intimacies. I told him how much the year in Padua had improved Tommy's self-confidence and sexual experience, as well as his Italian-speaking skills, and that David would notice that, as soon as Tommy got home at the end of the month.

David explained that because he had previously on two occasions been a jury member for the competition, now that he had a pupil of his own entering, it would not be appropriate to be seen too much in his pupil's company during the competition, but as tonight was the only opportunity he had to talk to Greg, he had arranged to have dinner with him and invited me to join them in his hotel. Of course, I agreed. I had no desire to eat on my own in a strange town: I might go wandering the streets in search of boys!

Greg seemed quite cool at the prospect of what might happen the next day. As he said, if he panicked at this stage, there was no hope for him on the operatic stage. He knew his two pieces, Wenn der Freude tränen fließen and La fleur que tu m'avais jetée from Carmen perfectly, it was just a question of how it would go on the day. He drank a half-pint of draught beer and some water with a meal of poached salmon and vegetables. David and I had rather fancier food and a bottle of Bardolino between us. Greg insisted on going to bed early. He was going to have one 15-minute run-through in the morning in one of the practice rooms set aside for competitors' use. We had arrived on the second day of the competition.

Next morning, we all breakfasted early and were in the recital room in the Town Hall at 9 am as the Tenor class was due to start at 9-30. The competitors were not allowed to sit with teachers or family, they were all kept in a separate room, so that they were unable to hear each other perform. There were ten entrants in each voice class, with awards going to the first three. The winner of each class went forward to the grand operatic final with orchestral accompaniment, in which each finalist had to sing two different Mozart arias from the one sung previously. The whole competition was spread over five days, and the tenor class was on the third day. Entrants appeared in alphabetical order, so Greg was number 7 on the programme. There were only two English competitors, one Scot and one Welshman in the Tenor class, the rest were from America, Asia and continental Europe. Most of them were excellent performers, and I was at a loss to decide which of them were the best. When Greg's turn came, he sang both arias very well, but Wenn der Freude was heartbreakingly tender as well as melodically perfect. The jury was not just looking for beautiful singing, but good expression of feeling and emotion, and Greg hit the mark extremely well. The singing was over by 11-30 am, and it was announced that the jury's decision would be made public at about 2 pm.

Greg joined us for lunch, which we had in a small but busy tea-shop, and at 2 pm we were back in the hall, waiting anxiously for the outcome. Greg took third place, a result that both he and David were very happy with. David took the lead in the negotiations that followed, and Greg was fixed up with an agent and the possibility of further gigs. Then David returned to Camford, leaving Greg and me to celebrate his success. Over a celebratory meal, I said to Greg, "We can't have you scouring the streets for sex tonight, how about sleeping with me? It would have to be BJs only, though, my arsehole is reserved for my boyfriend."

"That's very kind of you. Your bedroom or mine?"

"Mine," I replied.

We had a very pleasant night together. Greg sucked me off in the evening, and I did the same for him the next morning. I won't go into details, except to say that he had a gigantic cock, lovely for filling my mouth, but it was a relief to know that it was not going to penetrate my rear-end.

We went to the Baritone and Bass classes that day, spent the night in Greg's bed and on the Friday morning heard the finalists. The whole championship was won by a soprano, who sang Come scoglio from Così fan tutte and Non più di fiori, the rondo from La Clemenza di Tito beautifully and well deserved the award. In the afternoon, I returned with Greg by train to Camford, ready for the return of my darling Tommy.

Chapter 67 Tommy: A blow-job in Ravenna

One thing that Dad had always said to me was that if I wanted to see some of the most ancient and beautiful churches in Christendom, I should visit Ravenna. So, one weekend when I was not seeing my relatives, I suggested to Matteo the he should come with me to Ravenna for the weekend, so that we could see the mosaics which give the city no less than eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I said that he had been so nice to me, without any strings about relationships, that I wanted to treat him to a weekend away. There is a silly story that in the days of Tolkien's Middle Earth, the city of Minas Tirith lay on the site of Ravenna.

I booked a double room for us in a modern hotel near the centre of the city, and at 6 pm on a Friday night we arrived by train in Ravenna. Our room had two queen-size beds, so we were free to sleep either separately or together. We decided to have an hour in the hotel pool before dining in the hotel. We had an enjoyable time in the water and then showered without any sexual fooling around. We dressed smartly, as befitted a Friday evening at a fancy hotel, and went down to the dining room.

By now it was 8-30 pm and we were both ravenously hungry. As residents, we got a good table with an excellent view of the room. We ordered a bottle of Prosecco to consume with our antipasto. "Tomasino," said Matteo, "You've got to watch it. I don't mind in the slightest if you drink too much and want to shag me, indeed you can fuck the shit out of me if you want to, but you will regret it bitterly afterwards. Moreover, anal is not my favourite form of lovemaking, so don't kid yourself in your alcoholic state that you would be doing me a favour! Let's just have a quiet evening eating and drinking moderately, and then a cosy night in bed together. Also we need to be up early tomorrow. There's a lot to see in this city!"

This sobering comment by a boy whom I respected reminded me of the warnings that my fathers had given me before I went up to Boni's. I remembered too how my biological father had beaten me when he had had too much to drink, and I felt really penitent. "Matteo," I said, "I'm sorry. You are wise and sensible. I know at first hand about the evils of excessive drinking." And I told him about the abuse I had received as a young boy. He reached out under the table and took my hand and smiled in sympathy. We continued with our meal. We both had an excellent fish dish, and consumed a bottle of Frascati. We wound up with desserts, but without anything further alcoholic.

