Louisa's POV
"OK, I like boys and there's nothing to be ashamed about," Colt said and flung his arms open.
"Oh, no!!!"
I heard Ms. Salamander wail.
Mr. Salamander said, "Come on, sis. You're a salamander. If he wasn't gay, he would still be way out of your league."
"I will never ever fall in love with anyone again in my life!" Ms. Salamander said.
"What happened? Why are the salamanders hissing like that?" Colt asked.
"Nothing. They're just goofing around." I said and passed him the bowl of porridge and said, "Were you close to Jack?"
He sipped the porridge and nodded.
I saw tears in his eyes.
"He was very kind to me. All the other people in the village hate me, but Jack would stick up for me all the time. He wasn't gay, but he encouraged me to be who I am. We enjoyed each other's company. We practically built this small cottage together. Now that he's dead, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Maybe I should leave the village and find another place to live."
That was why he was very sensitive about bias.
I really have mistaken him.
So I said, "You can live with us. Darren's building a shed now. I guess we need a skillful designer like you."
"I don't need his help, Lisa," Darren said and ripped a wooden block into two halves, "I'm very capable of building my own shed."
Intimidated, Colt looked at him and said, "OK, first of all, Darren, glad to meet you. Second, you're not gay. You've made it loud and clear. I promise that I won't bother you again and please don't try to kill me."
I couldn't watch this, so I walked toward Darren and said, "This cottage was built by Jack and Colt. Technically speaking, we're living on their property."
"Then we'll find another place to live," Darren gave me a dark look and lowered his voice, "Master would be mad if he found out about this. Have you ever thought about that?"
"Finn would be happy to see me making some new friends in the village," I argued.
Colt waved his hands at us and said, "Guys, please don't fight because of me. It's not worth it. I'm very comfortable with the fact that most men hate me and want to kill me. The truth is, I don't want to stay here. You see, my studio is located in the village. I run a small business helping people repair things. I can't stay too far away from my clients. They might not like me, but they still need my service. I'm that good."
He cracked a big sparkling smile on his face, but I could still see disappointment and sadness hidden behind his eyes.
He drank up all the porridge in the bowl and stood up.
"So, please stay here. If Jack was still alive, he would welcome you to stay with him. I'm sure that is what he would do. He's got a big heart. And... Thank you for your porridge and hospitality, Lisa. It's very delicious and generous. Now, it's time for me to leave."
He passed the bowl to me, picked up the toolbox, and walked out of the yard.
Watching him leave like that made me sad.
I looked at Darren and asked angrily, "What's the matter with you, Darren? You've been acting weird all morning. He's a nice guy and he meant no harm. What is this? I can't have any friends except you?"
Darren looked at me as if was about to lose his temper, but eventually, he gave up and said, "You know there isn't anything in this world that I wouldn't do for you, Lisa. But sometimes I wonder if it was enough for you."
Having said that, he quickly walked out of the yard.
I kept up with him and saw Colt lingering outside the gate.
As soon as he saw us, he pretended to walk away.
Darren grabbed his arm and said, "I apologize for my attitude towards you, Colt. Please come back and help me with the construction work. We'll pay for your service if that interests you."
Colt's face brightened and smiled at him.
"Come on, we're friends. I don't charge friends for my work. But as the old saying goes, if you're really good at something, you don't do it for free. So I guess I need you to provide me with some food and shelter as payment."
"A shelter?" Darren frowned.
"Yeah. I'm going to stay with you at the construction site. You know, as soon as I stepped into the yard, I had a vision in my mind's eyes. It's a designer's thing, you know because we have a pair of eyes for the presence and another pair of eyes for the future. This forest gives me inspiration. I'm going to build a giant palace in this forest. It's going to be grand. It's going to be wonderful. It's going to be..."
He paused a bit as if he was racking his brains for coming up with some fancy adjectives.
Then, he gave up and said, "It's going to be huge! I'm going to call it Bosque-a-Lago, which means forest to the lake. I've already come up with a building plan in my head, and it takes about five months to finish the project."
Darren raised his eyebrows and said, "You're going to stay with us for five months?"
"Give and take. Maybe it takes longer than that. The progress of this project solely depends on my mood. You know, there're days every month when you wake up in the morning and don't feel like doing anything." Colt winked at Darren.
Darren narrowed his eyes.
I said, "You know, Colt, I understand your vision and everything, but we just want a small cozy shed for Darren to stay in the yard..."
"A shed?! Are you kidding me, girl? Look at Darren! You can't possibly expect an elegant prince like him to curl up like a dog every night in a small shed. It wouldn't be fair for his endless long legs and..."
Darren stopped him right there and said, "A shed. You can stay with us for five days. No more, no less. I put my foot down. If you make any comments on any of my body parts again, I'll use my endless long legs to kick your fat ass."
I chuckled. I hadn't thought that he had a sense of humor.
"OK, you're the boss." Colt shrugged and walked into the woods.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I'm going to the village to pick up some more tools from my studio. If you want to go downtown with me, I'll show you around." He replied and pulled a charming smile at us.