Electric Blue and Catnip - 6. Chapter 6

Joshua let himself into his quiet dark house at eleven o’clock at night. Heading to the kitchen, he turned on the light and headed straight for the steel fridge. Alexi had insisted on packing him up some leftovers insisting that they, he and Lily, couldn’t finish them. Placing the plastic Ziploc container in the fridge, he grabbed a water bottle and closed the fridge.

Leaning on the wooden kitchen table, he drank thirstily from the bottle, his gaze moving critically over the kitchen. Herbs grew in colorful pots at the kitchen window seal. The cooking pots hanging on one side of the kitchen were colorful, bright, awfully Alicia he thought with a sad smile. The kitchen had been her domain for the past five years. Now that she was gone, he was probably going to end up with take out and TV dinners. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t cook. He could. The thought of cooking for one though was depressing. He considered it a product of having never lived alone.

Reaching for a glass, he poured the rest of the water into it, and threw the empty bottle into the recycling bin. Switching out the lights, he headed to his room in the dark house carrying his glass of water.

He placed the glass on his bedside table and turned on the lights. Dropping his keys, wallet and cell phone beside the glass, he headed into the bathroom for a hot shower. As the hot water eased his tense shoulder muscles, he closed his eyes and Alexi filled his thoughts.

Alexi, he sighed. After spending the afternoon in the younger man’s company, he had no doubt that he was attracted to him. The memory of Alexi’s lips wrapped around a strawberry sent licks of blazing desire through his body. It was so easy imagining those lips on him, taking him and surrounding him with their heat. Sliding his hand down to the base of his hardening erection, he sighed. He wanted Alexi, stroking his erection slowly; he knew there was no doubt about that. The problem was that he doubted Alexi wanted him the same way, and if he did, he’d done a darned good job of hiding it.

The younger man had resisted all his attempts at flirting. He had tried through the afternoon to engage Alexi, apart from a few blushes and shy responses, Alexi had completely refused to retaliate. After dinner, Alexi had rushed into the kitchen to share out the leftovers among his guests. He’d offered to help, and while they’d been alone in the kitchen, he’d tried to ask Alexi out, all he’d gotten was a promise to think about it.

A gentle let down, he thought sullenly as he turned off the shower. Stepping out, he grabbed a towel from the rack and ran it negligently over his body. He brushed his teeth and when he was done, he headed back into the bedroom. Crawling into the bed naked, he switched off the lights and drifted to sleep with thoughts of a smiling Alexi turning into dreams.

*****

Monday morning found him in his office at the university going through student tests and logging grades into the system. His time off in the summer was starting in a week’s time, which meant his workload was unimaginable. Before Alicia’s wedding, he’d thought it a blessing that he’d be too busy to notice his house was empty, but now that he’d met Alexi, he felt a bit impatient about it. Staring at his cell phone intently, he wondered what Alexi would say if he were to call him right now. They’d exchanged numbers the night before.

Would the man even take his calls? Maybe he was too busy at the studio. Alexi’s workmates had teased him for being ultra involved in his music. Did that mean he didn’t take personal calls? Did it matter? What would he say anyway? Alexi had refused his offer to go out and see a live band playing at his favorite club. Maybe he could try inviting the younger man to his house for dinner.

He frowned. That would mean shopping since his fridge was full of leftovers, bottles of water and TV dinners.

“You keep frowning like that and your age will start showing.” A friendly feminine voice interrupted his thoughts.

Glancing up, he smiled when he saw the dark haired woman standing at his door. Selina Malik was an English professor and a dear friend. Taking in her colorful skirt and the sleeveless green blouse she wore with an amulet enticingly between her breasts, he smiled. He liked to think Selina had been born into the wrong era. She would have fit right in to the sixties. She had a wild spirit that demanded freethinking and wild ideas, students loved her class.

“Selina, what’s up?”

“Who is he?” Selina asked walking up to his desk to perch on the corner her eyes smiling at him. “I haven’t seen you brooding this much in a while, Josh. I have to assume you’ve met someone.”

“I think you spent too much time thinking about my love life.” He leaned back in his seat to study her. “I heard you’re going on a trip this summer.”

She smiled her black ringlets bouncing around her. She waved her right hand at him showing off the gold rings on her fingers. “I am taking some students to Rio. It will be a nice change from the usual back packing in Europe thing we do.”

