The Freshmen - 17. Chapter 17

September 5, 2004

Escorial

Palo Alto, CA

Will

After dinner I walked out to the garage with my father and Jake, glad to spend some time alone with them. “I was really impressed with the way you dealt with Claire tonight,” Dad said.

“Thank you,” I said cheerfully, basking in his praise. “Why do you say that?”

“You were right about Jack,” he said. “I remember how pissed off I was at Robbie, and how it was hard to get past that to see that he was struggling too.”

I shrugged. “It just seems like even if they are going to get divorced, it’s important they do everything they can to make this smoother.”

“I agree,” Jake said.

“Thanks for tossing that translation at Travis,” I said to Jake.

“I mean, he’s helping me out; I’m not doing him a favor,” Jake responded.

“He’s a little insecure, so when he can contribute something and help out, it really stokes him up,” I explained.

“I can certainly understand why he’d be insecure,” my father said, reminding us of all of the crap Travis had endured courtesy of his family. I resolved to keep that in mind next time Travis pissed me off. “Here’s my new vehicle.”

“Cool,” I said, but without too much enthusiasm, since it looked like a normal Cadillac Escalade.

“Check this out,” he said. The driver opened the door for us and I got in and sat in the small seat, while he sat in the big seat and showed me how everything worked.

“This is amazing,” I said sincerely. Some people might laugh at him for getting a limo like this, but I thought it was pretty awesome the way he was trying to make sure he didn’t let work interfere with his time with Jake.

“Let’s go for a ride,” Dad said, and told the driver to go to I-280 and go up an exit then bring us back. I sat in the smaller seat and looked at Jake, who was still standing outside the vehicle.

“Where are you going to sit?” I asked him.

“Right here,” he said, and hopped onto my father’s lap, cracking us up.

We got on the freeway and at first I thought we were going really slow, then I realized that it was because there was no noise. “Damn, this thing is quiet,” I said.

“It is,” Dad said proudly. “No problem making phone calls in here. The guys who designed this told me it was probably the quietest limo around.”

“That is kick ass,” I said. The ride was fun, in that we bullshitted about the Escalade, and didn’t have a more meaningful conversation until we got back. Dad thanked the driver and we wandered over to the gazebo and sat down, just enjoying the pleasant night.

“I’m glad you got that,” Jake said to my father, referring to his office on wheels. “I feel so bad when you have to commute and fight the traffic.

“So am I, especially since I’m probably going to have more work to do over the next month or so,” he said, looking at both of us apologetically.

“Why?” Jake asked.

“Luke just filed to divorce his latest wife,” Dad said, shaking his head. “I don’t get why he has to marry them.”

“You don’t think marriage is important?” Jake asked, challenging my father. I started laughing, and so did Dad.

“Touché,” Dad said.

“That sucks for him,” I said sympathetically. “Luke is a nice guy, and he’s hot as fuck.”

“I have to agree with you on both of those points,” Jake said, making us chuckle.

“I think that he gets in a relationship too quickly, before he really knows the woman he’s with. As logical and deliberate as he is, when it comes to his love life, he makes really dumb mistakes,” Dad said.

“He’s not alone,” Jake noted.

“Yeah, but he’s usually smarter than that. When his relationship gets miserable, he or his wife ends it. I don’t think he can really handle that pain and rejection, so to heal the wound and stop the pain, he jumps right into another one,” Dad said in frustration. “And he doesn’t get to know her all that well before they get married, and so the cycle repeats.”

“He’s like the rebound king,” I joked.

“He’s the rebound king,” Dad agreed.

“Has he found his next woman yet?” Jake asked. And then the circuits in my brain began to run at high speed as I thought of a terrific plan.

“I don’t think so,” Dad said. “He hasn’t said anything about it, and he usually talks about this shit.”

“I think you should invite him over to dinner tomorrow night,” I suggested.

“Why?” Dad asked.

“We’ll sit him next to Claire,” I said, raising an eyebrow.

Jake started cracking up. “You’re like a gay, teenage yenta,” he said. I rolled my eyes at him.

“You want me to set up my sister with my business partner?” Dad asked, outraged.

“I do,” I said calmly.

“I am not going to do that,” he insisted.

