PrivateTim

Bitty couldn't just show up in Malibu and blindside Brad with a custody order from Ohio. If Bitty had been the custodial parent and Brad had absconded with the children from OH, then she could have. But in this case, she would have had to notify Brad 15 days before a hearing in Ohio to decide custody. Most courts, I'd dare say any court, would look at the record of custody and she would never get custody. If she found the one idiot judge who believed the kids always belonged with a mother, she still could not just show up to collect the kids. She would have to register the out of state custody order in California and Brad could contest it in CA courts because the children are California residents. It is unlikely she'd find an idiot judge two hearings in a row. Option two is just Jeff her.

Oh Bruno, in the words of Mr. Wizard, "Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Dread, time for this one to be dead". Oh Max, in the words of Joni Mitchell, "Don't it always seem to go, That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone".

Poor Alejandro. He comes from a completely foreign culture and in 1995 Mexico he would not have seen any loving, meaningful gay relationships, just older guys who abused young guys for their own pleasure and not their "partner". His world is very dark. I am not thrilled by Cody's approach.

So is Alejandro going to live in Palo Alto or Malibu? Or maybe go to Cate or Thatcher? Good thing Will is only 9, otherwise he'd have Alejandro bent over in two days.

PS here is Jackie.

What on Earth can Marcel be upset over?

It is funny, it feels in Gap Year like JP and Stef have been a couple forever, but the first seven books of CAP cover 33 years, while the last nine books (excluding The Box), cover six years. More to the point, those are CAP years; in human years Bloodlines, our next CAP adventure, posted on the old GA site maybe early 2010 and took place in 1998. Gap Year is only six years later, 2004, but it is ten books and 13 years later. So yeah... it feels like Stef and John Paul have been an item longer than it has been.

Cody is of a different generation from JP and Stef, and even Brad and Robbie. He can see things in Erik that they cannot because it was a different hustle in 1995 than it was in 1980 or even 1990. Getting reacquainted with Cody in this, his first appearance in CAP, I am starting to appreciate the Cody of 2000-2002 more.

Bra, this story has too many "Zachs" and "Jakes". https://www.verywellfamily.com/top-1000-baby-boy-names-2757618

Nothing a powerful man in Hollywood ever does should shock you, especially pre-#MeToo. Why Cody in a smaller way? Cody's only known Stef a few weeks, but he picked up on Stef's distress faster than blood brother Brad did.

It pays to keep friendships and be nice to everyone, even when you don't mean it. Don't piss off powerful people.

Naw. This.

Ah, Cody.... I was asking not long ago where Cody came from.... and now I know. I've never been his biggest fan, but he seems mostly harmless. Poor Stef though is really drifting and feeling very alone and not needed.

Yikes! I don't remember Erik at all. He must not stick around very long. It sounds like Stef got John Paul thinking and JP decided a life with "Benjamin" wasn't going to be much of a life at all.

I'd forgotten all about Jason, but not Joaquin and certainly not Alejandro. He is one of those peripheral characters I always really liked. Maybe he will make some cameos along the way.

Let's face it, if Matt and Wade are to stay in the story as lead characters, and I believe they will, shit is gonna happen....

I had a friend who was the ultimate wolf. He wasn't bad looking, but neither was he amazing, yet he could charm almost anyone into bed, including straight guys. I was never there to hear what his pitch or style was but I saw the results. I was really new at picking up strangers, but my friend told me it wasn't about looks, it wasn't about your car or anything like that, it was about confidence. To prove his point once, we were in a mall in the middle of summer and he asked me who the cutest guys around were. I pointed to a group of three or four very cute guys, I didn't know them but I pegged them as water polo/swimmer dudes; they had the look. So anyway, my friend goes over, talks to them about five minutes, comes back and has the phone numbers of two of the guys, both of whom he later wound up sleeping with, one of whom he 'passed on' to me. Both of these guys were straight, or at least identified that way, and my friend charmed them into bed. One of the two he would see periodically for a couple of years and it was mostly to hook up. The one he passed on to me, we hooked up several times and went out a bit more as friends and he was a Darius type with the ladies, but his initial walk on the wild side with my friend convinced this straight guy that he could be straight and still 'fulfill his needs" in other ways. It was crazy. It is nice to see Lou figuring things out. And I remember Acapulco! 🤐

OMG, name a rich, successful 50 year old man who'd choose to be with a 50 year old woman when he could be with a 25 year old woman. I know I shouldn't....it goes completely against my philosophy and beliefs.... but I really like Lou. Maybe it is because he is French and I have low expectations... but I do like him. I hope he gets his act together and keeps it together.

Bah.... 142', that isn't even 45m. The circles Stef travels in a 100m yacht is the bare minimum. Their neighbors down PCH, Paul, Dave and Larry, all have 100m+ ships. Good news for now, but this is CAP.

Loneliness is huge driver in relationships. I know a lot of people who 'settle' just so they don't need to be alone. I had one friend who got dumped by his boyfriend of 4 or 5 years; he was completely blindsided. I would have been a basket case unable to even think about dating for a year at least, yet he was dating a new guy in less than two weeks. Insecurity is the currency of Hollywood. It doesn't matter how big and successful you are, you constantly fear failure, humiliation and being replaced. There is no one in Hollywood more successful or insecure in Hollywood than.... oh I won't name him.... let's call him Dom Bruise.

I don't think the Grangers would have. It would be inconsistent with how they have been in the past, trying to get Lark out of Max's life. I certainly don't think Janice would stand by and see her son raped by someone she can't stand because Max wouldn't wear an orange polo shirt. But I understand the literary need for something dramatic to make the break complete. I just don't quite buy it. Despite that, this has still been a marvelous, if too short story and time with Marcel. It is nice to see Lou getting some self-awareness, it is nice to see Max and Marcel doing well and it is to see Greg relaxing a little. I do hope if there is a future rewrite of this story that it would be a dual narration with Brad and Marcel. I'd love to see 8 year old Darius, 6 year old Jeremy and 5 year old Will.

Have you ever been a parent or seen Toy Story 3? OMG, the Grangers are NOT bad news, they are good, loving parents who raised a great young man. It is Max's fault he didn't assert himself sooner with them. My mother stopped trying to dress me when I was 13 when I told her in no uncertain terms I was not going to wear the "back to school" clothes she was picking out for me. With my father, it was when I made it crystal clear I was not going to major in finance and join his investment firm after graduation. Part of Max's problem was they saw his bad decisions in always going back to Lark and they knew he still needed some parental guidance. Part of growing up is knowing when to listen to others, and when not.

If I was in a new relationship with a guy, the LAST place I'd take him would be a gay club in Boystown. Oh, and if I was Marcel, I'd call Brad to clue him in on Lark and his antics. Lark is sure to turn up back in CA and try to get what he can out of Brad.

So for five or more years Marcel obsessed on John Paul, finally got to be with him and less than three months ago he was so despondent over losing the ultimate love of his life he could not function, but now after four or five dates he loves Max more? I think Max is right to be worried. Having a partner who fucks around on you just because he is mad at you is not a good thing. It is good that Marcel was honest with Max about Moscow.

Uh, I think it was Chapter 1 of Be Rad. Lark has ALWAYS been an asshole, ALWAYS been a user, ALWAYS been bad for whomever he was with. He did treat Brad the same way; Lark was "straight", but was always jealous when Brad liked someone and treated that person badly. When Lark didn't need something from Brad, he'd blow him off. Very poor judgment from Marcel on taking a drug he knew nothing about. He had unsafe sex with multiple people, lost his Rolex and Mercedes and is lucky to be alive. The one good thing from being mugged is he is reconnecting with Max.