“Knowing you, you’re going to learn a traditional dance and come and inflict it on us.” Joshua shook his head; he still wasn’t over her Indian phase. She’d forced him to eat roti, an Indian flatbread, until he’d gotten sick of it. “Don’t learn any new recipes.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll even have the time. I have to deal with twenty students.” Selina laughed when he gave her skeptical look. “I promise not to make you eat whatever I learn to make.”

“Where have I heard that before?” Joshua shuddered.

“Anyway, it looks like you’ll be having more fun than me. The rumor mill is wild with big news.”

“What big news?” Joshua asked. He hadn’t heard anything. He’d been so busy with Alicia’s wedding and Tim’s thesis presentation; he hadn’t had time to connect with the university social calendar.

“Apparently, the music department is working on a deal to get Alexander Kotaru to mentor a summer program. The dean was talking about it on Saturday. He says Alexander’s manager was here for a short meeting.”

“You’re kidding.” He blinked. He’d once gotten the privilege of hearing Alexander Kotaru play when he’d been in Japan. The man was a genius at composition, and when he sat down to play on the piano, it always felt like a lesson in exquisite melody. “How did they get such a giant?”

“Apparently, he’s staying in New York for the duration of the summer. Rumor is that he’s working with a studio to write a film score, but who knows.”

“Really,” he frowned, could Alexi be-…no, he shook his head in denial. His short glimpse of Alexander Kotaru made him sure that the man had black hair. Lily would have said something; she didn’t seem the type to keep secrets. Besides, Alexi was so friendly. From what he’d heard, Alexander Kotaru didn’t talk to people very much. “Well, that will be nice for the kids. Are you sure they can convince him?”

“That’s why I’m here. Tony from music asked if he could stop by and have a talk with you. He heard you know Japanese and he wants a few pointers. They are meeting with Alexander on Wednesday.”

“I’d be glad to. I’ll send him an email.” His phone buzzed and he stared at the caller ID with a sigh. Selina got off the desk and rubbed the top of his head messing up his hair.

“Meet me for lunch; I want to hear about that frown I found dancing on your forehead.” She hurried off leaving him alone to face his past mistakes.

Answering the call, he closed his eyes as his ex-wife greeted him with a demand. “Are you going home this summer?”

“Why,” he asked confused. The woman was a conundrum. He hated thinking about her because she represented so much of what he’d hated about himself for a long time.

“I’m taking the kid to see my mother and I don’t want to run into you. He might want to stop at your mother’s place and it will be easier if you’re not there.”

“Would it?” he asked bitterly. He still hadn’t forgiven her, he thought. That old bitter anger still ate at him and he wished he could let it go. “Sherry, does it really matter if Shane talks to me? I lived as his father for five years. You know how much I love him.”

“I don’t think you have any right to talk to me about love. Please just answer my question, are you going home for the summer, if so, when and how long?”

Her tone was sharp, condescending. He wondered what gave her the right to be so angry when she’d lied to him first. “I’m not going home. I have a few things to do.”

“Good. I’ll call you to tell you when I’m going in any case so that you’ll know to stay away.” She hung up right away without a goodbye or a how have you been. He sighed and dropped the phone on the desk. Bracing his elbows on top of the papers on his desk, he closed his eyes.

He wished he could lay all the blame on her but he couldn’t. He’d been deep in the closet for so long, that when the girl he’d supposedly been dating through college got pregnant, the situation had spiraled out of control. In his mother’s house, girls didn’t get pregnant by themselves. She’d expected he do right by Sherry and marry her.

He’d been twenty-three years old, working his way through graduate school. Sherry had just finished her third year of college when she got pregnant. Their parents had insisted on a wedding. He’d agreed to it thinking the child was his. She’d insisted the child was his. Knowing that he couldn’t ignore his kid, he’d married her and resigned himself to his fate.

Things had turned awkward quickly. Juggling work, a child, and school hadn’t been easy for them. Their non-existent love life put a strain on their relationship. By the time Shane turned five years old, they’d both been at their limit. Shane got anemic that year and ended up in hospital. The doctor had insisted on testing him and Sherry so that they could donate blood. It had been a bitter surprise to find that he wasn’t Shane’s father. He didn’t like to think about the uproar in the Randolph house. His sisters, his mother, and grandmother all up in arms when he’d decided enough was enough. A shudder ran through him at the memory.