“If it was for Ace, would you do it then?” He glared at me for pointing out the sexist undertones to his attitude, while Jake burst out laughing.

“I’ll think about it,” Dad said grumpily.

“They both need a rebound,” I suggested coyly.

“Claire would probably kill me if I did that,” Dad said.

“Why?” Jake asked. “I mean, she is not required to fuck him, but just having him there to pay attention to her would probably really help her self-esteem.”

“I can see that,” Dad said thoughtfully. It was mildly frustrating that he got on the bandwagon only after Jake jumped in.

“I can think of another reason this may be a good idea,” I said. He just looked at me, waiting for me to go on. “You told me that Robbie thought having an open relationship was a great idea until you started hooking up with other dudes.”

Dad chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, Robbie thought it was terrific as long as it was only open for him. When it wasn’t, he didn’t think it was nearly as much fun.”

“Jealousy can be a big motivator,” Jake agreed. “It might actually help Jack figure things out if he has to grapple with that.”

“Jack didn’t seem bothered by Craig or Scott,” Dad said. “Claire told me he seemed to just accept it, and didn’t get upset.”

“He’s probably fine with Craig because that relationship is over,” Jake said.

“And he probably figured out that Scott Slater was just a vacation fling,” I added.

“So you think that if Claire starts going out with someone, Jack might get jealous and figure out what he’s lost?” Dad asked.

“I think that it depends on how things go,” I said. “I think it will freak Jack out when he hears Luke came over to dinner and paid attention to Claire, but he’ll lose his mind if they actually start dating.”

“I don’t know,” Dad said.

“Let’s go ask Claire,” I suggested.

“I’m not doing that,” he said.

“Then I will,” I said, as I stared at him boldly. He said nothing, so I got up and strode across the driveway and into the house before he could stop me, then made my way down to Claire’s bedroom. I heard the sound of the television through the door, so I knocked a bit more loudly than normal.

I heard the TV go off and then the door opened. If I was in my room watching television, I’d be wearing sweats and a t-shirt or something like that, but Claire was still dressed in the same clothes she’d worn to dinner. “This is a surprise, albeit a welcome one,” Claire said, and stepped aside to welcome me in.

“Thanks,” I said, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Not everyone says that.”

She laughed and led me over to her sitting area, where she gestured for me to take a seat. “Still, I assume you have better things to do than spend time with me.”

“I think hanging out with you is one of the best things ever,” I said, getting a nice smile from her. “But I did have something to talk to you about.”

“Why am I nervous?” she asked skeptically.

“Because I have a plan,” I said, being cocky.

“You have a plan?” she asked skeptically.

“I do, and I even vetted it with Dad and Jake,” I said.

“Then why aren’t they here?” she challenged playfully.

“Because they’re cowards,” I said. She really laughed at that, and it was so good to see her happy for a change.

“Alright, tell me about this plan,” she finally said.

“Luke Carruthers just got dumped by his latest wife,” I said, my tone getting serious.

“That is sad,” she said. “He is a nice man.”

“We were thinking maybe you could help him out,” I said nervously.

“I am not a cow you can farm out,” she said, getting angry as she jumped to all the wrong conclusions. She was accusing me of whoring her out, but I kept my cool.

“That is not what I meant,” I said hastily but firmly. My father would have handled this so much better. It was a shame he was too testicularly challenged to talk to her with me. “You don’t have to have a romantic relationship with him.”

“So what do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Dad said that he tends to bounce from woman to woman. He gets divorced, he rebounds and gets another wife, but he doesn’t get to know her well enough, so that marriage doesn’t work either,” I said.

“And you think I can jump in, give him some companionship, and break the cycle?” she asked.

“It’s worth a try,” I said, then gave her a conspiratorial smile. “And the whole time, you’ll make Jack incredibly jealous.”

She chuckled at that. “He doesn’t care enough about me to feel jealous,” she said bitterly.

“Let’s find out,” I suggested playfully. She smiled, then took a bit to ponder my idea.

“I’m not agreeing to go along with your scheme, although I do admire your strategy,” she said. “But if he comes to dinner tomorrow, I will sit next to him and I’ll be nice to him,” she promised. I gave her a nice hug, then went to track Stef down. I wasn’t willing to leave it to Dad to handle his end with Luke.