We then went into the hotel bar, but only drank a caffè Americano before adjourning to our room. Matteo started to get undressed. I feasted my eyes on his naked body as he slipped into bed. He was cute: slim and virtually hairless, except for his armpits, legs and pubes. The mere sight of him gave me an instant hard-on. I went into the bathroom, where I had to wait for my erection to subside before I could piss! I then farted and cleaned my teeth. I returned naked to the bedroom and knelt at the other bed to say my prayers. As I stood up, Matteo beckoned to me to get into his bed.

As soon as I did so, he snuggled up to me and began to kiss me. In a flash, my cock was hard again and I began to kiss his chest and shoulders. My cock started to ooze precome. Matteo pushed the bedding back and turned himself so that he was in the 69 position, with his legs straddling my chest and his face deliciously close to my dribbling hard-on. His dick, not as hard as mine, was hanging temptingly above my mouth and behind it, his balls, tight inside his firm, round scrotum, sat rather than hung. Of the limited number of men whom I knew intimately enough to be familiar with their genitals (which is a major preoccupation with gay men), Matteo's package was undoubtedly the best. Sooner or later, he would make some man fall deeply in love with him. We each slowly took the other's cock into our mouths and licked and sucked and nuzzled. I, as the one with his hands free, employed them to caress Matteo's beautiful arse. We continued until first Matteo and then I came violently and squirted our spunk into each other's mouth. It was one pf the best sixty-nines that I have ever experienced. There is no doubt that Matteo was an expert in giving head. Having swallowed each other's man-juice, we fell contentedly asleep.

Chapter 68 Tommy: Sightseeing in Ravenna

The next morning we were up early and had breakfast. We then set out to see the major sights of Ravenna. We began at the basilica of San Vitale and the adjacent Mausoleo di Galla Placidia, both with breathtaking mosaics from the fifth century. After a break for coffee, we visited the Neonian Baptistry with more mosaics, and then the tomb of Dante. We then had lunch in a restaurant in the Piazza del Popolo, before spending a good slice of the afternoon in the amazing basilica of Sant' Apollinare Nuovo, with yet more mosaics, slightly let down by a dreary baroque apse. The church had a cloister garden where we sat on seats and held hands as we talked.

Matteo complimented me on my Italian and asked me how long I had been learning it. I replied "Since I was 13, but I was used to hearing it because my fathers sometimes spoke it between themselves, and my adoptive brother who has lived in Italy for years speaks it fluently. He is bringing up his two children to be bilingual. Actually, he is not the father of either of his two children. One has an unknown father and the other is the son of his gay partner. I must take you to Trabizona to meet them and his female partner before I go back to England.

"Maybe we should speak English together to give you some practice. I can teach you all the necessary dirty words if you haven't already learnt them from the internet! I want you to come and see us in Camford next year."

We decided not to eat at the hotel that evening, and dined in a rather attractive restaurant in a side street. It was a warm evening, and we ate outside at a table in the street. Then we sauntered back to the hotel and had coffee in the bar before going to watch television in our room. We checked out the pay-tv channels, but did not find any gay ones. We retired to bed and got into the other bed in the room, where I gave Matteo a BJ.

Next morning, I told Matteo that I wanted to go to church. He said that I should meet him at 11 am in the Piazza Del Popolo and we would have coffee. There was no English Church in Ravenna, so I went to the nearest Italian church that had a service at 10 am. After coffee we set off to see the more outlying World Heritage sites, which involved a bus ride, the church of Sant' Apollinare in Classe, with more mosaics, and the Tomb of Theodoric. We spent the afternoon wandering round the Parco di Teodorico and chatting. I found out that Matteo was two years older than me, and was in his third year of studying chemistry. I was surprised: I had never thought of him as a scientist. He said that he wanted to do a Masters degree after finishing his Laurea Trienniale and I recommended the chemistry department in Trabizona, where my brother-in-law Tom taught. We left Ravenna at 6 pm and were home in Padova by 10.

Chapter 69 Tommy: Exams and departure from Italy

The rest of the time in Padova passed quickly. I had several exams and tests to complete, all of which, to my relief, I passed. So, well into July, I persuaded my brother-in-law Tom, to collect all my possessions in his car and take them and me to Trabizona. The day before we left, I took Matteo out to dinner, and we then spent my last night together in my bed. I gave him all my contact details and told him to come and see us the following summer.

I left about half my possessions in the custody of Tom and Luke until they could be sent on by a baggage transfer firm, and took the rest home with me. By now young Giovanni was walking, and talking in a cute mixture of English and Italian. I spent a few days in Trabizona before flying home to Lulsgate Airport at Bristol, where Dad and Martin met me. During my time in Trabizona, I went to a jewellers and bought a gold bracelet for Martin, which I had engraved with the inscription, "To my darling lover Martin, whom I will love for ever."

This concludes the chronicle of my first three years as a Camford student. The story will continue shortly with the entry of a woman into the lives of Martin and me. During my three years, I had developed in self-confidence, gained a lot of sexual experience, met the man I loved, and vastly increased my knowledge of Italian. I was looking forward to my final year with increased confidence in my academic and social skills.

THE END