Streak - 44. Chapter 44

December 22, 2002

Escorial

Brad

Marc and I walked up to the dining room, to what would undoubtedly be a well-attended meal, and probably an important one. This was the first time I could remember that we were this close to Christmas and our plans for that holiday weren’t finalized, at least in my mind. I knew that Will had been working to make this a really special holiday for Zach and his family, and they’d been here and seemed pretty euphoric, but I had my own plans and my own agenda. Hopefully they coincided. In the meantime, I’d spent the last forty-five minutes on the phone with Ace, and had my own news to divulge.

We were the last ones to arrive, getting there just as the grandfather clock finished striking seven times. “Good evening,” I said pleasantly, and paused to acknowledge all of the people at the table. My sister Claire and her husband Jack were there, along with John and Marie, as were JP and Stef, of course. Will and Zach were joined by Wally, Clara, and Brent, while Frank and Isidore had resumed their normal place at the end of the table opposite from JP.

“You made it just on time,” Claire said pleasantly. “That outfit looks fabulous!” That last comment was directed at Marc.

“Thanks,” he said, shooting his gorgeous smile at her. “I spent some time with Stef, shopping in the City.”

“Maybe we can go up there tomorrow,” she said. “I’ve got some last minute Christmas gifts to buy.”

“That works,” Marc said. “We’ve got a party to go to tomorrow night, but I’m free during the day.”

“That’s fine,” Claire said. “We aren’t going to be here on the 24^th. We’re spending Christmas Eve with Jack’s family.”

“That will make things a lot quieter here,” I joked.

“We won’t be here either, we’re flying to LA tomorrow,” Will announced.

“Oh?” I asked, annoyed that he thought he could control my schedule.

“The plan is for us to do Christmas Eve in LA, at the Mission, and then we’re flying back up here to spend Christmas Day,” he said. Zach got visibly nervous when Will mentioned the Mission, but I was too pissed off to worry about that.

“I can’t just drop everything and fly down to LA,” I objected. I had my own things planned for Christmas Eve.

“You have to come with us,” Will said. “It’s important.”

“Why?” I demanded.

“Because it’s Christmas Eve, and you’re supposed to be with your family, and the rest of us will be in LA,” he said in a pretty nasty way.

“If you want people to conform to your plans, you should explain them in advance,” I snapped back.

“What is so vital that you think you can blow off all of us?” Will demanded, really putting me on the spot. “I’d like to know who you’re meeting with, so I’ll know who’s more important to you than the rest of us.”

“That is not reasonable,” I said, letting my voice get a little loud, and getting a throat clearing from JP to remind me to watch my volume. “You can’t just expect me to drop everything because you made a bunch of plans.”

“You may be right,” he said, but in his smarmy way that told me there was a big-ass ‘but’ coming my way. “Only not on Christmas Eve. That day you should have cleared to spend with us anyway. So if anyone should be pissed off, it should be the rest of us, who were clearly going to get dumped for some other deal, which, by the way, you still haven’t told us about.”

“I’ll be here, at Escorial, on Christmas Eve,” I said firmly. “I planned to be home by dinner time.”

“We don’t need you here, we need you to be in LA,” he said. “It’s important.”

Stef’s smooth voice interrupted our argument. “I have already arranged my schedule so I can meet you down there on the 24^th, but I cannot fly down until the morning,” he said to Will, then focused on me. “Perhaps you can fly down with me?”

The fact that Stef jumped in, to more or less tell me to go, clued me in that there must be more going on here than a simple Christmas Eve celebration. Marc got that too. I’d planned to spend the day with him in San Francisco, and I’d planned to surprise him with one awesome Christmas present. Only now it looked like those plans were about to be shot all to hell. I was just about to agree, reluctantly, to go with Stef, when I thought about how great a day I’d planned out on the 24^th and I got pissed off all over again. “Whatever we have planned, it can probably wait until after Christmas, don’t you think?” Marc asked me plaintively.

The looks I was getting from JP and Stef were pretty firm, Will was very annoyed, while Marc seemed almost afraid, and then I got where he was coming from. The last thing he wanted, or needed, was to have something he and I were doing together interfere with a big family event. This was just the kind of thing that would ultimately make everyone in my family resent him. As irritated as I was, I had to cave on this issue, if only for Marc. “We will fly down with you,” I said to Stef evenly. “Happy?” I asked Will, in a smart-ass tone.