Wiping a hand down his face, he stood up and abandoned the papers on his desk. Taking his keys, he locked his office and headed toward the music department. He could use the fresh air and talking to Tony seemed more appealing than grades.

He didn’t regret his decisions that year, he thought as he walked out into the sunny day. He’d felt relieved to be free of Sherry. Telling her he was gay had freed his soul but it had also felt like he was betraying Shane. Sweet innocent Shane who’d just needed a loving father. It hurt that Sherry had decided the best way to punish him for his decision was to refuse him any rights to Shane.

Shane was ten now. He hadn’t seen the kid in four years but he couldn’t help wondering. What would it be like to be Shane’s father? Damn Sherry for forcing him away the way she had. Now all he had was an empty house and a long summer working away at a novel he’d been banging at for years.

As he walked toward the music department, he decided that he had to call Alexi later. One way or another, he was going to get his date.

************************************************************************

Alexi paced the empty recording room, his gaze fixed on his phone instead of the piano. Adrian’s face smiled at him on the screen and his thumb swept over the top of it delicately threatening to press the call button. It was already eleven o’clock. He’d barely gotten any work done. He was supposed to be laying down a track on music they’d approved last week but he couldn’t concentrate. His thoughts lingering on the fact that Adrian hadn’t called him at all.

He’d spent the entire night tossing and turning with thoughts of making love with Adrian, fighting and screaming at each other the next day then making up. Those days, Adrian had inspired his music on a level he couldn’t define. When he’d come out to his grandparents, Adrian had held his hand tightly as they stood before his straight-laced grandfather and his overly religious grandmother. He’d been so terrified, if it weren’t for Adrian holding his hand he might have melted into the carpet. It didn’t help that his most significant memories in the past ten years all included Adrian. He needed to fix this rift between them no matter what.

Digging fingers through his hair, a sigh escaped and he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Leaving the recording room, he found Andy in the break room making a sandwich.

“Do you want one?” Andy asked with a wide smile.

“No, thanks, I’m going out. Will you tell everyone I’ll be right back?”

“Is everything alright?” Andy paused in the act of slicing the sandwich to stare at him.

Giving the man a slight smile, he nodded. “Yeah, I just want to sort something out. I’ll be back.”

He hurried out of the break room reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Giving it a cursory glance, a slight frown danced on his forehead when he noted he was missing a card. He had two, one from his mother, and the other from his own accounts. The palladium card from his mother was missing. He’d probably given it to Lily. Checking that he had enough cash, he left the studio and hailed a cab to Park Avenue, where the Rosen model agency offices were.

He’d never been, he suddenly realized ten minutes later when he got out of the cab. Lily had told him the offices were on the fifth floor of the high-rise building but he’d never shown up. He walked into the building with his hands in his pockets nervous energy flowing through him on his way to the elevator. When the doors opened on the fifth floor, he stepped into the muted reception with his heart pounding. It was hard to miss the embossed label in red on the wall behind the receptionist desk. He was definitely in the right place. The young woman who smiled at him couldn’t have been older than twenty-two. She was model skinny, her make up done to perfection. She was probably hoping to be a model herself. She greeted him cheerfully and asked him if he had an appointment.

“No, I don’t. I’m here to see Adrian Rosen. My name is Alexi, I’m his best friend.”

“Oh, of course,” she nodded. “He’s in a meeting right now. You can wait for him in his office.” When he looked down the hall she was pointing at in confusion, she got up. “I’ll show you where that is.”

She led him to Adrian’s office, a brightly lit corner office that boasted large wide windows. A photo of Adrian graced one side of the room. Walking around the blue lounge chairs that made up a sitting area in the corner of the office, he stopped before the large photo and stared at a younger Adrian. The Adrian he remembered smiled back at him, green eyes sparkling back at him, a secretive smile on those lips. Those days Adrian had kept his hair long and blonde.

“Are you reminiscing?” Adrian asked startling him out of his revelry. Turning he stared at the older man standing before him in a neat black suit with white shirt. His short hair cut into a corporate style. He was hardly the model with the green sparkling eyes now.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.” Alexi waved at the mahogany desk by the windows and the papers loading it. “You must be really busy.”