He and Grand were already in bed, both of them reading. Grand wasn’t wearing anything so his chest was bare, while Stef wore this red silk top that looked like the male version of Victoria’s Secret lingerie. “This is a surprise,” Grand said.

I scampered over and jumped into bed next to Stef like I’d done when I was 10. He laughed and moved over to make room. “I’m hatching a scheme to set Aunt Claire up with Luke.”

“Carruthers?” Grand asked.

Stef got pensive, then smiled. “Tell me all about it,” he said excitedly. He loved shit like this. I told them my plan, and about my talk with Aunt Claire.

“I think it would be more appropriate for you to not interfere in the romantic lives of other family members,” Grand said when I was done, giving me a scowl to emphasize his displeasure.

“Ignore him,” Stef said. The look of annoyance on Grand’s face was so funny I had to start laughing. “I will make sure Luke is here for dinner tomorrow.”

“Awesome,” I said. “Thanks!” I gave him a warm hug, did the same with Grand, then left them alone. I got back to our room and walked in to hear the printer whirring as Travis sat at the desk furiously studying his papers. “How are you doing?” I asked.

“I’m trying to make sure my English translation is right,” he said. He was really uptight, which was freaking me out a little bit.

“Do you think it is?” I asked.

“I’m almost sure it is,” he said.

“Then why are you freaked out?” I asked.

He looked at me, and I could see how he was almost losing it. “This is really twisted.”

“What?” I asked. He handed me a copy and I sat on the bed and started reading it. Then I read it again. By the time I put the report down, my playful mood was completely slaughtered. I just stared at Travis, stunned, then finally pulled myself together. “We’ll get everyone together in Grand’s study.”

“Okay,” he said nervously, as if he were responsible for the report.

“You want to track down Grand or Jake?” I asked, ignoring their partners.

“I’ll take Grand,” he said. Of course.

I tore up the stairs to my father’s room and listened briefly at the door for moaning. I shrugged, because I would have had to bug them anyway, then knocked.

“Come in,” Jake said. He saw me and smiled, then saw my expression and his smile vanished. “What’s up?” My father strolled into the room from the bathroom and got the seriousness of the mood.

“Travis finished translating the report. He said it was pretty twisted. He’s right,” I said. “We’re meeting in Grand’s study.”

“Do you know what it’s about?” Dad asked.

“Yes, I read it,” I said, then turned to leave before he could pelt me with questions. They dutifully followed me to Grand’s study, where Grand, Stef, and Travis were already seated. Dad grabbed a couple of extra chairs for him and Jake.

“I finished translating the report,” Travis said to Jake.

“And what report is this?” Grand asked.

“When I started looking into the issue with Kris’s lawyers in Germany who were working on his family’s estate, it seemed strange enough that our counsel suggested we hire private investigators,” Jake explained. “I told them it was important, so they’ve been working hard to pull all the pieces together. This is the explanation of what they found.”

“I made copies for all of you,” Travis said. I was impressed by how organized he was. We passed them around and said nothing as everyone read it.

“Fuck,” my father said when he was finished, while Jake just shook his head.

“I do not mean to question your abilities,” Grand said to Travis, “but how confident are you of your translation?”

Travis blurted out a bunch of German that made no sense at all to me. “Dude, I can’t handle all that Teutonic shit,” I said, interrupting him. “I’m a Romance language kind of guy.” He laughed.

“What did you say?” Dad asked in annoyance, in no mood for any lightheartedness.

“I told you all that I was about 98% confident,” Travis said.

“And how did you derive that statistic?” Grand asked.

“When I read it through the second time, I kept track of my mistakes, and that’s how many I had,” Travis said smugly.

“Even a relatively large error would not completely change this translation,” I said. They looked at me, confused. “The story is too continuous, so unless the whole thing was wrong, that would have shown up.”

“You also make a good point,” Grand said. “I am impressed by both of you.” We’d purposely been focusing on anything but the substance, but my father was unwilling to be sidetracked.

“How do we handle this?” he asked.

“We have to tell Kris and JJ,” I said firmly.

“We do? Are you sure?” he challenged.

“I am sure,” I said firmly. “There is no way we are going to keep this from them.”