“I’m ecstatic,” he said sarcastically.

“I had no idea you were such an amazing football player,” Marc said to Zach, smoothly changing the subject and helping to restore the mood. “That was a fantastic game.”

“Thanks,” Zach said shyly. “We took a big risk on that first touchdown pass.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because it was a play the team had developed on our own, and we hadn’t cleared it with the coach,” he said. “Coaches don’t like surprises.”

“They’re not the only ones,” I grumbled, then changed the topic to cover up my bitchiness. “Has anyone talked to Ace lately?”

“I have not,” Mother said, and no one else spoke up.

“He’s staying in Italy,” I announced, even as I grimaced. “Cass and Courtney are coming back to the Bay Area.”

“What happened?” Mother asked, truly upset.

“Cass is planning to file for a divorce,” I explained. “Ace reconnected with this Italian girl he’d dated in college.”

“Was it that young woman who came out to visit when you were still in college?” Stef asked.

I nodded. “Bianca.”

“So he has been having an affair with her?” Mother asked, annoyed and outraged.

“He has,” I admitted, since it was true. “For what it’s worth, he sounds really happy.”

“That is certainly worth a lot,” JP said.

“To just jettison his family for a fling…” Mother lamented.

“We do not know that this is just a fling. It is not our place to judge him for how he handles his relationship with his wife,” JP said. “We do not know all the details, and it is unlikely that this is entirely his fault, or her fault.”

Mother paused and seemed to ponder his judicious words. “It is certainly true that Cass has been difficult to deal with, for the past few years especially,” she said, neatly switching sides. JP gave her a frustrated look.

“Has anyone heard from Cass?” he asked.

“I haven’t,” I said, and since I was the only one who knew about their breakup, I was the only candidate to have talked to her.

“I will have to reach out to her and make sure she knows she is welcome here,” JP said.

“I wonder how Ace will feel about that,” I mused.

“Courtney is my granddaughter, and that gives her a right to be here,” JP said firmly. “If Cass is with her that is simply part of the deal.”

“She’s probably going to stay with her parents in the meantime,” I said, to signal that we were about to argue about an irrelevant point. “They’ve spent most of their holidays with them anyway.”

“I have missed Courtney,” Claire said. “I think I’ll reach out to Cass.”

“That’s a good idea,” I agreed. Cass would find Claire to be the least annoying one of us to deal with.

“My plane will fly you all down to LA tomorrow morning,” Stef said to Will. “I have arranged for a 10:00am departure, knowing your proclivity for sleeping in.”

“Thanks,” Will said. He gave Zach a knowing look, presumably at the reference to being in bed.

“I’m not sure what the place in Malibu will be like,” I said. “It’s been all but abandoned, with only Darius staying there occasionally.”

“I’ll bet its fine,” Will said dismissively.

“Probably won’t be any food there either,” I persisted. I didn’t want them to wander in, thinking it would be like it used to be, only to find an empty shell of a house. The thought of that, and what that implied, seared through my psyche as I had one of my now-rare attacks, remembering my life there with Robbie. I manfully controlled it, giving myself credit for doing a damn good job.

“Got it covered,” Will said. I stared at him, waiting for an explanation, and then got annoyed when it was obvious that I wasn’t getting one.

“I certainly hope so,” Stef joked. “I would not want to go hungry.”

“Since when do you eat?” JP asked, teasing him. We all looked at Stef’s plate and the incredibly small portions on it, and chuckled even as he gave JP an icy look.

After dinner, I got the third degree about my conversation with Ace, but there wasn’t much more to tell than I’d already revealed. I was relieved to finally be able to escape with Marc back to our room. “I’m glad you decided to go to LA,” he said, as soon as we were safely behind the closed door.

“It’s just annoying, since I had that day all planned out, and I had a really cool Christmas surprise for you,” I told him.

“You told me how important your sons and your family are to you,” he said. “This is the time when you have to show them, and the last thing I want them to do is to think you’re avoiding going with them to do something with me.”

“Yeah, I got that,” I said. “Thanks for the hint at dinner. You were right.”