“You’re not interrupting.” Adrian walked to the desk and dropped the files he was holding on the desk with a sigh. Reaching up, he loosened his tie and leaned on the desk to look at him. “You look good, ready for the sun.”

Alexi’s gaze dropped to his light white jacket, matching v-neck t-shirt and the light blue fitted slacks he had. His feet were in comfortable leather open sandals, he was still surprised Lily had let him walk out in them. His hair was growing again, so he’d pulled it back into a stubby ponytail.

Feeling like he was talking to a stranger, he looked around the office trying to find something to connect with the man leaning on the desk. When he couldn’t find anything, he sighed and sank into the blue couch closest to him.

Glancing at Adrian, he shook his head. “I swear when I left the studio I had a valid reason for showing up here. I just can’t remember it right now.”

“I’m sorry for missing dinner last night.” Adrian pushed off the desk and came to sit beside him. “You have to believe that, Alexi.”

“I was very angry with you until a moment ago.” He confessed with a sigh. His anger had actually evaporated last night, but Adrian didn’t need to know that. After talking with Joshua, Andy, and Ben until ten o’clock at night, he’d finally concluded that he might have been overreacting with Adrian. They were friends now. Kissing friends, but friends nevertheless, he had no right to be angry.

Turning on the couch so that he could look at Adrian, Alexi reached out and took his left hand. “I’m impressed with you business. Your offices look amazing. How many models are you managing at the moment?”

Adrian’s eyes brightened slightly, his fingers tangling with Alexi’s as he answered. “We’re managing twenty models right now. Two of the girls are on their way to being super-models.”

“That’s amazing,” genuinely happy to hear that his friend was succeeding in his chosen industry, “you must be getting very popular.”

“There are challenges, but we’ll get there.” Adrian shook his head and leaned back on the couch. “Alexi, I know it hasn’t been easy between us lately. And, after what happened on Saturday-

“It’s forgotten.” He didn’t want to hear Adrian say that kiss had been a mistake. He could take anything else but that. “We’re friends right. There is nothing to worry about.”

“Alexi.” Adrian sighed. “I don’t ever want you to think I hate you. You’re important to me. I have a solution to fix our not spending time together. What do you say we do a project together?”

“Project,” Alexi frowned. “What kind of project, you know I hate getting my pictures taken, Adrian.”

“I know but Rosen Models is planning a gala to entice some investors. If we had you on board, maybe have you play a short concert-

“Oh no, Adrian, I don’t think I can.” He pulled his hand away from Adrian as memories of standing at the entrance to a brightly lit stage filled his mind. The audience had clapped in encouragement, but for reasons he still didn’t know, his feet had remained rooted firmly to the ground. Unable to walk to the white grand piano set on the stage. A short sigh escaped and he stood up, his hands back in his pocket. “I still have stage fright.”

“It won’t be a large audience.” Adrian soothed staring at him with a frown. “It will be a small thing, may be just one or two pieces to show off your talent. Alexi, I really need this.”

“This is New York, Adrian. Invite the dozens of musicians living here. They would buy you a larger audience and wider publicity than me.”

“The publicity and audience is not the problem here.” Adrian sighed and pulled off his tie, folding it neatly. He leaned forward his expression grave as he continued. “I need serious investors, Alexi. People with weight who have the ability to open international doors for the agency, it’s the only way Rosen Models is going to survive. We’ve been having issues lately.”

“Is that why you’re so busy with work?”

“Partly, my business partner in L.A has made some losses and we’re in some trouble. Not much, but if I don’t get solid investors, we might be in trouble. Your name alone is weight enough for serious investors. I know you don’t think about it, but Kotaru Industries is important in the business world. You being Alexander Kotaru would entice serious investors to the gala.”

“Are you asking me for help with your business, Adrian?” Alexi asked in shock.

“I am.” Adrian met his gaze firmly and shrugged. “You’re the only one I can lean on right now. Will you do it?”

Hello, hello, It's been a while right? Sorry for the delay. I promise to be back on schedule now. I have a beta reader, Rndmrunner, he's been reading through the chapters and sorting them out. Hard work, which makes him awesome
Back to the story, Do you think Adrian should be trusted in Business? Should Alexi help him? And Joshua has a story, what do you think of it? Can't wait to hear your thoughts.
hillj69, keep your promise, tell me what you think on that point you raised.