“Alright, then tell me how you think JJ will react when he finds out his boyfriend isn’t really a Prussian Prince, he’s actually the grandson of a Nazi spy from a peasant family?” Dad asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, pondering that. “I need to think about it.”

“My point is that maybe they’d be happier not knowing,” Dad said.

“I would feel as if we were being very dishonest and not a little dishonorable if we did not share this with Kris and JJ,” Grand said. “Especially since Kris asked Jake, in good faith, to look into this for him.”

“I’d have to do some heavy rationalizing to even try to find a reason not to reveal this to them,” Jake said.

“I think we must tell them, but I understand your fears,” Stef said to my father. “I am very worried about how Kris will deal with it.”

“This will completely upset his world,” I said, thinking about how badly that would impact Kris. “It seems like he wears his heritage like a shield to deflect his insecurities. That will be gone.”

“You should major in psychology,” Travis said, looking at me with admiration.

“Then I’d spend all my time playing mind games with you,” I joked.

“How would that be different than now?” he challenged, making me chuckle.

“I suggest that we think about this tonight, then have breakfast together at 8:00 and share our conclusions,” Grand said, almost as if he were issuing a directive.

“We will comply with Your Excellency’s course of action,” I said, then stood and bowed to him just like Alex had taught us.

“You do that,” he said, smiling slightly.

September 6, 2004

Escorial

Palo Alto, CA

Brad

It took me a bit of wandering to figure out our morning meeting was in the dining room. Evidently JP and Stef had decided that it should be out of earshot of the staff, at least to the degree that that was possible in the dining room. It was most definitely better than the kitchen. JP, Stef, Will, and Travis were already here eating, so I greeted them then made myself a plate of food from the buffet.

“Is Jake not joining us?” Stef asked in a bitchy way, as if to rag on Jake for being late.

“We said we would meet at 8:00,” I said, and not all that nicely. “As it is only 7:50, I’m going to bet he’s here within ten minutes.”

“Well you’re both bitchy this morning,” Will said. I was actually in a good mood, because I had a plan for just how I wanted to handle this. I’d only snapped at Stef because he’d been trying to diss on Jake, something he did every once in a while. I opted to say nothing, and just started eating.

At 7:59, Jake came in, grabbed some food, and sat next to me at the table. “Good morning,” he said. Will looked at his watch and then looked at Stef, which was pretty funny, but Stef wasn’t in the mood for humor.

“Now that you are here, we can begin our discussion,” Stef said icily. I just shook my head at Jake, telling him nonverbally to ignore Stef.

“What has you so upset?” Will challenged.

“I am just anxious to ascertain a way to handle this latest dilemma,” Stef said to him, although it came out like a snarl.

“Then let’s start by having you share what is bothering you,” Will said to him firmly. Travis had teased him about majoring in psychology, and that made me almost burst out laughing when I thought about how Will was acting in that role now.

“I am very worried about Kris,” Stef said, as if this were some big admission. “No matter how we handle this, he will be devastated. I have never known a man who experienced this kind of trauma to his psyche and came out of it well.”

“I don’t think we are looking for a perfect solution,” JP said. “I think we are looking to minimize the damage. Let us make sure to try and find a way that gives Kris a fighting chance to salvage his self-esteem.”

“Is there any way this entire thing can be hushed up?” I asked, mostly directing that at Jake.

“I don’t know,” he said, but only because he was pondering my words.

“You want to hush this whole thing up and leave JJ and Kris in the dark?” Will asked. I could almost watch him climbing on his soapbox. “There is no way, absolutely no way, I am agreeing to that.”

“I do not want to do that; I was just asking a question,” I said to him in a much snippier way than I intended.

“Travis, can you help me make a phone call?” Jake asked.

“Sure,” Travis said. He got up and followed Jake out of the room, so the rest of us decided to say nothing and focus on our breakfast.

After fifteen minutes, Stef got agitated. “Is it really worth knowing the answer to this question? I do not have infinite time.”

“The answer is the key to resolving this whole affair,” I said to him firmly.

“Then we will wait,” JP pronounced. Stef gave us dirty looks, then nibbled on some blueberries.

Thirty minutes later, Jake and Travis came back into the room. “There’s no guarantee we can completely make this disappear, but our investigators think they can come awfully damn close.”

“Then tell them to do that,” I said. I gazed around the table, waiting to see if any of the others would object, but that was almost a no-brainer.