He smiled at me, glad that I understood his situation so well. “You don’t need to get me a present anyway. You’ve already done so much for me.”

“You’ve done a lot for me too,” I said.

“Right,” he said skeptically.

“You’ve made me happy,” I said, and that got a grin.

“Yeah, well you do that for me too, so that’s no big deal,” he joked.

“It is a big deal,” I said seriously. “It’s a very big deal.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to throw me out?” he said, still being jocular.

“I want you to stay here, with me,” I said, only my tone was very serious.

“What are you saying?” I’d confused the shit out of him, even though my meaning should be obvious.

“When we came back from Australia, you agreed to spend a couple of weeks with me to see if you could stand my obnoxious personality,” I joked, sort of.

“That was over a month ago,” he said, chuckling slightly. “I’m like a bad houseguest that won’t leave.”

“Only I don’t want you to be a houseguest, and I don’t want you to leave,” I said. “I want you to be with me.”

“It’s still awfully fast,” he said nervously, and that made me nervous.

“I didn’t mean to pressure you,” I said hastily, beating a retreat. I figured that this was what he wanted, so I was kind of surprised at his reticence.

He sat down on the bed and I sat next to him, and he took my hand. “You’re not pressuring me. I’ve been happier, here with you, than I’ve ever been. I’m just worried that I’m pressuring you.”

“I don’t get it,” I said, confused.

He sighed. “If we were somewhere where we both had our own places, we could choose when to see each other, and you’d have a better idea if this was what you wanted, or if it was just convenient.”

I could have really let that piss me off, implying that I was that shallow, but I knew him well enough to know he was just tapping into his own insecurities. “I’ve been happier than I ever thought I could be. I like being with you. You’re smart, you’re talented, you’re charming, and you’re very very attractive.” He blushed at that, which was adorable. “I think we’re good together, and we complement each other really well.”

“I agree,” he said. He looked at me, staring at me for a bit so I could see how sincere he was. “I don’t give a shit about anything else for Christmas. You just gave me the best present. Being with you is the best present.”

I smiled and kissed him, and then we sealed our new status with our bodies.

December 23, 2002

Malibu, CA

Will

“Dude, shouldn’t we stop and grab some lunch,” Zach said, even as we drove into the Colony and up to our house.

I raised an eyebrow to challenge him. “Settle down, Brad,” I teased, getting a classic snaugh from Brent. Wally and Clara were too busy ogling the neighborhood to really notice our conversation.

“Fine,” he said, pretending to be grumpy. “So what’s our plan?”

“I’m going to explain everything to you at lunch,” I said, being mysterious.

“I’ll bet it involves surfing,” Zach joked. I said nothing, because we’d pulled up to the house. I opened the door and hopped out; walking up to the familiar house where I’d spent so much of my life. As I opened the door, it seemed like all those memories assaulted me, both the good and the bad, so much that I froze as soon as I was through the door. I felt that familiar, strong arm around my waist. “Kind of like coming home.”

I smiled at Zach. “Kind of is,” I agreed. “There are a lot of memories here, but the one I remember most is that this is where we first got together.”

“Yep,” he said, and winked at me. “I smell food.”

And that prompted Rosa to come out of the kitchen. “Hola!” she said, and gave me a big hug.

“Thank you so much for coming back here to spend Christmas with us,” I said to her. I knew that Wade, Matt, JJ, Tiffany and the kids were going to be in England, and it seemed pretty awful for her to be all alone in Boston for the holiday, so I’d solved both of our problems by flying her out here.

“You would have starved otherwise,” she joked, and poked my stomach. “You are too thin.”

“I think he looks great,” Zach said, and gave Rosa a hug as well.

“I made lunch, assuming you would be hungry,” she said.

“Good call,” Brent said, in his casual way, with his charming smile.

We sat down at the table while Rosa brought out a bunch of food, mostly Mexican stuff, which Brent loved, but Wally and Clara looked at dubiously. They found enough stuff to eat that they liked, in any event. “So what’s the plan?” Zach asked again.

“We have about an hour after we eat to unpack. The car picks us up at 1:30.” I focused on Brent. “You have to look nice. You’re going to meet some car guys.”

“I am?” Brent asked, looking nervous and excited.

“There’s this dude named Chip Foose, and he does auto restoration and customization,” I said, remembering what Cody told me. “This guy’s got a documentary in the works, and they’re working on a television show concept. It’s going to be called Overhaulin’.”

“Seriously?” Brent asked. “What’s it about?”

“You’ll get to hear all about it,” I said. “I thought you’d find it pretty interesting.”

“No doubt,” Brent said, clearly excited. Zach gave me a more knowing look.

“Then we’re going to go see UCLA, so your parents can check out the campus,” I announced.

“That sounds great,” Clara said. Zach had once again slotted into his role as her favorite son, and she was clearly anxious to see where he’d be spending his college years.

“Darius is going to meet us there and show you around,” I augmented. “I’ve got a few things I have to take care of while you do that.”

“No problem,” Brent said. He got along pretty well with Darius. About the only one of Zach’s brothers Darius wasn’t all that keen on was Gathan, but that’s only because of his deal with Ella.

“Tomorrow, we’ve got an early dinner at the Mission, then we’re coming back here for a family celebration,” I said. Zach got really uptight about that, and I knew why, but neither one of us said anything, we just finished eating. I showed everyone to their rooms, and then took Zach back to my room.

“Alright,” Zach said, cornering me since we were all alone. “What’s the deal with this Chip Foose guy?”

“He needs two things. He needs some help in his shop, and he needs this television deal,” I said.

“So you pulled strings to get Brent a job with this guy, and in exchange, he gets his show?” he asked me, acting kind of outraged.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s the way the world works. Stef and Cody helped me set it up, so unless Brent and Chip hate each other, it’s a done deal.”

“Cool,” he said, even as he digested things.

“I thought you’d probably like having him in the same city,” I told him, to let him know this was mostly about him. “And I figured that this way Brent can get some kick-ass experience.”

He looked at me and smiled, then actually got a little teary-eyed. He gave me a big hug, and held it for a while. “Thank you, for everything.”

“Dude, I love you,” I said simply.

“On one of the shittiest days of my life, I walked through that door, trying to get laid,” he said, pointing at my bedroom door.

“It worked,” I joked.

“That turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said sincerely.

“The sex was pretty good,” I said, teasing him, since I knew that’s not what he was talking about. He just shook his head at me, and then he got nervous.

“Dude, I don’t know if I can go to the Mission.”

“You’re worried that people will think you’re gay if you go volunteer?” I asked.

He gave me a dirty look. “They might.”

“What if you were there with other famous people, maybe even an athlete or two?” I asked him with a smirk. “I mean, I know you’re a hot shot and everything, but what if Ahman Green was there?”

His eyes bulged. “Are you fucking kidding me? That dude is fucking amazing! He’s going to be there?”

“Supposed to be,” I said. That had taken some doing, but I’d thrown money at the problem and made it happen. “Brian Burke should be there too.”

“Who’s he?”

I rolled my eyes. “The General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks.”

“That’s hockey, not football,” he said, grinning. “Everyone knows all those hockey players are closet cases.”

I ignored the fact that he was talking about other guys being closet cases, when he had that market cornered. “So, you OK with going?”

“I’m OK with going,” he said. “I should have known you’d watch out for me.”

“You should have,” I said, smiling.

December 23, 2002

Bridgemont, UK

JJ

I was trying to be fun and positive, but it was pretty tough. We’d gotten into London two days ago, but only after a plane ride with the whiney brats. Those kids were so annoying; it was hard to imagine why Tiffany wanted yet another one. It was almost like she was some prize horse that they kept breeding to see if they could spawn perfect kids. It wasn’t working. As if that weren’t bad enough, I’d had to deal with Mary Ellen, being all sugary-sweet, and acting like she was totally happy just because Alex had finally gotten here. I resolved to be nice, but it was hard to hold back all the snarky comments that kept trying to force their way out of my mouth.

At least when we’d been in London, there was a lot to do. If I got bored, I always could go shopping, or do something like that. Only now we were up here in the middle of the country. It was cold, and it was bleak, since it was winter. Bridgemont House was this huge stone monstrosity that seemed cold even when it wasn’t. All the furnishings, all the art, were old and stodgy, and the place even had that musty smell that museums have. The only thing that made it slightly hospitable was the Christmas decorations, but even those looked like they were at least a hundred years old. They’d probably light real candles in the Christmas tree if it wouldn’t burn the damn thing down.