“We’ll be right back,” Jake said, and vanished with Travis again.

“I am surprised you did not argue about that,” Stef said to Will, trying to bait him into an argument.

“It was the smart thing to do,” Will said to him calmly. I smiled at how well he’d handled that barb.

Stef was really agitated. “Stef, I think we can work this out and make things okay for Kris,” I told him, trying to calm him down.

“And just how will you do that?” he asked.

“As soon as Jake and Travis get back, I’ll explain my idea,” I said calmly.

“I am most anxious to hear this,” JP said.

“So am I,” Will agreed, and gave me a suspicious look, as if I was trying to come up with some scheme to screw people over.

Jake and Travis returned, then Stef glared at me, demanding that I talk. “I think that we should cover this whole thing up, and make it disappear so that Kris can retain his social position.”

“He would be living a lie,” Jake observed.

“Is that worse than living the truth?” I asked acidly. “His heritage was once something he could be proud of. Now it will be something that brings him mortifying shame.”

“You’re setting this up so he gets to choose,” Will observed.

“That is my plan,” I said. “He can decide how he wants to handle his relatives, and he can choose whether he still embraces his title in public.”

Everyone thought about that, until Will zeroed in on me. I was hoping that no one would guess my ulterior motive, but his expression made me think he got it. “This is a pretty slick deal you set up.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” I demanded, in a vain attempt to throw him off the trail.

“It looks like we’re being all nice and helping Kris out, but in reality, you will have complete control over him,” Will said. His ability to read my plans was maddening. I guess all the battles with Elizabeth Danfield and Alexandra Carmichael had trained him well. “Then the first time he steps out of line, you’ll throw this in his face and threaten him.”

“That is not my plan,” I said, even though it was. Kris seemed like a good guy, but that might be an act, or it could change. This way we had complete leverage over him to keep him from screwing JJ over.

“I think that if there’s a reason to use this info against Kris, those of us here must agree to it unanimously,” Will proposed. That was absolutely infuriating. My useful tool was now managed by a committee.

“That seems reasonable,” JP said, lining up with Will as he did so often.

“Fine,” I grumbled. It would have been so much easier, and more potent, if I’d been able to wield that power over Kris without a bunch of back seat drivers, but this was the best deal I was going to get from this group.

“I think that we should talk to Casey about this,” Will said to Stef.

“And why would we do that?” Stef asked. He’d seemed a little happier when he’d concluded we might be able to keep this information private, but he was still upset.

“Because we’re going to have to tell Kris and JJ, and I don’t know about you, but I’d like some guidance on that so we don’t completely fuck them up,” Will said. Stef sat there in a snit, thinking about it. “I get why this whole thing with Kris upsets you.”

“That is no great secret since I already told you,” Stef said angrily.

“Kris seems like a really nice guy. He’s helped JJ be less of a douche, he’s handsome, he’s charming, and he’s smart,” Will summarized. “He snagged a job at Goldman and he’s climbing that ladder. He is full of promise, but this may very well destroy him. It’s like watching someone burn a beautiful painting.”

“It is tragic to see such potential extinguished,” Stef acknowledged.

“That’s why I think it would be good to get Casey to help us explain things to Kris, to try to make it as easy as possible,” Will said.

“I think that is an excellent idea,” JP said. “Maybe you can brief Casey, then invite him to meet with us and give us guidance.”

“I can do that,” Will said. “We’re going back to Malibu tomorrow night. I’ll try to set up a meeting with him on Thursday when we get back.”

“Hopefully that’s enough time to get organized,” I groused.

“I am assuming that it will be best to have whatever discussions we’re going to have with them when they visit,” JP noted.

“What a shitty way to welcome Kris to California,” Will said.

“Well then what alternative would you suggest?” I asked acidly. He was full of criticisms, but solutions would be better.

“I’ll send you a memo,” Will said in a smarmy way.

I just glared at all of them except Travis and Jake. “I’m going to work.”

“Have a nice day,” Will said. God he could be annoying. He’d come in here, managed to put all these restrictions on my masterful scheme to protect JJ, and now he was hitting me with these sarcastic barbs. I all but stomped out of the house, so anxious to get to the office where I could be productive and not abused.