“There you are,” Alex said pleasantly as he came into the room, and with just his presence, my whole mood transformed. Suddenly this boring old estate seemed so much nicer, since it was so important to him. “There’s someone I want to introduce you to.”

“Probably some old dowager,” I said grumpily. He thought I was pretending, but I wasn’t. I was so sick of meeting old ladies, I could puke.

“If that is what you are expecting, you will be pleasantly surprised,” he said cheerfully. Sometimes he was so fucking happy, I was tempted to burst his bubble and destroy his mood. At times like this, he reminded me of Will when he was being all perky and chipper.

“So who is this person?” I asked.

“Susannah Calthorpe, the young lady whom you will be escorting at the wedding,” he said. I nodded, even as I followed him out of my room and down the massive, curved staircase. I hadn’t met the other Alex yet, and I hadn’t met Shelby Bannister either, but I’d heard all about them, since that’s all anyone ever talked about: this fucking wedding.

“Cool,” I said, pretending to be enthusiastic. We walked into the main drawing room, which was massive and formal, to find two people waiting to greet us. Of course, the most unpleasant one spoke first.

“There you are, JJ!” Mary Ellen said with her fake enthusiasm. I tried not to vomit as I gave her faux kisses in greeting. “This is Susannah.”

My attention focused on this other girl, and my reaction was overwhelmingly positive. She was short, thankfully. It would have been just like Mary Ellen to find an Amazon to be in her wedding, if only to point out that I wasn’t tall. She had dark red hair, almost auburn, with pale green eyes, and a long, pretty face. I let my eyes scan her body, and noticed that she was pretty svelte, but not in a skinny anorexic kind of way. “Nice to meet you,” I said, and shook her hand.

“I’ve heard all about you,” she said as she smiled. She had really pretty, straight white teeth. I’d noticed that most of the younger people in England had nice teeth, despite the American stereotype. It was like the British finally discovered dentistry in the 1980s or something like that.

“Then you have me at a disadvantage,” I said, sounding stuffy, and a lot like Alex. I got annoyed with myself, and felt myself blushing, which made me even more annoyed.

“I’ve seen you skate a few times,” she said. Her voice was smooth and silky, with that kick-ass accent that made her even more attractive. “A friend of mine skates, and I was at Nebelhorn in September.”

“I didn’t see you there,” Alex said.

“That’s because you were there late,” she teased, then turned back to me. “You are amazingly talented.”

“Thanks,” I said shyly.

“I invited Susannah to join us. I was planning to show you around the town,” Alex said. “I have a few things to attend to, though.”

“If you don’t mind just my company, I can show you around,” Susannah offered, in what appeared to be a choreographed plan. But she was cute, and I so did not want to be around Mary Ellen and talk about the wedding.

“That sounds great,” I said. I followed her out to her car, a Mini, and prepared myself to be bored shitless as I saw the sights of Bridgemont. But she was cute, and charming, and it ended up that the boring little town was largely irrelevant.

December 23, 2002

University of California

Los Angeles, CA

Will

I felt myself grinning as I watched Darius scamper down the Janss Steps in his cool way. He looked so collegiate with his UCLA hoodie on, and with Royce Hall in the background. We were right on time, but the only way I’d been able to accomplish that was to leave Brent with Chip Foose. There was absolutely no way we were going to drag him away from that shop. “Hey,” he said cheerfully, even as he gave me one of his stunted hugs. He fist-bumped Zach then shook Wally and Clara’s hands.

“Thanks for agreeing to show us around,” Zach said.

“No problem,” Darius said, even though I’d had to beg and whine to get him to do this for me. “Glad you decided to be a Bruin.”

“Looks awesome,” Zach said, wide-eyed, as his eyes scanned the campus.

“Let’s go,” Darius said, being all task oriented.

“I’ve got an errand to run, so I’ll catch up with you guys in an hour or so,” I said, getting a particularly dirty look from Darius for saddling him with Zach and his parents. But I stared right back at him, and he got that it was important, so he didn’t bitch.

“Dude, if you’re not with us, that will make this so much more fun,” Darius said, giving me shit. I left them in his capable care, and got into the car and told the driver to take me to Beverly Hills.

The building I directed him to was typical of a mixed-use facility, with stores on the ground level and offices on the second floor, all overlooking tony Rodeo Drive. There was no major signage, only an entry on the building register showing that Sergio was in Suite 202. I climbed the stairs and walked up to the door, wondering if it would be open, and if Kevin would even be there.

I walked into a small waiting room decorated in a chic way that Stef would appreciate. There was a modern, uncluttered desk, at which sat a skinny dude who looked to be no older than I was. His eyes moved from my face, down my body, then back up to my face. “May I help you?” he asked imperiously, since I wasn’t exactly dressed for Rodeo Drive.

“I’m here to see Kevin Carmichael,” I said firmly.

“Do you have an appointment?” he asked with attitude.

“I don’t need one,” I said, posturing back. He raised an eyebrow and sneered at me.

“And you are?”

“Will Schluter.”

“I’ll see if he’s available,” he said. He stood up, but he was so short, it wasn’t like that was a big deal. Shit, even JJ would tower over this dude. He definitely had a cute body, if you were into skinny twinks. I mentally fantasized about bending him over his desk and fucking him senseless, and that almost made me laugh out loud. He flounced out of the room, vanishing behind a door, and came back after no more than five minutes. “Sergio is in a meeting. He said he’ll call you later.”

“That won’t work,” I said, and headed toward the door he’d just emerged from. Kevin had been dodging my calls for a week. No way was I letting him blow me off like this.

“You can’t go back there,” the dude said authoritatively, standing in front of me.

“No?” I challenged, even as I moved forward, pushing him back with my body.

“I’m calling security,” he announced.

“Go ahead,” I said. He got out of my way to go to his desk, and I went through the door he’d been blocking. I walked into a much bigger room that was segregated into three areas. There was one large table with a sewing machine of sorts next to it, with all kinds of material scattered on top of it in a disorganized way. There was a drawing table, more like an easel, and there was a desk with a computer and a huge monitor. The whole place matched the material table: it seemed disorganized. Kevin was sitting at the desk, staring at the screen, looking at photos of women modeling clothes. He was smoking a cigarette, which made the whole room reek.

Kevin looked at me, and while he seemed to be as fit and handsome as ever, his eyes had a hollow look: he actually looked a lot like his office: all fucked up. “I said I was busy,” he said to me rudely.

“And just like I told your bitch, I don’t give a shit,” I said, as I walked over and sat on his desk, looking down at him.

The door burst open and his receptionist came in. “I have security on their way,” he announced.

Kevin looked at me and I raised an eyebrow, daring him to follow through on that threat. “I’m fine. Leave us alone.”

“You’re sure?” he asked. Kevin gave him a fearsome look, and that served to get him the fuck out of here. “What do you want?”

“I want you to join us tomorrow night in Malibu for Christmas Eve,” I said.

“You busted into my office to invite me over for Christmas? What the fuck?”

“It’s time for you to make things right,” I said firmly.

“You think I have to make things right? Seriously?” he asked, outraged.

“I do,” I said. “You totally dicked my father over when he was really vulnerable. You betrayed him, left him hanging, but still took his money.”

“I didn’t take his money. It’s an investment. And things are good.”

“Yeah, really looks that way,” I said, as I scanned the room. He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and exhaled at me, so I ripped the damn thing from his hand and smashed it out on his desk.

“You fucked up my desk,” he said, outraged, even as he ran his finger across the burn mark.

“Yep,” I said, glaring at him. “It wasn’t about the money.”

“We used a condom,” Kevin said, almost a whine.

“You betrayed his trust, and then worse than that, you blew him off and made him think there was something wrong with him,” I said, in a voice loud enough it was almost a scream. “You bailed on him, on Stef, and on Cody.”

“I didn’t bail on Cody! Cody is the reason I’m like this,” he snapped.

“That is such bullshit,” I said. “You and I both know it’s more likely you gave this fucking disease to him than the other way around!” If I had slapped him, it wouldn’t have had a bigger impact.

“That makes it worse,” he said morosely, in what had to be one of the biggest mood swings I’d seen.

“So it’s time to make it right,” I asserted. We sat there and stared at each other for a couple of minutes, neither one of us saying anything.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.